Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump decided to pause military strikes on Iran because the U.S. and Tehran are “in very deep talks,” he told Axios today, but if the discussions “don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action.”

Negotiations are thus far indirect, reportedly taking place primarily between Iran and Oman, though Trump told reporters today that Iran had requested a meeting directly with the U.S…

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Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the U.S.’ planned sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, Trump said, “Turkey’s been a great ally — for me. … Nobody tells me what we should be selling,” a clip that the White House’s rapid response social media account posted to X…

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Saudi Arabia intercepted drones launched by Iran-backed militias in Iraq today which were targeting oil facilities in the country’s Eastern Province and in Riyadh, according to the Saudi Defense Ministry…

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The U.S. Embassy in Israel temporarily restricted travel by U.S. government employees and their families into the West Bank due to “heightened security concerns and increased volatility” in the area…

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Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani publicized a meeting in Doha today with a delegation of rabbis — led by Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, chair of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States — who came to offer their condolences on the death of the emir’s father and predecessor, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

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Days after an alleged hate crime against a Jewish person in Manhattan, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to engage with suggestions from various corners that he tone down his rhetoric around Israel — or to address why he continued publicly toying with arresting Netanyahu well after city attorneys told him he couldn’t, JI’s Will Bredderman reports…

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The New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is planning to lobby state lawmakers to pass the “Not on Our Dime” bill, which would revoke the tax-exempt status of New York nonprofits that support Israeli settlement activity, as well as a bill that would impose penalties on airlines that move arms shipments to Israel from JFK Airport, The New York Times reports…

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Conservative writer Rod Dreher said Vice President JD Vance, with whom he used to be friends, “cut me off” after a meeting in which Dreher asked him to push back against rising antisemitism among young people on the right.

Dreher recalled on an episode of “The Jeremy Boreing Show”: “I pointed out to [Vance] these people — [neo-Nazi Nick] Fuentes, the groypers, all of them — are going to destroy conservatism and the Republican Party, and I said to him, ‘Because of your background, because of your age, you are uniquely positioned to draw a red line there’ … but he hasn’t chosen to do it”…

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Far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed came under fire for leaked audio in which he said about his potential primary win, “You put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message,” comments which some understood to refer to his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI).

El-Sayed disputed the interpretation, telling The 19th that he was “clearly referring to supporting a primary against [Sen.] John Fetterman (D-PA), who I’ve called an ogre many, many times”…

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Troy Jackson, the newly minted U.S. Senate candidate in Maine, announced he’s raised $2 million since he replaced Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee over the weekend…

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The Office of the Attending Physician in Congress said in a statement today that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has been hospitalized since he fell in June, is still not medically cleared to leave the rehabilitation facility and return to office…

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore appeared separately at The Hampton Synagogue on Long Island over the weekend, where they both “affirmed their commitment to Israel and to combating antisemitism,” founding Rabbi Marc Schneier said…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for an interview with George Moraitis, a former Florida state representative who is running in the Republican primary for the 23rd Congressional District, hoping to unseat Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet at the White House tomorrow with President Donald Trump for the eighth time in Trump’s second term, the most of any international leader. Before departing for Washington earlier today, Netanyahu said he and Trump would “discuss all the issues on the agenda — first and foremost, Iran.”

The two leaders will also attend the funeral of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), which will begin at the U.S. Capitol and then move to a service at the National Cathedral, where Trump is slated to give remarks. Other world leaders are also expected to be in attendance, including Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who landed in the U.S. this morning, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Central Synagogue in Manhattan will hold a memorial service for Wesley LePatner, one year after the Blackstone executive and Jewish philanthropist was killed in a shooting at the firm’s Midtown headquarters.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump set a new red line on Iran today: Any time the Islamic Republic fires on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz going forward, the U.S. will “bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant,” including ones located in or near Tehran, he wrote on Truth Social.

But the president’s threat didn’t seem to sway the regime: Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in turn warned on X that “in a region where we do not sell oil, no one will sell oil,” and said Iran would further target ships in the strait…

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Congressional Democrats are lining up in opposition to the Trump administration’s reported nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that would allow Riyadh to enrich uranium for civilian purposes, while Republicans are mostly supportive of the effort, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Christina Sher report.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) warned that the nuclear enrichment technology could eventually fall into the hands of a malign regime — as U.S. weapons did with the fall of the shah in Iran in 1979. “We have no idea who’s going to be running Saudi Arabia ten years from now,” Sherman told JI…

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In a narrow vote, largely along partisan lines, the House passed its version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act this afternoon. All but six Democrats, as well as seven Republicans, voted against the bill in protest of issues including the continued Iran war and the proposed Defense Department budget of more than $1 trillion.

Some lawmakers, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), had sought to strip a provision on U.S.-Israel cooperation out of the bill, though Massie’s amendment on the issue ultimately didn’t receive a vote…

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Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that the country will host another round of U.S.-led talks between Israel and Lebanon on Aug. 4…

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Roman Gofman, the new head of the Mossad, reportedly traveled to Washington earlier this month for talks with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House officials on the Iran war and the Iranian nuclear program…

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At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing today on U.N. reform, Jeff Bartos, the U.S. representative for U.N. management and reform, derided Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, as an “absolute lunatic” and an “anti-America, anti-capitalist, anti-West, anti-Judeo-Christian, anti-Jew, anti-Israel bigot”…

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to walk back the idea previously floated by Trump that Syria could take Israel’s place in fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon: “Well, the Syrian authorities are not big fans of Hezbollah. But what we’ve encouraged Syria to do is to focus on its own internal challenges that it has in sort of building a nation state,” Rubio said when asked about the concept…

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A new Politico poll found a 13-point drop in support for the Iran war among Trump’s MAGA base: In May, 50% of MAGA voters said the war was worth the economic cost, down to just over a third who say the same now…

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s video released last night — in which he railed against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but confessed he couldn’t honor his campaign pledge to arrest the Israeli leader — triggered a wave of warnings from mainstream Jewish organizations that Mamdani excoriating Israel from his official platforms places Jewish New Yorkers at risk, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) also slammed Mamdani for “parroting Hamas talking points” in his video and said the mayor should be “a little less obsessed with foreign policy, and a little more obsessed with cleaning up his streets”…

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The Republican Jewish Coalition endorsed Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) in the special election next month as she seeks a full term to succeed her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The RJC, which last night announced the creation of an award in Lindsey Graham’s memory, said he was “the best friend of the Jewish people” in the Senate and that the group “trust[s] his beloved sister to carry the fight forward”…

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Connie Chan, a member of San Francisco County Board of Supervisors who is running for the seat of retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), received the endorsement yesterday of Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, the political arm of the group TrackAIPAC, and pledged to “oppose any aid to Israel and do everything in our power to stop their government’s genocidal actions.” Chan, who is endorsed by Pelosi as well as Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), is seeking to defeat state Sen. Scott Wiener in the Democrat-on-Democrat general election…

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The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League reached a settlement today with Reed College, which agreed to implement “one of the nation’s most comprehensive sets of reforms addressing campus antisemitism,” the groups said in a statement.

As part of the agreement — negotiated over allegations of Title VI civil rights violations, including a Jewish student who was struck in the head by a rock — Reed will adopt a “first-of-its-kind FAQ” into its discrimination policy detailing how anti-Zionist conduct can constitute unlawful discrimination…

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Scott Galloway, the Jewish UCLA and UC Berkeley alum who is now a business professor and commentator, to serve on the University of California Board of Regents, pending state Senate confirmation. Galloway has emerged as a leading voice against campus antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at comments by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) on the “Breaking Points” podcast as he becomes more outspoken against far-left activists who continue to harass him, even as he takes increasingly critical stances on Israel.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will vote to advance acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling’s nomination to assume his role permanently. Read more about Sonderling’s Jewish family history, which he invoked during his confirmation hearing.

The International Criminal Court‘s 125 member states will hold a vote on Friday in a special session at U.N. headquarters in New York on whether to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual misconduct allegations, which he denies. An absolute majority of 63 states would have to vote on the secret ballot in favor of ousting Khan — who took a leave of absence last May and was formally suspended in June — in order to remove him. The vote lands amid a renewed U.S. push, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, to dismantle the court.

The White House Correspondents’ Association will hold its rescheduled annual dinner on Friday at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, three months after the original gala was cut short when a gunman stormed a security checkpoint and allegedly attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump. (Read JI senior congressional reporter Marc Rod’s first-hand account of the experience here.) The president is once again expected to attend and speak at the dinner.

In observance of Tisha B’Av, the Daily Overtime will be back in your inbox on Monday, July 27.

• President Donald Trump will attend the dignified transfer this morning at Dover Air Force Base of the remains of four U.S. service members killed last week as a result of Iranian strikes in Iraq and Jordan. Three of the soldiers were killed when an Iranian ballistic missile struck a housing facility at a U.S. base in southern Jordan, while a fourth was killed detonating an Iranian ordnance in Iraq. The Defense Department, which had identified three of the service members over the weekend, identified overnight the fourth after his remains were found on the base.
• Iran launched another volley of ballistic missiles at Jordan this morning, triggering sirens in the southern port city of Aqaba. The latest attacks come amid concerns that the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen are preparing to enter the conflict, following an alert issued last night by the Joint Maritime Information Center, the global body monitoring naval security, warning that the Houthis “have completed preparations to attack shipping, including the deployment of missiles and drones.” The Yemeni terror group, which has threatened to block transit through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on Tuesday forced a Chinese vessel bound for Saudi Arabia to turn back.
• A deal that could see the U.S. allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium could be announced as soon as today, according to the Associated Press, with Trump reportedly having already signed off on the agreement that would give Riyadh the green light to enrich for civilian purposes.
• The House could vote on the National Defense Authorization Act as soon as today, after a procedural vote yesterday to advance the bill passed 214-211.
• U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and Jeff Bartos, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. for management and reform, will testify this morning before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing focused on accountability and reform within the U.N. In the afternoon, HFAC’s Middle East subcommittee will hold a hearing on the future of the Abraham Accords with former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel David Friedman and Dan Shapiro, as well as Asher Fredman, the executive director of the Misgav Institute for National Security.
• The House Ways and Means Committee is slated to mark up several bills today, including the Foreign Funding Transparency Act, which would make nonprofits disclose foreign donors; the Fiscal Sponsorship Transparency Act, which would force charities to report the groups they fund; and the Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act, which would shield religious groups’ tax-exempt status.
• We’re keeping an eye on primary results in Arizona, where Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) was declared the winner of the GOP gubernatorial race over Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ). Biggs will face off against Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, in November. In the state’s 1st Congressional District, Jay Feely, who had been backed by Trump, won the nomination for Schweikert’s House seat, a top target for Democrats that was narrowly won by Trump in 2024. A winner in the district’s Democratic primary has not been named, though former state Rep. Amish Shah leads Marlene Galan Woods 43-33% with about three-quarters of ballots counted.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office today, President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. would “pretty soon” strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, the underground facility suspected of housing components of Tehran’s nuclear program, Jewish Insider’sEmily Jacobs reports.

