Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, citing financial constraints, dropped her campaign for U.S. Senate this morning, leaving oyster farmer Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee to face off against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in the general election, Jewish Insider‘s Matthew Kassel reports.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair, praised Mills and said they will “work with” Platner to defeat Collins — a tepid endorsement that underscores Democratic leadership’s uncomfortable relationship with the far-left nominee in a state that they have targeted as one of their best pick-up opportunities this cycle…

The Senate rejected Democrats’ sixth war powers effort to force the Trump administration to end the war in Iran. The latest resolution, sponsored by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Schumer, failed by a 50-47 vote, with Collins flipping her vote to side with Democrats for the first time…

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed the 60-day timeline for the administration to seek congressional authorization to continue the war in Iran has been “paused” during the ongoing ceasefire. The White House said separately it is in “active conversations” with lawmakers about the deadline which, under a traditional calendar, is set to occur tomorrow…

President Donald Trump announced the U.S. is “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany,” days after Chancellor Friedrich Merz claimed the U.S. is being “humiliated” by Iranian leadership. 

Merz “should spend more time … fixing his broken country … and less time on interfering with those getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Germany currently hosts the largest U.S. air base in Europe as well as tens of thousands of U.S. troops…

The House passed a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, ending the monthslong shutdown a day before the department was set to run out of emergency funds to pay employees. 

The bill funds agencies including the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration and includes $300 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, an increase over the $274.5 million allocated for the program last year but still short of requests from the Jewish community of up to $1 billion. Republicans will now attempt to fund immigration enforcement through a separate budget reconciliation process…

Following the stabbing of two Jewish men in a London suburb yesterday, the latest in a series of attacks against London’s Jewish community, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivered an address pledging policy changes and a shift in government attitudes toward antisemitic antagonism, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

Among other policies, Starmer called to prosecute the use of the phrase “globalize the intifada”; introduce legislation to shut down charities that promote antisemitic extremism; prevent “hate preachers” from entering the country and speaking on college campuses; and work to hasten sentencing of perpetrators of antisemitic attacks…

Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss, the Democratic nominee for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, urged the state’s Legislature to reverse a policy he had once supported as a member of the General Assembly — a ban on investing in companies that engage in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Biss vowed that if elected to Congress, as expected in the deep-blue district, he will oppose similar policies that seek to counteract the BDS movement.

“Whether or not you believe in boycotting Israel or Israeli products from the occupied West Bank, or in boycotts in general, we should all be able to agree that our government must not be wielded to stop people from using their economic agency to advocate for their values,” Biss wrote on Substack…

Former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, a Republican, has shifted his congressional bid from Florida’s 23rd Congressional District to the newly drawn 25th District. The seat is currently by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) but is much more Republican-friendly under the new lines, one of several eliminated districts represented by pro-Israel Democrats. Singer told JI when he was attempting to unseat Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) in the 23rd that his alignment with the GOP has been shaped by his Jewish faith…

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 where British Jews stand as their government signals it will take more seriously the spate of violent attacks targeting their community.

The McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum kicks off in Arizona, with speakers including Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Peter Welch (D-VT), Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Jason Crow (D-CO) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Munich Security Council CEO Benedikt Franke, outgoing World Food Program head Cindy McCain, AFRICOM Commander Gen. Dagvin Anderson, former NATO Ambassador Kurt Volker and Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill. 

Former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) will join far-left influencer Hasan Piker’s Twitch stream in her effort to win back her seat from Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO).

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

• CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper is set to brief President Donald Trump today on plans for potential renewed military action in Iran to break the deadlock that has paralyzed talks with Tehran. Options on the table, Axios reports, include “short and powerful” strikes on Iranian targets and a partial takeover of the Strait of Hormuz. The president said on Wednesday that he intended to continue the U.S. naval blockade after rejecting an Iranian offer to reopen the waterway in exchange for delaying talks on its nuclear program.
• Meanwhile, the State Department sent a cable to U.S. embassies this week pressing diplomats to encourage the countries in which they’re stationed to join a new U.S.-led international coalition to assist ships transiting through the strait.
• Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is expected to force a Senate vote today on his war powers resolution, the sixth attempt to constrain the Trump administration’s military campaign targeting Iran.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine will testify this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee, a day after appearing before the House Armed Services Committee. More on their HASC testimonies below.
• The Department of Justice is hosting this year’s annual Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Day event. DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain and Holocaust survivor Frank Cohn are slated to speak this morning at the event, which will include prerecorded remarks from Jacob Helberg, the Trump administration’s under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment.
• King Charles III and Queen Camilla wrap up their trip to the U.S. today. They’ll visit Front Royal, Va., before departing for Bermuda.
• The annual Jewish pilgrimage to Djerba, Tunisia, begins today. Organizers said that this year’s events — three years after five people were killed in a terror attack during the pilgrimage — will be “open to everyone, Tunisians and foreigners, as part of a gradual return to normal,” following two years of scaled-down celebrations.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

The combination of history and polling is pointing to the likelihood of a Democratic wave election in the 2026 midterms, which would give Democrats control of the House and a fighting chance to claw back a Senate majority.

Polls show Democrats holding a sizable edge on the generic ballot, their favored candidates are running competitively even in red states and congressional districts, all while President Donald Trump’s approval rating is sagging amid high gas prices, executive overreach and an uncertain outcome in the aftermath of the war in Iran. 

But the one X-factor keeping Republicans competitive is the Democratic Party’s lurch leftward in the last year, leading to the emergence of extreme, exotic and out-of-the-mainstream candidates in pivotal battleground races. 

Indeed, a new poll commissioned by The Argument magazine finds that the generic ballot shows Democrats have been stuck with a six-point lead for a while even as Trump’s job approval has declined precipitously in the last several months. They’re voting to put a check on the GOP’s dominance of Washington, without endorsing the direction of the Democratic party. 

“Democrats still have tangible policy misalignments with many voters who dislike Trump,” The Argument concluded in its polling analysis. 

All told, the question becomes: Will the anticipated Democratic wave closely resemble the Democrats’ version of the GOP Tea Party election of 2010? In that election, Republicans swept into power in the House but far-right and extreme Senate candidates in key races blew golden opportunities, costing Republicans the upper chamber. 

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

That’s Oil, Folks: The Wall Street Journal’s Summer Said, Jared Malsin and Dov Lieber do a deep dive into the United Arab Emirates’ decision to break from OPEC — a move hastened by the Iran war, during which the Gulf state suffered more Iranian attacks than any other country in the region. “Confronted with Iranian attacks that imperiled its economic model and frustrated with what its leaders saw as a lack of support from its Arab neighbors, the Emirates doubled down on its partnership with the U.S. and its half-decade-old relationship with Israel — in spite of Arab unease with the instability flowing from the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. ‘It came as a result of some deep thinking, in light of the 40 days of drones and missiles,’ said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a prominent Emirati political scientist.” [WSJ]

Let Down in London: The Jewish Chronicle’s Stephen Pollard slams the British government for having “bitterly failed British Jews” amid regular antisemitic attacks targeting the community. “We have authorities which have stood and watched as hate marches have taken over the streets and have allowed pure, unbridled Jew hate to run free. Make no mistake: the hate marches are the single biggest factor behind the escalation in Jew hate, not least because they comprise much of that escalation – and inspire the rest. And we have politicians as a class whose response to the rise of Jew hate is to mouth the obscene platitude that there is no place for antisemitism on the streets, when every one of these attacks shows that there is a very large place for antisemitism on our streets.” [JewishChronicle]

No Direction Home: The New York Times’ Jennifer Medina talks to Jewish Democratic officials who feel increasingly isolated by their party’s increasing tolerance for antisemitism. “They have faced antisemitic slurs and menacing voice mail messages, including threats of assassination. Protesters have called members of Congress ‘dirty Jews’ during town hall events and thrown red liquid — meant to look like blood — on their front lawns. For Jewish elected officials trying to navigate this shift, the atmosphere has felt alienating. ‘It is very isolating,’ said Representative Josh Gottheimer, who represents northern New Jersey in Congress. ‘It’s like you’re losing your home in the Democratic Party and in the country.’” [NYTimes]

Blaming Bibi: The Dispatch’s David Drucker talks to Democrats about the party’s leftward shift on Israel, finding that much of the animus toward the Jewish state is focused on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The blame for growing opposition to Israel on the left belongs entirely to Netanyahu versus some wholesale souring on the Israel-U.S. alliance, Democratic-aligned groups that exist to cultivate support for Israel inside the party asserted to The Dispatch. The prime minister has held Israel’s top post for 19 of the past 30 years and nearly all of the past 17 years, often aligning himself with the GOP during that latter period. And because Netanyahu has been in charge for so long, many Democrats view him as synonymous with Israel.” [TheDispatch]

President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit Israeli action against Hezbollah in Lebanon to “surgical” strikes amid a tenuous ceasefire between Beirut and Jerusalem…

Roll Call spotlights Zach Florman, the communications director for Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) and creator of The Capitol Wire, an AI bot that tracks upcoming legislation… 

Politico looks at efforts by — and challenges facing — Israeli opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they seek to rebuild relationships with Democrats in the U.S. amid cratering support in the party for the Jewish state…

Rachel Goldberg Polin’s book When We See You Again, about her son, Hersh, who was murdered in Hamas captivity, debuted in the No. 1 spot on The New York Times’ Best Sellers list of hardcover nonfiction a week after its release; read our interview with Goldberg-Polin here…

Yeah That’s Kosher looks at how New York State legislation banning three food additives, including potassium bromate, could impact the state’s kosher baking industry, which relies on the oxidizing agent to give bagels and pizza dough their texture…

The Jewish Theological Seminary announced that Israeli President Isaac Herzog will deliver the school’s 2026 commencement address, and will receive an honorary degree alongside Rabbi Edward Feld, former Washington Post editor Ruth Marcus, actress Debra Messing and rabbinic Judaism scholar Peter Schäfer…

Authorities in Los Angeles are investigating as a hate crime the assault of a Jewish man outside of a synagogue earlier this week in the city’s Pico-Robertson neighborhood that was recorded on security footage…

An interim report from Australia’s royal commission into the December 2025 terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Sydney, issued more than a dozen recommendations, including calling for better coordination of security efforts for Jewish events, and establishing a full-time position within the federal government of a counterterrorism coordinator…

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will end its funding for LIV Golf when the season concludes, dealing a blow to players in the league who strained ties with the PGA Tour to join the Riyadh-backed circuit… 

Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla heading to Gaza said that Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla’s boats, which departed from Spain earlier this month, in international waters off the coast of Greece…

The Jewish National Fund-KKL is halting most of its funding to West Bank programs at farming outposts for at-risk Israeli youth amid concerns that the outposts were becoming hubs for settler violence against Palestinians living in the enclave…

Swiss Ambassador to the U.S. Ralf Heckner spoke at an event in Washington on Wednesday co-hosted by the American Jewish Committee and the Embassy of Switzerland, the latter of which is currently chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to discuss antisemitism across the OSCE region. 

Screen, stage and television actress and singer, Dianna Agron turns 40…

Rabbi, scholar and professor of Jewish studies at Yeshiva University, Saul J. Berman turns 87… Founder and CEO of Kansas City-based American Public Square, he was the U.S. ambassador to Portugal during the Obama administration, Allan J. Katz turns 79… Brooklyn-based clinical social worker, Marsha S. Rimler… Psychologist, author of several children’s books and president of the Saban Family Foundation, Cheryl Saban turns 75… Israeli Supreme Court justice until 2021, he was previously attorney general of Israel, Menachem “Meni” Mazuz turns 71… Partner in the communications and ad agency GMMB, he served as an advisor to President Obama in both his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, James David “Jim” Margolis turns 71… London-based international real estate investor and developer, Zachariasz “Zak” Gertler turns 70… Cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his over 100 magazine covers appearing in The New Yorker and other publications, Barry Blitt turns 68… Former commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she was a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk, Chai R. Feldblum turns 67… Professor of sociology at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, she served as president of Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Eva Illouz turns 65… Senior fellow at Misgav: the Institute for Zionist Strategy and National Security, he is a diplomatic columnist for The Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom newspapers, David M. Weinberg… New York city comptroller, Mark D. Levine turns 57… CEO of Newton, Mass.-based Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, focused on children with special educational needs, Tamar Davis… Senior director for U.S. Jewish grantmaking at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, David Rittberg… Executive director of federal affairs at General Motors, Eric Feldman… Senior advisor for policy and communications for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Omri Ceren… Chief operating officer of Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy, Ali Kaufman Yares… Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot turns 41… Senior policy advisor at Alston & Bird in Washington, D.C., Jonathan Jagoda… Chief communications officer at Business Insider, Ari Isaacman D’Angelo turns 41… Founder of Lubin Strategies, he is also an affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center, Nathaniel “Nate” Lubin… Communications director for Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Rachel S. Cohen… Associate in the D.C. office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Daniel E. Wolman… Elementary schoolteacher at Broward County Public Schools, Jenna Luks… Economics reporter at The Wall Street Journal, Rachel B. Wolfe… Director of WJC Elevate at the World Jewish Congress, Yonatan “Yoni” Hammerman… Co-founder of Impact Nation and Tech4Cancer, Idan Megidish… Global account sales manager for Isotopia Molecular Imaging, Noam Aricha… 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Two Jewish men in a heavily Jewish suburb of London were stabbed this morning in what police have deemed a terrorist incident, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. The victims — one in his 70s and one in his 30s — remain hospitalized in stable condition, according to the Metropolitan Police, after the attack shortly before noon in Golders Green.

The suspect, a 45-year-old man who also attempted to stab law enforcement, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. The man had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues,” Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said. It’s the latest in a string of violent attacks against Jewish individuals and sites around London in recent months… 

President Donald Trump said he is rejecting Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which included opening the Strait of Hormuz and postponing talks on its nuclear program, telling Axios that he will maintain the U.S.’ naval blockade until Tehran agrees to address its nuclear ambitions.

“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig,” the president said. Still, CENTCOM has planned a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran to spur progress in negotiations, sources told the outlet…

In a heated and lengthy House Armed Services Committee hearing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly defended the execution of the Iran war, including the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the cost to American taxpayers, and stood by the ouster of several top defense officials under questioning from both Democrats and Republicans. The Pentagon’s chief financial officer, Jules Hurst III, said the Iran war has cost the U.S. “about $25 billion” already, most of it being spent on munitions…

Even as Trump intends to keep the pressure on Iran, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier will reportedly leave the Middle East and sail back to Virginia in the coming days after having been deployed for a record 10 months at sea. Two other aircraft carriers are still operating nearby in the Arabian Sea to enforce the blockade…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denied Hebrew media reports that he was planning a visit to the U.S. next week, saying “no such plans are currently in place.” Trump has said he intends to invite Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House in the near future…

Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow deleted thousands of old social media posts in which she disparaged the state of Michigan and expressed a range of progressive views, including comparing Trump and his supporters to Nazis, according to a CNN investigation. The state senator is now positioning herself as a more pragmatic candidate…

Two-thirds of Michigan Democratic Party delegates voted for Amir Makled, an attorney who has expressed support for Hezbollah, among other anti-Israel stances, as one of the Democratic nominees for University of Michigan regent at the state party convention earlier this month, according to internal voting records obtained by The Detroit News. 

The widespread support for Makled included far-left Jewish attorney general nominee Eli Savit and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, but the majority of members of Congress and the state Legislature in attendance voted for unseated Jewish regent Jordan Acker over Makled…

Elected Jewish Democrats are speaking out on the antisemitic vitriol they face on a regular basis: It’s “excruciating and agonizing,” Michigan state Rep. Noah Arbit told The New York Times. “We have never seen anything like this in my lifetime in public office,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel shared, “I rarely, if ever, get threats for being gay or for being a woman. They have been fast and furious and nearly always about me being Jewish,” including regularly being called an “AIPAC whore.” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) added, “There are times when it feels like people don’t want you as part of the political system at all”…

Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg has released his first paid ad in his run for New York’s 12th Congressional District, spotlighting one of his highest-profile endorsees — former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Even as Schlossberg narrowly leads in several polls of the crowded Democratic primary, the ad is emblematic of the political newcomer’s challenge in the race as he seeks to prove he’s experienced enough to represent the district…

The State Department issued a report to Congress finding that the Palestinian Authority has continued to issue payments and benefits to terrorists and their families in its “pay-for-slay” program “through new mechanisms and under a different name,” despite PA President Mahmoud Abbas having pledged to end the program. PA officials also “continue to fail to publicly condemn acts of violence against U.S. and Israeli citizens in violation of the Taylor Force Act,” the report says…

The Supreme Court issued a ruling today in a Louisiana gerrymandering case weakening a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, limiting when states can draw majority-minority congressional districts. Amid a flurry of mid-decade redistricting already underway, the decision could prompt new map changes and legal challenges ahead of November’s midterm elections and the 2028 cycle…

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 Senate Republicans are approaching the impending 60-day deadline laid out in the War Powers Act for President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval for the war in Iran. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine will face further questioning at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Pentagon’s 2027 budget, after a similar hearing in the House today.

The Department of Justice will host this year’s federal interagency Holocaust remembrance program, featuring remarks from Holocaust survivor Frank Cohn, U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The UAE announced it will leave OPEC effective May 1, in a significant blow to the international body largely led by Saudi Arabia that coordinates production among petroleum exporting countries. Abu Dhabi — which joined OPEC nearly 60 years ago — said it will pursue a new independent strategy, including increasing its oil output, amid the Iran war’s disruption of global energy markets…

Iran, meanwhile, is trying to avoid shutting down its own oil production and wait out the U.S. blockade by finding new ways to store and ship its crude oil, including using improvised containers and transport routes to China over land. Analysts predict Tehran will fill its remaining storage capacity in less than three weeks.

President Donald Trump claimed this morning that Iran informed the U.S. “they are in a ‘State of Collapse’” and “want us to ‘Open the Hormuz Strait,’ as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation”…

Just as King Charles III is enjoying a state visit to Washington, including delivering his first address to a joint session of Congress this afternoon, remarks made by U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Sir Christian Turner have resurfaced: Turner alleged in a discussion with British students in Washington in February that the U.S.’ only “special relationship” is “probably Israel” and not the U.K., according to audio obtained by the Financial Times…

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) predicted more Democrats, and some Republicans, will join his efforts to block arm sales to Israel, which he intends to continue, after the majority of the Democratic caucus voted in favor of his most recent Joint Resolutions of Disapproval. “The problem for the Democrats is that AIPAC is enormously powerful … but [Democrats are] increasingly choosing to support what the people back home want,” he told Politico.

Sanders also agreed with characterizations that he might be considered the new Democratic leader over Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), given that more of the caucus voted with him than with Schumer, who opposed the measure…

Democratic Majority for Israel’s PAC had placed an ad buy in support of nonprofit leader Denise Powell in the Democratic primary for Nebraska’s swing 2nd Congressional District, but pulled it after the group New Democrat Majority increased its spending in support of Powell, Punchbowl News reports…

Politico surveys the state of Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, where Navy veteran Ed Gallrein is locked in a dead heat with incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) ahead of the May 19 primary, despite Gallrein’s endorsement from Trump and millions of dollars in anti-Massie spending, including from pro-Israel groups, as Massie maintains a loyal following…

Education Secretary Linda McMahon claimed today that she’s trying to rebuild and expand the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, even as the administration pushes for tens of millions in funding cuts this year, Jewish Insider‘s Marc Rod reports.

At a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, McMahon claimed that the 2027 budget submitted by the Trump administration contains more funding to hire lawyers at OCR, refusing to acknowledge, to lawmakers’ bewilderment, that the administration’s budget calls for a 35% funding cut to the office…

Following a report spotlighting Qatari funding in Georgia public schools, the state’s General Assembly became the first in the country to pass legislation requiring the disclosure of foreign funding in statewide K-12 schools, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

The Foreign Funding Transparency and Accountability Act requires public school districts, public universities and technical colleges to report funding of $10,000 or more from foreign countries or entities, naming specifically Qatar and Saudi Arabia — the two largest foreign funders of American universities…

California is now considering changing state law after the secretary of state’s office mailed an official voter guide to all registered voters last week that contained a statement by a fringe gubernatorial candidate that listed extreme antisemitic conspiracy theories, including that Israel assassinated Charlie Kirk, carried out the 9/11 attacks and plans to “enslave” the “goyim.” 

The secretary of state’s office told The Times of Israel today that it is working with the state Legislature to make clear “content that is not permitted” in candidate statements “while preserving the ability of candidates to present their qualifications to voters”…

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin is escalating the hedge fund’s feud with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to Gov. Kathy Hochul, announcing he’ll meet with her on Thursday to discuss the future of the city after Mamdani used Griffin’s Manhattan penthouse to promote a new tax on luxury second homes. Citadel has threatened not to move forward with its plans for a massive 62-story Midtown development after what Griffin denounced as the “personal attack” and New York’s need to “put their fiscal house in order”…

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 results of a New York City Council special election, which will be an early signal of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political capital.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine will testify before the House Armed Services Committee; while the hearing is focused on the Pentagon’s 2027 budget request, lawmakers are expected to press the defense officials about the Iran war in their first appearance before the committee since the war began.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) took the unusual step of inviting the press to participate in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee with Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the Trump administration’s planned cuts to the department. 

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on “U.S. accountability at the United Nations” with witnesses including the American Enterprise Institute’s Brett Schaefer as well as Eugene Kontorovich, who recently departed the Heritage Foundation and has joined Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom organization.

The House Committee on Education and Workforce will hold a hearing on the First Amendment in higher education.

The Lawfare Project will host the Unite Against Extremism summit in New York City with remarks from the Justice Department’s Leo Terrell; Anila Ali, a Pakistani Muslim interfaith leader; Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and Ari Ackerman, co-owner of the Miami Marlins.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The gunman who attacked the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, Cole Tomas Allen, was arraigned in Washington this afternoon. He is being charged with transportation of a firearm between states, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, which carries a potential life sentence. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine said Allen, 31, had “a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun, a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol and … three knives and other dangerous paraphernalia” during the attack. He will remain in detention with another hearing scheduled for Thursday…

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump met with his national security team this morning where they discussed Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz but postponing talks on the country’s nuclear program…

German Chancellor ‌Friedrich Merz said the U.S. is “being humiliated” by Iranian leaders after negotiations between the two countries this weekend were called off.

“The Iranians are obviously very skilled ⁠at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” Merz told a group of students. The result is “an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards,” he added…

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised how “courageously and heroically the people of Iran are fighting for their independence” in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today in St. Petersburg. Araghchi thanked Russia for standing by its side and said the countries will continue their “strategic partnership”…

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said today that the terror group will not disarm, despite the Lebanese government’s intent to remove the group from power in the south of the country under the terms of the ongoing ceasefire with Israel. Hezbollah and Israel have continued to exchange fire throughout the ceasefire, including a wave of Israeli airstrikes today in response to Hezbollah’s deadly drone attack that killed an IDF soldier and wounded six yesterday… 

New Department of Homeland Security training materials allow green card applicants to be denied for antisemitic and anti-Israel social media posts and activism, as well as anti-American activism, The New York Times reports. The documents, distributed to immigration officers last month, cite “as an example of questionable speech a social media post that declares, ‘Stop Israeli Terror in Palestine’ and shows the Israeli flag crossed out”…

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha summoned Israel’s ambassador to the country to protest the arrival of a ship allegedly carrying grain taken from Russian-occupied Ukraine at Israel’s Haifa Port, Sybiha said on X. Sybiha also denounced Israel’s “lack of appropriate response to Ukraine’s legitimate request” regarding a similar vessel that docked in Haifa last week.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slammed Sybiha for his announcement: “Diplomatic relations, especially between friendly nations, are not conducted on Twitter or in the media,” Sa’ar wrote. He said that “evidence substantiating [Ukraine’s] allegations have yet to be provided” and that “the matter will be examined”…

Several pro-Israel House Democrats in Florida could lose their seats after Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a new congressional map that eliminates their districts — state lawmakers are expected to approve the map for use in this year’s midterm elections at a special session of the state Legislature tomorrow.

The new map could give the GOP up to four additional House seats by redrawing Democratic-leaning districts, including those of Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Darren Soto (D-FL)…

Claims by New Jersey congressional candidate Adam Hamawy that the Gazan hospital where he volunteered as a trauma surgeon in 2024 during Israel’s war with Hamas was a “completely benign civilian hospital with no tunnels underneath it” are false, The Washington Free Beacon reports.

While Hamawy claimed in an interview shortly after he returned that “there were definitely no tunnels underground and no command base there,” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed a year later “in a tunnel directly under the hospital emergency department, where he was leading a high-level meeting with senior Hamas terrorists,” the Free Beacon writes…

All five of Pennsylvania’s living former governors, both Democrats and Republicans, released a statement today calling on state officials to prioritize the safety and security of Gov. Josh Shapiro, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

The letter came days after state Treasurer Stacy Garrity — Shapiro’s leading Republican opponent in this year’s gubernatorial race — said the state will not pay for security upgrades made to Shapiro’s privately owned family residence, done after the state-owned governor’s mansion was targeted in an antisemitic arson attack last spring…

The New York Times chronicles Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s turn away from the Democratic Party and increasing political involvement, including against the proposed “billionaire tax” in his home state of California.

“I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don’t want California to end up in the same place,” Brin told the Times. Brin, who is Jewish, has also been disturbed by the Democratic Party’s leftward shift on Israel policy…

Toronto-based Jewish advocate Adam Hummel argues in the “Boundless Insights” Substack that “anti-Zionism” is an obsolete position, given the 78-year-old existence of the State of Israel. 

“Israelis don’t owe anyone an argument for their existence. …  The debate is over, not because one side won, but because the thing itself came into being. They are a people. They speak a language. They live on a piece of land and have mortgages. That is what peoples do. The Greeks do it. The Poles do it. The Québécois do it. The arguments about whether they should are, at this point, a leisure activity for people who live elsewhere”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Keith Sonderling, the acting secretary of labor, who is Jewish and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, following the resignation of Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition will present its first “Pillar of Zion” award to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) at the organization’s fifth annual National Conference in Washington. Other speakers at the three-day conference will include Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter; State Department antisemitism envoy Yehuda Kaploun; Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon; and Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Talks between Israel and Lebanon, which are currently underway, were moved from the State Department to the White House. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were spotted arriving there together this afternoon, and a White House official told Jewish Insider that President Donald Trump would greet the participants at the opening of the discussion…

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who returned to Washington in order to participate in the talks, also stopped by Capitol Hill where he met with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)…

While the bombing campaign in Iran is on pause, the battle at sea continues: U.S. forces boarded another vessel carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean this morning and Trump said he had ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill any boat” placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz — just as a third U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in the region…

Trump also said Iran is “having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is,” indicating the regime may still be struggling to present the U.S. with a unified proposal. “The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!),” he claimed.

In response, Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian, both considered relative moderates, issued nearly identical statements on X pledging “complete obedience to the Supreme Leader”…

Iranian officials tell The New York Times their new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is alive but injured, and so far ruling differently than his late father; the younger Khamenei is relying on Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders to provide him advice to make decisions “as though he is the director of the board.” 

Khamenei’s injuries are extensive and he is largely inaccessible in person: “One leg was operated on three times, and he is awaiting a prosthetic. He had surgery on one hand and is slowly regaining function. His face and lips have been burned severely, making it difficult for him to speak, the officials said, adding that, eventually, he will need plastic surgery”…

U.S. officials are expressing concern over the military’s ability to defend Taiwan from China in the near future should the need arise, given that the U.S. has burned through more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles and more than 1,500 air-defense missiles in the course of the war with Iran so far, supplies that could take up to six years to replace…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar named Israel’s first Christian ambassador, George Deek, as the country’s special envoy to the Christian world, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports, after several recent controversies in Israel relating to Christians. Deek is part of the Arab Orthodox Christian community in Jaffa…

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) joined other Michigan Democrats in denouncing Amir Makled, a Democratic nominee for regent of the University of Michigan, over Makled’s past comments expressing antisemitic sentiments and support for terrorism.

“I’m going to have a problem with any candidate — Democrat, Republican or independent — who shares antisemitic and hateful posts on social media. Especially when they refuse to disavow those comments or show remorse,” Slotkin said in a statement to JI’s Marc Rod, in response to a question about Makled…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give advance notice to senior Republican senators before announcing yesterday that he was firing Navy Secretary John Phelan, causing surprise and confusion on Capitol Hill. “I found out about it the way everybody else did,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod of the Pentagon’s announcement on social media of Phelan’s dismissal.

Trump praised Phelan in a post on Truth Social this afternoon and said he’d “certainly like to have him back within the Trump Administration sometime in the future” — Phelan had reportedly bumped heads with Hegseth but had a close relationship with the president…

Nearly half of young American adults view Israel as a burden to the United States, according to a new Harvard Youth Poll of 18- to 29-year-olds. The survey found that 46% of young Americans consider Israel to be mostly a burden to the U.S., compared to just 16% who say Israel is mostly a benefit, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.

In addition, Ukraine, which has also received U.S. support in its lengthy war with Russia, was also determined to be more of a burden by young Americans — 31% of respondents said Ukraine is mostly a burden, while 21% said it is mostly a benefit…

The Wall Street Journal‘s Matthew Hennessey issued a defense of Elliot Kaufman, a member of the Journal‘s editorial board, after Trump slammed him on Truth Social as an “idiot” and a “moron.”

“What triggered the president’s ire was an op-ed under Mr. Kaufman’s byline headlined ‘The Iranians Take Trump for a Sucker.’ That’s a provocative title, yes, but the piece delivers on the provocation. Mr. Kaufman wasn’t calling Mr. Trump a sucker; he was merely pointing out that the Iranians are acting like they think he is one. The piece offers plenty of recent evidence to support that claim,” Hennessey wrote…

American journalist Shelly Kittleson details in The Atlantic her experience being kidnapped and held hostage by the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah terror group in Iraq for nine days earlier this month…

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, who stepped down last month, is returning to Joshua Kushner’s venture firm, Thrive Capital, in an advisory role…

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 Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) as he introduces a buffer zone bill in Congress, which follows legislation under consideration in New York and elsewhere, aiming to protect attendees at houses of worship.

Washington is abuzz ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, being held at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night. The event will be headlined by American Israeli mentalist Oz Pearlman and attended by Trump for his first time as president, alongside celebrities (including Trump fan Nicki Minaj), politicians and media figures. Politicos and reporters will schmooze at events beginning this evening through Sunday morning.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained this afternoon that President Donald Trump is “generously offering a bit of flexibility” to Iranian leaders and has not given them a “firm deadline” to provide a proposal to the U.S., contrary to reports that said Trump only intended to wait a few days before ending the ceasefire that he extended yesterday.

Leavitt also said the president did not view Iran’s seizure of two ships near the Strait of Hormuz today as a violation of the ceasefire: “These were not U.S. ships. These were not Israeli ships,” she said — a change in tone for Trump, who has taken a hardline against Tehran’s escalatory actions in the key waterway.

Meanwhile, mediating countries are reportedly working to get Tehran and Washington back to the negotiating table, with a meeting possibly on Friday. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran “has welcomed dialogue and agreement and continues to do so,” but that “breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles” to continuing talks…

Even as negotiations to end the war are still in flux, Trump thanked Iran for granting his request not to execute eight women who were reportedly due to be killed by the regime tonight, instead releasing four of them and holding the other four in jail for one month…

The Financial Times profiles Pakistani army chief Asim Munir as he emerges as an unexpected key mediator between the U.S. and Iran, utilizing his ties to Tehran’s security establishment — including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — and personal rapport with Trump to help secure a comprehensive deal… 

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is keeping the door open to a possible 2028 presidential run, saying “only the good Lord knows” what comes next as he continues to reestablish himself in the private sector and policy world after serving in the first Trump administration. 

In a wide-ranging interview with Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs, Pompeo also praised Columbia University, where he now teaches at the School of International and Public Affairs, for “beg[inning] to get back the correct leadership … in a way where more voices can be heard”…

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack stood by his comments that drew criticism over the weekend in which he repeatedly criticized Israel and praised Turkey, saying he was merely “stating the obvious.” 

“When I described the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire as a ‘time out’ and said that ‘everybody has been equally untrustworthy,’ I was simply stating the obvious reality on the ground. This is realism, not criticism of any side,” Barrack told Fox News Digital. He also reaffirmed his comments that the goal in Lebanon is “not killing Hezbollah,” and that Turkey should be readmitted to the F-35 fighter jet program…

A group of Jewish District of Columbia residents gathered at the city’s municipal building today for a scheduled meeting with Janeese Lewis George, a D.C. councilmember and one of the leading candidates in this year’s mayoral race, but she never showed, two people who were in the meeting told JI’s Gabby Deutch. 

A staff member for Lewis George told attendees at the start of the meeting that she was having a busy morning, and they should begin the conversation without her. At the end of the meeting, when Lewis George still had not arrived, the staff member apologized that she could not attend…

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin warned this morning that if Mayor Zohran Mamdani vetoes the council’s legislation intended to regulate protests at religious and educational sites, the city will face “more divisiveness,” calling the decision a critical test for the mayor, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Menin, New York City Comptroller Mark Levine and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, speaking at 92NY on the future of Jewry in New York, beseeched the Jewish community not to flee despite tensions with the mayor. “This is not a time to lose hope. Hopefully the three of us here can embody the future of the commitment to fighting antisemitism, the commitment to supporting the Jewish community,” Menin said…

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) is set to introduce a federal buffer zone bill, similar to that of the New York City Council, alongside Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on Friday, as Suozzi seeks reelection to his swing-district seat on Long Island…

Democratic lawmakers and strategists are expressing concern over the rising popularity of far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, fearing that if he clinches the Democratic nomination, he would lose in a general election to former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), the GOP front-runner, Semafor reports. Democrats must retain the Michigan Senate seat to have any hope of taking back the chamber in the midterm elections.

Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), who is backing Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the race, told the outlet that “all three candidates are qualified, but dinged El-Sayed for campaigning with [Hasan] Piker and said ‘we are continuing to see consistent polling that suggests that Haley is the only one that can win in a general election’”…

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner said he would not support keeping Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as the party’s leader in the chamber, naming as potential replacements Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Chris Murphy (D-CT) or Brian Schatz (D-HI). He also said he would oppose a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons, a priority policy for much of the Democratic caucus…

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) dismissed criticism of Platner after campaigning with him in Maine last weekend: Asked on CNBC about her comment that Platner is “my kind of man” given his past incendiary rhetoric and actions including his Nazi chest tattoo, Warren said, “He has apologized, he’s out meeting with the people of Maine every single day so they can evaluate not who Graham Platner was but who Graham Platner is today.”

Warren sidestepped a question specifically about Platner’s 2014 praise of Hamas tactics during an attack on Israeli soldiers, as reported by JI: “You guys want to be the party of inclusivity, right?” host Sara Eisen asked regarding the report. “I want to be the party that stands up for hardworking people,” Warren answered…

Schumer dodged a question yesterday asking if he is on the wrong side of his party after most Democratic senators voted in favor of blocking arms sales to Israel — a measure he opposed. “Our caucus is united and focused on ending the war in Iran,” he said, and touted Democrats’ war powers resolutions before walking away…

Rep. David Scott (D-GA) died today at 80. Scott, who voted on the House floor last night, had been running for reelection for his 13th term…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for the results of this afternoon’s war powers resolution vote in the Senate, which is expected to be blocked by Republicans as the previous four were.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh will meet at the State Department tomorrow for the second round of direct talks between the two countries. Lebanon is reportedly seeking a one-month extension to the ongoing ceasefire, which is set to expire on Sunday; Hezbollah, which has said it is not bound by the agreement, has continued to fire rockets and a drone at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison will host an exclusive dinner honoring President Donald Trump and CBS News’ White House correspondents at the recently renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Ellison is currently seeking regulatory approval of Paramount’s deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America will host a candidate forum for New York’s 17th Congressional District featuring leading candidates Beth Davidson, a Rockland County legislator, and Cait Conley, a national security veteran. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced this afternoon, with the status of negotiations with Iran up in the air and the expiration of the ceasefire quickly approaching, that he is indefinitely extending the ceasefire at the request of Pakistani negotiators (despite having said, as recently as this morning, that he was not inclined to do so).

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured … we have been asked to hold our Attack … until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other”…

Talks were meant to begin shortly in Islamabad, but Vice President JD Vance’s trip was reportedly put on hold and he remains in Washington. Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were all spotted arriving at the White House for meetings this afternoon.

Iran also had not committed to sending its own delegation — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire through its blockade of Iranian ports and seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, calling it an “act of war. … Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying,” he wrote…

U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that had been sanctioned for working with Iran which defense officials said was currently carrying Iranian oil, in a further escalation of the U.S. campaign against Tehran-aligned assets and actors outside of the Middle East. 

The Treasury Department also announced sanctions on 14 individuals and entities in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for “their involvement in procuring or transporting weapons or weapons components on behalf of the Iranian regime”…

Six weeks after he was announced as Iran’s new supreme leader after the assassination of his father, Mojtaba Khamenei has still not been seen in public, raising speculation he is incapacitated from injuries sustained in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike or has been smuggled abroad…

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) endorsed Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R-MS) view that the U.S. should reconsider its funding for the Lebanese Armed Forces in light of its continued inaction to disarm Hezbollah, in addition to the Lebanese government’s failure to “follow through on long-promised economic reform. The era of complacency & unconditional bailouts must come to end,” Risch said…

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) clarified that his post calling it “awesome” that several Iranian oil tankers had bypassed the U.S. blockade — reporting that has been disputed as Iranian propaganda — was written as sarcasm. “[O]bviously Trump’s bungled mismanagement of this war is not ‘awesome.’ As I have said a million times here, it’s a disaster and he should end the war immediately,” Murphy wrote on X…

Democratic lawmakers are expressing concern over Israel’s fracturing relationship with key European allies, while experts say the shifting dynamics could carry longer-term economic and political risks for Jerusalem, even if Israel weathers threats to unwind largely symbolic defense agreements, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

Among other recent moves, Spain and Ireland led a push today to suspend the EU’s association agreement with Israel. The initiative stalled as member states remained divided on the issue; still, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) called the developments “deeply alarming.” 

“NATO allies like Spain, France and Italy are turning their backs on Israel, a key democratic partner that is actively fighting on the front lines against Iran,” Gottheimer said. “Singling out Israel represents a double standard”…

The arsonist who pleaded guilty to attacking a North London synagogue on Saturday night was released on bail by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. The 17-year-old boy who threw a bottle containing accelerant through the window of Kenton United Synagogue must live and sleep at his home address and not enter any synagogue, the judge said. It was the third such attack on a Jewish institution in London within a week…

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) resigned from Congress this afternoon, half an hour before her House Ethics Committee sanctions hearing was due to begin. Having lost jurisdiction in the matter, the committee canceled the hearing…

The Board of Peace is reportedly in discussion with the UAE-owned DP World logistics company about managing supply chains and humanitarian aid in Gaza, including potentially building a new port and developing a free-trade zone, according to Financial Times, as part of the Trump administration’s vision of privatizing much of Gaza’s services 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 a look at how Jewish Democrats in Michigan are making sense of their place in the party in the wake of a state convention where pro-Israel voices were shouted down and a pro-Hezbollah candidate won the party’s nomination for a statewide race.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing evaluating the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.

A vote on the fifth Iran war powers resolution in the Senate, expected today, has been pushed to tomorrow.

92NY will host a discussion on the future of New York’s Jewish community with New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and New York City Comptroller Mark Levine.

The New York City Council’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism will hold its first hearing. The task force was established by Menin in January, shortly after her election, to make recommendations and work towards her five-point plan to combat antisemitism.

Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate will host a unity dinner in partnership with the NFL, Hillel International, United Negro College Fund and the Pittsburgh Steelers for Black and Jewish college students from the Pittsburgh area. The event will include a fireside chat featuring Kraft, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch.

Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie will hold a meet-and-greet with young Jewish professionals. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) will speak in conversation at Yeshiva University with its president, Rabbi Ari Berman, about her new book, Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America’s Elite Universities.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Iranian officials have signaled they will attend talks with the U.S. in Islamabad, Pakistan, this week, with Vice President JD Vance, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner expected to depart for the meeting tomorrow (despite President Donald Trump’s claim that they were already in transit this morning). 

Negotiators are up against a running clock, as Trump said today that his two-week ceasefire with Iran will end “Wednesday evening Washington time” and it’s “highly unlikely that I’d extend it” if no deal is reached…

In a series of heated social media posts, Trump again denied that Israel dragged the U.S. into war with Iran: “[T]he results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” were his motivation, he wrote on Truth Social. 

Trump also boasted that the deal under negotiation will be “far better” than the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. “If a Deal happens under ‘TRUMP,’ it will guarantee Peace, Security, and Safety, not only for Israel and the Middle East, but for Europe, America, and everywhere else,” he wrote. Lashing out at the media, Trump insisted, “I’m winning a War, BY A LOT, things are going very well,” claiming the U.S. blockade, “which we will not take off until there is a ‘DEAL,’ is absolutely destroying Iran”… 

The State Department confirmed that the U.S. will host the second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, as the 10-day ceasefire between the two countries that began last Thursday, after the first round of talks, continues to hold…

Republican operatives and strategists are growing increasingly concerned that the GOP may lose the Senate in the midterm elections, several told Politico, as rising gas prices and unease around the war with Iran create a poor national environment for Trump’s party. 

The New York Times’ Nate Cohn argues that Democrats have a “realistic chance” to flip the four seats they need to win back the chamber because “they’ve recruited unusually strong candidates in three states that supported Mr. Trump three times: North Carolina, Ohio and Alaska.”

“In all three states, the Democrats’ likely nominees are popular recent statewide office holders. They either won their last campaign or were highly competitive in losing re-election under less favorable political conditions. So far, the polls show those Democrats running well ahead of what one might otherwise expect,” Cohn writes…

Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg’s shifting views on Israel policy and decision to skip two upcoming Jewish community candidate forums are raising eyebrows in New York’s heavily Jewish 12th Congressional District, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

During a candidate forum at 92NY last week, for example, Schlossberg rejected continued U.S. funding for offensive weapons to Israel amid the war in Iran — even as he emphasized support for boosting the Iron Dome missile-defense system, which he described as a “critical” technology…

Minnesota’s Democratic Party is poised to endorse progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate at its convention next month, Flanagan’s campaign said, after the lieutenant governor secured support from over 90% of Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party local conventions held statewide. The party endorsement, however, will not determine the nominee, as Democratic voters are set to choose their candidate in the Aug. 11 primary election.

The campaign of Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), Flanagan’s primary opponent and the favorite of pro-Israel activists, called on the DFL last week to launch a formal investigation into a series of alleged instances of antisemitic activity among its delegates. One instance at a local convention last month reportedly saw an unnamed delegate argue that “we should nuke” Israel…

The Wall Street Journal reports on the growing feud between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, which “spilled out into public view on Thursday, when Driscoll described to lawmakers his fondness for the Army’s former top general, Randy George, whom Hegseth fired as the service’s chief of staff on April 2 while Driscoll was on vacation”…

A Washington Post investigation found that, since January 2025, neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes has made nearly $900,000 through paid messages on his livestreams from roughly 11,000 fans. His top 500 donors are responsible for almost half of that amount…

The UAE has asked the U.S. to consider offering it financial assistance amid the war with Iran, as the Gulf country has borne the brunt of Iran’s drone and missile strikes, taking a heavy toll on its oil, economic and tourism industries. Emirati officials raised the idea of a currency-swap line, which would allow Abu Dhabi inexpensive access to U.S. dollars…

European officials hosted two meetings on Gaza reconstruction today — one gathering, led by EU representative Kaja Kallas and Norway, centered on coordinating aid with the U.S.-led Board of Peace, where White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum requested international assistance in rebuilding the enclave. The other forum, led by Kallas and Belgium, focused on a two-state solution and was attended by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa…

In response to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s condemnation of an IDF soldier found to have desecrated a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon, Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, accused the IDF of committing war crimes. 

“Lessons should also be drawn regarding the way they are being trained,” Sikorski wrote on X. “IDF soldiers themselves admit to war crimes. They killed not only civilian Palestinians but even their own hostages”…

Incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar affirmed that his country is bound by rules of the International Criminal Court to arrest those sought under its warrants, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Magyar said he intends to prevent Hungary from leaving the ICC, a move his predecessor, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, had initiated.

Responding to questions about Netanyahu’s claim that Magyar had invited him to the country for a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising, Magyar responded, “Every leader is welcome to attend this important commemoration,” but “we have a legal obligation to enforce the court’s rulings, and I’m sure [Netanyahu] knows this”…

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced this afternoon that he will step down from the helm of the tech giant and become its executive chairman in September. Succeeding Cook is John Ternus, head of the company’s hardware engineering…

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 Rachel Goldberg-Polin on the release of her book, When We See You Again, which debuts tomorrow. 

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will hold a nomination hearing for Kevin Warsh, son-in-law of Jewish philanthropist Ronald Lauder, to be chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Democrats intend to press Warsh on his personal fortune, which he has only partially disclosed thus far.

The House Ethics Committee will hold a public hearing to determine whether to apply sanctions to Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), after finding last month that she had committed serious ethics violations and campaign finance misconduct.

The U.S. Helsinki Commission will hold a hearing on Iran’s support for Russia amid its war with Ukraine.

The Senate Foreign Relation Committee’s subcommittee on Africa will hold a hearing on U.S. approaches to counterterrorism on the continent. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced the start of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon to begin at 5 p.m. ET today, after he held phone calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day. 

Trump added that he will be inviting Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for “meaningful talks,” later telling reporters such a meeting could happen in the “next week or two.”

The text of the agreement released by the State Department indicates the ceasefire is a “gesture of goodwill” on Israel’s part “intended to enable good-faith negotiations” toward a permanent agreement. The temporary pause in hostilities could be extended if Lebanon “effectively demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty” and prevent Hezbollah from carrying out attacks against Israel…

Trump again indicated further talks with Iran could take place this weekend and said the two sides are “very close to making a deal,” telling reporters this afternoon that Iran has already agreed to “give us back the nuclear dust,” referring to its highly enriched uranium. 

Hours earlier, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned at a press briefing that U.S. forces are “maximally postured” to return to military operations against Iran if negotiations are unsuccessful, and will look to attack “infrastructure, power and energy”… 

The House narrowly voted to block a Democratic resolution to force an end to the war in Iran by a vote of 214-213-1, with all but one of the four Democrats who opposed a similar effort in March changing their votes to support today’s measure, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Juan Vargas (D-CA) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who voted last month against a similar resolution, flipped their votes to support the war powers effort. But Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who is retiring at the end of his term, voted no again. On the Republican side, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who voted for the war powers resolution last time, switched his vote to “present.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican who voted for the resolution…

Vice President JD Vance, the first vice president to serve simultaneously as finance chair of his party, is building donor relationships that may prove useful should he choose to run for president in 2028, The New York Times reports, including attempting to woo some pro-Israel donors who have otherwise been wary of his ties to far-right commentator Tucker Carlson. 

Among others, Vance has developed relationships with Jewish philanthropists Miriam Adelson, whom he spent New Years Eve with at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and Paul Singer; has appeared as the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by Palantir and 8VC co-founder Joe Lonsdale; and has been featured at a Republican National Committee event hosted by tech executive Keith Rabois, who is married to Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg…

With less than six weeks to go until the Texas primary runoff election, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is defending his seat against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with a significantly larger war chest: As the first quarter of 2026 closed, Cornyn had more than $8 million in cash on hand (including a small donation from former President George W. Bush), while Paxton had $2.6 million in the bank. Whoever clinches the GOP nomination will face state Sen. James Talarico, who has nearly $10 million on hand…

Josef Palermo, who was the first curator of visual arts and special programming at the Kennedy Center until his dismissal last month, recounts his experience as Trump and the center’s then-President Richard Grenell initiated an overhaul of the building, a process Palermo describes as “cronyism, incompetence, and a series of bizarre moves.”

Palermo recounts an exhibition he organized commemorating the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in the building’s Israeli Lounge: “Speaking at the opening reception, Grenell warned the mostly Jewish audience that unless donors came forward to sponsor the space and pay for renovation costs, the lounge would be given away to a new donor. … Such a strong-armed fundraising pitch, at an event commemorating a pogrom, struck many of us in the room as inappropriate. I was mortified”…

Asked for his perspective on antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker’s reach on his platform, Twitch CEO Daniel Clancy said at the Semafor World Economy summit in Washington today that “one of the challenges is when you’re livestreaming you say a lot … you might say a lot of things that are over the top. … If you violate [community guidelines] then we take enforcement actions and we suspend you — it’s designed not to kick you off forever.”

“Whenever Hasan has stepped over the line, we’ve taken action … Folks will get worked up from both the right and the left on this because we have also conservative people that are saying certain things that some people don’t like. … In general, we think it is important for us to allow people to express themselves,” Clancy said…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a temperature check on support for Israel within the Democratic Party, in light of 85% of Democratic senators voting in favor of a Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)-led measure to block military sales to the Jewish state.

France and the U.K. will co-host a conference tomorrow focused on restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, with leaders from several European, Asian and Gulf countries participating via video.

Michigan’s Democratic Party will hold its endorsement convention on Sunday, where party activists will nominate their two preferred candidates for the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents. The election has reignited the campus’ debate over Israel, as candidate and anti-Israel activist Amir Makled seeks to unseat Jewish regent Jordan Acker, who became the target of antisemitic vandalism and harassment in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. (The SEIU labor union recently pulled its endorsement of Makled over his past support of Hezbollah.)

National party leaders including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will appear at events in Detroit ahead of the convention. 

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

A war powers resolution brought by Senate Democrats to force an end to the war in Iran was blocked by Republicans yet again this afternoon, the fourth failed attempt mounted by Senate Democrats since the war began in late February, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Nevertheless, top Senate Democrats have said they intend to continue forcing such votes weekly (they have nine more resolutions already filed) in the hopes that more Republicans will change their votes as the war drags on…

Texas state Sen. James Talarico announced he raised $27 million in the first quarter of 2026 in his run for U.S. Senate, a massive haul that his campaign claimed is the largest amount ever raised by a Senate candidate in the first quarter of an election year. Democrats hope the funds will put Texas in play as Talarico seeks to challenge either Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who are still locked in their own hotly contested primary.

The top Senate fundraisers behind Talarico this quarter were also Democrats: Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) brought in $14 million — breaking the record for first-quarter fundraising in Georgia — former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper raised $13.8 million and former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) raised $12.5 million…

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) said he raised $1.1 million in this year’s first quarter, bringing his total to $4.4 million raised — more than any other House incumbent or candidate in New Jersey this cycle, according to the New Jersey Globe — as he defends his swing seat from several well-funded Democratic challengers. 

But even as he’s pulled in plenty of support, Kean has missed a month’s worth of votes on Capitol Hill due to an unspecified medical issue, with his staff declining to say when he will return…

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in an interview on the “Pod Save America” podcast praised former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — once a vocal Omar foe who called for the congresswoman’s deportation while they were both in the House — and far-right influencer Candace Owens over the pair’s break with President Donald Trump, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

“I believe the thing that has been very fascinating, especially about Marjorie and Candace, is that … they’re saying, ‘This action is wrong,’ right? They’re saying, ‘I am done with you.’ We should give them credit for that, the fact that they’ve had this wake-up call to finally seeing this con man, this corrupt, chaotic man for what he is,” Omar said…

Sebastian Gorka, the White House senior director for counterterrorism and a deputy assistant to the president, is reportedly angling for the position of director of the National Counterterrorism Center, which was recently vacated by Joe Kent amid Kent’s opposition to the Iran war. Gorka has been a staunch defender of Trump and backed his war with Iran, as well as repeatedly praised Israel amid its war in Gaza…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Péter Magyar, the presumptive next prime minister of Hungary, for the first time today, calling the conversation “warm” and saying that Magyar indicated he will continue the close relationship the countries enjoyed under his predecessor, outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán…

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her proposal to bar demonstrations of more than two people from occurring within 25 feet of a house of worship today, JI’s Will Bredderman reports, legislation that has drawn legal scrutiny over its creation of a new felony offense for violators.

“I believe I have the right to protect people’s constitutional right to free exercise of religion,” Hochul told reporters when asked if she had concerns that the legislation might provoke challenges on First Amendment grounds. “So if that means we test it in court, bring it on”…

After holding its final public hearing earlier this week, the White House Religious Liberty Commission is now preparing a set of recommendations to be presented to the president next month. Ambiguity and confusion about the commission’s mandate has left commissioners unsure if they’ll continue to meet — their first year on the panel was marred by the firing of one commissioner over her disruption of a hearing on antisemitism… 

Progressive media organization More Perfect Union is launching More Perfect University, an effort aimed at college students to act as an alternative to the conservative Turning Point USA, with a focus on urging young people to share left-wing political and economic messaging through social media. Faiz Shakir, the head of More Perfect Union who is also chief political advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign, said he hopes to jump-start “an economic populist movement for the next generation”…

Duke University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter has been suspended as a student group and had its funding frozen after it posted virulently antisemitic imagery depicting Israel and the U.S. as pigs frothing at the mouth on its Instagram page, prompting student complaints to campus administration…

University of Michigan President-elect Kent Syverud announced today he has been diagnosed with brain cancer and will no longer assume the presidency, leaving the future of the school’s leadership in question. Jewish leaders had praised Syverud’s appointment as a positive development for UM, which had seen rampant anti-Israel activity 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 out in Jewish Insider for a preview of a first-of-its-kind antisemitism conference taking place tomorrow at Harvard, created as an outcome of last year’s settlement of a Title VI lawsuit against the school.

New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District will hold its special election for the remainder of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s congressional term, where progressive Analilia Mejia is expected to prevail against Republican Joe Hathaway.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold nomination hearings for John Breslow to be U.S. ambassador to Cyprus, Todd Steggerda to be U.S. representative to the U.N. in Geneva and Preston Wells to be U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, among others.

The Shalom Hartman Institute will host a discussion at the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, on American Jewry ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

The House Appropriations Committee will hold a budget hearing on the Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

• Talks between the U.S. and Iran could resume in the coming days, President Donald Trump said yesterday. The president’s comments come as the Pentagon prepares to deploy some 10,000 additional troops to the region by the end of the month amid the U.S.’ maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
• The Senate is slated to vote this afternoon on a war powers resolution, as well as on legislation banning arms sales to Israel put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
• Elsewhere in Washington, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and Jeff Bartos, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. for management and reform, are slated to testify today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. priorities at the United Nations.
• Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch will hold a town hall tonight at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue to discuss antisemitism in New York City.
• In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey will join representatives from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to launch the new ARC Health Tech Accelerator in Downtown Boston.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

A popular “domino effect” meme circulates online every few months, linking slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s decision to launch the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — the smallest domino — to a series of major geopolitical shifts across the Middle East. While both simplified and exaggerated, the meme underscores the dramatic reshaping of Middle Eastern power dynamics.

The next domino may be the decades-long fraught relationship between Israel and Lebanon, as Iran’s ironclad grip over the region loosens and its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah, finds itself increasingly weakened and marginalized in Lebanon, where it has for decades played a key role in the country’s politics and military. 

Those current geopolitical conditions — Iran at its weakest point in decades, successive levels of Hezbollah leadership removed from power through Israeli military actions, the degradation of Hamas and a new government in Syria that has separated itself from Tehran — laid the groundwork for yesterday’s State Department summit, convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, between Israel and Lebanon.

The State Department meeting between the ambassadors from Lebanon and Israel took place as the U.S. navigates stalled talks and a tenuous ceasefire with Iran — which was initially on unstable ground as Iran demanded that Israel cease its targeting of Hezbollah as part of the ceasefire. 

A senior Israeli official told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that Iran’s effort to link the two conflicts was “a strategic trap with long-term ramifications.”

“There was real pressure to link the Lebanon front to the Iran ceasefire,” the official said. If President Donald Trump had acquiesced to the Iranian demand to link the two conflicts, the official continued, “We would not be on the path to peace that we’re on now. Keeping the arenas separate ultimately means that the fate of Lebanon is no longer dictated by Iran.”

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

Same as the Old Boss: The Wall Street Journal’s Margherita Stancati, Benoit Faucon and Henna Moussavi look at the maximalist, hard-line positions of the new upper echelon of Iranian leadership, overseen by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. “[The supreme leader] relies on a network of trusted allies that analysts call the Habib Circle. Its members include many veterans of the war with Iraq who served in the Revolutionary Guard’s Habib Battalion, renowned for attracting radicals and named after a seventh-century figure in Shia Islam revered for sacrificing his life in battle. Its recruits included Khamenei himself, who was a teenager when he enlisted toward the end of the war. … The new leadership has proved resilient and adaptable, emerging from the first five weeks of the war with its command and control intact. Their hard-line approach is evident in their appointments.” [WSJ]

Best Chance for Beirut: The Washington Post’s Carine Hajjar posits that the Lebanese government is in a position to take decisive action against both Iran and its Hezbollah proxy. “With the leadership of Hezbollah’s Iranian sponsors in disarray, Lebanon may never get a better chance to reclaim its sovereignty. … Even if the Lebanese are frustrated with Israel striking their country, ‘there’s a reason why these Israeli rockets are falling on us,’ Makram Rabah, an assistant history professor at the American University of Beirut, told me. The Israelis have been clear with the Lebanese: They won’t accept an armed Hezbollah, and if Beirut won’t act, they will.” [WashPost]

The Piker Problem: In his Substack “Identity Crisis,” Shalom Hartman Institute President Yehuda Kurtzer weighs in on the recent decision by The New York Times’ Ezra Klein to platform far-left streamer Hasan Piker. “Liberals must not decide that they need the ugliest forms of illiberalism in order to try to restore our fragile and collapsing liberal order. This was true when it involved defending a US senator hoping to impose martial law on American cities, and it is true now when it involves the demagogue-ing of our public square and the soft-pedaling of antisemitism. On both sides, violence is the tool of authoritarianism, and the enemy of the liberal project. Piker’s very project involves the delegitimating of the very liberal order by whose rules Klein is playing.” [IdentityCrisis]

France and the U.K. are drafting a postwar plan that would free up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and would include mine-clearing technology and military escorts through the waterway; the plan, which European officials will meet to discuss later this week, would require the approval of Iran and likely exclude the U.S….

Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman met this week in New York with Qatari Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari…

The Financial Times reports that Iran clandestinely acquired China’s TEE-01B spy satellite, which it used to target U.S. bases during the recent war…

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and 50 House Democrats introduced a bill to create a commission to assess President Donald Trump’s potential removal from office under the 25th Amendment, a move prompted in part by the Iran war. Efforts to remove Trump under the provision are almost certainly doomed to fail…

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) urged the administration not to renew oil sanctions waivers on Russia and Iran; “Iran continues to reap significant revenue due to its current waiver, providing financial relief to an adversary we are actively fighting. Any additional waivers for Russia or Iran would be against our national interests,” Moran said…

Citing an “unprecedented and escalating threat environment facing religious communities and institutions” across the country, a coalition of Jewish groups, joined by organizations representing a range of other faiths, is urging Senate and House leaders to significantly expand funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to “up to $1 billion,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The Wall Street Journal looks at recent clashes between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, suggesting that the pontiff “has been building broad support within the global church for his course, which combines advocacy for peace and dialogue with a stronger emphasis on traditional Catholic doctrines”…

The Michigan arm of the powerful SEIU labor union announced on Tuesday that it had rescinded its endorsement of Amir Makled, an attorney running for the University of Michigan board of regents, in light of Makled’s deleted social media posts praising the terrorist group Hezbollah, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports… 

Law firm Kirkland & Ellis has reportedly offered a three-year, $80 million package to Joshua Feltman, the chair of Wachtell Lipton’s corporate restructuring and finance department…

Portland Trail Blazers guard Deni Avdija hit the game-winning three-point shot to lead Portland over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA’s play-in game  and into the NBA playoffs; the Israeli NBA star scored 41 points, and tallied 12 assists and 7 rebounds…

The Harvard Crimson reports that Harvard has yet to release a report on antisemitism that was mandated by its January 2025 settlement with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law…

The University of Pennsylvania requested a stay of a judge’s order requiring the school to turn over names of Jewish employees of the school to the Trump administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…

The New York Times spotlights the growing interest from private equity firms in local bagel shops that can be developed and scaled…

MyPrize co-founders and brothers Zach and Max Bruch made a $360,000 donation to establish an endowment for Olami Manhattan to support the group’s efforts to bring young Jewish adults to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…

Axel Springer received approval from U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to purchase The Telegraph, clearing a major hurdle in the German company’s £575m effort to acquire the British publication…  

Days after U.K. authorities revoked Kanye West’s permission to enter the country for a now-canceled music festival over his past antisemitic remarks, French authorities are weighing a similar ban on the artist, who is set to perform in Marseille in June…

Dublin Mayor Ray McAdam apologized to the city’s Jewish community for a series of administrative and procedural errors around a failed effort to rename the city’s Herzog Park, which was named after former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, the father of President Isaac Herzog, who was born in Belfast and raised in Dublin…

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that the country would suspend the automatic renewal of its defense cooperation agreement with Israel, prompting President Donald Trump to rail against Meloni, who has thus far been an ally of his, telling an Italian outlet he’s “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong. … It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance”…

Italian entrepreneur Adriano Goldschmied, who developed dozens of brands of denim jeans, died at 82…

Congressional leaders, newly appointed U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Board Chair Jeff Miller, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others spoke alongside Holocaust survivors on Capitol Hill on Tuesday at the U.S.’ annual commemoration of Yom HaShoah, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Retired U.S. astronaut and a veteran of five space shuttle missions, Marsha Sue Ivins turns 75… 

Psychiatrist, entrepreneur, movie producer and philanthropist, Dr. Henry George Jarecki turns 93… Former 15-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, Howard Lawrence Berman turns 85… Duke University professor, physician, biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate in 2012, Robert Lefkowitz turns 83… Retired U.S. Army chaplain who attained the rank of lieutenant colonel, Rabbi Alan Sherman… Professor of German and comparative literature at New York University, Avital Ronell turns 74… Israeli Breslov rabbi and founder of Chut Shel Chessed Institutions, Shalom Arush turns 74… Former city controller of Philadelphia for 12 years, following 16 years as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Alan Butkovitz turns 74… CEO of DMB Strategic, David Brand… Founder and director of the graduate school in the decorative arts at Bard College in Dutchess County, N.Y., Susan Weber turns 71… Deputy counsel at the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Deborah R. Liebman… Former executive director at American Press Institute, he is the author of 10 books, including three novels, Tom Rosenstiel turns 70… Born in NYC, now living in Jerusalem, he is the rebbe of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty (a position he assumed in 1984 when he was 25), Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer turns 67… Former deputy secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration following four years as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Sarah Bloom Raskin turns 65… Winner of 12 Olympic medals at five different Olympic Games, Dara Grace Torres turns 59… Managing partner, CEO and chief investment officer of Hudson Bay Capital Management, Sander R. Gerber… CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009 on sabbatical this year, prior to that he was the executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Daniel Sokatch turns 58… Cheryl Myra Cohn… Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and founder of the Truman National Security Project, Rachel Kleinfeld, Ph.D…. Head coach of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos basketball program, Joe Pasternack turns 49… Senior political correspondent at The Hill, Amie Parnes turns 49… CEO of the American Fintech Council, Y. Phillip Goldfeder turns 45… Actor, comedian, writer, producer and director, Seth Rogen turns 44… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Mark Treyger turns 44… Co-founder and co-CEO of theSkimm, Carly Zakin… Research manager at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, David May… Director of grants and operations at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Kristin McCarthy… Founder and CEO of Neue Urban, Zach Ehrlich… Social entrepreneur, environmental activist and human rights activist, Erin Schrode… Israeli singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer, Jasmin Moallem turns 31… Moshe Lehrer…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

U.S.-Iran talks could restart in the next two days, President Donald Trump told the New York Post. “[S]omething could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go [back to Islamabad, Pakistan]” rather than a different mediating country, he said in an interview today. 

Trump also indicated he wasn’t happy with reports that his own negotiating team had offered Iran a 20-year pause on its ability to enrich uranium. “I’ve been saying they can’t have nuclear weapons, so I don’t like the 20 years,” he said…

CENTCOM announced that no ships made it past the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in its first 24 hours, and six merchant ships “complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around”…

Saudi Arabia is reportedly pressuring the U.S. to end the blockade, fearing retaliation and disruption to other trade routes. Iran has threatened to mobilize the Houthis in Yemen to close off the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which Riyadh utilizes to move its oil exports out of the Red Sea…

European countries are drafting a plan to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz after the war ends, possibly without the participation of the U.S. As part of this effort, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France and the U.K. will co-host a conference on Friday of “non-belligerent countries ready to contribute” to the “multilateral and purely defensive mission”…

The Treasury Department said it will not renew a waiver set to expire later this week that temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil — the waiver had drawn condemnation from some lawmakers who had worked to institute those sanctions…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized at the outset of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington this morning that the talks are a “process” that will “take time,” and that the objective of today’s meeting was to “outline a framework upon which a permanent and lasting peace can be developed” and bring a “permanent end to Hezbollah’s influence” in the region.

The State Department said after the meeting, the highest-level talks between Jerusalem and Beirut in over 30 years, that the sides “agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue,” though it did not indicate when or where further talks may take place. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told reporters that the parties “discovered today that we’re on the same side of the equation. That’s the most positive thing we could have come away with”…

Italy is suspending its defense agreement with Israel, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said today, declining to renew the agreement “in consideration of the current situation.” Italy had grown critical of Israel’s war in Gaza and has been noncooperative in the war with Iran, reportedly not allowing U.S. aircraft to land at its bases.

Trump railed against Meloni, who has thus far been an ally of his, in an interview with an Italian outlet today, saying he’s “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong,” and claiming she’s “no longer the same person” after she called the president’s attack on Pope Leo XIV yesterday “unacceptable.” “It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance,” Trump said…

Hamas has rejected the U.S.-led Board of Peace’s disarmament proposal, according to the BBC. The parties seem to once again be at an impasse, as Hamas tells mediators it will not continue onto the second phase of the ceasefire until it feels Israel has complied completely with the first phase, while Israel says it will not move forward until there is progress on disarming Hamas…

The New York Times details a tense event held by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) in his Hudson Valley-based swing district where the lawmaker was pressed by constituents demanding answers and accountability on the Iran war; it’s seen as a harbinger of the growing discontent some Republicans will have to contend with around the largely unpopular war in the lead-up to the midterms…

The Union for Reform Judaism released a statement yesterday voicing concern about “efforts to single out AIPAC as a particularly malign influence in campaign finance. … [T]he harsh language being used by some to denigrate and vilify AIPAC borders on — and in some cases crosses over into — antisemitism.” 

“Until such time as [C]ongress reforms the nation’s broken campaign finance system overall — an effort we would enthusiastically welcome — to single out AIPAC’s activity will continue to raise questions of antisemitic motivation,” the organization wrote, in a sign of how the demonization of pro-Israel donors and groups is raising alarms across the Jewish political and religious spectrum…

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a progressive Jewish legislator running to fill Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) seat, was accused at a campaign event earlier this week of taking $50,000 from AIPAC by a constituent citing the far-left group TrackAIPAC. “I just want to be clear, I’m not accepting any support from AIPAC,” Wiener responded. “There are people who are gonna list out all my Jewish donors and say that. I’m not taking any support from AIPAC and I support the Block the Bombs Act”…

The Michigan arm of the powerful SEIU labor union announced today that it had rescinded its endorsement of Amir Makled, a candidate for the University of Michigan board of regents, in light of Makled’s deleted social media posts praising the terrorist group Hezbollah, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. 

Makled is a Dearborn attorney who represented an anti-Israel protester who was arrested during the 2024 anti-Israel encampments at UM’s flagship Ann Arbor campus. A Detroit News report found that Makled had deleted posts praising Hezbollah’s leaders and retweets of antisemitic messages from the far-right influencer Candace Owens, as he now seeks to unseat Jewish regent Jordan Acker…

The relationship between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin appears to be growing increasingly acrimonious as Menin publicly distances herself from some of the mayor’s policies, Politico reports, including apparently helping to plan a protest outside Mamdani’s speech marking his first 100 days in office…

France is exploring legal options to bar rapper Kanye West from entering the country to perform at a concert in Marseille in June, after he was similarly banned and prevented from performing in the U.K. earlier this month. “I refuse to let Marseille be a showcase for those who promote hatred and unapologetic Nazism,” the city’s mayor, Benoit Payan, wrote on social media…

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 into the work of the Democratic National Committee’s Middle East working group, established last summer, including how it’s approaching intraparty divides over Israel policy.

Two of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) three joint resolutions of disapproval seeking to halt $658.8 million in sales of munitions to Israel are expected to receive a vote in the Senate tomorrow. Sanders and other progressive Democrats have forced votes on similar efforts to block arms sales to Israel on three previous occasions since the war in Gaza began, with a majority of the Democratic caucus — 27 lawmakers — voting to block at least one arms sale in July of last year, a significant jump in support from similar efforts in November 2024 and April 2025.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told reporters Democrats will likely force a vote tomorrow on another Iran war powers resolution, the third such vote after the previous two failed largely along party lines.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on reforming the U.N. with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and U.S. Representative for U.N. Management and Reform Jeff Bartos.

The Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan will host an antisemitism town hall with Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

Israel’s Sheba Medical Center will unveil ARC Landing Boston, its first health care accelerator based in the U.S., at an event featuring Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began this morning, with more than 15 American warships involved in the operation intended to pressure Iran into concessions after this weekend’s failed negotiations.

President Donald Trump said hours later that the U.S. was “called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal.” Mediators including Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are also reportedly attempting to revive talks between the parties… 

One reported sticking point in the negotiations is a U.S. request that Iran agree not to enrich uranium for 20 years. The 2015 Iran nuclear deal was highly criticized for its sunset clauses, which lifted limits on activity including uranium enrichment after 15 years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked a similar timeframe at a Cabinet meeting today, saying he spoke with Vice President JD Vance yesterday who told him that the U.S. aims to ensure “there is no more enrichment in the coming years, and that could be in decades, no enrichment within Iran.” 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took issue with the timeline: “If this reporting is accurate, the idea that we would agree to a moratorium on enrichment rather than a ban on enrichment would be a mistake in my view. Would we agree to a moratorium for al Qaeda to enrich? No,” he wrote on X. “No enrichment means no enrichment”.…

Six additional Senate Democrats plan to file new war powers resolutions this week to halt the war in Iran, a move that would allow Democrats to continue forcing votes on the war for the foreseeable future, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. 

Previously, a different group of six Democrats introduced similar resolutions, and Democrats have called up two of them thus far, with plans to call up a third this week. The latest group of lawmakers spans from staunch progressives and critics of Israel to generally more pro-Israel members, including Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Andy Kim (D-NJ)…

Citing an “increasingly sour national environment for Republicans,” the Cook Political Report shifted its ratings for four key Senate races in Democrats’ favor: The North Carolina and Georgia races now lean Democratic, the Ohio race is a toss-up and the Nebraska race is likely Republican, rather than solidly. Democrats would need to flip four seats to take back the chamber…

In another heated Senate race where Democrats hope to pick up a seat, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) raised nearly $9 million in the first quarter of 2026, four times the amount her opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), pulled in. The GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund has pledged to spend $15 million in the race, as polls show Peltola with a slight lead…

In an appearance on the “Pod Save America” podcast released yesterday, antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker said he “stands by” his statement made in January that “Hamas is a thousand times better than a fascist settler-colonial apartheid state,” referring to Israel.

“I would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time,” he said on the podcast, claiming Hamas is “entirely comprised … of orphan children that have had their parents killed by an apartheid state that has been dominating the lives of Palestinians for 80 years at this point. … Hamas’ tactics, which I oppose at times, or its like internal governance issues are secondary to this conversation”…

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) called for the federal government to “immediately” pull funding from Yale University over Yale Political Union’s decision to host Piker, who previously suggested that the senator should be killed. Piker is scheduled to speak on campus tomorrow for a debate titled “Resolved: End the American Empire.”

For Scott, Piker’s incendiary language is personal: the streamer was briefly suspended from Twitch last year after urging his followers to “kill Rick Scott.” “An elite private university that hosts an antisemite who says a Senator should be killed, capitalists should be killed, and the U.S. deserved 9/11, shouldn’t get ONE CENT from taxpayers,” Scott wrote on X on Friday… 

J Street is seeking to “set the record straight” after the group backed the growing calls among far-left lawmakers to end U.S. support for Israel’s missile-defense systems, including Iron Dome, despite its own criteria for its endorsees stating otherwise. 

In a new FAQ, the group called Iron Dome “a critically important defense system” which it “supports and consistently lobbies for.” After the end of the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel, which runs through Fiscal Year 2028, however, “financial subsidies to Israel should be rapidly and responsibly phased out. … Israel should pay for these systems”…

More Jews were killed in antisemitic incidents outside of Israel in 2025 than any year in the past three decades, according to a report from Tel Aviv University. Twenty Jews were killed last year in attacks in countries including Australia, the U.S. and the U.K., while the previous record was set in 1994 with the AMIA bombing, which killed 85 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina…

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 a new poll assessing the partisan divide emerging among American Jews over pro-Israel political engagement.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will host a Yom HaShoah remembrance event at the Capitol, with a keynote address delivered by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Other speakers include several Holocaust survivors as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Lois Frankel (D-FL).

Amid the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group’s spring meetings being held in Washington this week, Jacob Helberg, under secretary of state for economic affairs, will speak at an event with the Atlantic Council about U.S. economic leadership in the Middle East, including utilization of the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, which has been floated as an alternative trade route to the volatile Strait of Hormuz.