Plus, the House Rs and Ds in Israel this week
NEVE DEKALIM, GAZA STRIP - AUGUST 16: Israeli police arrest anti-disengagement activists trying to prevent the entry of shipping containers August 16, 2005 into Neve Dekalim, the largest Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. As Israel's disengagement of some 8000 settlers from the Gaza Strip enters its second day, diehard settlers dug in for the final fight against Israel's historic Gaza Strip pullout after 38 years of occupation. (Photo by Shaul Schwarz/Getty Images)
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In today’s Daily Kickoff we talk to key figures from the period of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza 20 years ago and report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new plans to expand the war in Gaza. We also interview a cousin of Evyatar David, days after Hamas released a video of him being forced to dig his own grave. We review the latest round of fundraising reports filed by leading pro-Israel advocacy groups and interview James Walkinshaw, the favorite to win a special general election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District in September. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gideon Sa’ar, Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, William Daroff and Elbridge Colby.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is in New York this morning for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation of the hostages held in Gaza. Sa’ar prompted the special session after videos of two hostages — Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski — were released by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Before the session, Sa’ar will hold a meeting with American Jewish leaders. Read more here.
- Northwestern University President Michael Schill will appear before the House Education and Workforce Committee today for a closed-door transcribed interview about alleged failures to protect Jewish students on the Illinois campus.
- Also in Israel this week are two delegations of freshman House members, one from each caucus, organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. The Democratic trip is led by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the former House majority leader, and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the caucus chair.
- The Republican trip is led by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and includes Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Rep. Troy Downing (R-MT), Julie Fedorchak (R-ND), Randy Fine (R-FL), Brandon Gill (R-TX), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Mark Harris (R-NC), Jeff Hurd (R-CO), Brian Jack (R-GA), John McGuire (R-VA), Bob Onder (R-MO), Derek Schmidt (R-KS), Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) and Tony Wied (R-WI). Their visit will include meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s josh kraushaar
A new poll of New York City Jewish voters commissioned by the pro-Israel New York Solidarity Network underscores the presence of a cohesive constituency opposed to Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy to become New York City mayor — but also illustrates some of the divisions preventing the city’s Jewish community from speaking with a loud, united voice.
The poll, conducted by the respected Democratic polling firm GQR, found Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, winning only 37% of Jewish voters, with 25% backing Mayor Eric Adams, 21% supporting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and 14% preferring Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. The results show that even though most Jewish voters identify as Democrats, a clear majority won’t support the Democratic nominee because of his record on issues of concern to the Jewish community — in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-to-1.
Adams performs particularly well among Orthodox Jews, winning 61% of their vote, while Cuomo leads among Conservative Jewish voters with 35% support. But among unaffiliated and Reform Jews, Mamdani leads with a near majority of the Jewish vote.
Asked if Jewish voters were pro-Israel, two-thirds (66%) responded in the affirmative, while 31% said they weren’t. That’s a slightly larger share of non-Zionist Jews than we’ve seen in national polling. Nearly two-thirds (63%) also said that the “globalize the intifada” rhetoric that Mamdani has defended is antisemitic, with just 27% disagreeing.
policy reckoning
Lessons from Gaza disengagement remain relevant 20 years later
Twenty years ago this month, Israel dismantled 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip, in what was known as the disengagement, initiated and overseen by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Two decades later, Israel is fighting its longest war in Gaza, after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks perpetrated by the Hamas terrorist organization that has controlled Gaza since 2006. In the interim years, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza shot hundreds and sometimes thousands of rockets at Israeli population centers each year, prompting five major Israeli military operations in Gaza. Key figures from that period told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov that the Israeli government’s failure to formulate a day-after plan for Gaza — a criticism that has been leveled at Jerusalem in the current war — is in part to blame for the unfulfilled promises of the disengagement.
