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.

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.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Amid reports that Iran has rejected the U.S.’ ceasefire framework, President Donald Trump told reporters Tehran has made its own “significant” proposal, though it is “not good enough.”

Asked if he may push the deadline again for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face increased U.S. military action — as he has already done three times — Trump said, “Highly unlikely. They’ve had plenty of time.”

Trump also claimed the U.S. had “sent guns, lot of guns” into Iran. “They were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs. You know what happened? The people that they sent them to kept them, because they said, ‘What a beautiful gun. I think I’ll keep it,’” he said…

At a press conference this afternoon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said today would mark “the largest volume of strikes since Day 1” of the Iran war, with more to come tomorrow.

Trump doubled down on his threats, warning that all of Iran “can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.” If Tehran does not acquiesce by his 8 p.m. ET deadline tomorrow, Trump said, “they’re going to have no bridges. They’re going to have no power plants. Stone ages.” 

The president also floated the possibility of charging U.S. tolls to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz once it is reopened and potentially seizing Iran’s oil. Trump and defense officials further detailed the harrowing rescue of a fighter jet pilot, who reportedly treated his own wounds while scaling mountainous terrain to evade capture after being downed over Iran…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke yesterday with Trump, who thanked him for Israel’s assistance in rescuing the pilot…

Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who resigned over his opposition to the Iran war, shared a post on social media on Saturday spreading false claims from Iranian state-linked media and Drop Site News that the U.S. was attempting to kill the servicemember whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran prior to him being rescued, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

The initial statement from Drop Site, a far-left news outlet sympathetic to Hamas and totalitarian regimes, cited a report by Tasnim News, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claiming that the U.S. had “lost hope” of recovering the airman and was instead “attempting to kill him”…

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), who previously served in the Air Force, predicted that the U.S. will deploy ground troops into Iran: “I just don’t see any other way,” he said on Fox News. “I personally think it’s going to be boots — at least special ops, American special operators — on the ground, with allies in the region and air cover,” he said…

The U.S.-led Board of Peace is pressing Hamas to finalize a Gaza demilitarization agreement by the end of the week, The New York Times reports, which would require the terror group to give up its weapons and maps of its tunnel network in the enclave. Negotiators from both sides are expected to meet in Cairo, Egypt, tomorrow…

Democratic Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow announced she raised more than $3 million in the first quarter of 2026 in her bid for U.S. Senate. “There was not a dime of corporate PAC donations, not a dime of AIPAC donations,” she said in a video. The pro-Israel group was the only organization she named.

While McMorrow’s opponents have not yet publicized their latest fundraising figures, her haul surpassed those of last quarter, when Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) led the pack with $2.1 million raised in the final quarter of 2025…

The Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s top super PAC, revealed its $350 million plan to retain control of the upper chamber, focusing on defending incumbents in Ohio, North Carolina, Maine, Iowa and Alaska and seeking to flip seats in Michigan, Georgia and New Hampshire. 

The funds will largely be used for ad campaigns, with the most money being spent to defend Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who must win his first Senate election for the remainder of his term against the likely Democratic nominee, former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a grand welcome upon touching down in Damascus yesterday for his first meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The two leaders “explored avenues for strengthening economic cooperation and the exchange of expertise,” al-Sharaa said…

Sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE have signed equity commitments to the tune of $24 billion to back Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, The Wall Street Journal reports…

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 tomorrow’s special election runoff in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, where Republican military veteran and Israel supporter Clay Fuller is expected to win the ruby-red seat of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will hold another press briefing on the Iran war tomorrow morning.

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will host rallies tomorrow at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan with guests including Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) and antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, a move which has drawn condemnation from some Democrats and sparked a broader debate about the mainstreaming of Piker within the party.

The Democratic National Committee will begin its five-day meeting in New Orleans tomorrow, where its resolutions committee will consider several resolutions condemning AIPAC and Israel, including calls for conditions on or a suspension of U.S. military aid to the Jewish state.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will meet with Trump and administration officials in Washington on Wednesday, as the president continues to slam the organization for its refusal to engage in the Iran war.

In observance of Passover, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday, April 13. Chag Pesach Sameach!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump lashed out at European countries this morning for their posture during the war in Iran: He wrote on Truth Social that France is prohibiting planes with military supplies destined for Israel from flying over its territory, calling Paris “VERY UNHELPFUL … The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!”

Trump also named the U.K. among the countries “which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran” and are now struggling to acquire fuel due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “[G]o to the Strait, and just TAKE IT. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” the president warned…

Trump told the New York Post about reports that he’s willing to end the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz: “I don’t think about it, to be honest. My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave the strait will automatically open.”

He similarly said to CBS News about removing Iran’s enriched uranium, “I don’t even think about it. I just know that, you know, that’s so deeply buried it’s gonna be very hard for anybody. … It’s pretty safe. But, you know, we’ll make a determination”…

During a press briefing this morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed that he took a secret trip to the Middle East in recent days to meet with U.S. servicemembers, including Air Force intelligence analysts, Army troops and pilots.

CENTCOM also confirmed that Adm. Brad Cooper visited Israel earlier this week where he met with Defense Minister Israel Katz and Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff…

Israel is ending all arms purchases from France and “replacing it with domestic Israeli procurement or purchases from allied countries,” the Israeli Ministry of Defense said today, adding that there will be “no new professional engagement with the French military” in the latest rift in the deteriorating relationship between Jerusalem and Paris…

A week after Lebanon declared Iran’s ambassador to Beirut persona non grata and expelled him from the country, the ambassador has still refused to leave the embassy compound, and Iran has stated that the embassy remains open…

China and Pakistan, which has been the intermediary for indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, put forward a ceasefire proposal that would see the immediate cessation of hostilities, the safeguarding of nonmilitary targets and the restoration of transit through global shipping lanes…

American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq, today, according to the Iraqi interior ministry, reportedly by Kataib Hezbollah, the same group that held researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov for over 900 days. Kittleson is a freelance journalist primarily based in Europe who has written for outlets including Al-Monitor and Foreign Policy.

Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said in a statement that the State Department “is aware of the reported kidnapping” and had “previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.” Johnson said an “individual with ties” to Kataib Hezbollah “has been taken into custody” in connection with the kidnapping and that the department will coordinate with the FBI to secure Kittleson’s release…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended a dinner for Eid last week where he spoke with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, a conversation that Piker called “very productive” on a recent Twitch stream. 

“No, he did not disavow me,” Piker said in response to a listener’s question. “‘Did you tell him to tune out the bad faith haters?’ I did,” Piker continued. Mamdani appeared on Piker’s Twitch for an interview during the mayoral campaign but has not met with him publicly since…

“Nope,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said in response to a video of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) claiming that, “in many respects,” Piker “is doing a very good job.” “Hasan Piker is a proud antisemite … His voice should have no place in our political discourse and all elected officials should condemn his rhetoric,” Gottheimer wrote…

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, shared an image of a sign which read, “A Jewish data center has no home here,” displayed outside a town hall she held yesterday urging caution around the approval of data centers. “If you think antisemitism isn’t a problem in Michigan, think again,” Nessel wrote…

A new poll commissioned by former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson, now a Democratic candidate for governor, found oyster farmer Graham Platner — whom Jackson is backing — nearly 40 points ahead of Gov. Janet Mills in the state’s Senate race (66-28%) among likely Democratic primary voters. The survey was conducted after Mills had started running ads against Platner based on his past controversial statements, a sign that her line of attack may not be persuading voters…

And another poll commissioned by the Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic group, found Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leading in the heated Republican primary runoff for Senate against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), 47-42%…

A federal judge ruled that the University of Pennsylvania must comply with a subpoena from the Trump administration that seeks information about Jewish university affiliates, which the university had said resembled nefarious efforts by governments over history to gather lists of Jews…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a report from West Bloomfield, Mich., where JI’s Gabby Deutch sat down with community members still reeling from the attack on Temple Israel earlier this month.

Democrat Analilia Mejia and Republican Joe Hathaway will participate in a debate tomorrow evening ahead of the April 16 special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, after Mejia eked out a surprise victory in last month’s primary. While this race will decide who serves out the rest of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s House term, the progressive Mejia is also running essentially unopposed by other Democrats for the full term. 

In observance of Passover, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday, April 6. Chag Pesach Sameach!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump doubled down on threats to escalate the war in Iran while simultaneously heralding the success of ongoing negotiations: He claimed on Truth Social this morning that the U.S. is in “serious discussions” with a “new” and “more reasonable” Iranian regime and that “great progress has been made.”

“But,” he added, “if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)”…

Trump confirmed to the New York Post that the U.S. is engaging with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and assessing whether he’s a reliable partner: “We’re gonna find out. I’ll let you know that in about a week.” He also said the U.S. believes new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “probably” alive “but in extraordinarily bad shape” after he was injured in an airstrike…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed in a Fox News interview that the U.S. is “going to retake control of the straits and there will be freedom of navigation, whether it is through U.S. escorts or a multinational escort”…

A series of surveys released today reveal how Jews and Israelis are perceiving the war in Iran: A poll conducted by the Mellman Group found 55% of American Jews oppose the war while 32% are in favor. Another poll of American Jews, solicited by J Street, found 60% of respondents opposed and 40% in support.

In Israel, meanwhile, a poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute found that the war is losing some support among Israelis, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. In the first week of the war, 93% of Jewish Israelis supported continuing it, while in the latest poll — conducted nearly a month into the war — 78% support it. Nearly three times as many Israeli Jews (12%) now oppose the war as did at the beginning of March (4%)…

The FBI announced findings that the attack on Temple Israel in suburban Detroit earlier this month was “a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan.” The brother of the assailant was a Hezbollah commander who had been killed in Lebanon by the IDF the week before the attack…

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told campaign staff that he did not want to take any public position on the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the war because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad,” according to meeting audio obtained by The Washington Free Beacon. 

If asked by reporters, El-Sayed said his strategy would be to “go straight to pedophilia, frankly. I’ll just be like, ‘Pedophile president decides that he doesn’t like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war’”…

Allies of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told Politico that the mayor’s dismissal of criticisms of his wife, Rama Duwaji, for her past extreme rhetoric and social media posts — calling her “a private person” — doesn’t comport with Duwaji’s very public profile. 

“‘She is the first lady of New York City. She has a police detail and a government staff,’ said one of the elected officials, who believes Duwaji should explain herself publicly. ‘She would need to do an interview, better explain herself, and have her do some visits and meetings with key constituencies, like Jewish museums’”…

An AI-generated Instagram account, which featured a fake Orthodox rabbi spreading antisemitic conspiracies to its more than 1.4 million followers, was taken offline over the weekend following major backlash from Jewish groups and one Democratic lawmaker — yet several similar, hate-peddling accounts have emerged with little to no public action from Meta, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Several new Rabbi Goldman accounts started posting similar videos within the past two weeks — two of which already have followings of 18,500 and 10,000. Both remain active on Instagram and their bios state, “only Backup account for @rabbigoldman” and “old account got banned”…

The Knesset passed a controversial law today allowing courts to impose the death penalty on convicted terrorists found guilty of murder, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.

The law, championed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, applies in military courts to non-Israeli residents of the West Bank — meaning, in the vast majority of cases, Palestinians. In civilian courts, the law permits applying the death penalty to those who “intentionally cause the death of a person with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel” — language which would also likely exclude Jewish assailants. Critics say it will likely be struck down by the High Court…

The Times of Israel breaks down the legislative maneuver used in Knesset by the coalition that caused opposition members to accidentally vote in favor of allocating 800 million shekels (~$250 million USD) to Haredi schools as they passed the state budget this morning…

In an interview on Israel’s Channel 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has barely spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since their last meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023…

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 resolution coming under consideration by the Democratic National Committee that explicitly criticizes AIPAC’s political spending.

The House and Senate left for recess until mid-April, after failing to come to an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has now reached its longest-ever shutdown. Calls have already begun from at least one Republican senator to bring Congress back into session sooner, but prospects for an early return are currently unclear.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will speak at Temple Emanu-El in New York City tomorrow about his new book, Stand, on the one-year anniversary of his delivery of the longest-ever speech on the Senate floor.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced this afternoon that he’s extending his original five-day delay on strikes on Iran’s energy sector, which was set to expire tomorrow, by another 10 days. “As per Iranian Government request … I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” he wrote on Truth Social, adding that negotiations continue and are “going very well”…

At a Cabinet meeting earlier today, Trump revealed that the “present” Iran had provided the U.S. earlier this week was allowing eight Pakistani-flagged oil tankers to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, which he said proved the U.S. was speaking with the “right people” in Iran with the authority to make such decisions. 

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, meanwhile, confirmed reports that the U.S. had presented Iran with a “15-point action list” as a starting offer in peace talks between the two countries, and that Pakistan is acting as mediator…

Speaking at the FII Priority summit in Miami, Jared Kushner said that, during his negotiations with Iran prior to the war, “We basically saw that there was no seriousness, and that they were trying to play different games to just get beyond President Trump in order to preserve their capabilities and pathway to get to a nuclear weapon in a way that would have been very, very hard to be stopped in the future”…

CENTCOM applauded an Israeli strike that killed Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the IRGC Navy, and warned all IRGC Navy members to “immediately abandon their post and return home.” Tangsiri had been named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. in 2019 and was leading Iran’s efforts to shutter the Strait of Hormuz…

Even as U.S.-Iran negotiations continue, the U.S. is considering diverting weapons for Ukraine to the Middle East, The Washington Post reports, including air-defense interceptor missiles. 

Ukraine has proved a stalwart ally to the Gulf as it comes under attack from Iran — around 200 Ukrainian military personnel have been deployed around the Middle East to help defend against Iranian drones and President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia today for a surprise visit…

Resources are also being redirected to Gaza — the Trump administration has reportedly pulled $1.25 billion from international peacekeeping and disaster assistance programs for the Board of Peace’s operations, for which Trump had pledged $10 billion in U.S. funding…

An AI-generated Instagram account portraying an Orthodox-looking rabbi is pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories to its more than 1.4 million followers, and it’s not the only one, according to a study published Wednesday by Combat Antisemitism Movement.

Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports: Researchers identified 12 AI-generated “rabbis” with a combined following of 2.1 million Instagram users, all of which promote classic antisemitic stereotypes. The “Rabbi Goldman” account features many of these, including one video in which the “rabbi,” wearing a tuxedo and seemingly seated in a luxury airplane, claims that Jews utilize empty private jets to evade taxes…

A new Emerson College poll of the Maine Senate race found oyster farmer Graham Platner with a nearly 30 point lead over Gov. Janet Mills (55-28%) in the Democratic primary. Both Platner and Mills lead Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in the general election matchup, 48-41% and 46-43%, respectively…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom again reaffirmed his support for Israel in an interview with The Bulwark, likening his love for the country but strong disapproval of its current government with how he feels about the U.S…

Democrat Analilia Mejia and Republican Joe Hathaway will participate on April 1 in what is likely to be the only debate of the New Jersey 11th Congressional District’s special election, after the far-left Mejia won the Democratic nomination in a hotly contested primary last month. The New Jersey Globe, which is hosting the debate, acknowledged it had chosen to do so on the first night of Passover, in a district with a sizable Jewish population…

The College Republicans chapter at the University of Florida is suing the school, after a photo of one of its members doing what appeared to be a Nazi salute led to the chapter’s ban from campus. 

The chapter argues that the ban violated its First Amendment rights as the member “expressed a viewpoint off-campus that was alleged by some to be anti-Semitic,” and claims it was deactivated in part because it recently hosted James Fishback, a candidate for Florida governor who has expressed antisemitic and anti-Israel views…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for comments from Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow on Israel and antisemitism as she seeks the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Abdul El-Sayed.

President Donald Trump will provide closing remarks at the FII Priority summit in Miami tomorrow afternoon.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will headline CPAC’s Ronald Reagan Dinner. His primary opponent, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), will not be making an appearance, despite the confab taking place in his home state and calls from its leadership for him to attend.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to France to attend a meeting of G7 foreign ministers where he is expected to press allies on the Iran war — he told reporters as he departed today, echoing a line from Trump, that the countries involved “get far more of their fuel from” the Strait of Hormuz “than we do.”

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed reports that Iran has rejected President Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal, saying in a press briefing today that “talks continue” and “are productive.” She further confirmed, while cautioning against speculation, that there are “elements of truth” to the 15-point plan that has been reported.

About potential face-to-face negotiations, which International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said could take place in Pakistan as soon as this weekend, Leavitt said she “would not get ahead of our skis on reporting about any talks this weekend until you hear directly from us”…

Emerging from a classified House Armed Services Committee briefing on Iran, Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) expressed frustration that the administration isn’t forthcoming enough about its war plans. “We want to know more about what’s going on, what the options are and why they’re being considered, and we’re just not getting enough answers on those questions,” Rogers told reporters. 

And Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), asked about his House colleague’s comments, said, “Let me put it this way: I can see why he might have said that.” It’s the latest sign of cracks in the GOP nearly a month into the war effort…

For the first time since the start of the war, the UAE — which has faced the brunt of Iran’s attacks — reported zero Iranian ballistic missile attacks today, raising questions about the Islamic Republic’s potentially dwindling supplies.

Yousef Al Otaiba, the Emirati ambassador to the U.S., called for a “conclusive outcome” to the war, as opposed to a “simple cease-fire.” Writing in The Wall Street Journal, he argued that “building a fence around the problem and wishing it goes away isn’t the answer. It would simply defer the next crisis”…

European authorities are investigating whether a new group that has claimed responsibility for several recent terror attacks on Jewish institutions across Europe, the Islamic Movement of the Righteous Companions, is a front for Iran, which has likely recruited people online to carry out the attacks on its behalf…

The Journal profiles Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf as he emerges as a potential leader and negotiating partner for the U.S., with one expert calling him a “wannabe strongman” who simultaneously has “the necessary credentials to deliver a potential deal with the Trump administration”…

An internal poll from the campaign of Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow shows her leading the pack in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, followed by the far-left Abdul El-Sayed with Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) trailing in third place, a sign her campaign is struggling to build momentum. A fifth of potential primary voters still identified themselves as undecided.

Stevens’ campaign then released its own internal poll that showed her in first place, followed closely by El-Sayed with McMorrow in third, though the survey was conducted in mid-February…

As the Trump administration sues Harvard — again — over alleged civil rights violations and failure to address campus antisemitism, Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, president of Harvard Chabad, told The Harvard Crimson that the school is in fact “taking the issue” of antisemitism “very seriously.”

“While there is much more to be done, the only plausible characterization of Harvard’s current leadership is as principled and effective in confronting and removing the intolerance which had taken root on campus over more than a decade,” added Jason Rubenstein, executive director of Harvard Hillel…

Asked at a recent event at Harvard’s Kennedy School whether the Biden administration could have done more to save lives in the war in Gaza, former Secretary of State Tony Blinken said, “Could we, should we have done things differently such that the suffering that people endured, the loss of the children you just listed and so many others could have been averted? The short answer is: Maybe yes.”

Blinken also called on people not to be “binary” in their thinking about the Middle East, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. With the Gaza war, he said, “Where did we start? We started with Oct. 7. We started with the most horrific massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. It’s very easy to say, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s a given.’ Except it wasn’t a given for Israelis and Israeli society”…

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 growing divide in the Democratic Party over engagement with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker — and the questions it raises about the meaning of progressivism in the current political landscape.

The Atlantic Council and U.S.-Syria Business Council will host a symposium on Syria’s energy sector with keynote remarks from U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack. Also speaking are several oil executives and Jacob McGee, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

The FII Priority Summit continues in Miami; among other sessions tomorrow, Jared Kushner will speak on U.S.-Gulf investment and Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial and son of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, will discuss crypto. 

CPAC, which President Donald Trump is seemingly not attending for the first time in a decade, continues in Dallas. GOP candidates who are in attendance include Brandon Herrera, the far-right influencer running in Texas’ 23rd District; Michael Whatley, the front-runner in North Carolina’s open Senate race; Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), running in a competitive primary to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA); Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), seeking the Senate seat vacated by new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin; and Nate Morris, running to succeed retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

The House Ethics Committee will hold a rare public hearing on Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s (D-FL) alleged ethics violations, including her laundering of funds from a FEMA-backed contract for her family business into her congressional campaign. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard distanced herself — to a degree — from two of her isolationist-minded aides, Joe Kent and Dan Caldwell, who have taken a hostile stance to the U.S.’ Middle East policy, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. 

Gabbard affirmed, after being pressed at a House Intelligence Committee hearing today, that the conspiratorial views about Israel espoused by Kent in his resignation letter earlier this week did concern her, and said about Caldwell that he would have no influence over intelligence reports at her agency.

Gabbard, who has previously been a vocal critic of military engagement with Iran, further acknowledged that her current position requires her to “check” her personal views “at the door”…

Reports of a potential $200 billion emergency funding request from the Pentagon for the war in Iran are drawing firm Democratic opposition and hedged responses from Republicans on the Hill: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he’ll “look at” the request “but obviously it’s a dangerous time in the world and we have to adequately fund defense,” while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he’d “hate to be the senator that denied the request if it made sense.” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) responded with a simple “No,” while Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called it a “nonstarter”…

The Senate is set to hold another round of votes on blocking U.S. arms transfers to Israel, after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) filed three new joint resolutions of disapproval against $658.8 million in sales of over 20,000 bombs to Israel, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

A majority of the Democratic caucus — 27 lawmakers — voted to block at least one arms sale in July of last year, a significant jump in support from previous similar efforts; Israel’s standing in the party has largely declined since then amid Democratic criticism of the war with Iran…

During a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House today, President Donald Trump reiterated that he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Iranian oil facilities, after an Israeli strike on the South Pars gas field yesterday: “I told them, don’t do that. We didn’t discuss. … It’s coordinated, but on occasion, he’ll do something.”

Trump also put pressure on Takaichi to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, while European leaders released a joint statement “express[ing] our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” after repeatedly declining to get involved. A team of British military planners is now consulting with CENTCOM on options to assist short of military action, The New York Times reports…

Asked if he will deploy more U.S. troops in the region, Trump told reporters he’s “not putting troops anywhere. If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you — but I’m not putting troops”…

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth compared Iran to Hamas in a briefing today, saying that, “just like Hamas and their tunnels,” Iran has “poured any aid, any economic development … into tunnels and rockets”…

A group of congressional Democrats is urging the State Department to restart chartered evacuation flights out of Israel and take additional steps to help U.S. citizens who wish to leave the country amid the ongoing war with Iran, JI’s Marc Rod reports. 

The lawmakers described the State Department’s current partnership with El Al, which launched on March 13 with a limited number of special evacuation flights for U.S. citizens, as insufficient. The Israeli airline has currently suspended registration for the flights, and government-imposed security restrictions are limiting passenger capacity on each flight and reducing airport operations…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. may lift sanctions on Iranian oil already at sea in order to blunt rising gas prices. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” he explained on Fox News…

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan warned the kingdom is reaching a breaking point after continued Iranian attacks, saying “what little trust” Riyadh had with Tehran has “completely been shattered.”

On a potential Saudi military response, Prince Faisal said, “Do they have a day, two, a week? I’m not going to telegraph that.” It’s a notable shift for Riyadh, which had been pivoting away from its traditional allies and towards Iran and other Islamist countries prior to the war…

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker condemned AIPAC after a primary cycle in which the pro-Israel group spent millions backing — and opposing — candidates across the state, calling it “an organization that was supporting Donald Trump and people who follow Donald Trump.”

Pritzker, a Jewish Democrat who was once an AIPAC donor himself, said it “really is not an organization that I think today I would want any part of.” He further echoed far-left sentiments that Israel dragged the U.S. into conflict with Iran, claiming Trump “simply follow[ed] Netanyahu into that war”…

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) details his experience with a would-be assailant, a man described by authorities as a “ticking time bomb,” who was arrested near his home last year after police discovered an arsenal of weapons and a handwritten list of targets that included Jewish sites and Moskowitz.

“Besides the police presence outside his house, Moskowitz himself will not appear in parades and says he won’t speak at outdoor staged events. ‘It’s not worth it. I’d rather lose my election,’” the lawmaker told Roll Call…

Temple Israel in suburban Detroit released photos of the devastation to the building caused by an attacker last week, noting that it had “chosen thus far not to make [the photos] public” but are doing so now “to take back control of our narrative” after several were leaked to the media.

“We share these images because our community deserves to see our building through eyes of love, not through the lens of spectacle. This is our sacred space, and we will be the ones to tell its story,” the synagogue wrote…

The University of California, Berkeley reached a settlement in its lawsuit with the federal government, agreeing to pay $1 million and make changes to its discrimination policy following accusations that the university had failed to properly address campus antisemitism. 

Among the policy changes, the school will clarify that the word “Zionist” cannot be used as a proxy for Jew or Israeli. The claims in the lawsuit predate the recent campus unrest over Israel’s war in Gaza, stemming from an incident in 2022 when student groups adopted policies saying they would not host Zionist speakers…

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 struggles facing international broadcasters Voice of America and Radio Free Europe in reaching Iranian citizens during the ongoing war due to budget cuts and roadblocks from the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

The House Appropriations Committee will hold a field hearing at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in New York City on “accountability and reform” at the U.N. 

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned from his role today over opposition to the war in Iran, baselessly alleging that Israel had coerced the United States into what he characterized as a misguided military conflict, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

In a letter to President Donald Trump, Kent, a former Green Beret who had reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, wrote that he “cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” claiming that the Islamic Republic “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Kent, a hard-right former congressional candidate with isolationist foreign policy leanings, has previously promoted conspiracy theories, echoed pro-Russia messaging and associated with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, among other controversies. He’s now expected to appear on the podcast of his ally and friend Tucker Carlson…

After being largely rejected by foreign leaders on his repeated calls to assist in the war with Iran, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that, “Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! … WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”

Asked about the timeline of the war by reporters in the Oval Office this afternoon, Trump said, “We’re not ready to leave yet, but we will be leaving in the … very near future”…

Reports indicate Iran’s security forces, despite being badly battered by the U.S. and Israel, are conducting renewed crackdowns on the Iranian public and potential dissenters. At least 500 people have been arrested since the start of the war, and new security checkpoints are being deployed for regime oversight…

Major U.S. airlines have extended their suspensions of direct flights to Tel Aviv as the war continues, JI’s Haley Cohen reports, with both United and Delta airlines not offering any direct flights until June.

The first direct flight on United Airlines between Newark Liberty International Airport and Ben Gurion Airport is available on June 16, while the first direct New York to Tel Aviv flight on Delta Airlines is available June 1. United’s direct flights from Israel to Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles International Airport are also suspended…

U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack denied reports that the U.S. is encouraging Syria to deploy forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, as the IDF begins to carry out ground incursions in the south of the country…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to post “proof of life” videos on social media amid internet conspiracy theories that he has been killed and replaced by a look-alike…

Trump’s decision to withhold his endorsement in the Texas Senate GOP runoff all but guarantees that Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will both appear on the May 26 runoff ballot, as neither have dropped out of the race ahead of this evening’s deadline…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills released her first attack ad against her Democratic primary rival in the race for U.S. Senate, oyster farmer Graham Platner, highlighting social media comments he made about sexual assault that have marred his campaign. In the ad, several women read disparaging comments made by Platner on Reddit over a decade ago relating to rape, and a picture of Platner’s Nazi tattoo — which he has since had covered — is displayed under a magnifying glass. “The closer you look, the worse it gets,” the ad’s narrator says…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the gamble being made by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as he expends political capital (and actual capital) backing his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, in the state’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate taking place today. Pritzker’s involvement has drawn the ire of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is backing Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), even though both Stratton and Kelly are Black. The race is seen as a test of Pritzker’s political clout in his home state…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day and the presence of former Irish President Mary Robinson in New York to accuse Israel of committing genocide and to praise Robinson’s controversial tenure as the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.

“I think also of how she stood steadfast alongside the people of Palestine,” the mayor said in listing Robinson’s accomplishments. “I say this as over the past few years as we’ve witnessed a genocide unfold before our eyes, there has been deafening silence from so many. For those who have long cared about universal human rights and the extension of them to Palestinians, silence, however, is nothing new. For Palestinians are so often left to weep alone. Yet former President Robinson has never been silent”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a rundown of the results of Illinois’ Democratic primaries, where polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is expected to face questions over the departure of her deputy, Joe Kent, at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing on worldwide threats, where she will testify alongside other intelligence agency heads. Gabbard said today after Kent’s resignation that, as commander-in-chief, Trump “concluded that … Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion,” but did not say whether she agrees herself in that assessment, something she is likely to be pressed on tomorrow.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will receive a classified briefing on the war in Iran from State Department intelligence officials.

The Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to be secretary of homeland security after Trump’s ouster of Secretary Kristi Noem.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom will hold a hearing on rising antisemitism abroad.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

European countries are largely rebuffing President Donald Trump’s calls to join the war with Iran and help secure the largely impassable Strait of Hormuz. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said today, “This is not our war; we did not start it,” while the French foreign ministry said, “Posture has not changed: defensive it is.” Poland, the U.K. and Italy similarly made clear they would not be participating in an offensive capacity…

On potential negotiations with Iran, Trump told reporters, “We don’t even know their leaders. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are.” He said new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “badly disfigured” and noted it’s “unusual” he hasn’t recently been seen in public.

Khamenei narrowly survived an airstrike on his compound on Feb. 28 as he briefly stepped outside, according to leaked audio obtained by The Telegraph, which reportedly contains remarks by an official in the office of deceased Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to senior clerics…

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani denied reports that Israel is running low on missile interceptors, saying there is no “urgent problem” and that the military re-equips its supplies “in real time”…

Debris and missile fragments from Iranian attacks fell in the Old City of Jerusalem near several sensitive sites including the Western Wall Plaza and feet away from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre…

Twenty-three Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote to Trump requesting a public hearing with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to understand their role in “lead[ing] diplomatic engagement with Iran”…

Representatives of the U.S.-led Board of Peace met with Hamas officials over the weekend in Cairo, Egypt, Reuters reports, in an effort to keep ceasefire negotiations on track even as the war with Iran proceeds. Aryeh Lightstone, an aide to Witkoff, reportedly represented the U.S. delegation, with more meetings expected this week…

Times of Israel reporter Emanuel Fabian chronicles his experience receiving death threats from users of the prediction market platform Polymarket over his reporting on a recent Iranian missile strike in the city of Beit Shemesh…

Trump announced that Susie Wiles, his White House chief of staff, has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and will receive treatment while remaining in her post…

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential 2028 presidential contender, tested out his measured, pro-Israel messaging in a series of recent podcast interviews, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. In his appearances on “Pod Save America” and “Higher Learning,” Shapiro made the case that, as the starting point for any public political conversation about Israel, the fact of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state must be respected.

“I think what is dangerous here … is for those who think Israel doesn’t have a right to exist in [the] conversation. That to me is a recipe for permanent war,” Shapiro told “Higher Learning” host Van Lathan. He also pushed back on California Gov. Gavin Newsom, his potential 2028 opponent, for saying Israel could be described as an apartheid state…

Rep. Mike Lawler’s (R-NY) reelection campaign is employing a community activist, Darrell Davis, who has criticized Democratic politicians, including Rep. George Latimer (D-NY) and a county executive, for taking money from pro-Israel groups and traveling to Israel, Politico reports.

Davis accused Latimer of being on the receiving end of a “Jewish organized spending spree” and taking “about $30 million to buy a congressional seat, to represent the interests of Israel,” which he called “a horrific threat to democracy.” About Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins’ trip to Israel, Davis wrote, “Why are they in Israel?? What more proof do people need that black Dems don’t give a sh*t about you. They are up for sale”…

The day before her primary election in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, far-left social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh removed language from her campaign website claiming “There is no acceptable scenario that leaves Hamas in charge of the Gaza Strip,” after she had faced criticism from the Hamas-friendly outlet Drop Site News over its inclusion. Her site says that the earlier language on the page “did not accurately reflect Kat’s views or the values of this campaign”…

And the closing drama in the Illinois Senate Democratic primary is Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s claim that she received a deathbed endorsement from civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, which the Jackson family said today he had never finalized. The late reverend’s support is seen as meaningful in the race, which includes multiple prominent Black candidates, as well as Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)…

The Atlantic spotlights one of the main obstacles facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills in her Democratic primary for U.S. Senate against oyster farmer Graham Platner: her age. Mills, 78, “does not have a dicey Reddit history or a recently covered-over Nazi tattoo” but is still trailing in the polls, even as Platner continues to be plagued by scandals. “One likely factor: If she is elected, Mills would be the oldest freshman senator in history”…

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 tense runoff in the Democratic primary for Texas’ 35th Congressional District, where a fringe conspiracy theorist eked out a narrow victory over a sheriff’s deputy backed by the pro-Israel establishment.

All eyes will be on the Prairie State tomorrow, as several high-profile Democratic primaries will be decided across Illinois. Read JI’s coverage of the races to watch.

On the Hill, the House Intelligence Committee will hold its annual hearing on worldwide threats, with testimony from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel, NSA Acting Director William Hartman and DIA Director James Adams.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on reforming U.S. defense sales.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

A suspect was killed during an active shooter and car ramming incident at Temple Israel in the heavily Jewish Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield Township, Mich., this afternoon, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

Armed synagogue security engaged the suspect with gunfire, and a security guard who was knocked unconscious is expected to recover. A preschool that was in session at the time of the incident was evacuated safely. Authorities are continuing to investigate the suspect’s identity and motive.

“Everyone is safe. All 140 students in our Susan and Harold Loss Early Childhood Center, our amazing staff, our courageous teachers, and our heroic security personnel are all accounted for and safe,” the synagogue wrote on social media. “This note is coming to you before we know anything about our future programming or services, or any investigation. We wanted you to know we are safe, and we love you all”…

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, issued his first public statement today that indicates he’s as hard-line as his late father: Khamenei demanded the U.S. shut all its military bases in the Gulf immediately and said he’ll continue to target the Strait of Hormuz in order to “pressure the enemy.” His statement was read on state media indirectly by a presenter, as reports indicate the 56-year-old was injured in an Israeli strike and he has not been seen in public since.

President Donald Trump did not seem dissuaded — he posted on Truth Social, “when oil prices go up” the U.S. makes “a lot of money,” but “of far greater importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons”…

Following a Republican convening this week focused on combating right-wing antisemitism, the center-left think tank Third Way urged fellow Democrats to follow the lead of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in calling out antisemitism within their own party. 

“We certainly believe that Cruz was right and our side has a real antisemitism problem too that too many Democrats are failing to face squarely,” Matt Bennett, the group’s executive vice president for public affairs, told JI’s Gabby Deutch.

Similar comments from Third Way staff sparked a public clash with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who defended controversial left-wing figures including antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker and said the true issue lies with the “neocons” in the party…

Less than a week until primary election day in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, outside spending in the race is approaching $9 million, the majority of which is aimed at boosting state Sen. Laura Fine, a pro-Israel Democrat. Nearly half of all outside spending has come from the Elect Chicago Women super PAC, widely rumored to be connected to pro-Israel groups.

Another PAC rumored to be connected to AIPAC, Chicago Progressive Partnership, has spent over $1 million attacking anti-Israel social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh, including a new ad that spotlights her support from James “Fergie” Cox Chambers Jr., a communist political activist and scion of the billionaire Cox family often involved in radical-left causes…

A new poll commissioned by the far-left advocacy group Justice Democrats finds Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) in a competitive race for his seat — he’s now neck-and-neck with his primary opponent, state Rep. Justin Pearson. Pearson, a progressive legislator, gained public attention for being expelled from the Statehouse in 2023 for participating in a gun control protest on the floor…

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed Assemblyman Micah Lasher, his former staffer, in the hotly contested primary race for New York’s 12th Congressional District today, calling him “a key part of our team in City Hall.” Bloomberg plans to spend “millions of dollars” on a super PAC and ad campaign to boost Lasher, The New York Times reports, a notable effort by the popular former mayor to elevate Lasher among the pack…

Trump has delayed endorsing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the Texas Senate runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton, which Trump implied last week he would do imminently, instead using the potential endorsement to pressure Senate Republicans to change filibuster rules and pass his voter-ID bill. Paxton raised the stakes by saying he might drop out if the bill passes, a move that forced Cornyn to shift his stance on the filibuster…

The Boston Globe looks at Rep. Seth Moulton’s (D-MA) efforts to get on the Democratic primary ballot in his race against Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), which will require him to receive support from 15% of delegates at the state Democratic Party’s upcoming convention. Moulton is attempting to recruit unregistered voters to become delegates in order to boost his chances, which observers are split on…

Politico uncovers the past political stances and writings of Morris Katz, the Democratic operative and anti-Israel whisperer now behind several high-profile progressive campaigns, when he lauded former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and derided progressive icon Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)…

Shortly after the organization elevated a new political director who is closely tied to neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, College Republicans of America’s chapter at Georgetown University came under investigation by the school for a social media post in which it claimed “Muslims have no place in American society”…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, as he “stay[s] out of the politics of the war” in Iran “and remains focused on waging it”…

The Treasury Department issued sanctions against four “sham charity” groups in Turkey and Indonesia that it said are funneling money and resources to Hamas’ military wing, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reaction to today’s attack on Michigan’s Temple Israel from Jewish leaders and leading lawmakers.

The South by Southwest festival will hold its annual #openShabbat experience for Jews in tech, film and music tomorrow in Austin, Texas. 

A Saturday fundraiser for Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) with an appearance by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Nunn’s home district in Iowa has been canceled; the event, called “Top Nunn” in reference to the “Top Gun” movies, had drawn scrutiny after several soldiers who had been stationed in Nunn’s district were killed in the course of the war with Iran. 

The Jewish Funders Network international conference starts Sunday in San Diego.

HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir performs at Lincoln Center in New York City on Sunday evening.

The Zionist Organization of America will host its Florida Superstar Gala Sunday evening, where it will honor Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel; Justice Department official Leo Terrell; and Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), among others.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The Strait of Hormuz continues to be a key site of conflict in the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran — a spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces said in a video statement that the regime “will never allow even a single liter of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the benefit of America, the Zionists or their partners,” shortly after several ships were struck by missiles while passing through or near the strait…

The International Energy Agency announced its member countries will release 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves in order to blunt the impacts of the war, the largest emergency release in history…

President Donald Trump told Axios that the war will end “soon” because there’s “practically nothing left to target” in Iran. U.S. and Israeli officials are reportedly preparing for at least two more weeks of hostilities…

Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea speaks to experts and former Trump administration officials about Qatar’s potentially changing calculus on hosting Iranian-backed Hamas leaders as Tehran continues to attack the Gulf state…

A preliminary U.S. military investigation has found the deadly strike on a school in Iran was caused by the U.S. as it was targeting a nearby Iranian base, sources told The New York Times…

The FBI recently warned California police departments that Iran may launch a drone attack in the state, ABC News reports. As of last month, “Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the U.S. conducted strikes against Iran,” the bureau’s alert read…

Israel is considering building a base in Somaliland, which it recently recognized as an independent country, in order to combat the threat of the Houthis, which are based in Yemen just across the Gulf of Aden…

Iran will not participate in the 2026 World Cup after the U.S. “assassinated our leader,” Iran’s sports minister told state media, shortly after Trump said he would still “welcome” the team’s participation. Iran’s national men’s soccer team was set to compete in June in Los Angeles and Seattle; several athletes from the country’s women’s team recently defected to Australia after playing in a match there…

Spain permanently withdrew its ambassador to Israel, as the countries’ already tense relations worsen over Madrid’s opposition to the war in Iran…

House Republican leadership discussed ways to incorporate an expected emergency supplemental for the U.S. military into the budget reconciliation process, Politico reports, rather than attempting to rally support from Senate Democrats for the 60-vote threshold that would otherwise be required in the Senate on a stand-alone vote. The move would also sidestep a vote that could be politically challenging for some House Republicans…

Former Obama administration official Ben Rhodes, a leading Israel critic on the left, said on an episode of his “Pod Save the World” podcast that Democrats who vote in favor of funding for the war with Iran “should be primaried. I don’t want you in the Democratic Party.”

Rhodes and co-host Tommy Vietor referenced the four Democrats who voted against a war powers resolution in the House as ripe for primary challenges. Left unsaid: Three of the four — Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Jared Golden (D-ME) — represent GOP-leaning seats that would likely flip with a more progressive Democratic candidate…

In a sign of the political gulfs between the Israeli and American left, Yair Zivan, who is an advisor to Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, pushed back on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) after the senator criticized Israeli operations in Lebanon. 

“Senator, I work for the Leader of the Opposition in Israel and I’m writing this from a bomb shelter with my children. Israel is under attack by fanatical terrorists who want to murder us. It never ceases to amaze that your humanity never seems to extend to Israeli lives,” Zivan wrote on X…

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he called New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to “check in on him and his wife to make sure they’re doing okay” after the attempted terror attack outside Mamdani’s official residence over the weekend. “As someone who’s had to deal with political violence, I know it can take a toll,” Shapiro said. The governor previously spoke with Mamdani after his win in November to express concerns over his rhetoric about Israel…

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 far-right ties of the new political director of College Republicans of America.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on foreign influence in American higher education, including testimony from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Craig Singleton.

The annual weeklong South by Southwest festival kicks off tomorrow in Austin, Texas. Appearing at the summit, whose 300,000 attendees include many film and media professionals, is anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, who will speak about “the system that tried to silence him, and the personal and political stakes of resistance.”

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump denied reports that U.S. intelligence has found Iran is taking steps to deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz, but said if it has been done, “we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!” If not, he warned, “the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,” and if they are removed, “it will be a giant step in the right direction.”

Shortly after, Trump confirmed the U.S. has “hit, and completely destroyed, 10 inactive mine laying boats and/or ships.”

Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter out of Saudi Arabia, warned oil markets will face “catastrophic consequences” if the strait continues to be impacted by the war. “While we have faced disruptions in the past, this one by far is the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced,” CEO Amin Nasser told reporters…

The White House asked Israel not to target any more Iranian energy facilities, Axios reports, citing harm to Iranian civilians, the hope to cooperate with the Iranian oil industry after the war and potential for Tehran to retaliate against Gulf states…

Around 140 U.S. servicemembers have been injured in the course of the campaign against Iran, Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said today, the majority of whom have already returned to service…

After receiving a classified briefing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told reporters, “I emerged from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate. … We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran.”

Blumenthal continued, “There is also, as disturbingly as anything else, the specter of active Russian aid to Iran … with intelligence and perhaps with other means, and China also may be assisting”…

The U.S. ordered the departure of its diplomats and their families from southern Turkey after two attempted Iranian missile strikes in the area; it’s the first mandated departure of U.S. officials outside of the Gulf and Lebanon since the start of the war…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement to the “people of Iran” hinting at a coming opportunity for a popular uprising. He wrote on X, “We are waging a historic war for liberty. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to remove the Ayatollah regime and gain your freedom. … In the coming days we will create the conditions for you to grasp your destiny. … When the time is right, and that time is fast approaching, we will pass the torch to you”…

CNN significantly changed a story and removed a social media post today that downplayed the attempted terror attack outside Gracie Mansion, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence, over the weekend, initially writing that the suspects traveled from Pennsylvania for “what could’ve been a normal day” during the city’s “abnormally warm weather.”

CNN later deleted its post on X and added an editor’s note to its story, saying that the language “failed to reflect the gravity of the incident thereby breaching the editorial standards we require for all our reporting”…

The NYPD evacuated Carl Schurz Park near the mayor’s mansion today after a suspicious device was found in the vicinity; it was determined to be “non-threatening”…

Secure Community Network said there was no known threat to the Jewish community following an active shooter incident Tuesday afternoon near the Agudath Israel of Baltimore synagogue, during which a Baltimore Police officer and a suspect were shot in what appeared to be a domestic incident…

A week ahead of Illinois’ primary election, a new poll conducted by an outside group backing Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) shows the congressman with a double-digit lead in the race for Senate, up 11 points over his next closest competitor, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. Over 87,000 early votes have already been cast in the race, 40,000 votes more than had been cast at the same point in early voting during the 2022 primaries…

Morris Katz, the Democratic strategist who has shaped the campaigns of progressive politicians hostile to Israel including Mamdani and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, is now behind the campaign of another populist Democrat: Allison Ziogas, a first-time candidate attempting to unseat Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY). Trump won 61% of the vote in Malliotakis’ Staten Island–based district in 2024, making it difficult for any Democrat to prevail…

The Anti-Defamation League released its 2026 Campus Antisemitism Report Card, which showed a “clear upward trend” in universities taking steps to address antisemitism, the organization said. Almost two dozen schools received A grades.

UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk celebrated his university’s improvement from a D to a B, but said in a statement, “a grade is a waypoint, not a destination. … While we have made clear progress in addressing antisemitism, we have more to do in our shared goal of eradicating it in its entirety”…

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 late flurry of spending against far-left social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, as pro-Israel groups indicate concern that the virulently anti-Israel Democrat could win the seat.

President Donald Trump will host an event in Hebron, Ky., tomorrow, with Republican congressional candidate Ed Gallrein in attendance. Gallrein is challenging Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) with Trump’s endorsement — Massie will not be attending the event, which is taking place in his district.

Fox News’ Bret Baier will speak in conversation with journalist Gary Rosenblatt at Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center in New York City.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump praised Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for assisting the members of Iran’s women’s soccer team, who are in Australia competing in the Women’s Asian Cup, amid fears for their persecution should they be forced to return home.

The president had called for Albanese to grant the athletes political asylum, saying they would “most likely be killed” if they were repatriated to Iran, and later commended him for “doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation,” with five athletes “already taken care of, and the rest are on their way”… 

Trump disputed reports that the U.S. is preparing to deploy ground troops to secure nuclear material at the Isfahan enrichment site in Iran, telling the New York Post, “We haven’t made any decision on that. We’re nowhere near it.” He also told CBS News that “the war is very complete, pretty much,” and the U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initial four-to-five-week timeline…

Trump has communicated to aides that he would support the assassination of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, if Khamenei does not acquiesce to U.S. demands, including ending Iran’s nuclear program, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal…

The Lebanese government has requested direct negotiations with Israel, sending the message through U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, Axios reports. Washington and Jerusalem were reportedly skeptical about the idea, with Beirut thus far failing to disarm or rein in Hezbollah activities as the terror group continues to launch missiles into Israel…

NATO missile defense systems intercepted another Iranian missile heading for Turkey, a spokesperson announced today, the second time Iran has attempted to strike the NATO country’s territory…

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threatened to impose “consequences” on Saudi Arabia for its unwillingness to join the U.S. campaign against Iran, as the U.S. evacuates its embassy in Riyadh and the kingdom continues to endure Iranian attacks, which have so far resulted in the deaths of two civilians and one U.S. servicemember. “Question — why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?” Graham wrote on X…

Talks to advance Trump’s 20-point peace plan in Gaza, including the issue of Hamas’ disarmament, have been at a standstill during the campaign against Iran, Reuters reports, as Gulf countries that pledged funds to help rebuild the enclave have come under fire and flight disruptions have prevented mediators from traveling…

The criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York today against the two Pennsylvania men who allegedly hurled improvised explosive devices toward a protest against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday stated that both men explicitly identified ISIS as their inspiration, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.

“This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the Prophet [Muhammad],” Emir Balat, 18, told police, according to the charging documents. He also said he had hoped to pull off something “even bigger” than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which he noted had caused “only three deaths”…

The White House moved today to designate the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity and announced plans to impose a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation on March 16, JI’s Matthew Shea reports, in the Trump administration’s latest crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood affiliates…

A new poll from the campaign of Rushern Baker, former executive of Maryland’s Prince George’s County, found him leading the crowded Democratic field seeking to succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Though a plurality of likely primary voters (28%) said they’re still undecided, Baker polled at 22% compared to former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn’s 15% and Hoyer-endorsed state Del. Adrian Boafo’s 3%…

Rep. Kevin Kiley of California officially switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent — he had filed for reelection as an independent, but said today he would leave the party for the rest of his term as well. The move narrows the GOP majority even further, 217-214, but Kiley said he’ll continue to caucus with Republicans, blunting the impact…

Politico looks at the flurry of independent candidates seeking to unseat congressional Republicans in GOP-leaning districts, clashing with local Democratic establishments in the process…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider — we’ll have a profile of Dario Amodei, the Jewish CEO of Anthropic, which sued the Pentagon today over its decision to label the AI company a “supply chain risk.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to receive a classified briefing on the status of the U.S. and Israeli campaign against Iran.

The Republican Jewish Coalition and conservative magazine National Review will hold a daylong symposium on antisemitism, with remarks from Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Ted Cruz (R-TX); Noah Pollak, senior advisor at the Department of Education; Kenneth Marcus, founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy; Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights; and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Georgia’s 14th Congressional District will hold its special election to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), with more than a dozen candidates on the all-party ballot. The district leans strongly Republican but the GOP field is split among nine candidates, raising the possibility that the Democratic front-runner — retired Army Brig. Gen. Shawn Harris — could slip into the April runoff.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced he’s replacing Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), after Noem had rankled the president and some Republican members of Congress with her oversight of widespread turmoil at the agency, among other issues. Mullin still needs to be confirmed by the Senate to assume the post.

Mullin, if confirmed, would take the helm of DHS amid its continued partial shutdown, and as it has repeatedly come under fire for its handling of issues related to antisemitism from lawmakers and Jewish community groups. Noem, meanwhile, will become special envoy to a new security initiative for the Western Hemisphere being launched by Trump this weekend…

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other GOP leadership called on Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) to drop out of his reelection race, after the lawmaker admitted yesterday to having an affair with a staffer who later committed suicide. Gonzales is headed to a May runoff with his primary opponent, social media influencer Brandon Herrera; if Gonzales does step aside, Herrera, who has a history of antisemitic posts about the Holocaust, is all but guaranteed the GOP nomination in a solidly Republican district… 

Trump said he “[has] to be involved in the appointment” of the next Iranian leader, in an interview with Axios, “like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.” He called Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has emerged as his father’s likely successor, “unacceptable.” The president’s comments seem to widen the administration’s stated war aims, which have thus far focused on eliminating Iran’s naval, air and nuclear assets.

Trump also insisted in the interview that Israeli President Isaac Herzog issue a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “today,” as he wants Netanyahu “to focus on the war and not on the f**king court case. I want the only pressure on Bibi to be the fighting against Iran”…

Some Democratic lawmakers — including Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) — told Politico they won’t “rule out” voting in favor of an emergency supplemental funding request to shore up the military should one come from the administration amid the campaign against Iran, despite widespread Democratic condemnation of the White House’s failure to consult Congress beforehand…

A vote on a war powers resolution to stop the military campaign in Iran failed in the House this afternoon 219-212, with two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Warren Davison (R-OH) — crossing the aisle in support and four Democrats — Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Jared Golden (D-ME) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) — breaking with their party to oppose it. 

Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) both changed their positions and voted in favor of the resolution, weeks after Moskowitz told Jewish Insider — before the campaign began — that its sponsors “should just rename [the resolution] the Ayatollah Protection Act because that’s what it does.” Asked by JI about the shift in his stance today, Moskowitz answered, “I didn’t flip at all. Circumstances have changed since my first statement”…

Antisemitic podcaster Tucker Carlson’s latest extreme rhetoric took aim at the Chabad Lubavitch movement, with sweeping conspiratorial language accusing the Hasidic sect of seeking to start a “religious war” amid the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports. 

Carlson argued in an episode of his show that dropped last night that Jews see the war against Iran as an opportunity to feud with Islam and to target Christians. Carlson’s remarks prompted outrage among Chabad’s backers, who pointed out that Chabad emissaries have for decades played a crucial role in connecting American Jews to their faith and to each other…

In a conversation with ABC News, Trump said this afternoon that Tucker “has lost his way. I knew that a long time ago, and he’s not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. … Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that”…

In a discussion with the New York Post, Trump railed against European countries which have continued to oppose the campaign against Iran, calling Spain “a loser” and the U.K. “very disappointing.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, said today that the Iran war is a “failure” of the international order, but would not “categorically rule out” Canada’s participation…

Iran’s indiscriminate attacks are bringing allies together worldwide: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s deploying specialists to assist the U.S. after Washington requested “specific support in protection” against Iranian Shahed drones, which Ukraine has been battling for several years as Russia has regularly deployed them, and the European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council held a joint meeting to discuss Iran’s “unjustifiable, unprovoked, and unlawful attacks”…

The New York Times profiles Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, as he helps lead Israel’s efforts in the campaign against Iran…

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 Jack Cocchiarella, the progressive Gen Z podcaster who has made a name for himself hosting high-profile Democratic candidates — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom in New Hampshire tonight — and who has recently taken a turn towards bashing Israel.

Team Israel will play its first games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Saturday against Venezuela and on Sunday against Nicaragua.

Also Sunday, AJ Edelman, the Israeli Olympic bobsled team pilot, will speak in conversation with Neil Goldman at Chabad of West Village in New York. 

Birthright Israel’s Excelerate26 summit is also taking place in New York this weekend, with keynote speeches on Sunday from Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots; Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor during the Biden administration; and Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Ahead of the third round of U.S.-Iran negotiations taking place in Geneva tomorrow, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that President Donald Trump “has a number of other tools at his disposal” besides diplomacy to ensure “the craziest and worst regime in the world” does not obtain nuclear weapons, following on the president’s remarks during last night’s State of the Union calling Iran “the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror”…

In response to Trump’s comments, where he also said Iran was developing advanced ballistic missiles and had killed 32,000 protesters, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei tied Trump to the “law of propaganda coined by Nazi [chief propagandist] Joseph Goebbels.”

“This is now systematically used by the U.S. administration and the war profiteers encircling it, particularly the genocidal Israeli regime … Whatever they’re alleging in regards to Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January’s unrest is simply the repetition of ‘big lies,’” Baghaei wrote on X…

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading Iran negotiations alongside Jared Kushner, reportedly told AIPAC members at the group’s summit in Washington yesterday that any deal reached with Iran should not have a “sunset clause,” as the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was criticized for. 

“We start with the Iranians with the premise that there is no sunset provision. Whether we get a deal or not, our premise is: you have to behave for the rest of your lives,” Witkoff told the group, according to Axios. He said talks are currently focused only on the nuclear issue, but if they are successful, the administration would look to hold additional talks on Tehran’s missile program and support for terror proxies…

Satellite photos analyzed by the Associated Press appear to show U.S. ships that typically dock in Bahrain as part of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet have moved out to sea. The 5th Fleet similarly scattered its ships during the U.S. strikes in Iran last June…

Dutch airline KLM announced a suspension of flights between its hub in Amsterdam and Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport starting March 1 until further notice, saying in a statement that it is currently “not commercially or operationally feasible for KLM to operate flights to Tel Aviv.” It’s the first airline to pause flights amid the current unrest with Iran…

On the campaign trail, Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George vowed to reject the “Zionist lobby” in a questionnaire seeking the endorsement of the Metro D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports, a category that the DSA said includes AIPAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, Christians United for Israel and J Street.

Referencing her appearance at an event with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington in December, Lewis George assured the DSA she “disagree[s] with the JCRC on a number of issues,” including its opposition to describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide and its “definition of antisemitism that criminalizes dissent, and their attacks on activists.” 

Ron Halber, CEO of the JCRC, told JI, “As far as I’m concerned, [the DSA’s questionnaire] is an antisemitic manifesto. They are making the price of their endorsement the social exclusion of Jews”…

Illinois state Sen. Laura Fine, a Democrat running for an open Illinois House seat, unapologetically championed her backing for Israel in a position paper obtained by JI’s Marc Rod, amid attacks from anti-Israel activists and groups over her support for the Jewish state and backing from pro-Israel supporters.

Fine described Israel in the paper as “more than just a strategic ally, it is a beacon of democracy in one of the world’s most volatile regions,” as she and some of her primary opponents, including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and far-left activist Kat Abughazaleh, are set to participate in a televised debate tonight…

The U.S.-led Board of Peace released a video today laying out its vision for Gaza. The board’s goal by Year 3 is to fully rebuild the southern Gazan city of Rafah and have Gaza “connected to the world through an Abrahamic gateway, linking it with Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and extending to India and Europe.” By the board’s 10th year, it said, Gaza will be “self-governed,” without specifying who will oversee the enclave and how Hamas will be removed from power… 

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana awarded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the newly established Medal of the Knesset, the highest honor of the body, after Modi’s address there today. His remarks were warmly received by members of Knesset and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was also in the chamber…

Following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland’s independence in December, Jerusalem accepted the appointment of Mohamed Hagi as the first Somaliland ambassador to the Jewish state (and its first fully accredited ambassador anywhere in the world). Hagi “was a member of the inner circle of officials who promoted the establishment of relations between Israel and Somaliland,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, and vowed that a reciprocal Israeli ambassador “will soon be appointed”…

Former Harvard President Larry Summers will remain on leave from his teaching position at the Ivy League school for the duration of the academic year, at which point he will retire, Harvard announced today, after files released by the Department of Justice showed Summers maintained a relationship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein after the financier had been convicted of prostitution involving a minor…

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 Fox Nation’s new docudrama on King David, offering a dramatic reenactment of the biblical coming-of-age story of the Jewish leader.

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will hold discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.

California Jewish groups including the JCRC Bay Area, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and Jewish California, which rebranded today from its previous name of JPAC, are hosting a forum for candidates running for governor, as Gov. Gavin Newsom reaches his term limit. Participating candidates include former presidential contender Tom Steyer, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, all of whom are Democrats, as well as Republican commentator Steve Hilton. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Previewing his State of the Union address tonight, where it remains to be seen if he will make any announcements on Iran, President Donald Trump told reporters, “Iran wants to make a deal more than I do, but they just won’t say the sacred phrase: ‘We won’t build nuclear weapons,’” signaling that the two sides are still at an impasse ahead of the third round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the congressional Gang of Eight, the bipartisan set of leaders advised on classified matters by the executive branch, this afternoon to provide an update on Iran, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly joining the discussion. The White House did not brief the group before striking Iran last June, drawing ire from Democrats…

Ahead of the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told C-SPAN about potential Iran strikes, “Closed-door briefings are fine, but the administration has to make its case to the American people on something as important as this”…

Around a dozen U.S. F-22 stealth fighter jets departed from the U.K. today to be deployed at an Israeli Air Force base in the south of the country, as over 150 aircraft are being moved to the region. Military experts told The Washington Post that the “assets being assembled are indicative of a multiday campaign without a ground invasion”…

The Coast Guard is investigating a swastika drawn at its primary recruit training center in New Jersey, where Coast Guard commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday quickly flew to address recruits and staff about the incident. Lunday recently came under fire from Congress, and had his confirmation delayed, over a change in Coast Guard policy that downgraded the swastika from a prohibited hate symbol to “potentially divisive,” which was eventually walked back.

Regarding the recent incident, Lunday said in a statement to The Washington Post, “Anyone who adheres to or advances hate or extremist ideology — get out. Leave. You don’t belong in the United States Coast Guard and we reject you”…

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) is pushing for legislation to require an affirmative congressional vote prior to the U.S. reaching any nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, following a notification from the administration to Congress indicating that it is moving toward a deal that could allow Riyadh to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

The notification procedures, which do not include specific terms of a potential deal, suggest that Saudi Arabia will not be required to agree to more intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspections or “gold standard” safeguards — which would require Saudi Arabia to agree not to enrich or reprocess nuclear material — used for the U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates…

The Justice Department sued the University of California today under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination, alleging that the UCLA campus created a “hostile work environment against Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff.” 

During campus anti-Israel protests in 2024, the DOJ said, “the University allowed antisemitic harassment to continue unabated for days” and “has ignored, and continues to ignore, gross and repeated violations” of time, place and manner restrictions on student protest. The department further claimed Jewish and Israeli faculty at the school have been physically threatened, ostracized, harassed, forced to take leave and assaulted…

The New York Times details efforts by New York’s business community and Democratic establishment to organize and promote the moderate wing of the party in response to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rise to power. Some of the individuals involved, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo allies Phil Singer and Steven Cohen, are considering forming PACs, watchdog groups, lobbying campaigns and more…

New York’s Working Families Party endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) yesterday over Mamdani’s objections. The mayor has been backing Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who, like Mamdani, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a vocal critic of Israel, and he had lobbied the WFP to endorse her or to stay out of the race. WFP’s director, Jasmine Gripper, told the Times, “At the end of the day, Zohran is an individual who gets to weigh in as an individual”…

A new poll from the University of New Hampshire found oyster farmer Graham Platner with a commanding lead among likely Senate Democratic primary voters, outdistancing Gov. Janet Mills by 34 points, with the primary less than four months away. In a general election matchup with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Platner leads Collins by 11 points, while Mills and Collins are neck-and-neck…

Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Ohio branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), testified at the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee last week against a bill to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, where he claimed that Israel operates the world’s largest human skin bank and harvests the skin from deceased Palestinians. “And if I call them Nazis,” Turaani continued, “your law is going to punish me.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s Ohio River Valley office condemned Turaani’s speech, saying that the “antisemitic organ harvesting myth plays on the blood libel trope, which has spurred the torture, murder, and expulsion of Jews for centuries”…

The U.S. Embassy in Israel announced that, as part of the government’s “efforts to reach all Americans,” the embassy will be providing consular services for one day only at several locations across Israel and the West Bank, including Ramallah and the Jewish settlement of Efrat…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for the highlights from President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, taking place at 9 p.m. ET tonight, as all eyes are on possible U.S. military action against Iran.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Israel tomorrow, where he will be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before addressing the Knesset. In the evening, the two leaders will have dinner at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. Read JI’s interview on Modi’s visit with Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar.

The New York City Council will hold its first hearing on Council Speaker Julie Menin’s bill aiming to create “buffer zones” around houses of worship to protect from disruptive protests. The bill’s language was updated last night to remove the original 100-foot figure, which had reportedly emerged as a point of concern for the NYPD.

Congressional candidates from Illinois’ 9th District, where pro-Israel spending is boosting state Sen. Laura Fine and attacking Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, will hold a debate on local news. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

As rumors abound about the possibility and timing of U.S. strikes on Iran, the State Department ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel and their families from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. “Based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint,” a State official told Fox News…

Nearby, amid the buildup of U.S. military assets in the region, American refueling and cargo planes were spotted at Ben Gurion Airport…

President Donald Trump denied reports that Pentagon officials, namely Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, are raising concerns about striking Iran, writing on Truth Social this afternoon, “General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won.”

“He has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to WIN and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack,” Trump said of Caine, while alluding to the potential breadth of military action against Iran… 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back his visit to Israel, originally scheduled for this weekend, to March 2, The Jerusalem Post reports, days after the next round of U.S.-Iran negotiations in Geneva on Thursday…

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a leader on foreign policy among Democrats in Congress, told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs that he heard “pretty stark early warning signs of some challenges where core allies do not share our priorities” on a potential Iran strike during his recent trip t0 Europe, which included stops at the Munich Security Conference, along with meetings in Ukraine and Moldova with top European diplomats.

Coons laid out what he hopes to see from the president: “A) Consult Congress. B) Make a case to the American people about why this is in our national security interest. C) Clarify what on earth he’s planning with this Board of Peace … And D) If he’s going to work with close allies to ramp up pressure to try and achieve something at the negotiating table, he should work with close allies”…

Anthony Driver Jr., a union organizer and candidate in Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, doubled down on his recent repudiation of AIPAC, despite previously having little public record on Israel policy issues. Following a press conference last week where Driver, who is running against AIPAC-backed Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, denounced the pro-Israel group, he returned donations from major Democratic Party donor Michael Sacks over the finance executive’s ties to AIPAC.

Sacks, who was a major backer of former President Barack Obama and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, said in his reply, “It is truly sad there is so much anti Israel sentiment and outright Jew hate that Anthony found himself in this position. I can only hope that the electorate rejects hate in all forms”…

As more details emerge about Rep. Tony Gonzales’ (R-TX) alleged affair with a staffer who later committed suicide, a poll commissioned by the campaign of Brandon Herrera, Gonzales’ opponent, shows the congressman trailing Herrera by a whopping 24 points among likely GOP primary voters. The story, which entered the news cycle right as early voting kicked off, could catapult Herrera, a social media influencer with a history of antisemitism, to the Republican nomination and on to Congress…

Investigators at the cryptocurrency giant Binance found last year that about $1.7 billion had been sent from two accounts to Iranian entities with links to terror groups, The New York Times reports, even after Binance pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws in 2023 and vowed to prevent sanctioned actors from accessing its platform. Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was jailed for his role in the saga, in October 2025…

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival backtracked in its defense of a juror selected for a judging panel who had posted antisemitic and anti-Israel content online, whom it had stood behind even after the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta announced it was withdrawing its funding and support of the event over the pick. 

The festival changed its tune yesterday, saying it is “first and foremost, a Jewish institution” and has “a responsibility, particularly at this fraught time, to stand firmly against antisemitism and to affirm the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.” It said it would review its “organizational processes and policies, including those related to antisemitism, BDS, and cultural boycotts”…

The French Foreign Ministry has moved to block U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner’s access to government officials after he declined to appear for a summons by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot today, which was issued after the U.S. Embassy reposted comments by Trump about a far-right French activist who was killed in a clash with far-left protesters. It was Kushner’s second summons, after his first last year when he accused the French government of not adequately combating antisemitism…

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 Sue Altman’s shifting views on Israel as the formerly pro-Israel congressional candidate is now running in New Jersey’s more heavily Democratic 12th Congressional District.

We’ll be watching for mention of President Donald Trump’s thinking on Iran as he delivers the annual State of the Union address tomorrow night. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on “advancing national security through commercial diplomacy” with Jacob Helberg, under secretary of state for economic affairs, who recently told JI that he hopes the Pax Silica initiative, which he leads, “will pave the way for peace and economic integration” in the Middle East.

Australia’s royal commission on antisemitism, formed after the Hanukkah terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, will hold its first public hearing, though no testimony or evidence will be heard.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump used the occasion of the first meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington today to announce significant monetary and troop commitments from the U.S. and other countries to stabilize Gaza, as well as lay out a timeline for military action against Iran, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

The pledges included $10 billion from the U.S. and $7 billion from several Middle Eastern countries for Gaza’s reconstruction, as well as commitments to provide troops and police to the U.S.-led International Stabilization Force. (The Guardian reports the White House is currently exploring plans to build a 5,000-person military base to house the ISF in southern Gaza.)

On Iran negotiations, Trump said in his remarks, “Now we may have to take it a step further or we may not. Maybe we are going to make a deal [with Iran]. You are going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”

He later told reporters on Air Force One, “Ten, 15 days, pretty much maximum.” Remember: Last June, Trump said he would decide whether to take action against Iran within two weeks, and carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities two days later…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly not given approval to Washington to use the joint U.S.-U.K. base on Diego Garcia island for a strike on Iran, as Trump said yesterday he is considering. London is concerned that a U.S. strike from the shared base, which the U.K. must grant permission to use, could implicate it in violating international law…

Trump also offered praise for Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during his Board of Peace remarks, despite widespread criticism of Doha’s backing of Hamas and platforming of anti-Israel actors.

“His excellency, Prime Minister Al Thani of Qatar, just a great and highly respected man,” Trump said. “I always say he needs a public relations agency because you do so much good, and they have you down as evil, and you’re not evil. You help us so much and you’re such a good ally”…

Meanwhile, Hamas is entrenching itself further in Gaza, repositioning its loyalists in government and paying salaries across the enclave, according to Reuters. Hamas has said it is willing to hand power over to the Palestinian technocratic committee established by the U.S. and led by former Palestinian Authority official Ali Shaath, but as one Palestinian source told the outlet, “Shaath may have the key to the car, and he may even be allowed to drive, but it is a Hamas car”…

Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who recently lost the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, called AIPAC’s attacks against him in the race “bizarre in several ways,” writing in an op-ed today that he has “no problem identifying as a Zionist” and calling on Democratic leaders to collectively “refuse [AIPAC’s] support, instead of letting it pick off candidates one by one”…

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) withdrew her endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, the front-runner in Illinois’ 2nd District Democratic primary, over Miller’s backing by groups that are reported to be affiliated with AIPAC, though the pro-Israel group hasn’t endorsed her and neither AIPAC nor its super PAC are publicly spending any money in the district.

“Illinois deserves leaders who put voters first, not AIPAC or out-of-state Trump donors,” Schakowsky told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I cannot support any candidate running for Congress who is funded by these outside interests”…

Ahead of a hearing next week on New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin’s proposed 100-foot ban on protests around houses of worship, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said today that he had the NYPD review the legality of the measure, “and I can tell you, my police commissioner has expressed concerns about that proposal”…

Three officials appointed by Mamdani to administration posts are co-founders of a group that blamed Israel for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks two days after they took place, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

The group, the Muslim Democratic Club of New York (MDCNY), was founded by Faiza Ali, now commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs; Aliya Latif, now executive director of the mayor’s Office of Faith-Based Partnerships; Ali Najmi, tapped as chair of the mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary; and anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour.

On Oct. 9, 2023, the MDCNY posted on X, “Many NYers are feeling pain, fear, and anger after the horrific events in the Holy Land this weekend. Especially as the Israeli apartheid regime have forced millions of Palestinians in Gaza to live under occupation for decades and an open air prison since 2007.” The group went on to condemn “elected officials offering support for Israeli occupation’s rampant violence as it openly declares & enacts its intent to engage in mass violence and genocide against Palestinians,” well before Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza had begun…

The Forward profiles Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman as she runs for mayor with a unique ideology: Raman is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, but has also been vocally supportive of Israel. She called DSA’s statement blaming Israel for the Oct. 7 attacks “unacceptably devoid of sympathy” and rejects the BDS movement, but was also condemned by the local Jewish community for introducing a ceasefire resolution in June 2023…

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 the AIPAC Congressional Summit, which is kicking off Sunday amid the group’s increasing involvement in midterm election races.

President Donald Trump is expected to meet with governors at the White House tomorrow, though the meeting will no longer be held under the auspices of the National Governors Association, as is done annually, after the White House declined to invite Democratic Govs. Jared Polis of Colorado and Wes Moore of Maryland to a black-tie dinner on Saturday.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump warned U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to relinquish control over Diego Garcia — an island in the Indian Ocean that hosts a joint U.S.-U.K. base, as the U.K. plans to transfer sovereignty of the larger island chain to Mauritius, while maintaining a 99-year lease on the base — because it may act as the launching pad for a U.S. strike on Iran.

“Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime — An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries,” Trump wrote on Truth Social…

Iran is also signaling its readiness for military conflict, The Wall Street Journal reports, including deploying Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval units to the Strait of Hormuz, launching cruise missiles along the coast, conducting a military exercise with a Russian warship near the USS Abraham Lincoln, testing air defense systems, hardening nuclear sites and cracking down once more on dissidents…

Israel, meanwhile, is preparing for its civilian infrastructure to be “a central arena” in a potential U.S.-Iran conflict, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports, as Home Front Command chief Maj.-Gen. Shay Klapper told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today. Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth said, “There is not one [Israeli] who doesn’t ask himself several times a day when there will be a campaign against Iran. The entire population and home front are preparing”…

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) dispelled rumors, seemingly spread by Saudi media, that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed was ill or even dying after meeting with him in Abu Dhabi today: “Not only is he alive, but he is also well and as sharp as I’ve ever seen him. To those powers that feel the need to attack MbZ and the UAE for doing the right thing — you do so at your own peril,” Graham said on X.

He also called MBZ’s decision to join the Abraham Accords and “to try to integrate the region with the whole world … one of the most consequential decisions any Middle Eastern leader has made.” Graham is now headed to Saudi Arabia where he will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he recently told publicly to “knock it off” regarding the kingdom’s destabilizing activities in the region…

Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico raised $2.5 million in donations for his Senate campaign in the 24 hours after his interview on Stephen Colbert’s late-night show was reportedly quashed by CBS, Politico reports, as early voting in Texas kicked off yesterday ahead of the March 3 primary. 

CBS denied it had banned the interview, saying Colbert’s show “was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,” which Colbert derided as a statement “written by — and I’m guessing for — lawyers”…

On the GOP side of the Texas Senate ballot, Attorney General Ken Paxton looks like the front-runner in his hotly contested primary against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), despite the GOP establishment spending more than $60 million in attack ads against Paxton, Punchbowl News reports. (And the infighting goes further: Hunt said yesterday he filed criminal charges against a senior member of Cornyn’s campaign team for allegedly doxxing a member of his family.)

Trump told reporters last night that he still hadn’t decided which of the GOP candidates, if any, to endorse, saying, “I like all three of them actually. Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three”…

Democratic Virginia state Del. Dan Helmer, a key architect of the state’s current redistricting effort, plans to enter the race for the 7th Congressional District that will be created if state voters approve a constitutional amendment to allow redistricting to proceed. 

Helmer, who is Jewish and the son of an Israeli immigrant, ran for the state’s 10th District in 2024 on a staunchly pro-Israel platform, telling JI at the time that calls for conditions on U.S. aid to Israel are “incredibly frustrating.” He became the target of late-stage ad campaigns, which their backers insisted to JI were unrelated to his support for Israel, and ultimately came in second in the Democratic primary…

Humain, Saudi Arabia’s state-sponsored AI company, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI, the company announced today. The investment came just before Musk combined xAI with his SpaceX aerospace company, giving the Saudi firm a significant stake in the major U.S. government contractor…

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 the emerging scandal involving Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) — whom the San Antonio Express News confirmed yesterday was engaged in an extramarital affair with a staffer who committed suicide — could catapult an anti-Israel Republican, who has posted videos featuring Nazi imagery, to Congress.

Our focus tomorrow will be the first meeting of the Board of Peace, which will bring several heads of state and senior ministers, including Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, to Washington. Read JI’s preview of the meeting. 

Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut will deliver what JFNA is calling the first “State of the Jewish Union Address,” ahead of the president’s State of the Union next week, from the organization’s Washington headquarters.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a daylong hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, featuring legal experts, former administration officials, students and Jewish communal leaders, which include Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Kenneth Marcus, founder and CEO of the Louis D. Brandeis Center; Erin Beiner, J Street U director; and Kevin Rachlin, Washington director of The Nexus Project.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

As the second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations wrapped up in Geneva this morning, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that the parties reached a “general understanding on a set of guiding principles” and will “begin working on the text of a potential agreement.”

A U.S. official sounded a more reserved note, telling Axios the talks “made progress” but “there are still a lot of details to discuss.” Iranian officials are expected to present proposals in the next two weeks “to address some of the open gaps in our positions,” the official said.

Vice President JD Vance said on Fox News this afternoon that “the United States has certain red lines. Our primary interest here is we don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. We don’t want nuclear proliferation.”

On today’s negotiations, Vance explained, “in some ways it went well — they agreed to meet afterwards — but in some ways it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, demonstrated that unwillingness, posting on X as talks were underway that if the U.S. insists on prohibiting Iran from enriching uranium “there is no room for negotiation.” As the U.S. sends more military assets to the region, he also threatened to “send that [U.S.] warship to the bottom of the sea”…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tapped Faiza Ali as commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs today, elevating the longtime activist with ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour. Ali previously served as the community affairs director for CAIR’s New York chapter, and she and Sarsour have co-led Muslim advocacy efforts, including being arrested together in 2017…

Several Chicago-era endorsees of the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC — Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, union organizer Anthony Driver Jr., state Sen. Robert Peters and activist Junaid Ahmed — held a joint press conference today slamming AIPAC as a “pro-Trump, right-wing aligned organization” that “is rooted and based in lobbying for this right-wing Israeli government.”

Driver, a candidate in the 7th District who was just endorsed by the CPC PAC today and has not previously spoken at length about his position on Israel, said, “AIPAC is not your friend. … They are in the business of buying elections”…

U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White was summoned to a meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot today after White accused the country in a series of heated social media posts of a “RIDICULOUS AND ANTI SEMITIC ‘PROSECUTION’” of three mohels who are being charged with practicing medicine without a license. 

Prévot said White’s posts “and interference in judicial matters violate basic diplomatic norms” and denied accusations of antisemitism, while Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy, concurred with White…

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told BBC “Newsnight” yesterday that he will “seriously consider” a presidential run in 2028 “because we’re in some seriously challenging times.” The former astronaut, who has recently been the target of the White House’s ire over a video in which he and fellow veterans urged servicemembers to refuse illegal orders, touted his military experience and engineering certifications as part of his pitch…

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, running in a competitive primary for U.S. Senate against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), shared an interview he conducted with late-night host Stephen Colbert that CBS declined to run. 

Colbert said in his show’s opening remarks last night that the clip would not be broadcast because “we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have [Talarico] on the broadcast,” claiming the network was threatened by the Federal Communications Commission…

Eric Trump has invested in Israeli drone maker Xtend as part of a $1.5 billion deal in which the company, which already has a multimillion-dollar contract with the Pentagon, is merging with a Florida construction firm. Xtend was also selected this month by the Department of Defense as one of 25 companies participating in its “Drone Dominance Program”…

Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s spokesperson, is leaving her post next week, Politico reports, after becoming one of the most vocal defenders of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts…

Warner Bros. Discovery announced today it will restart talks with Paramount after initially rejecting the company’s hostile takeover bid in favor of its current agreement with Netflix. Paramount has since increased its nearly $78 billion all-cash offer, including paying the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner will owe Netflix if their deal falls through…

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 Steven Fulop, the former Jersey City mayor who is making a priority of countering antisemitism in his new role as the head of New York City’s business advocacy group.

The International Federation of Social Workers will hold a vote on a contentious effort to expel the Israeli Union of Social Workers, after some European members complained that Israeli social workers had served in combat roles during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza — a move that the U.S.-based National Association of Social Workers unexpectedly said today it resoundingly opposes. 

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will sit down with Tucker Carlson in Jerusalem for an episode of the commentator’s podcast, as the two have been at loggerheads over Carlson’s repeated criticisms of Israel.

The Kigali Forum, a conference bringing together policy leaders and think tanks from the United States, Africa and Israel to discuss “the new Middle East,” will take place in Kigali, Rwanda.

The trial of the man accused of killing Paul Kessler, a Jewish man who was beaten and died during rival pro- and anti-Israel protests in the Los Angeles area in November 2023, is set to begin in Ventura County Superior Court.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking