• The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is holding a hearing this morning on religious freedom in Syria during the country’s transition out of dictatorship.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

So much of the conversation about the rise of right-wing antisemitism has been focused on the supply side of the equation — the growing number of online commentators and podcasters, led by Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, who are mainlining anti-Jewish tropes, conspiracy theories and Holocaust revisionism to their sizable audiences.

Less scrutinized is the demand-side part of the equation: Why are so many people in the independent podcasting ecosystem mimicking the same antisemitic arguments and hosting the same extremist guests? Is there really a significant audience for this nonsense?  

On paper, there’s no constituency for this type of extremism. As an example: Carlson’s public sympathizing towards Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, for instance, is about as politically toxic as you can get with the American public. A recent NBC News poll found just 3% of Americans view Putin favorably, while a whopping 84% view him negatively. 

But in the world of social media, a small but passionate audience of superfans — even if they’re extremists — can be more lucrative than a much broader audience of mainstream news consumers. The problem is that the perception of influence, fueled by these social media platforms, can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

We saw this pattern play out on the left in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, when politically toxic views about policing, immigration, race and gender identity received outsized attention on Twitter, were enforced by a small number of online influencers and quickly became conventional wisdom in institutional liberal circles. The shift was so profound that most of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates embraced left-wing positions that they later ended up regretting.

With Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter (now X), the platform’s algorithm now incentivizes far-right discourse, creating a marketplace for bigoted and antisemitic influencers. It’s what’s creating a demand for the conspiratorial content of Carlson, Owens and others, and it also explains why more-mainstream figures in the “independent” media space, like Megyn Kelly, are increasingly flirting with these extremist narratives.

“It’s not lost on me that there was a great celebration on the right when Elon Musk bought Twitter — and now it looks like one of the worst things for the right in a long time. The algorithms on X really promote the worst excesses of the post-liberal right,” said one former official at a conservative policy institution granted anonymity to discuss concerns. “Tucker and Megyn are in the business of monetizing the algorithm more than building an audience.”

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

Can Vance Save the Right?: Following on his Substack article lamenting the rise of “new radicalism” among Gen Zers on the political right, conservative author Rod Dreher posits in The Free Press that the one person who can “save the right, and America, from this rising extremism” is Vice President JD Vance. “Vance is — or could be — the answer to the problem of [Nick] Fuentes and the nihilistic culture that spawned his popularity. Vance lived out a grim version of the chaos that so many men of the generation just below his own are living — and triumphed over it. As a veteran who turned against the Iraq War in which he served, he knows all too well about the failures of American institutions. … Vance should not try to reason with the Groypers, to talk them into the tent. They only want to mock, destroy, and humiliate. Aside from hating Jews, Israel, blacks, and women, they have no program or vision. The best way — the only way — to counter their malignant influence is to condemn them, straight up, but without dismissing the legitimacy of the despair that drives young men into their ranks. … Then, Vance and his team must develop concrete solutions to the economic precarity in which the Zoomers live. … Third, Vance should lean hard into his Christian faith, which is deep and authentic. … Finally, Vance’s biography is an asset that none of his would-be rivals has.” [FreePress]

Antisemites in Their Midst: David Drucker warns in Bloomberg that rising antisemitism on the right could be what “unravels” the GOP’s coalition. “Yet many traditional Republicans remain reluctant to criticize [Tucker] Carlson. The former Fox News host is popular on the populist right and his podcast is among the country’s most influential media platforms. Others fear alienating the populists, concerned Republicans cannot defeat Democrats in national elections without them. … In the four decades from Reagan to Trump, Republicans generally fought the Democrats using ideas as weapons; and conservative media personalities used whatever ideological authority they possessed to enforce party dogma. But during Obama’s presidency, Republicans and their media allies got it into their heads that the US was on the brink of an irreversible collapse that could only be prevented by permanently blocking the Democrats from power. Ideology became secondary — if that — to defeating the left. With that in mind, it’s only logical that, as long as their votes are on offer, some Republicans are willing to tolerate antisemites in their midst.” [Bloomberg]

Libel Lessons: Adam Louis-Klein, founder of the Movement Against Antizionism, argues in The Free Press that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s win must be understood in the frame of what he calls “the libel-cycle: a recurring civilizational pattern in which anti-Jewish libels spread through society, generate moral hysteria, and rapidly recode entire ideological systems into engines of anti-Jewish meaning. … [Mamdani’s victory] is not just a local event or a mere function of economic populism. It signals a broader cultural shift — one in which opposition to Jewish peoplehood has become a mark of moral virtue. And it marks something larger still: a recurring civilizational pattern — the cycle of libel — to which the only adequate response is historical consciousness and the courage to forge a new paradigm.” [FreePress]

U.S. and Saudi officials are working to finalize a defense pact between the two countries ahead of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington next week, Axios reports. Riyadh is also reportedly looking to purchase a large weapons package from the U.S., including F-35 fighter jets…

Venture capital investor Alex Moore is exploring laser warfare startups and sea-cruising drone technology that could capture a portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars MBS promises to spend in the U.S. Moore, an early protégé of Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, heads the defense portfolio at Austin, Texas-based 8VC and traveled to Israel last week to assess new investment prospects and sat down for an interview with The Circuit’s Jonathan Ferziger…

After a spate of violent attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters there is “some concern about events in the West Bank spilling over and creating an effect that could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza”…

In the latest incident overnight, a mosque in a Palestinian village in the West Bank was torched and defaced with anti-Islamic graffiti…

The Treasury Department issued sanctions against 32 individuals and entities based in countries including Iran, China, the UAE and India that contribute to Iran’s ballistic missile and drone production…

Emirati officials have expressed concerns about the roles of Qatar and Turkey in the plan for postwar Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reports…

Former Vice President Kamala Harris told pro-Palestinian hecklers at a speaking event this week that the Biden administration “should’ve spoken publicly about our criticism of the way that Netanyahu and his government were executing this war. … But let’s be very clear, that the inhuman nature of what has happened to the Palestinian people in Gaza, the innocent civilians, the extent of hunger, famine, suffering, death, is something that we must acknowledge”…

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has a meeting scheduled with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Politico reports, in a sign that he will follow through with his pledge to keep her in the role…. 

After a group of rabbis in the Bronx issued a statement calling congressional candidate Michael Blake’s use of a video of anti-Israel activist Guy Christensen “deeply offensive,” the former assemblyman apologized and denounced the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May, which Christensen had celebrated. “I apologize for any pain our campaign video caused any member of the Jewish community by including someone who condoned this horrific event,” Blake, who is challenging Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) in the Democratic primary, said…

In his memoir released this week, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) details his falling out with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, accusing him of being driven by “optics and fear”…

Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, asked the board of the University of Virginia to refrain from choosing a replacement for its former president, James Ryan, until she takes office, saying she is “deeply concerned” about the board’s failure to push back against the Trump administration’s ouster of Ryan…

The Republican Jewish Coalition announced on Wednesday that it had elected to its board of directors Dan Conston, the former president of the Congressional Leadership Fund; Charlie Spies, a veteran elections attorney; and philanthropist David Gemunder, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports… 

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen, akin to its city council, passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the city’s retirement system to divest from companies involved in Israel and its war in Gaza, including Boeing, a significant employer in the region, after a heated debate…

IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee is set to retire soon after 20 years of service. He is likely to be replaced by Maj. Ella Waweya, one of the most senior female Arab Muslim officers in the IDF…

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel toured sites and communities attacked by Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, including a visit to the home of Amir Tibon, Haaretz journalist and author of The Gates of Gaza, a book about the attack on his kibbutz, Nahal Oz. Merkel was in Israel to receive an honorary doctorate from the Weizmann Institute of Science…

The New York Times chronicles the distrust in the Five Eyes — the intelligence alliance comprising the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand — with FBI Director Kash Patel, over his personnel decisions, inexperience in intelligence matters, partisanship and interpersonal interactions…

An Israeli-founded AI cybersecurity company, Tenzai, founded just six months ago, came out of stealth yesterday with a $75 million seed round, with support from major venture capital firms including Greylock Partners, Lux Capital and Battery Ventures…

Actor and Israel advocate Michael Rapaport (right) led a conversation with Daniel Goldstein, a 33-year-old IDF reservist, licensed social worker and trauma survivor, at the American Friends of NATAL’s 20th anniversary gala in New York on Monday evening. Rapaport hosted the gala, which aimed to raise funds for trauma care and spotlight the mental health crisis Israel is facing.

Former relief pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization, he pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, now an EMT in Los Angeles, Troy Neiman turns 35…

Former president and COO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, who serves on the boards of many Jewish organizations and founded the Jewish Future Promise, Mike Leven turns 88… Israeli industrialist with holdings in energy, real estate and automobile distributorships, Gad Zeevi turns 86… Shmuel Harlap… Chief rabbi of Rome, Rabbi Dr. Shmuel Riccardo Di Segni turns 76… Publisher of the independent “Political Junkie” blog and podcast, Kenneth Rudin… U.S. attorney general throughout the Biden administration, Merrick Garland turns 73… Israeli businessman Nochi Dankner turns 71… Managing director of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, Sharon Freundel… Former president of the D.C. Board of Education, Ruth Wattenberg… Former editor-in-chief of British Vogue for 25 years, she is a strategic advisor to Atterley, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based fashion marketplace, Alexandra Shulman turns 68… U.S. senator (R-AK), Dan Sullivan turns 61… Producer and writer, he has written for 10 television shows, Matt Weitzman turns 58… San Jose, Calif., resident, Katherine (Katya) Palkin… Somali-born activist who has served in the Dutch parliament, she is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Ayaan Hirsi Ali turns 56… Former Israeli government minister for the Shas party, he has served as minister of communications and then minister of sousing, Ariel Atias turns 55… Founder of Pailet Financial Services, a predecessor agency of what is now the Dallas office of Marsh & McLennan, Kevin Pailet… Rabbi Andrea Dobrick Haney… President and CEO at the U.S. Travel Association, Geoffrey Freeman… Member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Meirav Ben-Ari turns 50… Television journalist employed by Hearst Television, Jeff Rossen turns 49… President of baseball operations for MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, Andrew Friedman turns 49… Israeli rapper and record producer, generally known by his stage name “Subliminal,” Yaakov (Kobi) Shimoni turns 46… CEO of the JCC of Greater Baltimore, Paul M. Lurie… Judoka who won three national titles (2000, 2002 and 2004), she competed for the U.S. at the Athens Olympics in 2004, Charlee Minkin turns 44… Senior director of policy and communications at Christians United For Israel, Ari Morgenstern… Political communications consultant, Jared Goldberg-Leopold… PR and communications consultant, Mark Botnick… Professional soccer player, then a soccer coach and now a sales account executive at Les Friedland Associates, Jarryd Goldberg turns 40… Michael Schwab… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-OH), one of four Jewish Republican congressmen, Max Leonard Miller turns 37… Staff attorney for the ACLU’s voting rights project, Jonathan Topaz… Israeli film, television and stage actor and model, Bar Brimer turns 28… J.D. candidate at University of Houston Law Center, Cole Deutch… VP of Israel and global philanthropy and director of Christian Friends of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Danielle Mor…

• The International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries begins today in New York City, bringing together 6,200 rabbis from 111 countries.
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama will appear at Washington’s Sixth & I Synagogue this evening to discuss her forthcoming book, The Look.
• Finance industry executives — including Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman — were invited to dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump this evening. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Beware the law of unintended consequences: President Donald Trump’s zeal to aggressively redraw maps in GOP-friendly states is looking like it will bring less of a political advantage to Republicans than originally expected.  

Indeed, if the overall political environment remains in the Democrats’ favor — which would be consistent with the historical precedent of the opposition party gaining seats in the first midterm election of a new president — the House is likely to flip back to the Democrats’ control in 2027.

Here’s the lowdown: California’s referendum on redistricting, which passed overwhelmingly on Election Day, will allow Democrats to gain as many as five seats with a new, more-partisan map — with three Republican-held seats (of GOP Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley and Ken Calvert) all but guaranteed to flip.

That should offset the expected GOP gains in Texas, which started the whole redistricting gamesmanship off with a partisan redraw that guarantees Republicans to pick up at least three Democratic-held seats, with the hope that Republicans can win two additional seats that became more favorable to them.

But there’s a catch with the Texas map. Two of the redrawn districts — the seats of Democratic Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar — are in predominantly Hispanic areas along the U.S.-Mexico border that swung dramatically to Trump in 2024, but had a long tradition of voting Democratic before then. If Democrats rebound with Hispanic voters — as happened in New Jersey and Virginia on Election Day — and the national environment remains rough for Republicans, it’s not hard to see the two Democratic incumbents hanging on.

Adding another wrinkle to the GOP’s redistricting plans: A Utah judge rejected the preferred map drawn by Republican state lawmakers, and selected a new map that would guarantee a Democratic district in Salt Lake City. That would automatically flip one seat to the Democrats, given that the state’s current delegation is made up of four Republicans, all in solidly Republican districts. 

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

Hate on the Right, Then and Now: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens draws comparisons between today’s rising trend of antisemitism within the GOP to past iterations of antisemitic ideology on the right. “The MAGA movement is not antisemitic. But many of its core convictions are antisemitic-adjacent — that is, they have a habit of leading in an anti-Jewish direction. Opposition to free trade, or to a welcoming immigration policy, or to international law that crimps national sovereignty, are legitimate, if often wrongheaded, political positions. But they have a way of melding with hoary stereotypes about ‘the International Jew; working across borders against the interests of so-called real Americans.” [NYTimes]

After Mamdani, Healing Divisions: Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, senior rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, reflects in the Forward about how the New York City Jewish community must unite in the aftermath of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory. “For me, personally, the fact that about a third of New York City’s Jewish voters checked the box for Mamdani is totally bewildering. I am not unaware of the bigger political trends, the shortcomings of the other candidates, or the systemic challenges our city faces; I understand why Mamdani won. But for me, his anti-Zionist rhetoric and his intent to shut down research and economic partnerships between Israel and New York — to name but a few of his promises that would negatively impact our community — not only disqualified him from receiving my vote, but were a meaningful enough concern that I chose to publicly urge Jews and their allies to vote against him as well. And yet, it would seem that what was self-evident to me was not so self-evident to a sizeable percentage of my kinfolk. … We need to learn to walk together again. If, as I have repeatedly claimed, ahavat yisrael — love of the Jewish people — is my North Star, then it is a principle I must uphold even and especially when it is uncomfortable to do so. It is a love that must extend to Jews whose views I neither share nor understand.” [Forward]

Takeover on the Quad: John Ellis, professor emeritus of German literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, argues in The Wall Street Journal for placing universities in a “receivership” to address the dominance of left-wing ideology in higher education. “The discrepancy between what we fund the campuses for and what they are doing is enormous. Promotion of knowledge and understanding has given way to inculcation of a poisonous fringe ideology. Students are encouraged to despise their society and kept ignorant of anything that might make them think otherwise. … The only viable solution is to place schools in ‘receivership,’ a well-established procedure to reform ailing college departments. A new chairman is imposed on a department with a free hand to make whatever appointments he thinks necessary to restore the department to health. By action of lawmakers or trustees, a new president can be imposed on a campus with a mandate to return the school to its proper mission by appointing subordinate administrators, especially deans, committed to reform.” [WSJ]

Investing in the Jewish Future: In Sapir, Jordan Chandler Hirsch argues that the Jewish people should establish a sovereign wealth fund to secure long-term communal and national resilience. “A wealth fund would allow the Jewish community to invite allies and skeptics alike into mutually beneficial investments. It could help key players solve their problems and achieve their goals, thereby securing support for ours. Skeptics who distrust our institutionalism might respect our show of independence. Anti-establishment forces might welcome Jewish capital that strengthens their projects. Most important, a wealth fund could transform both our psychology and our posture — from supplicants seeking protection into partners offering opportunity. Despite its corporate veneer, a wealth fund would not merely reproduce institutionalism. If shtadlanut sought seats at the institutional table, a wealth fund would build its own table and invite others in.” [SAPIR] 

President Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog calling on him to “fully pardon” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the corruption case against him as “a political, unjustified prosecution.” Herzog’s office put out a statement saying that while he “holds President Trump in the highest regard … anyone seeking a Presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures”…

Following a joint meeting in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the creation of a joint committee “for the consolidation of the state of Palestine,” which will work towards drafting a “constitution” for such a state…

Iran has smuggled advanced armaments to terror groups in the West Bank over several months, the Washington Free Beacon reports, including rockets, explosive drones, anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, hoping to use it as another launch pad in addition to Gaza to attack Israel…

Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Capitol on Tuesday. A person familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider that Van Hollen had “reiterated his support for the lifting of the Caesar sanctions while also stressing his long-held position that the U.S. must ensure that the Government of Syria complies with the six conditions included in the amendment he and Senator Graham added to the NDAA”…

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) urged the State Department to take action to ensure the release of Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian-American dual citizen and Suozzi constituent imprisoned in Iran. “This is about more than one man. It’s about defending the basic rights of American citizens abroad and standing up to regimes that traffic in hostage diplomacy,” Suozzi said…

Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) led 125 House Democrats in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking “clarity on your plan to ensure desperately needed humanitarian aid reaches Palestinian civilians in Gaza” and urging that aid be distributed through “reputable international institutions”…

Saudi Arabia is set to host a U.S.-Saudi investment summit at the Kennedy Center in Washington next Wednesday, a day after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman‘s visit to the White House…

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) met with Malcolm Jallow, an anti-Israel left-wing member of the Swedish parliament who has espoused antisemitic views and has associations with pro-Hamas individuals…

The New York Times speaks to Iranians deported back to Iran by the Trump administration in the first U.S.-chartered deportation flight to the country in September…

The New York Times profiles Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, who is preparing to run for Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District…

After receiving backlash for canceling planned shows in Israel as a result of pressure by the BDS movement, British comedian John Cleese said he was only postponing the shows “following advice about safety.” The “Monty Python” actor, who has a history of anti-Israel commentary on social media, claimed he is “hugely fond of Israeli audiences”…

Argentine President Javier Milei met with Rabbi David Yosef, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel; Isaac Sacca, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Argentina; and Eyal Sela, the Israeli ambassador to Argentina… 

Israeli authorities arrested four suspects after dozens of settlers launched an arson attack in the Palestinian villages of Bei Lid and Deir Sharaf in the West Bank….

Israeli actress Gal Gadot won Israel’s Genesis Prize, sometimes called the “Jewish Nobel,” for her outspoken support of Israel in Hollywood since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Gadot said she will donate the $1 million award to organizations “that will help Israel heal”… 

Israeli pop star Noa Kirel and soccer player Daniel Peretz tied the knot on Tuesday in an A-lister affair in Jaffa: spotted at the nuptials were Israeli celebrities Eden Daniel Gabay, Idan Raichel, Eran Zahavi, Reef Neeman, Ron Bitton, Ron Aluf and Mor Hamami…

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts recently toured a site in Saudi Arabia for a possible Universal theme park location, raising speculation that he might bring in Saudi funds for a potential Comcast bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery…

Wonderful, an Israeli AI startup, has secured $100 million in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, with backing from Insight Partners, IVP, Bessemer and Vine Ventures…

Shulem Lemmer shared on social media “The March Medley” he performed together in June with the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, featuring Gur’s “Shir Hamaalos” and Modzitz’s “Ein Kitzvah,” at the 2025 MDA Chassidut B’Class concert in the Caesarea amphitheater.

Rabbi of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary, Róbert Frölich turns 60… 

Co-founder and dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky turns 101… Professor emerita of history at Columbia University and expert on Japan, Carol Gluck turns 84… Author and senior fellow at USC’s Annenberg School, Morley Winograd turns 83… Accountant and former PwC partner in Phoenix, Steven M. Scheiner, CPA… Former New York state senator, he is a descendant of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the former Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Stephen M. Saland turns 82… Sportscaster for “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video, after more than 50 years at NBC and ABC, Al Michaels turns 81… U.S. senator (D-RI), Jack Reed turns 76… Attorney in Brooklyn, Bernard C. Wachsman… Member of the New York state Assembly since 2006, her district includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Linda B. Rosenthal turns 68… Author of young-adult fiction and winner of the 2015 National Book Award for Challenger Deep, Neal Shusterman turns 63… Author, journalist and former political advisor to Al Gore and Bill Clinton, Naomi Rebekah Wolf turns 63… University of Chicago professor, he won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, Michael Kremer turns 61… Mayor of Oakland, Calif., until 2023, Elizabeth Beckman “Libby” Schaaf turns 60… Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, Sanford E. “Sandy” Perl turns 60… White House chief of staff for the last two years of the Biden administration, Jeffrey Zients turns 59… British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, Joanne “Jo” Coburn turns 58… Hasidic lecturer with many thousands of followers, Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Biderman turns 58… SVP and general manager of MLB’s Minnesota Twins from 2016 until 2024, Thad Levine turns 54… Member of the Knesset until 2019 for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Robert Ilatov turns 54… Restaurant critic and food writer for the Boston Globe, Devra First turns 53… Israeli fashion model and actress, Nina Brosh turns 50… Former member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, Eliyahu Hasid turns 49… Campus support director at Hillel International, Aviva Zucker Snyder… Actress best known for her roles on “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Kelly Kruger turns 44… Co-founder of Purple Acorn, Dave Weinberg… Assistant professor of Jewish studies at Oberlin College, Matthew D. Berkman turns 41… Director of strategic talent initiatives at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Spencer F. Lucker… New Jersey-based primary care physician known as Doctor Mike, he is an internet celebrity on YouTube and Instagram, Mikhail Varshavski turns 36… Activist in the fight against antisemitism throughout the U.S., Adela Cojab turns 29… Catcher in the Washington Nationals organization, Cameron J. Stubbs turns 29…

• Temple Emanu-El in New York City is hosting an event this evening for the launch of Don’t Feed the Lion, a novel for middle schoolers on the theme of antisemitism by journalists Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi. The authors will be joined by chess champion Garry Kasparov and comedian Elon Gold for a conversation moderated by Rafaela Siewert. Read JI’s interview with Golodryga and Levi below. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

With a week since the off-year gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, a clear dynamic is emerging: President Donald Trump’s gains with nontraditional GOP voters — especially working-class Black and Hispanic voters and Gen Zers — are not translating into support for the Republican Party this year. 

If Republicans are unable to recreate the Trump 2024 coalition without Trump on the ballot, they will face serious political disadvantages for the midterms and beyond. 

The double-digit margins of victory of incoming Democratic governors Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia speak volumes about the current political environment. Their sweeping wins underscore that, while Democrats may be divided as a result of ideological infighting, the antipathy towards Trump and the GOP is the glue that holds the party together. 

The historic tendency of voters taking out their dissatisfaction on the party in power is alive and well, and is much more of a factor than the favorability ratings of the political parties.

The most revealing outcome from the gubernatorial elections is the fact that the majority-making elements of Trump’s coalition swung decisively back to the Democrats, according to the AP/Fox News voter analysis. In New Jersey, young men between 18-29 backed Sherrill by 14 points (57-43%) after narrowly supporting Trump in last year’s presidential election. In Virginia, Spanberger won 58% of young men, a huge margin for a demographic that had assumed to be trending away from the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party’s comeback with Hispanic voters is equally as significant. Because of continuing inflation and backlash to the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation of illegal immigrants and ICE tactics, Hispanic voters once again voted like reliable elements of the Democratic coalition. In New Jersey, over two-thirds (68%) of Hispanic voters backed Sherrill — 12 points more than Kamala Harris’ support with Hispanics in the state in 2024. In Virginia, Spanberger’s 67% support with Hispanics was eight points ahead of Harris’ vote share with the key constituency.

Meanwhile, Black voters overwhelmingly sided with the Democratic nominees this year, after a notable minority of them backed Trump in last year’s presidential election. Spanberger won 93% of the Black vote, seven points more than Harris, even though she was running against a Black opponent in Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. Sherrill won 94% of the Black vote in New Jersey, a whopping 15 points more than Harris carried in 2024.

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

The Next Peace Process: Robert Satloff, executive director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, along with senior fellow Hanin Ghaddar and international fellow Ehud Yaari, lay out the prospects for peace between Israel and Lebanon in The Washington Post. “One way to avert a catastrophic return to war would be for Lebanon and Israel to begin their own peace process. Movement on normalization would not substitute for disarmament. But if diplomacy were pursued as an alternative to Israeli military action against Hezbollah, the very fact of the talks would undermine Hezbollah’s effort to claw back its political influence. And practical progress could show the Lebanese people the potential benefits of peacemaking. … The Trump administration should do more to get things going. … The administration should remind Lebanon that choosing to neither disarm Hezbollah nor pursue diplomacy with Israel will come with costs. Those could entail losing U.S. aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces, losing U.S. backing of international support for Lebanon’s economy and losing U.S. willingness to restrain Israel from disarming Hezbollah ‘the hard way.’” [WaPo]

Dreher’s Dread: Conservative author Rod Dreher frets over the “new radicalism” emerging among Gen Zers on the political right in America on his Substack, “Rod Dreher’s Diary.” “The main points I want to leave you with, based on what I saw and heard in Washington, are these: The Groyper thing is real. It is not a fringe movement, in that it really has infiltrated young conservative Washington networks to a significant degree. Irrational hatred of Jews (and other races, but especially Jews) is a central core of it. This is evil. If postliberal conservatism requires making peace with antisemitism and race hatred, count me out. It cannot be negotiated with, because it doesn’t have traditional demands. It wants to burn the whole system down. It really does. At the same time, the gatekeepers of the Right aren’t going to be able to make it go away, because they have less power than ever. Dealing with this is going to require great skill and subtlety, and courage.” [Substack]

Wrong on the Right: The Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Baker warns against Vice President JD Vance’s “breezy dismissal” of efforts to root out extremists from the right as infighting that should be avoided. “That would be a mistake. It is hard to imagine people like Mr. Fuentes and Candace Owens as figures of historic significance: The idea seems ridiculous. But what gives them their current salience — besides cozy sit-downs with the nation’s top media celebrity — is their claim, a plausible one, to be speaking for others. The rise of populism has been characterized by a liberalization of thought and speech that had previously been suppressed by the prevailing authorities of orthodoxy. Much of this was necessary and welcome. The cultural limitations on what ordinary people were supposed to think about issues like immigration and ‘gender identity’ were thrown off when populist leaders came along who dared to say things that many people had felt. But with this liberation of legitimate and reasonable ideas inevitably came a wider unleashing of much uglier sentiments on the right.” [WSJ]

Keep Hope Alive: Marking five years since the death of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Tanya White, a senior lecturer at the Matan Institute for Torah Learning and a lecturer at the Rabbi Sacks Institute at Bar-Ilan University, contemplates Sacks’ lessons on hope in an essay for 18Forty. “Reflecting on his vast and far-reaching oeuvre, one could not hope to capture its scope in a single essay. Yet one idea has continued to echo through my mind over these past two years: his oft-quoted distinction between optimism and hope. Optimism and hope are not the same. Optimism is the belief that the world is changing for the better; hope is the belief that, together, we can make the world better. ‘Judaism,’ wrote Rabbi Sacks, ‘is the voice of hope in the conversation of humankind.’ These short yet powerful lines capture the essence of a uniquely Jewish theology that underpins Rabbi Sacks’ vast and far-reaching thought: a theology that places human freedom and responsibility side by side. That fosters an active virtue of courage to confront the world that is and work towards a world that ought to be. A theology that reinterprets the biblical concept of covenant for the challenges of modern liberal democracies.” [18Forty]

In a Fox News interview with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, asked about his country’s relations with Israel and the possibility of entering the Abraham Accords, al-Sharaa said, “Syria has borders with Israel, and Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967. We are not going to enter negotiations directly right now.” He added that the U.S. might be able to “help reach this kind of negotiation”…

Abdul El-Sayed, an anti-Israel Democrat running in the Michigan Senate primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), has deleted his entire history on X, including “defund the police” posts…

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed left-wing Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan over her more moderate opponent, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), in the Democratic Minnesota Senate primary…

Progressive voters and Democratic Party activists are blaming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for the votes of eight Democratic senators who backed GOP legislation to put an end to the government shutdown…

The Wall Street Journal reports on Yale’s attempt to stay out of the line of fire in President Donald Trump’s crusade against higher education, including President Maurie McInnis’ increased government lobbying expenditures and a student forum where classmates encouraged each other to refrain from disruptive anti-Israel protests…

Palantir CEO Alex Karp defended his support of Israel in an interview with WIRED, saying, “Israel is a country with a GDP smaller than Switzerland, and it’s under massive attack. Some critiques are legitimate, but others are aggressive in attacking Israel. My reaction is, well, then I’m just going to defend them”…

Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose remains were returned to Israel on Sunday after he was killed and his body kidnapped to Gaza more than 11 years ago, was laid to rest at the Kfar Sava military cemetery this morning…

In his first interview since his release after two years in Hamas captivity in Gaza, Matan Zangauker, who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, told Channel 12 that every night one of his captors would play mind games with him giving him false reports of the combat between Israel and Hamas, telling him, for instance, “We took out 20 of your tanks today and we killed soldiers”… 

Danielle Sassoon, the former interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who resigned her post rather than drop a case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams at the request of the Trump administration, has joined the conservative boutique law firm of Clement & Murphy…

The New York Times reports on Iran’s acute water crisis, which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned could soon necessitate the evacuation of Tehran…

The New York Times considers the status of Iran’s nuclear program, as snapback sanctions have been enacted, negotiations are frozen and Tehran appears to be building a new enrichment site at Pickaxe Mountain…

British comedian and actor John Cleese has cancelled shows that had been scheduled to take place in Israel in late November and early December, with the Israeli production company handling his shows saying the “Monty Python” star had “succumbed to threats from BDS organizations”…

The Anti-Defamation League held its 31st Annual In Concert Against Hate in Washington last night. Hosted by actor and director Jason Alexander, the evening honored four individuals for their courage in fighting antisemitism and hate: Holocaust survivor and health policy leader Marion Ein Lewin; Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund; Wesley Seidner, a high school senior combating antisemitism in his Virginia community; and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.

Pictured, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt with the honorees. From left: Seidner, Holt, Lewin, Greenblatt and Lomax.

Emmy Award and People’s Choice Award-winning television producer, Jason Nidorf “Max” Mutchnick turns 60… 

Retired psychiatric nurse now living in Surprise, Ariz., Shula Kantor turns 98… Retired television and radio sports broadcaster, Warner Wolf turns 88… Former Democratic U.S. senator from California for 24 years, Barbara Levy Boxer turns 85… Author, best known for her 1993 autobiographical memoir Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen turns 77… Television personality (former host of “Double Dare”), known professionally as Marc Summers, Marc Berkowitz turns 74… Founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Ken Grossman turns 71… Founder and president of D.C.-based Plurus Strategies, David Leiter… President at American Built-in Closets in South Florida, Perry Birman… Aish HaTorah teacher in Los Angeles, author and co-founder of a gourmet kosher cooking website, Emuna Braverman… Talk show host and founder of Talkline Communications, Zev Brenner turns 67… Philanthropist and founder of Portage Partners, Michael Leffell… Professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Steven M. Nadler turns 67… Former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, he served as a counsel for the Democrats during the first Trump impeachment, Amb. Norman Eisen turns 65… Russian-born entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist, Yuri Milner turns 64… Founder and executive director of Los Angeles-based IKAR, Melissa Balaban… Former Israeli Police commissioner, Kobi Shabtai turns 61… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Orly Levy-Abekasis turns 52… Tel Aviv-born actor and screenwriter, he is best known for his roles in “The Young and the Restless” and “NCIS,” Eyal Podell turns 50… Former Pentagon policy official, now vice president of the American Jewish Committee’s Center for a New Middle East, Anne Rosenzweig Dreazen turns 43… Defender for the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer, Daniel Steres turns 35… Formerly the finance director at the campaign for Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA), now a deployment strategist at GovWell, Shelly Tsirulik… Survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he has become an advocate against gun violence and recently launched his congressional campaign for the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Cameron Kasky turns 25…

• Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will visit the White House today, becoming the first Syrian head of state to do so. More below.
• White House advisor Jared Kushner met today in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Aryeh Lightstone, senior advisor to White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
• Columbia University’s School of International and Political Affairs is hosting a discussion on the slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s legacy, 30 years after his assassination. Speakers include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Columbia’s acting President Claire Shipman and SIPA’s Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo.
• The Anti-Defamation League’s annual Concert Against Hate is taking place this evening and will honor Marion Ein Lewin, Holocaust survivor, health policy leader, advocate and educator; Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund; Wesley Seidner, a senior at Oakton High School in Fairfax County, Va.; and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Emily jacobs and marc rod

The firebombing of a hostage-release march in Boulder, Colo., this summer triggered a wave of calls from lawmakers — particularly Republicans — for action to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.

Legislation to that effect was introduced in both the Senate and House in July, taking a new approach to designating the group as compared to previous legislative efforts that had stalled over the course of the last decade.

The legislation would require the imposition of sanctions on the Muslim Brotherhood, making it illegal to provide support to the group, making its members and affiliates inadmissible to the United States and blocking transactions involving assets held by Muslim Brotherhood members in U.S. financial institutions.

There were also calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for the Trump administration to investigate the group and take action to designate it through executive authorities. The secretary of state has the authority to designate a group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), and the White House could issue an executive order on the subject.

But so far, none of those efforts have come to fruition. The Senate bill currently sits at 11 co-sponsors, having recently picked up Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) as its first Democratic supporter, while the House bill has 19 co-sponsors from both parties — below the levels of support previous iterations of the bill had amassed.

Fetterman’s co-sponsorship could help the bill receive consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as the panel often only considers legislation with bipartisan support. A source familiar with the matter tells JI that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the bill’s co-sponsor in the Senate and a member of the committee, is pushing for the panel to mark up the bill at their next business meeting. 

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

What Mamdani Could Do: Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Ari Hoffnung, ADL’s senior advisor on corporate advocacy who served as deputy comptroller of New York City, lay out how Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani could “weaponize” city funds to “carry out his anti-Zionist agenda,” in the New York Post. “His most consequential lever is the city’s $300 billion pension system: The mayor appoints trustees across each of the five pension boards. Mamdani or his appointees could pressure the boards to divest from companies linked to Israel, including major firms like Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Lockheed Martin, all long targeted by BDS activists. … Procurement represents another powerful lever. Many of the companies targeted by the BDS movement — Dell, Microsoft, Motorola and others — are deeply embedded in the infrastructure that keeps New York running. The city holds contracts worth about $400 million with Dell, $300 million with Motorola and $100 million with Microsoft — covering everything from laptops in the schools to police and emergency communications. Walking away from those partnerships under the banner of ‘human rights’ might make for good headlines but would dramatically punish our nation’s largest city: disrupting services, inflating costs and compromising public safety.” [NYPost]

The New New Antisemitism: In Tablet, David Reaboi examines how speakers and attendees at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s 40th anniversary leadership summit grappled with the issue of growing antisemitism on the right. “The confusion on display wasn’t unique to the RJC; it reflects a broader failure of imagination across Jewish institutional life. For decades, antisemitism was something safely external: a pathology of the far left, the campus fringe, or hostile regimes abroad. What’s emerging now is different. The new antisemitism speaks the language of patriotism, faith, and anti-elitism; it arrives disguised as cultural critique. It’s a theory of how the world works. To an audience conditioned by cable news, it sounds insightful rather than bigoted. Inside the ballroom, there was no framework for understanding this shift. Politicians could condemn hate, but they couldn’t recognize it when it wore their party’s colors.” [Tablet]

The Right’s Heritage: In his “Commonplace” Substack, Oren Cass warns that the infamous video by Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, defending Tucker Carlson’s interview with neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes is a symptom of a larger problem endangering the conservative movement. “What’s a little monarchism, race science, and misogyny among friends? In theory, to quote Roberts, ‘when we disagree with a person’s thoughts and opinions, we challenge those ideas and debate.’ But in practice, as his next sentence clarifies, ‘we have seen success in this approach as we continue to dismantle the vile ideas of the Left.’ And only the Left. Vile ideas on the Right see little challenge — wouldn’t want to ‘sow division,’ after all, like the Jews, sorry, like that venomous coalition of globalists serving another country’s agenda. When you spend enough time in the fever swamp, even if you think you’re just hanging out on the bank, that is how you find yourself talking.” [Commonplace]

Cornell University agreed to conduct “annual surveys to evaluate the campus climate for students, including the climate for students with shared Jewish ancestry” as part of an agreement it reached with the Trump administration on Friday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports… 

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, the new executive chairman of Israeli spyware company NSO Group, hopes to use his ties to the Trump administration to help rebuild the company’s U.S. business, he told The Wall Street Journal, after the Biden administration placed the company on an export-prohibition list in 2021…

Michael Blake, the New York assemblyman mounting a primary challenge against Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), scrubbed posts showing his support for AIPAC and participation at the group’s events from his social media accounts. Blake’s campaign has been attacking Torres for the congressman’s support of Israel and ties to AIPAC despite his own prior support and ties…

Mexican security agencies foiled a plot last summer by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico, Einat Kranz Neiger, U.S. and Israeli security officials revealed…

The Wall Street Journal chronicles the rise and fall of Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, through his redirecting of the organization’s policy priorities and current controversy over his defense of Tucker Carlson. The story noted that Roberts encouraged employees working on Ukraine policy to watch Carlson’s monologues, which were rife with conspiracy theories about the war, to delete past tweets in support of Ukraine aid and to write papers reflecting the new, more isolationist policy that he had embraced…

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into the anti-Israel activist group Code Pink for acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the Chinese government and providing “material support to foreign terrorist organizations,” the Washington Free Beacon reports…

The Free Press publishes an excerpt from Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) memoir, Unfettered, which will be released tomorrow, in which he reflects on the deep depression he fell into following his stroke… 

The Wall Street Journal introduces key players in New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s inner circle, some of whom are “in line for key roles in his administration”…

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani says he’s seeking to distance his country from both Iranian and U.S. influence, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of Iraq’s Tuesday election where he’s seeking a second term…

Reporting from the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Politico‘s Sam Sutton explores the “cross-pollination between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia’s political and commercial enterprises,” and the rise of top-down capitalism in both countries…

Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, and Deborah Turness, head of BBC News, resigned on the heels of the publication of an internal report accusing the British national broadcaster of bias, including in its coverage of the war in Gaza and the way it edited a speech by President Donald Trump…

The New York Times spotlights the continuing isolation of Israeli academics even after the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel…

The head of Germany’s Jewish community has warned about potential risks to the Jewish community due to rising support for the far-right party Alternative for Germany in the country’s eastern states…

Ruby and Hagit Chen salute their son Itay’s grave at the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv at his funeral on Sunday. Itay Chen, an American Israeli IDF soldier who was 19, served in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 75th Battalion and was killed in battle with terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, and kidnapped to Gaza. His body was returned to Israel last Tuesday.

Actress and producer, Zoey Francis Chaya Thompson Deutch turns 31…

Manager of the Decatur, Ga.-based Connect Hearing, Murray Kurtzberg… One of the four deans of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J., Rabbi Yerucham Olshin turns 82… Professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, he is a co-founder of Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D. turns 82… Energy consultant, president and CEO of K Street Alternative Energy Strategies, LLC, Howard Marks turns 81… Former executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles, now the executive director of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, Raphael J. Sonenshein, Ph.D. turns 76… Israeli journalist, Elli Wohlgelernter turns 72… Chief administrative officer at the Legacy Heritage Fund, Elaine Weitzman… ESPN’s longest-tenured “SportsCenter” anchor, Linda Cohn turns 66… Rabbi at Temple Beth Kodesh in Boynton Beach, Fla., Michael C. Simon… Professor at Bar-Ilan University, Adam Ferziger turns 61… Senior rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles, Ken Chasen turns 60… Former MLB right-fielder for 14 seasons, he founded Greenfly, a software firm for sports and entertainment organizations, Shawn Green turns 53… National security editor at The Washington Post, Benjamin Pauker… President of Democratic Majority for Israel, Brian Paul Romick turns 49… Co-founder in 2004 of Yelp, where he remains the CEO, Jeremy Stoppelman turns 48… Executive director of the Ruderman Family Foundation, Shira Menashe Ruderman… Chief investigative reporter at ABC News, Josh Margolin turns 46… Senior advisor on the public health team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Jean B. Weinberg… YouTube personality, he came to fame as a child actor on Nickelodeon, Josh Peck turns 39… 

Editor’s note: Daniel Naroditsky, whom we featured in the “Birthdays” section of Friday’s Daily Kickoff, died on Oct. 20. We apologize for the error. 

• On Sunday, the Zionist Organization of America will hold its annual gala, where it will present awards to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY); Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter; Leo Terrell, head of the Department of Justice’s antisemitism task force; Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon; and philanthropists Irit and Jonathan Tratt. 
• Stefanik will be announcing her campaign for New York governor today, setting up a battle against Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat. Stefanik, who led the fight against campus antisemitism in Congress, is expected to make democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City a major attack line against Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani in the mayoral race.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, who turns 95 today, isn’t necessarily a household name — but is one of the more consequential figures in Jewish political history, as the first Holocaust survivor elected to Congress and one of the most prominent Jewish Republicans during a golden period of Jewish representation on Capitol Hill.

Boschwitz now holds the distinction of being the oldest living elected senator, and remains active in political and business life from his home in Plymouth, Minn. He spoke on the phone to Jewish Insider this week about his life story, legacy and thoughts about our current political moment.

Boschwitz was born in Berlin in 1930. On the day that Hitler took power in 1933, Boschwitz’s father came home and told his family they would be leaving Germany forever. He arrived in the United States in 1935 with his family, completed college at the age of 19, started a retail lumber business and quickly made a career in business and, later, politics. 

He was elected as a Republican to the Senate in 1978, scoring an upset against the state’s former Gov. Wendell Anderson. He served there for 12 years, eventually losing reelection in 1990 to Democrat Paul Wellstone.

“When I came to the Senate, I was really the first Jewish conservative that many of my colleagues really met. They hadn’t met many Jewish Republicans at all. I think we had a hand in building some of the pro-Israel feelings now,” Boschwitz told JI. (During the 1980s, four other Jewish GOP senators would end up serving alongside him.)

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

The GOP Battle Over Bigotry: Author Jamie Kirchick argues in The Washington Post that the fight on the right over Tucker Carlson is a microcosm of deeper moral and ideological fault lines in the GOP.  “Carlson’s promotion of [neo-Nazi Nick] Fuentes was a signal moment in the former Fox News star’s moral atrophy. It also has forced an overdue reckoning on the American right. For far too long, the problem of antisemitism has been allowed to fester there because too many conservatives have been reluctant to speak out against its chief propagator … Stalinists and Holocaust deniers like Fuentes are perfectly entitled to spew their nonsense on street corners, through self-published manifestos or in online livestreams. What they are not entitled to is the imprimatur of purportedly respectable institutions whose reputations hinge upon the voices they choose to amplify.” [WashPost]

Teshuva at Heritage: William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, calls on the Heritage Foundation, a place he called a “second home,” to engage in “repentance” in the Washington Times. “Heritage’s decision to defend Mr. Carlson marks a dangerous turning point. An organization that once modeled moral seriousness now tolerates moral confusion. The one that built its reputation on defending Western civilization now aligns itself with those who undermine it. … It pains me to say it, but a relationship that began for me over four decades ago now stands on the edge of breaking. If Heritage cannot right its ship, that long relationship will end. Institutions that trade moral clarity for populist rage do not endure. … Mr. Roberts and Heritage must decide whether they still believe in moral clarity. They can stand for decency, admit error and reaffirm that antisemitism never belongs in conservative thought. Or they can let their silence define them as collaborators in decline.” [WashingtonTimes]

The Mamdani Doctrine: Zineb Riboua, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, writes in The Free Press about New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s worldview. “I grew up amid the lingering echoes of decolonization, which continue to mold perceptions of justice and power, albeit less overtly than in the West. From high school onward, Third World rhetoric permeated everyday discourse on climate change, Palestine, or inequality. The issues evolve, but the lens persists — a moral binary logic that divides the powerful from the powerless. … What Mamdani represents is not a new movement but a continuation of this sensibility. His stances on housing, policing, and Palestine project global anti-imperial archetypes onto contemporary New York City politics. The landlord morphs into the colonizer, the tenant into the colonized. The New York City Police Department becomes the occupier. The city’s streets serve as metaphorical battlegrounds in the decolonization process. Mamdani’s movement transcends socialism, unmoored from class or ownership, and eludes Islamism, unbound by theocratic aims. Here, Islam serves as an emblem of subjugation with universal resonance, a faith recast as resistance against Western dominance.” [FreePress]

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, in an interview with Semafor, revealed he had a “healthy dialogue” with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the wake of Mamdani’s win where the two “agreed to disagree” on some issues. Shapiro also commented on the ongoing “conservative infighting over antisemitism”: “I don’t share a lot in common ideologically or on the issues with Sen. [Ted] Cruz,” but Cruz “did the right thing by speaking out against [Nick] Fuentes and [Tucker] Carlson and the Heritage Foundation and others”…

In another interview with Puck, Shapiro commented on the shifting opinions on Israel in the Democratic Party: “I don’t pay attention to shifting political winds. I try and do what I think is right, and say what I believe. … I believe in Israel, but I don’t like the direction that it’s going under Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership”…

Two top advisors to Mamdani, Ali Najmi and Elle Bisgaard-Church, attended a Somos reception in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council and UJA-Federation of New York. “We are here to represent the transition with the Jewish community, and we’re so happy to be here,” Najmi, a Mamdani confidante who serves as chief counsel to the mayor-elect’s transition team, told JI’s Matthew Kassel. “We see so many good friends and old friends, and we’re so looking forward to our new friends, and the food was great here”…

Spotted at the JCRC-UJA Federation event: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Brad Lander, Alex Bores, Lincoln Restler, Kalman Yeger, Mark Treyger, Micah Lasher, Michael Miller, Leon Goldenberg, Josh Mehlman, Sara Forman, Jason Koppel, Yeruchim Silber, Menashe Shapiro, Joel Eisdorfer, Jacob Eisdorfer, Daniel Rosenthal, Hindy Poupko, Mercedes Narcisse, Sandy Nurse, Eddie Gibbs, Thomas DiNapoli, Noam Gilboord…

Federal prosecutors are conducting a corruption investigation into a foreign trip taken by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel E. Bowser with members of her staff that was paid for by Qatar, The New York Times reports…

A new course on “Gender, Reproduction, and Genocide” in Gaza was introduced at Princeton University, taught by a scholar who was briefly arrested for incitement while teaching at Hebrew University in Jerusalem for her inflammatory rhetoric about Israel, which has included calling for the end of the Jewish state…

The Israeli government has hired firms to conduct public diplomacy campaigns, including outreach to evangelical Christians and boosting search results on AI services like ChatGPT, Haaretz reports. The firms and experts hired seem to indicate a focus on amplifying pro-Israel messages among the American right… 

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted on Thursday to advance legislation eliminating loopholes used by museums and other stakeholders to continue possessing Nazi-looted artwork that Jewish families have been trying to recover since the end of World War II. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked during the vote that their names be added as co-sponsors to the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, led by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)…

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Ideologically Motivated Violence Accountability Act, which would provide sentencing enhancements for crimes committed “wholly or in part because of the victim’s actual or perceived political or religious beliefs, affiliation, expression, or activity” or to “make a public statement concerning any political or religious belief, practice, institution, group, ideology, event or public figure”…

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a Senate candidate, and Del. James Moylan (R-Guam) introduced a bill requiring a “whole-of-government strategy to interrupt cooperation among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea”…

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is expected to step down from his position next week, with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter taking over some of his responsibilities regarding ties with the Trump administration…

The Treasury Department announced sanctions today against members of Hezbollah’s “finance team” who “oversee the movement of funds from Iran” in an effort to support the Lebanese government’s moves to disarm the terror group…

The University of Maryland, College Park student government unanimously passed two resolutions hostile towards Israel on Wednesday night, including one that called for the school to ban members of the Israel Defense Forces from speaking on campus, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Pope Leo XIV met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday at the Vatican and the two discussed “an urgent need to provide assistance to the civilian population in Gaza and to end the conflict by pursuing a two-State solution,” according to a statement by the Holy See…

A covert operation reportedly carried out by Qatar sought to find evidence tying the woman who made sexual abuse allegations against Karim Khan, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, to Israel; according to documents obtained by The Guardian, no such connection was found…

Two 19-year-olds from Montclair, N.J., were arrested on Tuesday on accusations of participating in an ISIS-inspired terror group, with one allegedly planning a Boston-bombing-style attack…

French police arrested four protesters who repeatedly disrupted an Israel Philharmonic Orchestra concert in Paris on Thursday…

British authorities arrested 11 people amid protests surrounding Wednesday’s highly politicized soccer match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Birmingham, after police banned Maccabi fans from attending the game. Aston Villa won 2-0…

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a 70-year-old Iranian American Jewish man from New York to two years in prison for traveling to Israel 13 years ago to celebrate his son’s bar mitzvah…

Former Vice President Mike Pence announced his forthcoming book, What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience, will be released June 2, 2026…

Ye, formerly Kanye West, met with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, an influential Orthodox rabbi who serves as the chief rabbi of Morocco, to apologize for his repeated extreme antisemitic remarks. “I feel really blessed to sit here and take accountability. I was dealing with various issues. I was dealing with bipolar also, so I would take the ideas I had and forget about the protection of the people around me and myself”…

The Wall Street Journal interviews Ruth Porat, the Jewish chief investment officer and president of Google and its parent company, Alphabet…

The Financial Times details the unraveling of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious megacity project, The Line, now with a significantly reduced vision, due to finance and physical constraints…

Singapore announced it will replace its fleet of Hermes 450 drones, used by the Singapore Air Force for 20 years, with the Hermes 900 model, produced by Israel’s Elbit Systems. Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in separate meetings in Jerusalem on Thursday focused on boosting ties between the two countries…

FIFA announced the creation of a FIFA Peace Prize which will “recognize exceptional actions for peace,” which it intends to present to its recipient, rumored to be President Donald Trump, at the World Cup draw in Washington on Dec. 5…

Israeli American citizen Capt. Omer Neutra was laid to rest this morning at the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv after his body was returned to Israel from Gaza on Sunday. Neutra was killed and kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. The 21-year-old Long Island native, an IDF tank commander, was among the first soldiers to respond to the attack, serving near the community of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. 

Journalist and pioneering podcaster, he is the creator and host of “How I Built This” and “Wisdom from the Top,” Guy Raz turns 50 on Sunday…

FRIDAY: Neuropsychiatrist, a 1944 graduate of Yeshivah of Flatbush and 2000 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, Eric Kandel turns 96…Former U.S. senator from Minnesota, he later served on the boards of AIPAC and JINSA, Rudy Boschwitz turns 95… MIT professor in electrical engineering and computer science, Barbara Liskov turns 86… Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, he was the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Donald Kohn turns 83… University professor at Harvard, expert on Shakespeare, he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Stephen Greenblatt turns 82… Founding president of Santa Monica, Calif., synagogue, Kehilat Maarav, and senior partner in the West Los Angeles law firm of Selvin & Weiner, Beryl Weiner turns 82… Past international president of the FJMC International (formerly the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs), Thomas “Tom” Sudow turns 73… Entrepreneur, bar owner and television personality, Jonathan “Jon” Peter Taffer turns 71… Constituent affairs representative and community liaison for Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Laurie Tobias Cohen… Volunteer coordinator for the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, Marcy Meyers… President and CEO of the Boston-based Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action, Cindy Rowe… Funeral director at Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Michael R. Holub… Director, writer and showrunner of the legal drama series “Suits,” Aaron Thomas Korsh turns 59… Former professional racing driver, now CEO of McLaren Racing, Zakary Challen Brown turns 54… Chairman and CEO of luxury apparel company Canada Goose, Dani Reiss turns 52… European casino owner, art collector and CEO of Vestar Group, Leon Tsoukernik turns 52… Deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Aryeh Yitzhak King turns 52… Founder and director of Eden Village Camp, an environmental Jewish summer camp based in New York, Yoni Stadlin… and his twin brother, rabbi, wilderness guide, experiential educator and artist, Pesach Stadlin, both turn 47… EVP of communications at NBC Universal, Jennifer B. Friedman… Reporter for Sportico focused on the business of college sports, Daniel Libit… Baseball outfielder, he won two minor league batting titles, Brian Horwitz turns 43… Consultant for family foundations, he holds two graduate degrees in Nursing, Avi Zenilman… Northeast regional deputy director at AIPAC, Alexa Jordan Silverman… National political reporter at Politico, Elena Schneider… Founder and CEO emeritus at Swipe Out Hunger, Rachel Sumekh… Toronto-native, he is the founder and CEO of Count Me In, a global youth empowerment organization, Shane Feldman… Co-founder and CEO at Moneta Labs Limited, Tomer Aharonovitch…

SATURDAY: U.S. attorney for New Jersey, then a U.S. District Court judge, now a criminal defense attorney, Herbert Jay Stern turns 89… Actress, comedian and writer, she played the recurring role of Doris Klompus on “Seinfeld,” her solo theater shows include “Yenta Unplugged” and “The Yenta Cometh,” Annie Korzen turns 87… French heiress, pediatrician, businesswoman and philanthropist, Léone-Noëlle Meyer turns 86… Former CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, he was a senior White House aide to President Bill Clinton, Ira C. Magaziner turns 78… Leader of the Sephardic baal teshuva movement in Israel, Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak turns 72… Senior managing director and global head of government relations for Blackstone, Wayne Berman turns 69… COO at Forsight, Michael Sosebee… Emirati businessman, developer of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, Mohamed Alabbar turns 69… Health-care executive, venture capitalist and real estate developer, Daniel E. Straus turns 69… Financial consultant at Retirement Benefits Consulting, Michelle Feinberg Silverstein… Israel’s former minister of defense, Yoav Gallant turns 67…  Television producer, she is the co-author of Sheryl Sandberg’s 2013 book Lean In, Helen Vivian “Nell” Scovell turns 65… NYC area attorney, Charles “Chesky” Wertman… Principal at Lore Strategies, Laurie Moskowitz… Popular Israeli female vocalist in the Mizrahi music genre, Zehava Ben turns 57… Board member at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Allison Gingold… Sports journalist for TelevisaUnivision Deportes Network, he was born in Ashkelon, Israel, and has covered both the World Cup and the Summer Olympics, David Moshé Faitelson turns 57… Professional poker player and fashion designer, Beth Shak turns 56… Founder of Ayecha, Yavilah McCoy turns 53… Congregational rabbi in Paris and co-leader of the Liberal Jewish Movement of France, Delphine Horvilleur turns 51… Kyiv-born CEO of Gold Star Financial Group including sports management, mortgage lending, publishing, film production and venture capital, Daniel Milstein turns 50… Israeli singer, Lior Narkis turns 49… Senior Director for Global Policy and Defense Cooperation at Saronic Technologies, Mira Kogen Resnick turns 43… Canadian entrepreneur and president of Shopify, Harley Finkelstein turns 42… Director of high school affairs at the American Jewish Committee, Aaron Bregman… Principal at Bayit Consulting, he is active in both the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Israel Policy Forum, Roei Eisenberg turns 38… Film and television actor, Jared Kusnitz turns 37…Consultant on media, strategic communications, branding and podcast production, Alana Weiner… Student at Johns Hopkins University in the Class of 2026, Cameron Elizabeth Fields…

SUNDAY: Israeli novelist and playwright, she is the mother of former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Shulamit Lapid turns 91… British businessman and philanthropist, formerly chairman of Lloyds Bank, a major U.K. bank, Sir Maurice Victor Blank turns 83… Professional baseball manager in the minor leagues and college, he managed Team Israel in 2016 and 2017, Jerry Weinstein turns 82… Israeli war hero and longtime past member of the Knesset, Zevulun Orlev turns 80… Principal of Los Angeles-based PR and public affairs firm Cerrell Associates, Hal Dash… San Diego-based media developer, Daniel Ajzen… Mitchell Bedell… Founder of the Etz Chaim Center of Jewish Studies in Baltimore, Rabbi Shlomo Porter turns 76… Former deputy national security advisor for President Donald Trump, Charles Martin Kupperman turns 75… Former U.S. senator (D-OH) and current candidate for the U.S. Senate, Sherrod Brown turns 73… Senior producer at NBC Nightly News, Joel Seidman… Political consultant and fundraiser, founder of “No Labels,” Nancy Jacobson turns 63… Executive director of Los Angeles-based Remember Us: The Holocaust Bnai Mitzvah Project, Samara Hutman… Professor of journalism and media studies at Fordham University, Amy Beth Aronson turns 63… Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, Douglas C. Gessner… Partner at Covington & Burling specializing in export controls and sanctions, he was previously the assistant secretary of commerce for export administration during the Bush 43 administration, Peter Lichtenbaum turns 60… Chairman and CEO of Sky Harbour, he is an American-born Israeli fighter pilot and author of a 2018 book on the future of Judaism, Tal Keinan turns 56… Grammy Award-winning record producer specializing in comedy, Dan Schlissel turns 55… Founding CEO of OneTable, she retired as CEO in 2024, Aliza Kline… Associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court since 2015, despite being legally blind since birth as a result of retinitis pigmentosa, Richard H. Bernstein turns 51… Israeli singer and actress, Maya Bouskilla turns 48… Co-founder and executive director of the States Project, he was elected the youngest member of the New York state Senate in 2008, serving until 2017, Daniel Squadron turns 46… COO at Orchestra, a PR and communications firm, David Levine… Singer, songwriter and rapper, Ari Benjamin Lesser turns 39… Army JAG officer, Matthew Adam McCoy…

• The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate (formerly the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism) is hosting its second Sports Leaders Convening at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts today. The full-day event will feature Robert Kraft, the organization’s CEO and owner of the New England Patriots; Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League; Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel International; Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network; and leaders from major sports leagues.
• The 2025 Somos Conference, drawing New York Democrats to gather in Puerto Rico, continues today. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is expected to attend, beginning his visit tonight with a cocktail reception hosted by New York Attorney General Letita James. JI correspondent Matthew Kassel is at the conference — send any New York political tips his way. 
• This morning, the Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a nomination hearing for Alex Velez-Green to be deputy under secretary of defense for policy, coming days after committee lawmakers blasted the Pentagon office and its head, Elbridge Colby, during a contentious hearing for failing to communicate with them. 
• The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, a bill aimed at eliminating loopholes used by museums to possess Nazi-looted artwork that Jewish families have been trying to recover.
• The Edlavitch Jewish Community Center in Washington is beginning a run today screening the movie “The Floaters.” Read JI’s coverage of how the movie came together here.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar and matthew shea

In addition to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s race, we’ve been spotlighting two other mayoral contests where socialist, anti-Israel candidates were running competitively against more traditionally liberal standard-bearers: in Minneapolis and Seattle. 

If Mamdani’s bare 50% majority in the three-way race signaled that a far-left candidate could prevail in a deep-blue city — even while dividing the Democratic Party — the underperformance of the two other far-left challengers on big-city ballots underscores the limited appetite even deep-blue constituencies have for radical politics. 

In Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey won reelection to a third term over Democratic Socialists of America-affiliated state Sen. Omar Fateh. The race was close: While Frey held a substantial 10-point lead in the first round of balloting, he narrowly secured a victory by six points (50-44%) in the second round of the city’s ranked-choice election system. 

Fateh formed an alliance with two other left-wing candidates in the race, but ultimately enough people who didn’t back Frey in the first round chose him as a second or third preference.

Fateh, a progressive affiliated with the DSA, has accused Israel of committing genocide, among other anti-Israel views, and campaigned with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who remains one of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress. 

Members of Fateh’s staff had also expressed hostile views towards Israel; his communications manager, Ayana Smith-Kooiman, said in a series of now-deleted social media posts that Israel “does not have a ‘right’ to exist” and “must be dismantled,” and said she did not care about Hamas a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks — statements that drew rebuke from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). 

The outcome is also looking favorable for the more-moderate incumbent in Seattle — though far from certain. Mayor Bruce Harrell, who trailed his socialist challenger Katie Wilson during the summer primary, is now leading her in the general election by eight points, 54-46%, with more than three-quarters of votes tallied. 

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

Steer Clear of Mamdani: The center-left Democratic Party think tank Third Way urged national Democrats “to resist the pressure to align” with the politics and agenda of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, offering 10 reasons why doing so “will fail in tough races.” “The DSA platform is extreme and is a Republican ad maker’s dream: Just a glance at the DSA platform makes clear how politically toxic it would be to any voter not deeply in the sway of socialist ideology. … Indeed, the Mayor-elect’s affiliation with the DSA is already being weaponized against his fellow Democrats, as Republicans have declared him to be their ‘single most effective foil’ as they seek to paint Democrats across the country as radicals. … Mainstream Democrats ran authentic campaigns and won big without being socialists: Two moderate Democrats, Abigail Spanberger (VA) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ) delivered historic victories in key gubernatorial races, with Spanberger flipping Virginia from red to blue. … While they shared Mamdani’s focus on addressing affordability, both Spanberger and Sherrill did so with ideas and narratives drawn from the center left, not the far left.” [ThirdWay]

The Fuentes Feud: The New York Times’ Ross Douthat argues that the older generation of conservatives have a role to play in constraining the younger, “groyper” antisemitic strain on the right. “Whatever share of Capitol Hill interns or think tank employees are actually Fuentes sympathizers, this is the scenario the institutional right needs to avoid right now: preventing radicalized junior staffers from steamrolling or puppeteering nominal superiors. But this isn’t just a matter of imposing discipline; the older generation also has to understand where the radical ideas are coming from, the true shape of the debate. You aren’t going to out-debate Fuentes himself — that’s not the business he’s in — but you still want to understand the chain of ideas that draws younger right-wingers toward antisemitism, and offer adult wisdom that’s responsive to its pull.” [NYTimes]

Kippah Quandary: Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, writes in The Wall Street Journal about his decision to hide his kippah under a hat in anticipation of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral race. “The reason openly identifiable Jews can walk around safely wearing religious garb is the social compact. There is an understanding that people will behave appropriately and that there are consequences for misbehavior. One reason for the spate of attacks on religious Jews in New York in recent years has been the belief that antisemitic assaults won’t be punished. … My fear is that Mayor Mamdani will encourage even more impunity. His antipathy to Israel, and his tacit support for ‘globalizing the intifada,’ may send a signal to the New York City Police Department that protecting Jews won’t be a priority for the city. That in turn could send another signal to people on the streets of New York — that it is open season on Jews.” [WSJ]

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named his transition team on Wednesday, an all-female group of advisors with experience in city government but lacking backgrounds in education and public safety, as has historically been included in mayors’ transition teams…

Robert Tucker, the Jewish commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, resigned, The New York Post reports, hours before he was set to fly to Israel to meet his counterpart there…

The Wall Street Journal considers the economics behind Mamdani’s largest campaign promises, including a state corporate tax hike, a “millionaires tax,” universal child care and rent stabilization…

The Times of Israel’s Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz rejects the argument that Mamdani’s victory is based on local issues and unconnected to his anti-Israel positions, describing it as “delusional”…

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, citing the “increasing incivility and plain nastiness” in politics and rise of political violence. Golden is one of the few House Democrats to represent a district that President Donald Trump carried in the 2024 presidential election, and his district is now a prime GOP pickup opportunity…

Former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Michael Blake announced a primary campaign against Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and plans to run as an anti-Israel Democrat…

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz met Tuesday with Palestinian diplomats in New York to discuss a U.S.-sponsored U.N. Security Council resolution laying out an international security force to be deployed to Gaza, Axios reports. The U.S. is reportedly looking to bring it to a vote at the UNSC within two weeks…

The U.S. is seeking to strike a deal over dozens of Hamas terrorists “stuck” in tunnels on the Israeli side of the “yellow line” dividing Gaza, providing them safe passage to the Hamas-controlled side and amnesty in exchange for their disarmament, Axios reports…

The U.S. is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus in order to advance a security agreement between Syria and Israel, sources told Reuters…

An event with IDF veterans hosted by Students Supporting Israel at Toronto Metropolitan University yesterday was stormed by anti-Israel protesters, causing one person to be injured. The university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had publicized the event on social media, calling on its followers to demonstrate against it…

The body of Joshua Loitu Mollel, a Tanzanian citizen and agronomy student who was killed and kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, was returned to Israel by Hamas last night…  

Recently released hostage Rom Braslavski said he was sexually assaulted by his captors in Gaza, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13 “Hazinor” program…

An Afghan national was arrested in Denmark on Wednesday on suspicion of promising to acquire weapons for an Iranian-backed attack on Jewish targets in Germany…

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was named on Monday as the presenting partner for the inaugural America Business Forum, taking place now in Miami. President Donald Trump spoke at the event, which took place across the street from the future site of his presidential library, on Wednesday…

Saudi Arabia is in talks with Syria to build data cables to connect the Gulf state to Europe, according to Semafor…

Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Israel this week and discussed prospects for peace in the region. Balakrishnan also met with several Israeli lawmakers during his visit…

Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS fashion brand announced on Tuesday that it is entering the Israeli market through a partnership with the Ironi group, which owns Factory 54, and is set to open stores in Ramat Aviv Mall and Big Fashion Glilot, Israel Hayom reports…

Warner Bros. Discovery, under CEO David Zaslav, aims to decide by Christmas whether to sell the entire company or pursue a split. Paramount Skydance, according to NBC, has sent the WBD board multiple letters pressing for its $23.50 per share acquisition offer…

A Reddit rumor, flagged by Puck, claims that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has been planning to make a buyout offer for Warner Bros. to the tune of more than $70 billion…

Joel Pollak, formerly Breitbart’s senior editor-at-large, has been appointed as opinion editor of The New York Post’s new newspaper, The California Post…

Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team is facing off against the Dubai team today in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Round 9 of the EuroCup…

The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia last night honored Ambassador Amy Gutmann with the Only in America Award, lauding her “indelible contributions to our society.” 

“She has been an outspoken advocate for Israel, and steadfast in her forceful opposition to antisemitism, hate, and discrimination in all its forms,” the museum said of the former ambassador to Germany and president emerita of the University of Pennsylvania.

Pictured from left: Weitzman Chair Emeritus Phil Darivoff, Weitzman Co-chairs Sharon Tobin Kestenbaum and Mark Oster, former Ambassador David L. Cohen, University of Pennsylvania President Dr. Larry Jameson, Gutmann, Weitzman Museum President and CEO Dan Tadmor, museum namesake Stuart Weitzman, NBC News Chief Washington Correspondent and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, Chair of the Penn Board of Trustees Ramanan Raghavendran.

Leading teacher in the Breslov Hasidic movement in Israel, Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter turns 95… 

Belgian theoretical physicist, a Holocaust survivor and 2013 Nobel Prize laureate, François Englert turns 93… Former president and CEO of American Jewish World Service until 2016, prior to that she served as the Manhattan borough president, Ruth Wyler Messinger turns 85… Former commissioner of the Social Security Administration until 2021, Andrew Saul turns 79… Former aide to President Bill Clinton and a longtime advisor to Hillary Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal turns 77… Research scientist at NYU’s Langone Medical Center, Barbara Volsky turns 75… Senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, Joseph C. Shenker turns 69… Actress and cellist best known for her lead role in the 1984 film “Footloose” and the television series “Fame,” Lori Singer… and her twin brother, violinist, composer and conductor, he is the founder and music director of the Manhattan Symphonie, Gregory Singer both turn 68… Managing director of the NFL Players Association for 15 years until he retired five months ago, Ira Fishman turns 68… Editorial page editor and Op-Ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times until 2023, Nicholas Goldberg turns 67… Professional poker player from Las Vegas, he has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets and his total tournament winnings exceed $45.5 million, Erik Seidel turns 66… Founder of Nourish Snacks, she is the host of NBC’s “Health & Happiness” and author of 15 New York Times best-sellers, Joy Bauer turns 62… Philanthropist, she is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute, Laurene Powell Jobs turns 62… Principal and COO at Douglass Winthrop Advisors, Andrew S. Weinberg… SVP of investments in the Beverly Hills office of Raymond James, Seth A. Radow… Chairman at IDTFS Bank in Gibraltar, he is a partner in Covenant Winery, Geoffrey Rochwarger turns 55… Executive at Elliott Management, podcast host and author of Start-up Nation and The Genius of Israel, Dan Senor turns 54… Director of external affairs at the William Davidson Foundation, Kari Alterman… Film producer, together with her husband Robert Downey Jr., Susan Nicole Levin Downey turns 52… South Florida entrepreneur, Earl J. Campos-Devine… Head cantor of Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City, Yaakov (“Yanky”) Lemmer turns 42… and his younger brother, the first Hasidic Jew to sign a contract with a leading record label, Shulem Lemmer turns 36… Producer on the Ben Shapiro Show, Jake Pollack turns 30… Former baseball outfielder in the Orioles and Angels systems, he played for Team Israel in 2012 and is now a manager of business development at Robson Forensic, Robert Eric Widlansky turns 41…

• In New York, former Israeli hostage Emily Damari will sit in conversation this evening with Noa Tishby at Temple Emanu-El.
• The Jewish Institute for National Security of America’s U.S.-Israel national security summit begins today in Aventura, Fla.
• On the heels of last night’s election, New York Democrats are heading to Puerto Rico today for the 2025 Somos Conference. Will you be there? JI’s Matthew Kassel will be covering the conference — say hello if you see him.
• The two-day SALT conference kicks off today in London. Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci are among the speakers at the fintech-focused summit.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Democrats scored sweeping victories across the country yesterday, with moderate lawmakers comfortably winning governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, while a democratic socialist prevailed in the closely watched New York City mayoral contest. California overwhelmingly voted to redistrict its congressional maps, a response to efforts in some red states to reconfigure congressional maps to give the GOP an edge. 

The results underscore the widespread backlash to President Donald Trump’s polarizing governance in the first year of his second term in office, and indicate the likelihood that Democrats have momentum heading into next year’s midterm elections, where the party is looking to retake control of at least one branch of Congress.

In Virginia, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee, easily defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, the sitting lieutenant governor, by a double-digit margin (57-43%), bringing in a sizable Democratic majority in the state’s House of Delegates. Her victory was so sweeping that the Democrats’ scandal-plagued attorney general nominee Jay Jones, who was under fire for texts he sent several years ago wishing political violence against GOP colleagues, narrowly prevailed over the Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican.

In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) comfortably prevailed over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, outperforming polls suggesting a close race. With most of the vote reporting, Sherrill leads by a whopping 13-point margin, 56-43%. In Bergen County, a bellwether county with a significant Jewish population, Sherrill won over 55% of the vote, a dominant performance illustrating the breadth of her support.

In New York City, DSA-aligned Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani prevailed over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent, though by a narrower margin than polling suggested. Mamdani leads Cuomo by eight points, 50-42%, with Republican Curtis Sliwa only winning 7% of the vote. The outcome suggested that many GOP voters ended up switching their support to Cuomo, who won a last-minute endorsement from Trump.

The Jewish vote in New York City went heavily for Cuomo, 60-31%, according to the exit polling, but Mamdani won nearly one-third support despite a long record of anti-Israel hostility and refusal to condemn “globalize the intifada” rhetoric, among other positions that alienated the mainstream Jewish community.

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

Mamdani and the Machers: The New York Times’ Nicholas Fandos reports on New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s meetings with high-profile figures, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he looked to shore up support in the weeks prior to his election. “The [NYPD chief] appointment would be one of the most significant he would make, and Mr. Mamdani needed to know he would have a partner to implement a series of progressive reforms he had pitched for the Police Department. Ultimately, both Ms. Hochul and Mr. Mamdani came around. … Mr. Bloomberg had privately told associates over the summer he was done with Mr. Cuomo after spending more than $8 million to back him in the primary. Mr. Mamdani left the meeting thinking he had done enough to keep it that way. He was wrong. Angry over Mr. Mamdani’s comments on Israel and worried about his inexperience, Mr. Bloomberg ultimately sent $5 million to two super PACs attacking Mr. Mamdani and re-upped his endorsement of Mr. Cuomo — but did so only six days before Election Day.” [NYTimes]

No to the Groypers: In The Wall Street Journal, Ben Shapiro argues that the conservative movement in the U.S. is “at a crossroads” amid an ideological split within the Republican Party over its embrace of Tucker Carlson and platforming of Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. “The Republican Party, like the Democratic Party before it, is at risk of being eaten alive by fringe actors. To allow it is both morally unjustifiable and politically obtuse. Americans reject this garbage. If Republicans cower before Nazi apologists and their popularizers, the GOP will lose — and deserve to. Our answer must be no. No to the groypers and their publicists like Mr. Carlson. No to demoralization. No to bigotry and antimeritocratic nonsense. No to anti-Americanism. This is our country, our party and our conservative movement. We can’t stand by while it is fractured by those who betray our most fundamental principles. If we lose the right, then we will surely lose to the left — and either way, we will lose our country.” [WSJ]

If Rabin Were Alive…: In The Atlantic, Dennis Ross, who worked closely with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin while serving as the White House’s chief Middle East negotiator during the mid-1990s, considers how Rabin might have approached some of the country’s current challenges. “Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack and Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza have produced a mutual animosity that won’t soon disappear. But a more promising factor has also emerged: Arab states finally seem ready to assume some responsibility for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. … If Rabin were alive, he would spot this strategic opening and try to seize it. He would see in Trump’s 20-point peace plan an opportunity to rebuild a better Gaza and create a coalition with Arab states to oppose Iran and extremist forces in the region. Rabin would understand that Israel has to make some concessions to Palestinians in order to enhance the prospects of a regional coalition. But he would also require Palestinians to do their part by ensuring security and reforming the Palestinian Authority.” [TheAtlantic]

ABCs of Gaza Aid: In The Washington Post, Stony Brook University professor Todd Pittinsky calls for conditioning reconstruction aid to Gaza on education reforms in the enclave. “Every generation in Gaza grows up memorizing the language of martyrdom. Schools, summer camps, mosques and media channels work in concert to instill an uncompromising worldview: violence is virtuous, compromise is weakness and the annihilation of Israel is a sacred duty. Hamas’s rockets are the visible expression of decades of indoctrination of the next generation. Gaza’s children are the victims of this violent ideology. Few parents in London, Paris or Washington would tolerate their child being taught that violence is noble or that neighbors are subhuman. Yet the international community has subsidized precisely that curriculum for Palestinian children — and then has acted shocked when violence perpetuates itself. It’s time for that to end.” [WashPost]

President Donald Trump renominated Jared Isaacman to be NASA director, six months after pulling the Elon Musk ally’s initial nomination amid a spat with Musk…

The White House is seeking a full repeal of existing sanctions on Syria ahead of President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s meeting with Trump in Washington on Monday…

The Pentagon is advancing its consideration of a request from Saudi Arabia to purchase up to four dozen F-35 fighter jets; at a Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Israeli Security Cabinet member Avi Dichter said Israel is having discussions in Washington in which it is “shedding light on the threats” of the potential sale…

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is mulling a challenge to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA); if she enters the race, Pressley will also face Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who announced his bid for the seat last month…

The Justice Department ended its antitrust investigation into Assaf Rappaport’s Wiz, clearing a key hurdle in Google’s effort to purchase the cybersecurity company for $32 billion…

Millennium Management CEO Israel “Izzy” Englander sold roughly 15% — valued at $2 billion — of his stake in the company the 77-year-old founded in 1989…

The Telegraph reports on a leaked BBC memo regarding the findings of an internal investigation by Michael Prescott, who until June was an independent external advisor for the network; Prescott’s 19-page report found “systemic problems” in BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, which he said “pushed Hamas lies” and “minimised Israeli suffering”…

The New York Times interviews Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov about the torture and solitary confinement she endured over the two and a half years she was a hostage of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group in Iraq…

The U.N. Security Council voted to approve a resolution backing Morocco’s claim to the Western Sahara; the U.S., which led the measure, and 10 other countries voted in favor, while Russia, China and Pakistan abstained and Algeria voted no…

Israel received the remains of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, the last remaining American hostage, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while stationed along the Gaza border…

The Knesset is moving forward with legislation that would increase government oversight of the country’s media outlets…

Iran freed two French nationals who had been imprisoned in the country for more than three years; the couple had faced decades in prison after being convicted of espionage…

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said that Iran must “seriously improve” its cooperation with nuclear inspectors, who have not been permitted to access the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities that were damaged during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June…

Stanley Chesley, a class-action lawyer and philanthropist who prioritized Jewish causes and projects in his hometown of Cincinnati, died at 89, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…

Julie Fishman Rayman (right), the American Jewish Committee’s senior vice president of policy and political affairs, interviewed the Department of Justice’s Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division, on Tuesday at AJC’s National Leadership Council Advocacy Fly-In in Washington.

Israeli singer and survivor of the Nova Music Festival, she won second place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, Yuval Raphael turns 25…

Singer, poet and actor, best known as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, Art Garfunkel turns 84… Co-founder and chairman of Rexford Industrial Realty, Richard Ziman turns 83… Television and film critic, Jeffrey Lyons turns 81… French public intellectual, media personality and author, Bernard-Henri Lévy turns 77… Economist and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University where he remains a University Professor, Jeffrey Sachs turns 71… Israeli ceramic artist and sculptor, Daniela Yaniv-Richter turns 69… Psychologist and wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu turns 67… Director at The Gottesman Fund, Diane Bennett Eidman… Music producer and entertainment attorney, Kevon Glickman… Former prime minister of Israel, now leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid turns 62… Former regional director of AJC New York, now CEO at Healthcare Foundation of NJ, Michael Schmidt… Research division director for JewishGen USA, Ellen Shindelman Kowitt turns 58… Senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes turns 56… Host, anchor and correspondent for CBS News and CBS Sports, Dana Jacobson turns 54… General counsel of The Jewish Theological Seminary, Keath Blatt… Jerusalem-born pianist, she has performed with major orchestras worldwide, Orli Shaham turns 50… Director at the Domestic Policy Council in the first six months of the Trump 47 administration, now director  of federal education policy at America First Policy Institute, Max Eden turns 37… CEO and organizer of Los Angeles-based Aesthetics and Edits, Tara Khoshbin… Legal correspondent at Business Insider, Jacob Shamsian… Legislative assistant for Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Talia Katz…

• Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a towering figure in Republican politics who led the “war on terror,” died last night, his family said in a statement. Cheney, who was vice president for both of President George W. Bush’s terms, previously served as White House chief of staff, congressman representing Wyoming and secretary of defense. He was 84.
• It’s Election Day in a number of states and cities around the country. In New York City, voters head to the polls today to cast their ballots for mayor and city council. We’re also watching the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as the redistricting ballot initiative in California and the mayoral races in Minneapolis and Seattle. More below on the races to watch.
• In New York City, the World Zionist Organization and Temple Emanu-El are holding an event marking the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin’s grandson Jonathan Benartzi, Shalom Hartman Institute President Yehuda Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick and peace activist Alana Zeitchik are slated to speak.
• Elsewhere in New York, the La’Aretz Foundation is holding its third annual benefit to support Israeli families in crisis. Israel’s consul general in New York, Ambassador Ofir Akunis, is slated to give remarks at the event, which will include food by Eyal Shani and will include Israeli “spokeskid” Ben Carasso and a performance by an IDF soldier in an elite unit who is known only as “M.”

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

The stakes for Jewish voters are high for today’s off-year elections. All the major contests — in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia and California — are taking place in parts of the country where Jews make up a significant constituency. At a time when both parties are facing rising antisemitism in their own midst, we will be keeping a close eye on the results for trends affecting the Jewish community.

Here’s what we’ll be watching most closely:

New York City mayor: Polls consistently show Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani with a comfortable lead, but there’s less consensus on how decisive his winning margin will be. Most polls show Mamdani under 50%, though a few show him hitting a majority. Some show the combined anti-Mamdani vote — represented by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa — outpacing Mamdani’s share. 

Whether Mamdani surpasses a 50% majority will go a long way in determining how big his mandate will be. A narrower victory would mean that downballot Democrats — from members of Congress to local city council members — would have less to fear in response to the Mamdani movement.

President Donald Trump’s last-minute endorsement of Cuomo on Monday night could help the former Democratic governor pick off some Republican voters that had been leaning toward Sliwa. But for Cuomo to score an upset victory, he’d need to win over the vast majority of those Sliwa voters.

Pay close attention to the results in Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) heavily Jewish Manhattan district for signs of where the progressive-minded Jewish vote ends up landing. Cuomo won the first round of balloting over Mamdani in the district (37-33%), which includes the Upper East and Upper West Sides, but Mamdani narrowly prevailed in the final round of ranked-choice voting. Nadler notably backed Mamdani after his victory in the primary, but his district featured a significant share of backers for Brad Lander, the progressive city comptroller, as well. Cuomo will need a solid showing in Nadler’s district to do well.

New Jersey governor: The race between Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Republican Jack Ciattarelli is competitive, though Democrats hold a small edge, according to public polls. The county we’ll be watching closely as a bellwether is Bergen County in north Jersey, which has one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the state and saw a significant pro-Trump swing from 2020 to 2024.

It’s also home to Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), the pro-Israel stalwart in Congress who carried the county in the Democratic gubernatorial primary and campaigned with Sherrill at a Jewish event in his home base last month.

Former President Joe Biden won 57% of the vote in Bergen, while former Vice President Kamala Harris barely won a majority (51%). New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, won 53% of the Bergen County vote in his narrow victory over Ciattarelli in 2021. Ciattarelli would probably need an outright win in suburban Bergen to secure a victory.

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

Hamas’ Miscalculation: In The Wall Street Journal, Ophir Falk, who was a member of Israel’s hostage negotiation delegation, posits that Hamas’ decision to take hostages on Oct. 7, 2023, was ultimately what led the terror group to agree last month to a ceasefire that demands its disarmament. “The hostage-taking prevented the conflict from dissolving into the traditional false narratives about ‘occupation,’ ‘resistance’ and ‘apartheid.’ Despite strenuous efforts to turn reality on its head, including through bogus international lawfare, many saw the truth — innocent people being held hostage by a genocidal terrorist organization committed to murdering Jews. Even Israel’s harshest critics struggled to argue that a nation should abandon its captive citizens. The hostage-taking provided what decades of legitimate Israeli grievances couldn’t: a broadly recognized imperative that eventually overcame the propaganda. The Palestinians’ greatest weapon — the ability to manipulate international sympathy — turned against them.” [WSJ]

What BDS is Really About: In Real Clear Policy, John Finley, the senior managing director and chief legal officer of Blackstone, argues that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has reached an “inflection point” in the U.S. “The goals of BDS, in addition to seeking an end to the ‘occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall,’ are often cloaked in terms of either support for an undefined Palestinian liberation or Palestinian’s inalienable rights such as equality and an inclusive democracy that celebrates diversity. … The acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state is foundational to peace in the region because the rationale for Israel’s existence is inseparable from it being a Jewish state. There is no Israel without Zionism and there is no Zionism without Israel.” [RealClearPolicy]

Israel at a Crossroads: The New York Times’ David Halbfinger does a temperature check on the national mood in Israel, which just marked the 30th anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. “In conversations with ordinary Israelis, there is a palpable sense that the nation is at a crossroads — and not just over what to do about Gaza. Tens of thousands more people emigrated from Israel over the past year than immigrated to the country. Many Israelis across the political spectrum say they believe the election to be held sometime in the coming year will be climactic and decisive, with its outcome determining the future character of the country and whether more citizens will choose to stay or leave. … Much will hinge on what Mr. Netanyahu decides in the coming months: what he is pressured into doing or accepting, what he prioritizes above all else and what, at 76, he wants his legacy to be.” [NYTimes]

The U.S. is circulating a draft U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the establishment of an international security force in Gaza that would operate in the enclave through the end of 2027…

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard met with senior Israeli military officials during a surprise two-day visit to the country earlier this week…

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) blasted the New Jersey Education Association over plans for an anti-Israel “Teaching Palestine” session scheduled during the union’s conference taking place this week, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz discussed a wide range of security challenges facing Israel, outlining his long-term vision for confronting Iran, expanding regional defense cooperation and managing Gaza’s postwar recovery. Speaking at a web event hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Gantz called Iran a “global challenge and threat to the State of Israel” and proposed a five-point plan to ensure Iran’s abandonment of its nuclear ambitions by 2028, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports… 

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Reps. Andy Barr (R-TN) and Jefferson Shreve (R-IN) called for the U.S. government to designate the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad, also known as the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, as an affiliate of Hamas and a Specially Designated Terrorist group, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) said yesterday he would not seek reelection next year; Garcia’s chief of staff, Patty Garcia, filed paperwork to run for the seat hours before the Monday filing deadline, in what critics said was an effort to deny voters in the Illinois district a fair open primary…

A new poll released Monday by the Democratic Majority for Israel finds Democrats broadly support the ceasefire and hostage-release deal reached between Israel and Hamas and a majority of them think President Donald Trump played at least a “somewhat important role” in reaching the agreement, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports…

The Atlanta Braves named Walt Weiss as the team’s new manager, while the Miami Marlins promoted Gabe Kapler to become the team’s new general manager…

Far-right activist Laura Loomer, who is visiting Israel this week, received Pentagon press credentials, after the Defense Department instituted new, more stringent policies regarding press access…

The Washington Post reviews Jane Eisner’s biography of Carole King, which does a deep dive into the singer’s Jewish upbringing…

The World Zionist Congress reached a new tentative power-sharing deal that would see an even split between the center-left and center-right blocs in the control of the World Zionist Organization and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, said that 5 million of the approximately 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust have now been identified by name…

The Washington Post looks at the disagreement between Israel and the U.S. over Turkey’s potential role in post-war Gaza…

Israel released the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Monday following Hamas’ repatriation of the bodies of three Israeli soldiers who were killed on Oct. 7, 2023…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, who has led Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen for more than a decade as he has evaded multiple assassination attempts and directed the terror group’s destabilizing activity across the region…

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that nuclear negotiations with the U.S. would not be possible as long as Washington supports Israel and maintains military bases across the region…

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel addressed attendees at the opening VIP reception at the Nova Music Festival exhibition in Chicago last night. The traveling exhibition, which has run in New York, Washington, Boston, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, opens to the public today.

Professor at UCSF and winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in medicine, David Jay Julius turns 70… 

Professor emeritus of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University, Daniel Sperber turns 85… Vice-chairman emeritus of AllianceBernstein, he is a former chairman of the Tikvah Fund, Roger Hertog turns 84… Political scientist who has published works on grand strategy, military history and international relations, Edward Luttwak turns 83… Member of Congress and chair of the House Budget Committee until 2023, he was Kentucky’s first Jewish congressman, John Yarmuth turns 78… Former chief of the general staff of the IDF, then minister of defense and member of Knesset for Kadima, Shaul Mofaz turns 77… Uruguayan biologist, he served as mayor of Montevideo and then as a national cabinet minister, Ricardo Ehrlich turns 77… Professor of medicine at England’s University of Birmingham and a leading British authority on organ donation and transplantation, James Max Neuberger turns 76… Board member of Jewish Funders Network and a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, Dorothy Tananbaum… Marketing and communications consultant focused on Israel advocacy and the Jewish community, Robert L. Kern… U.K. politician who served as a Conservative party MP and cabinet minister, he was chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel, Baron Richard Irwin Harrington turns 68… Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 2013, Kenneth I. Gordon turns 66… Ombudsman at CBS and Japan chair at the Hudson Institute, Kenneth R. “Ken” Weinstein turns 64… Author of five books, comedic actress and television host, Annabelle Gurwitch turns 64… Professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University, she is known for her expertise on feminist theory and modern Jewish thought, Claire Elise Katz turns 61… CEO and Chairman of RXR Realty, he also serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Board of Directors, Scott Rechler turns 58… Israeli screenwriter and film director, Eran Kolirin turns 52… Partner at Paragon Strategic Insights, a consulting firm for non-profits, Jeremy Chwat… Co-founder of Semafor, Benjamin Eli “Ben” Smith turns 49… MLB pitcher who appeared in 506 games over his nine-year career, John William Grabow turns 47… Global head of strategic communications at McKinsey & Company, Max Gleischman… Opinion columnist at The Washington Post, she is also a commentator for CNN and a correspondent for the “PBS NewsHour,” Catherine Chelsea Rampell turns 41… Heavily favored to be elected to Congress tomorrow from New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, Maggie Goodlander turns 39… Founder and CEO at Denver-based Fresh Tape Media, Jared Kleinstein… Founder and CEO of a health organization working for early detection and prevention of cancer, Yael Cohen Braun turns 39… Acting general counsel at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Addar Weintraub Levi… Senior coordinator for management at the Office of Management and Budget, she is a White House nominee as a CFTC commissioner, Julie Brinn Siegel turns 38… Former White House special representative for international negotiations, Avi Berkowitz… Recording artist, songwriter and entertainer known as Yoni Z, Yoni Zigelboum turns 34… Israeli professional stock car racing driver, he is the first Israeli to compete in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series, Alon Day turns 34… Founding editor of Healthcare Brew, a vertical of Morning Brew, Amanda E. Eisenberg… Bob Rubin…

• The Foundation for Defense of Democracies is hosting a virtual event with former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on his vision for the future of Israel’s security and relationships around the world.
• The Anti-Defamation League is hosting its annual real estate reception in New York City. This year’s event will honor Feil Organization CFO Eric Lowenstein.
• Elsewhere in New York, Birthright Israel is holding its annual gala tonight. Actor Jonah Platt is slated to emcee the evening’s events, which will honor Lynn Schusterman. 
• In Israel, the annual Christian Media Summit kicked off last night in Jerusalem. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

LAS VEGAS — Until last week, the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit was expected to be a triumphant gathering to celebrate President Donald Trump’s accomplishments in the Middle East, chief among them his administration’s recently brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Jewish Insider‘s Matthew Kassel reports.

That all changed after Tucker Carlson hosted the neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes on his podcast for a sympathetic interview, provoking fierce backlash. By the time that Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, came to Carlson’s defense on Thursday, the RJC recognized its conference would require a thematic update to more forcefully emphasize the urgency of confronting rising antisemitism — and its enablers — within the GOP.

“If there was ever a time for the RJC, this is our time,” Norm Coleman, the organization’s national chairman, said in opening remarks on Friday. “We have been called to this moment to fight the scourge of antisemitism.”

But even as multiple speakers at the three-day summit held at the Venetian Resort — including congressional leaders, conservative activists and media personalities — alluded to antisemitism in their ranks, many talked in broad strokes, didn’t mention Carlson by name or downplayed the issue as confined to the fringes, despite Carlson and Fuentes each commanding a significant number of dedicated followers on the far right.

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

Roberts’ Rules of Disorder: The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board weighs in on Heritage Foundation CEO Kevin Roberts’ response to recent antisemitic comments by far-right commentators Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes. “Amid criticism on Friday, Mr. Roberts scrambled to list Mr. Fuentes’s odiousness, but his initial contribution was to join in the Jew-baiting. His video framed the issue not as antisemitism, but as Christian freedom of conscience in the face of a hostile attempt to impose loyalty to Israel on Americans. … If conservatives — and Republicans — don’t call out this poison in their own ranks before it corrupts more young minds, the right and America are entering dangerous territory.” [WSJ]

Boycotting The Times: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait reflects on a push by anti-Israel figures to refuse to submit future op-eds to The New York Times over the paper’s perceived bias toward Israel. “But the extent to which these writers object to the sword depends on who is wielding it. The letter’s demands come from a coalition of nine groups, three of which have declined to condemn Hamas for the October 7 attack, while six — the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, the Palestinian Feminist Collective, the Palestine Solidarity Working Group, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Pal-Awda, and National Students for Justice in Palestine — rationalized or directly endorsed the massacre.” [TheAtlantic]

Fear of Mamdani: In the Jewish News Syndicate, William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, respectively the CEO  and chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, raise concerns about New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdami over what they describe as his demonstrated “hostility toward the concerns of the Jewish community and contempt for the broader public interest” ahead of tomorrow’s election. “What begins as a debate about policy too often becomes a campaign of hostility toward Jews. In this context, any candidate who fails to condemn terrorists who burned families alive, abducted civilians, and committed rape and other war crimes, as Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists did in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, forfeits the moral right to seek public office.” [JNS]

PA Still Key: In the National Interest, David Makovsky and Shira Efron posit that the Palestinian Authority Security Forces could serve as an “imperfect but plausible” option on the ground in postwar Gaza. “Despite their shortcomings, these forces have over three decades of experience in security coordination with the IDF in the West Bank. … The PA today is like a car without wheels: it cannot drive Gaza out of the post-October 7 morass. But wheels can be added — reforms that build credibility, training that professionalizes the PA’s security forces, and service delivery that tangibly improves daily life for suffering Gazans. With each milestone, the PA gains a larger role, international donors gain confidence, Israel gains a more stable frontier, Gazans gain a path out of limbo, and Palestinians everywhere regain agency that could help establish a political horizon.” [NationalInterest]

In a wide-ranging CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night, President Donald Trump described the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as being “very solid”; Trump also said that the U.S. would be “involved” in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, two weeks after the president, speaking at the Knesset, called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu… 

Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would “act as necessary” if Lebanon does not move to fully disarm Hezbollah, amid concerns that the Iran-backed terror group is rearming in defiance of the ceasefire inked last year…

Amos Hochstein, who served as a senior official in the Biden administration overseeing the Lebanon portfolio, cautioned that Israel’s muscular approach to Hezbollah in Lebanon could be “counterproductive” and that Beirut is “in a really tough spot” as it works to shore up international support…

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said his U.S. counterpart, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, canceled a planned trip to Israel following Jerusalem’s decision to hit pause on a $35 billion gas agreement with Egypt that would be the biggest gas deal in Israel’s history…

Video from a May 2024 city council meeting in Hamtramck, Mich., that was recently viewed by local media showed Mayor Amer Ghalib, the Trump administration’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, voicing support for the council’s passage of a boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution targeting Israel; Ghalib told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he had not supported the resolution…

The Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., condemned and apologized for a Halloween float representing a local Catholic school that included a replica of the front gates of Auschwitz with the words “Arbeit Macht Frei”…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights Palantir’s new “Meritocracy Fellowship” in which 22 high school graduates spend four months at the company in lieu of pursuing a traditional college track…

A spokesperson for Zohran Mamdani said that the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate, if elected, would reassess the partnership between the Roosevelt Island campus of Cornell University and Israel’s Technion…

Former U.K. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was ousted from the party’s leadership over a series of antisemitism incidents, phone-banked for Mamdani over the weekend…

A London bus driver was suspended after refusing to return a dropped bank card to a visibly Jewish man and hurling antisemitic insults at the passenger for an hour until police arrived…

A French court sentenced four Bulgarian men to prison terms ranging between two and four years over the vandalism last year of Paris’ Holocaust memorial…

The bodies of three Israelis were repatriated to Israel and identified overnight as dual American Israeli citizen Capt. Omer Neutra, Col. Asaf Hamami and Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel; the exchange came a day after Israeli forensics determined that three bodies given to Israel by Hamas on Friday evening did not belong to any of the remaining hostages…

Israel announced a series of tax benefits aimed at luring Israeli high-tech workers abroad back to the country amid an exodus that followed the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and ensuing war…

Canadian Israeli philanthropist Sylvan Adams committed $100 million to help rebuild the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, Israel, which sustained significant damage during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi told attendees at the IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain over the weekend that Gulf countries should reverse course on their isolation of Iran and deepen diplomatic, economic and security cooperation with Tehran…

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran would rebuild its nuclear facilities with “greater strength,” while denying that the country is seeking nuclear weapons…

The New York Times published a belated obituary for World War II partisan fighter and poet Hannah Senesh as part of the paper’s “Overlooked No More” series; Senesh was executed at age 23 after being captured by the Nazis in 1944…

Dutch-Jewish resistance member Selma van de Perre, who forged and delivered documents and helped Jewish families seeking shelter, died at 103…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem over the weekend with Aryeh Lightstone, who is serving as a senior advisor to White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff; White House senior advisor Josh Gruenbaum and venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg, who is working with the U.S. team overseeing ceasefire efforts.

Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine, professor at Yale University, James Rothman turns 75…

Chancellor emeritus of The Jewish Theological Seminary where he also served as a professor of Jewish history, Ismar Schorsch, Ph.D. turns 90… Senior U.S. District Court judge in California, he is the younger brother of retired SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer, Judge Charles Breyer turns 84… U.S. senator (D-HI), Mazie K. Hirono turns 78… Resident of Great Barrington, Mass., and a part-time researcher at UC Berkeley, Barbara Zheutlin… Rabbi emeritus at Temple Anshe Sholom in Olympia Fields, Ill., Paul Caplan turns 73… Actress, comedian, writer and television producer, best known for the long-running and award-winning television sitcom “Roseanne,” Roseanne Barr turns 73… Comedian, talk show host, political and sports commentator, Dennis Miller turns 72… Manuscript editor and lecturer, author of books on the stigma of childlessness and on the Balfour Declaration, Elliot Jager turns 71… Award-winning Israeli photographer whose works have appeared in galleries in many countries, Naomi Leshem turns 62… Regional director of development for The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Jeanne Epstein… Podcaster and clinical professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business, Scott Galloway turns 61… Co-founder and former CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, now CEO of Dreamhaven, Michael Morhaime turns 58… Entrepreneur-in-residence at Loeb Enterprises, he was previously co-chair of the board of the Yeshiva University Museum, Edward Stelzer… VP for federal affairs at CVS Health, she was the White House director of legislative affairs in the last year of the Obama administration, Amy Rosenbaum turns 54… Director of development for States United Democracy Center, Amie Kershner… Partner at political consulting firm GDA Wins, Gabby Adler… Agent at Creative Artists Agency, Rachel Elizabeth Adler… Actress who won three Daytime Emmy Awards for her role on “ABC’s General Hospital,” Julie Berman turns 42… Director of corporate responsibility, communications and engagement at Southern Company Gas, Robin Levy Gray… Senior managing director at Guggenheim Securities, Rowan Morris… General manager of NJ/NY Gotham FC, a women’s soccer team based in Harrison, N.J., Yael Averbuch West turns 39… Former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, he is a co-founder of D.C.-based Compass Coffee, Michael Haft turns 39… New York state senator, Michelle Hinchey turns 38… Deputy coordinator for global China affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Julian Baird Gewirtz turns 36… Recent MBA graduate at The Wharton School, Ben Kirshner turns 33… Marketing manager at American Express, Caroline Michelman turns 33… Founder and CEO of Noyse Publicity Management, Noy Assraf turns 30… Actress and model, Diana Silvers turns 28… Stu Rosenberg…

• The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit kicks off today in Las Vegas. Attending the conference? Keep an eye out for JI’s Matthew Kassel.
• In Detroit, Yeshiva Beth Yehudah is hosting its annual dinner on Sunday evening. This year’s featured speakers are Detroit Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
• The IISS Manama Dialogue kicked off in Bahrain earlier today. Speakers at the weekend-long confab include U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and senior Emirati official Anwar Gargash.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit kicks off tonight at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas with much to celebrate. 

President Donald Trump’s recently brokered ceasefire and hostage-release agreement is certain to be among the administration’s accomplishments touted by a range of high-profile speakers including Cabinet officials, congressional leaders, pundits and media figures. 

The RJC is also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and the proceedings will feature “content about where we came from and where we are today,” said Sam Markstein, the group’s national political director.

“It’s come a long way from its humble beginnings,” Markstein told Jewish Insider in an interview on Thursday.

Hanging over the three-day conference, however, is the specter of rising antisemitism on the party’s far right, an issue that Markstein said the RJC does not intend to avoid.

It’s a particularly timely, and urgent, subject as the RJC prepares to convene days after Tucker Carlson hosted the neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes on his podcast for a friendly interview. Carlson has faced backlash for not only inviting Fuentes onto his show but for failing to challenge any of his viciously antisemitic views — including admiration for Adolf Hitler and Holocaust denial.

During the interview, Carlson himself also expressed his disdain for Christian Zionists including Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, whom he accused of being “seized by this brain virus.” (More below on the Heritage Foundation’s defense of Carlson and the subsequent response from the RJC.)

Huckabee, for his part, is slated to give remarks, via livestream, during the RJC’s confab. Other outspoken critics of Carlson’s antisemitic turn, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Fox News host Mark Levin, will also be in attendance. 

The summit will also feature House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Sens. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, among others. The four Jewish Republicans serving in the House are joining as well: Reps. Craig Goldman (R-TX), Randy Fine (R-FL), Max Miller (R-OH) and David Kustoff (R-TN).

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

Battering Rahm: The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker profiles former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel as he mulls a 2028 presidential bid. “The case against Rahm Emanuel, according to critics: He’s not progressive enough. His only ideology is winning. He’s more of a tactician, less of a principal (though he’s long exuded main-character energy). He’s too short (he claims 5 foot 8) or too old, at least for voters who want to get away from septuagenarian presidents (he’ll be 69 on Inauguration Day 2029). He has a problem with Black voters, stemming from his mayorship (more on that in a bit). He’s too Jewish; his middle name is Israel, though he has called Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘collective punishment’ of Gazans morally and politically ‘bankrupt’ and previously confronted the prime minister over Israeli settlements (Haaretz reported that Netanyahu dubbed Emanuel a ‘self-hating Jew,’ though the prime minister has denied this).” [TheAtlantic]

Losing Our Voice: In The Washington Post, Ilan Berman, the senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, raises concerns about the Trump administration’s gutting of the U.S. Agency for Global Media and its sub-agencies and outlets. “And the situation is significantly worse at present: China, Russia and Iran are ramping up informational activities in places where the United States is now noticeably absent, like Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. … The Trump administration is not even acknowledging this trend, far less ramping up a strategy to counter it. Nine months in, the White House remains focused simply on dismantling USAGM and its functions. There is little evidence that any administration official has thought deeply about how to best promote core U.S. information priorities: honestly telling America’s story and explaining its priorities and policies while effectively countering the distortions and falsehoods being spread by others.” [WashPost]

The U.S. plans to present a plan in the coming weeks for an international stabilization force in Gaza, with U.S. Central Command taking the lead in drafting the plan…

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is planning to launch her bid for governor, challenging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, soon after next Tuesday’s elections…

The Senate confirmed Rebecca Taibleson to a seat on a federal appeals court; Taibleson’s nomination had initially faced resistance from conservative groups over her and her husband’s donations to some Democrats as well as the Milwaukee Jewish Community Foundation…

Vanity Fair spotlights political strategist Morris Katz, who is a key advisor to both New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner…

Maryland state Sen. Dalya Attar was indicted on federal extortion and conspiracy charges in connection with allegations that Attar was involved in an effort to place tracking devices and record two political opponents without their knowledge… 

Hamas returned the remains of Israeli hostages Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch; both men, residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Be’eri, respectively, were alive when taken hostage and died in captivity…

Doron Ben-David, Itzik Cohen, Marina Maximilian and Daniella Pick Tarantino are starring in “Frequency of Fear,” a thriller about Israel’s 2024 pager operation against Hezbollah that is currently in post-production…

Israel offered safe passage to Hamas members in the Israeli-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip to parts of the enclave still under the terror group’s control…

Several hundred thousand Haredi demonstrators in Jerusalem protested efforts to enforce a Haredi draft law that attempted to enlist some 80,000 members of the Haredi community…

The U.K. sanctioned Iranian businessman Aliakbar Ansari, citing the banker’s fiscal support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…

The International Olympic Committee and Saudi Arabia nixed a 12-year deal for Riyadh to host the Esports Olympics; the cancellation comes weeks after the Saudi sovereign wealth fund inked a $55 billion deal to acquire Electronic Arts…

Al-Qaida is nearing a full takeover of Mali, amid the terror group’s push through western Africa; a U.N. report published over the summer found that jihadists affiliated with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin looked to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously led an al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria, as a model…

Rabbi Meyer May is joining Aish Global as executive vice president after 47 years as the executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center; May will remain on as a special counsel to the CEO of the SWC…

Taiwanese singer Na Tang, a co-founder, with her husband, of the Jeffrey D. Schwartz NaTang Jewish Taiwan Cultural Association, died at 59…

Former Israeli hostage Bar Kupershtein and his father, Tal, participated in a tefillin ceremony this morning at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.

Tal Kupershtein, who lost his voice and ability to walk following a stroke five years ago, relearned to speak in an effort to advocate for his son, who spent more than two years in Hamas captivity.

Founding partner at Lanx Management, former president of AIPAC and past chairman of the Orthodox Union, Howard E. (Tzvi) Friedman turns 60…

FRIDAY: Actor with a lengthy career in film, television and theatre, Ron Rifkin turns 86… British historian, born in Baghdad, emeritus professor of International Relations at Oxford, Avraham “Avi” Shlaim turns 80… CEO of Feld Entertainment, which operates the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Disney on Ice, Kenneth Feld turns 77… Co-founder and co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, James L. Halperin turns 73… Author, historian and writer-at-large for the U.K.-based Prospect Magazine, Sam Tanenhaus turns 70… Staff writer for The New Yorker, her 1998 book was made into the award-winning movie “Adaptation,” Susan Orlean turns 70… Managing partner of Arel Capital, Richard G. Leibovitch turns 62… PAC director at AIPAC, Marilyn Rosenthal… British lawyer who has served as CEO of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and COO of World ORT, Marc Jonathan (Jon) Benjamin turns 61… Former MLB pitcher, now a managing director at Rockefeller Capital Management in Boca Raton, Fla., Steven Allen Rosenberg turns 61… Director of development for Foundation for Jewish Camp until this past April, he defined his role as a “gelt-shlepper,” Corey Cutler… Chief brand and innovation officer of Ralph Lauren, David Lauren turns 54… Founder and CEO of MercadoLibre, the eBay and Amazon of Latin America, Marcos Eduardo Galperin turns 54… Film, television and theater actor, Assaf Cohen turns 53… Film and television director and producer, Ruben Fleischer turns 51… Professor, attorney, author, political columnist and poet, Seth Abramson turns 49…Member of the California State Assembly since 2016, Marc Berman turns 45… Actor Eddie Kaye Thomas turns 45… CEO at Clarasight, he is the founder of Pencils of Promise, Adam Braun… Rabbi and outreach coordinator at the Leffell Lower School in White Plains, N.Y., she is the founder of Midrash Manicures, combining Jewish education and creative nail art, Yael Buechler turns 40… Global strategy and capability development contractor at PwC, Spencer Herbst… Director of institutional advancement at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, Masha Shollar… Wheelchair basketball player and social media personality, Peter Berry turns 24…

SATURDAY: French economic and social theorist, he is the author of The Economic History of the Jewish People, Jacques Attali turns 82… Rabbi-in-residence of Baltimore’s 3,500-member Beth Tfiloh Congregation after more than 43 years as senior rabbi, Mitchell Wohlberg turns 81… Pioneering investor in the personal computing industry, founder of Lotus and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mitch Kapor turns 75… Founding rabbi, now emeritus, at Beit T’Shuvah, a nonprofit Jewish addiction treatment center and synagogue community in Los Angeles, Mark Borovitz turns 74… Retired management analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy, Les Novitsky… Serial entrepreneur, Warren B. Kanders turns 68… Philanthropist and Canadian real estate developer living in Israel, Sylvan Adams turns 67… Special assistant to New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Pinchus Hikind… President of an eponymous auctioneering firm specializing in the appraisal and sale of antique Judaica, Jonathan Greenstein turns 58… CEO at AIPAC, Elliot Brandt… Actress, best known for her roles on “All My Children” and “General Hospital,” Alla Korot turns 55… Principal at Calabasas, Calif.-based CRC-Commercial Realty Consultants, Brian Weisberg… Israeli director, screenwriter and actress, Dikla Elkaslassy turns 46… Member of the Knesset, she is the first Ethiopian-born woman to hold a Knesset seat and the first to serve as a government minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata turns 44… Associate in the D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Clare F. Steinberg… Israeli video blogger, journalist and business executive, Idan Matalon turns 37… Chief advancement officer at The Leffell School in Westchester County (N.Y.), Annie Peck Watman… Reporter for CNN, Marshall J. Cohen… Associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman, Mitchell Caminer… Pitcher for Team Israel, Gabe Cramer turns 31… Derek Brody… Actor since childhood, Max Burkholder turns 28… 

SUNDAY: Former NASA astronaut who made five flights in the space shuttle and is currently a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, he was one of NASA’s first two Jewish astronauts, Jeffrey A. Hoffman turns 81… County Executive of Montgomery County, Md., Marc Elrich turns 76… Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink turns 73… Former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party and vice chair of the DNC, Susan Wolf Turnbull turns 73… Professor emerita of Jewish studies at the University of Virginia, Vanessa L. Ochs turns 72… Research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Alan D. Abbey… CNN special correspondent, Jamie Sue Gangel turns 70… Former head of school for 29 years at Weizmann Day School in Los Angeles, Lisa Feldman… Professor of Jewish history at UCLA and immediate past president of the board of the New Israel Fund, David N. Myers turns 65… Deputy commissioner of Maine’s Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Joan F. Cohen turns 63… Financial planner at Grant Arthur & Associates Wealth Services, he is the author of a book on the complicity of Lithuania in the Holocaust, Grant Arthur Gochin… President of global content at Viva Creative, Thomas Joseph (Joe) Talbott… Marc Solomon… Head of U.S. public policy at Workday, John Sampson turns 59… Actor, director and producer, best known for playing Ross Geller in the sitcom “Friends,” David Schwimmer turns 59… Assistant attorney general for antitrust at the Justice Department during the Trump administration, now a partner at Latham & Watkins, Makan Delrahim turns 56… Professor of economics at MIT, she won a MacArthur “Genius” fellowship in 2018, Amy Nadya Finkelstein turns 52… Founder and CEO of Spring Hills Senior Communities, Alexander C. Markowits… Journalist and bestselling author, he is the publisher of The Lever and a columnist at The Guardian, David Sirota turns 50… U.S. executive vice president of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, Michael Cohen… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Alexander Kushnir turns 47… Deputy editor of “The Morning Newsletter” at The New York Times, Adam B. Kushner turns 45… President and CEO of Birthright Israel Foundation, Elias Saratovsky turns 45…Marc B. Rosen…Former director of government relations at the Israel Policy Forum, now a staffer on Capitol Hill, Aaron Weinberg… Two-time Emmy Award-winning video producer, now working as a messaging editor for The New York Times, Celeste B. Lavin turns 35…

• Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, CNN’s Dana Bash, Oct. 7 survivor Aya Meydan and former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov are being honored tonight at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s annual tribute dinner in Los Angeles. Steven Spielberg will present Zaslav with this year’s Humanitarian Award, SWC’s highest honor.
• In Washington, Sony Pictures, the Motion Picture Association and the German Embassy are hosting a special screening of “Nuremberg.”
• Tikvah Ideas is hosting a conversation this afternoon between historian Jack Wertheimer and North American Values Institute founder David Bernstein about the challenges Jewish institutions face in combating antisemitism.
• The Future Investment Initiative wraps up today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• In Israel, we’re keeping an eye on the fallout from the announcement by the World Zionist Congress’ Likud delegation that it planned to appoint Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to a top World Zionist Organization post. The announcement collapsed the coalition agreement that had been reached earlier in the day, prompting the WZC to vote to reconvene in two weeks. Read more from eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross here.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

A new Quinnipiac poll of the New York City mayoral race with less than a week until Election Day shows Zohran Mamdani on track to win, but with a narrow plurality that underscores the breadth and resilience of the political opposition against him. In short, he’s set to prevail thanks to a divided opposition and backing from an enthusiastic left-wing faction of the electorate — not because he’s winning over hearts and minds in Gotham.

If the polling is accurate, Mamdani would be the first New York City mayor to win without a majority of the vote since John Lindsay in 1969. Mamdani leads former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo 43-33% in the Quinnipiac poll, with Republican Curtis Sliwa tallying 14%. Mamdani, in a sign of his political ceiling, has lost several points of support since the pollster’s survey earlier this month. 

Among Sliwa voters, 55% said that Cuomo was their second choice, while only 7% said the same of Mamdani. If New York City utilized a ranked-choice voting system as it did in the primary, this race would be neck-and-neck.

The Quinnipiac poll finds Mamdani building an unconventional coalition of secular progressives and Muslims in New York City politics, running up the score with voters of no religion (71% support) or of a religion other than Christianity and Judaism (50%). Mamdani struggles badly with Jewish voters, winning just 16% support, while only receiving 28% of the vote among Catholics and 36% among Protestants. 

Mamdani is winning support from just 59% of Democrats, with 31% backing Cuomo — an unusually weak showing for a Democratic nominee. But Republicans are evenly divided between Cuomo and Sliwa, preventing the former governor from capitalizing on Mamdani’s deep unpopularity with GOP voters. Mamdani is tied with Cuomo among independents at 34% apiece. 

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