Pressure point: Gilad Erdan, a former senior Israeli cabinet minister and ambassador to the U.S., was a freshman Likud lawmaker when the disengagement was announced, and became a leading figure in the party’s rebellion against Sharon. Erdan noted to JI that Sharon not only claimed the disengagement would improve Israel’s security, he said that “if Israel doesn’t take this step, there will be other diplomatic plans [that the world will] try to force on Israel, and this step will free us of pressure from the international community. It’s clear that it didn’t reduce pressure, it increased it.”
Not followed through: Elliott Abrams, who was deputy national security advisor to the George W. Bush administration at the time of the disengagement, told JI that Sharon did have a larger overarching idea behind the move, but subsequent prime ministers did not follow through with it. “Sharon said at the time that Israel needs to establish its borders, and I think he would have done something … with the West Bank. Whatever the future of Israel is, it doesn’t include Gaza, which has no use economically and no significance religiously,” was the logic, Abrams said.
WAR PATH
Netanyahu reportedly pushing for major expansion of war in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to ask the Security Cabinet to back expanding Israel’s military efforts in Gaza, Israeli media reported on Monday. “We are going to conquer the [Gaza] Strip,” a senior source in Netanyahu’s office told Israel’s Channel 12. “The decision was made. Hamas will not free more hostages without us fully surrendering, and we will not surrender. If we don’t act now, the hostages will die of hunger and Gaza will remain under Hamas’ control,” the source added, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
A few caveats: Netanyahu did not use the term conquer or occupy with all of the Cabinet ministers to whom he conveyed his position, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan. Maariv reported that Netanyahu has not made a final decision yet about whether the IDF should take control of all of Gaza, and noted that legally, he cannot decide on his own without the Security Cabinet.
COUSIN’S CRY
‘Evyatar became a skeleton in Hamas tunnels,’ hostage’s cousin says after video released
Days after Hamas released a video showing hostage Evyatar David emaciated and being forced to dig his own grave in a tunnel under Gaza, David’s family called on the Trump administration to do anything it can to ensure that the hostages are released. “Evyatar is fighting for his life with what little strength he has left,” Matan Eshet, David’s cousin, told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on Monday. “You can see it in his eyes. You don’t need a medical degree to understand that Evyatar only has a few days to live.”
Unrecognizable: David, 24, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova Festival on Oct. 7, 2023. In a video released over the weekend, an extremely gaunt David was shown in a tunnel under Gaza digging, with his bones protruding. He wrote on a calendar documenting the small amounts of food — either lentils or beans — his captors have given him on some days, and on other days he wrote “no food.” Eshet said his family is “feeling broken” after seeing the new footage. “It’s not Evyatar. He doesn’t look like that or sound like that. That’s not how he moves. We see the distress in so many ways. He looks like a shadow of himself,” Eshet said. “He has to get medical care and food already.”
More from David’s family: Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, said on CNN on Monday, “Hamas is using my brother in this twisted, sick experiment on human lives. It’s not pressured enough … All leaders of all nations should stand up united and put every ounce of pressure they can on Hamas. Hamas must be begging for a deal.”
MONEY MATTERS
Pro-Israel groups post strong fundraising figures in first half of 2025
The latest round of fundraising reports filed by leading pro-Israel advocacy groups suggests that they are in strong financial shape as the midterms come into view, even as some of the top pro-Israel candidates have underperformed with their fundraising in key races. United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, raised $13.5 million in the first half of 2025, according to its mid-year fundraising report filed late last week, with nearly $39 million on hand at the end of June, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Shot up: Those figures were far higher than the $8.8 million in contributions the group had pulled in during the same six-month period in 2023, at the beginning of the last election cycle. The group, which ultimately raised much more in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, had $9 million on hand at the time, federal filings show. Among the top donors to UDP this cycle are Blair Frank, a portfolio manager at Capital Group, who gave $1.5 million — marking the only seven-figure contribution. The Kraft Group, a holding company led by Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, gave $500,000 — as did four other donors including Sanford Grossman, Michael Leffell, David Messer and Andrew Schwartzberg, according to the new filings.
DISTRICT DYNAMICS
James Walkinshaw sounds more supportive of Israel than his former boss
James Walkinshaw, a longtime former aide to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), aims to follow in his late mentor’s footsteps as the strong favorite to win a special general election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District in September, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Comparisons: Asked if he sees any major differences between himself and Connolly — whether on policy or his approach to the role of a member of Congress — Walkinshaw said that there are few, and that he was aligned with his former boss’ views on most issues. But when it comes to Israel, Walkinshaw sounds likely to adopt a more moderate tone on Middle East policy, something of a contrast from Connolly, who took an increasingly critical view of the Jewish state during his tenure in the House. “I think the U.S.-Israel relationship has immense historical importance. It has immense strategic importance to the United States, and I want to see a strong U.S.-Israel relationship with bipartisan support,” Walkinshaw told JI.
selective security
Harvard funding Hillel’s security costs but not doing the same for Chabad
Harvard University’s recent decision to cover security costs for Harvard Hillel was celebrated by many Jewish students as a way to alleviate growing security costs amid a surge in campus antisemitism. But for others, it raised questions about why the agreement did not extend to other Jewish groups affiliated with the school, such as Harvard Chabad, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Left out: “Of course, there is a sense that there should be a responsibility” to cover Chabad’s security as well, Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi told JI, although he said that he has never directly asked the administration to do so. Alex Bernat, Harvard Chabad’s outgoing undergraduate student president who graduated in the spring, said it’s “crucial” that Chabad receive the same funding. “If you want to make claims about protecting the Jewish community, you have to protect the whole Jewish community,” he told JI.
Worthy Reads
The Blame Game: Coleman Hughes writes in The Free Press about the West’s “moral confusion” in assigning blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “There’s no doubt that there is a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. But the information pipeline between Gaza and the West is fundamentally broken, biased, untrustworthy, and weaponized against Israel. And the less skeptical that Western journalists are, the more sources like Hamas and the Gaza Health Ministry can disseminate misinformation without penalty, perpetuating the false narrative that Israel is the genocidal aggressor in a war waged against them by a group whose mission is, in fact, genocide.” [FreePress]
PR Course Correction: The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer writes about how Israel can turn international public opinion around. “Every image of a child with protruding ribs is both a human tragedy and a propaganda victory for Hamas — and proof of how a just war badly lost the plot. I believed in Israel’s casus belli. I don’t believe in this. No justification can redeem the immorality of a policy built on deprivation. As Gaza braces for the worst, Israel still has a narrow window to correct its course. By flooding the zone [with aid], Israel has one last chance to redeem itself.” [TheAtlantic]
Questioning the War: The Wall Street Journal’s Anat Peled spotlights the growing number of voices in Israeli society, mostly on the center-left, that are questioning the morality of Israel’s actions in Gaza and calling for an end to the war. “In recent weeks, more Israelis — including prominent public figures — have called to end the war in Gaza while decrying the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, marking a shift in the public discourse. A majority of former directors of the Israeli military; Mossad; Shin Bet, the country’s internal security agency; and the police, called on the Israeli government on Sunday to end the war against Hamas. The cause began as a just one after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, they said. But now it has become futile … Nightly news reports have featured more Gazans talking about suffering in the strip. Photos of Gazans killed in the war are now more visible in some public spaces such as protests. More than 1,000 leading Israeli artists created a stir when they signed a petition calling to end the killing of children and civilians in Gaza.” [WSJ]
Baltics Balance: The Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon writes about Israel’s “pivot to the Baltics,” as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar return from separate trips to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “Calls for punitive measures against Israel are growing louder in EU corridors. In that environment, courting sympathetic voices in the Baltics – where the diplomatic weather is noticeably warmer – isn’t just smart; it’s necessary. … What’s at stake here is more than just goodwill. There are real, high-stakes policy implications. The EU is currently debating whether to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a framework governing economic and political cooperation between Israel and the EU. Sa’ar’s visit to the Baltics in June – before going to Brussels – was part of an effort to prevent such a move, and Herzog’s visit now continues that effort.” [JPost]
Word on the Street
A new Pentagon report confirmed that the U.S. withdrew troops from three military bases in Syria and Iraq in May, who were stationed there to combat ISIS forces…
Air Mail writes about the issue of ordinary Israelis engaging in espionage on behalf of Iran, with the Shin Bet confirming more than 60 Israeli citizens are being prosecuted for treason…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) defended New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s policy proposals for the city on Monday in a heated debate with CNBC host David Faber. Warren called Mamdani’s primary win “democracy at work”…
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) visited the town of Ariel yesterday, making him the highest-ranking elected federal official to visit a West Bank settlement…
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in grant notices made public Friday that states must guarantee they will not engage in boycotts of Israeli companies in order to qualify for a tranche of more than $1.9 billion in natural disaster preparedness grants…
The Israeli Cabinet voted unanimously yesterday to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with whom the current government has been at odds since it was formed, accusing her of political bias. Shortly after the vote, the Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction temporarily blocking the firing and ordering the government to continue abiding by Baharav-Miara’s legal opinions until the court issues a final ruling…
The third season of the TV series “Tehran,” which follows an undercover Mossad agent in Iran, may come to Apple TV soon, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Though it aired in Israel over two years ago, Apple has repeatedly delayed the season’s release in the U.S. due to the Oct. 7 attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza…
Rest of World examines how the rise of data centers in the Gulf amid the race to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure will stress already water-scarce countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia…
The Anti-Defamation League said on Monday that the Portland Police Department is investigating the recent vandalism of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education with swastikas as a hate crime…
New Lines Magazine chronicles the violent clash inside Sweida Hospital in southern Syria last month as government-aligned militias and Bedouin groups clashed with the local Druze population last month…
Pic of the Day
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff (right) met with Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon yesterday. Daroff told Jewish Insider that Colby “expressed a clear and serious understanding of U.S. strategic interests in the Middle East, including the vital importance of deterring Iran, preventing regional adversaries from gaining dominance, and sustaining Israel’s security following the Twelve Day War,” and that he was “encouraged by [Colby’s] principled and grounded approach.”
Birthdays
Professional boxer who held the WBA super welterweight title from 2009 to 2010, in 2014 he was ordained as a rabbi and then known as the “Boxing Rabbi,” Yuri Foreman turns 45…
Chairman of Delphi Capital Management, he is the founder and chairman of Open to Debate, a public policy debate series, Robert Rosenkranz turns 83… Former chairman of the World Zionist Organization who later served as chairman of the Jewish National Fund, Avraham Duvdevani turns 80… Former Israeli ambassador to France, following seven years as a member of the Knesset, Yael German turns 78… Author of 25 nonfiction books, including The Portable Curmudgeon, Zen to Go and Advice to Writers, Jon Winokur turns 78… Historian, Nazi hunter and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem until 2024, Efraim Zuroff turns 77… Banker, once known as “Austria’s woman on Wall Street” and founder of Bank Medici in 1994, Sonja Kohn turns 77… Former Soviet Refusenik, he served as speaker of the Knesset for seven years, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein turns 67… Intellectual property and entertainment attorney based in Ithaca, N.Y., he is an adjunct professor of law at both Cornell and Touro, Howard Leib… Member of the British House of Lords, he was chief executive of the Office of the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and then chief executive of the United Jewish Israel Appeal, Baron Jonathan Andrew Kestenbaum turns 66… Businessman Murray Huberfeld… Songwriter, author, political columnist and noted baseball memorabilia collector, Seth Swirsky turns 65… Chair of the Department of Jewish History at Baltimore’s Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, Neil Rubin, Ph.D…. Actor who starred in “Weekend at Bernie’s,” his father and grandfather were both rabbis, Jonathan Elihu Silverman turns 59… President at ConservAmerica, he is an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Jeffrey Kupfer… President of the Center for Jewish History in NYC and professor at Fairfield University, Dr. Gavriel David Rosenfeld turns 58… Former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party, Roy Folkman turns 50… Director of the Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution for 13 years until this past June, he is soon to become a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, Natan Sachs… Investment and foundation manager at Denver-based Race Street Management and a board member of JFNA, Cintra Pollack… VP of government affairs at WISPA – the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, Matt Mandel… Chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Gregg (A.G.) Sulzberger turns 45… Former director of responsible innovation at Meta / Facebook, now a consultant, he is also the spiritual leader of Chochmat HaLev, a progressive spiritual community in Berkeley, Calif., Zvika Krieger… Member of the comedy duo Jake and Amir, Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz turns 40… Longtime member of the Israeli national soccer team who also played in Europe’s UEFA Champions League, Gil Vermouth turns 40… Co-founder of Cadence, an AI-driven performance nutrition platform, Lila Cohn… Front end engineer at Platform.sh, Abby Milberg… 2023 graduate of Harvard Law School, now an assistant corporation counsel for New York City, Michael E. Snow… Senior advisor for implementation at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Lisa Geller… Leslie Saunders… Director of antisemitism programs at the Anti-Defamation League, Anyu Silverman…
Many lawmakers from both parties known for their pragmatism and moderation struggled to raise big bucks for their campaigns
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) speaks during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Capitol Hill on June 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.
The latest round of fundraising reports for members of Congress paints a concerning picture about the future of the ideological center. Many lawmakers from both parties known for their pragmatism and moderation struggled to raise big bucks for their campaigns, while a number of insurgent candidates on the left and the right wings of their parties scored significant fundraising hauls.
Some of the middling fundraising numbers from experienced, establishment-oriented lawmakers will lead to speculation they are considering retirement.
On the GOP side, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), a senator deeply immersed in national security issues, only raised $723,000 in the last three months — barely inching past two of her Democratic opponents. That’s an underwhelming sum for Ernst, who has typically been a strong fundraiser but has been taking heat from both the right and left. It will only raise speculation about her political future.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), facing a primary challenge from right-wing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, also didn’t hit the $1 million mark in fundraising, bringing in just $804,000. Paxton, despite worries about his electability and scandals surrounding him, raised $2.9 million.
In the House, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), the respected former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, raised just $93,000 for the quarter, with less than $100,000 in his campaign account. While he’s not in a competitive district, that small sum has raised retirement speculation as well.
On the Democratic side, there were some fresh signs that mainstream, pro-Israel candidates aren’t getting quite the same fundraising traction as they have in the past.
We noted earlier in these pages that in the Michigan Senate Democratic primary, pro-Israel stalwart Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), was outraised by both state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul el-Sayed, an outspoken anti-Israel voice.
In the race to succeed retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), the two Democratic candidates running as progressive critics of Israel — Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh — outdistanced state Sen. Laura Fine, a strong supporter of Israel in the state Legislature.
There were some encouraging signs from several moderate Democrats in high-profile races: Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) outraised progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, $1.47 million to $917,000, in the Minnesota Senate race. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a suburban congressman with a generally pro-Israel record, led the Illinois Senate field in fundraising. And Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a battle-tested pragmatic lawmaker, raised a solid $1.8 million without much primary opposition in the New Hampshire Senate race.
But the party’s biggest fundraisers remain the true-blue left-wingers: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) raised a whopping $5.8 million in the last three months as she receives more and more presidential buzz. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), despite not even running for reelection next year, brought in more than $4.5 million in the second quarter.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), by comparison, raised less than half of AOC’s second quarter total — at $2.37 million. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who isn’t in cycle until 2028, brought in just $155,000 to his campaign account.