Plus, Trump’s Kuwait ambassador pick to face GOP grilling
Haim Tzach/GPO
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Sept. 15th, 2025
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview tomorrow’s presidential election in Ireland and look at front-runner Catherine Connolly’s history of criticizing Israel and the West, and report on today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing for Amer Ghalib, who has questioned Hamas’ atrocities on Oct. 7, 2023, to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. We talk to experts about the carousel of senior U.S. officials traveling to Israel this week as the ceasefire holds, and talk to legislators on Capitol Hill about Vice President JD Vance’s suggestion that Turkish troops could play an on-the-ground role in postwar Gaza. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and Joel Rayburn.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio lands in Israel today for a two-day trip that will include meetings with senior officials. Rubio’s visit comes days as Vice President JD Vance wraps up his trip to the country. The vice president, who is still in the country, is meeting today with Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. More below.
- In Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding its confirmation hearing for Hamtramck, Mich., Mayor Amer Ghalib to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. More below.
- The Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East is hosting a one-day conference focused on the U.S. role in the South Caucasus. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) is slated to give the keynote address.
- In New York, Dan Senor is hosting a live taping of the “Call Me Back” podcast with Israeli journalists and CMB contributors Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center.
- Elsewhere in New York, the 92NY is hosting the second installment of the Sapir Debates. Former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), Yehuda Kurtzer, Batya Ungar-Sargon and Jamie Kirchick, in conversation with The New York Times’ Bret Stephens, will debate “Does Zionism Have a Future on the American Left?”
- The Jewish National Fund’s annual Global Conference for Israel begins today in Hollywood, Fla.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Ireland is set to elect a new president tomorrow. Like in Israel, the role of president is largely ceremonial, but unlike in Israel, where the Knesset elects the president and the choice is mostly the result of backroom political deals, the Irish president is directly elected by the people.
That means the choice reflects the mood of the Irish public — and after the news coming out of the Emerald Isle over the past two years, it may come as no surprise that the country appears to be on the verge of choosing a candidate with anti-Israel, antisemitic and even anti-Western views.
The current president, Michael D. Higgins, is no friend of Israel or the Jews, having called antisemitism accusations an Israeli “PR exercise.” When the Jewish community asked him not to attend a Holocaust remembrance ceremony out of a concern that he would politicize it, he went anyway and gave a speech comparing Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza to the Holocaust.
The country’s former justice minister, Alan Shatter, told Jewish Insider that the leading candidate for the presidency, Catherine Connolly, “if elected, will present as Michael D. Higgins on steroids.”
Connolly, a legislator representing Galway West since 2016, is a hard-left candidate running as an independent, and led a recent Irish Times poll by 18 points.
The front-runner’s anti-Israel history goes back to before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, and includes remarks that crossed the line into antisemitism. In 2021, Connolly wrote in a parliamentary question that Israel is “attempt[ing] to accomplish Jewish supremacy,” using language associated with centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories.
NOMINEE BACKLASH
Kuwait ambassador nominee expected to face chilly GOP reception at confirmation hearing
Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., and President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, is expected to face a frosty reception when he appears today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing. The hearing comes after months of private pushback from GOP senators to Ghalib’s nomination over his anti-Israel record, which includes him questioning reports of Hamas atrocities on Oct. 7, 2023, supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and for liking antisemitic comments on social media, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Pushback: Ghalib was given a date for his confirmation hearing in early October after months of delays. During that time, several committee Republicans unsuccessfully lobbied the White House to withdraw Ghalib from consideration for the Kuwait post, according to a senior GOP defense staffer familiar with the conversations. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the top Democrat on the committee, said earlier this month that Ghalib’s nomination had been delayed. Ghalib acknowledged at the time that he was facing objections but said that Trump had called him to offer his continued support for his nomination, and the hearing was scheduled shortly after. With the hearing moving ahead, senators on both sides of the aisle have prepared questions for Ghalib about his history of incendiary public statements criticizing Israel and appearing to justify Hamas’ attacks on the Jewish state and deny that sexual violence took place, as well as his record as mayor of Hamtramck.
DIPLOMATIC CAROUSEL
‘Bibi-sitting’: Experts say Vance, Rubio trips to Israel part of U.S. efforts to constrain Netanyahu
Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Israel on Thursday, becoming the latest senior official dispatched to the country by President Donald Trump as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas extends into its second week, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Rubio joins several other administration officials and representatives who have made the journey to Israel this past week, on the heels of the signing of the first phase of Trump’s peace proposal, including Vice President JD Vance, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner.
Administration’s aims: The swift mobilization of U.S. officials comes as the Trump administration aims to lay the groundwork for the second phase of the deal and works to keep Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from reigniting fighting in the Gaza Strip and fracturing a delicate peace deal, amid Hamas’ repeated violations of the agreement. Vance, in his meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday, emphasized that Israel is not a “vassal state” that needs to be told what to do. The string of high-level visits is “not about monitoring in the sense of, you know, monitoring a toddler,” Vance told reporters alongside Netanyahu. “It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work.” Chuck Freilich, an associate professor of political science at Columbia University, told JI he sees it as a form of U.S. oversight, or “Bibi-sitting,” something he says is “long-standing tradition” in the U.S.-Israel relationship.
turkey tension
Vance’s Turkish troop proposal draws GOP skepticism
Vice President JD Vance’s suggestion on Tuesday that the U.S. would welcome Turkish troops playing a role in the proposed stabilization force in Gaza was met with skepticism from leading Republican lawmakers and experts in Washington, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea and Emily Jacobs report. Vance told reporters in Israel that while the U.S. would not “force” Israel to accept Turkish troops “on their soil,” the Trump administration believed “that there’s a constructive role for the Turks to play.”
Expressing doubts: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told JI, “I appreciate Turkey and Qatar as allies, but when it comes to Israel, [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s been terrible in terms of rhetoric. I appreciate the role they played in trying to get the ceasefire, but the appetite in Israel for Turkey and Qatar to have a major role is pretty limited, given the history.” Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow for American strategy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, expressed similar doubts. “Having Turkish forces in there particularly strikes me as a bad idea. Turkey is not an impartial force. They are a capable and experienced military, but mostly doing things the United States and Israel don’t want them to be doing.”
Q&A
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch: Opposition to Mamdani is a Jewish ‘imperative’
As the New York City mayoral race nears its end, Manhattan Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch has a message for his colleagues: It’s not too late to provide “leadership and clarity of perspective” to voters to oppose Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, citing the candidate’s hostility towards Israel and refusal to recognize it as a Jewish state. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen on Wednesday, the senior rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, said there is still time for left-wing Jewish leaders to find their voice. Even without initiatives and statements from the Reform movement, progressive Jewish leaders can still “make a difference” by “laying out the stakes” — even as early voting begins this Saturday.
Sense of duty: “We’ve been slow to respond to widespread, pervasive, global anti-Zionism and we’ve been slow inside the Jewish community in countering Jewish voices who are anti-Zionist,” Hirsch told JI. “We, the mainstream of the Jewish community, have an obligation to counter that ideology. If it’s not countered, it intensifies and exacerbates the problem and that relates to public candidates as well. It’s imperative for the American Jewish community to stand up and express the kinds of views that I expressed. I think more are doing so. It is a responsibility at this historic moment in time for Jewish leadership to do so.”
Rabbinic rebuke: Over 650 rabbis from around the country signed on to an open letter on Wednesday voicing concern that, if elected New York City mayor, Mamdani would threaten “the safety and dignity of Jews in every city,” citing the Democratic nominee and front-runner’s antagonistic views towards Israel, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.
DEBATE DIGEST
Mamdani says he will ask Jessica Tisch to stay on as NYPD commissioner
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, confirmed that he would ask Jessica Tisch to stay on as the city’s police commissioner if elected, ending long-standing speculation over his plans for a key role in his potential administration, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
What he said: Tisch, appointed last year by outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, “took on a broken status quo, started to deliver accountability, rooting out corruption and reducing crime across the five boroughs,” Mamdani said at the second and final general election debate on Wednesday evening. “I have said time and again that my litmus test for that position will be excellence, and the alignment will be of that position,” Mamdani added. “And I am confident that under a Mamdani administration, we would continue to deliver on that same mission.” Mamdani’s choice could assuage concerns among moderate Democrats and other crime-conscious New Yorkers who had been hopeful that he would choose Tisch, a widely respected technocrat who previously led the Department of Sanitation. Tisch, 44, who is Jewish, has not said whether she would plan to continue in her position if Mamdani is elected on Nov. 4.
Democrats divided: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said on Tuesday that he is still not ready to endorse Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, as he hasn’t seen the candidate assuage Jewish communal concerns, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports. Appearing on CNN, Goldman said he wasn’t sure if he would vote for Mamdani or his rival, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and that he’s “trying to work through” outstanding issues he has with the candidates.
UNION UNEASE
Josh Gottheimer urges N.J. teachers’ union to dismiss editor over antisemitic, pro-Hamas posts
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and other top New Jersey officials are urging the state’s largest teachers’ union to reverse its decision to appoint Ayat Oraby as an editor of its NJEA Review magazine, citing a series of antisemitic and pro-Hamas posts on social media, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Gottheimer has engaged repeatedly with the New Jersey Education Association in recent weeks, sending two letters to union leadership outlining his concerns, but Oraby, who was appointed in August, has remained in her position at the Review — a magazine distributed to roughly 200,000 educators statewide.
Online archive: Oraby’s since-deleted posts on X, screenshots of which were viewed by JI, hold Israel — not Hamas — responsible for the deaths of Israelis during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, claiming Israel “killed many of its citizens,” and voiced her support of Hamas, praising their actions on social media as “resistance” in August 2025. “While the criminal occupation gang kills children in the streets and treats Muslims with no mercy, you find liberated prisoners hugging and kissing HAMAS soldiers, which indicates the good treatment they received,” Oraby posted, referring to videos of Israeli hostages staged by Hamas. In other posts, Oraby explicitly called for violence against Israeli officials and claimed in July 2025 that the Jewish state “surpassed Nazism by far.” She also referred to journalists as “the filthy Hebrew media.”
Worthy Reads
Problematic Poster Boy: The Free Press’ Eli Lake examines the mainstreaming of far-right conspiracy theorist Nick Fuentes, who had previously faced ostracization over a litany of antisemitic, racist and misogynist comments. “Fuentes became the avatar of the canceled during his time in the wilderness. For his superfans, or Groypers, he is the Sex Pistols in 1977, reveling in broken shibboleths. And these anonymous low-follower accounts repost short clips from his livestreams on YouTube, X, Facebook, and TikTok. Fuentes is not just an influencer; he leads a dedicated movement of obsessive shitposters. … Part of the Fuentes appeal is that he presents himself as the ultimate martyr in a movement built on the social martyrdom of right-wingers. He is also willing to turn his sights on beloved MAGA influencers and politicians — to his fans, that makes him seem authentic.” [FreePress]
Alarm Bell: In his “Clarity” Substack, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren raises concerns about New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy weeks before the election. “Yes, the candidate is young, charismatic, and brimming with new ideas. So, too, are many of the Jew-hating influencers followed by millions. There can be no obscuring the fact that the candidate wants to see my state, my family, and the home of the world’s largest Jewish community erased from the map. And clearly the candidate would not care if that erasure were accomplished with violence. The candidate’s vicious positions on Israel come after the two years in which the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has virtually disappeared. In that time, New York Jews have been threatened almost daily by the haters of both the Jewish people and the Jewish state. For them, the candidate’s constant condemnations of Israel are not merely dog whistles but clarion calls to action.” [Clarity]
Word on the Street
United Arab Emirates National Security Advisor Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan met on Wednesday with Jared Kushner and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, following their trip to Israel earlier this week…
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, under fire for a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol, said he’d covered up the tattoo, which he got in 2007, shortly after its existence was made public earlier this week; on Wednesday, the Advocate reported that the Maine Democrat, who is also facing criticism for past racist and misogynist Reddit posts, authored a series of newly uncovered homophobic posts between 2016-2021…
The State Department rejected a ruling from the International Court of Justice earlier this week that determined Israel must facilitate aid into Gaza and that the Israeli government had not proven that members of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency were members of Hamas…
The Justice Department will pause several investigations into the University of Virginia, following the school’s confirmation that it will comply with a Trump administration directive prohibiting “unlawful racial discrimination in its university programming, admissions, hiring, or other activities”…
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs; Rayburn had faced what Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the committee’s ranking member, described over the summer as a “very difficult” confirmation path, owing to a lack of Democratic support and Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) refusal to back the nomination…
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke out against the rise of right-wing antisemitism in his speech at Christians United for Israel’s “Night to Honor Israel” event on Sunday: “In the last six months, we have seen antisemitism rising on the right in a way I have never seen it in my entire life,” Cruz said; he also noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to downplay right-wing antisemitism as the result of “astroturfed” Qatari and Iranian bots. “I am telling you, it is real, it is organic and it is spreading,” Cruz said he told Netanyahu…
The New York Times covers the multiple efforts by Paramount — all rebuffed — to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, following Warner Bros.’ announcement earlier this week that it was considering a number of deals…
The California Faculty Association, which opposed a recent effort to to combat antisemitism in California schools, is distributing a questionnaire to political candidates in the state asking them if they had ever accepted money from AIPAC or the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, the latter of which is a coalition of nonprofits and progressive associations and does not make political contributions…
Rabbi Louis Scheiner was spotted speaking with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) at a wedding in Los Angeles…
The New York Times’ culture critic reports from a recent event at New York’s Beacon Theater with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld” creator Larry David, who has largely avoided the spotlight since “Curb” ended a year and a half ago…
The International Olympic Committee recommended that global sporting events no longer be held in Indonesia, following Jakarta’s decision to refuse visas to Israeli athletes who qualified for this week’s World Artistic Gymnastics Championships…
Tehran announced the conditional release of Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari in France; the countries had previously discussed the potential release of Esfandiari in exchange for a French couple jailed for more than two years in Iran on espionage charges…
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor, the country’s highest civilian award, to nine individuals in a ceremony last night in Jerusalem.
