• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Donald Trump will meet at the White House today, with new trade agreements on the agenda amid strained ties between the two countries.
• The Combat Antisemitism Movement and the Jewish Federations of North America will host the Annual Jewish American Heritage Month Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill today, with a keynote address from Bruce Pearl, head coach of the Auburn men’s basketball team.
• The House Appropriations Committee will hold separate budget hearings with testimony from Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
• The House Foreign Affairs Committee will also hold a hearing with Rubio on “Fiscal Year 2026 State Department Posture: Protecting American Interests.”
• The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold a hearing on “The State of Higher Education” with witnesses including Dr. Andrew Gillen, a research fellow at the Cato Institute; Dr. Michael Lindsay, president of Taylor University; Dr. Mark Brown, president of Tuskegee University; Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center; and Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, chancellor of the Austin Community College District.
• The Qatar Economic Forum continues today in Doha, with speakers including Donald Trump Jr.; Steve Mnuchin, former U.S. treasury secretary; Mark Attanasio, principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers; John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg; and Hassan Al-Thawadi, former secretary general at Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S hALEY COHEN

A new Anti-Defamation League report puts a spotlight on episodes of antisemitism in K-12 non-Jewish independent schools, a trend that doesn’t get as much attention as the higher-profile incidents on college campuses but is affecting Jewish students in critical ways. 

The study found antisemitic incidents in independent schools down 26% in 2024, compared to 2023, but still up significantly since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. There were only 494 documented incidents of antisemitism in independent schools in 2022; that number has nearly doubled to 860 in 2024.

A quarter of surveyed parents said their children experienced/witnessed antisemitic symbols (such as swastikas) in school.

The research was conducted through four focus groups and a survey of 369 parents of Jewish children in independent K-12 schools across 21 states. The ADL told Jewish Insider‘s Haley Cohen it selected independent schools to evaluate since they operate outside of the oversight of public education and therefore have greater autonomy in shaping their curricula, policies and disciplinary procedures. 

In addition to expressing concern over antisemitic symbols, nearly one-third of parents reported anti-Jewish and anti-Israel curricula featuring more prominently in their children’s classrooms since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. They’re also deeply dissatisfied with administrators’ responses to antisemitism: Of the parents surveyed who were aware of antisemitism in their child’s school, 34% said the school’s response was either “somewhat” or “very” inadequate.

One bit of encouraging news: A sizable majority of students at these schools (64%) said they felt “very comfortable” showing their Jewish identity at schools, with only 8% feeling somewhat or very uncomfortable with doing so. But there were isolated episodes of student discomfort, including one parent saying their son avoided wearing a Star of David necklace. 

Another notable trend: Many independent school parents voiced concern that diversity, equity and inclusion frameworks do not include Jewish identity and antisemitism. They view the exclusion as a fundamental flaw of the programming rather than an oversight and described a pattern in which Jewish identity was omitted altogether from DEI conversations or misrepresented to perpetuate bias.  

And parents are voting with their feet: There’s been an increase in Jewish day school enrollment in recent years. 

But for those Jewish students who remain in independent schools, the ADL said it’s launching a new initiative to hold schools accountable and support families. “These independent schools are failing to support Jewish families,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the group’s CEO, said. “By tolerating — or in some cases, propagating — antisemitism in their classrooms, too many independent schools in cities across the country are sending a message that Jewish students are not welcome. It’s wrong. It’s hateful. And it must stop.” 

A Tale of Two New York City’s: New York magazine’s E. Alex Jung writes about the stark contrast between Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral primary. “Their respective campaigns are striking foils: Cuomo, who at 67 would become the oldest incoming mayor of New York City ever, has stayed out of the public eye while racking up endorsements from major labor unions. When he does appear, he’s working the Black church circuit. He knows that the path to the Democratic nomination has historically gone through Black and Latino voters, mostly in Southeast Queens and Central Brooklyn. In one simulation, Cuomo is winning those communities by 91 percent and 72 percent by the final round, respectively. To the ire of white liberals, he has a broad multi-racial coalition. While Mamdani is seemingly everywhere in the city, running from protests to rallies to galas, his base is largely white college-educated Brooklynites, with much of his early efforts going toward activating South Asian and Muslim voters, who have traditionally been ignored. ‘Zohran is Cuomo’s wet-dream opponent,’ says one anti-Cuomo Democratic strategist. ‘Supported by online kids, on the record for “defund,” on the record about Palestine, and little support in Black or Latino communities.’” [NYMag]

Sam (A)I Am: In a New Yorker review of two new books on Sam Altman and the future of AI, Benjamin Wallace-Wells considers the OpenAI founder’s Midwestern Jewish roots. “Within the world of tech founders, Altman might have seemed a pretty trustworthy candidate. He emerged from his twenties not just very influential and very rich (which isn’t unusual in Silicon Valley) but with his moral reputation basically intact (which is). Reared in a St. Louis suburb in a Reform Jewish household, the eldest of four children of a real-estate developer and a dermatologist, he had been identified early on as a kind of polymathic whiz kid at John Burroughs, a local prep school. “His personality kind of reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell,” the school’s head, Andy Abbott, tells [Keach] Hagey [author of The Optimist: Sam Altman, Open AI, and the Race to Invent the Future]. ‘He can talk about anything and it’s really interesting’ — computers, politics, Faulkner, human rights.” [NewYorker]

Under African Skies: The Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior director Elaine Dezenski and senior research analyst Max Meizlish offer a warning about South Africa’s anti-American activity in the run-up to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with Trump today. “South Africa isn’t an innocent, neutral party. It is playing both sides — courting the West while deepening its ties to China, Russia and Iran. Its leaders speak the language of nonalignment, but their actions tell a different story: They’ve welcomed Hamas and Hezbollah officials, hosted sanctioned Russian warships and worked with entities tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps … South Africa’s conduct is not just inconsistent with American values — it’s increasingly incompatible with US national security. Under Ramaphosa, the ANC has intensified its lawfare campaign against Israel at the International Court of Justice, ramped up efforts to diplomatically isolate Taiwan, and embraced Beijing’s narrative on global governance by joining the China-led BRICS group. The ANC’s historical alignment with authoritarian powers is no secret — but today, it’s backed by real material support. That should concern every serious policymaker in Washington.” [NYPost]

The Illiberal Left, and Right: The Liberal Patriot’s executive editor, John Halpin, considers the future of American liberalism. “Instead of pragmatic, universal solutions to the problems of working- and middle-class Americans, Democrats after Obama went off on extreme ideological tangents and illiberal fads from structural racism and transgender ideology to decriminalization and open borders to the socialist ‘Green New Deal’ and other radical climate policies. Notably, all of these illiberal ‘ideas’ produced significant public backlash from a wide array of American voters and are now in the process of being dismantled or disregarded. On the Republican side, the traditional party of Reagan has basically discarded all its past social and economic liberal commitments in favor of Trump’s peculiar blend of command-and-control tariff and trade policies, unrestrained executive authority, withdrawal from global allies and international security arrangements, and the use of governmental legal and bureaucratic authority to attack and prosecute perceived enemies. ‘Postliberal’ ideas that explicitly reject individualism as the foundation of American life are now dominant in a party that feels the need ‘to be really ruthless when it comes to the exercise of power,’ according to Vice President JD Vance.” [LiberalPatriot]

President Donald Trump is reportedly frustrated by the continuing war in Gaza and has instructed his aides to tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “wrap it up,” White House officials told Axios…

Netanyahu’s office announced yesterday that the senior members of the ceasefire and hostage-release negotiating team had been recalled from Doha, Qatar, while the working echelon would continue the talks. The PMO statement stressed that Israel had agreed to the U.S. proposal but that Hamas “is continuing to cling to its refusal”…

In an interview published today in The National, Jake Sullivan, the Biden administration’s national security advisor, says of Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu, “It’s not that the balance of power has changed, just the weight and emphasis on who can deliver” …

CNN, citing intelligence from “multiple US officials,” reported that Israel has been making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, though they stressed it remains unclear if Israeli leaders have made a final decision to do so. In reaction to the story, former Washington Institute for Near East Policy fellow Nadav Pollak wrote on X: “The only surprising part in [the story] is that US officials leaked the fact they monitor Israeli communications.”…

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that, “I do not think nuclear talks with the U.S. will be successful” and warned, “They should not try to talk nonsense. It is a big mistake to say that we will not allow Iran to enrich. No one is waiting for permission from this or that.”…

Trump announced Tuesday that the United States will move forward on construction of a Golden Dome missile defense system. Trump began calling for a U.S. missile defense shield similar to Israel’s Iron Dome after watching Israel deflect missiles and drones amid Iran’s attacks in 2024… 

Democrat Sam Sutton won a special election for a New York state Senate seat, which the GOP had hoped to flip after Trump received 77% of the vote in the district in November. The district encompasses several heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, and Sutton is a leader of its Sephardic community…

The New York Times confirmed reporting that Trump, through the Pentagon, White House military office and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, had initially approached the Qataris about purchasing the luxury Boeing 747 jet for use as Air Force One, rather than it being offered as a gift…

Newly released emails reveal that Joe Kent, chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, pressured analysts to revise an intelligence assessment to align with Trump’s claim that Venezuela’s government controls a criminal gang…

Elon Musk told attendees at the Qatar Economic Forum that he doesn’t plan to spend money on elections in the future. “I think I’ve done enough,” he said…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) clashed in a heated exchange during a Senate hearing Tuesday. “I regret voting for you for secretary of state,” Van Hollen said. “Your regret for voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job,” Rubio responded… 

Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) sought unanimous consent to call up a resolution pushing the administration to work to resume U.S. aid to Gaza, which is sponsored by nearly all Senate Democrats. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) blocked the effort…

The United Arab Emirates said yesterday that it will send urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza, after UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and his Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke on the phone… 

The U.S. and Turkey released a joint statement on the U.S.-Turkey Syria Working Group’s most recent meeting held in Washington, which included discussions on “shared priorities in Syria, including sanctions relief according to President Trump’s directive and combatting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”…

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent a letter to Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone expressing their concern that CBS News may be engaging in “improper conduct” and violating anti-bribery law in its effort to settle a lawsuit with Trump that will potentially block Paramount’s intended merger with Skydance…

Trump called Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) a “grandstander” who “should be voted out of office” over Massie’s opposition to his budget bill. Massie, a longtime opponent of aid to Israel and legislation to combat antisemitism, is mulling a statewide run for Senate or governor in Kentucky…

Speaking at a congressional hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Tuesday, AJC CEO Ted Deutch urged the U.S. to remain engaged in international bodies including the U.N., UNESCO and OSCE and called for Congress to confirm Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun to the role of special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism and provide $3 million in funding for the office…

New York Times reporter Joseph Bernstein chronicled the life of his father, a “Nazi hunter” with the U.S. Department of Justice in the ‘80s, who was killed in the Pan Am 103 bombing in 1988, and his struggle to find meaning in the resulting decades-long investigation that ultimately led to the currently delayed trial of a Libyan man accused of planting the bomb on behalf of dictator Muammar Gaddafi…

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer eulogized his mother, Yaffa Dermer, who died last Sunday at the age of 89. Ron said, “We don’t choose our parents. They are chosen for us. So I thank Hashem for blessing me to have been raised by such an extraordinary mother and teacher. … Over the years, I have had the privilege to serve in prominent positions and hold prestigious titles. But the greatest honor of my life has been to be Yaffa’s son.”…

Eva Wyner, previously deputy director of Jewish affairs for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, is now serving as the governor’s director of Jewish affairs…

Arthur Maserjian, previously chief of staff at the Combat Antisemitism Movement, is now the senior director of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Center for Combating Antisemitism…

Eric B. Stillman was hired to serve as the next president and CEO of the Florida Holocaust Museum, which will reopen on Sept. 9 following an extensive renovation; Stillman succeeds Mike Igel, who has led the organization as its interim CEO for the past year…

Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) addressed an Anti-Defamation League reception celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month yesterday in Washington.

Northern California-based comedian, he celebrated his bar mitzvah at 52 years old in Israel, Josh Kornbluth turns 66… 

Former U.S. senator from Minnesota, he was previously a comedian, actor and writer, Al Franken turns 74… VP of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, Ralph Lewin turns 72… Guitarist and composer, Marc Ribot turns 71… EVP of American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, Ron Solomon… Chief rabbi of Mitzpe Jericho and dean of Hara’ayon Hayehudi yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer turns 70… CEO of the Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group, Seth Klarman turns 68… Legal analyst at CNN, Jeffrey Toobin turns 65… Founder and former co-owner of City & State NY, Thomas Allon turns 63… Director of antisemitism education and associate director of the Israel Action Program, both at Hillel International, Tina Malka… Actress, artist and playwright, Lisa Edelstein turns 59… Former head of Dewey Square’s sports business practice, now a freelance writer, Frederic J. Frommer… Author and journalist, she was a reporter with The New York Times for eight years, Amy Waldman turns 56… U.S. cyclist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, she is now the executive director of the New England Mountain Bike Association, Nicole Freedman turns 53… President and CEO of the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Darin McKeever… University chaplain for NYU, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna turns 47… Founder of Agora Global Advisory, Brandon Pollak… EVP and chief legal officer at Sinclair Broadcast Group, David Gibber… Professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, Scott Joel Aaronson turns 44… President of Mo Digital, Mosheh Oinounou… International fashion model for Versace, Sharon Ganish turns 42… Partner at CreoStrat, Steve Miller… Windsurfer who represented Israel in the Olympics (Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016), she is now a SW delivery lead at SolarEdge, Maayan Davidovich turns 37… Player on the USC team that won the 2016 NCAA National Soccer Championship, she is now an associate in the LA office of Foley & Lardner, Savannah Levin turns 30… Comedian, actress and writer, known for starring in the HBO Max series “Hacks,” Hannah Marie Einbinder turns 30… Deputy director at the Yael Foundation, Naomi Kovitz…

BIRTHWEEK: (was Monday): Alex Shapero…

• President Donald Trump wraps up his three-country trip to the Middle East today in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier today, the president visited the Abrahamic Family House. More below.
• Former Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel is in New York City today, where he is hosting a pancake pop-up at 12 Chairs Cafe’s Soho location. All proceeds from the pop-up will go to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
• The two-day FII PRIORITY Europe 2025 begins today in Tirana, Albania. Speakers include French President Emmanuel Macron, Richard Attias and Goldman Sachs’ Jared Cohen. 
• Iran’s deputy foreign minister is in Istanbul today for meetings with senior diplomats from France, the U.K. and Germany.
• The Eurovision finals are taking place tomorrow in Basel, Switzerland. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael advanced out of Thursday’s semifinals and will perform her “New Day Will Rise” on Saturday night.
• On Sunday, the Center for Jewish History is hosting “The End of an Era? Jews and Elite Universities.” The symposium will feature speakers including Rabbi David Wolpe, Jamie Kirchick, Eli Lake, Steven Pinker, Bill Ackman and Deborah Lipstadt.
• Also Sunday, the National Council of Jewish Women’s two-day Washington Institute kicks off in the nation’s capital.
• In New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council-NY is hosting its annual Israel Parade on Sunday.
• And in Paris, ELNET’s International Policy Conference begins Sunday.
• The World Jewish Congress kicks off in Jerusalem on Sunday evening.
• Pope Leo XIV will be inaugurated on Sunday at the Vatican. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli President Isaac Herzog will be among the dignitaries and officials traveling to Italy for the inauguration. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JOSH KRAUSHAAR

In our hyperpartisan times, it’s often hard to appreciate how often the Trump administration — on issues ranging from health care to abortion to trade — is taking liberal-to-left positions, yet can still rely on support from nearly all of the GOP base, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. 

President Donald Trump can call for implementing price controlson pharmaceutical companies, without generating even a peep of opposition from rank-and-file conservatives. The White House can defend federal regulations allowing abortion pills to be available online and by mail without facing much backlash from pro-lifers. It can slap punitive tariffs on allies and rivals alike, raising the risk of economic chaos, only backing down after mayhem in the markets, and not because of public pushback from lawmakers.

But perhaps the most consequential divergence of the Trump administration from conventional conservative views is on foreign policy, most recently its seemingly growing disconnect from Israel on issues ranging from Iran nuclear negotiations to the war against the Houthis in Yemen and the state of the war in Gaza. Trump’s views are apparently at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on all those issues, to the point where the president didn’t even schedule a stop in Israel this week on his Middle East trip. 

