Plus, Jewish preschool teachers' Italy trip nixed over Israel litmus test
Paul Sancya, Pool/AP
Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Mike Rogers, right, speaks during a televised debate with Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed on Oct. 8, 2026, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover last night’s contentiousMichigan Senate debate between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed, report on the cancellation of a program for Israeli and American Jewish preschool educators in Italy after organizers asked them to condemn Israel, and spotlight conversations and addresses at the National Conservatism Conference in Jerusalem in which speakers criticized Jews for raising concerns about antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Hakeem Jeffries, Asaf Rajuan and Nechumi Yaffe.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Tamara Zieve and Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, featuring stories from Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy, including: Three years after Oct. 7, Israel’s security is ‘much better,’ but risks loom; Michigan Hillel’s break with Israel advocacy groups raises questions about where it stands; and The Siegels lost their home and community on Oct. 7. Now they’re finding their way forward. Print the latest edition here.
Today’s Agenda
With weeks to go before the midterms, President Donald Trump ruled out a resumption of strikes on Iran before Election Day, saying on Truth Social that the U.S. is having “productive discussions” with the Islamic Republic.
The president’s comments could be taken with a grain of salt: In June 2025, he suggested that the U.S. was pursuing diplomacy a day before joining Israel’s attacks on the Islamic Republic, and earlier this year, he said he had not decided on whether to attack Iran, hours before the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated military strikes that took out the top echelon of Iranian leadership.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Navi Pillay, a former U.N. high commissioner for human rights and International Criminal Court judge, as the winner of this year’s peace prize. Pillay, a South African jurist and sharp critic of Israel, served as the head of the U.N.’s Commission of Inquiry targeting Israel, which has been condemned by members of the international body over its anti-Israel bias.
We’re keeping an eye on the political situation in the U.K., where Green Party leader Zack Polanski lost his House of Commons by-election bid overnight, days after his party passed a resolution declaring Zionism to be racism. Polanski has said he will stay on as party leader following his defeat, despite questions over his ability to lead the Greens going forward. The Campaign Against Antisemitism, meanwhile, has reported Polanski’s party to the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission over the Zionism motion passed earlier this week, saying that such a move has “real potential to embolden expressions of antisemitism.”
One Thing To Know
DEBATE DEBACLE
By Marc Rod
In the first debate of the general election for Senate in Michigan, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) repeatedly hit Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed over his supporters’ ties to and support for terrorist groups and El-Sayed’s comments on the Temple Israel terrorist attack — accusations that El-Sayed largely did not respond to during the deeply acrimonious exchange.
El-Sayed, for his part, said he would not support defensive aid to Israel even if it was under attack, framed Israel as a threat to the United States comparable to Iran, defended his decision not to issue a statement honoring the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and continued to sidestep questions on Iran’s persecution of its own civilians.
“He has taken money from groups in support of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has taken money from individuals on his campaign who openly support Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaida,” Rogers said several times throughout the debate, and accused El-Sayed of failing to condemn terrorist groups and attacks.
The Big Reads
Arrivederci, Reggio
A planned study trip to Italy for some 100 Jewish early childhood educators from the U.S. and Israel was canceled after participants were required to sign a statement condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza, prompting organizers to conclude that the trip’s political litmus test made such a trip untenable, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. The educators — members of the U.S.-based Paradigm Project — were scheduled to travel to Reggio Emilia, Italy, from Oct. 11–16. Their goal was to study the Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education, a method long embraced by Jewish preschools, and bring those insights back to their classrooms. But ahead of the trip, participants were asked to sign a statement declaring, “I distance myself from the occupation of Gaza and the violation of children’s and human beings’ rights in the occupied territories as well as in every places [sic] in the world,” according to a screenshot obtained by JI.
mayor unmoved
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday shrugged off the protest — which featured jeers of “traitor” at the democratic socialist leader, and chants of “long live Hamas” — that sought to drown out an event he attended the night prior memorializing the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. “I was proud to attend last night’s vigil, as I did last year, to listen to testimonies from family members of those who were killed on Oct. 7, and those who’ve been killed in the three years since, and all of whom united in a vision for peace and an end to the genocide in Gaza,” Mamdani told journalists after an unrelated event in Brooklyn. “As for those protesting me, I am the mayor of New York City, and this is what I signed up for.”
Buddy backlash: Politico spotlights concerns from Jewish allies of Mamdani who were dismayed over his Oct. 7 statement, among them T’ruah’s Rabbi Jill Jacobs, a backer of the mayor’s recently announced antisemitism plan who said Mamdani’s comments “missed the mark.”
conference quotables
Several speakers at the right-wing National Conservatism Conference in Jerusalem said on Wednesday that Jews complain too much about antisemitism — on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which were followed by a sharp increase in hate crimes against Jews around the world, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. NatCon, as the conference spearheaded by right-wing Israeli American intellectual Yoram Hazony is known, was held in Israel for the first time this week. In a plenary on Wednesday titled “American Right: The Next Generation,” multiple speakers berated Jews for speaking out against antisemitism, accused Israel of drawing the U.S. into wars and mocked evangelical Christians’ beliefs about Israel. They also blamed liberal and neoconservative Jews for mass immigration to the U.S.
The Rundown
exclusive
back from the gulf
cross-party call
TORAH AND TAXES
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Treasury Department announced sanctions on 17 new vessels tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “shadow fleet” used to clandestinely move oil and gas out of Iran…
OpenAI said on Thursday that Iranian operatives used ChatGPT to help place nearly 100 articles criticizing the Iran war under fake journalist bylines in roughly a dozen online outlets around the world…
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said he “strongly” backs the creation of an Oct. 7 memorial in Brooklyn; any future memorial, the funds for which are being privately raised, would require the approval of the mayor’s office to move forward…
The Denver school board voted to censure its vice president, Monica Hunter, over allegations she had made antisemitic comments to a Jewish member of the board; an independent investigation was inconclusive, finding that the allegations amounted to a “he said, she said” situation…
The former head of the Middle Eastern studies department at the University of Arkansas — who called for Israel to be “dismantled” and shared a social media post calling for someone to “thrust the dagger from Doha into the throats of the Zionists, so that all of them howl” — is seeking for a court to strike down the state’s recently adopted antisemitism law, saying it was used for her dismissal from the university…
A district court judge in California ruled that German singer-songwriter Alice Merton’s copyright lawsuit against Kanye West, now known as Ye, can proceed with references to the Holocaust and West’s documented history of antisemitism; West had sought permission to sample one of Merton’s songs for his 2024 track “Gun to My Head,” and chose to use it after Merton, who is a descendant of Holocaust survivors, refused…
Germany’s Left Party, which won a plurality of votes in last month’s state elections in Berlin, agreed to measures to address antisemitism within the party as part of coalition talks with the Social Democrats and Greens…
The Royal College of Pharmacy ended its relationship with the U.K. arm of Teva Pharmaceuticals, becoming the second British institution after the Royal College of Nursing to do so; the college cited the Israeli pharmaceutical company’s unspecified “activities” as the reason for its cutting of ties, which came amid pressure from anti-Israel activists…
British counterterrorism police arrested two Latvian men after they were found inside RAF Molesworth, an air base used by the U.S. military and NATO for intelligence operations. Police said there is no evidence at this stage linking the incident to the suspected Iran-related plot at RAF Fairford…
The Israeli Defense Ministry opened a national pavilion and led a delegation of defense firms — including Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael — at the Marrakech Airshow in Morocco this week, marking Israel’s first official participation in a Moroccan defense exhibition since signing the Abraham Accords…
The Gaza Children’s Village network, a U.S. nonprofit providing food, medical care and education to Palestinian children in Gaza, is planning to use AI to monitor classroom lessons for “hateful” speech and ensure teachers adhere to a peace-focused curriculum…
Three Saudi citizens were killed in Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudia Airlines aircraft…
Canadian philanthropist and investor Stephen Jarislowsky died at 101…
Worthy Reads
Hatred on the March: In Fox News, Jeff Miller and Stuart Eizenstat, respectively the current and former chairs of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, raise concerns about the rise of antisemitism, aided by malign actors. “Furthermore, state actors like Iran, Qatar, China and Russia spread antisemitic and anti-Israel conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial to stir hatred of Jews and sow chaos in democracies. They are succeeding. Antisemitism is no longer lurking at society’s fringes. It is marching openly through its institutions. Violent antisemitism is at levels not seen since the Holocaust.” [FoxNews]
Facing the Palestinian Question: In The New York Times, Shira Efron, a senior fellow at RAND, posits that Israel’s next government must address questions around the Palestinians in order to improve the country’s global social standing. “No amount of walking is going to make the Palestinian question go away. The current government tried to settle the matter for good, seeking to bury the idea of the Palestinian question once and for all. Instead, this government may have exhumed it, turning it into a domestic issue in nations around the world and leaving whichever government comes next no choice but to finally reckon with it.” [NYTimes]
The Meaning of Mourning: In The Wall Street Journal, Kenneth Brander, the president and rosh yeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone, reflects on Jewish mourning practices. “We need the dead to take on an enduring role in the lives of the living. That takes time, and the shaping of time spent mourning is one of the purposes of ritual. In Jewish practice, when one says the name of a deceased person, one adds the phrase “may his memory be a blessing.” The goal of mourning is to make that phrase true: The memory of the dead actually improves our physical lives and our moral selves.” [WSJ]
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Picture of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented FlyDubai 1073 passenger Asaf Rajuan with the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism during a ceremony yesterday at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Herzog and his wife, First Lady Michal Herzog, honored Rajuan and five other Israelis for their successful efforts for their efforts to thwart an attempted hijacking by the plane’s co-pilot, who had attacked his Indian captain and attempted to crash the plane with 174 people, most of whom were Israelis, on board. Haim Zach/GPO
Wine of the Week
Tzora Vineyards Shoresh Blanc 2025
Shoresh is the Hebrew word for root, and this week I was shown what grows from it. I was at Tzora Vineyards, in the Judean Hills, in the company of my dear friend Yoram, tasting the 2025 Shoresh Blanc, arguably one of the three finest white wines produced in Israel today, when the winery manager insisted on opening the same wine from the 2016 vintage. With nearly a decade in the bottle, the older wine was significantly better than the 2025, and the pairing of the two made for a wine tasting made in heaven.
A blend of predominantly sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and semillon, the wine holds a subtle sweetness and a bright acidity in graceful balance. The front palate is overwhelmingly citrus; the mid-palate carries a whisper of vanilla, in the elegant, restrained manner of French chardonnay; and the finish is still sitting on my tongue three days later. This is a wine that will hold for a very long time. Serve it with the best cheese in your refrigerator. Buy the 2025 now, and give the roots time.
Birthdays
Evgeny Kissin, concert pianist and composer, turns 55 on Saturday
FRIDAY
Brian Lamb, founder and retired executive chairman and CEO of C-SPAN, known for his unique interview style, turns 85
Charles Miller, retired federal government manager and analyst
Bernard Dov Cooperman, associate professor of Jewish history at the University of Maryland, turns 80
Richard Marpet, Burbank, Calif., resident
David Jacobson, U.S. ambassador to Canada during the Obama administration, then vice-chair of BMO from 2013 to 2024, turns 75
Don Garber, commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999, turns 69
David Gerstman, research analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis
Eric S. Kassoff, president of Wilkes Artis, he is active in AIPAC, the Washington JCC and the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, turns 66
Debby Arzt-Mor, retired director of Jewish learning at the Brandeis School of San Francisco
Todd Richman, managing director and financial advisor at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management and chair emeritus of Democratic Majority For Israel
Simon Sinek, best-selling author and motivational speaker, his 2010 TED Talk about leadership is one of the most popular talks of all time, turns 53
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, rosh yeshiva at Yeshivas Elimelech following 17 years as rabbi at Ohev Shalom Synagogue in Washington, D.C., turns 52
Neshama Carlebach, musician and singer, the protégé of her late father, singer-songwriter Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, turns 52
Karin Elharar Hartstein, member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid., turns 49
Benjamin Berger, SVP for Jewish education, community and culture at Hillel International
Justin Barasky, partner at TKO Political
Ben Lusher, CEO at Denver-based energy firm Nexus Energy Partners, he was the national board chair of Moishe House (now known as Mem Global) until 2022
David Meyerson, executive director of international initiatives at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform
Ian Karmel, stand-up comedian and Emmy Award-winning television writer, turns 42
Lily Goldstein, VP of portfolio management for LEO Impact Capital
David Cohen, counsel in O’Melveny’s NYC office, he was an executive assistant and advance associate in the Obama White House
Chaya Notik, physical therapist in Montreal
Jason Kaplan, VP at L’Oréal, turns 36
Julia Schechter, senior manager of policy communications at Snap
Daniel Rubin, Israel-based VP at JP Morgan
Kayla Levinson Segal, manager of in-stock management at Amazon in NYC
Inbal Rabin-Lieberman, security coordinator of Kibbutz Nir Am on Oct. 7, 2023, where her team killed 25 terrorists and the kibbutz suffered no casualties, turns 28
Nick Itkin, foil fencer, he won a team bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics (Tokyo) and an individual bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics (Paris), turns 27
SATURDAY
Laurence Tribe, professor emeritus of constitutional law at Harvard Law School, he has argued 36 cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, turns 85
Bruce Karatz, past chairman and CEO of KB Home, a nationwide home builder, turns 81
Miriam Adelson, physician, philanthropist and the majority owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, turns 81
Ronald Maurice “Ronny” Naftaniel, former director of the Center for Information and Documentation Israel in The Hague, promoting a positive view of Israel within Dutch society, turns 78
Meir Sheetrit, former member of the Knesset for 30 years on behalf of three political parties, he has served in seven ministerial roles, turns 78
Yedidya Atlas, longtime IDF chaplain
Diane Schmidt, award-winning writer and photographer based in Albuquerque, N.M.
David Lee Roth, vocalist and songwriter best known as the lead singer of Van Halen, he is an inductee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, turns 72
Bruce Karsh, co-chairman and chief investment officer of Oaktree Capital Management, turns 71
John M. Grunsfeld, former NASA astronaut who flew on five space shuttle missions, he has held many positions at NASA including chief scientist, turns 68
Neil Gurvitch, senior counsel at the Bethesda, Md., law firm of Selzer Gurvitch
John C. P. Goldberg, dean of Harvard Law School, turns 65
Rodney Freeman, founder and principal of Los Angeles-based real estate firm, Freeman Group
Sam Lauter, governmental relations and strategic communications principal at BMWL Public Affairs
Mark H. Shpall, head of school at de Toledo High School, a Jewish school in northern Los Angeles County
Gavin Newsom, governor of California since 2019, turns 59
Asi Cohen, Israeli comedian and actor, twice voted as the funniest Israeli, turns 52
Rabbi Schlomo Elieser Hofmeister, community rabbi of Vienna and chief rabbi of the Austrian Armed Forces, turns 51
Matti Friedman, columnist for The Free Press, he is the author of five acclaimed books, turns 49
Chanan Weissman, Jewish liaison during the first two years of the Biden administration, now the director of emerging technologies at the Maimonides Fund
Ian Sugar, president of Ian Sugar Strategies
Seth Levey, head of U.S. government relations and corporate affairs at Glencore
Avi Davidoff, VP in the Chicago office of Goldman Sachs
Rabbi Elliot Schrier, rabbi of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, N.J., turns 37
Hali Haber Spiegel, director of education at CAMERA
Avner Netanyahu, winner of Israel’s National Bible Quiz as a teen and then a soldier in the IDF’s Combat Intelligence Collection Corps, he is a son of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, turns 32
Or Shaked, U.S. correspondent at Israel Hayom and deputy director at Jewish Virtual Library
SUNDAY
Saul Friedländer, professor emeritus of history at UCLA, winner of both a Pulitzer Prize and the Israel Prize, he won a MacArthur Genius fellowship in 1999, Saul Friedländer, turns 94
Ronald S. Liebman, former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted then-VPOTUS Spiro T. Agnew in 1973, he is the author of four novels, turns 83
Amos Gitai, Israeli filmmaker and artist, turns 76
Patty Murray, U.S. senator (D-WA), turns 76
Barry G. Silverman, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, turns 75
Helane Goldstein, past president and then board chair of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Md., turns 73
Ron Prosor, Israeli ambassador to Germany, he has also been Israel’s ambassador to both the U.K. and the U.N., turns 68
Shari Aronson, NYC-based philanthropist
Mark Gurvis, former EVP at JFNA, now CEO at the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation, turns 67
Sharon Rockman, owner of Sababa Travel
Peter Turman, Los Angeles-based real estate agent
Rob Speyer, president and CEO of NYC-based real estate firm Tishman Speyer, turns 57
Asher Epstein, CEO of Focus at 50, helping Israeli companies break into the U.S. market
Joshua London, head of philanthropy at the University of Haifa UK, also an advisor at the Yad Vashem UK Foundation, turns 51
Michael Dickson, executive director of the StandWithUs Israel office in Jerusalem, turns 49
Brianne Nadeau, member of the Council of the District of Columbia since 2015, turns 46
Jamie Weinstein, political journalist, opinion commentator and satirist, he is the host of “The Dispatch” podcast, turns 43
Plus, IHRA gains traction in LATAM
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on September 19, 2023, in Washington, DC.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover yesterday’s Israeli Embassy commemoration of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, report on new Department of Justice charges against a Gaza-based Hamas commander accused of funneling money from the U.S. to the terror group, and report on State Department antisemitism envoy Yehuda Kaploun’s announcement that more Latin American countries are set to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: David Zini, Jonathan Powell and Zach Kessel.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Tamara Zieve and Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
The Israeli military is on high alert ahead of the anniversary tomorrow of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror attacks, the country’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said this morning. Katz cited intelligence that suggested that Hamas was planning to carry out attacks on IDF forces operating in Gaza.
Shin Bet officials are in the United Arab Emirates today and participating in the interrogation of the FlyDubai co-pilot who attacked the aircraft’s captain and planned to crash the plane.
The three-day National Conservatism Conference kicks off today in Jerusalem. Speakers include the White House’s Seb Gorka, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, former Polish President Andrzej Duda and former Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat. Smotrich spoke this morning on the topic of U.S.-Israel relations, calling for a transition from “a relationship of dependence to a partnership between two independent nations.”
Former White House coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk is out today with Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages, about his efforts while serving in the Biden administration, where he held a number of counterterror and national security roles, to secure the release of the hostages held in Gaza.
One Thing To Know
ANALYSIS
By Marc Rod
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has made a name for himself as a progressive leader on the national stage who has often spoken out against Middle East allies — including Israel, over its war against Hamas in Gaza, and Saudi Arabia, over its human rights record.
But Murphy, in the middle of a trip across the Middle East that included meetings in Qatar earlier this week, made no mention of Doha’s checkered human rights record — never mind its role, in the eyes of its detractors, as a leading backer of anti-Israel propaganda, funder of antisemitic activity on college campuses and a supporter of terrorism — even as he offered criticisms of Saudi Arabia on a later leg of the same trip.
Murphy instead spent his trip lavishing praise on the gas-rich country, speaking of Qatar as an essential ally of the United States.
The Big Reads
embassy commemoration
Michael Needham, the deputy U.S. national security advisor, said on Monday that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel and their aftermath are part of a shared civilizational war pitting the United States, Israel and other allies against enemies of the West. The Oct. 7 attacks were met with praise and “gleeful celebration of inhuman barbarism, savagery and death” both in Gaza and around the world, Needham said in remarks at an event organized by the Israeli Embassy in Washington to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. “What was clear then is that each of our countries is locked in a battle between civilization and barbarism,” Needham said. “That the war between the people of Israel and the terrorists of Hamas is a war that is playing out in various forms, here in the United States and in Europe and across the whole of the Western world.”
gaza grift?
The Department of Justice on Friday announced charges against a Gaza-based Hamas commander as well as the arrests of three U.S.-based affiliates for allegedly funneling money from the U.S. to Hamas, under the guise of charitable humanitarian fundraising. Three others were also arrested in France as part of the investigation, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The lynchpin of the alleged conspiracy is Gaza-based Hamas official Saleem Alzaq, a member of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades and one of its propaganda offices, who promotes the terror group’s fighters on various social media platforms. According to the indictment, Alzaq operated an international fundraising network for Hamas, which he promoted through social media campaigns under the guise of humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.
regional shift
Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy, revealed on Monday that the U.S. expects several Latin American countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in the coming months, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. Kaploun made the comments at a press conference about the Trump administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism ahead of the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, after being asked to analyze how regional leaders have responded to the rise in anti-Jewish hate. “There’s a conference in November where we expect to have more Latin American countries to join the IHRA Accords,” Kaploun said. “The Dominican Republic just announced that they’re joining the IHRA Accords. Colombia is revisiting that. Guatemala, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Chile are all in discussions.”
The Rundown
EXCLUSIVE
seeds of peace
obama boost
campaign trail
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The U.S.’ weekend withdrawal of a dozen B-1 bomber jets from the U.K.’s RAF Fairford base was prompted by concerns of a potential Iranian drone attack on the facility and the servicemembers based there…
The U.S., Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago condemned Iranian and Iran-backed terrorist activity in the Western Hemisphere on Monday, citing lethal plots, illicit fundraising, political interference and efforts to bolster terrorist networks…
Israeli officials told CBS News that Israel had temporarily closed its airspace, scrambled fighter jets and was prepared to shoot down the FlyDubai plane had passengers not retaken control of the cockpit minutes after the flight’s Omani co-pilot attempted to incapacitate his captain.