“We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,” he said, following a Wall Street Journal report that Israeli intelligence indicates Iran moved thousands of centrifuges into the site last fall…

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Trump added in his comments that Iran “wants to meet desperately” with the U.S. to end the war, but “until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting with them”…

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Trump announced after his meeting with Aoun that he is directing his administration toallow all U.S. airlines to fly directly between the U.S. and Lebanon. The Reagan administration suspended direct flights in 1985 after Hezbollah-linked hijackers seized TWA Flight 847 and killed a U.S. service member aboard…

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Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at a conference today that Israel has “no interest” in joining the renewed U.S. campaign against Iran. “The best way to bring about the regime’s downfall is to crush it economically,” he said, pointing to the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports…

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing this afternoon that the estimated cost of the Iran war thus far is $37.5 billion, up from $29 billion estimated by Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst in May.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the committee, indicated that Democrats do not intend to support the Pentagon’s $88 billion supplemental funding request. The administration’s “expectation that Americans will just pay for [the war in Iran] without any explanation or transparency is disrespectful,” she said…

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The IDF said its soldiers operating in southern Lebanon fired warning shots today as personnel from the Lebanese Armed Forces crossed into Israeli-controlled territory, an area the IDF said was not included in the pilot zones the LAF is meant to control. The LAF called the incident “an act of aggression” that could hinder the broader deployment plan…

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A senior White House official told JI that a report that Vice President JD Vance was attempting to scuttle a potential White House meeting between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “completely false.”

“The idea that the vice president’s team, or any official in the administration for that matter, would try or even be able to interfere with a visit by a foreign leader with the president is laughable,” the official said…

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A group of Jewish House Democrats asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio today to pressure Malaysia to walk back plans to deport Israeli citizens, JI’s Marc Rod reports, urging him to leverage U.S. military assistance to the Southeast Asian nation…

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The Senate Intelligence Committee voted to advance the nomination of Jay Clayton to be director of national intelligence, Committee Chair Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) announced, sending his nomination to the full Senate for approval. Democrats who had previously wanted to see Clayton confirmed said they were disappointed by his refusal to affirm at his hearing that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election…

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The Jewish Caucus of the College Democrats of America condemned the CDA’s decision to host far-left streamer Hasan Piker at its convention over the weekend and claimed in a statement that attendees were prevented from conducting a walkout during Piker’s speech. The caucus called on CDA leadership to issue a formal apology and to publicly condemn Piker’s previous antisemitic comments, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

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Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI), the leading Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin, appeared on a podcast hosted by an individual who defended Hitler and joked about the Holocaust, the Milwaukee Courier reports. Tiffany had previously criticized his likely Democratic opponent, Francesca Hong, for going on Piker’s podcast…

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The now-former treasurer of the New York Young Republican Club, Nicholas T. Rafael Jr., appeared to operate an anonymous X account that posted Hitler images and antisemitic caricatures, according to New York Magazine, which also obtained a photo of Rafael making what appears to be a Nazi salute while wearing German military attire. It’s the latest scandal regarding far-right extremism for the once-influential club…

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The University of New Hampshire released a new poll of the race for U.S. Senate in Maine showing former state Sen. Troy Jackson, the presumed replacement for former Democratic nominee Graham Platner, leading Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) 49-46% in the general election…

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New York Assemblymember Micah Lasher, the presumed successor to retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), strongly defended his ongoing relationship with Morris Katz and said he’ll continue to work with the consultant who was behind Platner‘s failed Senate bid, a week after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the same…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the Democratic primary in Michigan‘s battleground 7th Congressional District, where two Democrats with national security backgrounds are facing off against a far-left activist.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on U.N. accountability and reform with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and U.S. Representative to the U.N. for Management and Reform Jeff Bartos.

Later, the committee’s Middle East subcommittee will hold a hearing on the “next phase of the Abraham Accords” with former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel David Friedman and Dan Shapiro as well as Asher Fredman, executive director of the Misgav Institute for National Security.

The House Ways and Means Committee will mark up several bills including the Foreign Funding Transparency Act, which would make nonprofits disclose foreign donors; the Fiscal Sponsorship Transparency Act, which would require charities to report the groups they fund; and the Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act, which would shield religious groups’ tax-exempt status.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

More than 100 House Democrats, about half of the caucus, voted in favorof Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) amendment to strip all U.S. aid to Israel out of the State Department appropriations bill this afternoon, including several leaders of the caucus such as Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), the No. 2 House Democrat, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

While the amendment was overwhelmingly defeated, 314-104, the large segment of Democrats supporting the measure indicates a growing shift away from the party’s historic support for Israel…

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Vice President JD Vance, in an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” released today, stated repeatedly that Israeli actors are engaged in a “very discreet, very well-funded” influence campaign to extend the war in Iran: “There are some people within their system we know beyond a shadow of a doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely. Again, not towards any objective, but just indefinitely,” he alleged.

Vance also said that the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein “clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence” and to “elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center”…

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The U.S., Israel and Lebanon, wrapping up talks in Rome this week, agreed on the structure and guidelines for implementing the two pilot zones the parties agreed to create in southern Lebanon, a State Department official said today, without specifying a timeline for the IDF’s withdrawal. The parties will now engage in expanded technical talks to implement the trilateral agreement reached in the last round of negotiations…

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CENTCOM began another round of strikes against Iran this afternoon; coming after strikes earlier in the day, the pace of the operations appears to be gaining momentum. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering expanding U.S. military efforts to include more airstrikes, utilizing ground forces and targeting nuclear sites again, according to The Wall Street Journal…

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Three senior U.S. officials connected to the Board of Peace, the Trump-led body created to resolve the conflict in Gaza, have been meeting with congressional offices this week to request $200 million for the International Stabilization Force, two people with knowledge of the meetings told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch. The meetings mark the first time that Board of Peace representatives have approached Congress with a funding request…

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Ahead of today’s deadline, candidates have begun releasing their fundraising reports for the second quarter. In Georgia, where some in the Jewish community have felt torn between two less-than-ideal options in Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and his opponent, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), Ossoff holds a commanding fundraising advantage: The senator reported raising$20 million this quarter with $42 million in the bank, while Collins raised $2.1 million, leaving him with $2.2 million in cash on hand…

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Meanwhile, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed released his 2025 tax returns, which he is not legally obligated to do but was pressured to do by his opponent in the Democratic primary, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI). El-Sayed’s reported total income was over $680,000, nearly $300,000 of which was unspecified as to its source…

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The anti-Israel American Priorities super PAC made an initial investment of $375,000 to boost El-Sayed in the race; El-Sayed has repeatedly railed against super PAC involvement in politics — particularly that of AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, which is spending heavily in favor of Stevens…

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Rep. Hilary Scholten (D-MI), speaking to Semafor about electability concerns in the Democratic Party, criticized progressives who “prop up other candidates who have said really problematic things.” The moderate congresswoman added that El-Sayed, who has been criticized for comments about Stevens seen as misogynistic, “has a problematic record with women”…

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A new Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvania voters found Gov. Josh Shapiro leading his Republican opponent in his reelection race by 13 points, 53-40%, with a 56% overall approval rating. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) had a 77% approval rating among Republicans, but only 19% among voters in his own party. Nearly half (49%) of voters said the Democratic Party has moved too far to the left, while 42% said the Republican Party has moved too far to the right…

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Former White House senior official Brett McGurk is releasing a book, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages, on his role leading U.S. efforts under former President Joe Biden to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, due out on Oct. 6 to coincide with the third anniversary of the attacks…

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The New York Times examines the role that Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel could play in the potential presidential run of his brother, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, as politicians increasingly seek access to media as part of their campaigns; among those close to Ari Emanuel are the UFC’s Dana White, commentator Joe Rogan, pundit Stephen A. Smith as well as Elon Musk…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at what this afternoon’s vote on Massie‘s amendment to cut all U.S. aid to Israel means for the future of Israel policy in the Democratic Party.

At least eight Democratic candidates vying to replace former nominee Graham Platner on the ballotfor U.S. Senate in Maine will take the debate stage tomorrow evening in their first chance to pitch themselves to voters, ahead of the state Democratic Party’s nominating convention later this month.

President Donald Trump will give an address to the nation in the evening, which he has said will largely focus on American election security.

The American Federation of Teachers’ annual convention will kick off in Washington. The second largest teachers’ union in the U.S., the AFT has previously featured anti-Israel resolutions at its gatherings.

The Aspen Security Forum continues with several panels on the Middle East, including speakers such as Akif Çağatay Kılıç, top advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister; Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT); Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Dan Shapiro, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel; Rahm Emanuel; Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor; and Salam Fayyad, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The U.S. and Iran continued to offer conflicting accounts of the agreement reached over the weekend: President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that Iran “fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future,” without which “there would be no further negotiations.” But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said it was untrue and that the parties had not discussed any nuclear issues.

About Tehran’s denial, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. “know[s] what [Iran] agreed to do, and now they’ll either do it or they won’t. And if they do, the process moves forward. And if they don’t, the president will have some decisions to make”…

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Trump also said in his post that the funds received by Iran through the deal will go “into escrow, controlled by the U.S.A., and will be used for the purchase of food and medical supplies.” Yet the Treasury Department’s waiver of Iranian oil sanctions contains no such language and the text of the memorandum of understanding says unfrozen Iranian assets “shall be made fully usable” for “any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran”…

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Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were in Muscat speaking with Omani leaders about the Strait of Hormuz: In a joint statement, the parties said their foreign ministries will work towards an agreement on the “future administration” of the strait, the “services that will be provided in this regard and the costs associated with them,” as the Trump administration has repeatedly stated it will not accept any tolls placed on transit through the key waterway…

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was also abroad, meeting in Islamabad with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, where Pezeshkian said Iran’s ballistic missile program “will never be” up for negotiation with the U.S…

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Jerusalem is publicly expressing concern about the Lebanon deconfliction mechanism established by the U.S. and Iran for the first time, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports: At the opening of Israel and Lebanon’s fifth round of direct talks taking place in Washington today, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter claimed the parties are “heading towards a train wreck.”

Leiter said he’s “concerned the concept of deconfliction is misplaced” because “Israel is not in conflict with Lebanon,” and that Israel had assumed “the central issue was Lebanon and Hezbollah — not the extent to which Iran could restrain Hezbollah. That is not Iran’s role”…

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Rubio, arriving in Abu Dhabi, said the U.S.-Iran and Israel-Lebanon tracks “are separate because Lebanon is a sovereign country,” and that the U.S. is “going to negotiate a deal directly with the Lebanese government,” without mentioning Israel.

Rubio also made clear that Iran is responsible for much of the terror activity in the Middle East, striking a different tone than that of Vice President JD Vance, JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports, after Vance said yesterday the U.S. is counting on Iran to “rein in” Hezbollah…

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The Senate passed a war powers resolution this afternoon directing the administration to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran, 50-48, with GOP Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) voting in favor with Democrats,JI’s Marc Rod reports.

The resolution, now passed by both chambers, came as a concurrent resolution — meaning it will not be submitted to the president and, based on past court precedent, is not seen as carrying the force of law…

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A manifesto allegedly left by the gunman behind yesterday’s rampage in Côte-des-Neiges, a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Montreal, repeatedly targeted Jews and Zionists, specifically identifying “influential Zionists” among his intended victims, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

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New York City First Lady Rama Duwaji posted an Instagram story today flashing an “I Voted” sticker and encouraging her followers to support two congressional candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America: Assemblymember Claire Valdez and doctoral candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier. Not receiving a mention was the only Jewish congressional candidate endorsed by her husband: former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, JI’s Will Bredderman reports…

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Ammar Campa-Najjar, a DSA-backed candidate who was recently defeated in his run for a California congressional seat, launched a new PAC called Democratic Majority for America — a counter to Democratic Majority for Israel, which organized against him in the June primary — to support progressive candidates who want to end aid to Israel, Politico reports.

The PAC, which Campa-Najjar said has about $100,000 in cash on hand, has already endorsed California congressional candidate Randy Villegas and far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed…

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AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, has spent more than $38 million backing candidates this election cycle so far through direct and indirect spending, according to Politico, surpassing the $26 million it spent on the 2022 midterms…

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The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, headed by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, announced the formation of its inaugural advisory board, including Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Dentons CEO Kate Barton, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for primary results from key races in New York and Maryland, as well as a postmortem on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ability to wield his political capital in the three congressional races where he endorsed progressive candidates.

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President Donald Trump is expected to attend a GOP Senate luncheon as he remains at odds with his party over several legislative efforts and as some Republicans speak out against his efforts to curb Israeli operations against Hezbollah.

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In the afternoon, Trump will hold a rally on the National Mall to kick off his Great American State Fair in the lead-up to the country’s 250th anniversary.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is slated to brief House Republicans tomorrow as the Pentagon gears up for a contentious fight over an expected $80 billion supplemental funding request tied largely to the Iran war.

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The House Appropriations Committee will mark up the 2027 defense spending bill.

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Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) will speak in conversation with Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick as well as leaders from other religious groups, including the Union for Reform Judaism and Orthodox Union, about the Jewish American Security Act.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Three people were killed in a shooting attack today in Côte-des-Neiges, a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Montreal, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen and Tamara Zieve report. A civilian, a police officer and the suspect were confirmed dead by Montreal police, while one other police officer was seriously injured but in stable condition. Police said the suspect’s motive is still under investigation. Stay updated on this developing story with JI’s What We’re Watching briefing…

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After the U.S. and Iran agreed to create a “deconfliction cell” for military operations in Lebanon during their negotiations yesterday, Vice President JD Vance said at a press conference today that the U.S. will be counting on Iran to “rein in” Hezbollah — without acknowledging that Tehran offers material backing to its proxy in Lebanon, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.

Vance called Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel and the IDF’s retaliation “a bit of a chicken and egg problem, that you’ve got a junior guy who fires a drone that didn’t have approval from the high command. Of course Israel has to respond to that,” he acknowledged, “but … we could actually have a better and more peaceful situation if Israel responds in the context of a conversation that’s ongoing between Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel and other partners in the region”…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to push back on Vance’s framing, saying in a video statement this morning that his directive to the IDF “has not changed: Our fighters in southern Lebanon have full freedom of action to thwart any direct or developing threat to them or to the residents of the north. The IDF has no restrictions on this matter,” he said, while the tenuous ceasefire with Hezbollah appeared to hold today…

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Vance also announced Iran had agreed to let U.N. nuclear inspectors back into the country, and President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that “everybody is fully aware” Iran will agree to “have Major Weapons Inspections in order to ensure ‘Nuclear Honesty’ long into the future,” but Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, told state media that Iran made “no new commitments” regarding inspections…

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Pursuant to the agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend, the Treasury Department issued a waiver lifting decades-old U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil for the next 60 days, permitting imports of Iranian oil directly to the U.S. and paying for the goods in U.S. dollars.

Asked this afternoon in the Oval Office if he can ensure that Iran won’t use the funds for military purposes, Trump said, “They’re not supposed to be doing that, so we’ll see, but they’re supposed to use the money to buy food for their people.” AIPAC described the waiver as “broader than the terms detailed in the MOU or what was included in the JCPOA”…

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The White House’s “Rapid Response” X account boosted an Al Jazeera video interview about the negotiations with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, calling it “the real story from people actually in the room”…

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Avigdor Liberman, head of Israel’s Yisrael Beiteinu party and a leading opponent of Netanyahu, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that the “deal between Washington and Tehran won’t stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. It will guarantee it.” He called for Jerusalem to “inform Washington that Israel won’t accept any linkage between Iran and Lebanon” and end its reliance on U.S. missile systems, preparing to attack key Iranian infrastructure if Tehran strikes Israel…

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Asked about her stance on Israel in a rare nationally televised interview on Fox News today, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said she “remain[s] a very strong supporter of Israel” despite rising hostility to Israel and AIPAC among the American public, which she said “sadly reflects rising antisemitism in our country that” her opponent, Democratic nominee Graham Platner, “certainly is part of.”

“It’s important to recognize that AIPAC is made up of Americans who care deeply about our relationship with Israel. Platner makes it sound like this is some sort of evil foreign influence and that is absolutely wrong,” Collins continued…

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his rhetorical assault on AIPAC today, JI’s Will Bredderman reports, after Jewish groups over the weekend criticized his comments about the pro-Israel organization at a rally last week that they argued evoked classic antisemitic tropes.

Mamdani defended naming AIPAC among the “monsters who move dark money” as a reference to a widely known misquote of 20th-century Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, and backed up his argument with statistics from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry alleging that the IDF has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since the ceasefire last fall…

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JI’s Christina Sher looks at the state of tomorrow’s Democratic primary for executive of Montgomery County, Md., as all three of the front-runners — County Councilmembers Will Jawando, Andrew Friedson and Evan Glass — have been outspoken against antisemitism, but diverge in their policy positions and views on Israel…

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Three men killed in asmall plane crash in Bowie, Md., on Saturday night have been identified as Israeli citizens, JI’s Haley Cohen reports: Yoav Bomrind, 26, David Rabinovitz, 19, and Elad Neidik, 20, boarded the single-engine plane in Ocean City, N.J., for a training flight before it crashed just outside Washington, D.C…

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Alan Greenspan — the influential economist who led the Federal Reserve across four presidencies and whose track record guiding economic growth earned him status as an economic “maestro” — died today at 100, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how pro-Israel groups’ intervention in the race to replace retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) — where they are supporting state Delegate Adrian Boafo — revealed a more proactive strategy for taking on the left than the one the groups have employed in New York City’s Democratic primaries, as voters in both states head to the polls tomorrow.

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Israeli and Lebanese representatives are expected to meet in Washington to continue their direct negotiations, as the U.S. and Iran seek to intervene in ending military operations in Lebanon.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio will embark on a three-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss issues including the memorandum of understanding with Iran and transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

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Orthodox Union Advocacy will hold its annual lobbying day on the Hill, including a luncheon with senators from both parties and a speech by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter.

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The Jerusalem News Syndicate’s policy summit continues in Jerusalem with remarks from former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, Netanyahu advisor Michael Eisenberg and Magen David Adom President Gilad Erdan.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

As the White House continues to promote the memorandum of understanding that will end the war with Iran and start negotiations between Washington and Tehran, Vice President JD Vance is out with a message that sounds strikingly familiar — at least to anyone who followed former President Barack Obama’s pitch on the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

“If you think this is a bad deal, what is your alternative?” Vance said in an interview this week with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. 

Obama used nearly identical phrasing at a 2015 White House press conference: “I’m hearing a lot of talking points being repeated about ‘this is a bad deal,’” he said. “What I haven’t heard is, what is your preferred alternative?”

Watch a side-by-side look at Vance and Obama here…

Vance also delivered a tough message to Israeli officials who have criticized the MOU, telling reporters on Thursday that Israel’s government should be careful not to alienate the only friend it has left: President Donald Trump, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.

“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time and he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower. If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” said Vance…

Trump also had a word of caution for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two days after he said Netanyahu was too “vicious” in his approach to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Asked by a reporter for Israel’s Kan News if he will support Netanyahu in this year’s Israeli elections, Trump said he most likely would, but did not commit.

“I’ll have to look at who’s running, but I like Bibi very much. I would be most likely to endorse him,” said Trump. “He’s doing a very good job, he’s got to be a little bit more rational”…

United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group that rallied opposition to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, said on Thursday that it “cannot endorse the MoU in its current form”…

AIPAC released a policy memo on Thursday that said the MOU “raises significant questions,” and called on Congress to “play a critical role in ensuring a final deal meets President Trump’s stated objectives for the war”…

In a Thursday speech at the FII Priority summit in Rome, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed Iran for “ruthless” cyberattacks against the country, claiming that Tehran has sought to sow unrest about a preliminarily approved luxury development project in the country from Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, JI’s Matthew Shea reports…

Janeese Lewis George defeated Kenyan McDuffie in the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., with the Associated Press calling the race on Thursday afternoon. Democratic socialist Lewis George leads McDuffie 53% to 36%…

American Priorities, a super PAC created as a progressive counterweight to AIPAC, has received $250,000 from a tech executive whose firm is developing AI data centers in New York State — while boosting two democratic socialist House candidates who oppose efforts to expand data centers, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), who has been absent from Congress since March due to an unexplained personal health issue, plans to return to Washington on June 30…

Israel and Syria are expected to resume direct talks soon due to pressure from the U.S., the Israeli network Kan reports…

The FBI announced that it charged San Diego resident Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas after he allegedly raised approximately $600,000 through fraudulent charitable campaigns and funneled a portion to the terrorist organization…

Former Presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton attended the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Thursday afternoon.

Guests included a litany of ex-Obama administration staffers, including former White House liaison to the Jewish community Matt Nosanchuk and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who was spotted chatting with Obama…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how Jewish Republicans are feeling about the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that was signed this week. 

Vice President JD Vance plans to travel to Switzerland this weekend for talks with Iran, though the plans are not yet finalized, he told reporters on Thursday. 

Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will become the acting director of national intelligence on Friday after the confirmation of DNI nominee Jay Clayton was delayed this week at President Donald Trump’s request. 

We’ll be monitoring the final days of the heated congressional primary campaigns in New York, where Israel and Gaza remain hot topics for progressive candidates. 

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

• The House Intelligence Committee is holding its rescheduled hearing on worldwide threats a day after a similar hearing in the Senate. More below.
• The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is expected to mark up — and potentially vote on — Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) nomination to head theDepartment of Homeland Security. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the committee’s chair, has threatened to cancel the vote over personal clashes with Mullin, who has referred to Paul as a “freaking snake” — which he refused to apologize for at yesterday’s hearing. Paul has indicated that he will not back Mullin’s confirmation, but Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who also sits on the committee, said he’ll vote for Mullin, potentially getting the Oklahoma senator the requisite number of votes to move out of committee. More below on yesterday’s confirmation hearing.
• Antisemitic conspiracy theorist Candace Owens is slated to interview Joe Kent, who stepped down earlier this week as the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, at the Catholic Prayer for America gala in Washington. Last night, Kent gave his first interview since resigning to Tucker Carlson. More below.
• At least four people in Israel and the West Bank — including a foreign worker in Moshav Adanim and three Palestinian women in the village of Beit Awwa — were killed in overnight strikes from Iran.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

Current and former Israeli and U.S. officials suggested that an Israeli strike on an Iranian gas field on Wednesday that prompted the Islamic Republic to strike Qatar was coordinated with the White House — despite President Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S. “knew nothing about this particular attack.” 

Trump made the remarks in a Truth Social post, in which he threatened that the U.S. would bomb the South Pars gas field, the Iranian portion of the larger field shared with Qatar, if Iran does not stop attacking Qatar. 

“The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape or form involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen. Unfortunately, Iran did not know this … and unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar’s [liquid natural gas] facility,” the president wrote.

If “Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar,” he added, the U.S., “with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

An Israeli official told Kan News, Israel’s public broadcaster, that the attack on the South Pars gas field was coordinated with the U.S.

Dan Shapiro, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Pentagon official in the Biden administration, wrote on X, “Trump can post whatever he likes. But there is zero, I mean zero, chance the IDF would conduct a strike in that location without giving CENTCOM full visibility.”

Gilad Erdan, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington and a former member of Israel’s Security Cabinet, told Jewish Insider that it was highly likely the U.S. knew about the strike, saying that Trump did not criticize Israel in his post, and “in the same breath” as saying the U.S. was unaware, “[Trump] himself threatened to erase the [gas] field.”

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

Blind Spots on the War: The Atlantic’s Eliot Cohen posits that advocates for and opponents of the war in Iran are failing on different counts — those who support the war have not shored up enough support for it, while those who oppose military action do not recognize the threat posed by the endurance of the Iranian regime. “When a war begins, our emotions often overtake our ability to analyze and judge. That is a problem not only for those who wage war, engaging either directly as combatants or indirectly as senior leaders, but for the rest of us. That partial eclipse of reason is on full display in the current Iran war, exacerbated by previously held beliefs about the leaders of the United States and Israel on the one hand, and about the Iranian regime on the other.” [TheAtlantic]

What the UAE Means: In The Wall Street Journal, Badr Jafar, the United Arab Emirates’ special envoy for business and philanthropy, argues that Iran’s targeting of the UAE, which has been the primary target of Tehran’s missile launches, underscores its importance as a hub for global business. “What Iran is attacking is an idea: that an open economy can flourish in one of the world’s most contested regions. That idea matters — and not only to the UAE. … The question for the global business community is whether the fundamental case for working and investing in this country has changed. It hasn’t. That case rests not on the absence of risk but on a demonstrated history of resilience, a uniquely diversified economic base, and an unmatched set of physical and financial assets that serve not only the Gulf but Asia, Africa and Europe alike.” [WSJ]

Strait Talk Express: In The New York Times, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Mark Montgomery suggests that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and wrangling control of the waterway from Tehran are vital to the U.S.’ long-term strategic interests in the region and beyond. “The president should remember that China is watching. If pressure in the oil markets is enough to break America’s resolve and lead Mr. Trump to pull out of the war, Chinese leaders are that much more likely to conclude that our commitments to defend Taiwan are nothing but bluster. If the United States can hold firm for the next few weeks, it can fully degrade Iran’s war-making apparatus. This would usher in a multiyear interval of calm of the kind that neither sanctions nor diplomacy has been able to produce in over four decades.”[NYTimes]

The FBI is investigating allegations that former National Counterterrorism Center head Joe Kent shared classified information; the monthslong investigation was already underway at the time of Kent’s resignation earlier this week…

The IRS and FBI are partnering on an effort to investigate links between nonprofit groups and domestic terrorism, following a December directive from the Justice Department instructing federal agencies to look into alleged “tax crimes” of extremist groups…

Adam Kaplan, the deputy inspector general of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said that his office will investigate U.N. staff for ties to Hamas, noting that previous vetting requirements by the aid agency exempted employees of the international body, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports…

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has reportedly angered the White House over her recent trip to the Middle East and efforts to conduct her own rescue missions of Americans stranded in the region, including her direct outreach to Saudi officials that bypassed the State Department…

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) told Politico this week that he “wouldn’t take AIPAC money,” adding that his perspective had changed since he last accepted donations from pro-Israel groups in 2024…

Argentina assumed the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for a one-year term…

Wisconsin’s state Senate passed legislation adopting IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism; the bill will now go to Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, for his signature…

Sharon Nazarian and her family’s philanthropic organization, the Younes & Soroya Nazarian Family Foundation, announced a new partnership with Hebrew Union College for a new initiative at University of Southern California’s Louchheim School for Judaic Studies focused on educating students about extremism, rising hate and antisemitism, JI’s Haley Cohen reports for eJewishPhilanthropy…

Authorities in the U.K. charged two people — an Iranian man and a British-Iranian dual citizen — with surveilling Jewish sites in London last summer on behalf of Iran…

Belgian lawmakers said the government would begin deploying military troops to protect Jewish sites in the country following an explosion last week at a synagogue in Liège… 

The antisemitism commissioner in the German state of Brandenburg resigned from the far-left Die Linke party, of which he was a member for more than a decade, following the passing of a resolution condemning Zionism… 

The New York Times looks at the ascendance of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which is gaining popularity in the country ahead of federal elections this fall…

The Washington Post reports on growing anger at Hezbollah in Lebanon as Israel escalates its targeting of the terror group, amid Beirut’s failure to disarm it in accordance with the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the U.S.’ use of ground-based missiles that are being deployed for the first time…

NPR looks at the growing use of cheaply made drones in modern warfare and the challenges they pose to the U.S. and American allies that have not developed a robust enough defense system to fully fend off drone attacks…

Elbit Systems announced plans to develop laser weapons to be mounted onto fighter jets and military helicopters, but did not provide a timeline for the development…

Representatives from the J7 Jewish Communities met on Wednesday at the Anti-Defamation League’s headquarters in New York City with U.N. permanent representatives. Shown facing forward, from right, are French Amb. Jérôme Bonnafont, U.S. Amb. Jeff Bartos, Canadian Deputy Permanent Representative Michael Gort, Australian Amb. James Larsen and Argentine Amb. Jose Luis Fernandez Valoni.

Online producer, writer and director, who together with his brother Rafi, are best known for their React video series, Benny Fine (right) turns 45…

Chairman of the board of Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East, he is the rabbi of Temple Israel of the Poconos, in Stroudsburg, Pa., Daniel M. Zucker turns 77… Israeli politician, the daughter of slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof turns 76… Former executive editor of The New York Times, the first woman to ever hold that post, Jill Abramson turns 72… NYC-based real estate investor, he is one of three co-founders of the Tribeca Film Festival, Craig Hatkoff turns 72… Musician, composer, singer and songwriter, he was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and now lives in Jerusalem, Yehuda Julio Glantz turns 68… Actor, stand-up comedian and author, Fred Stoller turns 68… EVP of merchandising at American Signature Furniture, a Schottenstein company, Steven D. Rabe turns 66… Writer, critic and author, he writes often about klezmer, Jewish music and Bob Dylan, Seth Rogovoy… Retired partner at Latham & Watkins, Jonathan R. Rod turns 66… Neurologist in Naples, Fla., Brian D. Wolff, MD… Member of the New York state Assembly, Stacey Pheffer Amato turns 60… Former collegiate and professional tennis player, now first vice chair of Camp Ramah Darom, Stacey Schefflin Slomka turns 58… Dean of students at Reichman University (formerly known as IDC Herzliya), she was previously a member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Adi Koll turns 50… Brazilian-born entrepreneur and angel investor, he is one of the co-founders of Facebook, Eduardo Luiz Saverin turns 44… Former director of North American staff at Taglit-Birthright Israel, Aaron Bock… Member of the New York City Council, Lincoln P. Restler turns 42… Founder of two lines of jewelry, the Brave Collection in 2012, and Zahava (Golden, in Hebrew) in 2018, Jessica Hendricks Yee… Line producer at NBCUniversal in NYC, Emma Gottlieb… Discus thrower, he represented the USA at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Samuel Harrison Mattis turns 32…

• We’ll be keeping an eye out in the coming days on how yesterday’s attack on a Michigan synagogue is playing out on the national stage, from Jewish communal conversations to debates in Washington and in state capitals about antisemitism, security funding and safety measures.
• We’ll also be monitoring the ongoing military operations in the Middle East. Overnight, dozens were injured in an Iranian strike on the northern Israeli Arab town of Zarzir. Earlier this morning, CENTCOM confirmed that four of the six crew members of a U.S. KC-135 that crashed during a refueling mission in western Iraq on Thursday were killed, with an investigation underway.
• In Iran, a large explosion was reported this afternoon local time at a Quds Day demonstration in Tehran. The IDF had previously warned against congregating in the area.
• SXSW continues today, with Tech Tribe hosting its annual Shabbat dinner this evening.
• On Sunday, Jewish philanthropists are convening in San Diego for the three-day annual Jewish Funders Network conference. eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher and Rachel Kohn will be on the ground at JFN — sign up for eJP’s Your Daily Phil for the latest on the conference, and say hello if you see Jay and Rachel in San Diego.
• The Zionist Organization of America is hosting a gala in South Florida on Sunday night, where the group will honor Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) and the Justice Department’s Leo Terrell.
• In New York on Sunday, HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, is slated to perform at Lincoln Center.
• And across the country, the Oscars are taking place Sunday night in Los Angeles.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

It’s a testament to the level of security, staff preparation and good fortune that a potential terrorist attack against Temple Israel in suburban Detroit was foiled yesterday. The fact that no one other than the heavily armed perpetrator was killed after driving a vehicle filled with explosives into a synagogue filled with preschoolers, counts as something of a miracle.

It’s also a reminder of the consequences of what can happen when antisemitism is allowed to become normalized in our society, moving unchecked through our social media feeds and political discourse, all amid the record levels of hate crimes committed against Jews simply for their identity.

Even as politicians are reflexively speaking out against antisemitism in the aftermath of the attack, it’s hard to forget the poisonous rhetoric many on the extremes have advanced that could easily activate a lone-wolf extremist to commit an unspeakable crime. 

On the hard left, opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza has morphed into accusations of genocide, attacks against AIPAC as a uniquely sinister organization, conspiracy theories that Israel tricked the U.S. into war with Iran and euphemizing the support of terrorism as merely being “pro-Palestinian.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who has emerged as one of his party’s leading anti-Israel voices as he mulls a presidential campaign, had the audacity to say he “stands with” antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker — along with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has refused to condemn “globalize the intifada” rhetoric and anti-Israel Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner — during the Michigan synagogue terror attack.

Former Obama deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes and his “Pod Save America” colleagues are now declaring that anyone who supports the Iran war — a group that may well include some Jewish Democrats in Congress who are sympathetic to the operation’s aims, even if they have reservations — should be primaried, and have no place within the Democratic Party. 

On the hard right, extremist podcasters are broadcasting the most undiluted antisemitism in media since the days of Father Coughlin in the 1930s. Tucker Carlson has devoted much of his show to promoting conspiracy theories about Jews, while other social media influencers have found that attacking Israel and questioning Jewish influence is a ticket to building a niche audience in online spaces. Gatherings of young right-wingers have all too often become cesspools of anti-Jewish hate. 

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

A Bridge Too Far: Puck’s Julia Ioffe looks at the catch-22 facing Elbridge Colby, the Trump administration’s under secretary of war for policy, as the U.S. engages militarily with Iran — a strategy that Colby has long personally opposed. “Colby isn’t the first to strike this kind of Faustian — or simply Washingtonian — bargain over the past decade. But for him, as for everyone else, the MAGAfication cuts both ways. On one hand, he has political power and the kind of job that NatSec types dream of. On the other, that power is entirely subject to Trump’s whims. ‘He’s an ideological actor in an administration that has no ideology,’ a Democratic member of Congress told me.” [Puck]

Van Hollen’s Venom: In the Jewish News Syndicate, Betsy Berns Korn, chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, raises concerns about Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) allegation that AIPAC is “neither” a pro-American nor a pro-Israel organization. “Citizens advocate for stronger alliances with NATO partners, support Taiwan’s democracy, promote human-rights abroad, defend labor interests, protect the environment and work to expand trade relationships. That tradition of civic participation is a hallmark of American democracy. Advocacy for a strong relationship between the United States and Israel belongs squarely within that tradition. … Support for this partnership does not make Americans less loyal to their country. On the contrary, it reflects their judgment about what best serves American security, democratic values and global stability.” [JNS]

Regime Unchanged: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius warns that the U.S.’ strategy in Iran runs the risk of allowing the regime to stay in place. “If the conflict ends tomorrow, Iran will have lost nearly all its nuclear facilities and scientists, most of its missiles and missile launchers, most of its weapons factories, most of its navy, and much of the command and control for its military, intelligence and security forces. But the regime survives. It has taken America’s best punch, and it’s still standing. Tiers of senior military, intelligence and political leaders are dead, but they have been replaced by others. There’s no sign of a popular uprising. The cadres of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hide among piles of rubble, but they haven’t been eliminated.” [WashPost]

Kurds Force: In New Lines Magazine, Laurent Perpigna Iban spotlights the Kurdish factions that had until recent days been under consideration by the U.S. to lead a ground incursion into Iran. “For the first time in their history, the various Iranian Kurdish factions have found common ground and established a platform for cooperation. … The project is more political than military, laying the groundwork for the protection of Iran’s Kurdish population. According to converging sources, discussions about a potential ground incursion do exist, even if such a scenario has not formally been placed on the table.” [NewLines]

Mind Meld on Iran: The Financial Times’ Neri Zilber reports on the close coordination between Washington and Jerusalem on the joint attack on Iran. “The speed and ferocity of the aerial campaign has required extraordinary levels of coordination — from the initial war plan that was put together to the thousands of phone conversations every day between the two militaries. ‘It’s a mind meld,’ said Dan Shapiro, a former senior US defence official and ambassador to Israel. … The close coordination, across the entire chain of command, has involved some 4,000 to 5,000 calls per day — from the chief of staff level down to the hundreds of pilots in the air at any given time, according to the senior Israeli military official.” [FT]

Politico reports on Vice President JD Vance’s skepticism ahead of U.S. strikes on Iran; Vance reportedly privately conveyed his opposition to military action to senior administration officials…

President Donald Trump officially removed Carrie Prejean Boller from the Religious Liberties Commission, weeks after Prejean Boller vociferously defended antisemitic conspiracy theorist Candace Owens at a commission hearing… 

Religious Liberties Commissionadvisory board member Sameerah Munshi, who had allied herself with Prejean Boller, announced her resignation from the board…

Trump nominated Sarah Rogers, the State Department’s undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, days after a federal judge voided the actions undertaken at the agency under Kari Lake, who was serving as acting CEO; Rogers will maintain her State Department role in addition to leading USAGM…  

The president also nominated United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Governing Council member Jeff Miller to serve as the body’s chair; Miller, who also serves on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition, was first appointed to the USHMM’s governing council by Trump in 2021…

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday introduced legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), designating the Polisario Front, the terrorist group that claims sovereignty over parts of the Western Sahara, as a foreign terrorist organization; “This bill will ensure that America’s most powerful anti-terrorism sanctions can be used to counter those threats and, once a designation is secured, the Polisario Front and its leaders will be cut off from access to the global financial system, international travel, and the resources they rely upon to conduct their terrorism,” Cruz told JI…

Following the Michigan synagogue attack, Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) shared on X an antisemitic death threat that he received, saying that they are a daily occurrence for him and other Jewish members of Congress…

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) raised concerns about the status of Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian-American Jewish constituent in Suozzi’s district who has been jailed in Iran for nearly a year after being arrested for having visited Israel more than a decade ago for his son’s bar mitzvah…

Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO) and Yassamin Anasari (D-AZ) led 121 House Democrats in a letter questioning the administration over a strike on an Iranian girls’ school reportedly executed by the U.S….

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), who is 85, announced that he will seek an 18th House term, two years after the South Carolina Democrat stepped down from his Democratic leadership role…

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed New York state Assemblymember Micah Lasher, who had served as a mayoral aide to Bloombergin the Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY); Bloomberg is preparing to spend up to $5 million on an ad campaign boosting Lasher in the crowded 12th Congressional District primary…

The Treasury Department announced on Thursday that it was imposing sanctions on four “sham charity” groups in Turkey and Indonesia that it said are funnelling money and resources to Hamas, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

The Trump administration is temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil that is already at sea in an effort to lower prices as Iran maintains control over the Strait of Hormuz; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that it was “unfortunate” that Moscow would benefit in the short term from the conflict with Iran… 

The White House intervened to water down a broadly bipartisan sanctions bill targeting Iran’s oil exports to China, sources told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod…

Turkish elites have reportedly begun circulating claims that Israel could turn its military attention toward Ankara should Iran emerge from the war depleted — a belief analysts say reflects growing mistrust and conspiratorial thinking in Turkey rather than any actual Israeli intent, JI’s Matthew Shea reports…

The Wall Street Journal gives a play-by-play accounting of the defection of six members of the Iranian women’s national soccer team, who sought asylum in Australia while playing in a tournament in the country…

Palestinian scholar Walid Khalidi, a co-founder of Beirut’s Institute for Palestine Studies, died at 100…

Amb. Michael Mann, the head of the European Union delegation to Israel, donated blood yesterday during a visit to Magen David Adom headquarters in the mixed central Israeli city of Ramla.

Four-time Israeli national champion in the skeleton event and pilot of Israel’s first-ever Olympic bobsled team in Milan, Adam “AJ” Edelman turns 35 on Saturday…

FRIDAY: Editor of Avotaynu Magazine, a journal of Jewish genealogy and scholarship, Sallyann Amdur Sack-Pikus turns 90… Former mayor of Miami Beach, Fla., and author of Destiny: From Shoeshine Boy to Mayor, Norman Ciment turns 90… Israeli singer, he won the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, Izhar Cohen turns 75… Psychotherapist in private practice in Manhattan and Teaneck, N.J., Shana Yocheved Schacter… U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) turns 69… Founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, a NYC-based organization working to end the war on drugs, Ethan Nadelmann turns 69… Professor of applied mathematics at Imperial College London, he is also a chess grandmaster, Jonathan Mestel turns 69… Former Florida congressman, Alan Grayson turns 68… Teacher of rabbinic literature and author of The Jewish Family Ethics Textbook, Rabbi Neal S. Scheindlin turns 66… Founder and CEO of MediaBistro which she sold in 2007, now managing director of Supernode Ventures, Laurel Touby turns 63… Heavy metal songwriter, vocalist for the band Disturbed as well as for the band Device, he is a former yeshiva student, David Draiman turns 53… Member of the California state Senate since 2014, Benjamin Allen turns 48… Former member of Knesset for the Jewish Home party and decorated IDF reservist, Yonatan “Yoni” Chetboun turns 47… Deputy campaign manager on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign, now host of radio show “The Agenda,” Ari Rabin-Havt… Television and film actor, Emile Hirsch turns 41… President and CEO of Nefco, a distributor of construction and industrial supplies, Matthew Gelles… Television and film actor, Emory Isaac Cohen 36… Senior director of social marketing at NBC Universal, Jessie Hannah Rubin… Former Formula 3 racing driver, his mother is Houda Nonoo, the first Jewish woman to serve as an ambassador of Bahrain, Menasheh Idafar turns 35… Gabriel Romano…

SATURDAY: Professor emeritus of chemistry at Tel Aviv University, winner of the 1982 Israel Prize, Joshua Jortner turns 93… Founder and retired president of Los Angeles-based Skirball Cultural Center, Rabbi Dr. Uri Herscher turns 85… Dean of Yeshiva Toras Moshe in Jerusalem, Rabbi Moshe Meiselman turns 84… Senior lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Marshall Ganz turns 83… Canadian criminal defense attorney, Brian Greenspan turns 79… Actor, writer, producer, director and comedian, Billy Crystal turns 78… Former member of the Maryland House of Delegates for 28 years, Shane Elizabeth Pendergrass turns 76… One-half of the eponymous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (Ben is four days younger), Jerry Greenfield turns 75… Retired Hebrew teacher, Eliezer Cohen Barak… Co-founder of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, she is the president of Stand By Me, an organization that supports cancer patients, Gila Milstein… Partner at Hefter, Leshem, Margolis Capital Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors in Highland Park, Ill., Steven Hefter… Founder and leader of ChangeCommunications, Jo-Ann Mort… NYC-based restaurateur and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, Danny Meyer turns 68… Professor in the department of Jewish philosophy at Tel Aviv University, Menachem Lorberbaum turns 68… Minneapolis-based attorney, Jonathan S. Parritz… Past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Denise L. Eger turns 66… Owner of Baltimore’s Tov Pizza, which he founded in 1984, Ronnie Rosenbluth… Owner and COO of EJM Development Company, he also heads its lending division, New Frontier Capital, Jon Monkarsh… Microgrid architect at Urban Ingenuity and lecturer at Georgetown University, Shalom Flank, Ph.D… Film and television actress, she is best known for her title role in the 1985 film “The Journey of Natty Gann,” Meredith Salenger turns 56… Entrepreneur, musician, songwriter and record company executive, Josh Gruss turns 52… Screenwriter and film director, Etan Cohen turns 52… Canadian fashion stylist, publicist and close friend of Meghan Markle (her children were in the royal wedding as page boys and flower girl), Jessica Brownstein Mulroney turns 46… Heiress, together with her brother and cousins, to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, philanthropist, former child actress, Liesel Pritzker Simmons turns 42… Oldest of three sisters who are members of the rock band Haim, Este Arielle Haim turns 40… Former NASCAR driver, he is the sole inductee into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in the “Auto Racing” category, Jon Denning turns 39… Former point guard at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the Ivy League player of the year in 2012, Zack Rosen turns 37… Director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work on “The Intern,” “Big Time Adolescence” and “I Want You Back,” Jason Orley turns 37… Product quality specialist at The Topps Company, Philip Liebman… Coach for first-time founders, Sophie Galant… CEO of Prizmah, Paul Bernstein…

SUNDAY: Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning actor, active in film, television and on the stage, Judd Hirsch turns 91… UCLA professor, biochemist and biophysicist, David S. Eisenberg turns 87… First-ever NYC Public Advocate starting in 1994, he is an author of 23 books, Mark J. Green turns 81… British billionaire and philanthropist, former chairman of retail conglomerate Arcadia Group, Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green turns 74… Former managing member at Buena Vista Fund Management in San Francisco, now owner of a homemade bread business, Robert Mendel Rosner… Animator and director of numerous episodes of “The Simpsons,” David Silverman turns 69… Real estate agent at Signature Realty Associates in the Tampa and Florida Gulf Coast market, Ze’ev “Wolf” Bar-El… White House special envoy leading diplomatic efforts around the world, Steve Witkoff turns 69… Freelance writer and consultant, Bathsheva Gladstone… Executive director of the Jewish Culture Center at Indiana University Bloomington, Debra Barton Grant… Member of the Knesset for the Likud party, currently serving as speaker of the Knesset, Amir Ohana turns 50… Retired MLB infielder, he now owns Loma Brewing, a brew pub in Los Gatos, Calif., he was Team Israel’s batting coach in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Kevin Youkilis turns 47… Global business editor for Defense One, where he writes about the intersection of business and national security, Marcus Weisgerber… Psychotherapist based in Raleigh, N.C., Mindy Beth Reinstein Brodsky… Born in Jerusalem, she is a member of the New York state Assembly for the northeast portions of Queens, Nily Rozic turns 40… Rapper, comedian and actor, better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, David Andrew Burd turns 38… Board chair at the African Middle Eastern Leadership (AMEL) Project and executive director of the 30 Birds Foundation, Justin Hefter… Co-founder of Punchbowl News, Rachel Schindler… and Rachel’s twin brother, college admissions consultant and SAT/ACT tutor, Max J. Schindler… Zach Shartiag… Professional wrestler, Maxwell Jacob Friedman turns 30…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The suspect in the arson attack that destroyed Mississippi’s largest synagogue early Saturday morning confessed to targeting the building because of its “Jewish ties,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

In an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi more than 48 hours after the attack, the FBI said the suspect, Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, admitted to starting the blaze at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., due to “the building’s Jewish ties” and referred to the institution as the “synagogue of Satan” in an interview with the Jackson Fire Department. Pittman was charged with “maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive”…

President Donald Trump said Iranian officials made contact with the U.S. over the weekend and proposed restarting nuclear negotiations, telling reporters, “A meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting,” referring to the U.S. potentially taking military action in Iran over its violent crackdown on protesters around the country. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also spoke with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days about the protests, Axios reports; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today that an Iranian government official who spoke to Witkoff “express[ed] a far different tone than what you’re seeing publicly.”

Trump is currently leaning toward authorizing military strikes rather than engaging in diplomacy, The Wall Street Journal reports, and he is scheduled to hold a briefing tomorrow with advisors, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, to make a determination…

California Jewish communal organizations released a joint statement today condemning state Sen. Scott Wiener’s remarks on Israel, after the Jewish House candidate said in a video statement yesterday that he is changing his position and will now call Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. 

“We recognize that Senator Wiener has been a strong supporter of the Jewish community throughout the Israel-Hamas war and his many years of public service, and that he has directly experienced antisemitic attacks simply for being Jewish. Unfortunately, Senator Wiener’s newly stated position is both incorrect and lacks moral clarity. … We call on the Senator and our elected, civic, and education leaders to recognize and reflect on the consequences of their words in this fraught and polarizing environment,” the statement read…

In a major recruiting win for Senate Democrats, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) announced her run against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) today, JI’s Marc Rod reports, giving Democrats an outside chance of picking up the red-state Senate seat.

Peltola maintained a strongly pro-Israel voting record during her one term in the House, breaking on numerous occasions with a majority of her party to vote for measures supporting the Jewish state post-Oct. 7, including supporting a stand-alone Israel aid package opposed by many Democrats. Sullivan, for his part, has been a hawkish pro-Israel voice in the Senate, and has pushed for a more aggressive stance toward Iran…

Democratic Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo is launching a bid to succeed his former mentor, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), as the former House majority leader retires. Boafo, who served as campaign manager for Hoyer, is expected to be the party favorite in the primary, Politico reports. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who rose to prominence after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, is also considering joining the race…

In another race to watch, Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ) in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District gained another opponent in Tiffany Burress, a Republican political newcomer and wife of former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress. On the first day of her campaign, Burress has already secured the backing of several GOP county chairs, as the party looks to flip the seat away from Pou after Trump unexpectedly carried the district in 2024…

Former Obama administration officials and Crooked Media hosts Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Ben Rhodes are hosting a fundraiser in Hollywood, Calif., on Thursday for Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left, anti-Israel candidate running for Senate in Michigan, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

El-Sayed, a physician and former director of the Wayne County Department of Health, has made his criticisms of Israel a centerpiece of his campaign, blasting other candidates in the race as being insufficiently hostile to the Jewish state. Favreau, Lovett and Rhodes, on their “Pod Save America” and “Pod Save the World” podcasts, have also emerged as a vocal force against Israel and AIPAC in the Democratic Party, and have boosted prominent anti-Israel candidates in other hot-button primaries…

The future of the Israeli Lounge at the Trump-Kennedy Center is reportedly in peril, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Judah Ari Gross reports, “unless a major donor from the Jewish community steps up and makes a large donation,” far-right commentator Laura Loomer said over the weekend. The center’s president, Richard Grenell, is seeking to renovate the space; Loomer has suggested Qatar may look to provide the funds for the room’s overhaul…

The New York Times reports on the brewing fight between states over the order of 2028 Democratic presidential primary elections…

Dina Powell McCormick, a banking executive, former deputy national security advisor to Trump and wife of Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), was named president and vice chair of Meta, reporting to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Axios reports. Zuckerberg said in a statement that Powell McCormick will focus on “partnering with governments and sovereigns to build, deploy, invest in, and finance Meta’s AI and infrastructure”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for more details on the motives and background of the suspected arsonist who set fire to the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., over the weekend.

President Donald Trump will receive a major briefing on avenues for responding to Iran’s violent suppression of protests, including cyber, economic and military options.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will deliver her State of the State address in Albany, where she plans to announce her proposal to create a 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship and health-care facilities. (The legislation, while welcomed by major Jewish groups, would not have prevented the pro-Hamas protest that disrupted a Queens community last week, which took place approximately 300 feet away from the targeted synagogue.) New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to be in attendance.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Protests are escalating across Iran, with videos showing masses of demonstrators taking to the streets and security forces at times overwhelmed. Human rights groups estimate dozens of protesters have already been killed and reports indicate the country is experiencing an internet blackout. Storeowners are reportedly shuttering their businesses in an economic boycott, further deepening the economic crisis that spurred the unrest.

President Donald Trump reiterated his warning today that the Iranian regime will “have to pay hell” if “they start killing people, which they tend to do,” speculating that the deaths so far have been caused by stampedes and not law enforcement. Vice President JD Vance said at a press briefing that the Iranian regime “has a lot of problems” and that “the smartest thing for them to have done … is for them to actually have a real negotiation with the United States”…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that he is establishing a royal commission into antisemitism in the country, after the deadly terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney last month. The commission, considered a powerful tool in Australian governance, will investigate the scope and causes of antisemitism and make recommendations for law enforcement, in a report due on the year anniversary of the Dec. 14 attack…

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spain would send “peacekeeping troops” to the Gaza Strip “when the opportunity presents itself.” Speaking to a gathering of ambassadors in Madrid today, he said, “Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip … Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine.” Many countries remain wary of contributing troops to stabilize Gaza over concerns of being required to engage with Hamas…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with Nickolay Mladenov, former U.N. envoy to the Middle East and soon-to-be representative of the U.S.-led Board of Peace in Gaza…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been silent thus far today about a protest taking place tonight organized by the radical anti-Israel group responsible for a similar protest outside the Park East Synagogue in November, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

The group posted the address of the real estate event they intend to protest, which is taking place at a synagogue in Queens’ heavily Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills. The synagogue canceled prayer services and two nearby schools, Yeshiva of Central Queens and PS 165, announced early closures. Democratic state Assemblymember Sam Berger, who represents the area, told JI that local principals, staff and parents are “very concerned.” The surrounding area has been “completely upended,” he said…

The New Jersey Legislature will not give further consideration to a bill seeking to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into state law during this legislative session, the bill’s lead sponsor announced, after several years of the Jewish community’s urging for the measure to be adopted…

Rob Sand, the state auditor and Democratic candidate for governor of Iowa, announced he raised over $9.5 million in 2025, more than double the record for off-year fundraising for a gubernatorial election in the state. Sand told Jewish Insider in 2019, when he first took office as auditor, that he conducted what was “definitely the first audit” to ensure agencies were in compliance with a state anti-BDS law. “When you say [you are] willing to be supportive of your ally [Israel], you need to put your money where your mouth is,” he said at the time…

Far-left New York state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez joined the race to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) today in the progressive 7th Congressional District covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens. The Democratic Socialists of America and Mamdani are expected to endorse Valdez, a move that could prove consequential in the district that The New York Times said will “pit left against lefter.” 

Valdez, who has already brought on several of Mamdani’s advisors, was a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and pro-Israel political groups; her opponent, Antonio Reynoso, takes similar stances but is viewed as a more “traditional progressive” and is expected to secure Velázquez’s support, the Times reports…

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) officially announced his retirement today after serving 23 terms, one of the longest-serving House members in U.S. history. Speaking on the House floor, the former majority leader and pro-Israel champion warned he was “deeply concerned that this House is not living up to the founders’ goals” and that the country “is heading not toward greatness, but toward smallness, pettiness, divisiveness, loneliness and disdainfulness”…

In his first State of the State address since 2020 — and final before his term ends next year — California Gov. Gavin Newsom heralded his state as a “beacon” and a “policy blueprint for others to follow.” He denounced Trump and laid out a policy agenda including clean energy, increased wages and lowered housing costs, in a speech seen as laying the groundwork for his potential 2028 presidential run…

The Qatar Investment Authority and Emirati-based MGX, linked to a UAE sovereign wealth fund, participated in the latest fundraising round for Elon Musk’s xAI, which raised over $15 billion total. Gulf investors including QIA and the Saudi and Omani sovereign funds have taken part in previous fundraising rounds for the company that owns the Grok AI chatbot on X…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at how legislation in New Jersey to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism was scuttled — and who was behind the bill’s demise. 

The third season of the hit TV show “Tehran” will premiere in the U.S. on Apple TV tomorrow, after a delay of several years. The popular international thriller, which follows a Mossad agent operating undercover in Iran, was indefinitely postponed at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The season ran in Israel in December 2024, and Apple has announced the fourth season is already in production.

On Saturday, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt will sit in conversation with Rabbi David Wolpe about the “golden age of American Jewry” at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Qatar is the top country donating foreign funds to American universities, and Cornell University is its leading recipient, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

According to a new dashboard from the Department of Education, Qatar holds the No. 1 spot for funds provided to U.S. universities at a whopping $6.6 billion — $2.3 billion of which has gone to Cornell, making up the vast majority of the school’s $3 billion in foreign funding. Qatar has provided significantly more funds than the next leading countries, bolstering criticisms of the Gulf state’s influence over American higher education…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud this afternoon “to advance ongoing bilateral cooperation” following President Donald Trump’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November. Rubio and Al-Saud discussed issues including Gaza, Yemen, Sudan and Syria, according to a State Department readout.

The Saudi foreign minister also met with lawmakers on the Hill, including Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the chair and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee…

Trump is expected to kick off the second phase of the Gaza peace plan next week, Axios reports, including announcing the formation of the Gaza Board of Peace. Among the countries expected to participate are the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, with former U.N. envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov at the helm…

In a Truth Social post this afternoon, Trump called for the U.S. defense budget to be raised to $1.5 trillion in 2027, an increase of approximately 50% from his 2026 request…

Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz, in a speech to the Knesset on Monday, warned the American right about the dangers of rising antisemitism within its ranks, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.

“I stand here in Jerusalem to sound an alarm,” Illouz said. “We are used to enemies from the outside … but today, I look at the West — our greatest ally — and I see a new enemy rising from within.” Illouz, who was born and raised in Montreal, took the unusual step of speaking from the lectern in English.

The right-wing lawmaker called for American conservatives to reject what he called the “poison” of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, mentioning the podcasters by name. “They claim to fight the ‘woke left.’ They are no different than the woke left,” Illouz argued. “The woke left tears down statues of Thomas Jefferson, the woke right tears down statues of Winston Churchill … It is the same hatred of the West dressed up in a different costume”…

New York City Councilmember Julie Menin was unanimously voted speaker of the council today, as expected, after she announced in November that she had garnered enough support to secure the position.

Shortly after being elected, Menin, the first Jewish council speaker in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world, said she will look to codify legislation to protect the Jewish community, including establishing safe perimeters for protests around synagogues…

A new poll by the Honan Strategy Group found Jewish and non-Jewish New York voters split in their views about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the Forward reports. Fifty-five percent of non-Jewish respondents said Jews who say they feel threatened by Mamdani’s views on Israel are overreacting, while 53% of Jewish respondents said they are justified to feel that way. Fifty-one percent of Jews said Mamdani’s election is a troubling sign that antisemitism is being normalized, while 61% of non-Jews see it as evidence of healthy debate and diversity…

The New York Times lays out an ongoing lawsuit in New York over redistricting that could see the 11th Congressional District redrawn, which could impact the boundaries of Rep. Dan Goldman’s (D-NY) neighboring district and further complicate his reelection prospects…

In New Jersey, congressional candidates are raking in donations for what’s shaping up to be one of the state’s most expensive primary cycles ever. In the special election in the state’s 11th Congressional District to replace Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) announced he’s raised more than $1 million in the two months since he launched his bid.

Three Democratic candidates vying for Malinowski’s old seat in the neighboring 7th District, now held by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), have also raised over $1 million each, including former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett. The large fundraising hauls are unusual for an off year, though Democrats see the 7th as a promising opportunity to flip a House seat, given that the swing district narrowly voted for Sherrill, a Democrat, in November…

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a far-right Republican, announced today he will not pursue a rematch against Gov. Josh Shapiro, to whom he lost decisively in the 2022 gubernatorial race, amid speculation that he would once again seek the office…

Warner Bros. rejected a hostile takeover bid from Paramount, in the latest development in the battle to acquire the media giant. The company’s board voted to maintain its existing deal with Netflix for $72 billion, calling Paramount’s amended $77.9 billion offer with a personal guarantee from Larry Ellison “inadequate”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at the dynamics that may play out between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the newly inaugurated City Council Speaker Julie Menin as she plays a critical role in potentially providing a check against the mayor’s policy agenda.

Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center in New York City will host a screening of the documentary “The Road Between Us” about Gen. Noam Tibon’s historic rescue of his family amid the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, as well as a discussion with Tibon and director Barry Avrich. Read JI’s interview with Tibon and Avrich.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Bolstering concerns that Iran could attempt to strike Israel to rally domestic support amid nationwide protests, Iran’s Defense Council warned today that Tehran could act against its “long-standing enemies” over their “hostile behavior.”

The body, formed after the June war with Israel, said in a statement that “Iran’s security, independence and territorial integrity are an uncrossable red line, and any aggression or continuation of hostile behavior will be met with a proportionate and decisive response.”

“The long-standing enemies of this land” are “repeating and intensifying threatening language and interventionist statements in clear conflict with the accepted principles of international law, which is aimed at dismembering our beloved Iran and harming the country’s identity,” the statement continued, as President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene if Iran cracks down on the protesters…

Wrapping up a U.S.-mediated dialogue in Paris, Israel and Syria made progress towards improving relations as they agreed to accelerate the pace of negotiations going forward, considered a U.S. proposal to establish a demilitarized joint economic zone and agreed to set up a communication mechanism to facilitate coordination on military deescalation, intelligence sharing and diplomacy…

Domestically, midterm election year is in full swing: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) officially launched his reelection bid today in New York’s 10th Congressional District, highlighting the date as the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and his role as the House’s lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment.

Goldman came out of the gate against his opponent, former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, with a slew of endorsements, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA). 

Goldman told The New York Times that he understood his continued support for Israel “ran the risk of engendering a primary” in his progressive district but that he made his decisions based on “what I genuinely thought was best for the state of Israel, the people of Israel, Palestinian civilians and the future state of Palestine”…

Nearby in New York’s 12th Congressional District, George Conway, a former Republican lawyer and prominent critic of Trump who launched his run today as a Democrat, raised several concerns about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s approach to Israel and antisemitism in recent interviews, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Conway, who recently relocated to Manhattan in order to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), said in an interview with The New York Times that he was “disturbed” by Mamdani’s sharp criticisms of Israel, even as he called the mayor “a great politician” and voiced admiration for his “focus on affordability.”

Conway added in an interview with NBC News that he was “concerned about some of the language” Mamdani has “used in the past about Israel,” as well as the mayor’s recent decision to revoke a pair of executive orders related to Israel and antisemitism on his first day in office. “His focus really has to be on bringing people together,” Conway said of Mamdani, “not sending the wrong message to individual groups of people”…

In the crowded Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District to take on Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Peter Chatzky, the deputy mayor of Briarcliff Manor, injected $5 million of his own money into his campaign, Politico reports. Chatzky has stood out from the crowd in the competitive swing district in the northern suburbs of New York City with his comparatively critical stance of Israel.

Cait Conley, meanwhile, a national security veteran strongly supportive of Israel who is considered one of the front-runners in the seven-person race to take on Lawler, announced yesterday that she raised more than $560,000 in the last quarter of 2025 and has over $1.2 million in cash on hand…

Former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) is considering mounting a run for Senate to challenge Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Axios reports. Peltola narrowly lost her seat in 2024 when Trump carried the state in the presidential election; if she does make a bid, she would give Democrats the opportunity to contest a red-state race, giving them an outside shot to win back the upper chamber…

Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) died today at 65, Republican leadership announced. AIPAC mourned him as “an outspoken pro-Israel leader in Congress.” The congressman’s seat, a largely rural district he represented since 2013, was redrawn last year to be more favorable to Democrats, but a special election to fill his seat will be held under the old map friendlier to Republicans due to the timing of the vacancy…

Speaking at a press conference on the latest crime statistics out of New York City, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, standing next to Mamdani, said that antisemitic hate crimes in the city declined 3% from 2024 to 2025 but, at 57%, still make up the majority of all hate crimes reported…

In an interview released today on CNN commentator Scott Jennings’ podcast, Vice President JD Vance, asked about the rise of antisemitism in the conservative movement, said, “we need to reject all forms of ethnic hatred, whether it’s antisemitism, anti-Black hatred, anti-white hatred,” JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.

“I think that’s one of the great things about the conservative coalition, is that we are, I think, fundamentally rooted in the Christian principles that founded the United States of America and one of those very important principles is that we judge people as individuals,” Vance continued…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a deep dive into the geopolitical ramifications of Israel’s choice to formally recognize the African nation of Somaliland — and whether the U.S. might follow suit.

The New York City Council will vote to elect its speaker tomorrow, which is widely expected to be Councilmember Julie Menin. Menin, who will be the first Jewish speaker of the council, has already begun to push back on Mayor Zohran Mamdani, expressing her concern to him over his repeal of former Mayor Eric Adams’ executive orders related to Israel and antisemitism.

In Washington, the Atlantic Council will host a discussion on the “future of humanitarian assistance,” including remarks from IsraAID CEO Yotam Polizer.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Dominating the headlines, deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty to charges including narco-terrorism during their arraignment in New York City today. “I am still president of my country,” Maduro told the judge, who set their next hearing for March 17.

At the same time, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, whom the Trump administration has said it will work with, was sworn in as interim president in Caracas, though she insisted that Maduro is still president and that he is being held hostage by the U.S…

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced today that he will no longer seek reelection to a third term after facing weeks of criticism due to revelations of widespread fraud primarily among the state’s Somali diaspora population. 

“I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all. Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” Walz, who has increasingly played to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, said in his announcement.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a moderate with a record of winning over independent voters, is considering running for governor in his stead, after she and Walz met yesterday. On the Republican side, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Speaker of the Statehouse Lisa Demuth are already vying for the office…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani denied that his executive order altering the relationship between the NYPD and his office — which appeared to indicate that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch would no longer report to him but to a deputy mayor — will be meaningful in its impact, telling reporters today that the commissioner “will continue to report directly to me … The executive order is in terms of the question of coordination.”

The direct line between the mayor and NYPD head has been in place at least since the terror attacks of 9/11, after which the commissioner began to hold daily intelligence briefings for the mayor. The National Jewish Advocacy Center called the restructuring “unprecedented” in a letter to Mamdani and said that “The close relationship between the NYPD and the Mayor’s Office has been key to averting disasters for the Jewish community,” including during Hanukkah last month.

The move came as Mamdani revoked an executive order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions order, which also drew backlash from Jewish leaders…

Meanwhile, in one of his final acts in office, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter today reminding all K-12 superintendents and school boards in the state of their obligation to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism into their codes of conduct and discrimination policies, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. 

“As part of your compliance with Federal and Virginia law, you must implement the IHRA definition and its contemporary examples into your codes of conduct and discrimination policies to assess unprotected activity,” Miyares wrote, referencing a law passed by the state legislature in May 2023 requiring use of the IHRA definition by all state agencies… 

Harvard President Alan Garber said that the university was wrong to let professors express strong stances on controversial issues in the classroom, causing students to feel they couldn’t share their views, including faculty espousing anti-Israel views in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. “It did happen in classrooms that professors would push this,” he said in a live taping of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s “Identity/Crisis Podcast” last month…

Leslie Grinage, Barnard’s dean and vice president of campus life and student experience, left her position today, the Columbia Spectator reports, after she came under intense criticism for her role in disciplining students who had violated school rules during anti-Israel protests on campus. Dozens of protesters staged a sit-in outside her office last year to demand the reinstatement of two students who were expelled after they disrupted a History of Modern Israel class…

Speaking in the Knesset today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and President Donald Trump “will not allow Iran to rebuild its ballistic missile industry, and we certainly won’t let it renew its nuclear program” and that the two leaders agree that Iran must have no enrichment capabilities, all of its enriched uranium must be sent out of the country and there must be close oversight of its nuclear facilities…

Netanyahu also met with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) in Jerusalem today…

The Israel Defense Forces and Moroccan Armed Forces signed a joint work plan for 2026 during the third meeting of their Joint Military Committee in Tel Aviv this week…

A man was arrested for vandalizing the personal residence of Vice President JD Vance in Cincinnati this morning. Nobody was home at the time. “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I’m grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly,” Vance said on X…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at Judge Alvin Hellerstein, the 92-year-old Orthodox Jewish federal judge overseeing the trial of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Academic Engagement Network is convening a three-day “boot camp” in Miami Beach this week for university faculty combating antisemitism and anti-Zionism on campus. Speakers will include Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal, the Atlantic Council’s Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, antisemitism researcher Miri Bar-Halpern and past president of the American Association of University Presidents Cary Nelson.

Tomorrow, former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and commentator Dan Senor will speak about “Israeli strategy in war and peace” in West Palm Beach, Fla., for the Palm Beach Synagogue’s “Critical Conversation Series.”

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Two men in Manchester, England were found guilty of planning a terror attack on the city’s Jewish community, in the same area where two people were killed in a car ramming and stabbing attack at a synagogue on Yom Kippur.

Police warned it would have been the “deadliest terrorist attack in U.K. history”; the would-be assailants were affiliated with ISIS and had obtained guns and ammunition for an extended shooting spree, which they indicated was revenge for Israel’s actions in Gaza. One told an undercover officer, “We start with the Jews and if there any Christians caught in the act, that is a bonus, but we start with the Jews”…

At the same time, British police dropped a criminal investigation into Bob Vylan, the rap duo who led “death to the IDF” chants at the Glastonbury music festival in June, citing “insufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction”…

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem today pushing for additional information about Nonprofit Security Grant Program allocations, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, as well as criticizing the $330 million funding allocation for the program proposed last week by Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“As I travel around Connecticut and hear from community leaders here and around the country, I am struck by the severely heightened anxiety and apprehension about physical threats to places of worship and community centers involving hate-based violence,” Blumenthal said.

The senator requested data on grant applications and acceptances, the reasons why FEMA has provided less funding than requested to some institutions and the resources FEMA provided to unsuccessful applicants for each year from 2023 to 2025…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz walked back comments he made earlier today claiming Israel would reestablish settlements in the Gaza Strip; he said in a statement shortly after that “the government has no intention of establishing settlements” in the enclave and his comments were “made in a security context only.”

A U.S. official told Fox News about Katz’s initial remarks that “the more Israel provokes, the less the Arab countries will want to work with them”…

Israel covertly airdropped weapons and ammunition to a Druze militia in Syria shortly after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, The Washington Post reports, over concerns of then-nascent President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s allegiances. Israel stopped providing weapons to the Druze after Al-Sharaa met with President Donald Trump in the White House earlier this year, though it continues to provide supplies including money, body armor and medical provisions.

“We were helping when it was absolutely necessary and are committed to minorities’ security, but it is not as if we are going to have commandos take positions next to the Druze or get in the business of organizing proxies,” one Israeli official told the Post…

At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council today, Iran accused the U.S. of violating its rights as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by insisting that the country have no domestic uranium enrichment. (The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency declared Iran in violation of the NPT in June.)

U.S. deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in response, “We’d like to make it clear to the entire world: the United States remains available for formal talks with Iran, but only if Tehran is prepared for direct and meaningful dialogue. … We have been clear, however, about certain expectations for any arrangement. Foremost, there can be no enrichment inside of Iran, and that remains our principle”… 

Estimated private funding of Israeli tech businesses reached $15.6 billion in 2025, according to early numbers from Startup National Central, a nonprofit that tracks and promotes the Israeli innovation ecosystem, up from $12 billion in 2024. “At the same time, deal volume declined to 717 rounds, the lowest in the last decade. This divergence tells a clear story: investors are doing fewer deals, but committing significantly more capital to each one,” the organization wrote….

Ben Sasse, the former Republican senator from Nebraska and previous president of the University of Florida, announced today that he has terminal Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. As UF president during the disruptive campus protests in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, Sasse was heralded for taking a uniquely firm stance against the protesters; he resigned from UF in July 2024 due to his wife’s failing health…

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

This is the last Daily Overtime of 2025 — we’ll be back in your inbox on Monday, Jan. 5. 

Until then, keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on Jewish communal organizations’ 2026 legislative agenda, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump in Florida next week (read JI’s Lahav Harkov’s preview of the meeting here), Zohran Mamdani’s first days in office after being sworn in as New York City mayor on Jan. 1, and more. 

Happy New Year!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Over a dozen of the Heritage Foundation’s top legal and economic staff are departing the think tank to join former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom group, in the latest sign of the continued internal dysfunction racking Heritage since its president, Kevin Roberts, embraced Tucker Carlson after he platformed neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.

“Why these people are coming our way is that Heritage and some other voices and commentators have embraced big-government populism and have been willing to tolerate antisemitism,” Pence told The Wall Street Journal. 

More than 30 of Heritage’s employees have reportedly resigned or been fired in the last several days, and at least three trustees have also dropped their affiliation with the group. Josh Blackman, who announced he’s stepping down as senior editor of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, told Roberts in his resignation letter that his comments on Carlson “were a huge unforced blunder, and gave aid and comfort to the rising tide of antisemitism on the right”…

A straw poll conducted of attendees at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest summit found that the anti-Israel views of some of the event’s speakers were not largely shared by the audience — only 13% of respondents said they don’t view Israel as an ally of the United States (one-third thought Israel is a “top ally” while an additional 53% said it’s one ally of many).

Brent Scher, editor-in-chief of the conservative Daily Wire, wrote on X about the poll, “For those who think Tucker and Candace [Owens] are winning … they’ve convinced nobody.” The same poll found 84% of respondents would like to see Vice President JD Vance as the 2028 Republican presidential nominee…

A new report from the Anti-Defamation League finds that more than one-fifth of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s appointees to his transition team have extreme anti-Israel backgrounds, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. 

Among the advisors, Youssef Mubaraz, who was appointed to serve on the committee on small businesses, dismissed a Facebook video about Hamas’ widespread use of sexual violence on Oct. 7 as “propaganda,” according to the report. Mohammed Karim Chowdhury, a member of the worker justice committee, previously shared a post claiming that “Zionists are worse than Haman of ancient times, the Inquisition, and the Nazis.”

Mamdani said about the report at a press conference today that “we must distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government” and that the “ADL’s report oftentimes ignores this distinction”…

George Conway, co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project group, filed paperwork today to join the crowded Democratic primary in New York’s 12th Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). The once decidedly conservative lawyer abandoned his affiliation with the Republican Party over his disagreements with President Donald Trump and became a significant donor of former President Joe Biden, though Conway’s decision to run as a Democrat himself is a step further than he’s gone before. 

The New York Times reported last month that Conway told a group of donors he would aim to act as a “wingman” to Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Dan Goldman (D-NY), also both lawyers fiercely opposed to Trump, if elected to Congress…

Meanwhile Erik Bottcher, a New York City councilman, dropped out of the NY-12 primary in order to run for a state Senate seat…

Brad Lander, the outgoing New York City comptroller trying to unseat Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), received an endorsement today from anti-Israel City Councilmember Shahana Hanif, who has faced backlash from her sizable Jewish constituency for her refusal to explicitly condemn Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks and blaming Israel’s “unjust occupation of the Palestinian people” for the violence, her inaction on incidents of antisemitism in the district and her endorsement of calls to “globalize the intifada,” among other issues…

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee echoed warnings Jerusalem is reportedly providing to the Trump administration around Iran’s preparations for another military conflict with Israel while speaking at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies conference today.

“Iran, I don’t know that they ever took [Trump] seriously until the night that the B-2 bombers went to Fordow. I hope they got the message but apparently they didn’t get the full message cause … they appear to be trying to reconstitute and find a new way to dig the hole deeper, secure it more,” Huckabee said…

The Trump administration is recalling senior diplomats from at least 29 countries, State Department officials told the Associated Press, largely from Africa and Asia with several in Europe and the Middle East, as part of its continued effort to “advance the America First agenda”…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted the prime minister of Greece and president of Cyprus in Jerusalem today to “strengthen security, promote economic development and deepen the ties between our countries,” he said in a statement…

In the latest development in the bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount amended its offer to acquire the company to include $40.4 billion of equity financing personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and father of Paramount’s CEO, David Ellison. Warner Bros. had previously advised shareholders to reject Paramount’s offer due to concerns over its ability to provide the financing…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort at the end of the month.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s newly tapped director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, abruptly resigned this afternoon after her history of antisemitic online posts — including complaining about “money hungry Jews” — was unearthed, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

Da Costa, who previously served as executive assistant to former Mayor Bill DeBlasio and was appointed by Mamdani yesterday, posted a series of antisemitic comments in 2011 and 2012, which were obtained by the Judge Street Journal.

Among other X posts — deleted along with her account today — Da Costa wrote in January 2011, “Money hungry Jews smh,” according to screenshots. “Woo! Promoted to the upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps,” she posted in June 2011.

After outcry from the Anti-Defamation League and others, Mamdani’s team told JI that “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and [Mamdani] accepted.” Da Costa said in her own statement that her posts were “not indicative of who I am” and had “become a distraction from the work at hand”…

In another incident of antisemitism proliferating online, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua garnered widespread backlash — including from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s foundation focused on combating antisemitism — for performing an antisemitic dance on social media on Tuesday, JI’s Haley Cohen reports, leading Nacua to issue an apology this afternoon.

During streamer Adin Ross’ livestream on Tuesday, he taught the wide receiver a touchdown celebration that ended with Nacua looking into the camera and rubbing his hands together — a stereotypical movement indicating greed that Ross’ fans refer to as his “iconic Jewish dance.” Ross then asked Nacua to perform the dance during the Rams’ game against the Seattle Seahawks tonight, to which Nacua agreed. 

In his apology, Nacua stated that at the time of the livestream, he had “no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetrated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people”…

In response to the Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that his government will introduce new legislation to strengthen hate speech laws in the country and allow the government to cancel or reject visas of people deemed likely to spread hate.

The move comes after Australia ignored repeated warnings from local Jewish communities and Israel that rising antisemitism in the country posed a threat to Jewish safety; Albanese conceded the point in his announcement, claiming, “Governments aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect”…

Scott Singer, the Republican mayor of Boca Raton, Fla., announced a run for Congress today for the seat held by Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL). The district, already competitive, is facing a possible redistricting effort by state Republicans which would further endanger the pro-Israel congressman’s hold on it. Singer, who sits on the U.S. advisory board of Combat Antisemitism Movement, has been a strong supporter of Israel as well… 

NOTUS asked over 120 House Republicans if they intend to run for reelection amid rumors of a mass wave of retirements in the party. Several, including Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Mark Amodei (R-NV), gave noncommittal answers…

The State Department issued new sanctions today against dozens of ships and related companies involved in Iran’s “shadow fleet” used to evade existing oil sanctions, as well as against two International Criminal Court judges involved in prosecuting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing the judges’ votes against an Israeli appeal to drop arrest warrants for the two earlier this week…

President Donald Trump contradicted an announcement made weeks ago by Netanyahu’s office that the two have set a meeting at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., for Dec. 29, telling reporters in the Oval Office today, “We haven’t set [a meeting] up formally, but [Netanyahu] would like to see me. … He’ll probably come see me in Florida.”

Asked if Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi will join them, as speculated by the signing of a major gas deal between Israel and Egypt yesterday, Trump said, “I’d love to have him. El-Sissi is a friend of mine”…

D.C. City Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist running for city mayor, committed to standing up for the Jewish community and taking proactive steps to ensure its security on a panel at a Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington breakfast this morning, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Lewis George’s presence at the event and comments are particularly notable given that she’s a self-identified democratic socialist. (Many DSA-aligned elected officials across the country, including Mamdani, have had combative or nonexistent relationships with mainstream Jewish organizations in their cities and districts.)

“I learned at a very young age how important it was to loudly condemn and loudly stand up for our Jewish neighbors,” Lewis George said. She recalled that she realized through education programs in D.C. schools “how important it was that we support each other in solidarity, in our connected struggles, our connected history”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with a longtime Jewish activist mounting a bid for Washington, D.C.’s congressional delegate seat.

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with the Qatari prime minister and Egyptian and Turkish foreign ministers in Miami tomorrow to discuss implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. 

Turning Point USA’s AmFest continues over the weekend, including a debate over Israel on Saturday between political commentator Steve Deace and Christian nationalist leader Pastor Doug Wilson. 

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