We write a lot about the horseshoe theory, which has the far left and far right coming together to mainline views once considered beyond the political pale. On Middle East policy, it’s increasingly looking like there’s a different type of horseshoe, tying together Obama-era foreign policy advisors looking to attack the foreign policy establishment of their time as a “blob” along with isolationist-minded Trump advisors aiming to discredit mainstream conservative policymakers as part of an “interventionalist” cadre.

Just look at the stunning quotes from Obama and Biden-era foreign policy officials responsible for what some saw as unpopular national security decisions now praising the new Trump playbook in the Middle East. 

Obama Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told Axios, reprising his Blob dig for Trump critics: “One thing you will say is he’s not tied to this constant fear of some bad faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, ‘we don’t do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.’ No! Sometimes you just have to try something different.”  

Rob Malley, Biden’s Iran envoy whose security clearance was suspended over alleged misconduct, also backhandedly praised Trump’s new approach in the Middle East. “It’s hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos,” Malley told Axios. 

The Axios story follows our own reporting last month, quoting numerous Obama and Biden-era officials finding common ground with Trump on trying to reach a diplomatic agreement with Iran, even if it requires major concessions. Phil Gordon, Vice President Kamala Harris’ national security advisor, told JI the Trump negotiating team is “gonna have to accept some of the same imperfections that the Obama team did.” 

The big potential question to come is if Trump’s negotiators strike a nuclear deal with Iran that looks awfully similar to Obama’s 2015 deal, short of a dismantlement of the Islamic regime’s nuclear program, will Republicans fall in line or stand their ground on an issue many have spoken out against since the original JCPOA? Only time will tell what transpires, but given the trajectory of our politics, principles tend to bow to power.

Plane Wrong: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire and Russell Berman look at how Republicans are responding — or not addressing — President Donald Trump’s intentions to accept a luxury plane from Qatar. “But in a rare moment of defiance, some of the loudest cries of protest about the possible gift are coming from some of Trump’s staunchest allies. ‘I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right,”’ Ben Shapiro, a Daily Wire co-founder, said on his podcast. ‘President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.’ Even in Washington, a capital now numbed to scandals that were once unthinkable, the idea of accepting the jet is jaw-dropping. Trump’s second administration is yet again displaying a disregard for norms and for traditional legal and political guardrails around elected office — this time at a truly gargantuan scale. Trump’s team has said it believes that the gift would be legal because it would be donated to the Department of Defense (and then to the presidential library). But federal law prohibits government workers from accepting a gift larger than $20 at any one time from any person. Retired General Stanley McChrystal, who once commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told us that he couldn’t ‘accept a lunch at the Capital Grille.’” [TheAtlantic]

Acceptance Rates: In The Wall Street Journal, Alison Leigh Cowan proposes that universities ask questions of their applicants similar to the questions that green card applicants are required to answer on issues regarding violence and behavior. “Foreigners seeking green cards or nonresident visas must answer dozens of yes-or-no questions from the U.S. government. False statements can be grounds for deportation. They are also asked if they have any affiliation to communist or other totalitarian parties, and, in some instances, whether they intend to give financial or other support to terrorists or engage in activity intended to oppose, control or overthrow the U.S. government. American-born university applicants shouldn’t get a free pass. Plenty of them have been on the front lines of the rankest campus spectacles. This extra layer of diligence won’t solve the separate problem posed by tenured faculty who radicalize students once they arrive. But it’s a good place to start: University presidents have more sway over their admissions offices than they do over entrenched faculty members.” [WSJ]

President Donald Trump said on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates that American negotiators are “getting close to maybe doing a deal” with Iran over its nuclear program…

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke about the UAE-U.S. relationship, the Israel-Hamas war and nuclear talks with Iran; regarding Gaza, he called for “an authority that’s not Hamas that controls Gaza”…

During the president’s trip to the UAE, the countries inked an agreement to boost Abu Dhabi’s chip-making capabilities, the first such AI-related deal the U.S. has made since Trump entered office; the deal includes the creation of a 10-mile AI campus in Abu Dhabi supplied by U.S.-made chips…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Thursday with his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, in Turkey as the U.S. moves toward removing sanctions on Damascus following a directive from Trump…

Trump reportedly shared polling with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that showed lagging numbers ahead of her decision not to move forward with a Senate bid challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)…

Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) introduced the Persian Gulf Act, to prohibit the administration from changing the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf, as some in the Trump administration have reportedly considered…

A bipartisan group of 13 House members led by Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) introduced a resolution expressing support for continued and expanded U.S. defense cooperation, particularly in advanced research areas…

A group of nine Democratic legislators, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Summer Lee (D-PA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and Andre Carson (D-IN) introduced a resolution accusing Israel of genocide and calling for the U.S. to “ensure the United States ends its complicity in Israel’s ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people”…

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations voted unanimously to admit the Iranian American Jewish Federation, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

NYU is denying a diploma to a student speaker who railed against American “complicity in this genocide” in Gaza during a commencement ceremony at NYU’s Gallatin School…

Writer Salman Rushdie withdrew as the commencement speaker for Claremont McKenna College ahead of this weekend’s ceremonies…

Former Harvard Divinity School student Shabbos Kestenbaum settled his ongoing lawsuit against Harvard; the settlement comes days before a deadline for Kestenbaum to produce a range of documents that included his communications with President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and messages from WhatsApp groups…

The Justice Department told Harvard it is looking into whether the school is complying with a Supreme Court ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions processes…

A Pittsburgh woman pleaded guilty for her role in the vandalism of two Jewish institutions in the Pennsylvania city; Talya Lubit, who is Jewish, was ordered to pay nearly $11,000 in restitution to Chabad of Squirrel Hill, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh and will face a parole board’s recommendation at her June sentencing… 

Officials in southern Nevada are investigating a string of threatening letters sent to Jewish organizations in the Las Vegas area…

The BBC is investigating whether a frequent guest on BBC Arabic who has been billed as both a “journalist” and “foreign policy analyst” served as editor-in-chief of the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa TV until last September…

Vanity Fair profiles Axios reporter Barak Ravid, whose coverage since moving from Israel to Washington in mid-2023 has focused on the 2024 presidential election, U.S.-Israel relations and the Israel-Hamas war…

Israel carried out overnight strikes across the Gaza Strip, targeting what the IDF said was Hamas infrastructure, amid a broader escalation targeting the terror group in the enclave…

Trump addressed food shortages in Gaza on Friday, saying that “a lot of people are starving” but the U.S. is “going to get that taken care of”…

The New York Times reports on Hamas’ celebrations over the killing earlier this week of a pregnant Israeli woman in the West Bank…

Members of the Israeli branch of the Masorti/Conservative movement’s Mercaz Olami paid to publish and distribute posters in Haredi neighborhoods in Israel that equated Zionism with idolatry and heresy as part of an influence campaign aimed at driving a wedge between the Israeli Haredi public and the Haredi officials involved in the World Zionist Organization, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Nira Dayanim reports…

Several dozen people participated in an annual pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, amid security concerns; two years ago, five people were killed in a terror attack targeting pilgrims, who previously numbered in the thousands…

President Donald Trump toured the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue during his visit to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, this morning, the first American presidential visit to the interfaith institution since its inauguration in February 2023, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports.

Managing partner at Accretive LLC, a private equity firm, he is also executive chairman of Fubo TV, Edgar Bronfman Jr. turns 70… 

FRIDAY: Scholar, author and rabbi, he is the founding president of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Irving “Yitz” Greenberg turns 92… Retired judge of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, she has served as president and chair of The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Ellen Moses Heller turns 84… Senior official in the Carter, Bush 41, Clinton and Obama administrations Bernard W. Aronson turns 79… Member of the New York State Assembly for 52 years (longest tenure ever), his term ended in 2022, Richard N. Gottfried turns 78… Chairman of NBC News and MSNBC from 2015 until 2020, Andrew Lack turns 78… Member of the House of Representatives since 2013 (D-FL), she was previously the mayor of West Palm Beach, Lois Frankel turns 77… Harvard history professor, a member of the Rothschild banking family of England, Emma Georgina Rothschild turns 77… Proto-punk singer, songwriter and guitarist, Jonathan Richman turns 74… Radio voice of the Texas Rangers baseball organization since 1979, Eric Nadel turns 74… Rochester, N.Y., resident and advisor to NYC-based Ezras Nashim volunteer ambulance service, Michael E. Pollock… Real estate developer and mechutan of President Trump, his nomination to be U.S. ambassador to France is pending in the Senate, Charles Kushner turns 71… Film and stage actress, noted for “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Terms of Endearment,” Debra Winger turns 70… President of Tribe Media and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal, David Suissa… Real estate mogul and collector of modern and contemporary art, Aby J. Rosen turns 65… Executive assistant at Los Angeles-based FaceCake Marketing Technologies, Esther Bushey… U.S. ambassador to the European Union in the Obama administration, he had a bar mitzvah-like ceremony in Venice in 2017, Anthony Luzzatto Gardner turns 62… Social entrepreneur and co-founder of nonprofit Jumpstart, Jonathan Shawn Landres turns 53… Actress, television personality and author, Victoria Davey (Tori) Spelling turns 52… Host of programs on the Travel Channel and the History Channel, Adam Richman turns 51… VP and associate general counsel at CNN, Drew Shenkman… Managing director at FTI Consulting, Jeff Bechdel… Chef and food blogger, Jamie Neistat Lavarnway… Composer, conductor and music producer known for his film and television scores, Daniel Alexander Slatkin turns 31… 

SATURDAY: President of the Philadelphia-based Honickman Foundation, Lynne Korman Honickman turns 89… Annapolis, Md., attorney, Robert M. Pollock… News anchor for 45 years at WPVI-TV (ABC Channel 6) in Philadelphia until he retired in 2022, known professionally as Jim Gardner, James Goldman turns 77… Canadian philanthropist and the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Myra Ava Freeman turns 76… Corporate and securities attorney at NYC’s Eilenberg & Krause, he serves as counsel for Israeli technology companies doing business in the U.S., Sheldon Krause turns 70… Comedian, puppeteer and actor, Marc Weiner turns 70… Founder and president of ENS Resources, a D.C.-based consulting and lobbying firm focused on natural resources and sustainable energy, Eric Sapirstein turns 69… Host of “Marketplace Morning Report” on public radio, David Brancaccio turns 65… Author of the 2005 book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish and a 2017 book about Jewish holidays, she is an honorary president of NYC’s Central Synagogue, Abigail Pogrebin… and her identical twin sister, Robin Pogrebin, reporter on the culture desk for The New York Times, both turn 60… Former general manager for corporate strategy at Microsoft, she was also an EVP at Hillel, Kinney Zalesne turns 59… CPA and founder of the Baltimore Hunger Project, it provides food packs for the weekend that are discretely slipped into over 2,200 poverty-stricken public-school children’s backpacks each Friday, Lynne Berkowitz Kahn… Israeli author and playwright, Sarah Blau turns 52… Reporter for The New York Times covering politics, campaigns and elections, Reid J. Epstein… Former member of Knesset, when elected in 2013 she became the youngest female Knesset member in Israel’s history, Stav Shaffir turns 40… Executive director of Informing Democracy and digital strategy adviser to Democratic organizations and candidates, Jenna Ruth Lowenstein… Digital and social media strategist at AARP, Sarah Sonies… Senior writer at Microsoft’s Future of Work group, Rebecca Rose Nelson Kay… Israeli judoka, he was the 2019 World Champion and won a team bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics, Sagi Aharon Muki turns 33… Director of congregational engagement at Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation in St. Paul, Minn., Heather Renetzky… Senior media relations manager at Rystad Energy, Katherine (Katie) Keenan…

SUNDAY: Leader and rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger since 1996, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter turns 86… Chairman and co-founder of K2 Intelligence and Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Jules B. Kroll turns 84… Best-selling author of nine spy thriller novels, Andrew Gary Kaplan turns 84… Ruth Madoff turns 84… Retired New York Times columnist and editorial writer, he was the NYT’s Jerusalem correspondent for four years in the early 1990s, Clyde Haberman turns 80… President of Everest Management and trustee of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Gary Kopff turns 80… Los Angeles-based attorney and board member of American Friends of Nishmat, Linda Goldenberg Mayman… Longtime Washington correspondent for Newsweek, now writing for SpyTalk, Jonathan Broder turns 77… Longest-serving member of the Maryland House of Delegates, starting in 1983, Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg turns 75… Chair of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, a former IDF major general and leading activist for the disability community, Doron Almog turns 74… Senior advisor at Moelis & Company, a former IDF major general, then CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Shlomo Yanai turns 73… Director of nutrition and hospitality at Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital, Nancy Baumann… Attorney in Atlanta, he was the director of congregational engagement at the Union for Reform Judaism for nine years, Alan Kitey… Film producer, he is the CEO of Miramax since one year ago, Jonathan Glickman turns 56… Venture capitalist and author of a book on business principles derived from the Book of Genesis, Michael A. Eisenberg turns 54… CEO at Waze from 2013 to 2021, Noam Bardin… VP for communications strategy at Strategic Marketing Innovations (SMI), Bryan Bender turns 53… Head of development until earlier this year at NYC charter school system, Uncommon Schools, Sarah Danzig… Author of Substack-based newsletter and blog, “Slow Boring,” he was a co-founder of Vox, Matthew Yglesias turns 44… Founder of London-based Tech With Intention, Eliza Krigman… Senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the White House’s National Security Council, Eric Trager… Founder of Satori Global Media, Joshua Lederman… Former acting under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, then a member of the National Archives Public Interest Declassification Board, Ezra Asa Cohen turns 39… Tech entrepreneur in the AI and gaming space, Dan Garon… Co-founder of Rebel (formerly known as Rebelmail) then acquired by Salesforce, Joe Teplow… Managing associate in the D.C. office of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Lauren DePinto Bomberger… Executive producer of the Net Zero Life Podcast, Netanel (Tani) Levitt… Director of communications at Anduril Industries, Sofia Rose Gross Haft… Five-time member of the U.S. Women’s National Gymnastics Team, now a business manager in the office of the CIO at Citadel, Samantha “Sami” Shapiro turns 32… Chief development officer at TAMID Group, Rachel Philipson Marsh…

• President Donald Trump is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today for meetings with senior officials. He met earlier today with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
• Also in Riyadh, the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum kicked off earlier today. Speakers at the daylong summit include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the White House’s David Sacks, White House advisor Elon Musk, Palantir’s Alex Karp, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Amazon’s Andy Jassy, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, LionTree’s Aryeh Bourkoff, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Alphabet’s Ruth Porat, BDT & MSD Partners’ Dina Powell McCormick and the Saudi ministers of energy, sports, investment, finance, economy, tourism and housing.
• An Israeli delegation is in Doha, Qatar, today for renewed ceasefire and hostage-release talks.
• In Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing on East Africa. This afternoon, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the U.S.’ missile defense budget request.
• At 10:45 a.m. ET, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will deliver remarks during the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Global Security Forum in Washington.
• Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) are planning to force a floor vote as soon as today on condemning the potential gift of a Qatari luxury jet to President Donald Trump.
• Dan Senor will deliver 92NY’s annual State of World Jewry address tonight in New York.

A QUICK WORD WITH Gabby deutch

President Donald Trump arrived in the Middle East today for the first major international trip of his second term, where he’ll visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He traveled to the region just as his administration secured a major diplomatic breakthrough: the release of Edan Alexander, the final living American hostage, from Hamas captivity in Gaza. 

But Trump will not be visiting Israel to herald Alexander’s release. There will be no victorious photo shoot with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, because all reports indicate that the U.S. secured Alexander’s release without even informing the Israelis about the negotiations. Trump will not be visiting Israel at all, dealing another blow to America’s closest ally in the region at a time when ties appear to be straining between Jerusalem and Washington.

Instead, the president will be meeting with the leader of a country that serves as a chief sponsor of Alexander’s captors — just days after Trump accepted the gift of a $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari royal family to use as Air Force One, which quickly sparked concern from ethics experts, congressional Democrats and critics of the Gulf state, which has close ties to Hamas leaders. 