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into the security failures that led to the in-flight attack, finding that co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami had been previously assigned to a desk job and banned from flying at Oman Air over concerns about his extremist beliefs, which had prompted the airline to send him to a deradicalization program…
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said there was “no clear path forward or consensus” on a bill that would establish permanent daylight saving time; the legislation, which has been strongly opposed by Orthodox Jewish groups, has been the subject of clashes between some GOP senators, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and President Donald Trump, the latter of whom supports the change…
The Senate Leadership Fund super PAC is putting $5 million into Sen. Darline Graham’s (R-SC) bid for a full term as an “insurance policy” amid polls that show Democratic Senate candidates gaining ground in a number of red-state races…
The U.K. chair of Amnesty International resigned from the country’s Green Party over its vote this week to adopt a resolution equating Zionism and racism, alleging that the party is “failing to confront prejudice” in its ranks…
U.K. National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell quietly visited Israel last week in an effort to intercede in the planned Israeli closure of the U.K. consulate in east Jerusalem, which had been prompted by London’s decision last month to block the sale of West Bank settlement products…
A Kuwaiti man who attempted to attack the Israeli Embassy in London last year was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years after being convicted of preparing a terrorist act…
Shin Bet head David Zini threatened during this week’s Israeli Cabinet meeting to seek administrative detention for Jewish extremists who engage in settler violence in the West Bank; Zini reportedly clashed with Orit Strock, the country’s settlements and national projects minister, over the uptick in violence…
Yemeni forces backed by Saudi Arabia on Monday recaptured several areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Iran-backed Houthis, including the Red Sea city of Mocha, while a Houthi official claimed that the terror group attacked a Saudi oil refinery…
Arielle Pardes is joining Business Insider’s Discourse team as a senior correspondent…
Zach Kessel is joining The Wall Street Journal’s opinion desk as the assistant editor of the publication’s “Free Expression” newsletter…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Choice Israelis Face: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers how Israelis can address the challenges of the current domestic political situation as well as the country’s global standing. “For Israelis to surmount the formidable challenges they face, in pursuit of both victory and peace, the spirit of service — of giving yourself, doing it yourself, taking possession of your destiny against daunting odds — must win out over the spirit of entitlement. And for Israel’s genuine well-wishers, including the good-faith critics, to push that spirit forward, they need to draw a firm moral line against those who simply want Israel gone.” [NYTimes]
Pod Squad: In The Free Press, Peter Savodnik argues that the hosts of “Pod Save America” — former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor and their Crooked Media network — have used their platform to boost the far left of the party, becoming unofficial kingmakers of a largely leaderless Democratic Party. “There was a new rage on the left [after President Donald Trump 2024 election win], and it built on the old rage, and it was fueled by Harris’s loss and the perceived haplessness and venality and limp-wristedness of whatever was left of the Democratic establishment. The Pod Bros were quick to tap into that — weaving together their frustrations with the old guard and their mounting anger with Israel over Gaza, an anger that now felt more justified, more white-hot with the pro-Israel Trump returning to the White House.” [FreePress]
Picture of the Day
On behalf of herself and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) accepted the Anti-Defamation League’s Levenson Family Defender of Democracy Award from CEO Jonathan Greenblatt at the group’s Spotlight on Hope event in Washington this week, in honor of their work combating antisemitism, including their leadership of the Senate antisemitism task force and leadership on the Jewish American Security Act. Courtesy
Birthdays
Brett Gelman, actor and comedian, turns 50
RICH POLK/GETTY IMAGES FOR UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD
Rosanne Selfon, owner of Lancaster, Pa.-based industrial supplier Samuel Miller & Son, she is a past president of Women of Reform Judaism
Leslie Moonves, former chairman and CEO of CBS, he is a great-nephew of David Ben-Gurion, turns 77
David Brin, awarded a Ph.D. at UCSD in space science, consultant to NASA and author of many science fiction novels, turns 76
Uzi Vogelman, retired justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, turns 72
Elliot Karp, former director of philanthropy at Temple Emanu-El of Westfield (N.J.)
Jan Kanas, Bexley, Ohio-based real estate agent
Jonathan Alter, correspondent on the networks of NBC and author of best-selling books on Presidents Obama, FDR and Jimmy Carter, turns 69
Sanford Akselrad, spiritual leader emeritus of Congregation Ner Tamid in the Las Vegas suburbs since 1988
Joel Weingarten, former member of the New Jersey General Assembly, he is now the managing director of Quest Associates, turns 67
Moshe Lion, mayor of Jerusalem since 2018, turns 65
Jeffrey Mendelsohn, founder and CEO of Coalition Strategy Group and associate VP of advocacy and civic engagement at the Jewish Federations of North America
Samuel Zev Brown, attorney in Lakewood, N.J., where he is active on the boards of many local businesses, civic organizations and charitable institutions
Rabbi Raymond Jasen, board member and lecturer at the Museum at Eldridge Street, board chair of the Queens Botanical Garden, and former partner-in-charge of KPMG LLP’s NY Financial Services Tax Practice, turns 60…
Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, the first Jewish person to hold that role, turns 59
Kevin Rader, member of the Florida Senate until 2020, now an insurance agent, turns 58
Aaron Lieberman, former member of the Arizona House of Representatives, now founder and CEO of Buzze, turns 55
Sean “Shmop” Weisbord, director of sales at Convergence Workforce
Evan R. Bernstein, newly minted CEO of B’nai B’rith International after serving as VP of community relations at JFNA and CEO of Community Security Service, turns 52
Hindy Poupko Galena, EVP of community strategy and external relations at UJA-Federation of New York
Deena Eisenberg Pulitzer, Jerusalem-based senior advisor for Israel Strategies at the William Davidson Foundation
And her twin sister, Elisheva Goldman, global event planner
Olivia Thirlby, actor best known for her role in “Juno” and more recently in “Oppenheimer,” turns 40
Madeline Burak, legislative director for the governor of Nevada
Plus, NYMag responds to Jewish leaders' concerns
LM Otero and Eric Gay/Photo
At left, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks in McKinney, Texas, May 19, 2026, and at right, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, after voting, in Austin, Texas, Feb. 17, 2026.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to conflicted Jewish voters in Texas about the state’s upcoming Senate election between James Talarico and Ken Paxton, have the scoop on a letter from the editor-in-chief of New York magazine responding to Jewish leaders’ concerns over the magazine’s coverage of Israel and Jewish issues, and report on the new guidelines for a federal educational tax credit program that most Democratic governors are still mulling. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Quentin Tarantino, Selma Blair and Maya Regev.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Tamara Zieve.
Today’s Agenda
We’re keeping tabs on the latest developments regarding FlyDubai 1073. This morning, El Al’s repatriation flights from the United Arab Emirates slated for today were canceled after the airline did not receive landing permissions. Some stranded passengers originally scheduled on FlyDubai flew to Israel via Abu Dhabi or European stopovers.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke this morning with Capt. Smit Machchhar, the hero pilot of FZ1073, who recounted the moments after the initial attack when he managed to open the cockpit’s door to allow passengers to overpower his co-pilot. “I had so many injuries, but I told myself I have to get up and act,” Machchhar said. “At the time, I pushed myself to open the cockpit door.”
President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that, “based on what I’m hearing,” the attacking co-pilot had ties to Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination,” while cautioning that investigators have not yet determined whether he had ties to Iran or other foreign actors or was acting alone. Read more here.
In Yemen, the country’s internationally recognized government said its army carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets today. Yesterday, Saudi Arabia claimed the Iran-backed terror group attacked a power station in Medina, the country’s second holiest city after Mecca. The Houthis denied responsibility for the attack.
A Washington state man employed by the Department of Energy will make his first court appearance today following his arrest by federal authorities who charged the man with providing material support to the Houthis.
On Saturday, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) will appear with Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a town hall in Macomb County, Mich.
One Thing To Know
texas toss-up
By Emily Jacobs
Caught between a scandal-plagued Republican nominee and a young Democrat who tacks further left on Israel than many are comfortable with, Jews in the Lone Star State find themselves in a Texas-sized bind when it comes to the pivotal Senate race between state Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico.
“I think Texas Jews are between a rock and a hard place in this race,” Norri Leder, a co-founder of Houston Jewish Women Vote and a board member of the local Jewish Federation, told Jewish Insider. “On one hand, you have Ken Paxton, who has a lot of ethical issues that trouble a lot of voters across party lines. With Talarico, you’ve got someone who, like many Democrats, is just afraid to discuss this subject [Israel] with the Jewish community too much. That’s been hard.”
In fact, Jewish leaders in Texas say, neither candidate has done much in the way of outreach to their community, which has left them seeking more engagement in what is a neck-and-neck race.
The Big Reads
media moment
Weeks after meeting privately with a group of Mizrahi and Sephardic leaders to address their concerns about a recent New York magazine cover package accused of erasing Jews from its narrative, the outlet’s editor-in-chief, David Haskell, vowed in response “to publish journalism that’s both accurate and empathic about the Jewish experience,” even as he otherwise declined to add a requested correction, according to an email he sent on Thursday, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Haskell’s note to the Jewish leaders, which was reviewed by JI, came as New York has faced mounting scrutiny over its hostile turn against Israel in the years since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, an ideological shift that has sparked internal tensions with some Jewish staffers who have raised objections to the magazine’s direction.
exhibit a
Not one of the 40 leading U.S. art museums evaluated by the Anti-Defamation League includes Jewish identity in its diversity commitments, according to a new report the group released on Thursday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. At the report’s launch event, held at the Jewish Museum on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, actor Selma Blair, who is Jewish, said she has felt a similar exclusion in Hollywood. After the actor publicly backed Israel in the months following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, “the brands I worked with were gone within a day,” Blair said as she addressed a crowded room of Jewish leaders, philanthropists, artists, influencers and reporters. “A few partnerships I built were shelved. My agency was gone. My lawyer was gone. My publicist was gone. My book agent was gone. My social media manager was gone. My son’s godmother was gone — my best friend.”
education deliberation
With the publication of regulations on Thursday for the new federal educational tax credit program, governors now have until the end of the year to decide whether to opt their states into the program, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Blue-state governors have been caught between cross-pressures from Jewish community groups and other advocates that support the program and teachers’ unions, which vehemently oppose it. Spokespeople for the governors of New York, New Jersey and Illinois, as well as the District of Columbia government all said that they are still reviewing the new guidelines, with an eye toward protecting and supporting public schools.
The Rundown
behind the byline
looking forward
campus divide
mea culpa
minority protections
trump talk
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Department of Defense is deploying a third aircraft carrier with up to 10,000 troops to the Middle East; the deployment comes amid a report that Iran has for weeks been conducting near-daily unsuccessful attacks on commercial vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio waived human rights conditions on $320 million in U.S. military aid to Egypt, citing national security interests and Cairo’s “helpful role” following the start of the war with Iran, according to a State Department memo…
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into aviation security measures in the Middle East amid the investigation of FZ1073…
The Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a resolution led by Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) honoring the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel…
The Senate also passed by unanimous consent a bill providing tax relief to Americans taken hostage, preventing them from facing interest, fines and other penalties for tax payments that were due while they were unjustly held abroad…
A Palestinian man who is a media representative for Hamas based in Gaza was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges that he sent $1.7 million, including more than $600,000 from American donors, to the terror group; two brothers from Louisiana who were arrested last month are being charged with material support for a terror group in connection with the case…
The University of California asked a federal judge to dismiss the Department of Justice’s case against UCLA as it seeks to block a government demand that the school repay more than $2 billion in grants issued in the last several years; a lawyer for the university system accused the Trump administration of “political coercion” and “weaponizing” civil rights laws…
The Denver school board will give an outside investigator one week to look into claims that the board’s vice president used antisemitic language; the board’s president and superintendent accused the vice president of a slew of offenses, including referring to a Jewish member of the board as a “Zionist b***h”…
Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticized the U.K.’s recent ban on settlement products and services, describing the move as “unfair and politically motivated” interference in the upcoming Israeli election…
The U.K.’s Royal College of Nursing cut ties with Teva, one of the largest drug suppliers to the U.K.’s National Health Service, and will not allow the Israeli pharmaceutical company to take part in an upcoming summit on migraines and headaches, citing Teva’s Israeli military ties and concerns over past price-fixing and corporate abuse…
A dual British-Iranian citizen was arrested in London on suspicion of preparing terrorist attacks in connection with a security incident near the U.K.’s RAF Fairford base, which was used by the U.S. in its war against Iran…
U.K. Green Party leader Zack Polanski is facing questions over a speech in which he claimed his family fled Nazi-occupied Poland, despite records indicating that all four of his grandparents were born in the U.K. years prior to the Nazi invasion of Poland…
A French investigative outlet published additional screenshots of antisemitic messages purportedly sent by Jordan Bardella, the leader of the country’s far-right National Rally party, when he was a teenager; Bardella called Mediapart’s initial findings “crude fabrications”…
Anti-Israel protesters in Dublin disrupted a soccer match between Ireland and Austria by throwing tennis balls onto the field as part of a call for the Irish team to boycott its upcoming match against Israel…
Director Quentin Tarantino and his wife, Israeli singer and actor Daniella Pick, announced they are expecting their third child…
Bennett Schachter is joining Centerview Partners as a partner to lead the firm’s Capital Advisory business…
Gil Thompson, who previously served as a senior advisor to Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), is joining the Institute for an Interconnected Middle East as executive director, based in Paris…
French Resistance fighter Lucien Lazare, who assisted Allied troops and fought against the Nazis in southern France before moving to Israel, where he became an educator and peace activist, died at 101…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
A Lot Like Barack: The Atlantic’s Russell Berman spotlights Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s “Obama-esque speeches” and cadence, as attention begins to turn to the 2028 presidential election, for which Shapiro is considered a potential candidate. “Like Barack Obama, Baruch Obama emphasizes pragmatism over doctrinaire progressivism; he has performed well in conservative areas of Pennsylvania that voted for Obama before turning to the right. Shapiro can wield a rhetorical knife, but he infuses his messaging with appeals to hope and optimism. Yet the most obvious similarity is that when Shapiro gives a speech, he really sounds an awful lot like the Democrats’ most renowned speechmaker.” [TheAtlantic]
Claude Consciousness: The New York Times’ Elizabeth Dias does a deep dive into Anthropic’s efforts to engage religious thinkers spanning faiths and denominations as the AI company builds a moral code for its platform. “The religious scholars had come to hear about technology’s next frontier. Now they were being confronted with a mind-bending existential question of almost unimaginable weight: What would it mean for humanity’s future if artificial intelligence systems possessed a consciousness that rivals our own?” [NYTimes]
Picture of the Day
Birthdays
Marek Ariel Schulman, filmmaker and actor, turns 45 on Friday
FRIDAY
Richard Manekin, partner in Baltimore’s Workshop Development and leading commercial real estate broker
Diana Ely Epstein, co-chair of external relations at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy (Rockville, Md.)
Martin E. Hellman, professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Stanford and an inventor of public key cryptography, turns 81
Samuel Kaplan, Bethesda, Md., resident
Donna Karan, fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels, born Donna Ivy Faske, turns 78
Annie Leibovitz, portrait photographer whose work has been used on numerous album covers and magazines, turns 77
Douglas Norman Cotler, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and composer, focused on Jewish music, turns 77
Yitzhak Cohen, former longtime member of the Knesset for the Shas party, turns 75
Omer Bar-Lev, Israel’s former minister of public security, he is the son of former IDF chief of staff and Minister of Police Haim Bar-Lev, turns 73
Scott Hochberg, former member of the Texas House of Representatives, turns 73
Idan Ofer, Israeli entrepreneur with interests in shipping, drilling, mining and soccer, turns 71
Paula Pretlow, chair and trustee of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Bruce Blakeman, executive since 2022 of Nassau County, N.Y., he is running for governor of New York, turns 71
Bruce Sholk, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of The Jewish Agency for Israel
Gary Tuchman, former national correspondent for CNN, turns 66
Mark Pelavin, former chief program officer of the Union for Reform Judaism
Alexander Karp, co-founder and CEO of the software firm Palantir Technologies, turns 59
Andrew Weinstein, managing partner of the Fort Lauderdale-based Weinstein Law Firm, he is a major Democratic bundler in Florida
Scott Schoeneweis, former MLB left-handed pitcher with more MLB appearances than any other Jewish pitcher, turns 53
Michael “Mordechai” Gottlieb, insurance agent at Herman E. Wealcatch Inc.
Michelle Sara King, U.S. government official at the International Trade Administration, she serves on the American Jewish Committee’s regional board
Lindsay Gottlieb, head coach of women’s basketball at USC, she was an assistant coach in the NBA, turns 49
Kobi Yakob Arad, award-winning jazz pianist, composer and music producer, turns 45
Jena Griswold, secretary of state of Colorado since 2019, turns 42
Diana Diner, director of community affairs at Israel Bonds
Alex Fullman, associate attorney at Cooley LLP
Benjamin Lasky, rapper and record producer known by his stage name Quadeca, turns 26
SATURDAY
Michael Medved, syndicated radio show host, author and film critic, turns 78
Allyson Schwartz, former five-term member of the House of Representatives (D-PA-13), turns 78
Daniel Friedan, professor of physics at Rutgers, he was named a MacArthur “genius” Fellow in 1987, turns 78
Jeff Morgan, co-founder and owner of Covenant Wines, turns 73
Orna Stern, Westport, Conn.-based holistic health coach
Lisa Leff
Lyor Cohen, global head of music for Google / YouTube, turns 67
P. Shields Ferber Jr., president of The Ferber Company, a privately held real estate development and investment company
Craig Goldman, member of the House of Representatives (R-TX), one of four Jewish Republican congressmen, turns 58
Daniel Marks Cohen, senior director of housing development at LivCor, a Blackstone Company
David Mugrabi, art collector and dealer, who together with his father and brother are reputed to own $5 billion of art including over 1,000 pieces by Andy Warhol, turns 55
Guy Oseary, talent manager whose clients include Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers, author of Jews Who Rock, about Jewish influences on the music industry, turns 54
Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen, longtime congregational rabbi in N.Y. and N.J. and author of We’re Almost There
Eli Cohen, Israel’s minister of energy and infrastructure, turns 54
Bradley Tusk, venture capitalist and political strategist, turns 53
Rosalind S. Helderman, reporter for The Washington Post focused on political enterprise and investigations, turns 48
Josh Klinghoffer, longtime guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a 2012 inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, turns 47
Naomi Firestone-Teeter, CEO at the Jewish Book Council
Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, rabbi at The Altneu Synagogue in Manhattan, turns 39
Juan Gilces, regional director of the D.C. area for Community Security Service
Noah Cameron Schnapp, actor since early childhood, turns 22
SUNDAY
Robert D. Sack, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, his father served as a rabbi in Brooklyn for 35 years, turns 87
Norman Pearlstine, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2020 after a long journalism career, turns 84
Marvin R. Shanken, publisher of lifestyle magazines including Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado, turns 83
Dov Weissglass, chairman of the executive committee at the University of Haifa, he was Israel’s negotiator in the Middle East peace process during the term of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, turns 80
Alan Rosenberg, actor and past president of the Screen Actors Guild, turns 76
Steven Rakitt, senior advisor to the chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation, formerly the president
Nathan Bergerbest, former deputy chief of staff for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Nitzan Chen, former director of the Israeli Government Press Office, turns 63
Aubrey Dan, Canadian businessman, producer and impresario, turns 63
Liev Schreiber, actor, director, screenwriter and producer, turns 59
Abraham Benrubi, actor and voice actor, turns 57
Lee Goldberg, chief meteorologist at New York City’s WABC-TV, turns 54
Alicia Silverstone, film, television and stage actor, turns 50
Ryan Sadowski, former MLB pitcher, he is now the director of international scouting for the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization, turns 44
Ron Katz, former member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, turns 41
Sara Singla, senior director of people and culture at Leading Edge HQ following 11 years at Hillel International
Gefen Kabik, senior policy analyst at the American Action Network and Congressional Leadership Fund
Matt Deitsch, gun violence prevention advocate and political advisor, turns 29
Plus, Nithya Raman's rocky relationship with LA Jews
30 September 2026, Israel, Lod: Yaniv Hayoun (C), one of the men who helped incapacitate the attacker on the flydubai aircraft bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates, which was diverted to Saudi Arabia following an emergency signal, is welcomed after arriving at the Ben Gurion International Airport. Photo by: Jamal Awad/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the latest on yesterday’s midair attack on a FlyDubai flight to Israel, look at tensions between Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman and the city’s Jewish community as the democratic socialist mounts a bid for mayor, and report on new federal data indicating that fewer than one-quarter of Nonprofit Security Grant Program applications were fulfilled this year. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Elisha Wiesel, Ivy Wolk and Ynon Kreiz.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
The United Arab Emirates has opened an investigation into yesterday’s attack on a FlyDubai flight from the UAE to Israel in which an Indian pilot was stabbed by his co-pilot, prompting the plane to plummet 17,000 feet before Israeli passengers on the flight, assisted by two off-duty pilots, regained control of the aircraft and safely landed it in Saudi Arabia.
The UAE’s attorney general said in a statement that investigators would “collect information and evidence, to determine the truth of the incident, its circumstances, details, and motives, and to verify the extent of its connection to any terrorist activity or purpose, or the existence of prior planning or direction for it.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office said this morning that he planned to recommend five of the plane’s passengers for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, whom Herzog said in a statement “acted with extraordinary heroism” in alerting passengers and crew to the attack in the cockpit and overpowering the assailant co-pilot.
In Washington, the two-day Nixon Foundation Grand Strategy Summit wraps up today. Speakers include the White House’s Seb Gorka, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Riley Moore (R-WV), Rich Goldberg and Walter Russell Mead.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup of the bipartisan, bicameral Right to Worship Act — which would create buffer zones outside of religious institutions during services — was canceled after the Senate ended its work week early, sending legislators home until after the midterms. Read more from JI’s Marc Rod here.
One Thing To Know
L.A. rift
By Matthew Kassel
Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist mounting a formidable bid to unseat Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass next month, faced a particularly hostile crowd on Tuesday night at a Jewish community candidate forum, where the city councilwoman fielded several tough questions about Israel.
Her answers drew audible groans from the audience members at the Skirball Cultural Center as she reiterated her view that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and defended her decision to sit for an interview with the Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who regularly espouses antisemitic rhetoric.
The event illustrated how Raman has continued to gain momentum in the final stretch of the race even as she has doubled down on her anti-Israel stances while courting voters in a city that is home to the second-largest Jewish population in the country. Her harsh positions on Israel — coupled with recent efforts to distance herself from some former allies in the Jewish community — suggest Raman has made a strategic calculation she can win without meaningful Jewish support.
The Big Reads
museum moment
Elisha Wiesel urged the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday to speak up against what he called the false accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, arguing that the institution his father helped create has a “unique responsibility” to address the issue, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Wiesel, the son of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, made the appeal while delivering special remarks at an event honoring his late father on what would have been his 98th birthday. “You made your own findings for Darfur, the Yazidis, Rohingya,” he said in remarks directed at the institution. “You have the scholars, the credibility and the mandate to do the same hearing to explain with the rigor you applied to Burma why the genocide label does not fit Gaza and what the misuse of Holocaust language does to Jews around the world.”
planning for power
Senate Democrats say that they’d plan to use federal funding authorities to force the Trump administration to negotiate with the Iranian regime and end the Iran war if their party regains the majority in the next Congress, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told JI, with President Donald Trump continuing to ignore war powers votes from Congress that have attempted to force an end to the conflict, “we would use approp[riations] levers — either to put guardrails, not allowing funds unless or until there was an authorization [for use of military force passed by Congress].” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), meanwhile, said that he thinks lawmakers would be more likely to withhold funds for White House operations, while noting that the administration has asked for a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget for 2027.
On the other side of Capitol Hill: A group of more than 40 House Democrats introduced the Stop the Settlements Act on Wednesday, which would place sanctions on anyone involved in further settlement expansion in the West Bank or Gaza and ban imports from Israeli settlements, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
security shortfall
In a year when the Jewish community was rocked by a terror attack at a Detroit-area synagogue alongside other antisemitic threats, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program fulfilled less than 23% of applications submitted for funding in 2026, according to new data obtained by Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod. The majority of the funding will be provided to houses of worship from various denominations, according to a source familiar with the situation, but other recipients include schools, medical facilities, senior centers, camps, museums, shelters and community centers. Application numbers and total funding requested seem to be down somewhat from 2025, when the program received in excess of 8,000 applications, with an acceptance rate of just 20%. Even so, the amount of funding requested was higher and the acceptance rate was lower than in any year in documented program history other than 2025.
