• We’re continuing to watch the situation in the Middle East after Iran fired at U.S. installations in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain overnight, following what the U.S. described as “self-defense strikes” targeting Iranian radar and air-defense sites in response to Iran’s downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter with two crew members on board (both were rescued).
• Shortly after the U.S. strikes, President Donald Trump shared a clip from an episode of “The West Wing” in which the fictional President Jed Bartlet debates “the virtue of a proportional response.”
• Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi is in the United Arab Emirates today, where he’s slated to meet with senior officials in the Gulf state. He will travel to Israel over the weekend to formally inaugurate Hargeisa’s embassy in Jerusalem.
• Back in Washington, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to mark up the HEAL Act this morning.
• The annual Congressional Baseball Game is taking place this evening at Nationals Park, rain or shine.
• The Israel Allies Foundation is holding a belated Jerusalem Day reception this evening on Capitol Hill.
• In New York, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is holding its annual convening on antisemitism today.
• Elsewhere in New York, the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation is holding its annual gala tonight, where the group will honor New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and former Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot.
• The Democrats running in the NY-07 congressional race — Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City Councilmember Julie Won and New York state Assemblymember Claire Valdez — will square off tonight in a debate hosted by PIX 11.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Maine Democrats rallied behind scandal-plagued oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner as their Senate nominee against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Tuesday’s primary, turning to a left-wing outsider running against the political and institutional establishment as its standard-bearer for the general election. 

Platner — whose controversies, including his now-covered Nazi tattoo and abuse allegations, have unnerved many Democrats — will be a political test over whether his brand of progressive populism can win over swing voters in a state critical to the Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.

“In trying so hard to understand me, [the media] failed to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us, about the far too many, working far too hard and struggling far too much,” Platner said in his victory speech. 

Attacking “forever wars,” Platner railed against the Trump administration’s war in Iran, and slammed Collins for “closing hospitals while using our tax dollars to destroy them halfway around the world.” (The line was an apparent attack against Israel’s targeting of Hamas terror infrastructure that was often lodged in medical facilities during the war in Gaza.)

Platner won about 72% of the primary vote despite Gov. Janet Mills remaining on the ballot, a solid enough showing amid all the controversies that should mute any calls for him to drop out of the race. In a statement on Platner’s victory, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) reiterated their support for the nominee: “In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.” 

Mills, for her part, did not mention Platner at all in her statement about the election results.

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

Mae Alsalama: The Associated Press’ Melanie Lidman spotlights Avichay Adraee, who is retiring next week as the IDF’s first Arabic-language spokesperson, having pioneered the position more than two decades ago. “The military’s claim to have found Hamas infrastructure under a luxury hotel in Gaza made little impact, but Adraee said his satirical video of a Hamas leader leaving a Trip Advisor review for the tunnels was widely shared. He has sent birthday messages to singers and holiday greetings to Arab influencers, even exchanging public messages with Lebanese journalists who work for Hezbollah-linked outlets. ‘We want people to be exposed to the really important and serious messages, the information we’re trying to convince them of, but if you want them to remember you, you have to be more creative,’ he said.” [AP]

The Platner Paradigm: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens suggests that Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s candidacy could end the “inconsistent standards selectively applied” to fit certain political biases. “If Platner can pass muster among Democratic primary voters, then the differences between him and Donald Trump are mainly of degree, not of kind. You may still agree with Platner’s politics, and if you’re in Maine, you may still think he’s a better choice than Collins. What you can no longer do, at least not with any intellectual integrity, is to use moral litmus tests to try to disqualify political figures from the opposing party. To be fine with Platner, knowing what you know now, should also require burying #MeToo in the graveyard of discarded progressive shibboleths.” [NYTimes]

Bibi’s Blind Spot: The Wall Street Journal’s William Galston observes the steep drop in support for Israel among broad swaths of Americans. “More than a decade ago, Mr. Netanyahu abandoned his country’s longstanding policy of cultivating bipartisan American support and made a hard right turn toward the Republicans. Today, Republicans over 50 are the only demographic group to give him and his country majority support, even as controversy about American policy in the Middle East rises among younger Republicans, along with anti-Jewish attitudes on the MAGA right and the radical left. Here as elsewhere, Israel’s veteran prime minister has been tactically clever but strategically foolish, leading his country into a political cul de sac.” [WSJ]

Police the Platforms: In the Washington Times, Sander Gerber and Shawn Chenoweth call for the implementation of federal reforms to address malign behavior on social media platforms. “Algorithms do not distinguish between civic contributions and coordinated manipulation by U.S. adversaries. They optimize for attention. The result is a feedback loop that brings fringe narratives into the mainstream and, ultimately, sows national division. The risks are not just to our national security. They are also commercial. The issue is not what people are allowed to say; it is whether users and advertisers know who is speaking and how much of the apparent public reaction is real.” [WashingtonTimes]

President Donald Trump met with former Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski in the Oval Office on Tuesday; Braslavski, who was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza last October, had been unable to join a group of hostages who met with the president late last year, soon after the release of the remaining living hostages…

Senior officials in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reportedly told employees to expect widespread staff cuts in the coming months as part of Trump’s directive to interim DNI Bill Pulte to further shrink the office, which initially saw layoffs following outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation last year…

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) poured cold water on suggestions that he mount another presidential bid; Sanders, who will be 87 on Election Day 2028, said at a National Press Club event that he “suspect[s] that’s not going to happen”…

The Trump administration‘s plans for a $1.5 trillion defense budget seem increasingly shaky as top Senate Republicans on the Appropriations Committee said Tuesday that they do not believe a third reconciliation bill — expected to fund a portion of the defense budget, among other matters — can pass this year, even as House Republicans say they plan to charge ahead…

Speaking at an Agudath Israel of America event on Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said that the Department of Justice will soon file charges in another hate crime case targeting the Jewish community, adding that the DOJ is also looking into cases relating to antisemitic discrimination by local planning departments and commissions in the Northeast…

Progressive activist Randy Villegas, who is running to unseat Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) in California, claimed victory on Tuesday in the jungle primary over Jasmeet Bains, a moderate Democrat who had been favored by pro-Israel leaders as well as the party’s national leadership, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…

Some Democratic lawmakers are threatening to withhold their dues to the DCCC over its boosting of Bains, which included a $135,000 ad buy…

Politico reports that Sherif Soliman, who was tapped by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani earlier this year to head the city’s Office of Management and Budget, may have violated ethics laws when he briefed a group of Democratic Socialists of America members on the city’s finances…

Harvard University will expand its kosher food offerings following a $100 million gift from the Zimmer Family Foundation that will go in part to bringing kosher dining options to the school’s Eliot House; Stuart Zimmer, who made the donation with his wife, Jennifer, said they hoped “to ensure that every Jewish student feels genuinely welcomed and at home on campus”…

Jewish groups in the Tampa, Fla., area are joining calls for local officials to cancel two upcoming Kanye West shows in the city, amid a wave of cancellations of the rapper’s concerts in Europe tied to his past antisemitic rhetoric…

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for sending an antisemitic message to a Jewish public official in the state telling the official to “[g]o back to Israel or better yet, exterminate yourself and save us the trouble. … We will not stop until your kind is nonexistent”…

In response to the viral image of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg coming face-to-face with Jose Alvarado when the Knicks guard crashed into spectators during Monday night’s NBA Finals game, Bloomberg posted on X, “Great to meet NYC’s homegrown star, @AlvaradoJose15. But next time, Jose, just call me. Let’s go Knicks!”…

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow is the celebrity face of a new advertising campaign promoting Aviv Melisron’s 51 PARK development in Herzliya, Israel…

Berlin’s Babka & Krantz Jewish bakery shuttered its flagship shop, six months after the eatery, which was opened by Polish and Israeli immigrants, closed its second location; the owners cited, in part, “constant verbal abuse” faced by employees in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

New York-based real estate owners Michael and David Shabsels declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey last Thursday, both personally and under their umbrella group, Simad Holdings, a move that could affect thousands of Jewish campers just as the summer season is getting underway, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…

U.K. officials charged a fifth individual — a teenager — in connection with a March arson attack targeting Hatzola ambulances in the heavily Jewish London suburb of Golders Green…

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed that France had banned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, saying that the far-right Israeli official “actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank … [as well as] the creation of new settlements in the West Bank, [and] the recolonization of Gaza”…

The Associated Press does a deep dive into the tensions surrounding the unknown whereabouts of a Palestinian man with Ukrainian citizenship who had escaped Hezbollah custody in Beirut after having been accused by Lebanese officials of plotting attacks in the country; the disappearance of Khaled al-Aydi comes as Hezbollah cracks down on Israeli efforts to infiltrate the terror group…

Iran’s national football federation said that U.S. officials had revoked the ticket allocation for the team’s soccer fans planning to attend the Islamic Republic’s three U.S. matches…Oscar-winning costume designer Albert Wolsky, who as a teenager fled Nazi Europe and went on to accumulate scores of film credits, including “Sophie’s Choice” and “Grease,” died at 95…

Agudath Israel of America celebrated the retirement of Rabbi Abba Cohen (fourth from left), the longtime director of the group’s Washington office, and the opening of the group’s new D.C. headquarters near the Capitol. In addition, the organization announced at Tuesday’s event that Rabbi A.D. Motzen will be taking Cohen’s place as the new head of the Washington office.

Actor and the older sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman turns 60…Author of award-winning books about her experiences before, during and after the Holocaust, Aranka Davidowitz Siegal turns 96… Emmy Award-winning TV journalist who has worked for CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and PBS, he is the author of 14 books, Jeff Greenfield turns 83… Musician, producer, composer and conductor for film and television, Randy Edelman turns 79… Physical therapist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Andrea Sachs… Cathy Farbstein Miller… Senior director of communications for CoGenerate, Stefanie Weiss… Former attorney general and then governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer turns 67… Director of strategic accounts at Pharmacy Management Solutions, Avi H. Goldfeder… Blogger and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Neil Steinberg turns 66… Film, television and stage actor, Gina Gershon turns 64… President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), Michael Makovsky… Israeli film and TV Actor, Avital Abergel turns 49… Veteran of nine NFL seasons as an offensive tackle, he is now the athletic director of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mike Rosenthal turns 49… VP of strategic partnerships at the Birthright Israel Foundation and director of community education at NYC’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, Rabbi Daniel Kraus… Professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, Yascha Mounk turns 44… Economic commentator on Israel’s Channel 13, Matan Hodorov turns 41… Publisher of The New York Sun, he is also honorary chairman of The Algemeiner, Dovid Efune… Actor, producer, writer and director, Joseph Paul “Joey” Zimmerman turns 40… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, Tyler Gregory… Singer, composer and entertainer in the contemporary Jewish religious music industry, Simcha Leiner turns 37… CEO of NYC-based Encounter Programs, designed to transform communal engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Yona Shem-Tov… Belgian singer and songwriter, known as “Blanche,” Ellie Noa Blanche Delvaux turns 27…

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Israel earlier today. He is set to speak at the Knesset this afternoon before having dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the King David hotel in Jerusalem.
  
• The New York City Council is holding a hearing today on the potential creation of a buffer zone around places of worship. Read our story about the proposed legislation here.
  
• Fox Chicago is hosting a debate for the leading Democrats running in IL-9, where outside spending linked to pro-Israel groups is increasingly playing a role in the lead-up to next month’s primary as state Sen. Laura Fine, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and far-left activist Kat Abughazaleh jockey for the nomination.
  
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog is in Ethiopia today for a one-day visit. While in Addis Ababa, Herzog met with President Taye Atske Selassie.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MARC ROD

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump maintained his tough talk against Iran, reiterating that he will use force to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, even though he’s willing to explore diplomatic options to resolve the standoff.  

Trump did not — as some online had predicted — make a grand televised announcement of United States strikes on Iran during the speech. Nor did he elaborate further on his plans for the growing U.S. military might in the region, or what specifically would trigger the U.S. to utilize that military power.

”They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’” Trump said about Iran. “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror — which they are by far — to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen.”

A number of moderate House Democrats — around a third of the Democrats in the chamber — as well as the majority of Republicans stood to applaud those comments from the president. Democrats remained largely passive through much of the rest of Trump’s nearly two-hour speech.

Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are set to resume in Geneva later this week.

Trump also insisted again that the U.S. had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program in its strikes last June, and had warned the regime in Tehran not to attempt to rebuild its weapons programs, including its nuclear program, but it has continued those efforts anyway.

“As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump said. “And no nation should ever doubt America’s resolve. We have the most powerful military on earth. … It’s really called ‘peace through strength’ and it’s been very, very effective.”

In addition to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Trump highlighted the Islamic Republic’s manufacture of ballistic missiles, threatening U.S. allies, troops and potentially the U.S. homeland, and its sponsorship of terrorism.

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

AI in the Gulf: In Foreign Policy, Steven Cook examines the geopolitical calculus being made by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as the Gulf nations increasingly lean into the AI space. “If they become critical partners with some of the United States’ biggest tech companies in artificial intelligence, it is a lock that the United States will guarantee their security. The folks in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Doha will not need formal U.S. security guarantees. AI is the mother of all insurance policies. … By making themselves essential in the U.S. effort to win the artificial intelligence competition, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar ensure that their own adversaries become Washington’s adversaries as well. No geopolitical competitor is going to mess with these countries so long as the United States has a vested interest in the preservation of their current leaders. It is good to be on Team America.” [FP]

Go Slow on Iran: In The Atlantic, Thomas Wright, who served as senior director for strategic planning in the Biden administration’s National Security Council, posits that the U.S. can slow-walk its decision on whether to move forward on a deal with Iran. “The United States does not need a comprehensive deal with Iran now. In fact, such an agreement could be counterproductive. The more ambitious the nuclear concessions demanded of Iran, the greater the economic relief required to secure them. A comprehensive nuclear deal that requires Iran to abandon enrichment entirely would almost certainly involve sweeping sanctions relief. That would unlock tens of billions of dollars, reopen global markets, and offer the regime a path out of isolation. Paradoxically, it could provide a lifeline just as internal pressures are mounting. A ‘zero enrichment’ deal could have the unintended effect of prolonging the very system it seeks to constrain.” [TheAtlantic]

Not Very Catholic of Them: The Free Press’ Peter Savodnik, reflecting on his conversations at the recent convening of the newly created Judeo-Christian Zionist Congress, raises concerns about the rise in antisemitism among younger members of the Catholic Church. “The new antisemitism, Catholics I spoke with said, seemed to be a function of the new digital meme culture — fractured, algorithmic, always blurring the dotted line between the earnest and the faux-earnest. And it had a way, with all that content, all those words and unverifiable statements and carefully edited clips, of making the uninitiated feel as if they knew something, had been granted access to some eternal truth that had somehow eluded the older, wiser, more knowledgeable.”[FreePress]

The U.S. sent a deployment of a dozen advanced F-22 Raptor jets to Israel as part of the buildup of American aerial assets in the region; meanwhile, Iran is nearing a deal to purchase CM-302 anti-ship missiles from China…

Jacob Helberg, the under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and environment, told House lawmakers on Tuesday that the administration’s Pax Silica initiative could help pave a path toward normalization between Israel and Qatar, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports…

Somaliland’s U.S. mission praised the “warm welcome” its representative received this week at the AIPAC Congressional Summit in Washington…

Sens. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced the Senate companion bill to the Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom and Accountability Act, which aims to disrupt the finances of the Iranian regime and its allies and expand internet access in Iran…

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) brought Paramount Skydance CEODavid Ellison as his guest to last night’s State of the Union address…

Warner Bros. Discovery said that Paramount’s new offer — $31 per share — to purchase the media company may best the offer made by Netflix, which had been in advanced talks to acquire Warner Bros. before Paramount made a hostile takeover bid for the company…

Dovid Efune, who with Axel Springer is attempting to purchase the Telegraph Media Group, sent a letter to RedBird, which is overseeing the sale, saying that his consortium would improve its initial offer…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher interviews outgoing B’nai B’rith International CEO Dan Mariaschin about his nearly four decades atop the Jewish organization…

AppleTV picked up the Israeli series “Unconditional” and will begin airing the thriller series in May…

Israeli actress Shira Haas has signed onto the film adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale; Haas will star alongside Elle and Dakota Fanning in the film, which follows a pair of sisters in German-occupied France during World War II…

Israeli web intelligence firm Nimble raised $47 million in a Series B financing round led by Norwest…

Israel reportedly warned Lebanon that the country would be hit hard if Hezbollah joins any Iranian military action targeting the Jewish state…

Politico spotlights Reza Pahlavi as the exiled Iranian crown prince works to elevate his profile and draw support for potential day-after leadership of Iran should the regime collapse…

Israeli singer Yishay Ribo postponed his U.S. tour shortly before he was set to depart Israel, telling ticketholders that the postponement was due to “the situation and the high level of alert in Israel”…

A University of Haifa student swimming off the coast of Israel discovered a centuries-old iron sword believed to date back to the Crusades… 

The Netherlands summoned the Iranian ambassador in Amsterdam over an incident involving the seizure of a Dutch diplomat’s luggage at Tehran’s airport last month…

The New York Times spotlights ADNOC and its managing director, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, as the United Arab Emirates’ national energy company seeks to expand beyond oil and into natural gas, chemicals and renewables…

Cheryl Stumbo, who was injured in a 2006 shooting at the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, died at 63…

Susan Leeman, a pioneer in the field of neuroendocrinology, died at 95…

Brothers and Team USA hockey players Jack Hughes (left) and Quinn Hughes, fresh off their gold-medal victory over Canada at the Olympics over the weekend, attended last night’s State of the Union address in Washington.

Actress best known for her roles in NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” and Fox’s “Boston Public,” Rashida Jones turns 50…

Former talk show host, Sally Jessy Raphael (born Sally Lowenthal) turns 91… Owner of both the MLB’s Chicago White Sox (since 1981) and the NBA’s Chicago Bulls (since 1985), Jerry M. Reinsdorf turns 90… Former president of the Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, EVP of the UJA-Federation of New York and first-ever CEO of United Jewish Communities, Stephen Solender turns 88… Science and medicine reporter for The New York Times and author of six books, Gina Bari Kolata turns 78… Former CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Steve Gutow turns 77… Jerusalem-based attorney and chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, Marc Zell turns 73… Former Israeli minister of foreign affairs and chief of the general staff of the IDF, Gabi Ashkenazi turns 72… Opinion columnist for The New York Times since 2016, after serving as the paper’s editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal turns 70… Former VP of communications at CNN, Barbara Levin… Policy editor at The Bulwark, Mona Charen Parker turns 69… CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo from 2015-2024, now a senior advisor there, Rob Goldberg… U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2021-2023, Thomas Richard Nides turns 65… Mayor of Burlington, Vt., from 2012-2024, Miro Weinberger turns 56… Founder of “News Not Noise,” she was previously the chief White House correspondent for CNN, Jessica Sage Yellin… Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, she is now VP of product content engineering for Meta, Anne Elise Kornblut turns 53… Co-founder of Singapore-based Alchemist Travel, Lauren Raps… Comedian, actress and writer, Chelsea Joy Handler turns 51… Managing director of Covenant Wines in Berkeley, Calif., Sagie Kleinlerer… Former assistant director at San Francisco-based EUQINOM Gallery, Lyla Rose Holdstein… Founding partner of Parallel Capital and board chair of the Holocaust Museum of Los Angeles, Guy Lipa… Actor best known for his role in Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle,” Justin Berfield turns 40… Born in Tel Aviv, raised in Arizona, now a business correspondent for CNN, Hadas Gold turns 38… 2013 U.S. national figure skating champion, now a VP at Franklin Templeton, Maxwell Theodore “Max” Aaron turns 34… Julie Goldman… Founder of Ramah in the Rockies and former chairman of National Jewish Health, David Engleberg…

• It’s primary day in New Jersey. More below on the state’s gubernatorial primaries.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is testifying before the House Appropriations Committee this morning, alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. It’s the first of three hearings Hegseth is slated to sit for this week, and the first since the “Signalgate” incident in which Hegseth and others, including Vice President JD Vance, discussed plans for a strike on Houthi targets in Yemen in a group chat that included journalist Jeffrey Goldberg.
• Also this morning, the House Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing on “U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Greater Middle East and Africa” with CENTCOM Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla, while CIA Director John Ratcliffe testifies before the House Intelligence Committee.
• This afternoon, former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom and the American Enterprise Institute’s Michael Rubin will discuss human rights in Turkey at a hearing being convened by the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
• We’re also keeping an eye on the Knesset, where Israel’s opposition is expected to put forward a vote tomorrow to dissolve the government, which would trigger new elections. The motion is likely to pass only if the Haredi parties that are part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition break with the prime minister over Haredi military conscription.

A QUICK WORD WITH MATTHEW KASSEL

As New Jersey’s competitive gubernatorial primary takes place today, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) looks like the front-runner in the crowded Democratic field but without much public polling and a late flurry of advertising, there’s still a considerable amount of uncertainty as to who will emerge as the nominee in the six-way race.  

Sherrill, a military veteran who has represented a suburban north New Jersey seat since 2018, is the favorite of many Democratic Party officials and has been leading in the limited public polling of the race. The congresswoman has also been one of the top fundraisers in the field, along with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who has been courting support from the state’s sizable Jewish community.

“Josh has been betting on the Jewish community coming out strong, and there is a realistic possibility that if new voters emerge in places like Lakewood, which is the fifth-largest city in New Jersey now, it could play a decisive role,” one Jewish community activist, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss the primary, told Jewish Insider on Monday.

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

Tunnel Visions: The New York Times’ Isabel Kershner interviews former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov about the religious journey he experienced while in Hamas captivity in Gaza. “A few days into his captivity, he said, he began to speak to God. He made vows. He began to bless whatever food he was given. And he had requests — some of which he believes were answered. ‘You are looking for something to lean on, to hold onto,’ Mr. Shem Tov said in a recent interview at his family home in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. ‘The first place I went to was God. I would feel a power enter me,’ he said. … Mr. Shem Tov, who turned 22 in captivity, said he had always had faith, but had never been religiously observant. Many other released hostages have spoken of similar experiences, finding solace and the strength to survive by connecting or reconnecting with God and recalling oft-forgotten Jewish rituals.” [NYTimes]

Tug-of-War on Tehran: Politico’s Rachael Bade and Felicia Schwartz look at the behind-the-scenes efforts by both the isolationist wing of the GOP and Iran hawks to impact President Donald Trump’s final decision on how to address Iran. “The private lobbying and public sniping highlight a vast breach in the GOP over U.S. foreign policy just months into Trump’s first term. While many hawkish members of the old guard have viewed [Mideast envoy Steve] Witkoff’s diplomatic effort with skepticism, the more restrained wing of the party has been adamant about defusing tensions with Tehran. In the middle of the tug-of-war is Trump, who ran on a promise of ending what his followers see as endless U.S. foreign adventurism and war.” [Politico]

Doctor Without Borders: In The New Yorker, Eyal Press spotlights Israeli-Arab Dr. Lina Qasem Hassan, who in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks traveled to treat survivors of the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, about her experiences as a medical provider of Palestinian descent treating Israelis in a post-Oct. 7 environment. “But Qasem Hassan wasn’t going anywhere, even as she acknowledged feeling increasingly isolated, not only from her Jewish peers but also from some of her fellow Palestinians, including family members. Her older brother, a successful economist, and her sister, a government lawyer, have repeatedly warned her that her outspokenness could damage not only her career but theirs. … [S]he had sometimes asked herself if going to the Dead Sea after October 7th had been the right decision. She ultimately decided that she was proud of it. She told me, ‘I did it for myself, because it put to the test the idea I was raised on — that all people are equal and that human pain is universal.’” [NewYorker]

The Justice Department is suing an Oakland, Calif., coffeehouse and its Palestinian owner over a 2024 incident in which a man wearing a yarmulke was denied service and asked to leave the premises…

NBC News reports on the White House’s struggle to hire Pentagon staff to work under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, amid broader tensions between the administration and Hegseth, who was reportedly instructed to cancel a trip to the Middle East because the itinerary included a stop in Israel…

A new poll by the Pew Research Center found that the global Jewish population increased by 1 million between 2010-2020, to 15 million; Pew noted that the total number of Jews in the world is still less than the pre-World War II number of 16.5 million…

Solidarity PAC, a pro-Israel super PAC in New York City, is backing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo as its top choice for mayor and urging supporters not to rank Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in the primary, according to a new voter guide shared first with JI…

The Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition announced it is supporting Cuomo, saying in a statement that the election “presents a stark and urgent choice for Jewish voters”…

Ken Moelis will step down from his eponymous investment bank later this year; Moelis, who launched the firm in 2007, will be succeeded by co-founder Navid Mahmoodzadegan, the bank’s co-president…

The New Yorker spotlights television writer Gertrude Berg, whose 1950s show “The Goldbergs,” about a midcentury Jewish family in the Bronx, was among the first family sitcoms…

Police in Ottawa, Canada, are investigating the vandalism of the city’s National Holocaust Monument that took place earlier this week…

The family of Israeli hostage Matan Angrest released video taken from his capture on Oct. 7, 2023; in the video, Angrest’s limp body is seen being tossed off a tank into the arms of terrorists…

The New York Times interviews former hostage Liat Beinin Atzili, who was released from captivity in November 2023 and whose husband, Aviv, was killed in the Oct. 7 attack…

Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in Israel last night, traveling to the Western Wall in Jerusalem shortly after landing…

Climate activist Greta Thunberg departed Israel on an El Al flight to France on Tuesday morning, a day after the boat she and other activists had attempted to sail to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli forces…

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said that Iran’s announcement that it had obtained information about an Israeli nuclear program appeared to refer to Israel’s Soreq Nuclear Research Center, which operates under the IAEA’s supervision…

Israel’s navy conducted strikes against Houthi targets in the Yemeni port of Hodeida, the first time Israel has attacked the Iran-backed group from the sea…

Iran expanded its ban on dog-walking — first instituted in Tehran in 2019 — to several major cities around the country; Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had previously called dog ownership “reprehensible”…

The Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Okla., announced a new initiative, the Elson Israel Fellowship, aimed at making the city a center for Israel-related thought. The four inaugural fellows are: World Zionist Organization advisor Avi Gamulka, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross, author and educator Sarah Sassoon and community organizer and researcher Barak Sella…

The board of trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America elected Gary Torgow, a Detroit-based philanthropist and board president of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, as the group’s chair…

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) spoke at a ceremony on Monday to rename the Delray Beach post office after Ben Ferencz, who led post-World War II Nuremberg prosecutions of Nazis. Read more about Frankel’s yearslong effort to honor Ferencz here.

Author of award-winning books about her experiences before, during and after the Holocaust, Aranka Davidowitz Siegal turns 95… 

Journalist and author, Jeff Greenfield turns 82… Musician, producer, composer and conductor for film and television, Randy Edelman turns 78… Physical therapist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Andrea Sachs… Cathy Farbstein Miller… Senior director of communications for CoGenerate, Stefanie Weiss… Former attorney general and later governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer turns 66… Director of business development at Evergreen Benefits Group, Avi H. Goldfeder… Blogger and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Neil Steinberg turns 65… Film, television and stage actress, Gina Gershon turns 63… President and CEO of JINSA, Michael Makovsky… Actress and the older sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman turns 59… Israeli film and TV actress, Avital Abergel turns 48… Veteran of nine NFL seasons as an offensive tackle, he is now the athletic director of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mike Rosenthal turns 48… VP of strategic partnerships at the Birthright Israel Foundation and director of community education at NYC’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, Rabbi Daniel Kraus… Professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, Yascha Mounk turns 43… Economic commentator on Israeli television, Matan Hodorov turns 40… Publisher of The New York Sun and CEO of The Algemeiner, Dovid Efune… Actor, producer, writer and director, Joseph Paul “Joey” Zimmerman turns 39… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, Tyler Gregory… Singer, composer and entertainer, Simcha Leiner turns 36… CEO of Encounter Programs, Yona Shem-Tov… Belgian singer and songwriter, known as “Blanche,” Ellie Blanche Delvaux turns 26…