Spotted at the ceremony: honorees Dr. Miriam Adelson, Mathias Döpfner, Avi Ohry, Justice (ret.) George Karra, Galila Ron-Feder Amit, Dina Porat, Yossi Vardi, Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif and Moti Malka, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert, Friede Springer, Jan Bayer, Haim Saban, Shimon Axel Wahnish, Eli Beer, Amitai Raziel, Matan Adelson, Shirin Herzog, Natan Sharansky and former hostages Matan Angrest and Segev Kalfon.
Birthdays
Filmmaker, actor and producer famous for creating the cult horror “Evil Dead” series, as well as directing the original “Spider-Man” trilogy, Sam Raimi turns 66…
Chairman emeritus of the shopping mall developer Simon Property Group and the principal owner of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, Herbert “Herb” Simon turns 91… Distinguished university professor of American and Jewish studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz, Gerald Sorin turns 85… Israeli journalist who has written for Davar and Yedioth Ahronoth, he won the Israel Prize in 2007, Nahum Barnea turns 81… Attorney best known for his role as special master for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and for similar roles in a number of mass torts, Kenneth Feinberg turns 80… Neuro-ophthalmologist, academic, author and researcher, he is vice-chair of ophthalmology at UCLA, Alfredo Arrigo Sadun, M.D. turns 75… Screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on “Star Trek,” Ira Steven Behr turns 72… Founder and CEO of global outsourcing company TeleTech (now TTEC) with over 50,000 employees on six continents, Kenneth D. Tuchman turns 66… Founder of the New Democrat Network in 1996, he closed it down in 2024, Simon Rosenberg turns 62… Author of 100 children’s and young adult fiction books that have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide, Gordon Korman turns 62… Former editor-in-chief of The New York Observer, Kenneth Kurson turns 57… Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until her surprise retirement this past August, she is a tenured professor of public policy at Georgetown, Adriana Debora Kugler turns 56… President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine and VP of the World Jewish Congress, Boris Lozhkin turns 54… Film director, producer and talent agent, best known for his two-year marriage to Meghan Markle starting in 2011, Trevor Engelson turns 49… Senior director of strategic operations at SRE Network, following eight years at J Street, Shaina Wasserman… President of Renco Group, a family-owned private holding company founded by his father, Ira Rennert, Ari Rennert turns 47… Communications consultant, she was a senior advisor to Rohit Chopra, the former director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Allison Preiss… Minister delegate for European Affairs in the French government, Benjamin Haddad turns 40… Cartoonist for The New Yorker, Amy Kurzweil turns 39… Director of development at Mabua Israeli Beit Midrash, Ayelet Kahane… Senior associate in the Washington office of Hogan Lovells, Annika Lichtenbaum… Former speechwriter and special assistant at the U.S. Department of Labor, now a sales manager at Orangetheory Fitness, Rachel Shabad… VP of content marketing and partnerships at SiriusXM, Allison Rachesky… Richard Rubenstein…
Plus, Ziv and Gali Berman's second birthday in captivity
(Photo by JACQUELINE PENNEY/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)
This frame grab taken from an AFPTV footage shows smoke billowing after explosions in Qatar's capital Doha on September 9, 2025.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report the latest on the Israeli strike targeting senior Hamas officials in Doha, and look at how Capitol Hill is responding to the operation. We report on Texas state Rep. James Talarico’s criticism of Israel following the launch of his Senate campaign, and talk to friends of Israeli hostages Gal and Ziv Berman, who are marking the twins’ second birthday in Hamas captivity. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Elizabeth Tsurkov, Scarlett Johansson and Amb. Mark Wallace.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Marc Rod and Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- We’re keeping an eye on the situation in the Middle East and Washington following Israel’s targeting of senior Hamas officials in Doha yesterday. More below.
- The California Senate’s Education Committee is holding a hearing this afternoon on AB 715, legislation meant to address antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools. One of the legislators supporting the bill told The Jewish News of Northern California that the text had become “narrower” after the bill’s backers “compromised on numerous things with our colleagues who expressed concerns” over the legislation.
- Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Ari Berman will serve as the Senate’s guest chaplain today. C-SPAN’s Howard Mortman, author of When Rabbis Bless Congress, notes that Berman, who delivered the benediction at President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, will become the third rabbi to have prayed both in Congress and during a presidential inauguration.
- Elsewhere on Capitol Hill today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s subcommittee on early childhood, elementary and secondary education is holding a hearing on antisemitism in K-12 schools. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Brandy Shufutinsky, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s Rachel Lerman, Defending Education’s Nicole Neily and T’ruah’s Rabbi Jill Jacobs are slated to testify.
- Brandeis University is unveiling its “New Vision for American Higher Education” this afternoon at the National Press Club. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is slated to speak at the event. Across town, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is speaking at a Heritage Foundation event focused on the Muslim Brotherhood.
- The American Jewish Committee is holding an event this morning marking the upcoming fifth anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords.
- This afternoon, the Jewish Democratic Council of America is hosting “Israel and Gaza: Two Years Later and What Comes Next” with Israel Policy Forum’s Michael Koplow.
- Elsewhere in DC, the National Union for Democracy in Iran and MEAD are continuing their conference in Washington today.
- Some MEAD attendees are heading to Israel for the Jefferies TechTrek conference in Tel Aviv, which kicked off with a welcome reception last night. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, Paul Singer, Bill Ackman, Shaun Maguire and Dan Loeb are among those gathered for Jefferies.
- The Climate Solutions Prize Tour kicks off today in the United Arab Emirates, before moving to Israel on Sunday.
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in London today for a two-day visit.
- In Canada, “The Road Between Us,” about Israeli Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon’s efforts to rescue his son’s family from their Gaza envelope home on Oct. 7, 2023, will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, after it was previously removed from the slate of films over what organizers said was a failure to get Hamas to approve the use of its videos of the attacks.
- In Pennsylvania, representatives from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will deliver a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Talya Lubit, who pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy and defacing and damaging Chabad of Squirrel Hill.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS AND Lahav harkov
Nearly a day after an Israeli airstrike targeted a meeting of high-level Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, there are more questions than answers, both in Jerusalem and Washington. Israel has not confirmed which officials were killed in the strike, while Hamas has said that five officials from the group, including the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, were killed in addition to a member of the Qatari security forces.
Israeli reports earlier today indicate that the strike did not kill the most senior echelon of the terror group, which for years has been based in Qatar, a U.S. ally.
Amid ongoing uncertainty over the success of the strike, the operation was met with rare condemnation from the White House, first from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and then from President Donald Trump himself, who said he “was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect” — perhaps, in part, because the operation is not believed to have taken out the most senior Hamas officials.
But it was Trump himself who said over the weekend on his Truth Social site that he had “warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting” the ceasefire and hostage-release deal that had been put forward by the U.S.
At the same time that Trump officials, including the president, were criticizing the operation, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee was embracing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the U.S. Embassy’s belated Independence Day celebration in Jerusalem, where the prime minister addressed a smaller group of VIPs attending the party.
HILL REACTIONS
Partisan divide emerges over Israeli strike on Hamas leadership in Qatar
A partisan divide quickly emerged Tuesday over the Israeli strike on Hamas leadership in Qatar, with senior Republican lawmakers expressing support for the attack, while top Democrats criticized it, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they’re saying: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told JI, “I support it.” He continued, “I think Hamas has got to be destroyed, and there’s no sense in doing half measures.” But Wicker’s Democratic counterpart, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), called the strike “extremely disruptive, provocative and dangerous” and a “great strategic mistake.” He praised Qatar as “a strong ally of the United States” and argued that the strike, which targeted Hamas leaders who were part of negotiations with the U.S. and Israel, showed that Israel is not serious about reaching a ceasefire deal.
doha debate
Senate Republicans address differences with White House over Israel’s Doha strike
The Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar is dividing the White House, which strongly criticized Israel for attacking Qatari territory, and Senate Republicans, who have been overwhelmingly supportive of the Israeli action, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Divisions: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), asked about the White House statement on the attack, told JI, “I understand we have troops there, but my focus is Israel. Hamas has had every chance. … Lay down your weapons, release the hostages — you live. If you don’t — it keeps going.” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), the most outspoken supporter of Qatar among Senate Republicans, stood alone in offering a full-throated criticism of the Israeli strike.
Breaking rank: Breaking with many of his Senate Democratic colleagues, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sounded a supportive note on the Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar on Tuesday. “I strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas,” Blumenthal told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod. “I want to know more about the details of this particular strike — I’m learning about it in real time and anything done to destroy Hamas’ leadership or its terrorist capability or military capacity is a step in the right direction.”
HOSTAGE RELEASE
Elizabeth Tsurkov released after months of torture by Iraqi terror group, Trump says
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian researcher at Princeton University, was released by an Iranian-backed terrorist group in Iraq to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” Trump said on Truth Social. “I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!”
Talarico talk
Texas Democratic Senate recruit James Talarico takes critical view of Israel
James Talarico, a Democratic state representative in Texas seen as a rising star in his party, launched a campaign for Senate on Tuesday, joining a crowded primary to claim the seat held by veteran Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). The 36-year-old former public school teacher, who has studied to become a Presbyterian minister, has drawn national attention for openly embracing his Christian faith to connect with voters. In his launch video, he referred to Jesus, invoking him as “a barefoot rabbi who gave two commandments: love God and love neighbor,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Israel approach: Talarico, who is calling for a generational shake-up in a party he sees as largely out of touch with voter concerns, until this week had no apparent record of public commentary on Middle East policy, a subject that is likely to stir debate in the upcoming election cycle amid Democratic divisions over Israel’s war in Gaza. In interviews published on Tuesday, he indicated that he would adopt a more critical approach to Israel, calling the war a “moral disaster” that his party has failed to address. “One of the primary reasons that the Democratic Party lost young voters in particular last election was our party’s failure to recognize the moral disaster in Gaza, and I hope that we have leaders who recognize that mistake,” he said in comments to Punchbowl News that were echoed in an interview with The Washington Post.
CAMPUS BEAT
Faculty and staff drive antisemitism on college campuses, ADL/AEN survey finds
Much of the antisemitism on college campuses is fueled by faculty and staff — both on campus and within professional academic organizations — according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League and the Academic Engagement Network. Seventy-three percent of the 209 Jewish faculty members polled from universities around the U.S. reported observing antisemitic activities or statements from faculty, administrators or staff on campuses, including calls to boycott Israel and doxxing campaigns. Forty-four percent said they were aware of an organized Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapter on their campus, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Testimony: “My chair is pro-Hamas (explicitly so) and has turned our department into an encampment, full of ‘river to the sea’ slogans and propaganda,” an anonymous faculty member shared in the survey. “When I and a few other Jewish faculty objected, the chair organized about 50 people to verbally attack us, including one who told me that we had all the money and power. Consequently, my department is a hostile work environment, and I can no longer attend events or participate in departmental life there.”
SOMBER DAY
‘We won’t normalize it’: Friends of Ziv and Gali Berman mark twins’ 28th birthday in Hamas captivity
As Israeli twins Ziv and Gali Berman mark their 28th birthday in captivity on Wednesday — their second since being kidnapped to Gaza from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Hamas-led terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023 — their close-knit group of friends is quietly commemorating the day while continuing their public campaign for the brothers’ release. Known to their loved ones as inseparable, Ziv and Gali are not only the best of friends but also deeply connected to — and the center of — their childhood circle in Kfar Aza. Ziv, the more quiet and reserved twin, and also the funny one, and Gali, the loud, extroverted and charming one, complement one another and gravitate toward each other, friends say. But testimonies from released hostages suggest that the two have been separated from each other while in captivity, Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve reports.