The gift of the Qatari plane may be a harbinger of an administration that prioritizes business deals over national security. No further diplomatic victories are expected. After Trump said last week that he would make a “very, very big announcement” before his trip to the Middle East, many observers thought that news would be related to the region. But a White House spokesperson told Jewish Insider that it was instead referring to a drug-pricing executive order he signed on Monday. 

The trip is generating a quiet panic of sorts among members of the pro-Israel and Jewish communal establishment over how the administration’s primary focus on mega dealmaking is eclipsing traditional foreign policy objectives — rendering moot much of the congressional lobbying and advocacy work promoting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, as well as Israel’s own approach to its relationship with Washington. 

A message circulating among insiders this week captures the mood: “All the investment in communal organizations and institutions like Congress are meaningless in this moment and pale in comparison to having a sovereign wealth fund that can get Trump to change his tune on Houthis, Iran, Gaza etc.” (Saudi officials reportedly backed a U.S.-Houthi ceasefire last week, and have been encouraging of U.S. nuclear talks with Iran in an effort to bring more economic stability to the region.) 

Indeed, White House officials have said that national security is not expected to be a major part of Trump’s conversations this week. Rather, trade and investment deals are the focus of the visits, along with announcements of defense spending agreements. 

In the recent past, a trip like this might have been likely to feature talk of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, said last week that he expects to be able to announce progress on additional countries joining the Abraham Accords in the next year. But at least publicly, progress on normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia has stalled. 

“It looks like it fell off a cliff,” David Makovsky, a distinguished fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told JI. 

A report from Reuters indicates the U.S. might give Saudi Arabia what has been one of its primary asks of Washington — support for a civil nuclear program in the Gulf monarchy — without tying it to the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic ties with Israel, as was previously expected in a deal. The U.S. also recently approved a major arms sale to Riyadh.

“What you’re seeing is that President Trump has an idea of what is in our interest, and that comes first,” Dennis Ross, a former State Department official who worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations, told The Washington Post. “He defines the nature of our interests abroad not through a geopolitical or security context, but an economic, financial and trade frame. I think President Trump might have the view that ‘We give [Israel] $4 billion a year in military assistance. I do plenty to support the Israelis.’”

Leading up to the trip, reports emerged suggesting that Trump is unhappy with Netanyahu’s decision to launch another major offensive in Gaza. This isn’t just a policy disagreement; it’s about Trump’s personal interest in developing the region, according to NBC News, which reported that he thinks further destruction in Gaza will make it harder to rebuild. 

Ultimately, it appears that this trip could be a harbinger for the second Trump administration’s approach to the region. With Trump-branded projects being announced in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, a Houthi-U.S. ceasefire secured and a potential Iran nuclear agreement on the horizon, the “art of the deal” is looking like it will leave Israel largely out of the equation.

Sana’a Showdown: The New York Times’ Helene Cooper, Greg Jaffe, Jonathan Swan, Eric Schmitt and Maggie Haberman do a deep dive into the Trump administration’s decision to reach a ceasefire with the Houthis in Yemen. “The sudden declaration of victory over the Houthis demonstrates how some members of the president’s national security team underestimated a group known for its resilience. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, the head of Central Command, had pressed for a forceful campaign, which the defense secretary and the national security adviser initially supported, according to several officials with knowledge of the discussions. But the Houthis reinforced many of their bunkers and weapons depots throughout the intense bombing. … What’s more, Mr. Trump’s new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, was concerned that an extended campaign against the Houthis would drain military resources away from the Asia-Pacific region. His predecessor, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., shared that view before he was fired in February.” [NYTimes]

Turning on Their Former Boss: In The Wall Street Journal, Jamie Kirchick reacts to a recent smear campaign by former staffers for Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) targeting the Pennsylvania Democrat. “Conflating Mr. Fetterman’s political evolution with his allegedly declining mental health (dressed up as concern for his well-being) is extremely cynical in light of the debate that ensued after he suffered a stroke during the 2022 Senate campaign. … At the time, progressives castigated anyone who questioned Mr. Fetterman’s fitness for office as an ‘ableist.’ Now, when he’s clearly improved, they claim he’s unfit to serve. Attributing Mr. Fetterman’s political maturation to mental illness is shameful considering the courage it has taken him to speak publicly about his depression. For elected officials especially, it can be difficult to broach such a personal subject. Mr. Fetterman should be commended for discussing it openly. He’s doing for mental health what former First Lady Betty Ford did for addiction, raising awareness about a problem suffered by millions in shame and silence. He is encouraging people to seek professional help. How quickly progressives, usually so careful not to stigmatize people for their mental health, do an about-face when the target of such accusations espouses political views opposing theirs.” [WSJ]

The Trump-Bibi Divide: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg looks at the divergence of opinion between the Israeli public and the Israeli government on how Israel should pursue the release of the remaining 58 hostages. “The release was the result of a back-channel dialogue between the United States and the terrorist group ahead of Donald Trump’s arrival in the region this week. Announcing the news on social media, the president heralded the event not as a one-off, but as a step ‘to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones.’ Israel was not involved in the process and, according to Axios, found out about the negotiations only through its intelligence services. Some reports have cast this disconnect as indicative of a chasm between Trump and Israel. But this is a misreading. The divide is not between the president and Israel so much as between the president and Israel’s leader. Most Israelis support what Trump is doing — and oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza.” [TheAtlantic]

The Pentagon is downgrading its bomber fleet in the Indo-Pacific, replacing the B-2 bombers with B-52s, following the implementation of a ceasefire between the U.S. and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen…

The Trump administration levied sanctions on three Iranians and an Iranian company tied to Iran’s nuclear weapons program…

The State Department announced a roughly $1.4 billion arms sale to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, days before President Donald Trump is set to arrive in the Gulf nation…

The Wall Street Journal suggests that Trump “surprised and sidelined Israel” in the run-up to his Middle East trip, which does not include a stop in the Jewish state…

The negotiations to free American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander reportedly originated with Hamas‘ outreach to former Arab Americans for Trump leader Bishara Bahbah…

A sweeping federal tax bill unveiled on Monday as part of Republicans’ budget reconciliation plan includes legislation that would expand the executive branch’s ability to revoke tax exemptions from nonprofits accused of supporting terrorism, a push that was once broadly bipartisan but ran into strong Democratic opposition at the end of the previous Congress, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

A group of Senate Democrats led by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) wrote to President Donald Trump last week criticizing his decision to dismiss multiple members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council appointed by President Joe Biden, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The Democratic National Committee is moving forward with an effort to void the election of DNC Vice Chairs David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta, the latter of whom is a  Pennsylvania state representative, following allegations that the original February election was conducted in a flawed manner; Hogg accused the DNC of attacking him for his PAC’s strategy to back primary challengers to older elected Democrats…

Rob Sands, who as Iowa’s state auditor is the only Democrat to hold statewide office, announced his bid for governor following Gov. Kim Reynolds’ announcement that she will not seek a third term; Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) also filed paperwork on Monday to enter the race…

The University of San Francisco has become the latest school to divest from Israel-related companies. The school’s endowment fund will sell off its direct investments in Palantir, L3Harris, GE Aerospace and RTX Corporation by June 1, the university confirmed, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

The former Czech textile factory where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews reopened as a museum honoring the efforts of Schindler, his wife Emilie and the family that owned the building…

An Iranian government spokesperson said that preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Tehran at a still-undetermined date “are underway”…

The Kurdish PKK agreed to end its decades-long conflict against Turkey and dissolve itself, shortly after a call from its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in Turkey, to do so…

Writer and illustrator Jack Katz, who pioneered the graphic novel, died at 97…

Corporate executive and attorney Robert Shapiro, who popularized the use of aspartame through branding the sugar substitute as NutraSweet, died at 86…

Former Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander was reunited with his extended family on Monday night at Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, hours after being released from captivity in Gaza.

Retired NFL offensive lineman for seven NFL teams, now a regional manager at Rocksolid, Brian de la Puente turns 40… 

South African-born attorney, now based in London, Sir Sydney Lipworth QC turns 94… Professor emerita of Yiddish literature at Harvard University, she is presently a distinguished senior fellow at The Tikvah Fund, Ruth Wisse turns 89… Emmy Award-winning film, television and stage actress, Zohra Lampert turns 88… Academy Award-winning actor and producer, Harvey Keitel turns 86… Ophthalmologist in South Florida, Dr. Joel Sandberg turns 82… Former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at American Jewish University, Samuel Edelman turns 77… Professor of mathematics at Princeton since 1987, he was a winner of a 1991 MacArthur genius fellowship, Sergiu Klainerman turns 75… Former FDA commissioner during the 1990s, then chief scientific officer for COVID-19 response during the Biden administration, David A. Kessler turns 74… Retired editor and columnist for the New York Post, he was also managing editor of The Jerusalem Post, Eric Fettmann turns 72… Chief rabbi of the city of Shoham in central Israel, chairman of the Tzohar organization and rabbi for the Ezra youth movement, Rabbi David Stav turns 65… Founder and former CEO of LRN, a legal research, ethics and compliance management firm, Dov Seidman turns 61… Immediate past chair of JFNA’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board and past chair of the Hartford (Conn.) Federation, Carolyn Gitlin… Retired NFL defensive lineman, he has played for the Raiders and Panthers, Josh Heinrich Taves, aka Josh Heinrich, turns 53… Ice hockey player, she won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Sara Ann DeCosta turns 48… U.S. senator (R-AR), Tom Cotton turns 48… Chief community and Jewish life officer at The Jewish Federations of North America, Sarah Eisenman… Former Israel director for J Street, then the chief of staff for Israel’s Ministry for Regional Cooperation, Yael Patir… Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords since February, she was previously a member of the House of Commons, Baroness Luciana Berger turns 44… Software entrepreneur, Google project manager, then Facebook engineering lead, and co-founder in 2008 of Asana, Justin Rosenstein turns 42… Israeli rapper, singer, songwriter and actor, known by his stage name Tuna, Itay Zvulun turns 41… Actress, writer, producer and director, best known as the creator, writer and star of the HBO series “Girls,” Lena Dunham turns 39… Hannah Sirdofsky… Co-founder in 2018 of Manna Tree Partners, Gabrielle “Ellie” Rubenstein… Chief of staff and senior program manager at Jigsaw, a unit within Google, Raquel Saxe Gelb… A clinical social work intern in Philadelphia, Bela Galit Krifcher… Graduating from Columbia Law School next Sunday, Dore Lev Feith turns 29… Director of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, Jesse Martin Arm… Gold medalist for Israel in rhythmic gymnastics at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Linoy Ashram turns 26…

• Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is in Israel today following the announcement that Hamas will release Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander today. Adam Boehler, the administration’s hostage affairs envoy, arrived in Israel earlier today along with Alexander’s mother, Yael. More below.
• President Donald Trump is departing later today for his three-country visit to the Middle East. More below.
• An Israeli delegation will reportedly travel to Cairo today to renew negotiations with Hamas.
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog is in Germany today, where he is marking 60 years of German-Israeli relations.
• This afternoon in Tel Aviv, hostage families will march from Hostage Square to the U.S. Embassy Branch Office to call for a “comprehensive” agreement to free the remaining 59 hostages.

A QUICK WORD WITH Melissa Weiss

“Donald, Bring Them Home” reads a sign in the window of a clothing boutique on Tel Aviv’s busy Dizengoff Street. It’s been in the store window since January, when a temporary ceasefire freed dozens of Israeli hostages, including two Americans, who had been held in captivity in Gaza for over a year. It’s a smaller sign than the billboard that read “Thank you, Mr. President” and for weeks was visible to the thousands of motorists driving on the busy thoroughfare next to the beach. 

Returned hostages and hostage families have appealed to the Trump administration for assistance in securing their loved ones’ releases, expressing sentiments conspicuously absent in meetings between former hostages and Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s a situation that underscores how the American efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages have at times been done not only without Israeli buy-in, but with Israel finding out only after the negotiations concluded.

Such was the case yesterday, when Trump announced that Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, would be released.

The negotiations over the release of Alexander underscore the Trump administration’s “America First” approach to the region that has sidelined Israeli priorities on a range of issues, from the Houthis to Iran to the war in Gaza. It’s a splash of cold water in the face of a nation that largely celebrated Trump’s election six months ago.

The announcement of Alexander’s expected release came after a firehose of news in the days leading up to Trump’s visit to the Middle East, which begins tomorrow. First, the move toward allowing Saudi Arabia to have a civilian nuclear program. Then, the news, confirmed on Sunday by Trump, that Qatar is gifting the president a luxury plane to add to the Air Force One fleet, amid yearslong Boeing manufacturing delays. (More below.)

The Qatari gift alarmed Washington Democrats, with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) writing to Trump administration officials to express “alarm,” saying Qatar has a “deeply troubling history of financing a barbaric terrorist organization that has the blood of Americans on its hands. In the cruelest irony, Air Force One will have something in common with Hamas: paid for by Qatar.”

Only hours after the news of the gifted jet broke, Trump announced that the U.S., along with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, had reached an agreement to secure Alexander’s release, which he referred to as “the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict.” Israel was not mentioned a single time in the announcement.

Netanyahu himself conceded that the Americans had reached the deal absent Israeli involvement. “The U.S. has informed Israel of Hamas’s intention to release soldier Edan Alexander as a gesture to the Americans, without conditions or anything in exchange,” Netanyahu said on Sunday evening.

The news stunned observers and offered a measure of renewed hope to the families of remaining hostages, including the four Americans whose bodies remain in Gaza, but opened a deluge of questions about the diplomatic dance that led to an agreement over Alexander’s release.

The timing of the announcement – shortly after news of the gifted Qatari jet broke — raised questions about the potentially transactional nature of the discussions, and deepened concerns that the Trump administration could reach agreements that run counter to Israeli security priorities while the president travels the region (a trip that does not include a stop in Israel, despite Netanyahu’s two visits to the White House since Trump returned to office).

As Trump travels to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week, the world will be watching closely. But perhaps nobody will be watching as closely — from more than 1,000 miles away — as Netanyahu.

Show of Force: Former Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House suggests that the U.S. and Israel mount a joint strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. “The only honorable option is to dismantle it. This can be done through diplomacy, which is highly unlikely, or with force. Any other outcome endangers both Israel and Saudi Arabia, key U.S. partners in the Middle East, and destroys Mr. Trump’s credibility with the world. The president adamantly — and repeatedly — has insisted he will accept nothing less than ‘total dismantlement’ of Iran’s nuclear program. The mullahs in Tehran will never agree to that. They saw what happened to Ukraine and Libya after giving up their nuclear ambitions. They think that enriching uranium for their nuclear reactors is a national right. Their real goal isn’t electricity generation but the ability to produce material for a bomb. … Destroying Iran’s nuclear capability involves risks, and Mr. Trump wants to avoid war. But if he believes Iran can be trusted to execute a new pact, he hasn’t done his homework.” [WSJ]

Altman’s Ascent: The Financial Times’ Roula Khalaf interviews OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in his California home about his rise in the tech industry and future plans for the AI company. “As we talk, I search for clues in his upbringing that hint at his future stardom. He says there are none. ‘I was like a kind of nerdy Jewish kid in the Midwest . . . So technology was just not a thing. Like being into computers was sort of, like, unusual. And I certainly never could have imagined that I would have ended up working on this technology in such a way. I still feel sort of surreal that that happened.’ The eldest of the four children of a dermatologist mother and a father who worked in real estate, Altman read a lot of science-fiction books, watched Star Trek and liked computers. In 2005, he dropped out of Stanford University before graduating to launch a social networking start-up. In those days, AI was still in its infancy: ‘We could show a system a thousand images of cats, and a thousand images of dogs, and then it [the AI] could correctly classify them, and that was, like, you were living the high life.’” [FT]

A senior U.S. official said that American negotiators were “encouraged” by the fourth round of nuclear talks with Iran, held yesterday in Oman…

Members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum board clashed over the decision by the Trump administration to remove several board members appointed by former President Joe Biden, including former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain…

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) ruled out a Senate bid to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), further narrowing the GOP field days after Gov. Brian Kemp announced he would not enter the Senate race; Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) became the first Republican to enter the race last week…

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced legislation to specifically ban religious discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, a prospect that has been discussed on the Hill for several years to combat antisemitism on college campuses…

Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) introduced a resolution condemning Iran’s failure to fulfill its Nonproliferation Treaty obligations and comply with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, and supporting military force against Iran if it withdraws from the NPT or crosses the nuclear threshold…

Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Adam Smith (D-WA) and Jim Himes (D-CT) introduced legislation providing for sanctions on individuals involved in enabling violence or destabilizing activity in the West Bank, including government officials. The legislation echoes sanctions in place under the Biden administration…

A federal program that provides funding to help vulnerable nonprofits meet their security needs has again begun reimbursing recipients, after a funding freeze at the Federal Emergency Management Agency left the fate of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in limbo, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Gabby Deutch report…

As University of Michigan President Santa Ono is set to become president at University of Florida, he said on Thursday that “combating antisemitism” will remain a priority, as it has “throughout my career,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Rümeysa Öztürk, the Turkish student at Tufts University who was arrested in March and held in a detention center as she appealed the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, was released following a federal judge’s order…

The New York Times’ Jodi Rudoren reflects on her experiences saying Kaddish, the mourner’s prayer, after her father’s death… 

The Wall Street Journal looks at the relationship between Amazon Web Services and Nafea Bshara’s Annapurna Labs, which “has become essential to the success of the whole company” since AWS purchased the startup, which was founded in Israel, a decade ago in a $350 million deal…

Actress Natalie Portman is slated to star in Tom Hooper’s “Photograph 51,” a biopic about British scientist Rosalind Franklin…

The Washington Post spotlights a WWII battalion comprised of first-generation Japanese American soldiers who played a role in the liberation of Dachau… 

The Associated Press looks at a Dutch-led effort to digitize roughly 100,000 records from the Jewish community of Suriname, dating back to the 18th century…

U.K. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned that antisemitism among British youth is experiencing a “horrific surge” and becoming a “national emergency”…

The Wall Street Journal reports on the sexual assault allegations made against Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, shortly before he announced his pursuit of arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials…

The IDF and Mossad recovered the remains of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman, who went missing along with two other soldiers during a battle in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley during the First Lebanon War in 1982; a joint IDF-Mossad statement said that Feldman’s remains were recovered “from the heart of Syria” in a “complex and covert operation” that used “precise intelligence”…

Israel issued an evacuation warning for the Yemeni ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif, days after carrying out strikes at the Sana’a airport targeting the Iran-backed Houthis…’

The Houthis fired a ballistic missile toward Israel on Monday morning; the missile fell short and landed in Saudi Arabia…

In his first Sunday address since being selected as pontiff, Pope Leo XIV called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, the distribution of aid to Gaza and “all hostages be freed”…  

Rob Silvers, the under secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, is joining Ropes & Gray as a partner, and will co-chair the firm’s national security practice…

Heavy metal band Disturbed frontman David Draiman is engaged following his proposal to model Sarah Uli at a show in Sacramento over the weekend…

Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, who returned in 2010 to live in Berlin, where she shared her story of survival with German audiences, died at 103…

Former hostage Emily Damari, visiting London on Sunday, attended her first Tottenham game since being released. Ahead of the game, Damari and her mother, Mandy Damari, met with supporters and called for the release of her friends Gali and Ziv Berman, twin brothers who were taken, alongside Damari,  from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023, and remain in captivity.

Haifa-born actress and model, she is known for her lead roles in seven films since 2014, Odeya Rush turns 28…

Israeli agribusiness entrepreneur and real estate investor, he was chairman and owner of Carmel Agrexco, Gideon Bickel turns 81… World-renowned architect and master planner for the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, he also designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, Daniel Libeskind turns 79… Former member of the California state Senate for eight years, following six years as a member of the California Assembly, Lois Wolk turns 79… Chairman of the Israel Paralympic Committee, he served for four years as a member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Moshe “Mutz” Matalon turns 72… Former Washington correspondent for McClatchy and then the Miami Herald covering the Pentagon, James Martin Rosen turns 70… SVP and deputy general counsel at Delta Air Lines until 2024, now chief legal officer at private aviation firm Wheels Up, Matthew Knopf turns 69… Professor at Emory University School of Law, he has published over 200 articles on law, religion and Jewish law, Michael Jay Broyde turns 61… Actress known for her role as Lexi Sterling on “Melrose Place,” she also had the lead role in many Lifetime movies, Jamie Michelle Luner turns 54… Founder of strategic communications and consulting firm Hiltzik Strategies, Matthew Hiltzik turns 53… Communications officer in the D.C. office of Open Society Foundations until earlier this month, Jonathan E. Kaplan… First-ever Jewish governor of Colorado, he was a successful serial entrepreneur before entering politics, Jared Polis turns 50… Professor of mathematics at Bar-Ilan University and a scientific advisor at the Y-Data school of data science in Israel, Elena Bunina turns 49… Italian politician, she is the first-ever Jewish mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro turns 49… Israeli pastry chef and parenting counselor, she is married to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Gilat Ethel Bennett turns 48… Author, blogger and public speaker, Michael Ellsberg turns 48… Senior advisor at Accelerator for America Action, Joshua Cohen… Technology and social media reporter at Bloomberg, Alexandra Sophie Levine… Senior director of government affairs at BridgeBio, Amanda Schechter Malakoff… Civics outreach manager at Google, Erica Arbetter… 

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s planned trip to Israel was reportedly scrubbed today. Hegseth had been slated to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz before joining President Donald Trump, who is traveling to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar next week for his first trip abroad since reentering office.
• The Financial Times Weekend Festival is taking place tomorrow in Washington. Scheduled speakers include former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, UnHerd’s Sohrab Ahmari, Rev. Johnnie Moore and Steve Bannon.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S HALEY COHEN

It’s not a coincidence that we’ve been focusing on Michigan a lot in these pages. It’s something of a battleground in the domestic politics surrounding antisemitism and the Middle East. Its universities have been among the epicenters of egregiously antisemitic activity. The state’s congressional delegation ranges from a stalwart ally of the state’s Jewish community in Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most radical anti-Israel voices in Congress.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that one of the leading officials in the state, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, found herself caught in political purgatory after abruptly dropping charges against seven University of Michigan students arrested for their role in anti-Israel demonstrations. The students were accused of assaulting police officers and engaging in ethnic intimidation.

Nessel, a Democrat, faced attacks from anti-Israel activists for bringing the case in the first place, and was subject to ugly smears that she only brought charges because of her Jewish identity. Tlaib has for months called on Nessel to recuse herself, arguing she only brought the case because of her “bias.” 

But after Nessel blamed a local Jewish communal organization for playing a role in dropping the case, she’s been facing friendly fire from many of her erstwhile Jewish allies as well. After she dropped the charges on Monday, she criticized the Ann Arbor Jewish Community Relations Council for writing a letter to the court defending her against accusations of bias, claiming it was inappropriate and may have tainted the case. 

In her statement, Nessel maintained the evidence against the suspects was strong, and otherwise would have led to a conviction.

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, told Jewish Insider that the organization has not heard from Nessel since releasing its statement. He said the letter was simply meant to “push back against these accusations against Nessel” and there is confusion over why or how it has compromised the case. 

It’s fair to ask whether Michigan’s charged intra-Democratic politics also played a role in the decision to drop the charges. Nessel is one of the Democratic Party’s leading officials in the state, and didn’t get a lot of public backing from her colleagues when she first brought the case. The Arab American community in the state is significant — and was mobilized against Nessel — often drowning out the Jewish and more-moderate voices looking for accountability for those engaging in antisemitic activity.

On top of that, President Donald Trump’s aggressive (and arguably illiberal) actions against elite colleges with checkered records on antisemitism have made the enforcement against antisemitic hate crimes a more partisan issue, making it uncomfortable for a Democrat who’s tough on enforcement to stand their ground.

The dropped charges also raise legal questions about the validity of the case to begin with — and whether a new precedent is now set for anti-Israel activity in the state, which has seen a spate of antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. 

“If the attorney general believes, as she said in her statement, that a reasonable jury would find the defendants guilty of the charges, we worry about the precedent this decision sets,” a spokesperson for the Michigan office of the Anti-Defamation League told JI. 

Grays’ Anatomy of a Gift: eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports on the recent $125 million gift by Jon and Mindy Gray to Tel Aviv University — the largest in both the school’s history and in the Grays’ giving to Israel causes. “For one of the largest donations ever made to Israeli academia, the ceremony marking the inauguration of the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University on Thursday morning was an understated affair — at least as understated as an event can be when it’s attended by one of the world’s top hedge fund managers, Blackstone President and COO Jonathan Gray; Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog; the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Blackstone Vice Chair Tom Nides; along with some of Israel’s top academics and medical professionals. … ‘We are American Jews who grew up on modest means far from Israel, in Chicago and Philadelphia. But thanks to our families, we have always known where our past was rooted: here in this sacred land, where orange trees were coaxed from the arid desert. Tragically, the unthinkable events of Oct. 7 awakened the need to express that connection in a far more concrete way,’ Jon Gray said, citing his family’s immigration to the United States at the end of the 19th century fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe.” [eJP]

Plan B, For Bomb: Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen suggests that the U.S. should take military action against Iran if Tehran doesn’t agree to dismantling its nuclear program. “Trump understands the nature of an Iranian regime that has plotted to assassinate American officials on American soil — including him. Like presidents before him, he has pledged that Iran will not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. Unlike presidents before him, he is now poised to deliver on that pledge and actually stop them. I don’t believe Trump will agree to a deal with Iran that is weaker than the deal Bush negotiated with Libya. If Trump can convince Iranian officials to allow U.S. military aircraft to land in their country, load up all of their uranium, centrifuges, bomb designs and ballistic missiles, and fly them to Oak Ridge — and agree to cease its support for terrorism — then Trump should sign on the dotted line. If not, then it’s time for Plan B — and for the United States and Israel to, in Trump’s words, ‘bomb the hell out of them.’” [WashPost]

Harvard’s Defiance: In The Wall Street Journal, Roland Fryer, an economics professor at Harvard and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, considers the clash between “economic interests and principle” as the university’s battles with the Trump administration. “My hope is that Harvard has realized its past wrongs and will resist these pressures going forward — allowing the university to determine and uphold its own core values. But two other theories would explain Harvard’s recent behavior just as well. One is political bias. Harvard’s leadership leans decidedly to the left and will likely be far friendlier to pressure from that direction. Its spine could thus weaken again once the presidency changes hands. The other explanation is simple economics. Like any institution, Harvard seeks to maximize its utility — prestige, endowment growth, influence. That might mean resisting federal policy that threatens core funding, but yielding quietly on symbolic or lower-stakes issues. Behavior under this explanation is determined not by veritas — truth, Harvard’s motto — but by coldly calculated costs and benefits. … I hope that Harvard’s current defiance is a burning-bush moment: a real commitment to institutional independence and to the search for truth that will last beyond a single presidency. The economist in me worries that it’s only another move in a political chess match — one in which the board tilts depending on who’s in power and which way the wind blows.” [WSJ] 

Portnoy’s Complaint: MSNBC columnist and New School professor Natalia Mehlman Petrzela considers how educators can combat antisemitism, following a recent antisemitic incident at a Philadelphia bar that garnered national attention. “Students should learn about Jewish history and identity as an important part of their study of the United States. Social studies curricula should teach about Jews as immigrants, Americans, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, and as members of a diverse community from many national and ethnic backgrounds who hold a range of views on any given topic, including Israel, and most importantly, as everyday people deserving of respect and full civil rights. Understanding antisemitism is of paramount importance, but it should not be addressed only in response to incidences of Jew hatred, or uniquely in relation to the Holocaust. Rather, antisemitism should be explained as a centuries-old hatred that shape-shifts depending on the historical moment, to be about religion, biology or culture, and as still very much with us. Teaching about Jewish identities and experiences, both of perseverance and success and of facing persistent discrimination, is important to understanding, and improving, our pluralistic society.” [MSNBC]

President Donald Trump met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Thursday during Dermer’s trip to Washington to discuss Gaza and ongoing nuclear talks with Iran…

Judea Pearl, the father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, clarified reports on Thursday that a terrorist tied to his son’s death had been killed by Indian forces in Pakistan; Pearl said that Abdul Rauf Azhar’s group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, “was not directly involved in the plot to abduct Danny, it was indirectly responsible. Azhar orchestrated the hijacking [of IC-814 in 1999] that led to the release of Omar Sheikh — the man who lured Danny into captivity”… 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin held a ceremony in his office with Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) in Washington, to inscribe letters into The Washington Torah and affix a mezuzah to his office door… 

The Trump administration canceled an additional $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University amid a growing battle between the school and the White House…

Claire Shipman, the acting president of Columbia University, released a five-minute video stridently criticizing the anti-Israel campus activists who disrupted hundreds of students studying in the school’s main library during finals week…

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) launched his Senate campaign challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA); Carter is the first Republican to enter the race to unseat Ossoff…

Ivanka Trump made her first public appearance since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year, speaking with Arianna Huffington at the Heartland Summit in Bentonville, Ark., about Planet Harvest, the produce company she co-founded after leaving her White House role in the first Trump administration…

The Washington Post reviews British author Rachel Cockerell’s Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promised Land, about her great-grandfather’s efforts to help Russian Jews emigrate to Galveston, Texas, in the early 20th century…

A British art dealer who appeared on the TV show “Bargain Hunt” pleaded guilty to a series of charges tied to his sale of art to a Hezbollah financier in violation of the country’s 2000 Terrorism Act…

Brigham Young University quarterback Jake Retzlaff is in Israel this week for his first trip to the Jewish state; Retzlaff, who is Jewish, is making the trip along with five teammates through an initiative run by Athletes for Israel…

The Adelson Family Foundation made a “transformative” seven-figure gift to the American Friends of Bar-Ilan University to help create the Israeli school’s Adelson Institute for Smart Materials, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

Former World Food Program head David Beasley, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000, is in talks with key stakeholders, including the Trump administration and Israeli government, to lead the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as the U.S., Israel and a number of aid groups work to address mounting food distribution challenges in Gaza…

The mother of Israeli hostage Tamir Nimrodi said her son, who was serving on the Nahal Oz base when he was taken captive alive by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, is one of three hostages whose status is unknown; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged earlier this week that Israel had not had signs of life since early in the war from three of the 24 hostages who were taken captive alive that day…

A Jewish jeweler from the Tunisian island of Djerba was injured in an axe attack days before thousands of Jews from around the world are slated to travel to the city for an annual Lag B’Omer pilgrimage; five people were killed in a terror attack targeting the city’s synagogue, the oldest in Africa, in 2023… 

The Walt Disney Co. announced plans to open a theme park on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, which CEO Bob Iger said will be “authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati”…

Paul Singer is stepping down as chair of the Manhattan Institute after 17 years in the role, and will be succeeded by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos…

Film director Ziad Doueiri, Forbes Executive Vice President Moira Forbes, staff from Iran International and Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner were honored last night at the America Abroad Media awards in Washington. Döpfner was introduced by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), who called him a “true groundbreaking innovator in the media landscape.”

Attendees at the dinner included U.S. Ambassador to Israel Yechiel Leiter, Deputy Middle East Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus, Brett Ratner, Elliot Ackerman, former Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Sara Bloomfield, Jan Bayer, Michael and Sofia Haft and Karim Sadjadpour.

Israeli actress, she appeared in 30 episodes of “Shtisel,” played the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “Unorthodox” and appeared as the Marvel superhero “Sabra” in the newest “Captain America” film, Shira Haas turns 30 on Sunday…

FRIDAY: Holocaust survivor, philanthropist and social activist, she marched in Selma, Ala., with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965, Eva Haller turns 95… Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter, James L. Brooks turns 85… Guitarist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock-pop-jazz group Blood, Sweat & Tears, Steve Katz turns 80… Israeli rabbi who is a co-founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yoel Bin-Nun turns 79… Mashgiach at Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Rabbi Beryl Weisbord turns 78… Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Michael Levitt turns 78… Pianist, singer-songwriter and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Billy Joel turns 76… Physician in Burlington, Vt., she was the first lady of Vermont from 1991 until 2003 when her husband (Howard Dean) was governor, Judith Steinberg Dean turns 72… Sharon Mallory Doble… Co-founder and board member of PlayMedia Systems, Brian D. Litman… Founding executive director of Chai Mitzvah, The Resource Center for Jewish Engagement, Audrey B. Lichter turns 70… Film director and producer, Barry Avrich turns 62… Staff writer at The Atlantic and author of five books, Mark Leibovich turns 60… Chair of Bain Capital and owner of a minority interest in the Boston Celtics, Jonathan Lavine turns 59… President of global affairs at Meta/Facebook, he was previously the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a law clerk for Justice Scalia, Joel D. Kaplan turns 56… NYC-based celebrity chiropractor, Arkady Aaron Lipnitsky, DC… and his twin brother, managing director at Baltimore’s Pimlico Capital, Victor “Yaakov” Lipnitsky both turn 52… VP at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Lesli Rosenblatt Gillette… Owner of NYC’s Dylan’s Candy Bar, Dylan Lauren turns 51… Executive director of the Richardson Center and former IDF paratrooper, he has negotiated the release of political prisoners worldwide, Michael “Mickey” Bergman turns 49… Deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs during the Biden administration, Aaron Scheinberg turns 44… Founder and managing member at Revelstoke PLLC, Danielle Elizabeth Friedman… Opinion columnist and podcast host at The New York Times, Ezra Klein turns 41… Jenna Weisbord… Principal at Blackstone Growth Israel, Nathaniel Rosen… Graduate of Harvard Law School, Mikhael Smits…

SATURDAY: Scion of a Hasidic dynasty and leader of the Beth Jehudah congregation in Milwaukee, Rabbi Michel Twerski… and his twin brother, who is a professor at Brooklyn Law School, following a career as dean at Hofstra University School of Law, Aaron Twerski, both turn 86… Real estate developer and principal owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Stephen M. Ross turns 85… Leading Democratic pollster and political strategist, Stanley Bernard “Stan” Greenberg turns 80… British actress, she is a vocal supporter of Israel, Dame Maureen Lipman turns 79… Israeli businessman and philanthropist, his family founded and owned Israel Discount Bank, Leon Recanati turns 77… Founder and CEO of OPTI Connectivity, Edward Brill… CEO of Medical Reimbursement Data Management in Chapel Hill, N.C., Robert Jameson… American-born Israeli singer, songwriter and music producer, Yehudah Katz turns 74… Claims examiner at Chubb Insurance, David Beck… Anchor for SportsCenter and other programs on ESPN since 1979, Chris “Boomer” Berman turns 70… Former NBA player whose career spanned 18 seasons on 7 teams, Danny Schayes turns 66… U.S. senator (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith turns 66… U.S. senator (R-UT), John Curtis turns 65… Reform rabbi living in Israel, she is the sister of actress Laura Silverman and comedian Sarah Silverman, Susan Silverman turns 62… Brazilian businessman, serial entrepreneur and partner with Donald Trump in Trump Realty Brazil, Ricardo Samuel Goldstein turns 59… Neil Winchel… Attorney general of Colorado, elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, he is running for governor of Colorado in 2026, Philip Jacob Weiser turns 57… Senior rabbi of Houston’s Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Brian Strauss turns 53… Israeli rock musician, singer-songwriter, music producer and author, Aviv Geffen turns 52… Editor-in-chief, recipe developer, art director and food stylist of Fleishigs, a kosher food magazine, Shifra Klein turns 43… Reporter for the Associated Press based in Israel, Melanie B. Lidman… Video games reporter at Bloomberg News, Jason Schreier turns 38… Manager of government affairs at the American Forest & Paper Association, Fara Klein Sonderling… Associate director of communications in the D.C. office of Pew Research Center, Rachel Weisel Drian… National correspondent for New York magazine, Gabriel Debenedetti… Editorial director at The Record by Recorded Future, Adam Janofsky… Actress who has appeared in many films and television series, Halston Sage (born Halston Jean Schrage) turns 32… Scriptwriter and actress, she is the daughter of Larry David, Cazzie Laurel David turns 31… Mollie Harrison…

SUNDAY: Israeli optical and kinetic artist and sculptor, born Yaacov Gibstein, Yaacov Agam turns 97… Sociologist and author, Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D. turns 80… Israeli social activist focused on issues of women’s and human rights, Iris Stern Levi turns 72… Treasurer and receiver-general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Deborah Beth Goldberg turns 71… Past president and then chairman of AIPAC, Morton Zvi Fridman, MD turns 67… Copy chief at Random House until 2023 and the author of Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, Benjamin Dreyer turns 67… Brian Mullen… Howard M. Pollack… CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, William Albert “Bill” Ackman turns 59… Michael Pregent… Member of the California state Senate since 2016, he is a co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, Scott Wiener turns 55… Co-founder and president of Omaha Productions, which he started with Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz… Filmmaker and podcast host, Dan Trachtenberg turns 44… Deputy chief of staff in the Office of the President at Carnegie Mellon University, Pamela Eichenbaum… Senior cost analyst at the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Michael Jeremy Alexander… PR and brand manager for overseas resource development at Leket Israel, Shira Woolf… Founder and CEO of the digital asset technology company Architect Financial Technologies, Brett Harrison turns 37… Staff writer at Time magazine, Olivia B. Waxman… Manager of paid search and e-commerce at Wavemaker, James Frichner… Paralympic track and field athlete, he is also a motivational speaker and disability rights advocate, Ezra Frech turns 20…

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Founder of Follow Team Israel, David Wiseman…

• Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s day to memorialize fallen soldiers and victims of terror, begins today at sundown. At 8 p.m. local time and again tomorrow morning, a siren will sound across the country.
• The House Homeland and Armed Services Committees will hold reconciliation markups today.
• The American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum wraps up in New York today. More below.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

President Donald Trump is facing growing political backlash to his aggressive agenda and executive actions, according to a flurry of new polling marking his 100th day in office. His job approval average has dipped to 44% (down from 52% when he took office), according to Nate Silver’s polling tracker, with sizable majorities now disapproving of his handling of the economy as well as many other pressing voter concerns.

The polling finds that even on issues Trump touted on the campaign trail to win support — tackling illegal immigration, providing economic security for the working class, targeting government waste and fighting antisemitism — the chaotic policy execution and championing of extreme solutions has sapped him of badly needed political capital. 

The New York Times/Siena survey released last weekend finds that a majority of Americans (54%) believe Trump is exceeding the powers available to him as president, while only 43% believe he’s abiding within constitutional norms.

All told, the polling paints a picture of an administration that correctly identified the challenges the country faces, but has badly misdiagnosed the right solutions, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.

A few examples from the NYT/Siena survey: Even as most Americans favor tougher crackdowns on illegal immigration, only 10% said they favored sending U.S. criminals to jail in El Salvador, just 17% support deporting immigrants who protested Israel and just 32% approve of the administration’s deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. Trump’s overall approval rating on immigration, once his strongest issue, is now underwater in most national polls.

While there’s been a populist undercurrent in the country in recent decades, Americans are nonetheless worried that Trump’s imposition of tariffs will only make the economy worse: A 56% majority said Trump’s tariff policies have “gone too far,” while only 8% said they haven’t gone far enough. All told, as economic experts warn of a possible recession amid stock market volatility, over half of Americans (55%) now disapprove of Trump’s economic performance, a marked reversal from his first term. 

On foreign policy, only 40% of respondents said they approve of Trump’s handling of international conflicts, and just 35% expressed approval of his handling of the war between Russia and Ukraine. And more Americans said they prioritize maintaining important relationships with allies (52%) rather than making sure other countries are paying their fair share (44%). 

And on the antisemitism front, the NYT/Siena poll findsthat only one-third of respondents favor withholding federal funds from certain universities, while 58% oppose Trump’s hardball tactics against such schools.

The results from the NYT/Siena poll, consistent with other national surveys, underscore that Trump misread his political mandate, assuming the views of his base matched the mood of the persuadable voters that swung his way. The new polling shows Trump has lost particularly significant ground since the election with Hispanics and Gen Z voters — two groups whose surprising levels of support secured Trump’s second term.

And while Democrats are facing historically low favorability ratings of their own amid a party-wide identity crisis, when voters are asked to look ahead to the 2026 midterms, they hold a three-point lead on the congressional ballot (47-44%). It’s a sign of how far Trump has fallen in the three months since his inauguration.

Going Radical in Pittsburgh: Tablet’s Armin Rosen does a deep dive into the background of Talya Lubit, a Jewish anti-Zionist activist who along with Mohamad Hamad is facing federal charges tied to the vandalism of a Pittsburgh Chabad. “If Lubit became an anti-Israel radical, it did not happen as the sole result of anything she did or experienced at Dickinson [College] — just as it didn’t happen only because of her parents’ divorce, or the influence of her conspiratorial stepfather, or her horror at Israeli conduct in Gaza, or a romantically self-sacrificing male influence like Hamad. She was radicalized for reasons that are both convenient and inconvenient. Thousands of civilians really have died in Gaza, for instance, though the great majority of people who care about this fact, including ones who blame Israel for every single one of those deaths, haven’t vandalized a synagogue in response. At some point, Lubit’s sympathy for the vulnerable and her insistence on bold truth-telling devoured her sense of judgement and proportion. Long before that, she was a sociable person with a contrarian and humanistic streak who never really fit in. As one college classmate put it, ‘she is someone who I think is always looking for community and has been pushed away.’” [Tablet]

The Oldest Hatred, Anew: In The Washington Post, Clive Gillenson considers the millennia-old existence of antisemitism. “In the end, no theory can fully explain antisemitism, because it is not based on a rational cause. It adapts to each era’s anxieties and insecurities. When Jews are poor, they are despised as beggars; when they are rich, as exploiters; when they are religious, they are portrayed as fanatics; when they are secular, they are dangerous radicals. In every situation, antisemites have no problem adapting their prejudices. Thus, antisemitism, if it is about the need to have someone else to blame, may well not be about Jews at all. Jews have survived because they have no choice but to survive, and in doing so, they have outlasted every empire, ideology and movement that sought to erase them. Perhaps antisemitism still exists only because humanity has so often needed it.” [WashPost]

Class Crisis: The Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Hennessey laments the decline of respectful and thoughtful engagement across the political and media spectrums. “Personal qualities once synonymous with good character have fallen so far out of fashion as to seem like rumors from an ancient age. Did athletes really once accept defeat with dignity? Did people really restrain themselves from saying everything that popped into their heads? Did known philanderers refrain from trying to mount political comebacks? Did ex-presidents stay out of the limelight as a courtesy to their successors? Yes, kids, there was a time when prominent people were expected to exhibit grace. You couldn’t smack someone in the face on the Oscars broadcast and expect to resume your career in Hollywood. Shooting a CEO in cold blood earned you no fans. … Let it be acknowledged that the good old days weren’t all class, all the time. Politics, in particular, has always rewarded a degree of ruthlessness. Some of history’s greatest monsters hid their depravity behind a smile. But it was long said that hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. There was something laudable about the impulse to couch vulgarity with an apology. It seems we’ve lost even that.” [WSJ]

President Donald Trump sat for a wide-ranging interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer weeks after Goldberg was included on a Signal thread with senior Trump administration officials who discussed plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen…

An F-18 fighter jet fell off the USS Harry S. Truman and sank in the Red Sea after the aircraft carrier was forced to make a sharp turn to avoid a missile that had been fired by the Iran-backed Houthis…

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won the country’s federal elections on Monday, beating the Conservative Party and its leader, Pierre Poilievre, who is also projected to lose his own seat in Parliament…

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators reached a compromise over proposed legislation around the use of face masks; the state will create a new charge for individuals who commit a crime while wearing a mask or flee the scene of a crime while masked…

House committees are beginning work this week on Republicans’ reconciliation package, the massive federal budget bill that would implement key elements of the Trump administration’s agenda, including extending tax cuts and implementing budget increases and reductions across the federal government, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) launched her bid for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN)…

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who had battled esophageal cancer, announced he will not seek reelection in 2026 following the disease’s return; Connolly said he will “soon” step down from his position as ranking member of the House Oversight Committee…

The New York Times profiles Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as he and his supporters advocate for a “Resistance 2.0” approach to the Trump administration…

Justice Democrats is backing a primary challenger to Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District as the far-left group looks to target Democrats in the upcoming congressional elections cycle… 

A new book by The Wall Street Journal’s Keach Hagey revealed that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman mulled running for political office, including president and governor of California; Altman has denied the claims…

House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) wrote to Northwestern University President Michael Schill on Monday summoning him to appear before the committee for a transcribed interview about alleged failures to protect Jewish students, nearly a year after he gave testimony at a committee hearing, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Harvard University rebranded its office of diversity, equity and inclusion as the Office of Community and Campus Life, headed by the school’s former chief diversity officer, whose new title will be chief community and campus life officer, amid growing tensions between the school and the Trump administration over Harvard’s handling of antisemitism…

Nike apologized for a recent billboard positioned at the end of the London Marathon that read “Never Again. Until Next Year,” following an outcry from Jewish communal leaders over the company’s use of the term, which is often associated with Holocaust remembrance…

Kiss’ Gene Simmons listed his Beverly Hills home for nearly $14 million; the musician purchased the home for $10.5 million in 2021…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights Brandon Shorenstein, who took over his family’s San Francisco-based property company shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic and has overseen it through years of market upheaval…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in London on Monday…

International Criminal Court judges informed Karim Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor, that he cannot publicize or announce his pursuance of warrants for Israeli officials; the move comes ahead of plans by Khan to seek additional arrest warrants for Israeli officials, following the issuance last year of warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant…

Shin Bet head Ronen Bar said he will step down from his position on June 15, amid a public and polarizing clash with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who tried to dismiss him in March, a move which was suspended by the Supreme Court…

Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and Virgin Atlantic will not resume direct flights to Israel; Virgin Atlantic will maintain its codeshare partnership with El Al despite the cessation of its own flights…

Iran proposed a meeting with British, French and German officials in Rome later this week, ahead of the next scheduled nuclear talks between Iranian and American negotiators…

The Financial Times looks at how Iran is addressing ground subsidence that is increasingly causing safety and infrastructure issues around the country…

The New York Times reports on distrust among the Kurdish population in Syria about the new government, backed by Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham, with which the Kurds’ Syrian Democratic Forces have previously battled in northeastern Syria…

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (right) met this week in Tel Aviv with Emirati Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja.

Israeli-born, NYC resident, stand-up comedian, actor and sometimes chazan, Modi Rosenfeld turns 55…

Nobel Prize-winning economist, professor at MIT, known for his analysis of Social Security policy, Peter Diamond turns 85… Co-founder of the NYSE-traded homebuilding company Toll Brothers, Bruce E. Toll turns 82… Retired U.S. senator (D-MI), she completed her 24 years in the Senate this past January, Debbie Stabenow turns 75… Marcy Smith… SVP of communications and journalist in residence at University of Maryland Global Campus, Michael Freedman… Comedian, actor, writer, producer and director, he is best known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the 180 episodes of the sitcom “Seinfeld,” Jerry Seinfeld turns 71… London-born actor with three Academy Awards for best actor, knighted at Buckingham Palace in 2014, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis turns 68… Sportscaster, best known as the radio and television play-by-play announcer for MLB’s New York Mets, Gary Cohen turns 67… Co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, Marc Bernays Randolph turns 67… Israeli diplomat, she was Israel’s ambassador to Latvia and then to Ireland, Lironne Bar Sadeh turns 66… Former NYC comptroller, now a candidate for mayor of NYC, Scott M. Stringer turns 65… CEO and chairman of 20th Century Fox until its acquisition by Disney, Stacey Snider turns 64… CEO of the United Democracy Project, Rob Bassin… Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, he is the author of many books including Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely turns 58… NYC-based award-winning artist who works with sound, kinetics, optics, magnetism and other materials to make sculptures and photographs, Julianne Swartz turns 58… Film and television actor, Paul Adelstein turns 56… Executive at a NYC-based investment management firm, Bennett J. Schachter turns 50… Minister of environmental protection in Israel’s prior government, Tamar “Tami” Zandberg turns 49… SVP of the Leon Levine Foundation and director of operations for the Levine family office, Justin Steinschriber… Israeli model and actress, she has appeared in many American movies, TV shows and advertisements, Bar Paly turns 43… Director of the office of government relations at the Smithsonian Institution, Anne Brachman… Commercial, industrial and residential real estate developer in the Mid-Atlantic region, Samuel A. Neuberger… Director of government affairs for Teach Coalition, Daniel Mitzner… Baseball pitcher for Team Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Jonathan de Marte turns 32… Surfer, she represented Israel at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Anat Lelior turns 25…

• The American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum continues today. John Spencer, Ellie Cohanim and Bill Kristol will all speak on the main stage.
• Canadians head to the polls today in a federal election pitting Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal Party against Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
• The Hostage and Missing Families Forum is hosting an event tonight at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan featuring former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani as well as the relatives of slain hostages Omer Neutra, Itay Chen and Shiri Bibas.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

As official Washington spent this weekend at the parties surrounding the White House Correspondents Dinner, an intimate group of moderate Democratic elected officials, policy wonks and strategists met in Denver to present ideas for rehabilitating their party from the center, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar reports in a dispatch from the event.

Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), gathered together a lineup of prominent Colorado centrists — Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), among them — along with some former red-state Democratic officials, including former Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) and former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) to brainstorm ideas for a new moderate movement. 

Of note: Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), a rising star in the party who is rumored to be mulling a Senate bid as Bennet runs for governor, was in attendance and gave a paean to former President Bill Clinton’s brand of politics, directly quoting from a seminal speech from the then-candidate breaking with the left and calling for a more-mainstream direction for the party. 

Neguse quoted from Clinton’s 1991 Democratic Leadership Council speech: “Our burden is to give the people a new choice rooted in old values, a new choice that is simple, that offers opportunity, demands responsibility, gives citizens more of a say, provides them responsive government.”

Neguse, Colorado’s first Black member of Congress, first ran for office as a progressive but has grown more pragmatic over time — and sounded like the type of future national leader the party is looking for. If Bennet wins the governorship in 2026, Neguse would be a strong contender to be appointed to his Senate seat.

Not at the moderate Democratic event: Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is running for governor and will be clashing with Bennet in the primary. In an interview with JI at an outreach event for Black voters, Weiser said he plans to position himself as a “populist problem solver” — while playing up his strong voice against President Donald Trump’s policies. 

Weiser touted the fact that he’s already filed 13 lawsuits against the Trump administration, saying he’s on the front lines of fighting the “lawlessness of the White House.” In the campaign, he plans to contrast his active record litigating Trump’s immigration and tariff policies in the state with Bennet’s time as a lawmaker in Washington. 

But Weiser also sounded like he would be tacking to the senator’s left in the primary. 

Weiser’s speech on Saturday centered on how he would fight to protect DEI programs in the state. Asked about what he thought about the Democratic Socialists of America movement — which has a foothold within the party in Denver — he noted their “deep empathy for how working class people are struggling.” He also noted that he endorsed against a DSA-backed legislator who went on an anti-Israel, antisemitic rant in the state House. 

Weiser, who speaks openly about his Jewish faith, also slammed the Trump administration for its overreach in cracking down against antisemitism, saying he was “horrified” about Trump’s actions. “Using antisemitism as a cudgel against marginalized individuals or to take away freedom is so horrifying to me,” he told JI.  

Bennet, for his part, underscored how Colorado is one of the biggest Democratic success stories because it has nominated candidates who focus on returning results over red-meat slogans. On a PPI panel, he talked passionately about how the country’s health care and education systems are broken — and the Democratic Party has done little to fix it. 

“Where is our agenda to reform the education system for the American people? Joe Biden said not a word about it, and these people deserve better than Donald Trump, who is destroying both what’s left of our health care system and what’s left of our education!” 

He added: “Trump is not the cause of all our problems. He is the symptom of the lack of economic mobility that we have, the sense that people no matter how hard they work, can’t get ahead.”

Power Chats: Semafor’s Ben Smith spotlights the growing use of “power group chats,” in which dozens, or sometimes hundreds, of power brokers and public figures engage in debate and conversation through the group messaging features of Signal and WhatsApp. “But their influence flows through X, Substack, and podcasts, and constitutes a kind of dark matter of American politics and media. The group chats aren’t always primarily a political space, but they are the single most important place in which a stunning realignment toward Donald Trump was shaped and negotiated, and an alliance between Silicon Valley and the new right formed. … The chats are occasionally marked by the sort of thing that would have gotten you scolded on Twitter in 2020, and which would pass unremarked-on on X in 2025. They have rarely been discussed in public, though you can catch the occasional mention in, for instance, a podcast debate between [Mark] Cuban and the Republican entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, which started in a chat. But they are made visible through a group consensus on social media. Their effects have ranged from the mainstreaming of the monarchist pundit Curtis Yarvin to a particularly focused and developed dislike of the former Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz.” [Semafor]

Has Ben-Gvir Really Changed?: The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood reflects on his interaction with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at an event in New Haven, Conn., in which Ben-Gvir was pressed about his previous support for Jewish extremist Baruch Goldstein, whose portrait was displayed for decades in Ben-Gvir’s home. “[Ben-Gvir] framed his transformation as moral, and said he was not who he was when he was 17. Getting married and having six kids mellows a man out, he said. His whole answer took no more than a couple of minutes. I told Ben-Gvir that I found his contrition perfunctory and unconvincing, and I challenged him, if he was sincere, to prove it. I asked him to tell us all what it was like to idolize a murderer — and then to tell us what he would say to his younger self, or someone still in the thrall of a terrorist, to persuade him to give up violence and mellow out sooner rather than later. He couldn’t even bring himself to pretend. He just asserted that he had changed. ‘I’m sure you did things when you were 17 that you are not proud of,’ he said. (He removed the portrait when he was 44.) And he said again that time and family make a difference — but he added not a word about the inherent value of human life, or the disgrace brought upon religion and country by someone who massacres civilians, especially in a moment of total vulnerability.” [TheAtlantic]

Corbyn-ism Coming to America: In the Jewish Chronicle, Shany Mor raises concerns about the “Corbynization” of left-wing American circles. “As with so many more benign trends, Britain is just ten or so years ahead of the US. And the long march of geostrategic antisemitism’s institutional capture in the US is only about a decade behind Britain’s. Each major milestone – the capture of academia, the arts world, the various NGOs, a few major newspapers and journals of the smart set – was reached on these shores well before crossing the pond. And just as in Britain, so in the United States there is no realistic path to building a majority coalition around antisemitism either in its geostrategic or conventional forms. … American liberals, American Jews, and especially liberal American Jews would be well advised to be extra vigilant about this British import, which no tariff will protect them from. The British experience of the 2010s has a few useful lessons and warnings for what awaits the Americans in the 2020s.” [JewishChronicle]

American and Iranian negotiators concluded a third round of nuclear talks in Oman over the weekend, amid disagreements over Iran’s domestic uranium enrichment; the parties will meet in Europe in the coming weeks…

The Trump administration restored thousands of foreign student visas — largely for students who had committed minor or dismissed infractions — that had been previously revoked…

Donald Trump Jr., alongside investment banker Omeed Malik and Alex Witkoff, the son of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, is opening a members club in Washington; Malik’s 1789 Capital had previously invested in Tucker Carlson’s new media company…

The chair of the United Arab Emirate’s Executive Affairs Authority met in Washington last week with senior Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff…

Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Troy Carter (D-LA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced a resolution commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month… 

Reps. David Kustoff (R-TN) and Wasserman Schultz introduced legislation to enable Holocaust survivors to recoup pre-Holocaust insurance policies, the latest in a long series of congressional attempts to move the issue forward…

The Los Angeles Times spotlights a lawsuit between Irish hotelier Patrick McKillen and members of the Qatari royal family over the alleged lack of payment for work done on the Maybourne Beverly Hills…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke on Friday to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro about the recent arson attack at the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg…

In The Wall Street Journal, Eugene Kontorovich calls on the Trump administration to again withdraw from UNESCO over what he alleges is antisemitism within the body, years after the Biden administration reversed a decision by the first Trump administration to pull out…

The NYPD is investigating clashes that took place last week outside of Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, between demonstrators and counterprotesters during a surprise visit by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir…

“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley addressed the recent departure of the show’s executive producer in the final minutes of Sunday’s episode; Pelley cited disagreements with CBS parent company Paramount+ over the show’s coverage of “the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration”…

In the latest episode of HBO’s “The Rehearsal,” comic Nathan Fielder compared Paramount+ to Nazi Germany after discovering that a 2015 episode of his “Nathan for You” comedy series that dealt with antisemitism was removed from the streaming service… 

NPR spotlights the “shlissel challah,” a key-shaped loaf that is traditionally made the Shabbat after Passover…

Israel slammed the Spanish government’s cancellation of a €6.6 million deal that would have seen Madrid purchase 15 million bullets from Israel’s IMI Systems…

Israel sent its envoy to the Vatican, Yaron Sideman, to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, opting against sending an official Israeli delegation, days after Israel’s Foreign Ministry deleted a post memorializing the pontiff, who died last week…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Shin Bet head Ronen Bar of lying to an Israeli court that Netanyahu had demanded personal loyalty from him… 

Senior Biden administration official Amos Hochstein said that Israel “missed” an opportunity to reach a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia last year…

Hussein al-Sheikh was appointed vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization amid an ongoing debate over who will succeed 91-year-old Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas… 

Israel struck a Hezbollah facility in southern Beirut that contained precision missiles on Sunday evening…

At least 40 people were killed in an explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran following the outbreak of a small fire in a section of the port with large shipping containers…

Iran’s Infrastructure Communications Company said it repelled a large cyber attack the day after the port explosion…

Amateur golfer Jay Sigel, whose plans to go pro were deferred for several decades by a college injury, died at 81…

Attorney and professor Menachem Rosensaft, who was born in a displaced persons camp at Bergen-Belsen, spoke at a memorial ceremony on Sunday at the concentration camp marking the 80th anniversary of its liberation. 

Comedy writer, television producer and showrunner, Daniel Joshua Goor turns 50…

Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., he also served four terms in the Knesset, Zalman Shoval turns 95… White House chief of staff for Presidents Reagan and Bush 41, secretary of the Treasury and secretary of state, James Baker turns 95… Retired judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals (now known as the Supreme Court of Maryland), Judge Irma Steinberg Raker turns 87… Retired four-star United States Marine Corps general, Robert Magnus turns 78… Retired SVP and COO of IPRO and former president of the Bronx/Riverdale YM-YWHA and the Riverdale Jewish Center, Harry M. Feder… Cantor who has served in Galveston, Texas, Houston and Buffalo, N.Y., Sharon Eve Colbert… Criminal defense attorney, Abbe David Lowell turns 73… Director of congregational engagement at Temple Beth Sholom of Miami Beach, Fla., Mark Baranek… Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Elena Kagan turns 65… American-born Israeli writer and translator, David Hazony turns 56… Director of criminal justice innovation, development and engagement at USDOJ during the Biden administration, Karen C. Friedman… Retired soccer player, she played for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team from 1997 to 2000, Sara Whalen Hess turns 49… Founder of GlobeTrotScott Strategies, Scott Mayerowitz… Actress and film critic, she is the writer and star of the CBC comedy series “Workin’ Moms,” Catherine Reitman turns 44… Model, actress and TV host, known for her role in the soap opera “Fashion House,” Donna Feldman turns 43… CEO and founder of The Branch, Ravi Gupta… Freelance journalist, formerly at ESPN and Sports Illustrated, Jason Schwartz… Senior editor at Politico Magazine, Benjamin Isaac Weyl… President of Saratoga Strategies, a D.C.-based strategic communications and crisis management firm, Joshua Schwerin… Head coach of the women’s soccer team at Yeshiva University, Ryan Alexander Hezekiah Adeleye turns 38… Israeli artist and photographer, Neta Cones… Marketing director at College Golf Experience, Jeffrey Hensiek… Associate in the finance department of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, Robert S. Murstein… Senior reporter for Cybersecurity Dive, Eric J. Geller… Founder and CEO of Diamond Travel Services and CEO of A Better Way ABA, Ahron Fragin… Midfielder for Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls, Daniel Ethan Edelman turns 22…

• Technical talks on Iran’s nuclear program are taking place in Oman this weekend. More below.
• Elsewhere in the region, CENTCOM head Gen. Erik Kurilla is in Israel for meetings with senior officials to discuss Iran.
• The White House Correspondent’s Dinner will take place tomorrow night at the Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle.
• President Donald Trump will attend the funeral of Pope Francis tomorrow in the Vatican.
• Former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is facing at least two years in prison when he is sentenced today for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
• The American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum kicks off on Sunday in New York. More below.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MARC ROD

The American Jewish Committee’s annual Global Forum Conference kicks off this weekend in New York. AJC’s CEO Ted Deutch told Jewish Insider that the organization is expecting over 2,000 attendees.

“It’s been clear since Oct. 7 [and] in everything we’ve seen since, the challenges that the Jewish community in Israel are facing are global challenges and they require global responses,” Deutch said. “AJC has people in 40 places around the world — 25 offices in the U.S., 15 more around the world — this is the opportunity for all of that global advocacy, all of those global advocates, to come together.”

Headline speakers will include Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, who moved his country’s embassy to Jerusalem last year and yesterday designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and expanded Paraguay’s terrorist designations of the armed wings of Hezbollah and Hamas to encompass the entirety of both organizations. In addition, outspoken pro-Israel members of the European and Brazilian legislatures, as well as Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Auburn University basketball coach Bruce Pearl, will address the gathering. John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, and former Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass will be speaking.

Deutch said there will be a significant focus on the hostages — Noa Argamani and the family of Edan Alexander will be in attendance.

The event will also feature a debate between Ellie Cohanim, the former deputy antisemitism envoy in the first Trump administration, and Bill Kristol, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle, on American leadership in the world and the implications of Trump’s America First foreign policy.

While not yet confirmed, Deutch said that the Trump administration had “expressed great interest” in sending a representative to speak at the conference.

Deutch also teased the announcement of a new collaborative effort to “help document antisemitism and the need to really confront it in all of its contemporary forms.”

In total, attendees and speakers will hail from more than 60 countries, including a feature discussion with Jewish community members from France, Mexico and Australia. Students will come from 46 U.S. colleges and universities and 27 other countries including Mexico, South Africa, North Macedonia and Australia. Young leaders from 14 countries who are part of AJC’s Access Global program will also be in attendance.

Deutch told JI that seeing university students step up as leaders and work together to strengthen each other has become “one of my favorite parts of AJC.” He said that there will also be opportunities for AJC’s campus programs to work with the World Union of Jewish Students and the European Union of Jewish Students and meet with Deutch and other AJC leaders.

“We’ve continued to work under the firm belief that the most important battlefield in the fight against antisemitism in the United States right now is in education,” Deutch added. He said that the conference will feature conversations with officials and activists at all levels, with a focus on both college and high school.

Speaking to JI at AJC’s offices in Washington this week, Deutch also delved into the nuanced approach AJC is taking on the Trump administration’s high-profile actions on campus antisemitism, including stripping grants from colleges and large-scale deportations of student visa holders, as well as offering an outlook on the ongoing Iran talks. Read more below.

The Last Waltz: The Atlantic’s Isaac Stanley-Becker does a deep dive into the recent upheaval and series of dismissals at the National Security Council coupled with President Donald Trump’s growing “distrust” of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. “The result is that Waltz remains on the job even as he has effectively lost control over his own NSC. The erosion of his authority extends to both policy and personnel. On the priorities that matter most to the president, Waltz has less influence than Stephen Miller, the homeland-security adviser and deputy White House chief of staff for policy, whose team is part of the NSC. Miller treats the advisory body not as a forum to weigh policy options, current and former officials told me, but as a platform to advance his own hard-line immigration agenda. On the most sensitive geopolitical issues, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and U.S. interests in the Middle East, Trump’s longtime friend and special envoy, Steve Witkoff, sometimes draws on the support of the NSC staff but often operates independently, officials said.” [TheAtlantic]

The Dermer Doctrine: The Washington Post’s Shira Rubin looks at Israeli Strategic Minister Ron Dermer’s role in working to facilitate a potential U.S.-Saudi-Israeli mega-deal. “Dermer, 54, is technically Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, but he is widely viewed as Israel’s unofficial foreign minister, and his rise has helped shape the country’s relationship with Washington, the Palestinians and the wider Arab world. … While the Saudis have pinned their hopes on Dermer — seeing him as Netanyahu’s ‘right hand man, who is extremely influential and effective,’ according to Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University — normalization is a harder sell than it’s been before, he said. The war in Gaza has made it more difficult for Saudi Arabia to pursue negotiations with Israel, as Saudi youth have increasingly taken up the Palestinian cause. And Netanyahu’s resistance to Palestinian statehood and the push by some members of his far-right government to resettle Gaza and expel its residents are a challenge to the kingdom’s ambitions to stabilize and modernize the region.” [WashPost]

Alternate Approach: In Foreign Policy, the Council on Foreign Relations’ Steven Cook argues against both military strikes and diplomacy to address Iran’s nuclear program. “Only once policymakers in Washington understand the Iranian sociopolitical order that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his successor built does a superior policy become clear: doing more of what Washington has already been doing. Maintaining sanctions on Iran, preventing the regime and its proxies from destabilizing the region, and responding to them when they try, as well as providing moral support for the Iranian opposition, provide the United States with the best chance for the regime to collapse in on itself. Such an approach is not without risk, however, as Iranian scientists continue to work diligently to develop their nuclear program. But it is the most realistic and feasible policy toward rendering Tehran’s nuclear program less worrisome.” [ForeignPolicy]

Hitting Harvard: In The Hill, attorney Mark Goldfeder reflects on Harvard’s response to the Trump administration’s funding cuts and freezes, which it has blamed on the school’s handling of campus antisemitism. “The bottom line is this: We are living at an inflection point in our country’s history, and it is time for everyone to take a long, hard look in the mirror to see where they stand. If you are fine with protesters using their free speech to incite anti-Jewish hate, but not with the government using its free speech to stand up for the Jews; if you are okay with the IRS revoking tax breaks for racist institutions, but not for ones who ignore antisemitism; if you romanticize leaders of groups that endorse the murder of Jews, yet call it ‘unlawful’ when the government enforces civil rights; and if you care so much about ‘illegal’ detentions that you simply must get on a plane and act, but only when the person being held is not Jewish, well, there is a word for that, and it isn’t pretty.” [TheHill]

The Department of Health and Human Services Task Force to Combat Antisemitism said it was “cautiously encouraged” by Yale’s efforts in recent days to swiftly address anti-Israel activity, including the brief establishment of an encampment on the campus…

Ed Martin, the Trump administration’s pick to be U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., who is currently serving in an interim role, apologized for his recent praise of a Nazi sympathizer with a history of making antisemitic comments…

Joe Kasper, who served as chief of staff to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is departing the Pentagon entirely, days after reports that he would be reassigned out of Hegseth’s office… 

The Financial Times spotlights Brian Ballard’s lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which previously employed several members of the Trump administration and includes clients in Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia…

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff rejected a proposal from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to attempt to reach an interim nuclear agreement, saying that the parties should work to reach a comprehensive deal by the end of the 60-day window given by the Trump administration…

Puck’s William Cohan interviews former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, previously the president of Harvard, about the Trump administration’s approaches to tariffs and academia…

In Time, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin called for the party’s senior officials to abstain from intervening in Democratic primaries, days after DNC Vice Chair David Hogg pledged to back insurgent candidates through an outside spending group…

Far-left New York state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who is mounting a bid for mayor of New York City, released his first ad of the race, targeting front-runner and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo…

Adam Neumann’s real estate startup Flow raised over $100 million in a Series B funding round with backing from Andreessen Horowitz…

The Washington Post reviews Richard Kreitner’s Fear No Pharaoh, which spotlights Jewish American views on abolition in the Civil War era…

The International Criminal Court’s appeals chamber unanimously ruled to return to a lower chamber an Israeli challenge to a ruling regarding jurisdiction in the issuance of arrest warrants of senior Israeli officials to a lower court…

Israel acknowledged its responsibility for the death of a Bulgarian aid worker who was killed in a strike last month on a U.N. guesthouse in Gaza where the IDF said it had “assessed enemy presence”…

Documentarian Andrea Nevins, whose short film “Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies” was nominated for an Oscar in 1998, died at 63…

Author and researcher Leonard Zeskind, whose work focused on far-right and white nationalist movements, died at 75…

Attorney and art collector Arthur Fleischer Jr. died at 92…

Nechama Grossman, the oldest Holocaust survivor in Israel, died yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, at 110…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem on Thursday with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Laura Friedman (D-CA).

Former chairman of the Conference of Presidents and previously president of Bed, Bath and Beyond, Arthur Stark turns 70… 

FRIDAY: Retired attorney, Myron “Mike” Sponder… Social worker and former health spokesman of the Green Party of the U.K., he is the older brother of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Larry Sanders turns 90… Co-founder of Lender’s Bagel Bakery, he was the national chair of UJA, Marvin Lender turns 84… Founder of Omega Advisors, Leon G. “Lee” Cooperman turns 82… Former CEO of Caravan Products and the H.C. Brill Co., Joseph (Joe) Weber turns 80… Founder of CAM Capital, Bruce Stanley Kovner turns 79… Rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University and rabbi of the Young Israel of Riverdale Synagogue, Rabbi Mordechai Willig turns 78… David Handleman… Longtime chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures, now president of Through The Lens Entertainment, Bruce Berman turns 73… Administrative law judge at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Beth A. Fox… Commissioner of the National Basketball Association, Adam Silver turns 63… Senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, Michael Scott Doran turns 63… Litigator at Quinn Emanuel, he served as U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Obama administration and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, Andrew H. Schapiro turns 62… Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian and producer, he is descended from a Sephardic family rooted in Thessaloniki, Hank Azaria turns 61… Infomercial pitchman, better known as Vince Offer, Vince Shlomi, or “The ShamWow Guy,” Offer Shlomi turns 61… Israeli diplomat who served as deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Israel in D.C., Benjamin Krasna turns 60…

CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester (NY) since 2016, Meredith Dragon… New York Times-bestselling author and adjunct professor of neuroscience at Stanford University, David Eagleman turns 54… Deputy director of community health at the Utah Department of Human Services, David E. Litvack turns 53… Manager of the Oakland Ballers baseball team in the Pioneer League until last July, Micah Franklin turns 53… Democratic Party strategist, she is a co-founder of Lift Our Voices, Julie Roginsky turns 52… President of the Alliance for Downtown New York, the nation’s largest business improvement district, Jessica S. Lappin turns 50… Senior-editor-at-large for Breitbart News, Joel Barry Pollak turns 48… Attorney turned grocer and now professor at American University, she founded and sold Glen’s Garden Market north of Dupont Circle, Danielle Brody Rosengarten Vogel… Co-founder of WeWork and now Flow, Adam Neumann turns 46… Executive director at Yaffed, Adina Mermelstein Konikoff… Managing director, head of social, content and influencer at Deloitte Digital, Kenneth R. Gold… Spokesperson and director of public affairs and planning division at FEMA during the Biden administration, now SVP at Avoq, Jaclyn Rothenberg… Film and television actress, model and singer, Sara Paxton turns 37… Staff writer at Daily Kos, Emily Cahn Singer… Former NHL ice hockey defenseman, now a color analyst for Westwood One and ESPN, Colby Shane Cohen turns 36… TikTok Star with 10 million social media followers and over 3 billion annual views, he runs the culinary website CookWithChefEitan, Eitan Bernath turns 23…

SATURDAY: Computer expert, author, lecturer, Jewish genealogy researcher and publisher of Avotaynu, the International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Gary Mokotoff turns 88… Retired Federation executive in Los Angeles, Oakland and Sacramento, Loren Basch… Investment banker and chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers through its bankruptcy filing in 2008, Richard S. Fuld Jr. turns 79… Professor of computer science and engineering at MIT, Hal Abelson turns 78… Chair of the Conference of Presidents, Harriet P. Schleifer… President of Brandeis University from 2016 until last November, Ronald D. Liebowitz turns 68… Moscow-born journalist and political activist in Israel, Avigdor Eskin turns 65… Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributing editor of The Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch turns 65… London-based interfaith social activist, she founded and chaired Mitzvah Day International, Laura Marks turns 65… Journalist, biographer and the author of six books, Jonathan Eig turns 61… Former member of the Maryland House of Delegates for four years and then the Maryland State Senate for eight years, Roger Manno turns 59… Former member of the California State Assembly where he served as chairman of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, Marc Levine turns 51… Member of the NYC Council for six years and now a recently elected member of the NY State Assembly, Kalman Yeger turns 51… General partner of Coatue Management, Benjamin Schwerin… Senior staff editor of the international desk of The New York Times, Russell Goldman turns 45… Senior director of federal government affairs at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Karas Pattison Gross… Media relations manager at NPR, Benjamin Fishel… London-based reporter for The Wall Street Journal covering finance, he is the co-author of a book on WeWork, Eliot Brown… Male fashion model and actor, Brett Novek turns 41… Head coach of the UC Irvine Anteaters baseball program, he played for Team Israel in the 2012 World Baseball Classic, Ben Orloff turns 38… Communications director at the University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance, Alisha Katz… Product strategy services at Apple, Kenneth Zauderer… Washington correspondent for The Epoch Times, Jackson C. Richman… Board liaison at American Jewish World Service, he is also a part-time matchmaker at Tribe 12, Ross Beroff… Ahron Singer…

SUNDAY: Financial executive, he retired in 2014 as head of marketing for money manager Van Eck Global, Harvey Hirsch turns 84… Nonprofit executive who has managed the 92nd Street Y, the Robin Hood Foundation, the AT&T Foundation and Lincoln Center, Reynold Levy turns 80… U.S. senator (R-WV), Jim Justice turns 74… Physician and a former NASA astronaut, she is a veteran of three shuttle flights with more than 686 hours in space, Ellen Louise Shulman Baker, M.D., M.P.H. turns 72… Director-general of the Israel Antiquities Authority until 2020, he was previously a member of Knesset and deputy director of the Shin Bet, Yisrael Hasson turns 70… VP at Covington Fabric & Design, Donald Rifkin… Biologist and professor of pathology and genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine, he won the 2006 Nobel Prize for medicine, Andrew Zachary Fire turns 66… Co-founder of Casamigos Tequila and owner of restaurants, bars and lounges worldwide, Rande Gerber turns 63… Former member of the Knesset for the Shinui party, Yigal Yasinov turns 59… CEO of ZAM Asset Management, Elliot Mayerhoff… Showrunner, director, screenwriter and producer, Brian Koppelman turns 59… Founder and CEO of NYC-based Gotham Ghostwriters, Daniel Gerstein turns 58… Israeli actor, entertainer and television host, Yitzhak “Aki” Avni turns 58… Attorney and journalist, Dahlia Lithwick… Author, political analyst and nationally syndicated op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, Dana Milbank turns 57… U.S. senator (D-NJ) since 2013, he was previously the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker turns 56… Israeli television and radio journalist and former member of the Knesset for the Jewish Home party, Yinon Magal turns 56… Professor of science writing at MIT, Seth Mnookin turns 53… Cinematographer and director, Rachel Morrison turns 47… Identical twin brothers, between the two of them they won 11 Israeli championships in the triathlon between 2001 and 2012, Dan and Ran Alterman both turn 45… Israeli screenwriter and producer, she has written numerous advertisements and screenplays, Savion Einstein turns 43… Deputy regional director for AIPAC, Leah Berry… Television and film actress, Ariel Geltman “Ari” Graynor turns 42… Basketball coach, analyst and writer, Benjamin Falk turns 37… Senior creative director at Trilogy Interactive, Jessica Ruby… Head of data and climate science at Watershed, Jonathan H. Glidden… Associate at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, David Jonathan Benger… Investor and entrepreneur, Noah Swartz… MD/MPH candidate in the 2025 class at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, newly matched to be a medical resident at UCLA, Amir Kashfi…

• Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, begins today at sundown. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington will hold a remembrance ceremony this morning. In Poland, the annual March of the Living begins today. Across Israel, people and organizations will participate in Zikaron BaSalon, a project that gives Holocaust survivors and their descendants the opportunity to share their experiences.
• A meeting between Boston city leadership and the Trump administration’s antisemitism task force that had been slated for today will no longer take place, after government task force representatives did not reply to a request from the city for details about antisemitic incidents they planned to discuss.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is traveling to Beijing today, where he’s slated to meet with senior Chinese officials ahead of the start of technical talks between Tehran and Washington regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The talks, originally scheduled to take place today, are being delayed until the weekend.
• Semafor’s three-day World Economy Summit kicks off today in Washington. Speakers include Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla, Mubadala’s Ahmed Saeed Al Calily and Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the Deputy Assistant to the President Seb Gorka, former White House senior envoy Amos Hochstein, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Carlyle Group co-founder and Chairman David Rubenstein.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Michigan is once again emerging as a central battleground in the Democratic Party’s debate over its ideological future — especially when it comes to navigating a noisy anti-Israel faction that has drawn fuel from the state’s Arab American communities and left-wing college campuses, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. 

Next year, the swing state will again be holding a consequential Senate race to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), with the Democratic primary already shaping up as a battle between two Democrats broadly aligned with the Jewish community’s interests — Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow — with a third announced candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, running on an anti-Israel platform. 

It’s significant that two of the top Democratic contenders are wasting no time highlighting their support for Israel and unequivocal condemnation of antisemitism — a dynamic we haven’t always seen from leading Michigan Democrats. 

Stevens is a longtime supporter of a close U.S.-Israel relationship during her tenure in Congress, and has been one of the state’s leading Democratic voices condemning the all-too-frequent antisemitic vandalism and harassment directed at Jewish individuals and institutions in the state. Stevens challenged one of the leading anti-Israel Democrats in Congress after redistricting in 2022, and comfortably prevailed.

McMorrow, in the early stages of her candidacy, reached out to pro-Israel Democratic groups to underscore her support for the Jewish state. She offered moral clarity in a statement to JI responding to the spate of anti-Israel harassment and threats against University of Michigan regents. “The harassment and antisemitism we’ve seen against University of Michigan regents in recent months is wrong, plain and simple … The attacks and intimidation need to stop now,” she said. (Stevens, for her part, also vociferously denounced the harassment to JI.)

Notably, El-Sayed’s campaign declined to respond when asked about his views over the threats to University of Michigan regents over their support for Israel.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who ran for the state’s other Senate seat in 2022, has emerged as the Republican front-runner after narrowly losing to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) last year. A traditional conservative, Rogers quickly secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Rogers has been a vocal backer of Israel throughout his career and campaigned last year on taking a tougher stand against Iran and its nuclear program. 

Stevens’ decision to run for the Senate is also creating the likelihood of a Democratic showdown over Israel in the primary to replace her in the House. Former Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI), who championed the anti-Israel ‘Uncommitted’ movement in the state after losing his House seat, is considering running again for his old seat. If he does, he’s expected to face spirited opposition from Jeremy Moss, a leading pro-Israel champion in the state Senate (with other candidates in the mix). More below.

Given the suburban Detroit district’s Jewish representation and moderate politics, Levin would face many of the same hurdles as when he lost to Stevens by 20 points in 2022.

As the party nurses its political wounds from last year, it’s notable that Michigan Democrats are among the first to course-correct from their past pandering of anti-Israel activists. 

First, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave a pro-Israel speech to the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in one of the first big post-election moves from a national Democratic figure. Then, Slotkin delivered a well-received response to Trump’s address to Congress, with a Reaganesque message of “peace through strength.” And now, the early front-runners are campaigning as stalwart allies of the Jewish community in pivotal Democratic primaries for Congress. 

It’s the kind of rhetoric that suggests that Michigan Democrats recognize they lost mainstream voters with outreach to the far left last year, and won’t get fooled again. 

After the Seder Arson: In The New York Times, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reflects on the arson attack at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg, which occurred hours after Shapiro hosted a Seder on the first night of Passover. “And 13 hours after the arsonist invaded our home, I stood at the window that he had climbed through, receiving an update from the Pennsylvania State Police, and then made clear to the people of my state that nothing would deter me from doing my job — and nothing would deter me from practicing my faith openly and proudly. And I meant it. After I concluded my remarks, I rejoined my family to celebrate our second Passover Seder. That day, the police arrested the suspect, but as the investigation continued, people began to ascribe their own beliefs onto what they thought happened — and why. I believe in the rule of law, and for the rule of law to work, prosecutors and law enforcement officials need to be able to do their jobs and investigate without fear, favor or political pressure. It is not my job to opine on what the motive was or what the charges should be. As has become typical, people rushed to assert their uninformed opinions to get likes or make a headline or suit their own narrative, seeking some solace or validation that whatever motivated the arson suspect and his actions would suit their view of the world.” [NYTimes]

Soros, the Younger: New York magazine’s Simon van Zuylen-Wood, profiles Alex Soros, who in 2023 was named the successor to his father’s Open Society Foundations. “As invested as he is in the success of the Democratic mainstream, Alex is simultaneously supportive of the party’s progressive wing, via OSF-funded NGOs that advocate left-leaning stances on immigration, criminal justice, and other issues. As one donor adviser puts it, Sorosworld is the ‘metronome’ that sets the tempo of the progressive movement. When I ask him to respond to the critique that many of these groups — or the Groups, in Beltwayspeak — were responsible for pulling the party too far left and costing it the election, he is dismissive. ‘First of all, it’s not smart after an election to go after your base,’ he says. ‘Second of all, you know, the quick takes, the hot takes — let’s see which age well.’ …But Alex has a penchant for arguing both sides, like someone who enjoys playing chess with himself. Despite his reluctance to criticize the activists his foundation funds, he can seem out of sync with them, rolling his eyes at the advertising of one’s pronouns and the left-wing censoriousness of the past era.” [NYMag]

Hegseth Caught in the Middle: The Spectator’s Ben Domenech looks at the ideological divides within the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following a series of firings of senior officials. “Hegseth is widely viewed as someone at the hinge point of the Reaganite and MAGA right, existing in between the two wings. But according to multiple informed observers, in the wake of the Signal leaks, Hegseth drew the ire of the current faction of Trumpworld whose perspective on subjects like Iran emerge from the orbit of the Koch-funded foreign policy institutions. They view him as another obstacle to a dealmaking approach favored by current special envoy Steve Witkoff, after Hegseth appeared on Fox News the day after talks began in Oman to voice a demand for full dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program, telling Maria Bartiromo: ‘Iran, come to the table, negotiate full dismantlement of your nuclear capabilities.’” [Spectator]

The Road to Obamaland: In The Free Press, Michael Doran considers Israel’s options as the U.S. and Iran move forward on nuclear negotiations seven years after President Donald Trump first withdrew from the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “[Trump] has always claimed that President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement was terrible. And he has always been right. But if Trump lets Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, continue to negotiate with Iran along the current lines, he will end up with an agreement even weaker than the JCPOA. Witkoff is driving Trump on the road to Obamaland. … If Trump opts for the deal that is in the works, Netanyahu will have no choice but to respond, but his options are limited. A unilateral military strike, like the planned May 2025 operation, is unlikely without Trump’s backing, as Israel needs U.S. aircraft and missile defenses to counter Iran’s retaliation with drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles — a counterattack Israel cannot fend off alone. Covert action, drawing on Israel’s history of sabotage like the 2024 beeper explosions that crippled Hezbollah, is plausible but unattractive. Israel might plant explosives in equipment at Natanz or Fordow, or target scientists. Such operations, however, won’t eliminate the program.” [FreePress]

President Donald Trump spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, saying after that the two “are on the same side of every issue”…

Netanyahu met on Monday night with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who presented his credentials earlier in the day to President Isaac Herzog, and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who is visiting Israel…

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said that Trump called him over the weekend, a week after an arson attack at the governor’s mansion on the first night of Passover; the two spoke for 15 minutes, during which Trump asked about the well-being of Shapiro’s family, who evacuated the residence after an arsonist threw molotov cocktails into the building over what he believed to be Shapiro’s support for Israel…

Politico interviews one of the architects of the Biden administration‘s national strategy to combat antisemitism about the Trump administration‘s approach to the issue…

The Treasury Department announced new sanctions on several Iranian individuals and companies tied to the country’s liquefied petroleum gas exports…

Bill Owens, the executive producer of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” resigned from the long-running show, citing his inability to make “independent decisions” about the show’s content; the news program came under fire earlier this year for a segment about the Israel-Hamas war that relied heavily on interviews with former State Department officials with ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations… 

Minnesota Twins outfielder Harrison Bader confirmed that he will play for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic; Bader, whose father is Jewish, had planned to play in the 2023 tournament but was sidelined by an injury…

The New York Times profiles scientist and Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Eric Tulsky…

Police in Winnipeg, Manitoba, are investigating the vandalism of campaign signs promoting a Jewish candidate in the upcoming federal elections; some of Marty Morantz’s posters were defaced with antisemitic graffiti… 

The Board of Deputies of British Jews suspended its vice chair and launched a probe into the recent open letter signed by three dozen members criticizing Israel’s domestic policies and prosecution of the war against Hamas; the Board of Deputies’ leadership said the suspension was due to the members’ speaking as representatives of the body, in violation of the Board of Deputies’ rules…

Israeli budget carrier Israir received a temporary, two-year approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin flights between Israel and the U.S., with full approval expected in June…

Aliza Magen, who as deputy director of the Mossad was the highest-ranking woman in the Israeli intelligence agency, died at 97…

Cellist Joel Krosnick, who performed with the Juilliard String Quartet for more than 40 years, died at 84…

Artist Eunice Golden, whose work focused on the male body, died at 98…

The Rudlin Torah Academy in Richmond, Va., dedicated its gymnasium to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who attended the school before moving with his family to Israel. Goldberg-Polin was killed by Hamas in August after nearly a year in captivity. 

“Hersh’s story has become an international symbol of those being unjustly held hostage. A symbol of a family shattered and left to pick up the pieces,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who attended the ceremony, said. “As we celebrate Hersh’s life and commemorate all those lives that were lost, our thoughts must also turn to the hostages who Hamas is still brutally holding in captivity.”

Heiress and businesswoman, style and image director for the Estée Lauder Companies, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer turns 55… 

Stage, television and film actor, Alan Oppenheimer turns 95… Owner of Council Bluffs, Iowa-based Ganeeden Metals, Harold Edelman… Ohio resident, Patricia Ann Haumann… Retired real estate brokerage executive, he held leadership positions at Merrill Lynch Realty, Prudential California Realty and Fox & Carskadon, Terry Pullan… Retail industry analyst and portfolio manager at Berman Capital, Steve Kernkraut… Chair emeritus of Israel Policy Forum, he serves as chairman of Trenton Biogas, an organics recycling-to-energy business in Trenton, Peter A. Joseph… Health services researcher focused on smoking cessation programs for women, maternal health and child health, Judith Katzburg, PhD, MPH, RN… Deputy director of NCSEJ, the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry, Lesley L. Weiss… Principal of Philadelphia-based Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, Larry Ceisler turns 69… Gary Pickholz… Retail sales manager at Chrissy’s Collection, Janni Jaffe… Co-founder of Gryphon Software, he is the author of a book on the history of antisemitism, Gabriel Wilensky turns 61… CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, the primary proponent of the Magnitsky Act, Bill Browder turns 61… DC-based executive director of the Orthodox Union’s Advocacy Center, Nathan J. Diament… CEO of Aish HaTorah, Rabbi Steven Burg turns 53… President and CEO at Americans For Peace Now until four months ago, now president and CEO at New Jewish Narrative, Hadar Susskind… Founding member of the rock band the National, he was a collaborator on three of Taylor Swift’s studio albums, Aaron Brooking Dessner… and his twin brother, also a member of the National, Bryce David Dessner, both turn 49… Jewelry designer, Jennifer “Jen” Meyer turns 48… Director of viewpoint diversity initiatives at Maimonides Fund, Ariella Saperstein… Founder and CEO at 90 West, a Boston-based strategic communications firm, Alexander Goldstein… Co-founder of Edgeline Films, he co-directed and co-produced “Weiner,” a documentary about Anthony Weiner’s campaign for mayor of NYC in 2013, Joshua Kriegman… Vertical lead at Red Banyan, Neil Boylan Strauss… Israeli singer-songwriter, now based in Seville, Spain, known for Ladino music of the exiled Jews of Portugal and Spain, Mor Karbasi turns 39… Deputy director of the Mid-Atlantic region of J Street, Adi Adamit-Gorstein… Branded content editor at Axios, Alexis Kleinman… Former University of Michigan quarterback, now a fund manager in NYC, Alex Swieca… Director of the Jewish Renewal Administration, Elisheva Mazya… Executive editor and strategist at ILTV News, Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman…

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are slated to meet this morning with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Washington.
• The Vatican announced that the funeral for Pope Francis will be held on Saturday. President Donald Trump said that he and First Lady Melania Trump will attend, marking the president’s first overseas trip of his second term.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet this evening to discuss U.S.-Iran talks and Iran’s nuclear program.
• Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is in the U.S. this week for a multicity trip that includes events and meetings in Miami, Washington and New York.
• The National Press Club postponed a press conference featuring leaders of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, which had been slated to take place this morning.

In two months, New York City Democratic voters will head to the polls to vote for the candidate who will likely be the city’s next mayor. The primary, featuring former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a cast of lesser-known local Democrats, will be one of the first tests for the party over its direction in the new Trump era, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. 

The race pits a pragmatic, established figure in Cuomo, who has high name recognition but plenty of baggage stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct that led him to resign from the state’s governorship. One of his emerging opponents is a charismatic far-left candidate, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who, as The Free Press puts it, “wants to turn the Big Apple into a Havana on the Hudson.” Cuomo has been a pro-Israel stalwart, while Mamdani represents the Democratic Socialists of America wing of the party that is virulently anti-Israel.

There are many other candidates in the race, but few who are presenting the ideologically moderate profile that Cuomo brings to the table. Most are trying to capture the activist energy of the AOC wing of the party, even if their specific policy positions on local issues vary. This, despite the fact that the New York City electorate moved decidedly to the right in the 2024 elections, with working-class voters in particular rejecting the leftward drift of the party. 

Polls have shown Cuomo with a significant advantage, but with elevated unfavorable ratings. A recent Siena poll conducted for the AARP found Cuomo leading Mamdani 34-16% on the first ballot, and by a substantial 64-36% margin at the end of the ranked-choice voting process. The poll found him dominating voters over 50 with 42% of the vote (with the next-closest challenger, Scott Stringer, only polling at 9% with older voters), but actually trailing Mamdani with younger voters between the ages of 18-49.

A separate statewide Siena poll, conducted in March, found Cuomo with just a plus-12 favorability (51-39% fav/unfav) among Democratic voters in the Empire State. Like many traditional Democratic figures, even as a front-runner, he’s struggling to win support among the younger voters whose anti-establishment views are disrupting the party.  

The primary election will come as Democrats are trying to figure out the party’s future direction amid a humiliating defeat last November. The results showed that progressivism was a turnoff to swing voters, especially among nonwhite working-class voters that once made up the base of the party in cities like New York. Despite the Trump administration’s disruptiveness in its first months, there hasn’t been the same level of rallying against the White House, compared to the surge of activism after President Donald Trump’s first election.  

Indeed, the moderates have the electoral momentum at their back. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, running on a Bloomberg-style technocratic message of competence over ideology, unseated a progressive incumbent last November. Two pragmatic pro-Israel Democrats ousted two of the most radical members of Congress, former Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, in primaries. Last week’s mayoral election in Oakland, Calif. — one of the most progressive cities in the country — nearly featured an upset from a moderate insurgent against former Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).

At the same time, the energy in the party has remained on the left’s side. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have been rallying crowds to their side since the election, in one of the few displays of grassroots enthusiasm since November. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a political pragmatist at heart, drew the ire of many in his party for not initiating a government shutdown in protest of the president’s policies. Newly elected DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, a 25-year-old left-wing activist, is getting attention for backing primaries to incumbent Democrats in safe seats. 

June’s New York City primary will be the biggest test of whether the loud left-wing activism actually reflects the sentiment of a majority of Democratic voters. It didn’t in the last mayoral race, where Eric Adams ran as the moderate, pro-law-and-order Democrat and prevailed over candidates who were more progressive.  

If the left can’t make it in a Democratic primary in Gotham, it will have trouble making it anywhere else — especially when the biggest battlegrounds for the party will be for general election voters in much redder constituencies.

No Endgame in Sight: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius posits that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas are refusing to take serious steps to reach the end of the war because such a deal would endanger each of their holds on power. “Wars end when public opinion demands peace. And there are new demands from Palestinians and Israelis alike to break the logjam and move toward a new ceasefire and hostage release. The anti-war protesters aren’t a majority on either side, but they illustrate the bitterness and exhaustion this conflict has produced. Thousands of Palestinians courageously joined anti-war protests in Gaza last month, according to Associated Press reporters there. … The awful truth at the center of this conflict is that Netanyahu has never had a plan for what happens when it’s over. He wants a Gaza that’s not governed by Hamas or reoccupied by Israel, but he refuses to create a pathway for eventual Palestinian governance because this would rupture his right-wing coalition.” [WashPost]

Job Insecurity: The Atlantic’s Rose Horowitch looks at the challenges facing Ivy League presidents, following Columbia University’s announcement that it would begin a search for the school’s next leader after the departure of its third president in as many years. “With declining trust in higher education, campuses fractured over the Israel-Hamas conflict, and a White House eager to wage populist war on elites (a White House run, incidentally, by Trump, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, and Yale Law alumnus J. D. Vance), the job of elite college president, formerly considered difficult but prestigious, has become, on many campuses, impossible and thankless. Presidents are charged with leading an inflexible organization made up of autonomous and competing constituencies through a period that requires immediate change. But they can’t do anything without angering either parents, students, professors, donors, administrators, or Trump. Any false step might cost them their position. … Universities searching for new presidents are now prioritizing candidates who can play politics on a national level — candidates with political acumen and crisis-management experience.” [TheAtlantic]

Split Screen: Tablet’s Park MacDougald looks at the ideological fights at the Pentagon that have fueled for the recent upheavals within the department. “We are not witnessing an ‘internal fight; within MAGA, because there is no MAGA beyond Trump. Instead, [writer Lee] Smith wrote, ‘What we’re seeing … is an external faction trying to attach itself to MAGA in order to strangle Trump’s America First foreign policy.’ With that faction now openly attacking the administration and making common cause with its enemies to undermine the administration, the only question is how much longer Trump can put up with it.” [Tablet]

President Donald Trump is backing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid discord within the Pentagon, investigations into leaks and security breaches and the departures of numerous senior Pentagon officials in recent weeks…

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce summoned DePaul University President Robert Manuel to testify in its upcoming hearing on campus antisemitism next month…

A federal jury found Nadine Menendez, the wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), guilty of bribery and obstruction charges tied to money and gold bars her husband received while in office; Menendez will be sentenced in June, the same month her husband is slated to start his 11-year prison term…

In The Wall Street Journal, former White House staffer and presidential historian Tevi Troy looks at the history of Hollywood figures advising Democratic presidential candidates following the release earlier this month of Chris Whipple’s Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History…

Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre suggested that if his party wins the country’s upcoming elections, the government will consider funding cuts to universities that don’t act to address campus antisemitism…

Jason Horowitz, the Rome bureau chief for The New York Times, reflects on the time he spent covering and traveling with Pope Francis prior to the pontiff’s death earlier this week…

A new report from the Claims Conference found that 70% of the remaining 200,000 Holocaust survivors in the world will die in the next decade; the median age of survivors is 87…

Israeli cybersecurity startup Cyvore Security emerged from stealth mode with an initial investment of $2.5 million…

Shin Bet head Ronen Bar alleged in an affidavit that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had demanded Bar display personal loyalty to Netanyahu; among other scathing allegations, Bar, whom Netanyahu is attempting to dismiss, said that the prime minister had ordered him to spy on Israelis involved in anti-government protests…

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told an Israeli radio station that bringing the hostages home was a secondary war aim to destroying Hamas…

Israel canceled the visas for 27 left-wing French lawmakers who had been slated to travel to the country this week, citing an Israeli law that allows for the revocation of visas to travelers who could act against the State of Israel…

An Israeli man is missing and feared dead after being filmed tussling with at least one shark off the coast of Hadera…

Palestinian media reported that Syrian officials arrested two senior leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad based in Syria…

Anne Neuberger, who served as deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology in the Biden administration, was named the Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University…

Sociologist Herbert Gans, whose research focused on American society in the second half of the 20th century, an interest he attributed to the absence of culture in Germany, from which he escaped as a child, died at 97…

Eden Golan released the music video for her new song, “Pieces.”

Real estate developer and principal owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf turns 75…