The Rundown
busy in beirut
mile-high miracle
playing defense
bookshelf showdown
party outreach
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Iran said it received a formal response from the U.S. regarding its proposal to end the ongoing war, but did not elaborate on the contents of the response; President Donald Trump, who publicly rejected Tehran’s proposal earlier this week, said on Wednesday that a decision on Iran — either to “blow them up” or “make a deal” — was coming “very soon”…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the immediate removal of Iran’s delegation to the U.N. General Assembly, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, from the U.S. earlier this week after Qatar-mediated talks again reached an impasse…
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said London believes that Iran “played a part” in a weekend incident in which five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives violations and terrorism near the RAF Fairford base, which was used by the U.S. to conduct strikes on Iran during the height of hostilities earlier this year…
Politico looks at the efforts of Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to pitch the White House on a voluntary but binding “AI accords,” the basis for which originated at last week’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which Zuckerberg pitched House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and then Huang on the idea…
Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson apologized for comments made earlier this week in which he suggested that it was “unfortunate” that Jewish residents in the state were uncomfortable using the term genocide to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza and that they “don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish”…
A former bodyguard for former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), with whom the former lawmaker was romantically involved, said that he caused $200,000 worth of damage to Sinema’s home and tried to force the former senator to post a decades-old video from one of his deployments to Iraq because he was angry about her post-Senate work with companies he believed contributed to the wars in Gaza and Iran…
The head of the University of Oregon’s Hillel said that a sukkah that had been constructed in front of the building was taken from the property earlier this week, adding that he was unsure if the incident was “common theft” or something “more hostile and antisemitic in nature”…
Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz was named co-CEO of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, serving alongside CEO David Ellison, after a judge on Wednesday issued an order allowing Paramount’s acquisition of WBD to proceed…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights efforts by Nathan Kirsh, the 94-year-old philanthropist and businessman, to build out what is likely to be one of the largest family offices established in recent years, following the sale earlier this year of Kirsh’s Jetro Restaurant Depot to Sysco for $29 billion…
The New York Times profiles actress and comedian Ivy Wolk, whose provocative social media videos have elicited negative responses that have propelled her to stardom…
Authorities in Texas said they foiled an imminent terror plot targeting the Texas State Capitol in Austin; a friend of the individual arrested in connection with the threat said Benny Caldera Jr. had told the friend he was angry with AIPAC and that “these people have to be exterminated”…
Israel’s Supreme Court cleared for publication the name of the senior Israeli intelligence official believed to be involved in the army’s intelligence failures leading up to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks; Lt. Col. Aryeh Amidror, the son of former National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror, was identified as the Gaza Division’s intelligence officer during and before the attacks…
British broadcaster and philanthropist Dame Esther Rantzen, the longtime host of “That’s Life!” — one of the most popular episodes of which featured Sir Nicholas Winton and several dozen of the adults he saved when they were children during the Holocaust — died at 86…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Midair Melee: The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood considers the political implications of yesterday’s attack on a FlyDubai flight to Israel. “The next step will involve determining whether the pilot acted alone — not a good look for Flydubai, to have suicidal or terrorist pilots — or at someone’s behest. The latter possibility could, if confirmed, have serious implications, depending on who directed the attack. Many have a motive: Sunni jihadists (al-Qaeda or the Islamic State), Hamas, and of course Iran and its proxies.” [TheAtlantic]
Strait Man: Bloomberg’s Alex Dooler, Dinesh Nair and Laura Gardner Cuesta spotlight Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan as the Emirati official, who helms a $300 billion sovereign Abu Dhabi wealth fund, looks to find alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran. “He is known to lean heavily on a small group of Emirati officials, some childhood friends and others who have steered Abu Dhabi’s economy for decades. … According to one former teacher, a young Sheikh Khaled was at ease even in a class of students who went on to become top political scholars in Middle Eastern geopolitics. He’s known to prefer to observe before offering careful interventions.” [Bloomberg]
Picture of the Day
Yaniv Hayoun (center), one of the passengers who helped incapacitate the attacker on the FlyDubai aircraft bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates, was welcomed after arriving at the Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday night, still wearing the blood-stained shirt from the attack. Jamal Awad/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Birthdays
Rod Carew, former MLB second baseman and Hall of Famer who appeared in 18 straight All-Star Games, he is immortalized as Jewish in Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song,” turns 81
Lynn Steven Adelman, U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, turns 87
Andrew David Hurwitz, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, turns 79
Aaron Ciechanover, professor at the Technion, he won the 2004 Nobel Prize in chemistry, turns 79
Lynn Ahrens, Tony Award-winning writer and lyricist for the musical theater, television and film, turns 78
Bruce Levenson, former co-owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and founding board member of the publicly traded TechTarget, turns 77
Israel Jacob Yuval, professor emeritus of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, turns 77
Andrew Goodwin, copy editor at Politico since 2009
Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, a native of Scranton, Pa., turns 67
Steven C. González, the first-ever Jewish chief justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, now serving as an associate justice, turns 63
Cynthia Dawn “Cindy” Margolis, reality television personality, model and actor, turns 61
Adam Bennett Frisch, member of the Aspen City Council from 2011 to 2019, turns 59
Robert A. Rosen, founder of Peak Impact Advisors after 17 years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Stacie Passon, film director, screenwriter and producer, turns 57
Rob Seidman, partner at FGS Global, specializing in telecommunications, technology, consumer protection and privacy for companies in regulated industries
Michael J. Koplow, chief policy officer at Israel Policy Forum
Rebecca L. Taibleson, former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, now a judge on the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, turns 43
Samantha J. Weinberg, director of investor relations and strategic engagement at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Yossi Raskas, account manager at Fiserv
Scott Rosenthal
Plus, this rising Michigan Dem won't back El-Sayed
AFP via Getty Images
Departure hall of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk on September 30, 2026 after a flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv was forced to land in Saudi Arabia on September 30.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on a suspected terror attack on an Israel-bound flydubai flight earlier this morning, have the scoop on prominent Michigan Democratic state legislator Noah Arbit’s decision not to endorse Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the November election and cover New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly released plan to combat antisemitism, which received a mixed response from Jewish communal leaders. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Eric Cantor, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri and Elaine Luria.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
U.S. forces completed their withdrawal from their last bases in Iraq earlier today, ending the more than two-decade-long American military presence in the country.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, State Department Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Moment magazine and the Romanian Embassy are holding an event today honoring Elie Wiesel. The author’s son, Elisha Wiesel, is slated to speak at the event commemorating his father’s life and works.
Far-left streamer Hasan Piker is slated to speak at a University Democrats-sponsored event at the University of Texas at Austin. The event will take place in the location originally reserved by organizers, after administrators denied requests from University Democrats to move Piker’s talk to a larger venue.
One Thing To Know
BREAKING
A flydubai flight from the United Arab Emirates bound for Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia this morning in what Israeli security officials said may have been a terrorist incident following a violent altercation in which the plane’s captain, reportedly assisted by a passenger, wrested control from his co-pilot after the plane was thrown into a brief, rapid descent.
Images emerged in the hours following the incident of several passengers in bloody clothing. “We just heard screams, and then the cockpit door opened and we saw a huge amount of blood,” one passenger told Israeli media after landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport, near the Gulf state’s border with Jordan. Video also showed passengers tending to the pilot covered in blood on the floor, while the co-pilot appears tied up and possibly unconscious.
Israel’s i24News reported that the co-pilot who was subdued and restrained was of Omani origin, and that two additional pilots on board the aircraft, but not working the flight, were nationals of South Africa and New Zealand.
The Big Reads
DRAWING A LINE
Noah Arbit, a rising Jewish Democrat in Michigan’s state Legislature, has been a vocal critic of Abdul El-Sayed, a fellow Democrat whose Senate campaign in the key battleground state has exposed deep divisions within the Jewish community. But until now, Arbit had not yet publicly clarified if he is willing to set aside his differences and endorse El-Sayed, like some prominent Jewish Democrats in the state who have recently announced their support despite reservations with his hostile stances on Israel and approach to countering antisemitism. In an interview with Jewish Insider‘s Matthew Kassel on Monday, Arbit, 31, confirmed that he would not be endorsing El-Sayed, pointing to what he called the nominee’s promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and affiliations with extremist figures on the far left, among other issues he cast as deal-breakers in the closely contested race.
big apple blueprint
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration on Tuesday released what it calls the country’s first municipal strategy to combat antisemitism, a 30-page plan that provides $7.4 million for security and prevention grants, but declines to adopt a definition of antisemitism and does not address Israel-related hate, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. Jewish leaders offered a mixed response to the mayor’s new strategy, with some welcoming increased security funding and other measures while also arguing that the plan fails to address what they see as a key driver of anti-Jewish hostility — rhetoric targeting Israel and its supporters. In a joint statement, UJA-Federation of New York, JCRC-NY, AJC New York and New York Board of Rabbis said that “any effort to confront antisemitism in New York City must fully address the realities Jewish New Yorkers face today.”
campus in focus
An independent federal commission on civil rights concluded, following a yearlong probe, that campus antisemitism is a “serious and growing civil rights concern,” but also suggested the Trump administration’s efforts to combat it went against both statute and established procedure, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights highlights that “recent federal enforcement has sometimes represented a departure from established practice” and that some of the administration’s punitive measures have been overturned in court. The report also called for greater staffing and better training for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — which the Trump administration slashed even as complaints grew significantly — to ensure adequate responses to campus antisemitism.
The Rundown
DEMOCRATIC SHIFT
high seas stakes
definition debate
virginia in view
friends on the trail
euro slip
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Treasury and State Departments announced sanctions on 13 individuals and entities alleged to have assisted Iran in procuring weapons…
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and former White House AI czar David Sachs were on hand at a press conference following a meeting on AI between President Donald Trump, White House officials and the tech leaders…
Organizers of a16z‘s upcoming Tech Week in San Francisco said that a hackathon event associated with the conference had been removed from its calendar for violating Tech Week’s terms of service after an Israeli applicant was told he could not participate by an organizer who cited Israel’s 2024 pager attack on Hezbollah, saying, “Hackathon participants carry pagers, smartphones and laptops … What happened in Lebanon shouldn’t happen in California”…
Immigration officials are moving to deport an anti-Zionist Israeli member of the Satmar Hasidic community who was present during an incident in which an Israeli flag was removed from a local government building in Rockland County, N.Y….
A new report from the U.K.’s Community Security Trust found that antisemitic incidents at universities in the country rose by 14% during the 2025-26 academic year, with 95 reported incidents compared to 83 the prior year…
Several dozen West Bank settlers clashed with Israeli security forces, several of whom were injured, as they were attempting to help a Palestinian family return to its home in the village of Jalud, from which the family had fled in July amid ongoing attacks by settlers…
eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher spotlights the Har Initiative, a post-Oct. 7 donor collective that plans to distribute $120 million in the coming months to groups fighting antisemitism; the initiave, which is made up of 12 funders including The Tepper Foundation, The Einhorn Collaborative, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and Maimonides Fund, is being led by Lindsey Spindle, president of the Samueli Foundation, and Fay Twersky, president of the Arthur Blank Family Foundation…
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and former top Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan, an advisor to Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed, have reportedly agreed to form a coalition in the Nov. 28 Palestinian election if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas allows the election to move forward; Abbas has repeatedly postponed national elections, which have not happened in 20 years…
UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday, marking the first high-level bilateral meeting since tensions between the two Gulf countries erupted publicly over Yemen last year…
Moroccan King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, after her Authenticity and Modernity Party won the most seats in last week’s parliamentary election…
Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is joining PhRMA as CEO after more than a decade at Moelis & Company…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Missile Mess: The Atlantic’s Christopher Leonard spotlights the challenges associated with THAAD missile interceptors, which were frequently used by the U.S. and its allies during the height of tensions with Iran despite their high cost and dwindling stockpiles. “Munitions stockpiles have long been a neglected element of U.S. military strategy. Pentagon budget writers favor flashier line items, such as new fighter jets and naval destroyers. And munitions procurement relies on a fragile U.S. industrial base that is plagued by points of failure. They are produced by large U.S. defense contractors — such as Lockheed Martin, which makes the THAAD — whose business models constrain them from ramping up production even when a missile shortage is evident.” [TheAtlantic]
Mideast Misadventures: Wall Street Journal columnist William Galston considers the lessons learned over the course of the conflicts with Iran. “This is America’s third Middle Eastern misadventure in the past quarter-century, and likely the last. It signals the end of our effort to dominate the region, and it could set in motion a gradual drawdown of U.S. forces. … Our allies will have to choose between yielding to Iran’s regional dominance and creating a formal anti-Iranian alliance that could eventually include Israel.” [WSJ]
An Oct. 7 Reckoning: In the Jewish Review of Books, Matti Friedman reviews journalist Amos Harel’s 06:29: Anatomy of a Failure, a Hebrew-language account of the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and its aftermath. “Harel has no state budget, team of lawyers, or power of subpoena. But this book is the closest thing we have so far to a comprehensive and public reckoning with the failures that led to October 7. 06:29 is yet another example of a scenario that we in Israel have seen again and again since that fateful hour nearly three years ago, and that indeed can be said to have saved the country: The state fails, and a citizen rises to the occasion.” [JewishReviewofBooks]
Picture of the Day
Interviewed by The New Yorker‘s David Remnick (left) at New York’s Streicker Center on Tuesday night for the launch of his new memoir, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (right), who was wrongfully detained in Russia for 16 months, reflected on the country he covered for six years — and on how dramatically life there has changed for Russian Jews since the start of the war in Ukraine. Read more from Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen here.
Birthdays
Natan Levy, mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, turns 35
Ehud Olmert, former prime minister of Israel, turns 81
Sanford Kadish, retired volunteer and tutor
Rochelle A. “Shelly” Kassen, past president of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, she is on the board of the Tikvah Fund
Adam Maximilian Aron, chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment, he is a former co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, turns 72
Fran Drescher, actor and activist, she was president of the SAG-AFTRA labor union, turns 69
Ehud Hrushovski, professor of mathematical logic at Oxford, turns 67
Haim Taib, founder and president of the Menomadin Group and president of the Menomadin Foundation, turns 66
Allison Sommer, journalist for Haaretz since 2012
Jonathan Gruber, professor of healthcare economics at MIT and an architect of Romneycare and Obamacare, turns 61
Lisa K. Robbins
Gilad Menashe Erdan, Israel’s U.N. ambassador from 2020 to 2024, now global president of Magen David Adom, turns 56
Anastasia Goodstein, senior digital director at Inseparable
David Herszenhorn, international editor for The Washington Post
Jacques Stambouli, CEO of Via Trading Corporation, a liquidator of consumer merchandise
Rabbi Eliezer Kaunfer, president and CEO of Hadar Institute in Manhattan
Hildy Kuryk, founder and partner at Artemis Strategies, a boutique consultancy, turns 49
Ari Michael Shapiro, CNN contributor, former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” turns 48
Daniel Grossberg, member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since 2023, he lost his May 2026 Democratic primary, turns 48
Jonathan Peter Kasdan, screenwriter, director, producer and actor, turns 47
Yonatan Neril, founder of the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, turns 46
Stephen Cohen, computer scientist and entrepreneur, he is best known as a co-founder and president of Palantir Technologies, turns 44
Steven Russolillo, chief news editor at Business Insider
Plus, senators press Meta on antisemitic bot accounts
Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for New York Magazine
Gazelle Emami speaks during Vulture Festival at NeueHouse on November 09, 2019 in New York City.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight the reluctance of most Texas Democrats to address Hasan Piker’s upcoming College Democrats-hosted event at the University of Texas, look at the increasingly anti-Israel tone taken by New York magazine following high-level editorial staff changes, and have the exclusive on a call from Sens. Jacky Rosen and James Lankford for Meta to do more to address antisemitism on its platforms. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Noa Argamani, Evan Gershkovich and David Solomon.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod.
Today’s Agenda
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces will hold a hearing this afternoon on the proposed Golden Dome missile-defense system inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome.
President Donald Trump is slated to speak today alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang at a “Golden Age” event highlighting American innovation and developments in AI, cyber and space technology.
In New York, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was wrongly imprisoned in Russia for 16 months, will sit in conversation with David Remnick at the Streicker Center to discuss his new book, This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story, out today.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman will appear tonight at a mayoral candidate forum hosted by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles.
One Thing To Know
analysis
By Haley Cohen
Antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker is scheduled to speak at a University of Texas campus event on Wednesday. Despite the event’s backing from the student Democratic Party group on campus, most Texas Democrats running for office in the historically conservative state have been silent when it comes to speaking out against the far-left influencer.
Texas is one of the most prized political battlegrounds in the fight for control of Congress, hosting a hotly contested governor’s race, a neck-and-neck Senate race and four House races rated by the Cook Political Report as highly competitive. All of the close races are taking place in conservative-leaning constituencies, where candidates are typically incentivized to distance themselves from extremists or ideologues.
So far, among Texas Democrats, only Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) has spoken out against Piker, saying that leaders shouldn’t remain silent “when someone has a history of hateful comments about Jewish Americans, 9/11, and Hamas terrorism.” Cuellar, a leading moderate Democrat, is running for reelection in a redrawn district that President Donald Trump carried by a double-digit margin.
The Big Reads
printing pressure
In the years since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, New York magazine, once known for embodying the wry sophistication of the urban center left, has emerged as a key platform for anti-Israel content, a uniquely hostile ideological shift that is exposing raw feelings on a topic editorial leaders have struggled to meaningfully address publicly and behind the scenes, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. One person familiar with New York’s internal dynamics told JI that the magazine’s editorial director, Gazelle Emami, who took on her role in October 2023, is among the “key instigators” driving the magazine’s increasingly antagonistic reporting and commentary on Israel. “It was not a healthy work environment,” one former Jewish staffer who left after Oct. 7 told JI recently on condition of anonymity.
questionable company
A recent open letter from Jewish Michiganders expressing support for Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed includes a series of figures with fringe or extremist views and backgrounds alongside several prominent members of the Jewish community, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Among the signatories is Liano Sharon, a progressive activist and Michigan Democratic Party officer facing disciplinary action from the state party for suggesting that Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) — whom he previously described as a “neo-Nazi” — should face a Nuremberg-style trial and potentially “the gallows” for her support for Israel, though he also said he does not support the death penalty.
Democratic demands: Democratic Michigan state Rep. Noah Arbit and 15 other Democratic leaders on Tuesday joined the Nonnegotiable Michigan campaign that is laying out a series of demands for El-Sayed related to Jewish safety and Israel’s right to exist, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
exclusive
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) wrote to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday pressing him over the company’s failures to address antisemitic bot accounts on its platforms, urging Facebook and Instagram to label posts and users by their country of origin as a particularly important reform, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The legislators, who jointly chair the Senate antisemitism task force, requested that the company take steps to “implement reforms to protect users, limit the proliferation of antisemitic content, and strengthen its transparency measures against inauthentic behavior, including by labeling accounts’ country of origin for the American public.”
The Rundown
event delay
maryland matters
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Monday with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the State Department to discuss regional developments including ongoing Israeli-Lebanese negotiations. Also in attendance were Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi, State Department counselor Dan Holler, Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa.
Rubio also met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at the State Department on Monday amid escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen…
Crude exports from the Middle East are on the rebound as the U.S. and Gulf states improve their ability to evade Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz…
Eight U.S. servicemembers were injured, none seriously, earlier this month when an Iranian cruise missile struck their vessel in the strait…
The House Ways and Means Committee is pressing the IRS to pull the tax-exempt status of the California-based Middle East Children’s Alliance over the group’s alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, as well as organizations linked to Neville “Roy” Singham‘s pro-China network…
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against an Ohio hospital network, alleging that a Jewish orthopedic surgeon at Mercy Health Youngstown was fired weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks after being routinely subjected to antisemitic remarks from colleagues…
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said she plans to retry the federal bribery case against Washington, D.C., Councilmember Trayon White after proceedings against him ended in a mistrial; White had previously faced criticism from the Jewish community after promoting the antisemitic trope that Jews control the weather…
The board of Goldman Sachs is mulling a plan that would see CEO David Solomon step down as soon as late 2027 and John Waldron, the bank’s COO and president, take over the role…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the legal fight between Columbia University, which closed its Manhattan campus to non-university affiliates in the wake of the 2024 anti-Israel encampments and protests, and city residents who argue that the campus should be open to foot traffic as per a 1950s-era agreement with the city; New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani earlier this month backed the reopening of the campus…
U.K. authorities released on bail the five men arrested over the weekend near a British military base used by the U.S., but maintained “stringent conditions” on their release amid an ongoing investigation…
Speaking at the Labour Party’s conference, U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called Israel’s actions against the Palestinians “a stain on the conscience of the world”…
U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese apologized for falsely suggesting that Jews in Nazi concentration camps were called “Muslims” by their captors, adding that she had “wrongly inferr[ed] that the term antisemitism originally meant hatred of all Semitic peoples. In fact it was coined specifically to denote hatred of Jews”…
Far-right French politician Jordan Bardella, the leader of the country’s National Rally party, denied a report that he had invoked antisemitic tropes in conversations with party officials dating back more than a decade…
Former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani is joining Vine Ventures in a full-time role, where she will split her time between Tel Aviv and San Francisco and work with Israeli companies looking to expand into the U.S.; Argamani was previously an intern at the VC…
New Jersey-based Valley National Bank is acquiring fintech company Bluevine, founded by Israeli entrepreneurs Eyal Lifshitz and Nir Klar, in a $340 million deal…
Israeli officials said they killed a senior Hamas commander in northern Gaza who was involved in planning attacks and recruiting members…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
McGurk’s Mission: In an excerpt from his new book Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages, published in The Atlantic, former U.S. envoy Brett McGurk — who co-led the Biden administration’s hostage and ceasefire negotiations — recounts how the U.S.-Israel relationship evolved amid his attempts to mediate between Israel, Egypt and Hamas and during Iran’s April 2024 missile barrage against Israel. “Looking back, it’s no wonder that Hamas never responded to our proposals during this period. We now know that in March 2024, as this political debate was taking place in the U.S., [slain Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar was in a tunnel complex underneath Rafah. An avid consumer of news, he would have understood that relations between Biden and Netanyahu were approaching the boiling point.” [TheAtlantic]
Tricks of the Trade: In The Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon argues that a trade pact between the U.S. and Europe could bolster the transatlantic alliance. “America’s global leadership rests on three pillars. If any one of them fails, it could doom the whole enterprise. The first pillar is maintaining the world’s pre-eminent military. The second is remaining the world’s pre-eminent economy, which is foundational to having the pre-eminent military. (The U.S. dollar’s role as the global reserve currency depends on both pillars.) The third pillar is reinvigorating the American dream and American values, which are weakening for too many of our fellow citizens.” [WSJ]
Stuck Inside of Tehran: In The Hill, Mia Emmunah Toubian and Jason Bryan Silverstein call on Congress to reauthorize the Lautenberg Amendment to assist Jews in Iran in their efforts to leave the Islamic Republic, and on the Trump administration to restore the program. “By the end of this month, Congress should reauthorize Lautenberg. The administration should refund and reopen the processing centers that support it. Fourteen thousand stranded people, and their families in America, are waiting to see whether Trump’s promises about fighting antisemitism abroad mean anything when Jews facing persecution actually need a way out.” [TheHill]
Picture of the Day
Küf Kaufmann (left), chairman of the Jewish community of Leipzig, and Conrad Clemens, the minister of education in the German state of Saxony, spoke in front of the Ariowitsch House, where the first international branch of Yad Vashem will be established. Joined by German Education Minister Karin Prien, Kaufmann and Clemens laid down yellow roses on a cluster of stone plaques that commemorate victims of the Holocaust. Sebastian Willnow/picture alliance via Getty Images
Birthdays
Roger Bart, Tony Award-winning actor and singer, turns 64
Hillel “Harry” Furstenberg, mathematician and professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, turns 91
John Edward Sexton, president of New York University from 2002 to 2015, he is the author of Baseball as a Road To God, turns 84
Avital Inbar, Israeli author, translator, journalist and restaurant critic, turns 82
Leon Biederman, retired CEO of Southern California-based LinQuest Corporation, he is a board member at Sinai Temple
Ya’akov Dov “Ketzele” Katz, former member of the Knesset, he serves as the executive director of Beit El Yeshiva and as chairman of Arutz Sheva, turns 75
Harold Gernsbacher, past treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America
David Hirsh, professor of sociology at the University of London and the academic director and CEO of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, turns 59
Yitzhak Yedid, composer and pianist, he is the winner of the 2020 Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music, turns 55
Matthew Stephen Meyer, governor of Delaware, turns 55
Brian Shankman, CEO of 2048 Ventures, following 21 years in senior positions at AIPAC
Aviva Rosenthal, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s office of global affairs
Rebecca Rhynhart, city controller of Philadelphia from 2018 to 2022, turns 52
Adriene Mishler, YouTube-based yoga instructor, turns 42
Aron Chilewich, program manager at New York State Homes & Community Renewal
Shawn Pasternak, research director at D.C.-based S-3 Group
Clara Mamet, film and television actor best known for her role in the ABC comedy “The Neighbors,” turns 32
Rio Daniel, chief executive officer of the Center for Jewish History
Plus, APA's accreditation authority at risk
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 24, 2026 in New York City.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how Democrats on Capitol Hill are likely to legislate on Israel should they win control of either chamber in the midterms, cover Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the U.N. General Assembly and report on a recommendation by a federal panel to suspend the American Psychological Association’s accreditation authority over its handling of antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Stephen Ross, Ohad Ben Ami and Argentine President Javier Milei.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, featuring stories from Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy, including: Sunkist Fruit Gems, a colorful staple of synagogue celebrations, discontinued; In new book, Zibby Owens weaves memoir with a reckoning of Jewish life after Oct. 7; and Saudi Arabia’s Houthi crisis is partly of its own making, analysts say. Print the latest edition here.
Today’s Agenda
Sukkot begins this evening at sundown.
We’re keeping an eye on President Donald Trump’s response to a proposal from Iran, announced on Thursday by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York, for a seven-day plan to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin nuclear talks. Araghchi indicated he hoped to make a deal before the midterms, as Republicans — who are facing tough headwinds to hold both the House and Senate — are working to assuage voters concerned over high gas and cost-of-living prices.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are encouraging the White House to continue its economic pressure on Tehran and not to accept a deal that would ease either sanctions or its naval blockade of the Islamic Republic.
In Michigan, the annual Jewish Detroit Expat Reception is taking place tonight as part of the annual Detroit Homecoming events this week. Rebecca Blumenstein, president of NBC News editorial, will discuss her new book, The Last Free Women: A Daring Escape from Afghanistan and Coming of Age in America.
On Sunday, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Democrat Rebecca Bennett are set to participate in the only NJ-07 general election debate taking place this cycle.
One Thing To Know
analysis
By Marc Rod
If Democrats take control of Congress next year — or even if they win back a majority in only the House of Representatives — expect a legislative agenda that’s a lot tougher on Israel than it has been in a long time.
With growing support among House Democrats for legislation restricting U.S. aid and arms sales to Israel, bills such as the Block the Bombs Act, the Ceasefire Compliance Act or measures similar to this summer’s vote on cutting aid to Israel could come to the House floor, and continued fights over the U.S.-Israel relationship in funding bills and other legislation seem likely.
But the top target for senior Democrats at the moment is targeting settlement activity and settler violence in the West Bank. Asked by Jewish Insider at a press conference on Wednesday what Israel-related legislation Democrats might bring forward for a vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) — who has generally been a reliable supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship — pointed to a bill imposing sanctions related to West Bank violence.
The Big Reads
taking aim
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against criticism of Israel over the war in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, taking aim at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, French President Emmanuel Macron, Qatar and Turkey, Jewish Insider’s AJ Rodriguez reports. The prime minister also rejected accusations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, directly addressing Mamdani, who has repeatedly called Netanyahu a war criminal. “Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide,” Netanyahu said. He also raised that Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, had liked multiple Instagram posts celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Netanyahu went on to accuse foreign countries of spending “untold billions” to spread anti-Israel messages through traditional and social media, singling out Qatar for “massively funding American universities and toxic media outlets.”
Tumult in Turtle Bay: Several far-left Democrats expected to be elected to the House of Representatives in November — New York’s Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander, New Jersey’s Adam Hamawy, Pennsylvania’s Chris Rabb and Colorado’s Melat Kiros — attended a protest on Thursday organized by Jewish Voice for Peace that blocked the streets outside United Nations headquarters during Netanyahu’s speech, JI’s Marc Rod reports. Chevalier was among those arrested by the NYPD for refusing to comply with an order to disperse.
apa fray
A federal advisory board to the Department of Education recommended that the department suspend the accreditation authority of the American Psychological Association over the APA’s failure to address a “pervasive culture of antisemitism within the programs it accredits,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The recommendation comes after years of concerns by Jewish students and professionals about pervasive antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in psychology education, which in some cases paints Zionism as a mental illness to be treated. A final decision on the issue will be made in the coming months by the Department of Education, and the exact implications and consequences may depend on the decision made. But the recommendation could create significant uncertainty for hundreds of programs and internships and throw into question the licensing of psychology students and professionals across the country.
regime reckoning
Pressed during an event at the University of Michigan on Wednesday to condemn the Iranian regime’s massacre of tens of thousands of protesters earlier this year, Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sidestepped the question, focusing his answer on criticizing the U.S. war in Iran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. A Persian American student — who said that his cousin had been “hunted in the streets” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for wearing her hijab improperly and that his uncle was “sentenced to die [and] received 50 lashings” — pressed El-Sayed to “renounce” those who supported assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. El-Sayed responded by criticizing the U.S. for taking the role of the “world’s policeman,”adding, “Here’s my point: one can disagree with the governance of a foreign country. One can stand in solidarity with freedom and democracy movements, but my worry is when one decides that we are going to go in and take out the leadership of a foreign government.”
The Rundown
war powers woes
medical moves
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
In attendance at President Donald Trump’s state dinner last night for Chinese President Xi Jinping: First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance; Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Ivanka Trump and Arabella Kushner; Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos, Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Tim Cook, NYU President Linda Mills, Larry Fink, Sam Altman, Stephen Schwarzman, Dr. Miriam Adelson, Jeff Bezos, Jamie Dimon, Michael Dell, David Solomon, David Ellison, Albert Bourla, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Reps. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Rich McCormick (R-GA).
Musk, Cook and Huang were among those seated at the president’s table…
The Committee to Protect Journalists removed the names of 22 individuals it had listed as media workers or journalists who were killed during the Israel-Hamas war due to their ties to terror groups; among those removed from the list was Abdallah Iyad Breis, who was the lead photographer for the Hamas Education Ministry’s TV channel when he was killed in January 2024. Read more here…
Alex Soros attended a breakfast hosted by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion on Wednesday titled “Building an Economy for the Many” that featured an address from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez…
A federal court ruled that a Jewish charter school in Oklahoma can operate amid an ongoing legal battle with the state’s charter school board that had rejected the institution’s application earlier this year…
The University of California, Berkeley will honor its long-delayed agreement to rehire an Israeli dance professor whom it declined to reappoint over her nationality…
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is moving forward with talks to sell a 20% stake in Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix, part of Ross Sports & Entertainment, to Otro Capital…
French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would send “soldiers, radars and defense systems” to Saudi Arabia in an effort to help Riyadh protect energy facilities amid ongoing attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen…
The Washington Post spotlights the fighting taking place in Yemen between the Houthis and forces aligned with the country’s internationally recognized government…
Former Mossad head Yossi Cohen was named the president of Quantum X Labs’ Scientific Advisory Board…
Former Israeli hostages Ohad Ben Ami, Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana celebrated at the wedding of Ben Ami’s daughter on Thursday night; also in attendance were former hostages Bar Kupershtein and Segev Kalfon, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal…
The IDF said two reservists were killed in the Gaza Strip after the first-person view armed drone they were operating crashed into their base…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Malaysia’s Meddling: In The Wall Street Journal, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Mark Wallace, respectively the chairman and CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran, call on the Trump administration to crack down on Malaysia over the support that entities in the country are providing to Iran. “While the focus has been on the Strait of Hormuz, a lower-profile maritime front thousands of miles away affects how much control Iran retains. The site is the Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone of the South China Sea, 100 nautical miles offshore from the Singapore Strait and Malaysia in the Eastern Outer Port Limits. Here lies a floating city of more than 200 tankers, cargo ships and bulk carriers, nearly all of which are linked to Iran. Many of these ships trade energy products in defiance of U.S. sanctions and serve as a lifeline for the regime.” [WSJ]
The ‘Fauda’ Factor: In The Atlantic, Palestinian British writer John Aziz considers the cross-cultural appeal of “Fauda,” the newest season of which — which grapples with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks — has gained traction in Arab audiences. “Drama is a universal language; in its own way, it can bring people together even if they drastically disagree with one another. Viewers don’t need to share Doron’s politics or nationality to understand his grief, loyalty, recklessness, fear, or love for his family. The same is true of the Palestinian characters. We all share the same vocabulary of human emotions and mistakes.” [TheAtlantic]
Picture of the Day
Argentine President Javier Milei — pictured wearing a yarmulke with his name written in Hebrew — on Thursday visited the Ohel, the burial site of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Queens, N.Y., where he met with Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, the executive director of Chabad World Headquarters. Chabad Global Networks
Wine of the Week
2001 Ben Haim Merlot
Opening any aged bottle of Israeli wine is a wager. The cork comes out, the glass fills, and in an instant the wine declares itself: spoiled, merely drinkable or something closer to a revelation. Last Friday night, over a spectacular Shabbat dinner with dear friends from Rome and New Hampshire, we scored twice, and I was urged to share the highlights with my dear readers. The first bottle was a 2001 Ben Haim Merlot, a masterpiece on release and only more extraordinary for the quarter century it has spent quietly composing itself in the cellar. All port all the time, was the thought that crossed my mind as it touched my palate: deep, plummy, warm, its edges rounded by patience into something almost confectionary. Few of us will ever hold this bottle again. Take heart. The second wine on the table that evening remains within reach.
The Tulip Fingerprint 2014 is a work of art in a bottle. Five grapes married over 36 months in oak, it opens with a certain hauteur, rigid and demanding, presenting all five varietals for inspection in a single nanosecond, and every one arriving in full dress. The mid-palate yields to wild berries, and the finish unfolds at leisure into dark chocolate and hot fudge. For all its age, this wine will hold another 15 years with grace. Serve it alongside sautéed short ribs over a bed of farro, and give it the evening it deserves.
Birthdays
Jonathan Goldsmith, stage, film and television actor, he is best known as “The Most Interesting Man in the World” appearing in Dos Equis beer commercials, turns 88 on Saturday
FRIDAY
Vivien Stern, former member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, turns 85
Yehuda Lancry, former member of Knesset, he also served as Israel’s ambassador to France and then the United Nations, turns 79
Dvora Millstone, Lakewood Ranch, Fla., resident, turns 78
Yardena Arazi, Israeli television anchor and popular singer, turns 75
Ruth Calderon, founder of ALMA, which seeks to acquaint secular Israelis with Hebrew culture, she served as a member of Knesset for Yesh Atid from 2013 to 2015, turns 65
Boaz Levy, chairman and former CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries, turns 65
Marc Benioff, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, he acquired Time magazine in 2018, turns 62
Marissa Levin, best-selling author and serial entrepreneur
David Friedman, director and co-creator of the award-winning HBO series “Game of Thrones,” known professionally as David Benioff (Benioff is his mother’s maiden name), turns 56
Rabbi Pinchas Eliezer “Pini” Dunner, son and grandson of leading British rabbis, he is the senior rabbi at the Beverly Hills Synagogue, turns 56
Inbal Gavrieli, former member of the Knesset for Likud, she has appeared on multiple Israeli reality television shows, turns 51
Tamara Keith, White House correspondent for NPR, turns 47
Jesse Gabriel, member of the California State Assembly where he serves as chair of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, turns 45
Carmiel Arbit, nonresident senior fellow for Middle East programs and the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council
Lila Shapiro, features writer at New York magazine and its culture magazine Vulture
Zach Woods, actor and comedian, best known for his role as Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom “The Office,” turns 42
Mitch Malasky, former videographer for the State Department
Daniel Yadron, assistant appellate federal defender at Federal Defenders of San Diego
Jacob Greer Cohen, former center and power forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague, turns 36
Yanky Rodman, asset manager for Capital Realty Group
Destiny Albritton, creative director at BZ Media
Adam Basciano, strategic director at Laurel Strategies
SATURDAY
Robin Rosenblatt, CEO of Israel Longhorn Project, dedicated to bringing Texas Longhorn Cattle to Israel, turns 78
Barry Mandel, Five Towns (N.Y.) resident
Patrick Kron, former chairman and CEO of the French engineering conglomerate Alstom, he is the son of Holocaust survivors, turns 73
Doug Sosnik, senior political advisor to President Bill Clinton during his second term and co-author of a New York Times best-seller on the future of politics in the U.S., turns 70
Gary Torgow, chairman of Huntington National Bank, he is also the chair of the Jewish Federations of North America, turns 70
Paul Lustiger, Teaneck, N.J., resident with a Jersey City dental practice
Robert Kagan, historian, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, turns 68
Mark Isakowitz, chief of staff to Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), turns 60
Josh Arieh, professional poker player with seven World Series of Poker bracelets, turns 52
Josh Pastner, men’s basketball head coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, he was the 2017 ACC Coach of the Year, turns 49
David G. Greenfield, CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a major charity in NYC, turns 48
Risa Beth Heller, former communications director for N.Y. Gov. David Paterson, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jane Harman, she now heads a NYC-based PR firm, turns 47
Yaniv “Nev” Schulman, television host and producer, in 2020 he came in second on “Dancing with the Stars,” turns 42
Henry Seltzer, NYC-based editor at Bloomberg LP
Joshua Nason, senior director of political affairs at the Jewish Federations of North America
Joanna Weiss DiMarco turns 36
Alec Deer, senior director of development at Tamid Group
Marvel Joseph, director of strategic initiatives at the National Black Empowerment Council
SUNDAY
Arthur Blank, co-founder of The Home Depot and owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, turns 84
Stephen J. Landes, of counsel at the Jaszczuk law firm, turns 81
Ellen Sandler, board member of the Milken Family Foundation
Ralph Toledano, former chairman of the Victoria Beckham fashion brand, turns 75
Dan Raviv, longtime Washington correspondent, he is the author of books on Israel’s defense, intelligence and diplomatic services, turns 72
Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond until 2017, he was a chair of the Richmond Jewish Foundation, turns 71
Jeffrey Birnbaum, president of public relations firm BGR (Barbour, Griffith & Rogers), turns 70
Frank Hornstein, former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, he is married to a Minneapolis rabbi, turns 67
Marc Maron, comedian and author, turns 63
Rabbi Haïm Korsia, chief rabbi of France since 2014, turns 63
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005, she was chairperson of the Democratic National Committee until 2016, turns 60
Judy Tashbook-Safern, literary and film publicist based in Israel, she is also the publisher of Intelligentsia Books
Michael Balaban, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, turns 60
Rebecca Blumenstein, president of NBC News Editorial, turns 60
Elliotte Friedman, hockey reporter for Sportsnet and as an insider for the NHL Network, turns 56
Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, chief rabbi of Morocco, advisor to many leading businessmen and political figures in both Israel and the U.S., turns 53
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Israel’s special envoy for innovation, turns 53
Joseph Braude, author of four books on North Africa and the Middle East and president of The Center for Peace Communications
Carrie Rachel Brownstein, musician, actor, writer, director and comedian, turns 52
Josh Mandel, state treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, turns 49
Marc Kushner, architect, entrepreneur and author, turns 49
Daniel Isaac Helmer, member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the D.C. suburbs, turns 45
Rabbi Rori Picker Neiss, SVP and rabbi-in-residence at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Alexa Wertman, advisory manager for cyber and strategic risk at Deloitte, she was previously a Hebrew teacher and coordinator of Jewish programs at Zeta Beta Tau
Sam Lerner, actor best known for his role as Geoff Schwartz in 161 episodes of ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” turns 34
Plus, Cruz's wake-up call
Ilia YEFIMOVICH / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony commemorating Israel's Remembrance Day on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on April 21, 2026.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s U.N. General Assembly address, report on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s invocation of the Holocaust to justify his anti-Israel rhetoric and cover Sen. Ted Cruz’s warning that Christian leaders are failing to address rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment among younger Christians. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: House Speaker Mike Johnson, Alina Habba and Wayne Rooney.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Tamara Zieve.
Today’s Agenda
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address the U.N. General Assembly around 2 p.m. ET today during his brief visit to the U.S.
Before departing for New York last night, Netanyahu traveled to Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, where Neria Leiter, a son of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, was in critical condition after injuries sustained in a car-ramming attack at a West Bank checkpoint earlier in the day. More below.
Speaking to reporters earlier today at the hospital, Leiter said his son was still “hanging in the balance” but had been stabilized by medical workers. “The next few days will be critical,” the ambassador added.
Security in the area around the U.N. headquarters in Turtle Bay will be tight during Netanyahu’s speech, owing to several protests planned around the Israeli leader’s trip to New York. Read our previous coverage on how the NYPD is preparing to handle UNGA-related protests.
In Washington tonight, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will host a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, with a guest list that includes several tech and finance executives.
An International Court of Justice panel could rule as soon as today on an effort to change the threshold for defining genocide in a case between Gambia and Myanmar that would have implications for South Africa’s case against Israel in the court.
One Thing To Know
analysis
By Gili Cohen
For a few hours, Israel’s deeply polarized political arena, just a month before the elections, found rare unity following the news that Neria Leiter, son of Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, was critically injured in a car-ramming terror attack in the West Bank.
But even before the attack, which could affect the content of Netanyahu’s speech, the prime minister’s trip to New York was set to be entirely different from prior UNGA appearances. The prime minister’s brief video message about his speech on Tuesday referenced only one individual: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Not Iran, not Hamas, nor Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Sources close to the prime minister claim Mamdani is the reason for Netanyahu’s unprecedented brief visit. The concern, his aides claim, stems from potential protests or political posturing by Mamdani, despite him admitting he has no authority to arrest Netanyahu, a key campaign pledge of the mayor’s. However, a former official involved in coordinating prime ministerial trips offered a different explanation: As long as Netanyahu remains in New York for only a few hours, the absence of a meeting with President Donald Trump becomes far less conspicuous.
The Big Reads
no compromise
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, refused to tone down his hostile rhetoric toward Israel, including his repeated accusations of genocide, during a newly released podcast interview, even as his stances risk alienating Jewish Democrats who are otherwise eager to support his campaign in a key battleground state, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. In an appearance on the “Raging Moderates” podcast hosted by Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov, who are both Jewish and disagree with his stances on Middle East policy, El-Sayed doubled down in defense of his repeated use of the term genocide to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza, invoking the Holocaust to justify his position.
sanctions push
Nineteen Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), introduced a bill on Wednesday that would impose sanctions on companies, individuals and others involved in the construction and development of Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the West Bank, which the lawmakers argue would be a severe blow to the viability of a Palestinian state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The far-reaching sanctions would also target financial institutions and government officials and entities involved in supporting or facilitating E1 settlement construction.
wake-up call
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned on Wednesday that Christian leaders are “asleep” and failing to recognize the degree to which antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment have spread among Christian youth, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. The Texas senator made the comments while accepting the leadership award at the American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) annual Lamplighter Awards in Washington. Cruz voiced concern that older Christian leaders, specifically evangelicals, were not acknowledging that younger adherents have ideologically drifted from previous generations. “If you look at the polling, young evangelicals are turning systematically against Israel, and there are millions of dollars that are being spent to turn them against Israel,” he said.
The Rundown
alternate reality
security advocacy
envoy debate
memorial event
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Oman and Azerbaijan halted flights to and from Iran, in accordance with a deadline set by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as part of the Trump administration’s Operation Economic Outcast; Iraq, whose president pledged last week to crack down on Iran-backed militias operating in the country, also suspended flights from Baghdad.
Tehran, meanwhile, threatened to paralyze the airports of countries in the region who comply with the U.S.’ block on flights to and from the Islamic Republic…
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged President Donald Trump to press Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to the White House this week on Chinese companies’ provision of satellite imagery to Iran that helped the regime target American military installations in the Middle East, and China’s continued evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil…
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the war with Iran needs to be brought “to a resolution,” arguing that the U.S. has achieved its objective of preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear capability and pointing to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as driving up gas, fuel and grocery costs…
American Priorities PAC, which backed several successful Democratic socialist congressional campaigns, said it plans to target nine House Democrats in 2028; the group will focus on challenging Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), George Latimer (D-NY), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), as well as current candidates Melissa Bean, Adrian Boafo and Ben McAdams, all of whom won their primaries and are expected to join the next Congress…
Florida’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against The New York Times on behalf of a group of shareholders alleging that the newspaper’s board of directors failed to hold the Times newsroom to its own editorial standards regarding its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war; the lawsuit claims that the paper’s editorial standards were “weaponized within the company to serve the personal agendas of unchecked editors”…
The attorney general of Missouri launched an investigation into Students for Justice in Palestine’s fundraising activities in the Show-Me State, saying, “We will use every tool the law allows to expose deceptive fundraising, trace where the money goes, and stop any effort to channel charitable donations to violent or terror-linked actors”…
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the repatriation of three dozen antiquities to Syria, more than a dozen of which had been housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art…
A federal judge sentenced a Massachusetts man to nearly 10 years in prison for making interstate threats targeting Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) and his family in August 2024…
Alina Habba, a former lawyer for Trump who briefly served as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey last year, is reportedly set to marry Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, whose company has overseen projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela…
A Philadelphia educator and anti-Israel activist who claimed to be Black and Palestinian publicly acknowledged that she was Jewish, with family living in the West Bank, prompting local activist groups with which she was affiliated to distance themselves from her…
Sunkist Fruit Gems, a staple at many a Jewish simcha for the last half century, has been discontinued, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
A 19th-century Albert Lang painting was restituted to the descendants of the German-Jewish art collector who owned the work, which was determined by authorities in Germany to have been looted by the Nazis, before she fled the country in 1938…
The Netherlands will rejoin the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, after its Avrotros public broadcaster refused to take part in this year’s competition as well as the one slated for next year over Israel’s participation; the umbrella body of Dutch broadcasters determined that the NOS will provide coverage instead of Avrotros, while a Dutch contestant will be selected by an independent panel…
Longtime Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, who played for D.C. United after leaving Manchester United in 2017, said in a new docuseries, which includes a trip with his wife and sons to Auschwitz, that his Polish-born maternal great-grandmother was Jewish…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Iran’s BFF: The Wall Street Journal’s Rory Jones, Jon Emont, Vera Bergengruen and Summer Said look at how China is quietly assisting Iran as it faces crippling sanctions spearheaded by the U.S., even as the White House prioritizes good relations with Beijing. “Washington has launched hundreds of sanctions targeting Iran since the war began on Feb. 28, including penalties against companies and individuals in China it believes are helping Tehran. Those steps, along with an embargo of Iranian trade, have caused a contraction of Iran’s economy. But the White House has proven reluctant to more seriously confront Beijing over its support for Iran, which has continued launching attacks on U.S. forces and oil infrastructure in the Middle East.” [WSJ]
Regional Realignment: In an excerpt from his new book The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East, published in The Atlantic, Simon Sebag Montefiore considers the evolution underway in the Middle East. “The United States, Russia, and China still intervene in the Middle East, but in a manner that is Olympian, erratic, and inconsistent. Behind them lurks a deeper conflict of entire systems: the open world, still (just) led by America, versus the closed world that is the axis of China and Russia. A parallel, simultaneous battle, centered within the Middle East, rages among different versions of, or attitudes toward, the practice of Islam and its complex relationship with the West.” [TheAtlantic]
Picture of the Day
Nova music festival survivor Shalev Biton (right) appeared onstage at yesterday’s rally against antisemitism near the U.N. headquarters in New York alongside Yunes Alkarnawi (left), a Bedouin from southern Israel who saved Biton and dozens of others during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Read more about Alkarnawi’s rescue of Biton here. Michael Priest Photography
Birthdays
Marc Guggenheim, screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer and novelist, turns 56
Joanne Greenberg, author of 26 books, best known for the semi-autobiographical novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, turns 94
Judith Margolis, artist working visually in paintings, drawings, artist’s books and multimedia collages, turns 82
Rafael Eldad, retired Israeli diplomat who served as Israel’s ambassador to Peru, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, turns 77
David Pecker, former CEO of American Media, publisher of celebrity and health and fitness magazines, turns 75
Franz Lidz, feature writer for Sports Illustrated for 27 years, he is a 2015 inductee into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, turns 75
Michael Weiss, attorney and former judge advocate
Jeffrey Hecktman, founder, executive chairman and CEO of Hilco Global, turns 73
William Gross, lead public safety success manager at FirstNet by AT&T
Christopher L. Eisgruber, president of Princeton University since 2013, in his mid-40s he discovered that his mother was Jewish, turns 65
Alan Popovsky, co-founder and principal at DC-based PRG Hospitality
Chanina Sperlin, EVP of governmental affairs at the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council
Noreena Hertz, economist, best-selling author and a great-granddaughter of former British Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz, turns 59
Yael Goldman-Pfeffer, Israeli television host, actor and model, turns 48
Jessica Schumer, Yale Law graduate and head of New York policy and community engagement at Amazon
Alexandra Jaffe, former White House reporter at the Associated Press, now editorial manager at Elastic
Ben Platt, actor, singer and songwriter, turns 33
Benjamin David Goldberg, rap musician, known professionally as Token, turns 28
Plus, Riyadh's self-inflicted Houthi headache
(KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)
A picture taken on July 1, 2022 in Brussels shows the frontpage of "Politico" newspapers.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at Politico’s attack on a Jewish aide to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, which was published on Yom Kippur, and talk to Seattle Jewish leaders about their concerns regarding rising antisemitism in the city. We report on a call from Jewish leaders in Michigan for former Vice President Kamala Harris to appeal to Abdul El-Sayed, the state’s Democratic Senate nominee with whom she campaigned, on his rhetoric on Israel and antisemitism, and talk to experts about the challenges, some self-inflicted, facing Saudi Arabia as it deals with ongoing attacks by the Houthis in Yemen. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sen. Jacky Rosen, Palmer Luckey and Zibby Owens.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Tamara Zieve and Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
The U.N. General Assembly’s high-level week continues today in New York. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is slated to address the gathering during this morning’s session.
The Trump administration’s Board of Peace is expected to unveil its $2.45 billion Gaza reconstruction and governance plan today at a meeting of its members. The 66-project proposal, a Board of Peace official told Axios, “shows how to stand up a government from nothing, an economy from shambles and a territory from disaster.”
UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the New York chapters of the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee and the Israeli American Council are among the groups holding a rally near the U.N. this evening calling on world leaders to scale up efforts to address antisemitism.
In Washington, American Friends of Lubavitch is hosting its annual Lamplighter Awards dinner. This year’s honorees include U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council Chairman Jeff Miller and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Elsewhere in Washington, the Anti-Defamation League is bringing survivors of antisemitic attacks to Capitol Hill for meetings with legislators.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a classified briefing this morning with CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper.
One Thing To Know
Schmear campaign
On Monday morning — as Jews around the world marked Yom Kippur — Politico published a pointed attack targeting David Milstein, an observant Jew who serves as senior advisor to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, labeling his actions as a “national security threat” while failing to provide evidence for the claim.
In a recent WhatsApp message sent to wedding invitees, Milstein, who lives in Israel, wrote that those who wanted to give a “monetary wedding gift” in either “U.S. dollars or Israeli shekels” to the couple could do so through a provided QR code, Politico’s Adam Wren reported.
Politico’s Monday morning flagship newsletter “Playbook” led with the story, accompanied by the subject line: “Huckabee’s ‘walking counterintel red flag’” — using Milstein’s wedding message as a hook to cite anonymous intelligence sources who labeled him a national security threat.
An individual with knowledge of the situation told Jewish Insider that Wren messaged Milstein just before 7 p.m. ET on Sunday — or 2 a.m. local time on Monday in Israel, where Milstein was observing Yom Kippur — to inform him the story would run the following morning.
The Big Reads
CANARY CALL
Two of Seattle’s top Jewish leaders are sounding the alarm about the costs of ignoring rising antisemitism, offering up their own city as a “canary in the coal mine” — a warning of how Jewish communal apathy can allow individual acts of discrimination to slowly erode Jewish life. “I’ve been stunned by the effort to erase the Jewish community in so many parts of civic life across the country,” Joe Schocken, one of the authors of a new eJewishPhilanthropy op-ed laying out the stark warning, told Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik in an interview last week. “I’ve been deeply involved in many aspects of the Jewish community, and sadly steeped in Jewish history. That this effort to push the Jewish community out, this effort to scapegoat the Jewish community, has happened so quickly is just stunning to me.”
VEEP APPEAL
Michigan Jewish leaders on Tuesday urged former Vice President Kamala Harris — who is set to campaign with the party’s Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, in Michigan this week — to appeal to El-Sayed on issues related to antisemitism and Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The group of Jewish leaders, writing to Harris under the banner of the Nonnegotiable Michigan campaign, said that they are longtime supporters of her and the Democratic Party, and called on her to press El-Sayed to accept the five demands on Jewish issues and Israel that the Nonnegotiable campaign has presented.
Michigan maneuver: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that she is endorsing El-Sayed after having previously voiced reservations over his views on Israel and antisemitism, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.
RIYADH’S RECKONING
Saudi Arabia is facing an escalating Houthi offensive along the Red Sea coast and direct attacks on its own territory, in what regional analysts describe as a turning point in Riyadh’s conflict with the Iran-backed terror group — and a crisis they say was created in part by Riyadh’s own miscalculations. Regional analysts told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea that Saudi Arabia’s current position stems in part from its failure to strategically prepare during a yearslong pause in fighting. Experts say that Riyadh’s rift with the United Arab Emirates has also weakened the anti-Houthi coalition in Yemen, making the challenge more daunting.
The Rundown
DAMASCUS DIARIES
UNGA UNFILTERED
CANDIDATE CALCULATIONS
BOOKSHELF
supper club
partnership pitch
money matters
POLAND IN FOCUS
ON THE HILL
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
President Donald Trump signed a commission establishing Secretary of State Marco Rubio as national security advisor, a position Rubio has held in an acting capacity for more than a year following U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz’s departure from the role; Rubio is the first secretary of state since Henry Kissinger to hold both roles simultaneously…
The U.S. proposed a $5 billion investment — to be matched by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq and Jordan — in a new fund to rebuild energy infrastructure across the region that had been damaged or destroyed during the war with Iran…
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi pledged to disarm the Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq by June 2027 as Baghdad faces pressure from the Trump administration to take a stronger stance against the groups and as Tehran seeks to deepen its control in the region…
Palmer Luckey’s Erebor Bank is moving toward an expansion into Syria, a move that would help to reintegrate Damascus into global financial systems…
Yasser Abbas, a son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, attempted to circumvent a State Department ban on Palestinian officials entering the country by using his Canadian passport to try to board a flight to the U.S.; Abbas was denied boarding due to a failure to produce requisite entry documents…
The New York Times interviews Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) about her 2028 plans, including whether she plans to seek reelection to her House seat, challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his Senate seat or pursue a White House bid; the New York Democrat told the Times of a presidential bid, “If I were to run in this cycle, and not win, I would be done”…
A superior court judge in California ruled that the Oakland Unified School District must take substantive steps to address antisemitism in the district, determining that the northern California district did not fully comply with a California Department of Education directive to implement corrective measures in the district’s schools…
RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will make a cameo in the upcoming A24 film “Primetime,” which looks at the 2000s-era “Dateline” investigation series “To Catch a Predator” and its host, Chris Hansen…
The Art Institute of Chicago will return a 1913 Jean Metzinger oil painting to the descendants of the work’s Jewish owner, after the work was forcibly sold by the Nazis in 1940 following the German invasion of the Netherlands…
The man accused of opening fire outside a synagogue in Belleville, Canada, on Sunday died from injuries sustained during an exchange of gunfire with police outside of the building; the man, 29-year-old Sean Ward, was a military veteran who had espoused antisemitic conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the COVID-19 pandemic…
U.K. police said that they foiled an “imminent” attack on the Manchester Jewish community following the arrest of two men just prior to Yom Kippur; the arrests came after a year after two Jewish men were killed during an attack on a synagogue in the city during Yom Kippur…
An Argentine court charged seven Iranians and one Lebanese national — all of whom remain at large — in connection with the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 injured…
Microsoft named Ohad Jassin, the company’s corporate vice president, as the head of its research and development center in Israel; Jassin will assume the role in November, succeeding Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk…
Singer Boy George announced an upcoming concert in Tel Aviv, slated for Nov. 4; the performance comes nearly a decade after the artist’s last trip to Israel, when he performed at the same venue in 2017…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Different Collateral Damage: In The Wall Street Journal, former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov responds to the recent film “NAZA,” a film about civilian deaths in Gaza resulting from the Israel-Hamas war whose title was taken from the term for collateral damage. “A dead Palestinian child isn’t made less dead by a statistic. But neither should we ignore what Israel risked to reduce that number. If Israel had cared less about NAZA, perhaps I would have come home sooner. Fewer Israeli soldiers might have died. Fewer hostages might have died. But more Palestinians would have.” [WSJ]
A House Divided, Again: The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood does a deep dive into the challenges facing Israeli voters ahead of next month’s elections, amid resurgent tensions between the country’s religious and secular communities. “The ambition of every gourd is to escape ephemerality, outlast its predecessors, and leave Israel less hapless than Jonah and more shaded from the scorching threats that go along with being a nation-in-progress. The parties fill a niche in a bewilderingly diverse ideological ecosystem … Better to stop trying to figure out who is right and just try to figure out how to get along. That pragmatic exasperation is the starting point of liberal democracy.” [TheAtlantic]
Picture of the Day
American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch (third from left) met on Tuesday with North Macedonia Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski (center right) on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly high-level week, one of dozens of sit-downs AJC officials are holding with leaders from more than 70 countries during the week — the group’s annual “diplomatic marathon.” Read more from JI’s Marc Rod here.
Birthdays
Eli Dershwitz, three-time Olympic saber fencer, he was the first American to claim gold in saber at the World Fencing Championships, turns 31
Rabbi Shubert Spero, pulpit rabbi in Cleveland for more than 30 years, then a professor at Bar-Ilan University, turns 103
Richard Bergman, Sarasota Jewish Federation executive
Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer, he has sold more than 300 million records and performed at more than 5,000 concerts for over 60 million people, turns 83
David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee from 1990-2022, turns 77
Mark J. Dollinger, president at Trendlines America
Josh Fidler, co-chairman and COO of Chesapeake Realty Partners, he is also a founding partner of Boulder Ventures
Colin M. Winston, former deputy director of policy and government affairs at AIPAC
Seth Frisch, founder and director of Lerhaus/The New Shul of America
Jay Scott Greenspan, actor, famous for his role as George Costanza on “Seinfeld” and known professionally as Jason Alexander, turns 67
Darryl Nirenberg, U.S. ambassador to Romania
Marc Lasry, co-founder and CEO of hedge fund Avenue Capital Group and the co-owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks until 2023, turns 67
Angela Maddahi, past president of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, now a rabbinic student at the Ziegler School
Sheryl W. Kimerling, former vice chair of the Jewish Federations of North America, she is the president of the Birmingham (Ala.) Jewish Federation
Jonathan Peled, Israel’s ambassador to Italy, turns 65
Oren Zeev, Israeli American venture capitalist and head of Zeev Ventures, turns 62
Kristen Silverberg, former U.S. ambassador to the EU, now president and COO at the Business Roundtable, turns 56
Naomi Seligman, chief strategy officer at Whistleblower Aid
Jay Feldman, executive director of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Foundation
Joshua Foer, author of two best-selling books and co-founder of the nonprofit Sefaria, turns 44
Michael Schmidt, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington bureau reporter for The New York Times, turns 43
Gabriella Schwarz, principal designer at Google DeepMind
Abby Glassberg, VP of sales at Idomoo Personalized Video
Naomi Chaya Kutin, record-setting powerlifter, turns 25
Plus, Tisch's Turtle Bay test
Nic Antaya/Getty Images
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a rally at Universal Contracting and Urban Tree Trimming on August 31, 2026 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how the NYPD is preparing for “multiple” daily protests around the U.N. General Assembly next week, talk to lawmakers about their concerns following a classified briefing with the Pentagon’s Elbridge Colby on the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy and interview Deborah Lipstadt about the launch of her new institute at Emory University to train the next generation of policymakers fighting antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: David Bashevkin, Amos Hochstein and Hanan Ben-Ari.
Ed. note: The next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Wednesday, Sept. 23 in observance of Yom Kippur. Become a premium Jewish Insider subscriber to receive our Daily Overtime newsletter as well as updates throughout the weekend and as the Yom Kippur holiday concludes, including regular updates on our in-app live briefing.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Erielle Reshef’s journey from Israeli TV to MS NOW; Houthi gains leave Saudi Arabia short on options and looking to Washington; and Supreme Court to hear case of man blocked from holding minyan in his home. Print the latest edition here.
Today’s Agenda
Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance are set to host a Shabbat dinner at the vice president’s residence tonight. The gathering comes as Vance continues to work to burnish his relationship with Republican Jews — including a meeting on Thursday with conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg, which Rosenberg said “went well.”
Axios released its full interview with far-left streamer Hasan Piker this morning, after releasing brief clips from the conversation yesterday. On the topic of Israel, Piker told Axios he believes “Zionism is fascism” and compared holding Zionist beliefs to being a “rabid neo-Nazi” — but said he was “not worried that [my listeners are] going to be violent against Zionists.”
Students from The Ramaz School and SAR High School in Riverdale, N.Y., will hold services today outside New York’s Gracie Mansion, the official mayoral residence. Mayor Zohran Mamdani noted earlier this week that he was unlikely to be at the residence during the event, but said, “Whatever it is intended to be, they have the room and space to do so outside of Gracie Mansion.”
The Atlantic Festival continues today in New York. Speakers today include New York Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).
The U.N. General Assembly’s high-level week — which will see heads of state and senior officials from around the world travel to New York for speeches, events and sideline meetings — kicks off on Tuesday. President Donald Trump is slated to convene Gulf leaders on Tuesday to discuss postwar scenarios in Iran.
A State Department spokesperson said that senior Iranian officials had been granted visas to attend the UNGA, but will be under some restrictions that include a prohibition on purchasing luxury items while in the U.S.
Ahead of the start of the official UNGA proceedings, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and Anwar Gargash, an advisor to United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed, will speak on Sunday at an Al-Monitor Live event in New York.
One Thing To Know
ON ALERT
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters on Thursday that her department expects a wave of protests around the U.N. General Assembly next week, set to feature President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Tisch and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined officials from the Secret Service and State Department at One Police Plaza to brief the press on security measures and what the mayor described as a “whole-of-department response” to head off any risks to the international gathering. This will include “full deployment” of patrolmen and elite police units, as well as restrictions on traffic, flight patterns and pedestrian access in the area around the U.N. headquarters.
But both emphasized that, despite ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran — and despite Mamdani’s since-abandoned threat to arrest Netanyahu if he visited the city — these precautions were largely the same as those the city always takes around the annual geopolitical conference.
The Big Reads
taking heat
Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s under secretary for policy, is once again facing criticism from senators who said he was evasive, unresponsive and even disrespectful at a classified briefing on Thursday regarding the implementation of the National Defense Strategy, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Senators said that, among other issues, Colby had failed to provide clear answers regarding the war in Iran. “The most telling thing I can tell you is that he didn’t have an opening statement, and he’s there to give us an update,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told reporters. “That seemed weird. You’re the policy under secretary and you come before the Armed Services Committee and you don’t have an opening statement? That seemed contemptuous.”
crossing the aisle
Amos Hochstein, a senior Middle East negotiator in the Biden administration, on Thursday argued in favor of the Trump administration’s nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, which opens the path for nuclear enrichment inside the kingdom, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. “Do I want to do this? No. Do I feel the American national security interest is that we must do this deal? One hundred percent, because the alternative is a lot worse,” Hochstein said during a conversation at the Council on Foreign Relations, organized by the nonprofit Open to Debate. He added that during the Biden administration’s negotiations, other countries, including U.S. allies, actively tried to coax the Saudis away from the U.S. by promising lower verification standards. The deal, he argued, would help keep Saudi Arabia, a critical ally, in the U.S.’s corner.
policy pipeline
When Deborah Lipstadt returned to academia last year after nearly three years navigating the State Department as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, she had a new mission: to turn what she learned in government into a training ground for the next generation of policymakers confronting antisemitism. Lipstadt, a longtime Emory University historian, announced last week the launch of the Emory Policy Institute on Countering Antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. “In academia, professors think they’re right more often than not. Very often they are right in their assessments. But in diplomacy, you want to be effective. Sometimes you’ve got to compromise, narrow your view and adapt without losing sight of what you want to do,” Lipstadt told JI in an interview on Thursday.
The Rundown
NUCLEAR NEWS
RIPPING ON RIYADH
CAMPUS BEAT
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said the FBI thwarted an intended mass casualty attack following the arrest last weekend of a Pennsylvania man who had been inspired by the Islamic State…
The State Department approved the sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets, worth $24.3 billion, to Saudi Arabia, a prospect that has raised concerns for some supporters of Israel; the State Department assessed that the deal would “not alter the military balance in the region.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she is “still considering” whether to support the Trump administration’s planned $2.8 billion arms sale to Israel…
Automaker General Motors has begun building missile parts for Lockheed Martin’s Patriot missiles, in an effort to boost production of the critical interceptor whose stockpiles have been depleted by the Iran war and heavy demand from allies…
Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution put forward by the U.S. that would have renewed the mandate of U.N. experts tasked with monitoring nuclear sanctions against Tehran…
Mahan Air announced the suspension of flights to Turkey and Oman, a week after the Treasury Department issued additional sanctions targeting one of Iran’s largest commercial carriers…
Pakistan’s army chief called on Tehran to make an effort to stop attacks by its Houthi proxies in Yemen on Saudi Arabia; the call from Field Marshal Asim Munir comes a year after Islamabad entered into a defense agreement with Riyadh…
Israel issued a tender for more than 2,000 new housing units to be built in the West Bank under its E1 settlement plan, on top of a tender for 1,234 units issued in late August…
The IDF said it killed two Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in separate strikes earlier this week…
eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Jay Deitcher spotlights the newly launched Talmud Daily, a free 40-week, daily video breakdown of the Talmud from Rabbi David Bashevkin that offers an introduction to the central text of Rabbinic law…
The Criterion Collection is rereleasing Claude Lanzmann’s 1985 “Shoah” film; the new release will include three additional Lanzmann films and interviews…
RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, said it would boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest for the second year in a row, citing Israel’s participation in the annual competition…
i24NEWS’ Mike Wagenheim was named the next president of the White House Foreign Correspondents’ Association…
Former NBA player Michael Sweetney, who played for the Knicks and Bulls before becoming an assistant coach for the Yeshiva University Maccabees and The Ramaz School, died at 43…
Conservative writer Dovie Eisner died at 35…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Never Forget, Especially Now: In Moment Magazine, Menachem Z. Rosensaft considers the obligations of the children of Holocaust survivors in a time of increasing Holocaust denial and revisionism. “Our parents survived to bear witness. We, who grew up with them, who know or knew them better than anyone else, who listened to and internalized their stories, their memories, their silences and their nightmares, are more than their witnesses. We must be their attestors. … We are the guardians of their memories.” [Moment]
Influence Peddling: In Sapir, Aaron Kaplowitz raises concerns about the rise of an “influencer” class among Jewish and pro-Israel activists. “At the exact moment when Jews around the world need moral seriousness, parts of the communal establishment have fallen for the most opportunistic actors on the least serious platform. We are confusing visibility with leadership, and follower numbers with wisdom. The influencer economy now shapes how some of our institutions raise money and decide who speaks in the name of the community.” [Sapir]
Next-Gen Rising: In eJewishPhilanthropy, William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, respectively the CEO and board chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, call on the Jewish communal world to make space for next-generation leadership. “If we believe these young men and women belong in Jewish leadership now, our community has to find more ways to trust them with real responsibility. That means moving beyond encouragement, conferences, fellowships and invitations to observe.” [eJP]
Picture of the Day
Israeli singer-songwriter Hanan Ben-Ari posted a clip of his live performance of “Hashivenu” — which he released in October 2025 to celebrate the release of the hostages from Gaza — from his recent “Hindikim 360°” show. “Everything that has been happening with this song under the radar over the past year is completely crazy,” Ben-Ari wrote on Instagram. “Jews from all over the world are singing and praying it everywhere, as though it were an ancient melody hundreds of years old!!”
Birthdays
Billy Eichner, comedian, actor, producer and screenwriter, turns 48 on Friday
FRIDAY
Kathy Levinson Wolf, Marina Del Rey, Calif., resident
Dr. Ben Carson, retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, he is currently the national advisor for nutrition, health and housing at the Department of Agriculture and previously served as U.S. secretary of housing and urban development, turns 75
Léo Apotheker, business executive who served as co-CEO of SAP and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, turns 73
Steven Pinker, Harvard professor of psychology, specializing in visual cognition and psycholinguistics, turns 72
Tommy Tuberville, U.S. senator (R-AL), he is the Republican nominee for governor of Alabama, he had a career prior to politics as a collegiate football coach, turns 72
Howard Tevlowitz, former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee (Fla.)
Brian Greene, former executive director of the Los Angeles Westside Jewish Community Center, now The J Los Angeles
Gali Baharav-Miara, attorney general of Israel, turns 67
Mark Lee Romanek, winner of three Grammy Awards for music videos, he is also a filmmaker and photographer, turns 67
Joshua Angrist, professor of economics at MIT and a 2021 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, turns 66
Yanki Margalit, one of the earliest Israeli tech entrepreneurs, he is best known for starting Aladdin Knowledge Systems in 1985, turns 64
Ezra Uzi Yemin, founder of Delek US, turns 58
Simone Dinnerstein, classical pianist, turns 54
Karen Paikin Barall, chief policy officer at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law
Tali Farhadian Weinstein, CEO of New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage, turns 51
Justin Ishbia, founding partner of Shore Capital Partners, he is a part-owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury along with his brother Mat Ishbia, turns 49
Jason Horowitz, Madrid bureau chief of The New York Times
Robin Anderson, director of operations at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin
Lisa Abramowicz, co-host of Bloomberg Surveillance on “Bloomberg Television,” turns 47
Bakari Sellers, author, CNN analyst and an ardent supporter of Israel within the Black community, he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, turns 42
Avi Mayer, founder of the “Jerusalem Journal” Substack following a stint as editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post
Nick Schulman, professional poker player whose total career live tournament winnings exceed $24.5 million, turns 42
Dan Kolko, baseball broadcaster for the Washington Nationals
Shoshana Bush, television and film actor, turns 38
Zak Sawyer, senior director at TLG Communications
Rabbi Joshua B. Cohen, West Coast regional director at Leket Israel
SATURDAY
Rabbi Haym Soloveitchik, professor of Jewish history and literature at Yeshiva University, he is the only son of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, turns 89
Jeffrey Salloway, member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives until 2022, he has served as synagogue president, turns 85
Barry Scheck, professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law and co-founder of the Innocence Project, turns 77
Harold Rhode, distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, after a 28-year Pentagon career as a Middle East expert, turns 77
David Elliot Hoberman, producer of over 40 films in his career and executive producer of the television series “Monk,” turns 74
Bruce Alpert, freelance reporter, he was a writing instructor at Montana State University Billings
Jodi Magness, archaeologist and professor of early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, turns 70
Ronald Kass, Stockton, Calif.-based physician at the Pacific Sleep Disorders Center
Rabbi David J. Wolpe, rabbi emeritus of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, he is the inaugural rabbinic fellow for the ADL, turns 68
John Nathan “Janno” Lieber, chairman and CEO of NYC’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, turns 65
Ken Rosenthal, bow tie-clad field reporter for Fox Major League Baseball since 2005, he is also a senior baseball writer for The Athletic, turns 64
Michael Evan Horowitz, inspector general of the Federal Reserve Board and the CFPB, turns 64
Tim Scott, U.S. senator (R-SC), he chairs the Senate Banking Committee, turns 61
Ronald Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
Mike Michalowicz, author of nine popular business books, former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal
John Harthorne, founder and managing director at Two Lanterns Venture Capital, he is also the founder of MassChallenge (a startup accelerator)
Jillian Schwartz, pole vaulter, she competed for the U.S. in the 2004 Olympics and for Israel in the 2012 Olympics, now an associate brand manager at Kraft Heinz, turns 47
Neal Urwitz, CEO of Enduring Cause Strategies
Danny Valencia, former MLB player for nine seasons, he was on Team Israel for the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2023 World Baseball Classic, turns 42
Joseph Kristol, senior public affairs director at Elliott Investment Management
Charlie Burg, singer-songwriter and producer, he frequently wears a Magen David pendant when performing, turns 30
Sam Sloman, former NFL placekicker, his college teammates nicknamed him the “Kosher Cannon,” turns 29
SUNDAY
Candy Spelling, author, theater producer, television personality and philanthropist, turns 81
Curt Randy Grossman, wealth management advisor, he won four Super Bowls with the Steelers during his eight-year career as a tight end, turns 74
Rav Ahron Lopiansky, rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington, turns 73
Lloyd Blankfein, senior chairman of Goldman Sachs since 2019, prior to which he served as its CEO for 13 years, turns 72
Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom and owner of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, turns 72
Yosef Elron, former justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, turns 71
Lawrence Schreier, insurance agent in Tulsa, Okla.
Marc Roberts, real estate developer, sports agent and boxing promoter, turns 67
Rabbi Tovia Singer, former rabbi of Congregation Beit Torat Chaim of Jakarta, Indonesia, turns 66
Randolph Lipscher, emergency medicine physician in Austin, Texas, he was the goalkeeper for the U.S. field hockey team at the 1984 Summer Olympics, turns 66
Lisa Bloom, civil rights attorney, author and legal analyst, turns 65
Deborah Gavin Shemony, chief marketing and brand officer at BBYO
Keren Barak, former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, turns 54
Melissa Kronfeld, founder of PFAP (Passion for a Purpose) Consulting and COO of PizzaIDF
James Mazol, deputy under secretary of defense for research and engineering
Drew Singer, deputy news team lead at Bloomberg Law
Emily Grunewald, principal at Blue Laurel Advisors
Carter Lavin, climate activist in Oakland, Calif.
Alison Bogdonoff, senior director of strategic initiatives at Sony Music Entertainment
Zoe Plotsky, director of integrated marketing at Rent the Runway
Isabel Tsesarsky, Manhattan resident
Gabriel LaBelle, actor, best known for his leading role as young aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film “The Fabelmans,” turns 24
Jason Ian Drucker, theatre, film and television actor, turns 21
Lauren Ackerman
Plus, the MS NOW anchor who got her start in Israel
JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images
Abdul El-Sayed addresses supporters at his election night event at The Majestic Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, on August 4, 2026
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the scoop on a recent meeting between Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and rabbis from Michigan’s Temple Israel, which earlier this year was attacked by a pro-Hezbollah terrorist, and cover yesterday’s Capitol Hill rally supporting the passage of the Right to Worship Act. We report on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s remarks that he will not participate in protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during next week’s U.N. General Assembly, and profile MS NOW anchor Erielle Reshef, who got her start on Israeli television. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Michael Dell, Lacey Schwartz Delgado and Jonathan Powell.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
Vice President JD Vance is sitting down for an interview with Sid Rosenberg today, during which the conservative radio host said he intends to press Vance on his relationship with Tucker Carlson and his stance on the U.S.-Israel relationship.
The Hudson Institute is holding a fireside chat this morning focused on Iran-China relations and the U.S.’ Operation Economic Outcast effort to financially isolate Tehran that had initially featured Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA). Nunn, who is locked in a tight reelection bid and earlier this week voted in favor of a war powers resolution to force an end to the Iran war, no longer appears on Hudson’s promotional page for the event, which now features Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA).
Axios is releasing portions of its recent interview with far-left commentator Hasan Piker over the course of the day, ahead of the release of the full interview tomorrow. In the first released clip, Piker told the outlet’s Alex Thompson that he believed that the U.S. had committed more acts of terror than al-Qaida, saying, “Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes,” adding, “We have caused tremendous terror all around the world.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is holding a briefing today alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch about security around the U.N. General Assembly, which begins next week. More below.
The Atlantic Festival kicks off today in New York. The three-day convening begins this morning with a sit-down with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (who was in New York’s Hudson Valley yesterday campaigning with NY-17 Democratic candidate Cait Conley). This afternoon, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, who is mulling a 2028 bid, will take the stage for a fireside chat about the future of the Democratic Party.
We’re continuing to follow the fallout from Macklemore’s performance earlier this month at two Ed Sheeran concerts over the rapper’s anti-Israel remarks at previous concerts and past antisemitic incidents. Robert Kraft, who along with several other stadium owners banned the rapper from performing at their venues over his past antisemitic rhetoric and imagery — prompting several other opening acts to drop out of the shows in solidarity — pledged $2 million for aid to the Middle East on Wednesday, matching a donation of the same amount by Sheeran. Read more about the donation here.
One Thing To Know
SCOOP
In the most significant sign of his efforts to make inroads with skeptical Jewish voters in Michigan’s Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee, recently met with rabbis at Temple Israel for a closely guarded conversation, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
Two rabbis who were said to have participated in the conversation, details of which were unclear, declined to comment when reached on Wednesday. El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The covert nature of the meeting, which neither party has publicized, underscores the sensitivities felt among some Jewish leaders who have remained wary of publicly associating with El-Sayed because of their continued discomfort with his positions on Israel and remarks about antisemitism.
The Big Reads
show of support
Reps. Brad Knott (R-NC) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) rallied outside the Capitol on Wednesday alongside more than two dozen representatives of religious community organizations in support of the Right to Worship Act, their federal bill establishing buffer zones outside of religious institutions to protect them from disruptions. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has been involved in supporting the bill behind the scenes, also expressed his support for it in a statement to Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod. “Religious liberty is regarded as our ‘First Freedom.’ Our Founders listed it first in the Bill of Rights because they understood how essential it was to the foundation of our Republic. But that right rings hollow if worshippers must brave harassment or worry for their safety as they exercise their religion,” Johnson said.
First in JI: Over a year after the deadly firebombing attack targeting an Israeli hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), who represents the city, and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) introduced legislation to modify Nonprofit Security Grant Program conditions to allow grantees to use funding for staffing costs.
PROTEST POLITICS
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters on Wednesday that he does not intend to participate in any demonstrations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance at the U.N. General Assembly next week — and maintained he did not endorse public agitation against the Jewish state’s premier, an apparent ratcheting-down of his remarks from earlier this summer, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. Following an unrelated press conference, Mamdani confirmed information leaked to Politico that he would not take part in anticipated protests against Netanyahu’s scheduled arrival in New York on Sept. 23 or speech at the international summit the next day. He also stressed that he did not call for his anti-Israel allies on the left to take to the streets either. “I do not have any plans to attend any protest at the U.N. General Assembly,” Mamdani said. “To New Yorkers, I have never encouraged them to protest.”
anchor point
MS NOW anchor Erielle Reshef never planned to become a television journalist. After completing a master’s degree in diplomacy and conflict studies in Israel in 2010, she happened to be watching an English-language news program whose anchors were about to go on maternity leave. Her husband wrote down the email address on the screen and pushed her to apply. That opportunity launched a career that has taken Reshef from her hometown of Oklahoma City to local television, international news and eventually ABC News, where she spent eight and a half years, including as a national correspondent. In June 2025, Reshef left the relative comfort of a network news reporting job to join MSNBC, which was rebranded later in the year as MS NOW, where she is now a fill-in anchor for daytime cable news shows for the first time. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen, Reshef said her Jewish values — particularly curiosity, rigorous debate and a commitment to understanding people on the margins — are the “scaffolding” of her journalism.
The Rundown
ON THE HILL
not so fast
behind the veil
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
President Donald Trump is planning to meet with Gulf leaders next week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York to discuss a postwar strategy for Iran; the president held a similar meeting on the sidelines of last year’s UNGA to discuss Gaza, a week before publicly releasing his postwar plan for the enclave…
The State Department extended its visa ban on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials, preventing members of the delegation from attending UNGA next week for the second year in a row; State Department officials attributed the ban to Palestinian leaders’ efforts to “internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”…
New photos obtained by CBS News indicate widespread damage at U.S. facilities around the Gulf resulting from Iranian attacks, including destroyed planes, buildings and vehicles in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
CNN reports that more than a dozen Russian spy satellites had operated over a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia two days before the facility was struck in an Iranian drone and missile attack in which 15 U.S. troops were injured…
The House passed, in a 262-159 vote, a major Russia and Iran sanctions package named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), which targets Russia’s energy sector as well as Iran’s weapons and energy industries…
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) filed a war powers resolution to block military action against Oman, in response to Trump‘s threats to bomb the U.S. ally if it does not cooperate with U.S. efforts to counter Iran in the Strait of Hormuz…
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is slated to campaign with Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed next week in the Wolverine State.
Meanwhile, the Detroit News endorsed El-Sayed’s opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), citing in part El-Sayed’s history of deleting past social media content and noting that a “candidate who feels the need to hide his past from voters is not someone who can be trusted to be the same person after Election Day as he was on the campaign trail”…
A New York man who pleaded guilty to assaulting a Jewish man days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks was sentenced to 90 days in jail; during sentencing, Yehia Amin was photographed smiling and flashing the peace sign with his hands, telling the judge through an interpreter that he wanted to look good in photographs from the courtroom…
Michael Dell listed his Boston penthouse in the city’s Millennium Tower for less than he purchased it a decade ago for $10.9 million…
The Hollywood Reporter reviews documentarian Lacey Schwartz Delgado’s “Re/Pair,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and pairs Black and Jewish figures, including David Schwimmer, Van Jones, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Rabbi Sharon Brous, for conversations about Black-Jewish relations…
The Spectator reports that both U.K. National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell and London’s ambassador in Israel, Simon Walters, advised Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband against banning imports from Israeli settlements, warning that such a move would bolster support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ahead of next month’s elections…
Air Canada removed an in-flight service director following a report that the employee had shared antisemitic content on social media; the Canadian carrier will also resume direct flights between Toronto and Israel at the end of November, earlier than its planned January resumption of flights…
A Kurdish-Jewish man with Canadian and Israeli citizenship who had traveled to the region to fight ISIS more than a decade ago was freed from an Iraqi Kurdish prison after he was convicted of killing a taxi driver in 2015; Aish announced that Ben Chasin will arrive at the organization’s yeshiva this week, where he will study…
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita in New York in a meeting convened by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, during which Jerusalem and Rabat agreed to a series of measures to boost bilateral ties, including appointing full ambassadors to each other’s countries, turning their diplomatic missions into embassies, increasing direct flights and holding high-level visits in the near future.
The night prior, Waltz hosted Sa’ar, Bourita, United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba and diplomats from Bahrain and Kazakhstan for a diplomatic reception marking the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords.
While in New York, Sa’ar also met with senior leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations for a wide-ranging discussion on Israel’s security, regional developments and U.S.-Israel relations…
Dalia Ziada is joining the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy as the director of the organization’s Washington office…
Artist and graphic designer Peter Max died on Monday at 88…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Meta-morphosis: Bloomberg’s Riley Griffin and Alexandra Levine look at the role that Dina Powell McCormick plays at Meta, where she now serves as president, vice chairman and co-leader of Meta Compute after eight months on the company’s board. “While [Mark] Zuckerberg, 42, is the cerebral engineering leader obsessed with improving Meta’s products for the AI race, Powell McCormick, 53, has her pulse on the world outside of Silicon Valley, and can be Meta’s bridge to opportunities and fixer of challenges. ‘She is a close, trusted advisor of the whole senior leadership team, but especially of Mark,’ said CJ Mahoney, Meta’s chief legal officer. ‘She’s generally the last person who’s consulted on really important decisions.’” [Bloomberg]
Riyadh Ruminations: In War on the Rocks, Richard Nephew posits that the burgeoning nuclear agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is better than had initially been expected. “If it performs as promised, its provisions of exclusivity will provide benefits to the U.S. nuclear industry and lock Russia and China out of a potentially lucrative market that could have attendant political and security implications long term, especially in a Middle East where nuclear proliferation remains a serious threat. The U.S.-Saudi agreement is also innovative and imaginative, a credit to creative negotiations to unlock an issue that has been difficult for multiple administrations.” [WarontheRocks]
AI and the Archives: In The Washington Post, Daniella Greenbaum Davis explains how she used Anthropic’s Claude to recover and translate a 1946 Yiddish-language article that had been authored by her grandmother and detailed the day she was liberated from Bergen-Belsen. “Much of the debate concerning AI today is about scale and mortal threat, about destroying jobs and flooding social media with slop. It’s easy to forget that large language models, like all tools, are a thing human ingenuity has built to finish what human hands cannot. … I had spent years blindly feeling my way through archives; in a matter of days, AI had stitched together pieces of information that I couldn’t see, let alone put together.” [WashPost]
Picture of the Day
Birthdays
Stan M. Herman, fashion designer known worldwide for his leading-edge corporate uniforms, turns 98
Chuck Grassley, U.S. senator (R-IA) since 1981 and president pro tempore of the Senate, turns 93
Peter J. Solomon, investment banker who once served as a NYC deputy mayor, turns 88
Gail Carson Levine, Newbery Honor-winning author of many young adult books, some with Jewish themes, turns 79
Joshua Muravchik, author of 11 books and hundreds of articles on foreign policy and the Middle East, turns 79
T. Alan Hurwitz, former president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and then president of Gallaudet University, turns 79
Frank Hagelberg, Rochester, N.Y., attorney, he has held positions at the UJA-Federation of New York and the Rochester Jewish Federation
Jeremy Don Fogel, retired judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, turns 77
Harold Solomon, former professional tennis player who achieved a world ranking of No. 5 in 1980, turns 74
Rita Rudner, comedian, writer and actor, she was a frequent guest of Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show,” turns 73
Daniel Fingeroth, author, comic book writer and editor, best known as group editor of the Spider-Man books at Marvel Comics, turns 73
Mody Kidon, Israeli businessman with real estate holdings in Israel and NYC, turns 72
Ellen Kahan Zager, author and graphic designer
Rina Frenkel, former member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, turns 70
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, rabbi emeritus of the New North London Synagogue and senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK, turns 69
Elliott S. Feigenbaum, former consultant at Quick Hits News
Richard Wolffe, journalist, best-selling author including two books on the Obama presidency and Emmy Award-winning executive producer, turns 58
Mandy Krauthamer Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the last 18 months of the Biden administration, turns 48
Adam Abrams, former regional communications director and spokesperson for former President Barack Obama, now a partner at Seven Letter
Nick Melvoin, member of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education, turns 41
David Litt, former Obama White House speechwriter who has since written a best-selling comedic memoir, turns 40
Adina Shatz, principal product manager for CathWorks
Rachel Roubein, national healthcare reporter The Washington Post covering the FDA
Natalie Edelstein Jarvis, editorial producer at Google
Max August, founder of the Israel Summit at Harvard, now a member of the partnerships team at OpenAI
Plus, Saudis stymied by Houthi gains
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Mayor Brandon Johnson participates in a May Day march on May 01, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s targeting of AIPAC and a top Jewish donor in Illinois as he kicks off his reelection campaign, cover Vice President JD Vance’s comments on the U.S.-Israel relationship and talk to experts about the challenges in combating the Houthis as the Iran-backed terror group scales up its attacks on Saudi Arabia. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Fatema Al Harbi, Deborah Lipstadt and Rep. Tom Suozzi.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) is holding a press conference at the Capitol today on the Right to Worship Act, which he is sponsoring. Suozzi told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod this week in a wide-ranging interview, “The big thing in my head was that a person shouldn’t have to show particular courage just to attend a religious service.” Read the full interview with Suozzi.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a nomination hearing today for a number of vacant ambassadorial postings across Africa, as well as for the position of ambassador to Malaysia. The hearing comes weeks after Malaysia expelled a dual American Israeli citizen over the country’s ban on Israelis entering the country, which prompted the State Department to summon Kuala Lumpur’s top diplomat.
The House Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing this morning on counterterrorism efforts in the post-9/11 era.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East subcommittee is slated to hold a hearing this morning on the evolving terrorism landscape with Lt. Col. (ret.) Joel Borkert, the deputy coordinator for programs and military coordination at the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism.
The House Natural Resources Committee is convening today for a markup on legislation to designate Fort Ontario, in Oswego, N.Y., as a unit of the National Park System, owing to its use from 1944-1946 to house nearly 1,000 Holocaust survivors from Europe.
One Thing To Know
WINDY CITY WEDGE
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is facing a long list of challengers in his reelection campaign next year — not to mention dismal job approval ratings and paltry fundraising. He kicked off his bid for a second term at an event on Sunday, however, directly targeting AIPAC as well as a Jewish Democratic donor who has contributed both to the pro-Israel group and, more recently, a top rival of Johnson’s.
“When you hear that someone wants to be your mayor and they claim to be progressive but they take money from AIPAC and Michael Sacks and corporate interests and shell PACs,” Johnson said at a rally over the weekend, “you know who has the power. It’s not you.”
The embattled mayor was likely making a thinly veiled reference to Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, the front-runner in a race that has so far drawn over a dozen candidates. But Johnson’s statement, which has faced criticism from local Jewish leaders for espousing what they decry as antisemitic tropes about Jewish influence, was misleading, as AIPAC is not involved in his race.
The Big Reads
waiting game
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s team vowed that it would produce its long-promised plan to fight antisemitism in the five boroughs “soon” — but declined to provide any specifics about when it might actually come out or why his administration failed to meet its original Rosh Hashanah deadline, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. Sam Raskin, Mamdani’s deputy press secretary, told JI, “The mayor is fully committed to the safety of Jewish New Yorkers and to using every tool available to ensure that Jewish communities continue to thrive as an essential part of the fabric of the five boroughs.”
red sea reckoning
Saudi Arabia’s escalating conflict with the Houthis has revealed just how challenging it has become for the U.S. to deter the Iran‑backed terrorist group, former officials and regional experts told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea, as Houthi gains along the Red Sea raise alarms about global shipping and give Tehran fresh leverage. Analysts said that while Israel could help Riyadh in combating the attacks, any cooperation is likely to be limited and politically fraught. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday issued an alert for a possible attack on the holy city of Mecca amid escalating strikes by the Houthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. A day earlier, Vice President JD Vance said the administration was “on top” of the issue and confirmed the U.S. is in direct talks with the group.
Bonus: CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper convened a meeting last week in Germany between the military chiefs of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt to discuss regional tensions.
the jd doctrine
Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that the U.S. must prioritize its own needs and “cannot let our Middle Eastern foreign policy be subservient to the State of Israel,” likening the dynamic to that of NATO during a virtual appearance at the All In Summit, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports. Vance made the comments in conversation with “All-In Podcast” co-host Jason Calacanis, saying there are “obviously a lot of important relationships, a lot of important partnerships in NATO, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to completely make our European foreign policy subservient to NATO in the same way that we cannot let our Middle Eastern foreign policy be subservient to the State of Israel.”
The Rundown
on the hill
designation push
digital danger
Q&A
austin speaker limits
PEOPLE OVER PARTY
minyan matters
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) ruled out a 2028 presidential bid, telling the Washington Examiner, “I have no intention of doing so, period”…
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is moving forward with an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanors” over the war…
The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee advanced the Pray Safe Act by a voice vote; Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement the move “bring[s] us one step closer to passing a bill that would ensure every house of worship, faith-based organization and nonprofit can access critical resources to protect themselves”…
More than 20 Senate Democrats joined a resolution seeking to force a vote on Israeli policy in the West Bank, including the top Democrats on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, as well as incoming No. 2 Senate Democrat Brian Schatz (D-HI) and pro-Israel stalwart Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)…
Former State Department antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt, who returned to Emory University as a university distinguished professor after her departure from government at the end of the Biden administration, is founding the Emory Policy Institute on Countering Antisemitism, with a fellowship program set to begin in January…
The head of the Harvard Kennedy School rejected a call from the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance to revoke New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s invitation to speak at an endowed lecture at the school later this week, citing the HKS’ “commitment to free speech”…
The newly released fifth season of “Fauda,” which came out on Netflix earlier this month and covers the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and their aftermath, scored the show’s highest streaming numbers to date, ranking as the top show last week in both Israel and Lebanon…
Several musical acts set to open for Ed Sheeran withdrew from the singer’s remaining U.S. tour dates after the production company overseeing the tour parted ways with rapper Macklemore over his political rhetoric during two recent performances; Sheeran and the production company had faced pressure from venue owners, including Robert Kraft, who said the rapper’s onstage comments and displays and “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery” led to the decision…
The British government introduced legislation that would repeal a long-standing law barring Roman Catholic and Jewish prime ministers from involvement in appointments made by the Church of England…
Dennis Richardson, the former head of Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, criticized media coverage of “blatant antisemitism” in the country following the Oct. 7 attacks, saying he agreed “with those who argue that following 7 October we dropped the ball and failed to draw a line”…
Tanchum Portnoy, the composer of the popular melody for “Eitz Chaim,” died at 75…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Strait Talk: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh argue that the Trump administration needs to end Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz in order for the U.S. to win the monthslong war it has fought with Tehran. “Control of the strait gives Tehran leverage over many enemies but doesn’t provide a perfect defense (or offense), especially against Israel. But if the clerical oligarchs and the Revolutionary Guards lose the strait, they will stand before their angry people bereft of accomplishment and legitimacy. Power once demystified is harder to sustain. If the White House doesn’t deny the regime this victory by fighting and winning the Battle of Hormuz, then Mr. Trump has surely lost this war.” [WSJ]
Civil Rights and Wrongs: In The New York Times, James Loeffler argues that American Jews have been turned into a political football as both parties have long failed to adequately address antisemitism and the Trump administration uses the issue as a cudgel. “Progressives have failed to grapple with antisemitism among their own ranks. And now a conservative administration intent on undoing civil rights law has turned that ambiguity to its own advantage. The civil rights revolution was never finished. Now its contradictions have returned, sharper than ever. They won’t end with antisemitism, because debates about Jews are never just about Jews. They are the seismographs of a society’s deeper tremors: its fears of difference, its contested visions of nationhood.” [NYTimes]
Picture of the Day
Moshe Edri, director-general of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC), addressed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 70th General Conference in Vienna on Tuesday. In his remarks, Edri said, “it’s clear that a public threat by the radical regime of the Ayatollahs in Iran to destroy the State of Israel is something we cannot ignore. Israel cannot, and will not, sit idle, in light of such a threat. We acted to ensure our survival, and we will do it again if needed.”
Birthdays
David Seth Kotkin, award winning illusionist, who has sold tens of millions of tickets to his shows worldwide, known professionally as David Copperfield, turns 70
Esther Vilar, Argentine German writer and physician, author of books on gender relations, turns 91
Elaine Bloom, Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives for multiple terms, in 2015 she became the president and CEO of Plaza Health Network, turns 89
Rubin Schron, NYC-based real estate investor and the founder of Cammeby’s International Group, turns 88
Richard Perle, defense policy advisor to Presidents Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 and member of a number of DC-based think tanks, turns 85
Jon Olesen, Montebello, Calif., resident
Shari Goldberg, Pompano Beach, Fla., resident
Motti Lerner, Israeli playwright and screenwriter, turns 77
Jim Perelman, sheriff of Nantucket County, Mass., turns 76
Jonathan Medved, founder and former CEO of OurCrowd, an equity-crowdfunding platform focused on investing in Israeli startups, turns 71
Fern Wallach, former advertising account executive at The Forward, now a media sales consultant
Jonathan Boyarin, anthropology professor at Cornell, his work centers on Jewish communities and culture, turns 70
Dan Kohl, director of stakeholder engagement at the National Council of Jewish Women, he is a nephew of former Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), turns 61
Rabbi Dov Linzer, president and rabbinic head of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in Riverdale, N.Y., turns 60
Jason Zengerle, staff writer at The New Yorker
Gal Fridman, Israeli windsurfer, he won bronze in Atlanta 1996 and gold in Athens 2004, Israel’s first Olympic gold medalist, turns 51
Tzvi Avisar, mayor of Kiryat Motzkin, a city in the Haifa suburbs, turns 48
Josh Ginsberg, VP of corporate marketing at Meta
Koby Altman, president of basketball operations for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, turns 44
Lauren Morgan Suriel, chief field officer at the Israel on Campus Coalition
Suzy Goldenkranz, VP of customer success at SimpliFed
Daren Maxwell Kagasoff, actor, best known for starring in “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” turns 39
Rachel Louise Ensign, NYC-based economics reporter at The Wall Street Journal
Niv Sultan, Israeli actor who played the lead role in Apple TV’s spy thriller “Tehran,” turns 34
Avishag Semberg, winner of an Olympic bronze medal for Israel in taekwondo at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, turns 25
Caryn Rosen Adelman, planned giving consultant
Plus, Houthi hits, Saudi sits — so far
(Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Recording artists Ed Sheeran (L) and Macklemore perform onstage during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 20, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to senators about how the U.S. could respond to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, report on New York GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman’s support for a long-shot House candidate who defended Ye’s antisemitic comments, and report on rapper Macklemore‘s removal from the remainder of Ed Sheeran‘s concert tour over his on-stage anti-Israel activism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Wesley Hunt, Jessica Tarlov and Danny Meyer.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords in Washington. The anniversary of the agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — which has held amid several years of war, during which Israel supplied missile-defense technology to Abu Dhabi — comes at a time of renewed tensions in the region as the Iran-backed Houthis continue to disrupt shipping routes and mount attacks on Saudi targets.
Riyadh — which was on the brink of normalizing relations with Israel prior to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks — now finds itself in what former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney described as the “worst-case scenario” for the Saudis as Iran and its proxies increasingly target the Gulf state. Earlier today, Riyadh vowed to respond “firmly” to the ongoing Houthi attacks.
Those regional tensions will form the backdrop to the Arab Media Summit, which kicks off today in Dubai. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is set to address the opening session of the annual gathering.
In Washington, Vice President JD Vance will address House Republicans today at a political conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club.
Elsewhere in Washington, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Steve Bannon are slated to speak today at the Future of Life Institute’s AI-focused “Pro-Human Assembly.”
The three-day Eradicate Hate Global Summit begins today in Pittsburgh. Former National Amusements President Shari Redstone, Holocaust survivor Dr. Alfred Garfinkle, commentator Van Jones and political scientist Robert Pape are slated to speak at the annual conference.
At noon ET, the academic consortium CASJE and eJewishPhilanthropy will host a panel discussion, “Who Shapes Campus Conversation? What Research Tells Us About Faculty Attitudes Toward Israel and Jews.” Speakers include Hillel International’s Lisa Armony, the Academic Engagement Network’s Raeefa Shams, the Curricular Review Council’s Yuval Avnur and Leonard Saxe and Graham Wright of Brandeis University., while Vance will represent the White House in attending the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero.
One Thing To Know
ON THE HILL
By Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs
Senators returning to Washington on Monday offered mixed responses to the recent Houthi offensive inside Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with some Republicans telling Jewish Insider that the Iran-backed terror group’s moves warranted a response, while some Democrats framed the Houthi attacks as further fallout from the U.S. war against Iran.
The Iran-backed Yemeni terrorist group seized control of key port cities along the Red Sea coast, near the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait, as well as Perim Island inside the waterway and the Hanish archipelago to the north. The U.S. has thus far declined to intervene.
Republicans who spoke to Jewish Insider said they had not been fully briefed on the situation since returning to Washington on Monday after being away for the Senate’s extended August recess. Still, they said a forceful response from the Saudis was warranted, while Democrats generally framed the Houthi offensive as an extension and expansion of the Iran war.
The Big Reads
mackle-no-more
Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of singer Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour after several venues objected to hosting the rapper, following the rapper’s chants of “Free Palestine” and comments and imagery on Gaza during two recent opening sets for Sheeran, Jewish Insider‘s Haley Cohen reports. Among the eight remaining shows on Sheeran’s tour, Macklemore was set to open for the singer at Massachusetts’ Gillette Stadium, which is owned by Robert Kraft. In an Instagram post, Macklemore claimed that Kraft, the founder of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, rallied the other stadium owners to get him dropped from the venues. Kraft responded that the decision came following Macklemore’s “recent actions” and “history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery,” adding that the rapper crossed a line the stadium would not platform.
YE SAYER
Long-shot Brooklyn Republican House candidate Joel Anabilah-Azumah got a boost last week with an endorsement from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — who hopes to unseat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul with an appeal to fellow New York Jews, particularly those discontented with Democrats’ declining support for Israel. But Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman found that Anabilah-Azumah has criticized Zionism while defending a string of antisemitic remarks by rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, who the now-candidate hinted was at risk of assassination by Jewish music industry figures.
BOOKSHELF
In her new book, Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov advocates for constructive disagreement — “acknowledge without accepting,” or hearing someone out, hard as it may be, without torching the relationship or one’s own beliefs. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen ahead of Tuesday’s release of I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends, Tarlov pointed to her closely watched sit-down last year with far-left streamer Hasan Piker as evidence that her framework holds even when strained against its limits. Piker was “incredibly nice and gracious,” she recalled, arguing that calls for him to be shut out of Democratic circles are misguided. The exchange highlights the balancing act central to both Tarlov’s book and her on-air image as the primary liberal co-host on the Fox News talk show “The Five.”
The Rundown
ROAD TO RIYADH
on the trail
delay deja vu
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Pentagon’s inspector general released a congressionally mandated report — the first since the beginning of the conflict with Iran earlier this year — that found that the war has led to a munitions shortfall for the military, as well as some $208 million in damages to the State Department across Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates…
The U.S. filed a civil forfeiture complaint against Iran alleging that the Islamic Republic laundered some $1.5 billion in oil through cryptocurrency networks to benefit the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…
CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Monday, as Riyadh continues to face escalating attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen; the Saudi leader reportedly urged President Donald Trump last week to conduct strikes against the Houthis, which Trump refused…
Vice President JD Vance told reporters that the U.S. is in direct contact with the Houthis as well as in continued discussions with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, “so we actually feel like we are on top of the situation” amid growing tensions in the region…
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) returned to the Senate floor on Monday evening for the first time since he was hospitalized after a fall in June, appearing in a wheelchair; in a post on X, the Kentucky Republican wrote, “I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me”…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he would not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris chooses to mount another bid, saying that the Venn diagram of their personal and professional relationships “is just pure crossover. I wouldn’t do that”…
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cut an ad for his wife, Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), for her reelection bid; in the TV spot, Sullivan recounts their meeting at the Munich Security Conference when she approached him “to raise her concerns about some of our foreign policies” while she was working for then-Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sullivan was serving as an advisor to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Obama administration…
The New York Times profiles Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer ahead of the release of his new book, What Could Possibly Go Right?, which looks at his past business decisions — for better and for worse — and will be released later this month…
Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil and several of his fellow activists filed a federal lawsuit against the school, arguing that administrators failed to protect them against harassment they allege that they faced on campus due to their activism…
Widespread protests, the largest since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad in 2024, broke out across Syria after Damascus raised diesel prices by 40% and household gas prices by 9% over the weekend…
The New York Times looks at the Israeli pushback to the film “NAZA,” which premiered on Thursday at the Venice Film Festival; Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar called on Jerusalem to revoke the citizenship of the Israeli filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, over the film’s content, which included interviews with anonymous Israeli military and intelligence officials regarding the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza…
Bloomberg reports that Malaysian authorities have for more than a month held three shipments of electric bike parts bound for Israel’s Ashdod port that were seized in mid-August; earlier in August, Malaysia seized a shipment from the Philippines that was bound for Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems…
Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said that Israel’s continued settlement expansion efforts were incompatible with a two-state solution and undermined the prospects of Palestinian statehood…
Jon Gambrell is joining The Wall Street Journal as deputy Middle East bureau chief…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Question Mark: Colossus magazine’s Jeremy Stern profiles Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “Unlike the Boomers and Gen X, he is the only trillion-dollar founder of his generation, and Millennials are cringe. He is Jewish and uncool, yet impervious to humiliation. He is, in one man, the personification of responsibility for alt-right populism; leftwing authoritarianism; the death of journalism; polarization; political propaganda; political censorship; the dangers of free speech; human rights violations; teenage depression; body dysmorphia; and male loneliness. He is an emperor for life. He is, in a word, an easy mark.” [Colossus]
No Choice: Politico’s Daniella Cheslow looks at the challenges facing the U.S. as the Iran-backed Houthis scale up their attacks in the Gulf. “The administration could join the fray after Yemeni forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, failed to repel the Houthis’ capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and three islands key to controlling the waterway. Or the White House could leave the region to sort out the Houthis alone, and bear the pain of oil prices that spiraled up to $109 a barrel Monday. … Neither policy choice for the U.S. is terribly appealing, and one Arab diplomat in the region sensed inaction from the U.S., or ‘a kind of disregard.’” [Politico]
How Not to Teach Your Children: In The Washington Post, Dana Stangel-Plowe, the chief program officer of the North American Values Institute, raises concerns about the increasing politicization of the National Education Association under the leadership of its new president, Princess Moss, who has promoted teacher activism. “In saying so, the president of the nation’s largest teachers union advanced a specific vision for her profession: activism all the way down, no matter how much students struggle to keep up. Her union colleagues are citizens, too, free to have and act on their own political views. But Moss’s vision has no place in the classroom. A teacher’s job isn’t political organizing; it is to educate the nation’s youth.” [WashPost]
Picture of the Day
Noah Wyle celebrated his second consecutive Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series on Monday night for playing Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch in “The Pitt,” which also won outstanding drama series for the second year in a row.
Birthdays
Josh Charles, actor, best known for his roles on “Sports Night” and “The Good Wife,” turns 55
Jac Holzman, founder and former CEO of Elektra Records, he is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, turns 95
Emanuel Tov, professor emeritus at the Hebrew University and a leading scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, turns 85
Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, in northern Israel, known as the “Disco Rabbi,” turns 80
Diane Levin, professor emerita of counseling psychology at Boston University’s Wheelock College, turns 79
Ned Rothenberg, composer and multi-instrument musician, turns 70
Michael L. Reiss, television comedy writer, he served as a showrunner, writer and producer for “The Simpsons” and co-created the animated series “The Critic,” turns 67
Aron Uri Raskas, shareholder of law firm Gunster, turns 64
Nina Jacobson, film executive, she produced “The Hunger Games” film series, turns 61
David Magerman, managing partner and chief technology officer at Differential Ventures in Philadelphia, he is also the founder of a series of kosher restaurants, turns 58
David Folkenflik, NPR’s media correspondent, turns 57
Kira Soltanovich, comedian, writer and actor, turns 53
Deborah Leipzig, former VP of leadership at the Anti-Defamation League
Shayla Rosen, customer success manager at Screencastify, event organizer and fundraiser
Anya Kamenetz, author and longtime education correspondent at NPR, turns 46
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, data scientist, economist and author of the 2017 New York Times bestseller Everybody Lies, turns 44
Evan D. Goldberg, screenwriter, film producer and director, often in collaboration with his childhood friend Seth Rogen, turns 44
Yael Markovich, model and Israeli beauty pageant winner, turns 42
Jonah Raskas, CEO of Harmon Face Values
Josh Gruenbaum, senior advisor to the Board of Peace, he was the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, turns 41
Amanda Bresler, chief strategy officer at PW Communications
Eliza Shapiro, reporter at The New York Times covering NYC affordability issues
Roni Dalumi, singer and actor, she was the 2009 winner of the Israeli version of “A Star is Born,” turns 35
Shani Hazan, beauty pageant titleholder, she was crowned Miss Israel 2012, turns 34
Jeff Lewis, Arizona philanthropist and founder of the Froth and Bubble Foundation
Plus, Bibi's Big Apple trip tests Mamdani
Philip Dulian/picture alliance via Getty Images
Several AI applications can be seen on a smartphone screen, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, Grok and DeepSeek.
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the political and logistical challenges facing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the NYPD ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the city for the U.N. General Assembly, spotlight a new report from Anthropic that revealed that Iran-linked actors used AI tools to target Jews and develop weapons, and talk to GOP Reps. David Kustoff and Craig Goldman about their party’s position on U.S. aid to Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Robert Kraft, Stuart Zimmer and Judge Judith Sheindlin.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve.
Today’s Agenda
Members of Congress are back in Washington today for the final week before the House goes on recess until the November midterms. The Senate is also back in session today, and is slated to remain so until early October.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is holding its general conference in Vienna today, where Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to deliver a speech in which he will reiterate U.S. opposition to Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s vice president for nuclear affairs, had been slated to address the gathering convened by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, but was denied entry to Austria, Bloomberg reports, following pressure from the Trump administration. In Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Austrian envoy over Vienna’s move to bar the Iranian nuclear chief.
We’re also keeping an eye on tensions in the Middle East as the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen scale up their attacks on Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government launches its own attacks on the Houthis. The escalation comes after the Houthis’ capture last week of the Yemeni port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, as well as Riyadh’s shutdown on Friday of its East-West pipeline amid the escalation.
Elsewhere in the region, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Sunday that a meeting between Iran and Gulf countries over the Strait of Hormuz — intended to be held in Oman today — had been indefinitely postponed, citing “the interests of consensus.”
U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome that had been slated for this week have been postponed to October, with an Israeli official saying that the rescheduled meeting was due to scheduling conflicts. The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington are still slated to meet in Foggy Bottom ahead of the October talks to discuss the implementation of a framework agreement to wind down the conflict in Lebanon and disarm Hezbollah.
One Thing To Know
Analysis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to New York City for the U.N. General Assembly next week is expected to set up political and logistical challenges for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, one of Netanyahu’s foremost U.S. critics, experts tell Jewish Insider — a challenge that protests, which Mamdani has tacitly encouraged, may only exacerbate.
The Israeli leader is scheduled to arrive in New York on Sept. 23 and address the annual gathering the following day, during which time the NYPD’s dignitary protection detail will help ensure Netanyahu’s personal protection, its intelligence and counterterrorism teams will work to secure the gathering as a whole and an array of its officers will manage the Manhattan streets. The department reports to the mayor’s office.
The various law enforcement veterans who spoke to JI all underscored the scale of the department’s annual efforts to head off potential threats to the diplomatic summit, even without this year’s furor around Netanyahu’s attendance, the ongoing conflict with Iran and the proximity to both the Jewish High Holy Days and the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
The Big Reads
CLAUDE CONTROLS
Anthropic disclosed in a new report released on Thursday that it had over the past eight months disrupted efforts by Iran and other state-aligned groups and actors to use the AI giant’s artificial intelligence tools for “malicious activity” such as tracking U.S. forces, developing weapons guidance software and waging “cognitive warfare” to spread propaganda, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. The 154-page report also said it had identified an “Iran-nexus threat actor” using Claude, Anthropic’s chatbot, to target “hundreds of individuals in Israel and the Jewish diaspora.” The report did not specify the purpose of the activity or confirm whether it had been disabled.
AI alert: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay on Saturday, calling on the AI industry to slow down and was met with agreement by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind Chairman Demis Hassabis and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
SELF SCRUTINY
A new survey of 470 Middle East scholars finds that nearly three-quarters believe American academia is less equipped to pursue truth than it was at the time of the 9/11 attacks, while two-thirds lack confidence that their students understand the attacks and say American academia has provided cover for ideologies, regimes or groups hostile to the United States, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. The findings, released last week by the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, reflect what ASMEA’s executive director, Asaf Romirowsky, described as a broader failure by American universities to maintain objectivity and intellectual rigor in the quarter century since the attacks.
AID CONVERSATION
Jewish House Republicans said during the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership summit in Las Vegas earlier this month that there’s little appetite among Republicans to end U.S. aid to Israel as the two sides look toward the end of the current memorandum of understanding on military aid, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. “I think the message is that the majority of the members of the House want to see the aid continue, want to see this alliance continue, but elections have consequences, and we don’t know what the makeup of the next House is going to be on the Republican side and on the Democrat side,” Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN) told JI. Rep. Craig Goldman (R-TX) emphasized that Israel and the United States are facing threats not only from Iran and its nuclear program but also from the terrorist groups that Iran has spent decades funding. “I certainly will fight tooth and nail as long as I’m a member of [the] U.S. Congress to continue aid to Israel,” Goldman said.
The Rundown
NUCLEAR NEWS
EXCLUSIVE
Doha Dealings
FLAGGING FICTION
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
President Donald Trump, speaking in Ireland on Sunday, suggested that the U.S. “ultimately get out” of Iran “unless we decide to stay and keep the oil, like Venezuela,” adding that Iran “wants to make a deal so badly, and is calling constantly”…
Jared Kushner said in virtual remarks to the Yalta European Strategy conference on Friday that the U.S. used Israel’s September 2025 “errant strike” targeting Hamas officials in Qatar to pressure Jerusalem to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza, saying that the strike “led to Israel being globally isolated,” creating a dynamic the U.S. “used … in order to push them into a deal that now, today, they’re quite happy with.” Watch the conversation here.
In response to Kushner’s comments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party issued a statement pushing back on the remarks, saying that Netanyahu’s “decision to send the IDF into Gaza City and to strike the Hamas leadership in Qatar, together with the intense pressure exerted by President Trump” led to Hamas dropping its demands as well as the release of the remaining hostages.
The New Yorker does a deep dive into Kushner’s approach to diplomacy as he represents the Trump administration in a voluntary capacity in negotiations to end a number of conflicts around the world while continuing to manage his own business interests, finding that “as [Kushner] has traversed the globe for Trump, he has grown more entangled in the commercial affairs of countries where he works”…
France and Lebanon are pushing to extend the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, which is slated to expire at the end of this year, calling the move to end the decades-long U.N. presence in southern Lebanon “premature”…
The National Security Agency is planning a massive internal restructuring that will see the creation of five organizations within the agency that will focus on artificial intelligence, China, cybersecurity, combat support and global intelligence…
Front Line Action, a group linked to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), released an AI-generated ad titled “Family Values” that spotlights relatives of Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed who have made anti-Israel and anti-America statements…
Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-OH) reelection campaign fired its political director following a Washington Post report last week that he had in 2018 used an image of Nazi SS soldiers as his Facebook profile picture…
The Boulder Valley School District in Colorado settled a federal civil rights complaint with the Anti-Defamation League and the family of a Jewish middle schooler in the district who faced what the ADL described as years of “persistent, escalating, and severe antisemitic harassment” that went unaddressed by administrators in the district…
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft donated $10 million to Brandeis University to name a new 28,000-square-foot facility for Jewish life, expected to open in spring 2028, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports…
Philanthropist Stuart Zimmer, who with his wife in 2018 had pledged $100 million to Harvard University but froze the gift in response to the school’s handling of campus anti-Israel activity in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks while their daughter studied at the school, quietly resumed funding; the gift will help expand kosher dining options on campus and will include the renaming of the school’s Science Center to honor Zimmer’s father…
CBS’ “60 Minutes” premiered its 59th season with an interview with the U.S. Air Force officer who was shot down over Iran and stranded in the Islamic Republic for two days before being rescued during the conflict earlier this year…
The Hollywood Reporter spotlights SHOOQ, a new online platform designed to boost Jewish filmmakers and help connect them to funding streams and financial backers; among those backing the initiative are former NBC Co-chair Ben Silverman, 30 West CEO Micah Green, Made by Us Co-CEO Tanya Cohen, actress Emmanuelle Chriqui and producer Anthony Bregman…
Singer-songwriter Pink published a lengthy statement explaining her criticism of rapper Macklemore, who led “Free Palestine” chants while opening for Ed Sheeran at a concert earlier this month, saying that the artist “stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them”…
Judge Judith Sheindlin — known as Judge Judy — is stepping back from the cameras after a decades-long television career as Amazon Prime stops releasing new episodes of her “Judy Justice” show; Sheindlin will serve as an executive producer for a new show starring her son, attorney Adam Levy…
Germany’s federal prosecutor said in an indictment filed last week that Hamas had planned terror attacks in Berlin and Vienna on the second anniversary of its Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel; authorities in Germany made several arrests last year in connection with the alleged plots…
A Jewish Iranian-American man from New York who had been held in Tehran’s Evin prison was released from the notorious facility after serving approximately half of a two-year sentence but remains banned from leaving the Islamic Republic…
The New York Times spotlights the wedding of Adriana Fernandez, who has gained an internet following as “Now-Jewish Nanny,” and Jordan Langer…
Kimberly Colchamiro was announced as the new chief development officer of the Jewish Broadcasting Service…
Israeli planetary scientist Adi Ninio Greenberg died at 50… Longtime political columnist Roger Simon died at 78… Rachel Rabin Yaakov, the sister of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, died at 101… Luthier Jonathan Cooper, who designed a quartet of string instruments to honor slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, died at 76… Photographer Jay Maisel died at 95… Yehuda Widawski, believed to be the oldest Holocaust survivor in Israel, died at 107…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Hard-liners in Charge: The New York Times’ Farnaz Fassihi does a deep dive into the effort by Iranian hard-liners earlier this year to derail the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. “The hard-liners succeeded in part because the only figure with the authority to resolve such disputes — the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei — has been a phantom since taking office in March. … Three Iranian officials said inquiries by the government and security forces traced the decision to strike the three commercial ships in July to the cleric Hossein Taeb, an influential spymaster who had opposed the peace deal with the United States from the outset.” [NYTimes]
Definition Debate: In The Wall Street Journal, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Orde Kittrie and Andres Munoz-Mosquera, a former NATO chief legal advisor, warn of an effort tied to an International Court of Justice case involving Gambia and Myanmar that would change the definition of genocide. “The Myanmar judgment, expected in October, would establish the lower threshold before the ICJ judgment on Israel. It would change the rule first in the less-watched case against Myanmar rather than seemingly invent it for Israel. … ICJ judges who vote to lower the genocide threshold will damage the court’s credibility, invite an avalanche of politicized cases, and undercut democracies’ ability to fight terrorists and autocrats.” [WSJ]
Lambasting London: In Haaretz, Peter Lerner, director general of international relations at the Histadrut and a former IDF spokesperson, argues that Britain’s move to impose sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank may prove to be politically counterproductive. “Britain has handed Netanyahu and his coalition an electoral gift. Extremists in the current government will present the sanctions as proof that the world is hostile to Israel and Israelis. … At the very moment Israelis must decide whether to replace the most extreme government in the country’s history, London has provided that government with an external enemy.” [Haaretz]
Picture of the Day
Birthdays
Walter Koenig, actor, writer and director, first known for his role as Chekov in the original “Star Trek” television series, turns 90
Lawrence Harvey “Larry” Brown, the only basketball head coach to have won both an NCAA national championship and an NBA championship, turns 86
Larry A. Mizel, founder of MDC Holdings (parent company to Richmond American Homes), CEO of the Mizel-Mandarich Foundation and the primary supporter of the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, turns 84
Frederick A. Schenk, San Diego-based attorney, a specialist in mass torts, turns 73
Daniella Levine Cava, mayor of Miami-Dade County, turns 71
Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost, turns 71
Dr. Terry Dubrow, plastic surgeon and television personality, turns 68
Thomas Scott Kaplan, chairman and chief investment officer of The Electrum Group, he is the world’s largest private collector of Rembrandt’s works, turns 64
Amy Kauffman, founder of Mindchat Research
Paul Budnitz, founder of Vermont-based Kidrobot, a retailer of art toys, apparel and accessories, and Ello, an ad-free social network, turns 59
Sir Grant Shapps, British secretary of state for defence until 2024 and knighted in 2025, he was a national president of BBYO, turns 58
Richard Strauss, president of Strauss Media Strategies, during the Clinton administration he became the first-ever White House radio director, turns 57
Ketanji Brown Jackson, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, turns 56
Mark A. Semer, managing director at Gasthalter & Co., he is a past president of the Young Israel of New Rochelle
Elon Gold, comedian, television actor, writer and producer, turns 56
Elliot S. Berke, managing partner of Berke Farah LLP, his clients include Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Jennifer Jacobs, senior White House reporter for CBS News
Dana Sheanin, CEO of San Francisco-based Jewish LearningWorks
Courtney Cohen Flantzer, senior booking producer at CNN’s “Inside Politics with Dana Bash”
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and former 2024 POTUS candidate, turns 48
Hani Furstenberg, Israeli-American Actor, turns 47
Marisa Scheinfeld, artist, photographer and educator, turns 46
Russell Berman, staff writer at The Atlantic since 2014
Leah Greenberg, co-founder and co-executive director of the progressive Indivisible movement
Roxana Pourshalimi, Los Angeles-based attorney working as a contracts supervisor at MarketCast
Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times reporter since 2011, now focused on in-depth profiles
Jeremy Moskowitz, EVP at Voyager Global Mobility
Arkadiy Abramovich, founder and owner of ARA Capital, a British firm with holdings in e-commerce and energy, he is the son of Roman Abramovich, turns 33
Julia Savel, MSW graduate at Yeshiva University
Lihie Raz, artistic gymnast, she represented Israel at the 2020 (Tokyo) and 2024 (Paris) Summer Olympics, turns 23
Plus, the rabbi who lost his voice at Ground Zero
Joshua Lott/Getty Images
Hasan Piker speaks during a campaign rally for Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong on August 2, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the reaction of Jewish community leaders to Norm Eisen’s alliances with critics of Israel, and cover the blowback from University of Texas College Dems’ invitation to Hasan Piker to speak on campus. We report on a new poll that finds low support among Jewish voters for Vice President JD Vance, and ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we interview, through written correspondence, Rabbi Ronald Kaplan, whose service as a spiritual first responder at Ground Zero during the aftermath of the attacks ultimately cost him his voice. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Rep. Brad Knott and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Curated by JI Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik with an assist from Marc Rod.
Ed note: In observance of Rosh Hashanah, the next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Monday, Sept. 14. Chag sameach and shana tovah. We will be publishing stories and updates throughout the weekend on our Live Briefing, which you can access via our app and website.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition — a curated PDF of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: › Rep. Jared Moskowitz: Pro-Israel Democrats are being ‘ostracized’ in the Democratic Party; After son’s remains returned from Gaza, Ruby Chen continues his fight in Washington and beyond; Birthright launches Global Business Summit, connecting Diaspora donors, Israeli financial figures.
Today’s Agenda
We’re monitoring developments in the Middle East after Iran reportedly damaged multiple U.S. military aircraft in overnight strikes at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, according to CBS reporter Jennifer Jacobs. The strikes took off the wing of an A-10 Thunderbolt II, known as the Warthog, while eight F-15s sustained light damage and were placed back into service, sources told CBS.
The Iran-backed Houthis have reportedly seized the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Mocha, Yemeni government sources told Reuters. Witnesses told AFP the rebel forces chanted “Death to America, death to Israel,” as they entered the city.
The GOP midterm convention concludes this evening with a keynote address from Vice President JD Vance and closing remarks from President Donald Trump. Also set to address the convening today are Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Michigan GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Donald Trump Jr.
Targeting Vance’s speech, Democratic Majority for Israel is running digital ads across mobile devices and websites in Dallas, raising questions about the vice president’s alliance with Tucker Carlson and what it described in a statement as his “conditional support” for Israel.
In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is displaying 40 artifacts from the three sites — New York, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Pa. — through Saturday. The museum is also screening the 2011 Smithsonian Channel documentary, “9/11: Stories in Fragments,” hourly, through Friday, and the Udvar-Hazy Center is hosting a panel this evening with first responders and aviation personnel.
On Friday, Trump will attend the Pentagon memorial ceremony, while Vance will represent the White House in attending the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero.
One Thing To Know
Norm-alizing?
Norm Eisen, a former Obama White House lawyer and U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, has in recent months emerged as one of the Trump administration’s most prominent legal antagonists.
Through a nonprofit group he founded, Democracy Defenders Fund, Eisen has helped to wage a series of key court battles challenging the administration over issues like birthright citizenship, the Federal Reserve and the Kennedy Center, claiming some victories in a fight against what he calls President Donald Trump’s executive overreach.
But Eisen’s recent work with two vocal critics of Israel who have faced accusations of antisemitism has raised some eyebrows in the Jewish community, owing to his identification as a liberal Zionist whose record includes combating anti-Jewish prejudice at home and abroad.
The Big Reads
PIKER PUSHBACK
The University of Texas’ College Democrats chapter invited antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker to speak on campus at the end of the month, sparking outrage from Jewish leaders and students on campus and generating a potential political firestorm in a red state hosting consequential elections in November’s midterms, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. The event is scheduled to be held on Sept. 30, amid the final stretch of Texas’ highly competitive Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico and a competitive gubernatorial contest between GOP Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrat Gina Hinojosa. “Hasan Piker said America deserved 9/11 and praised the brutal terrorist organization Hamas. University Democrats at UT Austin are choosing to amplify that disgusting rhetoric. Terrorist sympathizers have no place in Texas,” an Abbott spokesperson told JI.
BEYOND WORDS
For more than four decades, Rabbi Ronald Kaplan’s primary tool for his work was his voice. It was the instrument he relied on every Shabbat and holiday on the bimah, in the classroom, under the chuppah, at the cemetery and in the hospital — guiding congregants through both moments of celebration and grief. As he puts it, a rabbi’s task is to “pray, to teach, to inspire, to counsel and to lead” — and the voice is the means to do it, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. But this year, as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — a commemoration that falls as the major Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins on Friday night — that work of speaking and remembering holds particular resonance for Kaplan, whose service as a spiritual first responder at Ground Zero during the aftermath of the attacks ultimately cost him his “greatest sacrifice” — his voice.
SURVEY SAYS
A new poll of Jewish American voters commissioned by the nonpartisan Jewish Voters Resource Center found that Vice President JD Vance is viewed negatively by more than 80% of Jewish voters, including a sizable number of Jewish Republicans, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. The poll finds Vance’s favorability rating at only 14% among Jewish voters overall, with 82% viewing him unfavorably. Only 61% of Jewish Republicans view Vance favorably, compared to the 89% of those who view President Donald Trump favorably, and the 93% of Jewish Republicans who hold a favorable view of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Rundown
SENSE OF SECURITY
BACKUP PLAN
Doha Dealings
FLAGGING FICTION
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
President Donald Trump predicted on Wednesday that the Iran war “will end immediately after” the midterm elections because the Iranian regime is “desperate to affect the election,” though his top advisors are reportedly privately discussing the possibility that the war could run through the rest of his term…
Trump has begun tapping his super PAC’s $400 million war chest through a new group, No Going Back PAC — financially backed by his main super PAC, MAGA Inc. — which has reserved at least $47 million in ads across six contested Senate races and one House race, led by nearly $15 million in Michigan, $11 million in Ohio and $9.6 million in New Hampshire, The New York Times reports…
J Street is spending $3 million against five AIPAC-backed Republicans in the midterm races, Axios reports, naming Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins; Reps. Max Miller (OH), Derrick Van Orden (WI), Ryan Mackenzie (PA) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA) as targets of the J Street Action Fund. (Collins was endorsed by AIPAC as a House Republican running in a safe district; he hasn’t been backed by AIPAC in the Georgia Senate race)…
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) made a video appearance at the GOP midterm convention on Wednesday evening where he praised President Donald Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) for their work protecting the steel industry, Axios reports. While Fetterman is still not expected to announce he is switching parties, the move, made just weeks ahead of the midterm elections, is likely to further antagonize Democrats with whom the Pennsylvania senator has become increasingly estranged…
New CNN polls of the Maine and Michigan Senate races found the Democratic candidates holding narrow leads over their Republican opponents, though both were within the margin of error. In Maine, the survey found Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) trailing Democrat Troy Jackson, 48%-45%. In Michigan, the CNN poll found Democrat Abdul El-Sayed up 47%-44% over Republican Mike Rogers. Two-thirds of voters in each state view President Donald Trump unfavorably, according to the surveys…
The Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed El-Sayed on Wednesday. “CBCPAC will fight alongside Abdul to build a coalition to beat Mike Rogers and get a majority in the United States Senate that can bring down costs for all Michiganders,” said the PAC’s chair, Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY)…
Elon Musk’s America PAC has spent more than $1 million in the last week on digital ads and mailers to boost Rogers and attack El-Sayed…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has privately told at least one person in recent months that he has “no plans at this time” to run for president in 2028, according to NBC News…
Jeff Miller, a Republican Jewish Coalition board member, wrote on X that while he wants Republicans to hold the House and Senate, he has no interest in “tearing down” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), whom he described as “one of the few Democrats left willing to stand unapologetically with America and Israel.” Moskowitz is locked in a competitive reelection campaign against Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, a Republican who is endorsed by the RJC…
Rhode Island state Rep. David Morales, a democratic socialist backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), unseated Providence, R.I., Mayor Brett Smiley in the mayoral Democratic primary on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Issues of Israel policy and antisemitism had dominated the race, as Morales has backed an anti-Israel ballot initiative and criticized Smiley, who is Jewish, for attending a Combat Antisemitism Movement conference…
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee became the first U.S. governor since 2014 not to win renomination, losing to businesswoman Helena Foulkes by 24 points in the Democratic gubernatorial primary…
The Office of Congressional Conduct, a nonpartisan investigative entity, cleared Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) of wrongdoing in connection with documents she submitted to Congress that dramatically overstated her wealth, The Wall Street Journal reports. A disclosure filed last year showed Omar and her husband had assets of between $6 million and $30 million, indicating a massive jump in personal wealth over a short period of time, but the investigation concluded the numbers were inflated because of an accounting error…
Asked about the U.K., France and Canada enacting sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon on his way to Dallas for the GOP midterm convention that he’ll be “speaking to Israel” about the issue. “I understand exactly what’s going on, but I want to find out why all of a sudden does that happen,” he added…
Maryland state Sen. Cheryl Kagan and West Virginia state Sen. Jay Taylor, as well as Nevo Barchad, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., spoke at the embassy’s Rosh Hashanah celebration on Wednesday night. Under Secretary of State Sarah Rogers, Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun and Department of Justice Senior Counsel Leo Terrell were among those in attendance…
Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) urged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take steps to ensure Hamas cannot “exploit” the economic instability in the West Bank, raising concerns about Israel’s decision to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority…
Israelis are divided on the importance of U.S.-Israel relations as a factor in their decision of which party to vote for in the October elections, with 55% of Jewish Israelis and 26.5% of Arab Israelis seeing it as an important issue, according to a poll published on Wednesday by the Israel Democracy Institute…
An Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday morning reportedly killed a family of four, including two children, health officials said. The IDF told The Times of Israel it was looking into the reports…
Joel Lion, Israel’s former ambassador to Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia, has been appointed as the acting chargé d’affaires to Turkey and presented his credentials to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced…
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors voted on Wednesday for the first time in two decades to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for violating its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, diplomats told Reuters. The move marks an escalation that opens Iran to possible U.N. sanctions, though Russia and China’s vetoes on the UNSC make actual punitive action unlikely…
DreamWorks Animation co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bill Peebles, the former head of OpenAI’s Sora app, and former Dropbox CFO Sujay Jaswa are planning to launch a new AI video startup that would train its own models for filmmakers, and are in talks with potential investors including Andreessen Horowitz to raise funding, The Information reports…
The world-famous Carnegie Deli is reopening in Manhattan, and will be located in the space of the former Stage Deli, which closed in 2012…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Blame Game: Wall Street Journal columnist Barton Swaim reflects on the tendency for anti-American activists to blame Israel as a stand-in for their antipathy of the United States: “In the years after 9/11, blaming America for the activities of Islamic terrorists became a mania among left-tilting scribblers the world over. When they couldn’t reasonably attach culpability to America — because the attack happened in France or Spain, which consistently oppose U.S. interventions — the enlightened blamed America’s stand-in, Israel. Somehow the jihadists always lacked agency. A corollary belief, equally resistant to evidence, holds that violent criminals commit their offenses because some societal inequity drove them to it.” [WSJ]
Some Things Are Nonnegotiable: Shalom Hartman Institute President Yehuda Kurtzer writes on his Substack about the need for Jewish leaders to set clear red lines for politicians who want to win their support: “When voters fail to use their leverage, they relinquish power to those who have not earned it, they forfeit the responsibilities of the citizen who is meant to be sovereign, and they allow politicians to be static when they should always be bendable. This exercise of power is best expressed through transparency… I see many Jews doing the opposite, searching for signs of what is in a politician’s heart, parsing their rhetoric, standing on the side to wait which way the wind is blowing, and lamenting their chosen condition of ultimately having to choose between imperfect choices.” [Substack]
Picture of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (left) inaugurated the first Israeli Embassy in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana on Wednesday, alongside his Slovenian counterpart, Tone Kajzer. The two ministers also signed a multi-sector cooperation agreement ahead of a joint business forum, as their countries move to strengthen ties. Gideon Sa’ar/X
Birthdays
Eric Kaplan, television writer and producer whose work includes “The Big Bang Theory,” turns 55
Stanley Gold, chairman of Shamrock Holdings, Roy Disney’s private investment company, turns 84
Dianne Varon, retired realtor in Southern California
Gerald Fishman, former EVP and general counsel at Chicago’s futures broker Rosenthal Collins Group
Howard Penner, past president of Congregation Ahavas Israel in Passaic, N.J.
Henri Goettel, retired coordinator at Truman Heartland Community Foundation, she was a Hebrew teacher at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, Kan.
Gary M. Polland, Houston attorney and Republican Party activist, turns 76
Joel Judd, Denver attorney and politician, he served in the Colorado House of Representatives for eight years, turns 74
Nancy Finkel, executive assistant to the office managing partner of the E&Y office in Tampa
Cynthia Lummis, U.S. senator (R-WY), turns 72
Matthew Fried, retired VP at Goldman Sachs, now a part-time elementary school teacher
Steven Greenspan, real estate attorney in South Florida
Amity Ruth Shlaes, writer, columnist and author of three NYT bestsellers, turns 66
Richard Behar, award-winning journalist and author, he wrote a 2024 book on Bernie Madoff
Charles Rosenberg, former acting administrator of the DEA, now a senior counsel at D.C.’s Crowell & Moring, turns 66
Andrew Shapiro, founder and managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, he serves on the New Leadership Council of the Jewish Democratic Council of America
Lawrence Garbuz, NYC trusts and estates attorney
Jonathan Soros, co-founder and partner of One Madison Group, he is a son of George Soros, turns 56
Ariel Sadwin, executive director of the Maryland / Mid-Atlantic region of Agudath Israel
Sarah Schneider, writer, actor and comedian, she was a writer for “Saturday Night Live,” turns 43
Charles Szold, principal at Blue Zone Partners and managing partner at Precision Infrastructure Management
Joshua A. Nass, PR strategist, crisis manager and media analyst
Trey Yingst, chief foreign correspondent for Fox News, his 2024 book, Black Saturday, covers the events of Oct. 7 and the war that followed, turns 33
Jennifer Meyer
Michigan rabbis set red lines for El-Sayed
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, talks with voters on August 16, 2026.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we analyze the results of Tuesday night’s Democratic primaries in New Hampshire, and report on the blowback from the U.K.’s move to sanction Israeli settlements in the West Bank. We highlight a new petition campaign launched by a coalition of Michigan Jewish leaders to pressure Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to affirm a series of “nonnegotiable” commitments to the Jewish community, and report on a new caucus launched by Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Elise Stefanik to combat antisemitism on college campuses. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ruby Chen, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman.
Curated by Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with an assist from Haley Cohen.
Today’s Agenda
The Republican National Committee will kick off its first-ever midterm convention this afternoon in Dallas. President Donald Trump will deliver the keynote address tonight (as well as closing remarks on Thursday), with additional speeches throughout the two-day convening by Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Also scheduled to speak are: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA); Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jon Husted (R-OH) and Dave McCormick (R-PA); Texas Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton; Georgia Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA); former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), GOP nominee for Senate in Michigan; and former RNC Chair Michael Whatley, GOP nominee for Senate in North Carolina.
Some GOP candidates in tight races, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), former Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), will not be attending the convention, in what appears to be a pointed effort to keep their distance from Trump.
Rhode Island is holding its primaries today: Gov. Dan McKee, a Democrat, is at risk of losing the nomination to business leader Helena Foulkes. Brett Smiley, the Jewish mayor of Providence, R.I., is also facing serious opposition from 27-year-old state Rep. David Morales, a socialist challenger.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington is hosting its Rosh Hashanah celebration this evening.
The two-day MEAD Summit continues in Washington today, attended by representatives from Israel, the U.S. and Arab countries — including some that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Comptroller Mark Levine will walk the runway at the Metropolitan Opera House during Style Across the Aisle, where they will be dressed by Jewish designers Elie Tahari and Yosel Tiefenbrun.
Elsewhere in New York City, the La’Aretz Foundation will host its annual benefit dinner.
One Thing To Know
ANALYSIS
By Marc Rod
Tuesday night’s Democratic primaries in New Hampshire delivered mixed results for candidates who made attacks on Israel a centerpiece of their closing arguments.
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) trounced progressive activist Karishma Manzur by nearly a 2-to-1 margin (65%-33%) in the Senate primary, after Manzur attacked Pappas for his stance on Israel and called him a “shill for AIPAC” as a central message of her campaign.
Pappas is now facing a competitive general election against former Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), who is running to rejoin the Senate after nearly two decades out of office. Sununu is expected to be a formidable challenger who holds a narrow lead over Pappas in some recent public polling.
The Big Reads
SETTLEMENT SHOWDOWN
U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a sweeping new sanctions regime on Tuesday targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, marking a major escalation in Britain’s diplomatic stance toward Israel, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Addressing the House of Commons, Miliband unveiled an import ban on goods produced in settlements alongside targeted sanctions against individuals and corporate entities involved in constructing, advertising or financing settlement expansion. The secretary also announced a ban on real estate events in the U.K. promoting the purchase of homes in West Bank settlements.
Muted Marco: Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a tepid response on Tuesday to the U.K.’s new sanctions regime against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. “Obviously, we’re not going to do what the U.K. did,” Rubio told reporters when asked about Miliband’s announcement, but said he didn’t have anything further to add.
Scoop: Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) urged the Trump administration on Wednesday to review whether the U.K. and other countries imposing trade restrictions and additional sanctions on Israeli settlements places those countries in violation of U.S. anti-boycott laws — and to consider whether the effort merits a response from the U.S., JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Diplomacy risks: Former White House officials and diplomats say the U.K. government’s decision is primarily a bid to appease far-left political factions in Britain, warning that while the move is unlikely to alter Israeli behavior on the ground, it risks increasing diplomatic friction between London, Jerusalem and Washington.
COMMUNITY VOICE
A group of more than a dozen Michigan rabbis, cantors and Jewish lay leaders from across the state launched a new petition campaign this week to pressure Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee, to affirm a series of “nonnegotiable” commitments to the Jewish community, arguing that failing to do so would jeopardize Jewish support for Democrats, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The Nonnegotiable Michigan campaign, created in cooperation with the liberal Jewish group Zioness Action Fund, calls out El-Sayed for a “sustained pattern” of comments by himself and surrogates that organizers say crosses the line into antisemitism, including downplaying, justifying or potentially inciting violence against Jews.
CAMPUS CAUCUS
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) announced that they are launching the Combating Antisemitism on College Campuses Caucus during a visit to Vanderbilt University on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The announcement was made during an event with Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and the leaders of the University of Kentucky, University of Texas at Austin, Dartmouth College, the University of Alabama and Washington University in St. Louis. The event, with an audience of Vanderbilt students, faculty, staff and local community members, was focused on highlighting some of the campuses that have, in the view of the organizers, successfully navigated the post-Oct. 7 environment, balancing freedom of speech and expression with protecting Jewish students.