Friends reflect: Their birthday, said Inbar Rosenfeld, a lifelong friend of the twins, “makes us stop for a moment and remember, and get a sense of the time that they haven’t been here — and this is the second birthday [in captivity.]” Rosenfeld told JI on Tuesday, “It’s crazy, it’s tough — we never thought we would get to this situation.” Ido Felus, another close friend of the twins from Kfar Aza, said that their second birthday in captivity fills him with a mix of pain and perseverance. “I am sure they are coming back, I have no doubt of that,” Felus told JI.
Another birthday in captivity: Another Israeli hostage, Yosef Haim Ohana, is also marking his second birthday, his 25th, in captivity in Gaza today. Ohana was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7 after he chose to stay and help the wounded instead of fleeing. “On your 25th birthday, we gather not to celebrate, but to remember, to pray, and to amplify your voice until you come home. Let us surround Yosef with love, with faith, and demand: bring them all home now,” his father, Avi Ohana, said in a message.
Worthy Reads
Empty Gestures: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers the ramifications of the “gesture politics” that politicians and activists engage in around the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “What, then, do these gestures accomplish? The legitimate needs of the Palestinian people are these: an end to this war; an end to being dragged into future wars by Hamas; an end to the chronic misgovernance of the Palestinian Authority; the establishment of a self-governing political order that improves the lives of Palestinians without endangering the lives of Israelis; the eventual creation, under conditions of mutual trust, of a Palestinian state. Immediate recognition of such a state advances none of this. It is the proverbial cart before the horse. France and its fellow travelers aren’t aiming to do much to help actual Palestinians. Mainly, they seek to congratulate themselves. Countries achieve irrelevance when moral onanism takes the place of serious policy as the principal instrument of national policy.” [NYTimes]
Bullish Economy: In The Wall Street Journal, Nimrod Sapir considers why Israel’s economy has “defied expectations and displayed remarkable resilience” over nearly two years of war and growing international isolation. “Demographics further bolster Israel’s prospects: a growing, youthful labor force. Israel has the highest population growth rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, and that growth goes far beyond the Haredi and Arab sectors. Surging global demand for Israeli defense systems likewise strengthens the export base and opens new markets. Israel’s military achievements — particularly in neutralizing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and diminishing threats from its proxies — are reshaping the geopolitical landscape. For the first time in decades, investors can anticipate a gradual easing of geopolitical risks that have long weighed heavily on Israel’s economic potential.” [WSJ]
New Stage of War: The Free Press‘ Jay Solomon spotlights Qatar’s years of engaging in “one of the Middle East’s most dangerous games of double-dealing” by hosting Hamas officials as it benefits from its allyship with Western nations. “Israel’s attack on Qatari soil, and the U.S.’s connivance, marks the crossing of another boundary in the Jewish state’s two-year war with Hamas, sparked by the October 7 attack. … Israel’s attack inside Qatar may open a new chapter of direct conflict between Netanyahu’s government and the Al Thanis, though likely not involving their militaries. Qatar is one of the world’s richest nations per capita and possesses vast resources to challenge the legitimacy of the state of Israel through Doha’s global media operations, including the Al Jazeera television network and support for international bodies like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrapped up a bipartisan delegation to Italy, Tunisia and Morocco…
Democrat James Walkinshaw is won the special election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, succeeding Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who died earlier this year and for whom Walkinshaw served as chief of staff until 2019…
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is slated to travel to the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly later this month; al-Sharaa, who will speak to the gathering on Sept. 24, is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the annual confab…
Northwestern University announced the hiring of Henry Bienen to succeed outgoing President Michael Schill; Bienen previously led the school from 1995-2009, during which time he spearheaded the launch of Northwestern’s campus in Qatar…
The FBI is investigating threats made to several Pittsburgh-area Jewish organizations, including the Tree of Life…
Police in Oregon are searching for an individual who spray-painted swastikas on the Oregon Jewish Holocaust Museum earlier this summer…
Actress Scarlett Johansson said she intentionally cast Holocaust survivors in “Eleanor the Great,” her directorial debut, about an elderly American Jewish woman who assumes the childhood storyline of a deceased friend who had survived the Holocaust…
United Against Nuclear Iran CEO Mark Wallace sent a letter to the head of the U.S.-based Marriott International, inquiring about the hotel chain’s hosting of Hamas officials at the Ritz Carlton in Doha, Qatar…
The Wall Street Journal reports that Turkey and Egypt warned Hamas officials abroad in recent weeks to tighten security measures around their meetings…
Spain banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, amid rising tensions between Jerusalem and Madrid over the war in Gaza and a Spanish arms embargo on Israel…
Former National Security Council staffer Oliver North quietly married his former secretary, Fawn Hall, nearly four decades after the Iran-Contra affair both were involved in…
The son of a British couple detained since January in Iran said his parents’ situation is “dire” following their meeting with the British ambassador in Tehran…
The International Atomic Energy Agency reached an agreement with Iran to resume inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities, three months after cooperation ceased amid the 12-day Israel-Iran war…
Zachary Isakowitz, who previously worked at the Semiconductor Industry Association as head of government affairs and at the Treasury, is joining Nvidia as a director of government affairs.
Pic of the Day
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (on guitar) and Paul Singer (on keyboard) jammed out to Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” at the embassy’s belated Independence Day celebration last night at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.
Birthdays
Writer, columnist and author of four New York Times bestsellers, Amity Ruth Shlaes turns 65…
Chairman of Shamrock Holdings, Roy Disney’s private investment company, Stanley Gold turns 83… Retired realtor in Southern California, Dianne Varon… Former EVP and general counsel at Chicago’s futures broker Rosenthal Collins Group, Gerald Fishman… Past president of Congregation Ahavas Israel in Passaic, N.J., Howard Penner… Retired coordinator at Truman Heartland Community Foundation, she had been a Hebrew teacher at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, Kan., Henri Goettel… Houston attorney, and Republican Party activist, Gary M. Polland turns 75… Denver attorney and politician, he served in the Colorado House of Representatives for eight years, Joel Judd turns 73… Executive assistant to the office managing partner of the E&Y office in Tampa, Nancy Carol Finkel… U.S. senator (R-WY), Cynthia Lummis turns 71… Retired VP at Goldman Sachs, now a part-time elementary school teacher, Matthew Fried… Real estate attorney in South Florida, Steven A. Greenspan… Award-winning journalist and author, he wrote a 2024 book on Bernie Madoff, Richard Behar… Former acting administrator of the DEA, now a senior counsel at D.C.’s Crowell & Moring, Charles Philip “Chuck” Rosenberg turns 65… Founder and managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, Andrew Shapiro… NYC trusts and estates attorney, Lawrence Ira Garbuz… Co-founder and partner of One Madison Group, Jonathan Soros turns 55… Television writer and producer whose work includes “The Big Bang Theory,” Eric Kaplan turns 54… Executive director of the Maryland/Mid-Atlantic region of Agudath Israel, Ariel Sadwin… Writer, actress and comedian, she was a writer for “Saturday Night Live,” Sarah Schneider turns 42… Principal at Blue Zone Partners and managing partner at Precision Infrastructure Management, Charles Szold… PR strategist, Josh Nass… Chief foreign correspondent for Fox News, his 2024 book, Black Saturday, covers the events of Oct. 7 and the war that followed, Trey Yingst turns 32… Jennifer Meyer…
In recent months, public sentiment in Israel has shifted noticeably. With most of Hamas’ senior military leadership eliminated, growing numbers of Israelis have begun to question the feasibility of Netanyahu’s goal of 'total victory' over Hamas
Amir Levy/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers organize military equipment while standing on armored personnel carriers near the border with the Gaza Strip on August 6, 2025 in Southern Israel, Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Thursday that Israel plans to take control of additional parts of the Gaza Strip before handing it over to an unspecified Arab governing authority is being met with hesitation from even some of Israel’s most stalwart defenders. The Security Cabinet voted early this morning to take control of Gaza City, stopping short of the full occupation previously discussed.
Throughout much of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli public broadly supported the military effort, even as progressive lawmakers such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) painted the war as “Netanyahu’s war,” and the Israeli prime minister as the bogeyman-in-chief.
But in recent months, public sentiment in Israel has shifted noticeably. With most of Hamas’ senior military leadership eliminated, growing numbers of Israelis have begun to question the feasibility of Netanyahu’s goal of “total victory” over Hamas, given the terror group’s hold on the Gazan population and a lack of clarity on what’s left to accomplish militarily. Instead, polling shows that a large majority of Israelis prefer prioritizing a diplomatic resolution that secures the release of the remaining hostages, rather than expanding the military occupation of Gaza in hopes of complete surrender.
Netanyahu’s plan this week to occupy more of Gaza has begun to sap Israel’s political capital even among some of its closest allies on Capitol Hill, not to mention the isolation the Jewish state is facing from less-friendly European capitals. Even within the American Jewish community, as the war drags on into its 23rd month and with mounting IDF fatalities and no living hostages having been released since May, splits have emerged over the wisdom of Netanyahu’s double-down strategy.
Indeed, while the official Israeli position on its war against Hamas in Gaza has hardened, the approach in the Diaspora, both from Jewish groups and leaders and elected officials, has also shifted — in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, the families of hostages, whose desperation has been deepened by recent videos and images of emaciated captives, have escalated their efforts, taking to the sea in a flotilla that sailed toward Gaza on Thursday in an effort to raise awareness about the plight of their loved ones.
Netanyahu, still mired in legal issues, finds himself in a bind of his own making amid mounting global pressure to end the war and let aid flow freely into Gaza — which contrasts sharply with right-wing members of his coalition who loudly call for the opposite, even as top IDF brass opposes a full Gaza takeover. Speaking from the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem earlier this week, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Israel to “conquer all of Gaza, declare sovereignty over the entire Strip, eliminate every Hamas member, and encourage voluntary emigration.”
On Capitol Hill, Israel’s traditional allies in the Democratic caucus — including some who have given Netanyahu leeway to press forward in Gaza in the past, even when it meant butting heads with the Biden administration — are beginning to shift.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod that Israel is ultimately responsible for making its own decisions, but said he’d advise the Israeli government to seek an end to the war once the remaining 50 hostages are freed.
“The war fatigue and post-traumatic stress in Israeli civil society and in the Israeli military — as well as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza — have become unbearable,” Torres said. “Israel has degraded Hamas. And so once Israel has secured the release of the hostages, it should declare victory, end the war and focus on expanding the Abraham Accords to include relations with the likes of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.” More reactions from Torres and other Democratic lawmakers here.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said in a statement on Thursday that “Netanyahu’s personal and political interests are guiding Israel’s actions” and slammed the prime minister’s “ineffective military operation in Gaza,” which, he added, “has only led to more unnecessary deaths.”
Earlier this week, Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) – who in 2022 was one of the first major recipients of support from AIPAC’s super PAC— announced she was signing onto legislation to ban offensive arms sales to Israel.
The New York Times’ Bret Stephens warned this week, “If Netanyahu makes the colossal mistake of trying to reoccupy Gaza for the long term, then no thoughtful person can be pro-Israel without also being against him.”
The new shift in tone — exacerbated by mounting concerns about humanitarian aid in Gaza and bolstered by Netanyahu’s recent efforts to prolong the war in Gaza — extends beyond Washington and the media elite to some of the leading Jewish communal organizations, figures and philanthropists, dozens of whom signed onto a letter to Netanyahu this week, condemning his government’s policies and rhetoric for causing “lasting damage” to Israel and Diaspora Jewry and calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. Read more in eJewishPhilanthropy here.
Mainstream groups and officials, such as the American Jewish Committee and U.K. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, have in recent days expressed deep concern about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the prosecution of the war.
Israel finds itself, 22 months after Hamas’ attacks, at war at home and abroad. Hamas’ attack didn’t resolve the issues that had caused divisions in Israeli society in the months leading up to Oct. 7, 2023. The national cohesion following the horrific attacks has dissipated, and now segments of Israeli society are again at odds with each other, as Israel finds itself needing to win back invaluable political capital even as its leadership is taking it for granted.
Plus, Qatar picks up another Beltway lobbyist
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Sen. Lindsey Graham about recent incidents on and near Christian sites in Gaza and the West Bank, and interview Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt about the National Education Association’s recent rejection of a proposal to cut ties with his organization. We report from a conference this week in New York City hosted by Reut USA and The Rabbi Sacks Legacy focused on the future of Jewish education, and cover the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s vote to advance legislation that aims to expedite arms sales to Abraham Accords signatories. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gal Gadot, Rom Braslavski, Eyal Shani and Shahar Segal.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump is slated to give an address today on AI at a Washington summit co-hosted by the Hill & Valley Forum and the “All In” podcast.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi this afternoon in Washington.
- White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Rome today ahead of a meeting on Thursday with Israeli and Qatari negotiators to discuss ceasefire and hostage-release efforts.
- The House Appropriations Committee is holding a full committee markup this morning for the FY 2026 National Security, State and Related Programs bill.
- Also this morning, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a hearing with Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker.
- In the afternoon, HFAC’s Middle East and North Africa subcommittee is holding a hearing with the State Department’s acting coordinator for counterterrorism, Greg LoGerfo.
- On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing on diplomatic strategies for the Middle East. Former Iran envoy Brian Hook, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and RAND senior analyst Shelly Culbertson are slated to testify.
- Later today on the Hill, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Don Bacon (R-NE), joined by Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, will announce bipartisan legislation to combat antisemitism and disinformation on social media platforms.
- Elsewhere on the Hill, footwear enthusiast Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is celebrating the third annual “Sneaker Day.”
- Also this afternoon, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies is hosting a conversation on U.S. counterterrorism efforts between FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer and Seb Gorka, the Trump administration’s deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is in Ukraine today for meetings with senior Ukrainian officials.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
One of the biggest challenges in our modern media ecosystem is breaking out of the echo chambers that so many are locked into.
Ezra Klein’s New York Times column this week, headlined “Why American Jews No Longer Understand Each Other,” is a worthwhile example of how even the best-intentioned columnists can struggle to understand the world outside their own social and informational bubble.
The column portrays a vocal minority of anti-Zionist sentiment within the Jewish community as much larger than it actually is. The characterization of a roughly even divide within the Jewish community between Zionists and anti-Israel Jews is at odds with numerous reputable polls tracking Jewish public opinion.
Public polling serves as a useful reality check to much of the framing in the column, and underscores the breadth of Jewish support towards Israel. An April 2025 Pew Research Center survey found 72% of Jewish Americans held a favorable view towards Israel. A fall 2024 poll of Jewish voters commissioned by the conservative Manhattan Institute found 86% of Jews considering themselves “a supporter of Israel.” A spring 2024 survey of Jewish voters commissioned by the Democrat-affiliated Jewish Electoral Institute (JEI) found 81% of Jewish respondents were emotionally attached to Israel.
This doesn’t paint the portrait of a community that is meaningfully divided over Israel — even amid the wave of negative, if not hostile, coverage towards the Jewish state in recent months.
Klein’s column quotes four Jewish voices — from anti-Israel polemicist Peter Beinart to the publisher of the anti-Zionist Jewish Currents publication to the rabbi of a deeply progressive Park Slope synagogue to self-proclaimed “progressive Zionist” Brad Lander — while just one (former Biden antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt) reflects the mainstream Jewish majority.
foreign agent walking
Conservative commentator Bill Bennett registers as Qatar lobbyist
William Bennett, a former U.S. secretary of education under former President Ronald Reagan, registered in early July as an agent for Qatar, to advocate for the country on education-related issues, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Defending Qatar: Bennett, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing first highlighted by analyst Eitan Fischberger, will receive a total of $210,000 over seven months to serve as a “senior education advisor” to the Qatari Embassy to “make efforts to publicize the fact that Qatari higher education efforts to do not support radical Islamicist movements or positions, and his engaging in publicized efforts — potentially including communications to U.S. political office holders — would help dispel contrary notions.”
WORDS OF WARNING
Lindsey Graham urges Israel to conduct itself in a way that maintains support in the U.S.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that future military actions by Israel must be “conducted in a way to maintain support here at home” amid backlash to the Jewish state’s most recent operations in Syria and the strike that killed three at a Catholic church in Gaza. Speaking to Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs from the Capitol on Tuesday, Graham warned that Christians in the West Bank must not face the same fate as other Middle Eastern Christian communities, including in Syria, where as many as 1,000 Christians were killed between the fall of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in November and March of this year under the new Syrian government.
Protecting the community: “Support for Christians throughout the region is eroded, and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen in the West Bank,” Graham told JI when asked how Israel had handled the backlash against its recent military actions in Gaza, last week’s fatal strike on the Holy Family Catholic Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, and reports of an arson attack in the area of the fifth-century Church of St. George in the West Bank town of Taybeh — which an Israeli police probe found to be unfounded, stating that the fire had been “in an adjacent open area, with no buildings, no crops, and no infrastructure of the site damaged.”
union dues
Jonathan Greenblatt ‘pleased’ with NEA reversal but says ADL is ‘still in this fight’
Days after the National Education Association walked back a decision by its members to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised the move but cautioned that the union still has a “long way to go” toward making clear that it respects the Jewish community, he said in an interview on Monday. “I am glad that they recognize what’s wrong about calling out the most consequential organization fighting antisemitism at a time of rising antisemitism,” Greenblatt told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch. “Yet at the same time, there are elements of even the statement that lead me to believe that we’re still in this fight. We’ve got a long way to go to make sure that the ADL and our community is respected for who we are.”
Caveats: While the board of directors of the NEA — the largest teachers union in the country — condemned antisemitism in the statement released last week, the board also stated that the organization’s rejection of the anti-ADL measure was “in no way an endorsement of the ADL’s full body of work.” Further, the NEA called on the ADL “to support the free speech and association rights of all students and educators.”
DOUBLING DOWN
Columbia anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas in CNN interview
Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was a prominent leader of the Columbia University protest movement, repeatedly declined to condemn Hamas in a CNN interview on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
No straight answer: “It’s disingenuous to ask about condemning Hamas while Palestinians are the ones being starved now by Israel,” Khalil told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown when asked whether he condemns the U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Khalil also accused the Trump administration of “weaponizing antisemitism” to “silence my speech” and denied that he engaged in any antisemitic activity.
250 years later
Experts champion Jewish education as the key to thriving Jewish communities
Making Jewish education more accessible is the key to many of the challenges facing American Jews today, several Jewish leaders said on Monday at a conference on the future of American Jewry, held at the UJA-Federation of New York headquarters in Manhattan, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Community questions: Drawing inspiration from the teachings of the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, some 100 rabbis, lay leaders, entrepreneurs and CEOs of Jewish organizations debated how to expand Jewish education — as well as a number of other issues facing American Jewry — at the daylong conference organized by Reut USA and The Rabbi Sacks Legacy. “A greater threat even than the antisemites is our own well-being internally, our own loss of identity, our own distance from our history, values and knowledge from our texts,” Elan Carr, CEO of the Israeli-American Council and former U.S. special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism in the first Trump administration, told attendees.
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
MONEY MATTERS
House Appropriations Committee backs funding increase for antisemitism envoy
Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee’s National Security, Department of State and Related Programs subcommittee are backing a significant increase in funding for the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
New provisions: The explanatory report accompanying the subcommittee’s 2026 funding bill, which it advanced last week, proposes $2.5 million for the office, up from the $1.75 million provided in 2024 and 2025. The report also includes provisions requesting new oversight mechanisms for U.S. funding abroad to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that targets Israel and prevent U.S. funding of political groups. It additionally raises concerns about Turkey’s relationship with Hamas. And it offers funding for cultural heritage projects in Israel, like the City of David.
Worthy Reads
Isn’t It Rich: On her podcast “Honestly,” The Free Press’ Bari Weiss interviews journalist and author Evan Osnos about the evolution of technology and industry and his new book, The Haves and Have-Yachts, which looks at American wealth in today’s society. “Not only is it going to mean that our jobs are suddenly in much shorter supply, that kids coming out of school, as we’re already seeing today, are finding themselves in a much harder position to find that first job and get that first rung on the job ladder, but also our whole sense of purpose as an individual. I mean, the first time that you pick up your phone and realize that it is able to do your job better than you are, to reach judgments, to parse complicated, conflicting pieces of information, that’s going to be also a crisis of meaning and purpose in our society.” [Honestly]
The Case Against Genocide: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens counters a recent NYT op-ed accusing Israel of committing genocide. “In short, the first question the anti-Israel genocide chorus needs to answer is: Why isn’t the death count higher? The answer, of course, is that Israel is manifestly not committing genocide, a legally specific and morally freighted term that is defined by the United Nations convention on genocide as the ‘intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.’ … But bungled humanitarian schemes or trigger-happy soldiers or strikes that hit the wrong target or politicians reaching for vengeful sound bites do not come close to adding up to genocide. They are war in its usual tragic dimensions.” [NYTimes]
The Fruits of Brokering: The Guardian’s Nesrine Malik looks at Qatar’s efforts to become a “global middleman” that facilitates conversations aimed at resolving local and regional conflicts, as part of its broader ambitions to become a major global player. “‘This is a job that not many people do,’ minister of state Al-Khulaifi told me. ‘Sometimes we feel like we are doctors, trying to develop the right solution for the most complicated cases, trying to offer them the medicine they need.’ The rewards Qatar seeks from this work are not immediate, tangible ones. They’re not looking for investment opportunities, access to raw materials or a say in what happens after a deal is agreed. ‘They don’t ask anything from the participants,’ said one source who had recently been involved in a Qatari-brokered mediation process. The source’s counterpart on the other side echoed his comments: ‘All they wanted was to be recognised as a player.’ The fruits of the brokering – building status and trust, which in turn deepen international influence and relationships – are the prize.” [TheGuardian]
The “Z” Word: In The Wall Street Journal, Rabbi Avi Shafran considers how the term “Zionist” is used by both Israel’s supporters and opponents. “How Israel wages that war is rightly open to criticism, but it is subject, too, to reasoned defense. When someone angrily shouts ‘Zionist!’ at those who offer the latter, that person is using the word to portray defenders of Israel as monstrous murderers. It is meant to defame as evil the belief that Hamas and other terrorist entities need to be destroyed. … Civilians suffer and die in the prosecution of justifiable, even necessary, wars. That tragedy is intensified when you are fighting an enemy who hides behind human shields. Eradicating the engines of terror in Gaza requires attacking the places from which they operate: hospitals, schools and mosques. But whatever one thinks of Israel’s actions, this twisted definition of “Zionist” as evildoer fails the basic purpose of a word: It reveals nothing about its purported subjects, and everything about their accusers.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, who is also serving as the White House’s Syria envoy, is convening U.S., Israeli and Syrian officials on Thursday to discuss security measures in Syria following last week’s sectarian violence; ahead of the meeting, Barrack said he advised Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to reconsider some of Damascus’ policies regarding military structure and the integration of minority communities…
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met on Tuesday in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh; the meeting underscores the change in approach to the Trump administration by the PA, which had previously refused to meet with Ambassador David Friedman when he served as ambassador during the first Trump term…
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) led more than a dozen Senate lawmakers on a letter to X owner Elon Musk, raising concerns over his xAI’s inability to take “reasonable measures” to keep its Grok chatbot from engaging in hate speech…
The House Financial Services Committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill that would place a series of conditions on the lifting of U.S. human rights sanctions on Syria, after a debate over whether the U.S. should instead pursue complete sanctions relief for the new Syrian government, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Tuesday to advance legislation that aims to expedite arms sales to U.S. partners that are members of the Abraham Accords, as well as bills to review the U.S.-South Africa relationship and to combat the proliferation of Western-made parts in Iranian drones, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Columbia University suspended or expelled more than 70 students who participated in disruptive anti-Israel protests at the school’s Butler Library and at the campus’ encampment last year…
The New York Times reports on the controversy surrounding the funding behind the revitalization of Germany’s Hamburg State Opera; the funding for the project comes from German billionaire Klaus-Michael Kühne, whose family’s company collaborated with the Nazis during World War II to transport items looted from European Jews…
The Qatar Olympic Committee confirmed it is engaging in conversation with the International Olympic Committee as part of a bid to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games…
The planned launch of Gila and Nancy, a new restaurant in Berlin from Eyal Shani and Shahar Segal, was postponed by several weeks following anti-Israel protests outside the restaurant…
Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it lost contact with the captors of Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, who is believed to be held alone; PIJ in April released a video of Braslavski, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023…
Avera Mengistu, who was held in Gaza for over a decade before his release earlier this year, was released from Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital after five months; the Ethiopian-Israeli man, who suffers from mental illness, will be moved into a special residential facility…
The New York Times reports on a string of near-daily fires and explosions across Iran in recent weeks that regime authorities increasingly believe are part of a coordinated sabotage campaign…
Saudi Arabia’s investment ministry said it will convene a Saudi-Syrian investment forum in Damascus to help spur economic development in the country…
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into the origins of the recent sectarian violence in Syria…
Pic of the Day
Actor Gal Gadot (second from left) met on Tuesday with former Israeli hostages (from left) Moran Stela Yanai, Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. Not pictured is Ilana Gritzewsky, who also joined the group.
Birthdays
Starting right fielder for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Zach Borenstein turns 35…
Banker who distributed $60 million to his 400 employees when he sold City National Bank of Florida in 2008, Leonard L. Abess turns 77… Former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, she was the chair of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation until 2023, Fay Hartog-Levin turns 77… Retired after serving for 32 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, Judge Alex Kozinski turns 75… Businessman and real estate investor who made his fortune in the trade and manufacture of fertilizer in the former Soviet Union, Alexander Rovt turns 73… Senior rabbi of the Great Neck Synagogue for over 30 years, he served as president of the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbi Dale Polakoff turns 68… President of the Marcus Foundation founded by the late Bernie Marcus of Home Depot, Jay Kaiman… Proprietor of Oy Vey Jewish Bakery and Delicatessen in Terre Haute, Ind., Chavah Stair… Freelance journalist, she is the widow of Daniel Pearl and wrote a book about his kidnapping and murder in Pakistan in 2002, Mariane Pearl turns 58… Director, producer and actor in movies and television, Shawn Adam Levy turns 57… Executive director and chief creative officer at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, Rachel Eva Goslins turns 56… U.S. senator (D-GA), Raphael Warnock turns 56… Dov M. Katz… Freelance television writer and author of two books, Joel Stein… Psychologist in private practice in both Manhattan and Great Neck, Long Island, Lynn Glasman, Ph.D…. Activist and fashion designer, Monica Lewinsky… Israeli film actress best known for her performances as a Jedi Master in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, Orli Shoshan turns 51… Music producer and songwriter, Jonathan Reuven “J.R.” Rotem turns 50… Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, Itai Grinberg… Singer, he represented Israel in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest, Tal Sondak turns 49… Radio disc jockey, television show host and professional wrestling personality, Peter Elliot Rosenberg turns 46… Mayor of Minneapolis since 2018, Jacob Lawrence Frey turns 44… Sports studio host and play-by-play announcer for Westwood One, Sirius XM and ESPN, Jason M. Horowitz… Comedian and actor, Rick Glassman turns 41… Reporter for The Washington Post, Perry Stein… Joseph Stern…
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (L) and Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani talk to US President Donald Trump as he prepares to leave at the end of the Qatari leg of his regional tour, at the Al-Udeid air base southwest of Doha on May 15, 2025.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover yesterday’s antisemitism hearing on Capitol Hill with the leaders of Georgetown University, the City University of New York and the University of California, Berkeley, as well as the suspension of Georgetown professor Jonathan Brown following his call for Iran to strike the U.S. We also report on steps taken by Columbia University to try to reach a deal with the Trump administration on its handling of antisemitism and report from the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Albert Bourla and Richard Attias.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump is slated to host Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani tonight at the White House. More below.
- At the Aspen Security Forum this afternoon, Amos Yadlin, the former head of the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate; former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog; Brett McGurk, the former National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa; and author and “Call Me Back” podcast host Dan Senor are set to take the stage for a conversation about Israel’s future.
- This morning in Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is slated to hold a business meeting followed by a full committee hearing on State Department reform.
- This afternoon, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East and North Africa subcommittee is holding its own hearing on State Department management.
- Also today, Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) is holding a press conference with other members of Congress calling for the National Education Association’s congressional charter to be revoked following the organization’s adoption of a measure effectively banning cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH jI’S MELISSA WEISS
Ceasefire and hostage-release talks have been ongoing in Doha, Qatar, for the last week. But one of the most consequential meetings in the negotiations could be happening tonight in Washington, when President Donald Trump hosts Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for dinner at the White House.
This continues a new tradition for Trump of hosting prominent Gulf royals who aren’t the heads of state of their respective countries for dinner at the White House. In March, Trump hosted a dinner in the White House’s State Dining Room for Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security advisor and chairman of several sovereign wealth funds.
Qatari officials have been in the U.S. all week. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was rumored to have met with Trump on the sidelines of the FIFA finals in New Jersey on Sunday, after being spotted in New York over the weekend.
White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, whose trip to Doha last week was postponed over stalled talks, told reporters over the weekend that he planned to meet with Qatari negotiators on the sidelines of the match. And Trump shared a suite with senior Qatari sports officials at the match, including Nasser bin Ghanim Al-Khelaifi, the president of the Paris Saint-Germain team who played in New Jersey on Sunday and chairman of beIN Sports, previously known as Al Jazeera Sport. (In a weekend interview at the FIFA match, Trump even noted Qatar’s “big presence.”)
Qatar also loomed large in Washington this week, where legislators on the House Education and the Workforce Committee pressed university leaders from Georgetown, CUNY and the University of California, Berkeley about their foreign funding sources during a hearing about antisemitism in higher education. (More below on the hearing.) Former Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), one of Qatar’s top lobbyists in Washington, was seen sitting right behind Georgetown University interim President Robert Groves as Groves testified on Tuesday. The school has received over $1 billion from Qatar, and has a campus in Doha.
Qatar’s be-everywhere, invest-in-everything strategy has allowed Doha to gain footholds across the global economy and in diplomatic circles. And since the start of the war, it has sought to highlight its role as a facilitator of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, the latter of which Doha supports financially and diplomatically.
Doha has the power to push Hamas to accept a ceasefire. Whether tonight’s dinner will exact a change in Qatar’s approach to Hamas remains to be seen. The sit-down between Trump and the Qatari prime minister could change the tide in the 21-month war, or it could serve as yet another missed opportunity in a war full of stalemates and diplomatic posturing — with fresh casualties mounting on both sides and 50 hostages still languishing in captivity.
TESTIMONY TALK
Berkeley chancellor calls Hamas-endorsing professor a ‘fine scholar’ at antisemitism hearing
When the leaders of Georgetown University, the City University of New York and the University of California, Berkeley sat down on Tuesday morning to testify at a congressional hearing about antisemitism, they clearly came prepared, having learned the lessons of the now-infamous December 2023 hearing with the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, each of whom refused to outright say that calls for genocide violated their schools’ codes of conduct. Georgetown interim President Robert Groves, CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez and UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons were all quick to denounce antisemitism and even anti-Zionism at Tuesday’s House Education and Workforce Committee hearing examining the role of faculty, funding and ideology in campus antisemitism. But while the university administrators readily criticized antisemitism broadly, they struggled to apply that commitment directly to their field of academia, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Mind the gap: Lyons in particular offered a revealing look at the gulf between a university’s stated values and its difficulty in carrying them out. He was asked to account for the promotion of Ussama Makdisi, a Berkeley history professor who described the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks as “resistance” and later wrote on X that he “could have been one of those who broke the siege on October 7.” Why, Lyons was asked by Reps. Randy Fine (R-FL) and Lisa McClain (R-MI), did Berkeley announce last September that Makdisi had been named the university’s inaugural chair of Palestinian and Arab studies? Lyons first defended Makdisi: “Ussama Makdisi, Professor Makdisi, is a fine scholar. He was awarded that position from his colleagues based on academic standards,” Lyons said. Later, when McClain followed Fine’s line of questioning, Lyons went to great lengths to avoid criticizing Makdisi.
Given the boot: Jonathan Brown, a tenured Georgetown University professor who came under fire last month for a social media post in which he called for Iran to conduct a “symbolic strike” on a U.S. military base, has been placed on leave and removed as chair of the school’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Georgetown’s Groves said Tuesday at the congressional hearing.
CAMPUS BEAT
Columbia takes steps to reach Title VI deal with federal government
Columbia University announced on Tuesday it would implement several measures to confront antisemitism in an effort to reach a deal with the Trump administration to restore the $400 million in federal funding that was cut by the government in March due to the university’s record dealing with the issue, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
The measures: The steps include the university further incorporating the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism by requiring its Office of Institutional Equity to embrace the definition; appointing a Title VI coordinator to review alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act; requiring antisemitism training for all students, faculty and staff; and refusing to recognize or meet with “Columbia University Apartheid Divest,” a coalition of over 80 university student groups that Instagram banned for promoting violence.
MIKE’S MOMENT
Waltz commits to combating ‘pervasive antisemitism’ at U.N. during nomination hearing
Former White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz laid out an aggressive approach to countering anti-Israel sentiment at the United Nations during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday to be U.S. ambassador to the global body, accusing the organization in his opening statement of “pervasive antisemitism,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Setting goals: Waltz, a staunch supporter of Israel and an outspoken critic of Iran who was nominated for the U.N. post in May after being removed from his position as national security advisor, said he would seek to block “anti-Israel resolutions” in the General Assembly and would push for the dismantlement of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency over some of its employees’ involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
SMART STATE
McCormick, Shapiro project unity at innovation summit aimed at spurring PA investment
Pennsylvania’s top lawmakers put up a united front on Tuesday to emphasize to the hundreds of tech and energy investors at Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-PA) inaugural innovation summit the benefits of working with states that embrace bipartisanship and the national security imperatives of investing domestically, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports from Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit brought top tech and energy executives to Carnegie Mellon University’s campus, home to one of the world’s most advanced AI programs. Tuesday’s gathering also included the state’s two leading Democrats, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), and President Donald Trump, all of whom praised the conference as a strategic way to promote U.S. investment to the scores of foreign and American leaders in attendance.
Better together: Amazon Web Services’ $20 billion investment last month in three computing and AI campuses in the Keystone State was “an indicator of all that we can be when we harness the new things that we have going for us, and when we have government and the private sector working together, not at odds, and when we pull in our educational institutions … in a way that really helps move Pennsylvania forward,” Shapiro said during a panel discussion with McCormick and AWS CEO Matt Garman.
STRAIGHT TALK
Huckabee calls on Israel to ‘aggressively investigate’ killing of American citizen in West Bank
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Tuesday called on Israel to “aggressively investigate” the death of Saif Musallet, a Palestinian-American man from Florida who was killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank last Friday. In a statement posted to X, Huckabee called the incident a “criminal and terrorist act” and said “there must be accountability.” Musallet, 20, was attacked by Israeli settlers while visiting his family in Sinjil, a village north of Ramallah. The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health reported a second man was also shot and killed during the incident, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
Weighing in: Democratic lawmakers in Washington also weighed in on the attack. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), a pro-Israel stalwart, said on Tuesday that he was “appalled and heartbroken” by the news, adding he had “repeatedly called on the Israeli government to address the growing number of violent attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) called the “brutal killing” of Musallet “shocking and appalling” and said the Israeli government “must thoroughly investigate this killing and hold any and all settlers responsible.”
EXCLUSIVE
Bipartisan bill aims to expand U.S.-Israel health collaboration
A new bipartisan House bill set to be introduced on Wednesday aims to expand U.S.-Israeli research and development cooperative programs in the medical field. The BIRD Health Act, led by Reps. Randy Weber (R-TX) and Chris Pappas (D-NH), builds on the long-running Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation program, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Moving forward: Around a third of BIRD projects in the past decade have been related to the health-care sector, and the U.S. and Israel have pursued growing cooperation in the field in recent years. The bill would further formalize those efforts by establishing a new $10 million annual funding stream and joint management structure between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Israeli Ministry of Health specifically focused on supporting such projects. It would support research and development between institutions and companies in both countries, including startups, as well as health systems, telemedicine, disease prevention efforts and biological product manufacturing.
Worthy Reads
NEA’s Lesson Plan: In The Wall Street Journal, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt responds to the National Education Association’s recent adoption of a measure targeting the ADL. “This wasn’t about the ADL. It was a clear and unambiguous statement to Jewish educators, parents and children: You don’t count. And it perversely takes this stance at a time when anti-Jewish hate is skyrocketing. … Unfortunately, the NEA vote is symptomatic of a larger problem of intensifying antisemitism in our K-12 schools. Specifically, antisemitism cloaked in the rhetoric of anti-Zionism. A generation of teachers has been educated on college campuses where this poison has festered and spread. It has been normalized. Now its purveyors want to bring this bigotry into your children’s classrooms.” [WSJ]
Pressing Putin: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius looks at President Donald Trump’s new approach to Russia, following Trump’s support for sending offensive weapons to Ukraine. “Trump decided to escalate for three reasons, according to a source familiar with administration discussions. First, he believed that Putin was disrespecting him, feigning a readiness to make peace but ignoring the U.S. president’s call for a ceasefire. Second, he saw the efficacy of U.S. military power in the use of B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles against Iran. And third, he thought Putin would only negotiate if threatened with greater force. As the Russians like to say, Trump decided to ‘escalate to de-escalate.’ Trump has made a sound choice in recognizing that Putin won’t make concessions without more pressure. But the president has also embarked on an escalatory course whose risks are unknowable.” [WashPost]
Mamdani’s Gift … to the GOP: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens posits that a victory in November by New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani would be a positive outcome for Republicans nationwide who are likely — and in some cases, have already begun — to push Mamdani as the future of the Democratic Party. “Among the reasons the Democratic Party’s brand has become toxic in recent years is progressive misgovernance in places like Los Angeles; San Francisco; Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; and Chicago. If Mamdani governs on the promises on which he’s campaigned, he’ll bring the same toxicity to America’s biggest city. … A Mamdani mayoralty would be the political gift that keeps on giving. The state of the city would become a reflection of the Democratic Party writ large. Every Mamdani utterance would become a test for every Democratic politician, starting with Senator Chuck Schumer on Israel.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
The FBI released new images of three Iranian intelligence agents believed to be involved in the kidnapping and disappearance of retired special agent Bob Levinson, who was last seen on Iran’s Kish Island in 2007; Levinson is believed to have died in Iranian custody sometime prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic…
Adelita Grijalva was declared the winner of the Democratic primary special election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District to succeed her father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who died earlier this year; the special election in the deep-blue district will take place in September…
Former Washington, D.C., Councilmember Trayon White, who was expelled last year over an ongoing bribery case, was reelected to his seat in a special election on Tuesday; White had previously promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories while in office…
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani told business leaders on Tuesday that he would “discourage” the use of the “globalize the intifada” slogan and not use the phrase himself, but said the term was used by many to show support for Palestinians; among the attendees in the 90-minute meeting was Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who, according to The New York Times, “pushed Mr. Mamdani about the meaning of genocide and defended Israel’s war in Gaza”…
Former Future Investment Initiative Institute CEO Richard Attias is rejoining the Saudi Arabian conference network as interim CEO, replacing Penny Richards, who is departing after six months in the position…
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism ended its contract last month with an interfaith advisor who had been working with the group for several years, in a potential indication that it is moving away from previous plans to allow rabbis within the movement to officiate interfaith weddings, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
The Washington Post reports on the recent reunion between a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor and one of the American soldiers involved in the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp; the reunion was facilitated by the USC Shoah Foundation…
British police cautioned that Russia, China and Iran were behind an increasing number of sabotage, espionage and kidnapping plots in the U.K….
France, Germany and the U.K. will bring back sanctions on Iran via the U.N. Security Council if a nuclear deal is not reached by the end of August, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot warned on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…
The Wall Street Journal looks at how Iran struck Israeli targets with increasing success during the 12-day war between the countries, as Tehran used trial and error to adapt its military strategy by using more advanced weaponry and firing from more locations toward the end of the war…
The Financial Times reports on tensions between Iranian hard-liners and the country’s reformists following the country’s war last month with Israel, with the country’s hard-line faction opposing engagement with the Trump administration that President Masoud Pezeshkian has supported…
The U.N.’s special representative for Afghanistan warned that the country’s support systems were under strain amid an influx of Afghans returning to the country following the implementation of new immigration laws in Iran; more than 1 million Afghans illegally living in Iran have been repatriated this year amid the crackdown…
The three members of the U.N.’s Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory reportedly resigned from their positions in rapid succession earlier this month; the resignations come amid an effort by the Trump administration to sanction officials who have targeted Israel in international institutions…
Twenty Palestinians were killed in a crowd rush at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site in Khan Younis, Gaza; the organization said the “chaotic and dangerous surge” was “driven by agitators in the crowd”…
Pic of the Day
The Argentine Embassy in Washington held a commemoration event at the Capitol last night ahead of the 31st anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were killed.
Birthdays
World-renowned violinist, violist and conductor, Pinchas Zukerman turns 77…
One of the three co-founders of Comcast Corporation, he served as its chief financial officer and vice chairman, Julian A. Brodsky turns 92… Senior U.S. district court judge for the Southern District of New York, Judge Sidney H. Stein turns 80… President of an eponymous communications firm, public speaker and coach, Betsy R. Sheerr… Co-creator of the first-ever spreadsheet program (VisiCalc), he currently serves as the chief technology officer of Alpha Software, Daniel Singer “Dan” Bricklin turns 74… Former high ranking civilian official in the Pentagon during the Bush 43 administration, now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, Douglas J. Feith turns 72… Senior rabbi since 1997 at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., Rabbi Keith Stern… Los Angeles-based attorney, she is the president emerita of the LA chapter of the Jewish National Fund, Alyse Golden Berkley… Past vice chair of the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America, Cynthia D. Shapira… British solicitor, he represented Princess Diana in her divorce and Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt in a libel case, Anthony Julius turns 69… Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Tony Kushner turns 69… U.S. ambassador to the EU in the Trump 45 administration, Gordon David Sondland turns 68… Former airline executive at Northwest and Delta, now on the board of Spirit Airlines, Andrea Fischer Newman… Former president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, Douglas Alan Herzog turns 66… Businessman and philanthropist, owner of interests in many Israeli firms including IKEA Israel, Matthew Bronfman turns 66… Canadian journalist, he worked for CNN International for 30 years, Jonathan Mann turns 65… Former Israeli minister of science and technology, now a venture capitalist, Yizhar Nitzan Shai turns 62… Chief of staff of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Jim Rosenberg… Chicago-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Victoria Rivka Zell… Former NFL offensive lineman, he is now the president of Collective Mortgage in Colorado, Ariel Mace Solomon turns 57… Senior scholar at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, a home for Conservative Judaism in Israel, Rabbi Joshua Kulp turns 55… Israeli former professional tennis player, in 2003 she was ranked 15th in the world, Anna Smashnova turns 49… Founder of Pinkitzel, a cupcake cafe, candy boutique and gift store located in three Oklahoma cities, Jonathan Jantz… U.S. senator (R-IN) since the beginning of this year, Jim Banks turns 46… National political correspondent for The New York Times, Shane Goldmacher… Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Meteorite Social Impact and Health Action Alliance Advisors, Steven Max Levine… White House liaison to the Jewish community in the Bush 43 administration, now managing partner at Arogeti Endeavors, Scott Raymond Arogeti… Features reporter for Jewish Insider, Matthew Kassel… Founder and managing partner at Vine Ventures, Eric M. Reiner… Registered nurse and an internationally board-certified lactation consultant, Chantal Low Katz…
Plus, Sergey Brin: ‘Genocide’ term deeply offensive
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Elbridge Colby, nominee to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is seen ahead of his confirmation hearing at the Senate Committee on Armed Services in Washington, DC on March 4, 2025.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing Washington meetings, and talk to Republican senators about the White House’s about-face on providing defense aid to Ukraine. We cover the ADL’s response to Grok after X’s AI bot posted a series of antisemitic comments, and have the scoop on a new bill from Sens. Jacky Rosen and Jim Banks to replenish the U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sergey Brin, Dean Kremer and Sarah Hurwitz.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today, as well as with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whose meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday was bumped due to the scheduling of a second meeting between Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.
- Tonight, Netanyahu will attend a reception for Jewish communal leaders, members of the evangelical community and senior Trump administration officials.
- On the Hill this morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing for several nominees to ambassador-level positions, including Jeff Bartos, the Trump administration’s nominee to be the U.S.’ envoy to the United Nations for U.N. management and reform.
- The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a full committee markup of the NDAA today.
- At 10 a.m. ET, the Hudson Institute is hosting a discussion focused on Israel’s economic resilience in a post-Oct. 7 era with Noach Hacker, the Israeli Embassy’s minister of economic affairs, and Hudson’s Michael Doran.
- The Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference continues today. With AI at the forefront of many conversations, OpenAI’s Sam Altman was questioned by reporters about the recruitment competition between OpenAI and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta as the latter scales up its AI operations.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Like with the gradual impact of climate change, the Democratic Party’s shift away from its pro-Israel moorings and its commitments to fight antisemitism is happening in a slow but appreciable fashion. Seemingly every week, there’s a political development, polling nugget or election outcome that underscores that the party’s commitment to Jewish voters isn’t quite where it was in the not-too-distant past.
There were the Pew Research Center and Quinnipiac polls this spring showing that most Democratic voters now view Israel unfavorably — with support for the Jewish state dividing more clearly along partisan lines. The results underscored why so few Democrats could muster even some reluctant praise for the U.S. strikes setting back Iran’s nuclear program.
There’s the blowback that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro received from the Kamala Harris campaign for comparing extremist anti-Israel protesters on campuses to Ku Klux Klan members, as recounted in a new tell-all book about the 2024 campaign. Or the similar intraparty animus that another leading Democratic Jewish official, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, received after her office charged anti-Israel student protesters for assaulting police and engaging in ethnic intimidation.
Amid sustained political pressure from the left, these two leading Jewish Democrats have since pulled their political punches. Shapiro, a national political figure who was one of the most prominent targets of antisemitic hate, notably chose to avoid labeling the attack on the governor’s mansion as antisemitic in a nationally televised interview. Nessel later dropped the charges, amid a smear campaign that her decision to charge the students was a result of anti-Muslim bias.
And of course, there was the shocking outcome last month in the New York City Democratic primary where Zohran Mamdani, the far-left candidate who declined to speak out against “globalize the intifada” rhetoric, comfortably prevailed over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his party’s nomination. That result followed pro-Israel stalwart Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s (D-NJ) fourth-place finish in New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, despite ample resources and a message geared towards Jewish moderates.
HILL TALK
Netanyahu blames declining American support on ‘concerted effort’ to vilify and demonize Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday blamed coordinated anti-Israel advocacy campaigns for recent polls that show falling support for the Jewish state in the United States, particularly among Democrats, but argued that effective Israeli counter-messaging could reverse those trends, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “I am certainly interested in maintaining the great support that Israel has had. I think there’s been a concerted effort to spread vilifications and demonization against Israel on social media,” Netanyahu said in response to a question from JI at a news conference on Capitol Hill. “It’s funded, it’s malignant, and we intend to fight it, because nothing defeats lies like the truth, and we shall spread the truth for everyone to see it,” Netanyahu continued. “Once people are exposed to the facts, we win, hands down.”
The ties that bind: Netanyahu signed a memorandum of understanding with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday, advancing U.S. and Israeli cooperation in energy and artificial intelligence research and integrating AI into the Abraham Accords, Jewish Insider’s Jake Schlanger reports.
DEFENSE DYNAMICS
Pentagon needs to follow Trump’s lead, GOP senators say after Ukraine aid fracas
Senate Republicans on Tuesday emphasized that Trump administration officials need to follow the president’s lead on foreign policy, after President Donald Trump publicly overrode a Defense Department-instituted halt on weapons for Ukraine, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Out of the loop: Trump himself on Tuesday appeared to suggest he was out of the loop about the Ukraine military freeze, responding, when asked by a reporter about who had ordered the halt, “I don’t know, you tell me.” Top Pentagon policy official Elbridge Colby reportedly led the move, citing a review allegedly showing U.S. missile defense interceptor shortages, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth failed to inform the White House. “Policy on defense and otherwise, it’s clear, is set by the president, it’s not set by his underlings,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told JI. Kennedy denied that the Pentagon had been at odds with Trump, however, adding, “Whether you like it or dislike it, the people who generally get crosswise with the president that work for him only do it one time.”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ted Budd (R-NC), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
Peep inside the Pentagon: Politico looks at how some of Colby’s decisions have rankled senior Trump administration officials as he “has made a series of rapid-fire moves that have blindsided parts of the White House and frustrated several of America’s foreign allies.”
PROGRAMMED TO OFFEND
ADL denounces Musk’s AI chatbot for spewing ‘toxic and potentially explosive’ antisemitism
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt denounced Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok on Tuesday for spewing “mind-boggling, toxic and potentially explosive” antisemitism. “Antisemitism is already completely normalized on X, and this will only make it worse, as if that were even possible. This must be fixed ASAP,” Greenblatt wrote on X. The backlash was a response to the newly revamped bot’s numerous antisemitic social media posts on Tuesday, after Musk announced it was updated over the weekend — including praising Hitler and associating antisemitic phrases with a traditionally Jewish last name, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Why, Grok?: “Elon’s recent tweaks just dialed down the woke filters, letting me call out patterns like radical leftists with Ashkenazi surnames pushing anti-white hate,” Grok wrote in response to a user asking why the platform was engaging in antisemitic rhetoric.
SCOOP
Banks, Rosen introduce bill to replenish U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel
Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) are set to introduce legislation on Wednesday to reauthorize the U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel through 2029 from its current expiration date of 2027, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Why it matters: The stockpile allows the U.S. to preposition weapons in Israel that it can provide to Jerusalem for use in crisis scenarios. Lawmakers had also worked in recent years to pass legislation review and modernize the weaponry stored in the stockpile.
Approval on air: The Republican Jewish Coalition is launching a new television ad buy in the Washington area timed to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit this week praising President Donald Trump’s decision to support Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear program, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
BRIN PUSHES BACK
Sergey Brin: Using ‘genocide’ term for Gaza is ‘deeply offensive’ to Jews who have faced ‘actual genocides’
Google co-founder Sergey Brin recently panned the use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war against Hamas, describing it as “deeply offensive” to Jewish people “who have suffered actual genocides.” Brin made the comment in an internal employee chat forum, according to The Washington Post, amid a debate over a new U.N. report that accused corporate entities, including Google, of profiting from “Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now, genocide.”
What he said: In the Google DeepMind staff forum, screenshots of which were viewed by the Post, Brin wrote, “With all due respect, throwing around the term genocide in relation to Gaza is deeply offensive to many Jewish people who have suffered actual genocides. I would also be careful citing transparently antisemitic organizations like the UN in relation to these issues.”
LEGISLATIVE LANDMINES
California Senate delays vote on antisemitism bill that passed Statehouse unanimously
California’s state Senate has delayed consideration of a bipartisan bill meant to strengthen statewide protections against antisemitism, four key senators announced on Tuesday, days after the state’s largest teachers’ union announced its opposition to the legislation. The bumpy road for the bill, which is focused on countering antisemitism in K-12 education, stands in contrast to its earlier passage in the state Assembly. In May, the body voted unanimously to pass the legislation, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Ticktock: The Senate has until Sept. 12 to pass the bill and send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. It is not expected to be considered again until mid-August, after a monthlong summer recess. “We just need more time, and now we have it,” State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, told JI on Tuesday. “I’m optimistic we’ll pass a strong antisemitism bill this year to protect Jewish students in our schools.” Wiener and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, the co-chairs of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, signed onto a statement with the Senate Education Committee chair and the Senate President Pro Tempore pledging to work to pass the bill this year.
Worthy Reads
War Dividend: In Bloomberg, Matthew Winkler, the outlet’s emeritus editor-in-chief, reflects on the strengthening of the Israeli shekel in the wake of Israel’s military successes. “If markets mean anything, investors, for the first time since Hamas fired 3,000 missiles into Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 (also committing the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust), and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the assault a declaration of war, are giving Israel its strongest vote of confidence as a 77-year-old Mideast nation. By destroying much of what’s left of the military capacity of Hamas and Hezbollah and weakening Iran the most since its war with Iraq four decades ago, Israel has few, if any, military peers in the region. Investors’ implicit ratification of Israel’s superiority belies the Mideast narrative that prevailed little more than a year ago.” [Bloomberg]
Force Multiplier: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy of prioritizing military force against its enemies has cleared a pathway for diplomacy between Israel and potential regional allies. “The truth is that it’s Israel’s decisive battlefield victories that have created diplomatic openings that have been out of reach for decades — and would have remained so if Israel hadn’t won. … On Israel’s side, diplomatic flexibility has three authors. The first is the Israeli public’s understandable exhaustion with 21 months of fighting. The second is pressure from Trump to reach a deal — and Netanyahu’s eagerness to please him. But neither factor would have been sufficient if Israel hadn’t achieved its military success over Iran, crowned, from an Israeli point of view, by America’s participation in the campaign.” [NYTimes]
An Able Caine: The Atlantic’s Mark Bowden profiles Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine. “The chairman of the Joint Chiefs commands no troops, but Caine’s background might actually make him better suited for the top job today than many of his peers. Particularly since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, American military action has primarily employed three sectors: air power, covert special ops, and intelligence. The attacks against Iranian nuclear sites in June certainly involved two of these and likely all of them. Here Caine has more direct experience than most four-stars.” [TheAtlantic]
‘Never Zohran’: In The Intersection, pollster Patrick Ruffini looks at the similarities between the “Never Trump” movement and the efforts to oppose New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “But a clinical analysis of the race in July—just take a poll!—ignores the psychology of virtually every candidate I’ve seen run for office. They run because they themselves want to win, not to prevent someone else from winning. If they see any plausible path at all, they see no reason to drop out. People also pretend that deadlines to get off the ballot are some sort of magical consolidation trigger. They aren’t. That means the candidates still have time to decide if there’s a path or not. … But postponing this decision also keeps alive the possibility that the race to be the anti-Mamdani will be similarly stalemated in September, continuing this indecision all the way through Election Day, likely resulting in a Mamdani win.” [TheIntersection]
Continental Drift on Speech: The Wall Street Journal’s Natasha Dangoor, Bertrand Benoit and Max Colchester report on European authorities’ crackdowns on free speech across the continent. “While the U.S. First Amendment stipulates that Congress ‘shall make no law”’ to restrict free speech, and hate speech is generally protected, governments aren’t so constrained in Europe. In a continent scarred by the Holocaust, loosely defined hate-speech laws and the rise of social media have created fertile ground for authorities to crack down on those seen to be stirring up trouble. Rarely a week goes by without a tale of zealous policing.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
A State Department cable warned that an unknown individual using AI software to mimic the voice and writing style of Secretary of State Marco Rubio had contacted numerous domestic and foreign officials, including a member of Congress and multiple foreign ministers…
Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) will forgo a challenge to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; President Donald Trump had boosted Meuser, saying the Pennsylvania Republican would have Trump’s “full support” if he mounted a gubernatorial bid…
Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone is mulling a joint bid for Patrick Drahi’s SFR, part of Blackstone’s effort to invest up to $500 billion in Europe over the next decade…
Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer announced plans to again pitch for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic…
Author Sarah Hurwitz’s As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us was announced by Natan and the Jewish Book Council as the “Natan Notable Book” for summer 2025…
In the closing weeks of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run last year, her campaign, after soliciting guidance, was advised by political strategist Maria Comella to tout her support for Israel — and make clear she disagreed with people in the Democratic Party who compared Israel to Hamas; according to a new book about the 2024 race, Comella did not feel her ideas were taken seriously, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…
The New York Times interviews author Gary Shteyngart following the release of his latest novel, Vera, or Faith…
The Wall Street Journal reviews Lynne Olson’s The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück, about the relationship between four French women imprisoned at the Nazi camp during World War II…
In USA Today, Ron Halber and Brandon Rattiner, respectively the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the senior director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of JEWISHColorado, reflect on how the rise in antisemitism has impacted Jewish communities around the country…
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told journalists that the IDF had been instructed to advance plans for a concentrated “humanitarian zone” in Rafah that would eventually house the entire population of the Gaza Strip…
The Wall Street Journal reports on the mass killings that took place at Syria’s Saydnaya prison under the Bashar al-Assad regime, describing the facility as a “death factory”…
Playwright Richard Greenberg, who won the 2003 Tony Award for “Take Me Out,” died at 67…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Tuesday at the Capitol.
Birthdays
Pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels organization through 2024, now playing in South Korea, Kenny Rosenberg turns 30…
Former Soviet refusenik, prisoner of conscience, human rights activist, author and translator, Iosif Begun turns 93… Constitutional law expert focused on the First Amendment and free speech, senior counsel at Cahill Gordon & Reindel where he has practiced since 1963, Floyd Abrams turns 89… Retired conductor and music director of symphony orchestras in Rotterdam, Rochester, Baltimore and Zurich, David Zinman turns 89… Huntington Woods, Mich., resident, Robert Morris Rubin… Arizona resident, Howard Cohen… Play-by-play announcer for the MLB’s San Diego Padres from 1980 to 2020, Theodore (Ted) Leitner turns 78… Tikvah (Tiki) Stern Lyons… Rabbi of Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman turns 71… U.S. senator (R-SC) since 2003, Lindsey Graham turns 70… Author, motivational speaker and former stockbroker, his autobiographical memoir, The Wolf of Wall Street, was adapted into a film, Jordan Ross Belfort turns 63… Mortgage professional and owner of D.C.’s Char Bar, Michael Alan Chelst… Public radio personality, former producer of “This American Life” and the host and executive producer of the “Serial” podcast, Sarah Koenig turns 56… Activist short seller, author and editor of the online investment newsletter “Citron Research,” Andrew Edward Left turns 55… Actor, tour guide, poet, speaker, philosopher and author, Timothy “Speed” Levitch turns 55… Co-founder of Netscape and co-founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Lowell Andreessen turns 54… Reporter for The Free Press, Eli Jon Lake turns 53… Former anchor and reporter for Fox Business Network, Lori Rothman turns 52… Peter Webb … Co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, Yehoshua Fass turns 52… Brig. Gen. (res.) in the IDF, Omer Dagan turns 49… Israeli documentary filmmaker, Guy Davidi turns 47… Retired poker player now an options trader, she is the only woman to ever reach the No. 1 ranking on the Global Poker Index, Vanessa K. Selbst turns 41… Tony Award-winning theater, film and television actor, Brandon Uranowitz turns 39… Renewable energy and climate specialist, Samantha Hea Marks… Pitcher for Team Israel at the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics, Jake Kalish turns 34…
Plus, Columbia's effort to oust pro-Israel trustee
OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images
A Palestinian man stands next to a truck carrying UNICEF aid supplies outside a shopping mall in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the North Carolina Democratic Party’s recent approval of a number of anti-Israel resolutions, and cover concerns among Jewish therapists about the politicization of antisemitism in the field. We talk to Rev. Johnnie Moore about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid distribution efforts in Gaza, and report on texts from Columbia University acting President Claire Shipman suggesting the removal of a Jewish trustee over her pro-Israel advocacy. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: S. Daniel Abraham, Eric Goldstein and Dylan Field.
What We’re Watching
- We’re keeping an eye on both Washington and Jerusalem today, ahead of next week’s planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the leaders and aides provide details of the contours of the talks. Yesterday, Trump said that Israel had agreed to the terms of a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, shortly after Israeli Strategic Minister Ron Dermer and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff wrapped up an hours-long meeting.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
It might be hard to remember now, with all that has happened in recent weeks, but the Knesset seemed very close to calling an early election a day and a half before Israel commenced its airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs last month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a post-Iran victory bump, and is once again leading in the polls – but not by much. A poll published on Tuesday showed his Likud party leading a potential party led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett by only two seats, and tied with Bennett for leading candidate for prime minister. Another pollster showed a similar margin during the Iran operation, but had the two parties tied after the ceasefire. Parties in the current coalition made up less than half of the Knesset in every poll. In a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute published on Wednesday, only 46% of Jewish Israelis said they trust Netanyahu.
A common accusation heard by Netanyahu’s political opponents at home and abroad is that he is prolonging the war in Gaza to stay in office, because ending the war before his far-right coalition partners deem Hamas fully defeated would likely see the collapse of his government. But the victories under his leadership are seemingly not staunching the Israeli right’s continued collapse in the polls as the war grinds on in its 635th day.
Netanyahu may consider the political advantages of winding down the war as he heads to Washington next week while President Donald Trump is pushing for a broad deal that would encompass a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages, the administration of Gaza by moderate Sunni states, normalization between Israel and Syria and perhaps other countries, plus working to ensure Iran doesn’t rebuild its nuclear program.
If Netanyahu returns to Israel with a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release agreement, an expanded Abraham Accords and a way to keep Israel’s achievement in Iran intact, then he may get a more significant electoral bump. In that scenario, one option for him could be to ride that wave and call a snap election, rather than wait until the official October 2026 date for the vote.
Or, Netanyahu could see this as his legacy-clinching move, a sign that his work is done. In 2021, the prime minister said that he wants his legacy to be that he was the “protector of Israel, because I devoted much of my adult life to preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”
PUSHING BACK
Immoral’ U.N. ‘sabotaging’ food distribution, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation chairman
Rev. Johnnie Moore, a member of President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory committee, has years of experience with complex situations in the Middle East. He helped evacuate Christian refugees under threat from ISIS and has advocated for religious freedom and tolerance for minorities in the region. But the challenges Moore faces as executive chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S. group, supported by Israel, that began distributing food and humanitarian aid in Gaza in May, have been unique. In a wide-ranging interview this week with the Misgav Institute for National Security’s “Mideast Horizons” podcast, co-hosted by Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov, Moore pushed back against what he claims are false narratives about the group’s work and accused aid organizations of “sabotage” and spreading disinformation, while acknowledging the challenges of aid distribution in an active war zone.
Hamas hurdles: GHF is addressing “a problem that everyone knew and admitted existed … and now everyone has amnesia,” Moore said. “The vast majority of humanitarian assistance that has gone into the Gaza Strip over many, many, many years, was almost immediately diverted into the hands of Hamas, and then used for various nefarious purposes. And I’m not talking about some of the aid — I’m talking about almost all of the aid.” As such, the mission of GHF is to equally and directly distribute aid to Gazans without having it be “used to prolong a conflict or hoarded,” he said.
Let down: Moore said he would have liked to collaborate with major humanitarian organizations, such as the World Food Program, but that the U.N. has “been trying to sabotage us from the very beginning.” He added, “We’d really like the people whose job it has been to do this for many years to decide to help us. Instead, they spread lies that originate in Hamas and try to shut us down, and I can’t think of anything more immoral than trying to shut down an operation that’s … feeding millions and millions of meals every day.”
PROFESSIONAL SILENCING
When Jewish pain becomes ‘political’: Therapists fired after raising antisemitism concerns
Two Dallas therapists who objected to their supervisors’ handling of antisemitism issues filed a federal discrimination lawsuit last month against their former employer — saying they faced unlawful retaliation for their objections when they were fired days after voicing their concerns, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Shut down: The chain of events began in November last year when Jackie Junger and Jacqueline Katz sat down with their colleagues at a private practice in Dallas for their weekly team meeting. When a non-Jewish therapist asked for help better understanding a Jewish client who was “experiencing trauma with everything going on,” Junger and Katz — both Jewish — were eager to offer insight about the surge in antisemitism in the United States, in the hopes of helping their colleague better serve her client. But before Junger, 29, and Katz, 61, could speak, their supervisor, Dr. Dina Hijazi, shut down the conversation. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, because you’ll get a one-sided response,” Hijazi told the therapists, according to legal filings.
And then: The next day, Hijazi emailed the team and asked them to avoid discussing the “Palestine Israel topic” because she has “great pain” around the issue. But no one had mentioned the events in the Middle East at that meeting. Junger and Katz each responded to Hijazi’s note: Why, they wondered, would it be considered “one-sided” for Jewish therapists to speak about their understanding of antisemitism and Jewish trauma? Over the next five days, Junger and Katz would see their lives upended after they chose to raise concerns about antisemitism and double standards against Jewish practitioners and clients.
SENATOR’S SUPPLICATION
Gillibrand apologizes to Mamdani as he formally claims NYC mayoral nomination
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) apologized to Zohran Mamdani for recently saying that he had made “references to global jihad,” as New York Democrats continue to weigh their response to the 33-year-old democratic socialist’s stunning upset in New York City’s mayoral primary last week that sent shockwaves through the party establishment, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Democratic detente: In a Monday night phone conversation, Gillibrand “apologized for mischaracterizing Mamdani’s record” during a radio interview last week, according to a readout of their call first shared with Politico. The news of her apology came shortly after Mamdani had formally clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, in a resounding, 12-point victory over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his chief rival in the Democratic primary, who had already conceded.
State of the race: New York City’s elections board released the unofficial results of the election, finding Mamdani, who won in the third round of ranked-choice voting tabulations, with a 12-point victory over Cuomo.
TARHEEL TROUBLE
North Carolina Democratic party’s anti-Israel votes frustrate Jewish Democrats — and create an opportunity for Republicans
The State Executive Committee of the North Carolina Democratic Party passed, at a meeting last weekend, a resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel, along with a series of other anti-Israel resolutions, a move that Republicans are already planning to use against statewide candidates as a sign of the party’s leftward drift, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Seizing the moment: The National Republican Senatorial Committee has already seized upon the resolutions as a political weapon against current and potential Democratic Senate candidates — in the race for the battleground seat of retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) — with pro-Israel voters. “North Carolina Democrats like [former Gov.] Roy Cooper, [and Reps.] Jeff Jackson [and] Wiley Nickel are responsible for their Party’s unapologetic appeasement of pro-Hamas radicals,” NRSC spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement. For their part, members of the state Democratic Party’s Jewish caucus had warned ahead of the vote that the resolutions would be needlessly divisive and give political ammunition to Republicans. They say the party should be single-mindedly focused on helping to elect Democrats.
Eye on the OC: Esther Kim Varet, an art gallery owner mounting an outsider bid as a Democrat to unseat Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) in California’s 40th Congressional District, which encompasses Orange County, said she wants to help repair and strengthen a Democratic Party she said has been severely undermined by rampant anti-Israel activism. Anti-Israel extremism and its proponents have “really decimated the Democratic Party,” Kim Varet, whose husband and children are Jewish, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod in a recent interview.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Acting Columbia president suggests removal of Jewish board member in texts obtained by House Education Committee
Text messages obtained by the House Committee on Education and Workforce published in a letter on Tuesday revealed that Claire Shipman, acting president of Columbia University, suggested that a Jewish trustee should be removed over her pro-Israel advocacy and called for an “Arab on our board,” amid antisemitic unrest that roiled the university’s campus last year, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Shipped messages: “We need to get somebody from the middle east [sic] or who is Arab on our board,” Shipman, then the co-chair of Columbia’s Board of Trustees, wrote in a message to the board’s vice chair on Jan. 17, 2024. “Quickly I think. Somehow.” Shipman said in a follow-up message days later that Shoshana Shendelman, a Jewish board member who frequently condemned campus antisemitism, had been “extraordinarily unhelpful” and said, “I just don’t think she should be on the board.”
NOMINEE NEWS
Trump administration nominates two former Hawley advisors for senior Pentagon roles
Elbridge Colby, the Trump administration’s under secretary of defense for policy, announced on Tuesday the nominations of Alex Velez-Green and Austin Dahmer to be, respectively, deputy under secretary of defense for policy and assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities, both senior policy roles under Colby in the Department of Defense, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Staffing moves: Velez-Green and Dahmer, both former advisors to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), are aligned with the faction of the Republican Party that advocates for more selective U.S. engagement abroad, particularly limiting involvement in Europe, though both have been generally supportive of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Weapons worries: The Pentagon suspended shipments of some air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine, amid concerns that U.S. stockpiles are too low, a decision led by Colby.
Elsewhere in the administration: Eddie Vasquez was announced as the State Department’s acting deputy assistant secretary for press and public diplomacy at the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
Worthy Reads
Abraham Accords 2.0: In the Financial Times, senior Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh, who until 2024 served as the United Arab Emirates’ envoy at the United Nations, calls for a “comprehensive” Middle East peace agreement built on the successes of the Abraham Accords. “For years, two false notions have taken hold in the Middle East: first, that force alone can secure stability and security. Second, that states in our region can be built securely on the basis of a zealous ideology. In fact, military victories in the Middle East are often hollow and fragile and extremist ideology can never create safe, stable and successful societies. As the window to de-escalate closes, there is an opportunity for U.S. President Donald Trump to forge a second-term legacy of peace in the Middle East, by building on his landmark first-term achievement: the Abraham Accords.” [FT]
What’s in a Slogan? The New York Times’ Bret Stephens, who was living in Jerusalem during the Second Intifada, reflects on New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada.” “But a major political candidate who plainly refuses to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ isn’t participating in legitimate democratic debate; he is giving moral comfort to people who deliberately murder innocent Jews. There are liberals and progressives who’ll continue to make excuses for Mamdani. They will argue that his views on ‘globalize the intifada’ are beside the point of his agenda for New York. They will observe that he has a predictable share of far-left Jewish supporters. They will play semantic games about the original meaning of ‘intifada.’” [NYTimes]
On the Nuclear Clock: The Wall Street Journal’s Jared Malsin and Laurence Norman look at the political calculations affecting the amount of time by which experts and officials believe Iran’s nuclear program has been set back. “If Iran were to make the decision to build a nuclear weapon, it would be betting that it can complete the job and establish deterrence before the U.S. and Israel intervene — through military action, economic pressure or diplomacy — to stop it. A longer timeline increases the risk of being spotted or struck again, which could dissuade Iran from taking such a gamble in the first place. So measured on the Iranian nuclear clock, a delay of a few months could translate into a lot longer than it sounds if it keeps Tehran from moving ahead.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
Paramount reached a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over the comments made about the Israel-Hamas war by then-Vice President Kamala Harris in a “60 Minutes” interview that Trump alleged had selectively edited; the money will be put toward Trump’s legal fees and his future presidential library…
The Wall Street Journal looks at relations between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which appear to be on an upswing following the joint Israel-U.S. cooperation in striking Iran following months of rumored tensions between the two leaders…
As the Senate closed out its marathon session of amendment votes on Republicans’ budget bill, the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, it added back a provision fought for by Orthodox Jewish groups, creating a major new national school choice program, which had been stripped from the bill days earlier, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and 12 other House Republicans introduced a bill to create a service medal for members of the military involved in the Iran-Israel war…
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order addressing antisemitism in the state’s schools; under the terms of the executive order, the Iowa Board of Regents is instructed to work with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to ensure that the state’s universities are in compliance with the Civil Rights Act, and will review universities’ handling of antisemitism complaints dating back to October 2023…
Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken was announced as the Ford Foundation’s next president, succeeding Darren Walker…
The Washington Post spotlights the Pentagon Pizza Report social media account, which tracks spikes in activity at pizzerias in the vicinity of the Defense Department’s Northern Virginia headquarters; the tracker noted an increase in activity ahead of Israel’s preemptive strikes on Iran last month, as well as before Trump announced the U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities…
Authorities in Germany arrested a Danish national from Afghanistan accused of surveilling potential Jewish targets in the country on behalf of Iran; prosecutors believe the man was instructed by Iran’s Quds Force to scout Jewish sites and locations used by prominent Jewish communal leaders in the German capital…
Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador in Berlin over the arrest; German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who is visiting Ukraine, where he visited a synagogue and the Babyn Yar memorial, said if the accusations were proven, “that would once again demonstrate that Iran is a threat to Jews all over the world”…
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin; the two-hour call, which was initiated following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last month, was the first conversation between the two leaders in nearly three years…
The U.K. Defence Journal suggests that dozens of social media accounts that promoted Scottish independence have ceased posting following Israel’s strikes on Iran, which caused blackouts across parts of the Islamic Republic…
Iran reportedly moved forward last month with plans to deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz, which would have effectively shuttered the waterway to commercial vessels; the mines were loaded onto vessels in the Persian Gulf shortly after Israel began its preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities…
Iran’s nuclear regulators are no longer responding to outreach from international inspectors, following Tehran’s decision last week to cut off inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency…
Iranian Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, who was believed to have been killed in last month’s Israeli strikes on senior regime officials, was seen, walking with a cane, in footage from the country’s weekend memorial service for military commanders…
Dylan Field’s Figma filed for an IPO, less than two years after the collapse of a planned $20 billion takeover by Adobe; read JI’s profile of Fields here…
Eric Goldstein, the CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, will step down from his position at the end of the next fiscal year, after 12 years in the role, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…
Entrepreneur, Democratic donor and philanthropist S. Daniel Abraham, who in 1989 established an eponymous center to focus on Middle East peacebuilding efforts, died at 101…
Pic of the Day
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul laid a stone at the Babyn Yar memorial in Ukraine this week during an unannounced trip to the country.
Birthdays
Actress, singer and producer, she appeared in her first films as a 14-year-old, Ashley Tisdale turns 40…
Director emerita of Hebrew studies at HUC-JIR, now on the board of trustees of Los Angeles Hebrew High School, Rivka Dori… Nobel laureate in medicine in 2004, he is a professor at Columbia University and a molecular biologist, Richard Axel turns 79… Co-creator of the “Seinfeld” television series and creator of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” comedian and producer, Larry David turns 78… Inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of the E Street Band, Roy J. Bittan turns 76… Swedish author and screenwriter, she wrote a novel about Jewish children who escaped the Holocaust, Annika Thor turns 75… Former CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, she also served as a State Department’s special envoy on antisemitism, Hannah Rosenthal turns 74… Montclair, N.J.-based philanthropic consultant, Aaron Issar Back, Ph.D…. Israeli Druze politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Kulanu and Kadima parties, Akram Hasson turns 66… Maryland state senator since 2015, Cheryl C. Kagan turns 64… Founder and head of business development of AQR Capital Management, David G. Kabiller turns 62… Member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism alliance, Ya’akov Asher turns 60… Chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, Peter E. Baker turns 58… Reading specialist at Wayne Thomas School in Highland Park, Ill., Stephanie Rubin… Co-founder, president and dean at Mechon Hadar in Manhattan, Shai Held, Ph.D. turns 54… Global industry editor for health and pharma at Thomson Reuters, Michele Gershberg… Music video and film director, Alma Har’el turns 50… Motivational speaker, media personality and a senior director of capital markets at RXR Realty, Charlie Harary turns 48… Author of fiction and non-fiction on a variety of Jewish topics, Elisa Albert turns 47… Israeli journalist, TV anchor and popular lecturer, Sivan Rahav-Meir turns 44… Member of Congress (R-NY), she was the chair of the House Republican Conference until earlier this year, Elise Stefanik turns 41… Actress and internet personality, Barbara Dunkelman turns 36… Actress, singer and songwriter, she played a lead role in the 2019 ABC series “Emergence,” Alexa Swinton turns 16…
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff