Daily Kickoff

Pat Ryan offers refunds to pro-Israel donors

Plus, Lindsey's legislative legacy

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) speaks during a Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC

JI Staff

July 17, 2026

Good Friday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover Rep. Adam Smith’s comments that he was pressured to vote to end U.S. aid to Israel by violent, far-left activists, and report on Rep. Pat Ryan’s offer to return donations from individuals who oppose his vote against Israel aid. We do a deep dive into how anti-Israel candidates raised and spent money ahead of their primaries, and look at how Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death has left the South Carolina Republican’s legislative priorities in limbo. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ted Deutch, Hakeem Jeffries and Marco Rubio.

We have also launched a new on-demand Live Briefing that you can access throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and on our website.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Tributes pour in after death of Lindsey Graham, Israel’s staunch defender in the Senate; Vance alleges Israeli influence campaigns ‘manipulating’ American opinion on Iran war; In Georgia’s Senate race, tough choices ahead for the state’s Jewish community. Print the latest edition here.

What We’re Watching

The Aspen Security Forum concludes this afternoon. This morning, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) will join former NSA Director Timothy Haugh for a panel on American leadership in an era of advancing technologies.
The Knesset voted this morning to dissolve itself, sending the body into recess until after the Oct. 27 election.
We’ll be watching the situation in the Middle East as the U.S. continues to expand its campaign against Iran. Tehran for the first time on Friday acknowledged that the U.S. had struck the Islamic Republic’s energy infrastructure, with the country’s energy ministry calling for residents of the southern provinces to conserve electricity as the area is “currently experiencing extreme heat and attacks on power infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, Chevron is expected to sign deals today that would see the company invest in two Iraqi oil fields and join a broader consortium looking to build a pipeline to connect Iraq to the Syrian coast as it looks for alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

The second-quarter congressional fundraising reports, which were posted on Wednesday, paint a picture of far-left, anti-Israel candidates drawing financial fuel from a growing small-dollar donor network of like-minded individuals.

Nearly all of the Democratic Socialists of America-aligned or virulently anti-Israel candidates were among the Democrats’ leading fundraisers, including lawmakers (like Reps. Rashida Tlaib [D-MI] and Ilhan Omar [D-MN]) who are not facing particularly competitive races.

The highlights: Abdul El-Sayed raised $4.6 million between April and June in the Michigan Senate primary, more than double the $2.1 million that Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) brought in. Disgraced former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner took in a whopping $9.1 million before dropping out amid allegations of rape, outpacing Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-ME) $5.7 million haul.

On the House side, the DSA duo who won New York City congressional nominations last month — doctoral student Darializa Avila Chevalier and state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez — nearly hit the million-dollar mark in fundraising.

Avila Chevalier raised $952,000 in the run-up to her primary against Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), coming close to matching the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairman’s fundraising. Meanwhile, Valdez brought in $942,000 for the quarter, significantly more than the party-backed progressive favorite Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president.

The list goes on: Adam Hamawy’s past ties to Islamist radicals didn’t prevent him from winning the nomination in New Jersey’s 12th District, and certainly didn’t stunt his fundraising. Hamawy raised $987,000 in the second quarter, a staggering sum for a low-profile open-seat race. That’s well more than double the total of his nearest fundraising rival.

Melat Kiros, the 29-year-old DSA-backed insurgent who ousted Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), also outraised the longtime lawmaker in the homestretch of the campaign. Kiros brought in $712,000 between April and June, while DeGette only raised $694,000.

What does this say about the state of our politics?

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

PRESSURE COOKER

Smith says he was pressured to vote against Israel aid by violent, far-left activists

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, during a hearing on May 14, 2026. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, indicated he voted to cut off military aid to Israel in part because of sustained personal threats against his family and his staff, part of what he described as a violent and relentless campaign of intimidation by far-left anti-Israel activists, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

U-turn: Smith voted on Wednesday to support an amendment introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to strip $3.3 billion in U.S. aid to Israel from the 2027 State Department appropriations bill — a major reversal by the hawkish Democrat after he previously told JI he planned to oppose the measure. In a statement explaining his vote in favor, the high-ranking defense lawmaker said it was a “very close vote.” He said that despite voting to cut off U.S. aid, he was “deeply concerned” about the tactics used by far left activists to pressure him to support such a measure.

Read the full story here.

Letter of the law: Several House Republicans sent a letter on Thursday to the Department of Justice calling for an investigation into whether New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his international affairs commissioner, Ana María Archila, violated the Logan Act by scheduling a meeting with the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Anti-Israel super PAC’s funding bolstered by GOP-linked donors

A top donor to American Priorities PAC, which has backed far-left Democratic candidates, has donated to Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Greg Abbott

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) departs a closed-door GOP caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol January 10, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Matthew Kassel

June 1, 2026

A recently launched super PAC positioning itself as a progressive counterweight to AIPAC’s involvement in Democratic primary elections has accepted financial contributions from a number of individuals who have also donated to Republicans, campaign filings show.

The financial support for American Priorities PAC, created in February, has come even as AIPAC and its super PAC have faced backlash from critics on the left who accuse it of meddling in Democratic primaries as a sort of front group for GOP-funded attacks against anti-Israel candidates in safely blue districts.

AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has taken far more from GOP-linked donors than its new rival, American Priorities — now funded largely by a handful of deep-pocketed contributors. UDP supports both Democrats and Republicans.

But American Priorities, which has thus far only supported Democrats and pledged to spend at least $10 million during the midterms, has not acknowledged that the source of some of its funding is from donors who have at the same time given to GOP candidates and groups — and more extensively than previously reported.

A spokesperson for American Priorities did not respond to a request for comment about whether the group is comfortable with such financial support and how it views the donations in relation to AIPAC’s own pro-Israel fundraising.

American Priorities, which has raised $5.4 million thus far, has sought to mimic AIPAC’s playbook of spending aggressively in progressive congressional districts to elect its preferred primary candidates. The new group is investing significantly in New Jersey’s 12th District race on Tuesday on behalf of Adam Hamawy — a plastic surgeon who opposes all U.S. aid to Israel and whose past ties to a convicted terrorist mastermind as well as a now-shuttered al-Qaida-linked group in Bosnia have drawn scrutiny in the final weeks of the election.

The super PAC has vowed to spend around $2 million by the end of the crowded primary — where Hamawy has been surging — and it recently reached $500,000 in another race in California boosting Randy Villegas, a progressive critic of Israel running for a red-leaning seat held by Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), who is endorsed by AIPAC.

Those investments have been fueled, most notably, by at least $525,000 from Hussein Mahrouq, a Texas businessman who has backed far-right Republicans including the recently ousted Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), both of whom have been accused of using antisemitic tropes about Jews and Israel.

In 2024, Mahrouq, one of the top contributors to American Priorities, also gave $100,000 to boost Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and donated $25,000 to Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state filings show.

Meanwhile, American Priorities accepted a $5,000 contribution from Omar Khawaja, a personal injury lawyer in Houston, who in March donated to a super PAC supporting hard-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who won last week’s GOP primary run-off in the state’s closely watched Senate race. Khawaja has also contributed to a Republican House candidate in Texas as well as Massie, who is among the most vocal critics of Israel in the GOP congressional caucus, according to filings.

Moiz Ali, an entrepreneur and investor in Texas who gave $150,000 to American Priorities in March, also donated to Massie last fall — shortly before he drew a challenger, Ed Gallrein, who defeated the libertarian congressman earlier this month with the backing of President Donald Trump. AIPAC also spent heavily against Massie, a top target of the group this cycle.

Another American Priorities donor, Nadeem Baig, a gastroenterologist in New Jersey who gave $50,000, has previously contributed to former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), former Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), all of whom have been known as staunch supporters of Israel. LaHood is backed by AIPAC, while Lance served as a co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus before he was unseated in 2018.

In a statement shared with Jewish Insider by a spokesperson for Mahrouq, he called himself “an independent businessman, not affiliated with any political party,” and said that his “support has always been guided by what I believe is in the best interest of the United States, its economic strength, security and long-term prosperity.”

“I have supported individuals and organizations across the political spectrum when their positions align with those priorities,” he continued. “My focus is not partisan politics, but rather promoting policies that strengthen America, encourage opportunity, and serve the interests of American citizens. I believe decisions affecting our country should be made based on what is best for the United States, independent of pressure from any foreign government, foreign interest group or partisan agenda.”

Mahrouq was the only American Priorities donor reached for comment by JI who shared a response.

The contributions to Massie and Greene in particular suggest anti-Israel sentiment can transcend partisan boundaries, in the way pro-Israel advocacy has been seen as a bipartisan effort connecting Democrats and Republicans.

Still, American Priorities has only backed Democrats, while AIPAC has championed bipartisan advocacy — even as it has stirred controversy over its engagement in Democratic races that show the group is navigating mounting hostility toward Israel from candidates and elected officials.

American Priorities is led by Hannah Fertig, a strategist with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the far-left group Justice Democrats, which also gave to the super PAC and is likewise backing Hamawy in his primary on Tuesday. “We want our foreign policy views to reflect where the Democratic base has moved, particularly on Gaza, and on unconditional U.S. military to Israel,” Fertig told Semafor in March following the group’s launch. “We’re seeing this as a generational inflection point, and we launched because there’s a huge gap in the progressive spending ecosystem.”

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Abdul El-Sayed brings in campaign cash from head of Hamas-cheering group

The Michigan Senate contender accepted $7k from the chair of Al-Awda/PRRC — and hired her son

Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks with customers and barbers at Blazin Wade Cuts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.

Will Bredderman

Marc Rod

April 24, 2026

Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has taken donations from a deep-pocketed activist whose group spearheaded the pro-Hamas protests that targeted a Queens synagogue in January — while the far-left candidate has at the same time paid tens of thousands in campaign funds to her son, Jewish Insider has found.

The latest Federal Election Commission filings show El-Sayed has received a total of $7,000 from Amani Barakat, the chair of Al-Awda-Palestinian Right of Return Coalition and a promoter of antisemitic conspiracy theories linking Jewish people to the Illuminati.

It’s part of $33,550 that El-Sayed has taken in total from the Barakat family, a Palestinian-American real estate dynasty based in Southern California.

But records show the money has flowed both ways, as El-Sayed’s committee has given $10,000 a month since December to a newly formed consulting firm belonging to Barakat’s son, a philanthropy advisor with no apparent background in campaign work.

As Jewish Insider previously reported, Amani Barakat chairs the group Al-Awda, which also uses the names Palestinian Right of Return Coalition and Palestinian Assembly for Liberation.

The group greeted Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks with a statement sending “their highest salutations to the Palestinian Resistance, the Freedom Fighters and Defenders of the indigenous Palestinian people,” and it has collaborated with numerous radical groups, including the People’s Forum, CODEPINK and Samidoun — the latter of which the Treasury Department has identified as “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.”

Amani Barakat’s social media history is consistent with her organization’s extremism. She shared her organization’s Oct. 7 statement on her personal Facebook account, and made multiple celebratory posts on the day of the atrocities, including one in English reading, “When people are occupied, Resistance is justified” accompanied by the hashtags “#longlivetheresistance” and “#feepalestine” [sic].

Another in Arabic translates to “Hail, my people! My people, hail!” A third English language post declares, “This is a fight for freedom.”

Also on Oct. 7, Amani Barakat shared a video of since-killed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh justifying the attack, and a drawing celebrating the assault as a battle between a Palestinian David and Israeli Goliath.

Amani Barakat also has an extensive history of social media posts amplifying or applauding terrorist leaders and activities: she has repeatedly shared videos by a Beirut-based TikTok user named Muhammad Kawtharani, who has served as a Hezbollah spokesman (though is distinct from the group’s commander of the same name); posted PFLP-branded content and celebrated its founders; and shared memes and material supportive of Hamas officials and fighters.

She has also repeatedly defended and applauded Khaled Barakat, the Canadian-based co-founder of Samidoun who was identified by both the U.S. and Canada as part of the leadership of the PFLP, which pioneered skyjacking in the 1970s and participated in the Oct. 7 assault, among other massacres. Amani Barakat and Khaled Barakat have exchanged greetings on Facebook, with Amani Barakat even suggesting they might meet up in the West Bank.

Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli military conflict with Iran, Amani Barakat has openly cheerleaded the regime in Tehran, posting an “I Stand with Iran” image, an image eulogizing assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with a Quranic verse and news of a defiant statement from the Iranian foreign minister with emojis illustrating her support.

She has also lauded antisemitic podcaster Tucker Carlson for his “brave, principled journalism,” and signal-boosted antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming “Zionists” are responsible for wildfires in Argentina and naming “Illuminati and other secret Jewish and Zionist societies as the real powers running the world and fueling the ongoing war in Iran.”

The Al-Awda leader, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, has also shared multiple posts from El-Sayed. Her $7,000 in contributions amounts to a small portion of the total funds the wealthy and sprawling Barakat family has mobilized for the Senate contender — a financial effort that also includes $4,300 from her son, Jamal.

But records suggest that the younger Barakat has received far more from the El-Sayed campaign than he or his mother have given. The disclosures show that El-Sayed has paid at least $40,000 since December for “political consulting” to The Commonwealth Project, a firm formed in late November 2025 in Wyoming.

State incorporation documents show that Jamal Barakat created this firm in conjunction with education technology entrepreneur John R. Hall, with whom he serves as an executive at Bayan Islamic Graduate School, a theological institution with campuses in Los Angeles and Chicago.

There is no record of any other campaign ever hiring the newly formed Commonwealth Project, and Jamal Barakat’s LinkedIn profile shows extensive background in the education and philanthropy sectors — but no experience in politics.

Jamal Barakat and Hall did not respond to emailed questions from Jewish Insider about how they came to work for the El-Sayed campaign. Hall also did not respond to any queries, while Jamal Barakat hastily said “no comment” and hung up when a JI reporter introduced himself.

El-Sayed, who has labeled both the Israeli government and Hamas as equally “evil,” did not respond to questions about his relationship with the Barakat family, or he came to hire their scion’s firm.

This contrasts with how El-Sayed reacted when JI notified him that a donor and self-identified fundraiser for his campaign posted antisemitic sentiments and shared tweets on X including denial of the Holocaust.

User @Niavaran555 described themselves as a fundraiser for El-Sayed and invited Jenin Younes, the national legal director for the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, to join a fundraiser for El-Sayed in Washington in the coming weeks or months. Niavaran said separately that they gave the “max” to El-Sayed.

After JI inquired to El-Sayed’s campaign about the Niavaran account, the user made his posts private.

“Abdul’s campaign had no knowledge of this person’s anonymous online account. Abdul condemns any and all antisemitic or racist comments made, no matter who or where they come from,” spokesperson Sophie Pollock told JI, and said that the campaign refunded in full a donation from the apparent owner of the account.

They shared a post that appeared to question whether the Nazis used gas chambers to kill Jews during the Holocaust. “1944 Hitler introducing a ‘gas chamber’…. (Topic forbidden to question/debate)….” the post reads, in reference to Israel’s new death penalty law for Palestinian terrorists.

They reposted an X post saying that “Jewish n***** treating genocide like New Years Eve,” referencing a countdown on an Israeli television news channel for a deadline Trump provided to Iran.

Niavaran also reposted a meme urging now-deceased Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to “BUILD THE NUKE RETARD.”

Numerous biographical details shared by Niavaran online point to the account being owned by Sam Zia, a travel consultant based in Washington, D.C. Niavaran said they “ran a speaker series in oxford (OxSpeaks)” and Zia was a co-founder of the group in 2023. Zia is also based in Washington, D.C., based on his LinkedIn profile.

Niavaran also said he wrote his thesis on former Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh; Zia used a picture of Mossadegh as his Instagram profile picture. Zia had donated $2750, to El-Sayed’s campaign as of the most recent FEC filings.

cutting ties

Seth Moulton says he will return, reject AIPAC donations in Senate campaign

AIPAC responds: ‘Rep. Moulton is abandoning his friends to grab a headline, capitulating to the extremes rather than standing on conviction’

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) speaks with a reporter outside of the U.S. Capitol Building on November 16, 2021 in Washington.

Marc Rod

October 16, 2025

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who on Wednesday announced a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), announced Thursday that he will return donations he has received from AIPAC and will reject further donations from the group.

Massachusetts is a solidly Democratic state but has also a large population of Jewish pro-Israel voters who might be inclined to support the more-moderate Moulton. Though his record on Israel policy is somewhat mixed, Moulton’s record on the issue is more pro-Israel than that of Markey, who is a prominent critic of Israel and has voted repeatedly against weapons transfers to the Jewish state.

“I support Israel’s right to exist, but I’ve also never been afraid to disagree openly with AIPAC when I believe they’re wrong. In recent years, AIPAC has aligned itself too closely with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government,” Moulton said in a statement. “I’m a friend of Israel, but not of its current government, and AIPAC’s mission today is to back that government. I don’t support that direction. That’s why I’ve decided to return the donations I’ve received and will not be accepting their support.”

According to campaign finance watchdog group Open Secrets, Moulton received around $43,000 from AIPAC and its supporters in the 2024 election cycle, out of a total of $2.8 million raised. The Boston Globe reported that Moulton plans to return $35,000 in donations from the current election cycle.

AIPAC issued a blistering statement in response to Moulton.

“Rep. Moulton is abandoning his friends to grab a headline, capitulating to the extremes rather than standing on conviction,” spokesperson Marshall Wittmann said in a statement. “His statement comes after years of him repeatedly asking for our endorsement and is a clear message to AIPAC members in Massachusetts, and millions of pro-Israel Democrats nationwide, that he rejects their support and will not stand with them.”

Moulton’s stance echoes those taken by other prominent Democratic candidates across the country seeking to appeal to the progressive Democratic base increasingly hostile to Israel.

Moulton’s changed stance on accepting support from AIPAC is a sign of how even more-moderate Democrats are facing pressure from the party’s activist base to distance themselves from embracing Israel. The Massachusetts congressman had been endorsed by AIPAC prior to declaring his Senate campaign.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that the recent breakthrough in Gaza will move us closer to ending the horrific violence in the region,” Moulton added in the statement. “A political resolution that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace is exactly the kind of framework I’ve been calling for from the beginning.”

Barry Shrage, the longtime former president of the Combine Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and a professor of practice in Brandeis University’s Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program said it’s tough to predict where pro-Israel Jewish voters will land.

“I think a lot of people will remember what Markey has been doing and where Markey was coming from — kind of a leader of the anti-Israel ‘progressive’ Democratic faction,” Shrage said. “But then people are going to want to know, really, what Moulton really thinks.”

“He made a decision that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is more important to him than the Jewish community — or he thinks that the Jewish community has also turned against Israel, which, by the way is not the case, not in Boston,” Shrage said, of Moulton’s denunciation of AIPAC. “It’s kind of a cop-out for him to say, ‘I disagree with Netanyahu and that’s why I won’t take any AIPAC support.’”

Shrage noted that he saw Markey aligning himself more closely with anti-Israel figures and groups during his 2020 campaign, pointing to an op-ed in which he wrote, “his campaign … has made a concerning shift by welcoming and featuring support from individuals and organizations with highly divisive and polarizing approaches to Israel, our country and our world and all that goes with it, socially, politically, and economically.”

Shrage supported then-Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) against Markey in 2020.

He told JI that Markey’s leftward shift on Israel issues has continued in the ensuing six years, noting that Markey “won the race, in a way, by selling himself” to the left wing of the party.

data delve

Jeffrey Epstein’s history of Jewish giving

The financier and convicted sex offender donated to yeshivas, Hillels, Jewish foundations and even the Friends of the IDF.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman speaks during a news conference on July 8, 2019, about the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein.

Amy Spiro

July 26, 2019

Extensive tax filings compiled by The Miami Herald and released this week show a pattern of giving by accused sex trafficker and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein over a period of 20 years. The hundreds of donations, dating from 1998 to 2017, detail charitable giving from three of Epstein’s foundations to more than a dozen Jewish nonprofits and educational institutions.

From $250 to a kollel study program and charity in Jerusalem to $500,000 to an Orthodox Jewish school in Manhattan, Epstein’s three non-profits — Epstein Interest, The C.O.U.Q. Foundation and Gratitude American Ltd. — gave heavily to Jewish organizations of all stripes. It is likely that Epstein made other charitable contributions over the years that have yet to be discovered in the public IRS documents currently available.

Epstein was first accused of sexual misconduct in 2005, indicted in 2006 and pled guilty in a secret plea deal in 2008 and served 13 months in prison. He was released in 2009 and forced to register as a sex offender in both Florida and New York. Earlier this month he was arrested on federal charges for sex trafficking of minors.

Epstein’s most recent donation to a Jewish organization was listed as $50,000 on December 31, 2017, to the UJA-Federation in New York. The single largest donation from any of the foundations, to any recipient, was $500,000 to the Ramaz School in February 2008.

Jewish Insider has compiled a list of Epstein’s publicly documented donations to Jewish institutions, and, when relevant, asked them to comment on the context of the charitable gift. They are presented here in reverse chronological order.

UJA-Federation of New York

Epstein’s foundation, Gratitude America Ltd., gave a $50,000 donation to the UJA-Federation of New York in December 2017. The UJA-Fed did not respond to a request for comment from JI on the context of the donation. The Forward reported earlier this month that the Federation did not answer its multiple calls and emails on the same topic.

In May 2002, Epstein’s nonprofit Epstein Interests donated $100,000 to the UJA-Fed.

The UJA-Fed is one of the largest Jewish non-profits in the world, with a turnover of more than $200 million a year, distributed to dozens of charitable organizations in the U.S., Israel and around the world.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

Epstein’s foundation, C.O.U.Q. Foundation, contributed $50,000 in February 2012 to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. YIVO did not respond to a request for comment from JI about the nature of the donation. The Institute, based in New York City, is a library, archive and research center of Jewish history and culture.

Chibas Yerushalayim Reb Meyer

In February 2009, the C.O.U.Q. Foundation donated $250 to Chibas Yerushalayim Reb Meyer. It is the smallest individual donation listed from any of Epstein’s charities in the 20-year period documented. “Kolel Chibas Jerusalem Rabbi Meyer Baal Haness” describes itself as “one of the oldest and holiest charities in the world,” and says it distributed more than $7 million annually “to thousands of needy in [the] Holy Land.”

National Council of Jewish Women

The National Council of Jewish Women was one of the most frequent organizations that received funds from Epstein’s foundations. The first donation, through Epstein’s C.O.U.Q. Foundation, was a $5,000 gift made on October 20, 2005, the very same day that Florida police arrived with a search warrant at his home. The second donation of $5,000 was made on October 5, 2006. The third donation, also for $5,000, was made on February 29, 2008, several months before Epstein plead guilty and entered prison. The NCJW did not respond to a request for comment on the donations.

“Aspen Jewish Congregation”

A line on the 2008 tax return for Epstein’s C.O.U.Q. Foundation says it donated $50,000 to the Aspen Jewish Congregation on February 29, 2008. The synagogue by that name, a Reform congregation, denied it was the recipient of such a donation. Searches of other tax returns around the same time indicate that the donation may have been directed to the UJA of Aspen Valley. A representative of Jewish Colorado, which is now the umbrella organization of the Aspen UJA, told JI that its records do not go back to 2008, since it only took over the UJA’s finances in 2015.

Les Wexner, Epstein’s closest association for many years and the Jewish billionaire owner of L Brands, has a residence in Aspen.

Ramaz School

On February 29, 2008, the C.O.U.Q. Foundation donated $500,000 to the Ramaz School, the single largest donation for any of Epstein’s three charities for more than 20 years. Ramaz is a well-respected Orthodox Jewish day school in Manhattan. In an email sent out this week, the school admitted to receiving the gift.

“At the time, the source of the foundation’s funding was not made known to the School,” Ramaz chairman Philip Wilner and head of school Jonathan Cannon wrote in the email, according to JTA. “However, we very recently learned that the foundation was associated with Jeffrey Epstein, whose unconscionable behavior is widely known.” Ramaz said most of the donation was spent to establish an educational program, and that the revelation would cause it to more carefully review its acceptance of gifts.

Ziv Tzedakah Fund

The C.O.U.Q. Foundation listed a donation of $100,000 in August 2006 to the “Zvi Tzedakah Fund,” which was most likely a typo for the Ziv Tzedakah Fund, a now-defunct charitable organization founded by Danny Siegel that operated from 1981 to 2008. Siegel told Jewish Insider that he was unaware of any donation of that nature linked to Epstein.

“In all those years there were only two 6-figure donations,” Siegel wrote, stating that one was in Canada and one “was donated by a woman, though I did not see the actual check.” Siegel promised to look into the organization’s records further for more clarity.

Hillel Foundation and Harvard Hillel

In July 2005, Epstein’s C.O.U.Q. Foundation donated $50,000 to the Hillel Foundation, the umbrella group for the organization dedicated to Jewish life on campus.

In May 2003, Epstein — who never attended Harvard or attained a college degree — donated $50,000 to the Harvard Hillel through his foundation, Epstein Interests. According to a 2003 article in the Harvard Crimson, “Epstein and Wexner… teamed up in the early 1990s to fund the construction of Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel’s new building.”

Jewish National Fund

In June 2005, Epstein’s C.O.U.Q. Foundation donated $15,000 to the Jewish National Fund, the quasi-governmental agency best known for planting trees around Israel, and which is the second-largest landowner in Israel.

Friends of Israel Defense Forces

On March 3, 2005, Epstein’s C.O.U.Q. Foundation donated $25,000 to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. The Friends of the IDF organization held a fundraising gala in Manhattan on March 15, 2005.

Seeds of Peace

The Epstein Interests nonprofit donated $10,000 to Seeds of Peace, a nonprofit founded to bring together Israeli and Palestinian teens at a summer camp in Maine.

American Jewish Committee

In May 2003, Epstein Interests donated $25,000 to the American Jewish Committee, a Jewish advocacy group.

Columbus Jewish Foundation

In May 2003, the C.O.U.Q. Foundation donated $100,000 to the Columbus Jewish Foundation. Wexner has lived in the Columbus, Ohio area for most of his life.

Yeshiva of Spring Valley

On two separate occasions, the Epstein Interests nonprofit made donations to the Yeshiva of Spring Valley. On both May 31, 2002 and August 3, 2000, the foundation donated $20,000 to the yeshiva. The school is an Orthodox, separate-sex yeshiva day school in the Monsey, New York area.

Gift of Life

Epstein Interests donated $25,000 to the Gift of Life bone marrow foundation in 2002, a Jewish-founded organization based in Florida.

92nd Street Y

In November 2000, Epstein Interests donated $25,000 to the 92nd Street Y Jewish community center.

Jewish Family Children Service

Tax filings for Epstein Interests list two donations to an organization named as Jewish Family Children Services. Both donations, in April 1999 and June 1998, were for $15,000.

American Friends of Hebrew University

In October 1998, Epstein Interests donated $25,000 to the American Friends of Hebrew University.

Center for Holocaust Studies

Tax filings for Epstein Interests indicated a $900 donation in October 1998 to an organization listed as Center for Holocaust Studies.

Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun

In July 1998, Epstein Interests donated $10,000 to Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, an Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan.

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ON THE HILL

House passes Iran, Russia sanctions bill, over objections from leading Democrats

SHOW OF SUPPORT

Suozzi, Knott, Jewish groups rally for Right to Worship Act

BEHIND THE VEIL

Senators urge administration to declassify information on Saudi nuclear deal

Protest politics

Mamdani says he won’t protest Netanyahu — and doesn’t urge New Yorkers to, either

NOT SO FAST

Democrats push back on White House’s planned $2.8 billion sale of bombs to Israel

The JD doctrine

Vance likens U.S.-Israel ties to NATO, says U.S. policy ‘cannot’ be ‘subservient’ to Israel

RED SEA RECKONING

Houthi gains leave Saudi Arabia short on options and looking to Washington

DESIGNATION PUSH

Cruz calls on Trump administration to designate CAIR as a terrorist organization

digital danger

Kash Patel calls online-driven violence the top U.S. security threat, citing synagogue attacks

Q&A

Fatema Al Harbi on joining Noa Tishby’s campus tour to combat extremism in the Middle East

What We’re Watching

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

PRESSURE COOKER

RETURN POLICY

HEARD AT ASPEN

TED TALK

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

analysis

Worthy Reads

Word on the Street

Wine of the Week

Pic of the Day

Birthdays

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