• We’re keeping an eye on the fallout following yesterday’s clashes between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which escalated over a period of several hours as both men took to their respective social media platforms to attack the other.
• The Boulder chapter of Run For Their Lives will hold its weekly walk on Sunday to raise awareness for the remaining 56 hostages in Gaza, a week after a terror attack in which an Egyptian national firebombed marchers, injuring 15. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum as well as nearby Run For Their Lives chapters will send representatives to Sunday’s march.
• Brilliant Minds is holding its annual confab in Stockholm.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH AND JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Another week, another round of evidence showing that a growing faction of isolationist-minded foreign policy advisors — or, in the parlance of some on the MAGA right, the “restrainers” — are slowly but surely gaining influence in the Trump administration’s second term.

If personnel is policy, it suggests the second Trump term will feature a markedly different approach to the Middle East than his record from 2017-2021, which included the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and four Arab countries, the elimination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qassem Soleimani and the withdrawal from former President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

We reported this week that the Senate will soon consider the nomination of Justin Overbaugh to be deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. Overbaugh is just the latest of several senior Pentagon nominees who come from Defense Priorities, a Koch-backed think tank that has generally argued the U.S. should scale back its involvement in global conflicts, including in the Middle East. 

It’s not just at the Defense Department. A senior State Department official told Jewish Insider that at Foggy Bottom, too, the “restrainers” are ascendant. Morgan Ortagus, an Iran hawk who has been serving as deputy Middle East special envoy under Steve Witkoff, plans to depart the office. At the National Security Council, top officials focused on Israel and the Middle East were pushed out last month as President Donald Trump seeks to centralize foreign policy decision-making in the Oval Office. 

This story is more than just a gossipy tale of White House palace intrigue. This factional foreign policy battle is set to have major global consequences. The impact is already clear: Trump is pursuing nuclear negotiations with Iran, led by Witkoff, that may result in a deal — one that reportedly could allow Iran to at least temporarily continue enriching uranium, a position that would have been unimaginable in Trump’s first term.

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

For Pete’s Sake: The Atlantic’s Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker report on relations between the White House and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which began to fray after Hegseth offered former White House advisor Elon Musk a high-level briefing in March. “Many at the Pentagon question how long the president’s backing for their boss will last. During his first term, Trump cycled through four defense secretaries and four national security advisers. … Although the president appears to appreciate Hegseth’s pugnacious public style, he may require more from his defense secretary over time, as the administration faces pressure to deliver on a set of complex and interlocking goals, including fixing a byzantine military-procurement system, reviving a diminished defense industry, and strengthening America’s response to China’s military rise.” [TheAtlantic]

Dems Missing the Revolution:The New York Times’ David Brooks posits that Democrats are misgauging the political shift underway in American society. “Trump has taken the atmosphere of alienation, magnified it with his own apocalypticism, and, assaulting institutions across society, has created a revolutionary government. More this term than last, he is shifting the conditions in which we live. Many of my Democratic friends have not fully internalized the magnitude of this historical shift. They are still thinking within the confines of the Clinton-Obama-Biden-Pelosi worldview. But I have a feeling that over the next few years, the tumult of events will push Democrats onto some new trajectory.” [NYTimes]

The State Department announced sanctions on four International Criminal Court judges, calling the body “politicized” and alleging that the sanctioned judges “actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel”… 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard appointed a close ally to sit in the office of the inspector general of the intelligence community…

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed an anticipated vote on Thursday on Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs as he faces opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), which could imperil his nomination, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) accused the search firm that oversaw the failed nomination of former University of Michigan President Santa Ono to lead the University of Florida of not properly vetting and disclosing the candidate’s record, in comments to Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs… 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said he’ll force votes as soon as next week on resolutions to block U.S. arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates…

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink estimated on Thursday that the costs of retrofitting a Qatari plane that Doha intends to gift to the White House for use in the Air Force One fleet will be less than $400 million…

The Defense Department informed the Senate and House Armed Services committees that it will divert anti-drone technology allocated to Ukraine to positions in the Middle East…

Six members of Colorado’s House delegation introduced a resolution condemning the Boulder attack and the rise of antisemitism in the United States…

The NYPD is investigating as a hate crime an attack on a 72-year-old Jewish man who was putting up hostage posters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side; the assailants reportedly shouted “Free Palestine” at the man before the attack…

A federal judge in Massachusetts ordered a temporary halt to a Trump administration directive banning Harvard from enrolling international students…

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is opening a public affairs shop led by Campbell Spencer and Max Hamel…

Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone confirmed that she is being treated for thyroid cancer; a spokesperson for Redstone said her prognosis is “excellent” as she receives radiation treatment for the cancer, which was discovered two months ago…

The Washington Post reviews poet Edward Hirsch’s memoir My Childhood in Pieces, calling it a “vibrant, moving portrait of mid-century Jewish communities in Chicago and Skokie, Illinois, and of a particular middle-class Middle America”…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross interviews outgoing Jewish Federations of North America Chair Julie Platt about her tenure with the organization, which began just prior to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and continued through the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel and ensuing war in Gaza…

Jonathan Hall, the U.K.’s senior-most advisor on terrorism issues, warned of the “extraordinary” terror and espionage threats posed by Iran and Russia on British soil…

A Pakistani man was convicted in a U.S. federal court of smuggling Iranian missile components to Tehran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen; two Navy SEALs died in the mission to apprehend Muhammad Pahlawan, whose boat was intercepted off the coast of Somalia in 2024…

The number of commercial ships passing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal has dropped by more than 50% since 2023; shipping companies are largely avoiding the maritime route, despite a recent ceasefire between the U.S. and the Houthis, out of concern that Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Israel could misfire and strike commercial vessels…

Israel reportedly assured the Trump administration it would not conduct military strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities unless talks between Washington and Tehran fail…

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Moscow’s assistance in ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, citing Russia’s close ties with Tehran…

Iran ordered thousands of tons of ammonium perchlorate, with the capability of fueling hundreds of ballistic missiles, from China…

The Israeli Air Force conducted strikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut targeting what the IDF said were Hezbollah drone production facilities…

Israel is providing weapons to an armed militia opposing Hamas, a defense source confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov…

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced it was shutting its aid distribution sites until further notice…

Lufthansa plans to resume flights to Israel later this month…

Shaul Magid was appointed Harvard Divinity School’s first professor of modern Jewish studies in residence, a five-year appointment; Rabbi David Wolpe, a former visiting scholar at the school, called Magid, who has argued in favor of “counter-Zionism” and a binational state, a “gracious human being & an estimable scholar of Jewish texts,” but added that he profoundly disagree[s] with [Magid’s] stance on Israel and wish[ed] HDS would appoint someone whose views reflect the mainstream of the Jewish community”…

Economist Marina von Neumann Whitman, the first woman appointed to the White House Council of Economic Advisors, died at 90…

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (left) and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar participated on Thursday in a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin.

Chicago- and Aspen-based businessman, he owns large stakes in Maytag, Hilton Hotels, the New York Yankees and the Chicago Bulls, Lester Crown turns 100 on Saturday…

FRIDAY: U.S. District Court judge since 1994, on senior status since 2005, serving in the Eastern District of New York, Frederic Block turns 91… Real estate entrepreneur and executive chairman of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Thomas Pritzker turns 75… U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) turns 73… Diplomat who has served as Israel’s ambassador to South Sudan and then Egypt, Haim Koren turns 72… Four-time Tony Award winner, he is an actor, playwright and screenwriter, Harvey Fierstein turns 71… Comedian, political critic, musician and author, Sandra Bernhard turns 70… Radio news personality, known as “Lisa G,” Lisa Glasberg turns 69… Past chair of the board of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools and President at Micah Philanthropies, Ann Baidack Pava… CEO of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Steve Koonin turns 68… Israeli conductor and musician, Nir Brand turns 64… Former majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives and now vice chairman of investment bank Moelis & Company, Eric Cantor turns 62… Partner in the strategic communications division of Finsbury Glover Hering (FGS Global), Jonathan Kopp turns 59… Israeli-American behavioral economics professor at UCSD, Uri Hezkia Gneezy turns 58… Best-selling author, journalist and television personality, Anna Benjamin David turns 55… Chairman of Israeli fintech entrio (formerly The Floor), he is the only child of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Elisha Wiesel turns 53… Hedge fund manager and founder of Saba Capital Management, he is also a skilled poker and blackjack player, Boaz Weinstein turns 52… Producer of 11 network television programs, Jennie Snyder Urman turns 50… 2019 Trump impeachment witness, he was director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, Lt. Col. (ret.) Alexander Semyon Vindman… and his twin brother, Col. (ret.) Yevgeny Vindman, a member of Congress from Virginia’s 7th District, both turn 50… Founder and chairman of the Washington Free Beacon, Michael L. Goldfarb turns 45… Senior reporter at ABC News, Katherine B. Faulders… Director at Finsbury Glover Hering (FGS Global), Anna Epstein… Member of the New York State Assembly until 2023 when he resigned to become VP of government relations at UJA-Federation of New York, Daniel Rosenthal turns 34… White House staffer during the Biden administration, Jordan G. Finkelstein… Communications manager at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Allie Freedman… 

SATURDAY: Rehoboth Beach, Del., resident, Dennis B. Berlin… Former five-term Democratic congressman from California, he now serves as counsel in the Century City office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Mel Levine turns 82… Professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, and author of 13 books, Deborah Tannen turns 80… Epidemiologist, toxicologist and author of three books about environmental hazards, Devra Davis turns 79… Deputy secretary of state of the U.S. during the first half of the Biden administration, Wendy Ruth Sherman turns 76… Retired staff director at the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Hillel Weinberg… President of Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art in Israel, he is a grandson of former Israeli PM Levi Eshkol, Sheizaf Rafaeli turns 70… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-PA-7) until earlier this year, Susan Ellis Wild turns 68… Former vice president of the United States, Mike Pence turns 66… Jerusalem resident, Deborah Lee Renert… Founder chairman and CEO of the Naftali Group, Miki Naftali turns 63… U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, Jesse Matthew Furman turns 53… U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) turns 53… Brooklyn rapper better known by his stage name Necro, Ron Raphael Braunstein turns 49… One-half of the Arab-Jewish electronic music duo Chromeo, David “Dave 1” Macklovitch turns 47… Israeli actress, singer and pianist, she performs in Hebrew, Russian, French and English, Ania Bukstein turns 43… Senior director of place-based initiatives at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Isaac Luria… Editor of The New York Review of Books, Emily S. Greenhouse… Actress and model, Emily Ratajkowski turns 34… Canadian ice hockey forward, he played for China in the 2022 Winter Olympics, now a businessman in Ontario, Ethan Werek turns 34… Andrea Gonzales… 

SUNDAY: Hebrew University mathematics professor and 2005 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, Robert Aumann turns 95… Guru of alternative, holistic and integrative medicine, Dr. Andrew Weil turns 83… Hedge fund founder and manager, founder of the Paloma Funds, Selwyn Donald Sussman turns 79… Detective novelist, best known for creating the character of V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky turns 78… Founder and CEO of Sitrick and Company, Michael Sitrick… Classical pianist, teacher and performer at the Juilliard School and winner of a Grammy Award, he is the child of Holocaust survivors, Emanuel Ax turns 76… Former member of Knesset from the Zionist Union party, now a professor at Ben-Gurion University, Yosef “Yossi” Yona turns 72… Barbara Jaffe Panken… Senior advisor at Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based O2 Investment Partners, Robert Harris (Rob) Orley… Journalist, stand-up comedian, author, cartoonist and blogger, Aaron Freeman turns 69… CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Stacy Ritter turns 65… AVP for campaign at the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Patti Frazin… Co-founder and CEO of the Genesis Prize Foundation, Stan Polovets turns 62… Winner of many Emmy and SAG awards, star of the long-running TV series “The Good Wife,” Julianna Margulies turns 59… Israel’s state comptroller and ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman turns 59… Actor, screenwriter and producer, Dan Futterman turns 58… Former congresswoman (D-AZ-8), she is a survivor of an assassination attempt near Tucson in 2011, Gabrielle Giffords turns 55… Actor who starred in USA Network’s “Royal Pains,” he also wrote and created the CBS series “9JKL,” Mark Feuerstein turns 54… Executive director at Consulate Health Care in New Port Richey, Fla., Daniel Frenden… Head of North America for the Jewish Agency and President and CEO of Jewish Agency International Development (JAID), Daniel Elbaum… Former deputy chief of staff for Charlie Baker when he was governor of Massachusetts, Michael Emanuel Vallarelli… Lead community organizer at LA Voice, Suzy Stone… Businesswoman, art collector and editor, founder of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Dasha Zhukova turns 44… Fourth-generation supermarket executive at Klein’s ShopRite of Maryland, Marshall Klein… Corporate litigation partner in the Wilmington office of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, Daniel Kirshenbaum… Three-time Tony Award-winning theatrical producer, he is the co-founder at Folk Media Group, Eric J. Kuhn turns 38… CEO of BZ Media and the Bnai Zion Foundation, Rabbi Dr. Ari Lamm… Offensive tackle in the NFL for nine seasons until he retired in 2022, he started in 121 straight games in which he played every offensive snap, his Hebrew name is “Mendel,” Mitchell Schwartz turns 36…

• The fifth round of nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran will take place today in Rome. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad Director David Barnea are also set to meet with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome to coordinate Israel’s views with the U.S.
• Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) will deliver the keynote address at the 51st commencement ceremony of Touro’s Lander Colleges on Sunday at Lincoln Center.

A QUICK WORD WITH JOSH KRAUSHAAR

In a series of upcoming Democratic primaries, Jewish and pro-Israel groups are deciding whether to press their political case and go on offense behind stalwart allies — or take a more cautious approach, focused on preventing candidates that are downright hostile to Jewish concerns from emerging as nominees, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. 

It’s an unusual place to be in. Until recently, most Democratic candidates were reliably attuned to Jewish communal interests, and there wasn’t much of a need for groups to play in primaries, except in rare situations. That changed with the emergence of the anti-Israel Squad of far-left Democrats, which led pro-Israel Democratic groups like DMFI to step up and support mainstream candidates, and pushed AIPAC to launch a super PAC to become much more involved in direct political engagement. 

Now, even the issue of fighting or speaking out against antisemitism — far from the more heated debate over Israel policy — is no longer a consensus issue for Democrats. Senate Democrats (when in charge of the upper chamber) hesitated to hold hearings on campus antisemitism, a leading candidate for mayor of New York City declined to sign onto a legislative resolution commemorating the Holocaust and an increasingly credible New Jersey gubernatorial candidate has declined to distance himself from Louis Farrakhan. 

What was once the extreme has now come uncomfortably close to the Democratic mainstream. The urgency of ensuring most candidates condemn antisemitism and anti-Israel radicalism wherever it rears its ugly head was made clear after the horrific murder on Wednesday night of two Israeli Embassy employees by a terrorist with a radical, anti-Israel background. Far too often, the growing number of threats to Jews along with the rise of anti-Israel sloganeering featuring antisemitic hate or adoption of terrorist symbols has been met with a benign acceptance. 

That’s made the tactical decisions from outside Jewish and pro-Israel groups involved in politics a lot more significant. There are a number of Democratic primaries coming up featuring a stalwart ally of the Jewish community, an anti-Israel candidate with checkered history on antisemitism and a middle-of-the-road candidate whose record on these issues is respectable, but not always reliable.

Take next month’s New Jersey governor’s primary. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), seen as the front-runner, has compiled a generally pro-Israel record in Congress but hasn’t stuck her neck out as much as her Democratic colleague, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). Gottheimer has yet to catch momentum in the crowded primary, and one of the other credible challengers is Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, whose condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza and praise for Farrakhan is viewed as beyond the pale.

At a certain point, do Jewish groups rally behind the center-left front-runner to block the more problematic candidate, or stick with the most supportive candidate?

The New York City mayoral primary next month provides another key test. State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is the favorite of the DSA base, and thanks to strong support from that far-left faction, is polling in second place. But due to his high profile and moderate pro-Israel message, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo looks like the clear front-runner — even as Jewish voters haven’t yet consolidated behind him in the crowded field.

To Cuomo’s benefit, New York City mayoral primaries have a ranked-choice system that prevents a candidate with a small but passionate base from winning a small plurality in a crowded field. In theory, that should help Cuomo. But as the leading moderate candidate in the race, he could also benefit from consolidating the centrist vote, which is still up for grabs.

Within the sizable Jewish constituency in New York City, Cuomo faces pushback from some Orthodox voters still angry about the then-governor’s lockdowns and expansive COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic, making his pitch in support of Israel and against antisemitism far from a slam dunk in certain circles. His resignation from the governorship amid allegations of sexual misconduct is also a factor for some Jewish voters, as well. 

But if pro-Israel, Jewish voters divide their support among other candidates, it could help Mamdani, whose record is the least palatable to these same constituents. 

The fact that many Democrats in New Jersey and New York City, two places with among the largest concentrations of Jewish voters in the Diaspora, are not automatically stalwart allies of mainstream Jewish interests, is itself a sign of the changing political times and the evolving nature of the Democratic Party. It may also explain why there appears to be more of an effort to play defense — a focus on blocking the most objectionable candidates from winning high office — rather than hoping for the best, and seeing where the chips fall. 

Today’s Blood Libel: Bari Weiss draws a line in The Free Press between anti-Israel vitriol that has pervaded protests, universities and social media in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks and the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers on Wednesday. “Venomous, untrue statements about Israel, its supporters, and the war against Hamas in Gaza chipped away at the old taboo against open antisemitism in America. Constant demonization of American Jews and Zionists is how a democratic state and its supporters have been made into targets. It is how the ‘permission structure’ for violence against Jews in America has been erected. Growing up, learning about Simon of Trent or other medieval blood libels, I wondered how something so unnatural, so deranged, could ever happen. How lies could spread so far, transmogrify into a movement, infect culture so comprehensively, and engender deadly action. … How can anyone honest with themselves not draw a connection between a culture that says Zionists are antihumans — even Nazis themselves — and the terrorists now attacking Jews across the globe?” [TheFreePress]

Israeli Resilience: Tablet’s Armin Rosen writes about the resilience of the Israeli diplomatic corps: “In my experience the diplomats of the Jewish state are among the least Israeli of Israelis. They are restrained and secular and quiet and usually know how to dress themselves; they speak with every possible accent, and it’s hard to imagine them whacking at a matkot ball, fighting their way onto a bus, or davening during halftime of a basketball game. They are the normal and cosmopolitan faces of a rambunctious and inherently tribal country. But it is the tension between the rigors of diplomacy and the character of their homeland that also makes them deeply Israeli: whatever their religious practice and whatever their politics, Israeli diplomats are inevitably Jews among the nations, a tiny sub-tribe that serves as the official foreign representation of the world’s only Jewish state, the first in 2,000 years and one of the most hated and lied-about countries in the entire history of humankind. To carry out this mission for fairly low pay on behalf of an often-dysfunctional foreign ministry, in places far from home where spies and activists and journalists and local Jews are circling you or even actively targeting you at any given moment, requires a typically Israeli mix of creativity, resourcefulness, and optimism” [Tablet]

Yaron the Healer: Mariam Wahba, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, eulogizes her friend Yaron Lischinsky, one of the victims of Wednesday night’s shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum, in The Free Press. “He told me how his family lived in Israel before they moved to Germany, about moving back when he was 16, and knowing, early and without hesitation, that he wanted to be a diplomat and peacemaker. Language came easily to him: Hebrew, Japanese, English, and of course, his native German. He moved through the world with care and thoughtfulness, as if everyone and everything he touched might break. … Yaron was the kind of person who knew the exact year of the First Council of Nicaea and never made you feel small for getting it wrong. His murder leaves a wound in many hearts, one that may never fully heal, for he was the healer. Yaron was sharp, but more importantly, he was kind. He didn’t just want to understand the world. He wanted to mend it. Quietly and gently. Thoughtfully. Steadily.” [TheFreePress]

Bibi, the Bit Player: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg argues that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put too much faith in a second Trump term and has found himself sidelined from the president’s agenda. “By revealing Netanyahu to be a bit player, rather than an elite operator, Trump has not just put the Israeli leader in his place. He has exploded Netanyahu’s carefully cultivated political persona — an act as damaging to Netanyahu’s standing as the Hamas attack on October 7. Worse than making Netanyahu look foolish, Trump has made him look irrelevant. He is not Trump’s partner, but rather his mark. In Israeli parlance, the prime minister is a freier — a sucker. The third-rate pro-government propagandists on Channel 14 might not have seen this coming, but Netanyahu should have. His dark worldview is premised on the pessimistic presumption that the world will turn on the Jews if given the chance, which is why the Israeli leader has long prized hard power over diplomatic understandings. Even if Trump wasn’t such an unreliable figure, trusting him should have gone against all of Netanyahu’s instincts.” [TheAtlantic]

Elias Rodriguez, the suspected gunman in the deadly shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington on Wednesday, was charged with two counts of murder and other federal crimes. Interim U.S. Attorney in Washington Jeanine Pirro said investigators are continuing to investigate the attack as a hate crime and terrorism and additional charges may be brought…

The New York Times drew parallels between Wednesday night’s killing of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington and another murder of an Israeli diplomat in the Washington area in 1973, a case which was never solved…

Scripps News published archive footage from 2018 from an interview it conducted with Elias Rodriguez, the suspected gunman in the Wednesday night shooting of Israeli Embassy employees, during a protest in Chicago where he identified himself as a member of ANSWER Chicago. ANSWER has held protests against the Israeli war in Gaza, which the organization calls a genocide…

The shooting has stoked safety fears among Israelis and Jews amid a spike in global antisemitism, The Wall Street Journal reports… 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing that President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “have a good relationship, one that’s built on transparency and trust.” Leavitt said the president “has made it very clear to not just Prime Minister Netanyahu, but also the world, that he wants to see a deal with Iran struck if one can be struck.”…

The Supreme Court, in a 4-4 decision, rejected an Oklahoma Catholic school‘s bid to receive public funds as a religious charter school; the deadlocked ruling lets stand an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision barring the creation of such a charter school. The Orthodox Union had filed a brief in support of the school and said that a favorable ruling would make Jewish education more accessible…

A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration and Education Secretary Linda McMahon from dismantling the Department of Education and ordering them to reinstate department employees who had been fired. The administration said it will challenge the judge’s ruling “on an emergency basis”…

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights announced on Thursday that Columbia University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by “acting with deliberate indifference towards student-on-student harassment of Jewish students from October 7, 2023, through the present.” Anthony Archeval, acting director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, said in a statement, “We encourage Columbia University to work with us to come to an agreement that reflects meaningful changes that will truly protect Jewish students.”…

The Wall Street Journal highlights what it called the “extraordinary blurring of government negotiations and private business dealings” as Zach Witkoff, son of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, continues to invoke his father’s work and White House connections as he travels the world pursuing deals for his cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial…

Netanyahu on Thursday appointed Maj. Gen. David Zini as the next Shin Bet chief, despite a court ruling that his firing of the previous chief, Ronen Bar, and the determination of the attorney general that the move represented a conflict of interest in light of the agency’s ongoing investigation into Netanyahu’s aides’s ties to Qatar…

The Israeli airstrike that targeted Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, earlier this month, also reportedly killed several other high-ranking Hamas operatives as they gathered for a meeting…

Iran threatened to “implement special measures” to protect its nuclear facilities and materials if Israeli threats of a strike persist…

A failed Houthi attempt to launch a missile from the vicinity of Sana’a airport caused an explosion this morning, Muammar al-Iryani, Yemen’s information minister, said… 

Globes reports that in closed meetings with Israeli officials, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee conveyed concerns from Washington on several economic issues including initiatives that would affect U.S. energy giant Chevron and streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+…

Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. (right), on Thursday stands outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, where two staff members of the Israeli Embassy were killed in a terror attack the night before. With him are (from left) Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).

Actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian sometimes referred to as “Yid Vicious,” Bobby Slayton turns 70 on Sunday…

FRIDAY: Emeritus professor of physics and the history of science at Harvard, Gerald James Holton turns 103… Businessman and attorney, he acquired and rebuilt The Forge restaurant in Miami Beach, Alvin Malnik turns 92… Businessman, optometrist, inventor and philanthropist, Dr. Herbert A. Wertheim turns 86… Former dean of the Yale School of Architecture and founder of an eponymous architecture firm, Robert A. M. Stern turns 86… Founder and chairman of law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, leading DC super-lobbyist but based in Denver and long-time proponent of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Norman Brownstein turns 82… British fashion retailer and promoter of tennis in Israel, he is the founder, chairman and CEO of three international clothing lines including the French Connection, Great Plains and Toast brands, Stephen Marks turns 79… Senior counsel at Cozen O’Connor, focused on election law, he was in the inaugural class of Yeshiva University’s Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, Jerry H. Goldfeder turns 78… Award-winning television writer and playwright, Stephanie Liss turns 75… Israeli diplomat, he served as Israel’s ambassador to Nigeria and as consul general of Israel to Philadelphia, Uriel Palti turns 71… Editor-in-chief of a book on end-of-life stories, she is a special events advisor to The Israel Project, Catherine Zacks Gildenhorn… Israeli businessman with holdings in real estate, construction, energy, hotels and media, Ofer Nimrodi turns 68… President of Newton, Mass.-based Liberty Companies, Andrew M. Cable turns 68… Best-selling author and journalist, whose works include “Tuesdays with Morrie,” he has sold over 42 million books, Mitch Albom turns 67… Resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Reuel Marc Gerecht… Chairman of the board of the Irvine, Calif.-based Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook turns 64… Actor, comedian, writer, producer and musician, H. Jon Benjamin turns 59… Former ski instructor, ordained by HUC-JIR in 1998, now rabbi of the Community Synagogue of Rye (N.Y.), Daniel B. Gropper… Film and television director, Nanette Burstein turns 55… Australian cosmetics entrepreneur, now living in NYC, she is known as the “Lipstick Queen,” Poppy Cybele King turns 53… Prominent NYC matrimonial law attorney, she is the daughter of TV journalist Jeff Greenfield, Casey Greenfield turns 52… Member of the Knesset for the New Hope party, she previously served as Israel’s minister of education, Yifat Shasha-Biton turns 52… Retired attorney, now a YouTuber, David Freiheit turns 46… Executive director of the Singer Family Charitable Foundation, Dylan Tatz… Tech, cyber and disinformation reporter for Haaretz, Omer Benjakob… Professional golfer on the LPGA Tour, Morgan Pressel turns 37… Senior manager of brand and product strategy at GLG, Andrea M. Hiller Tenenboym…

SATURDAY: Co-founder of the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, he is featured in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers,” Herbert Wachtell turns 93… Professor emeritus of statistics and biomedical data science at Stanford, Bradley Efron turns 87… Biographer of religious, business and political figures, Deborah Hart Strober turns 85… Born Robert Allen Zimmerman, his Hebrew name is Shabsi Zissel, he is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of his generation, Bob Dylan turns 84… Social media and Internet marketing consultant, Israel Sushman turns 77… Member of Congress since 2007 (D-TN-9), he is Tennessee’s first Jewish congressman, Steve Cohen turns 76… Former director of planned giving at American Society for Yad Vashem, Robert Christopher Morton turns 74… Former Mexican secretary of foreign affairs, he is the author of more than a dozen books, Jorge Castañeda Gutman turns 72… President of the Israel ParaSport Center in Ramat Gan and vice chair of Birthright Israel Foundation, Lori Ann Komisar… First-ever Jewish member of the parliament in Finland, he was elected in 1979 and continues to serve, Ben Zyskowicz turns 71… Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer, Michael Chabon turns 62… U.S. ambassador to Singapore during the Obama administration, he is now the managing director and general counsel of KraneShares, David Adelman turns 61… Senior advisor at the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, Debby Goldberg… Ukrainian businessman, patron of the Jewish community in Ukraine, collector of modern and contemporary art, Gennadii Korban turns 55… Film director, in 2019 he became the second-ever Israeli to win an Academy Award, Guy Nattiv turns 52… Swedish criminal defense lawyer, author and fashion model, Jens Jacob Lapidus turns 51… Actor, who starred in the HBO original series “How to Make It in America,” Bryan Greenberg turns 47… Emmy Award-winning host of “Serving Up Science” at PBS Digital Studios, Sheril Kirshenbaum turns 45… EVP and chief of staff at The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, Benjamin E. Milakofsky… Synchronized swimmer who represented Israel at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Anastasia Gloushkov Leventhal turns 40… Travel blogger who has visited 197 countries, Drew “Binsky” Goldberg turns 34… Member of the Iowa House of Representatives since 2023, Adam Zabner turns 26… Social media influencer and activist, Emily Austin turns 24…

SUNDAY: Academy Award-winning film producer and director, responsible for 58 major motion pictures, Irwin Winkler turns 94… Holocaust survivor as a young child, he is a professor emeritus of physics and chemistry at Brooklyn College, Micha Tomkiewicz turns 86… Co-founder of the clothing manufacturer, Calvin Klein Inc., which he formed with his childhood friend Calvin Klein, he is also a former horse racing industry executive, Barry K. Schwartz turns 83… Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1986, he is now on senior status, Douglas H. Ginsburg turns 79… British journalist, editor and author, he is a past VP of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Alex Brummer turns 76… Of counsel in the Chicago office of Saul Ewing, Joel M. Hurwitz turns 74… Screenwriter, producer and film director, best known for his work on the “Back to the Future” franchise, Bob Gale turns 74… Los Angeles area resident, Robin Myrne Kramer… Retired CEO of Denver’s Rose Medical Center after 21 years, he is now the CEO of Velocity Healthcare Consultants, Kenneth Feiler… Israeli actress, Rachel “Chelli” Goldenberg turns 71… Professor of history at Fordham University, Doron Ben-Atar turns 68… President of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, Ralph Friedländer turns 66… U.S. senator (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar turns 65… Senior government relations counsel in the D.C. office of Kelley Drye & Warren, Laurie Rubiner… Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania from 2020 until 2022, Yossi Avni-Levy turns 63… Actor, producer, director and writer, Joseph D. Reitman turns 57… Cape Town, South Africa, native, tech entrepreneur and investor, he was the original COO of PayPal and founder/CEO of Yammer, David Oliver Sacks turns 53… Member of the Australian Parliament since 2016, Julian Leeser turns 49… Former Minister of Diaspora Affairs, she is the first Haredi woman to serve as an Israeli cabinet minister, Omer Yankelevich turns 47… Senior political reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Greg Bluestein… COO at Maryland-based HealthSource Distributors, Marc D. Loeb… Comedian, actor and writer, Barry Rothbart turns 42… One of the U.S.’ first radiology extenders at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Orli Novick… Senior communications manager at Kaplan, Inc., Alison Kurtzman… Former MLB pitcher, he had two effective appearances for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifiers, Ryan Sherriff turns 35… Olympic Gold medalist in gymnastics at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Alexandra Rose “Aly” Raisman turns 31… Laura Goldman…

• President Donald Trump wraps up his three-country trip to the Middle East today in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier today, the president visited the Abrahamic Family House. More below.
• Former Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel is in New York City today, where he is hosting a pancake pop-up at 12 Chairs Cafe’s Soho location. All proceeds from the pop-up will go to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
• The two-day FII PRIORITY Europe 2025 begins today in Tirana, Albania. Speakers include French President Emmanuel Macron, Richard Attias and Goldman Sachs’ Jared Cohen. 
• Iran’s deputy foreign minister is in Istanbul today for meetings with senior diplomats from France, the U.K. and Germany.
• The Eurovision finals are taking place tomorrow in Basel, Switzerland. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael advanced out of Thursday’s semifinals and will perform her “New Day Will Rise” on Saturday night.
• On Sunday, the Center for Jewish History is hosting “The End of an Era? Jews and Elite Universities.” The symposium will feature speakers including Rabbi David Wolpe, Jamie Kirchick, Eli Lake, Steven Pinker, Bill Ackman and Deborah Lipstadt.
• Also Sunday, the National Council of Jewish Women’s two-day Washington Institute kicks off in the nation’s capital.
• In New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council-NY is hosting its annual Israel Parade on Sunday.
• And in Paris, ELNET’s International Policy Conference begins Sunday.
• The World Jewish Congress kicks off in Jerusalem on Sunday evening.
• Pope Leo XIV will be inaugurated on Sunday at the Vatican. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli President Isaac Herzog will be among the dignitaries and officials traveling to Italy for the inauguration. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JOSH KRAUSHAAR

In our hyperpartisan times, it’s often hard to appreciate how often the Trump administration — on issues ranging from health care to abortion to trade — is taking liberal-to-left positions, yet can still rely on support from nearly all of the GOP base, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. 

President Donald Trump can call for implementing price controlson pharmaceutical companies, without generating even a peep of opposition from rank-and-file conservatives. The White House can defend federal regulations allowing abortion pills to be available online and by mail without facing much backlash from pro-lifers. It can slap punitive tariffs on allies and rivals alike, raising the risk of economic chaos, only backing down after mayhem in the markets, and not because of public pushback from lawmakers.

But perhaps the most consequential divergence of the Trump administration from conventional conservative views is on foreign policy, most recently its seemingly growing disconnect from Israel on issues ranging from Iran nuclear negotiations to the war against the Houthis in Yemen and the state of the war in Gaza. Trump’s views are apparently at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on all those issues, to the point where the president didn’t even schedule a stop in Israel this week on his Middle East trip. 

We write a lot about the horseshoe theory, which has the far left and far right coming together to mainline views once considered beyond the political pale. On Middle East policy, it’s increasingly looking like there’s a different type of horseshoe, tying together Obama-era foreign policy advisors looking to attack the foreign policy establishment of their time as a “blob” along with isolationist-minded Trump advisors aiming to discredit mainstream conservative policymakers as part of an “interventionalist” cadre.

Just look at the stunning quotes from Obama and Biden-era foreign policy officials responsible for what some saw as unpopular national security decisions now praising the new Trump playbook in the Middle East. 

Obama Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told Axios, reprising his Blob dig for Trump critics: “One thing you will say is he’s not tied to this constant fear of some bad faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, ‘we don’t do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.’ No! Sometimes you just have to try something different.”  

Rob Malley, Biden’s Iran envoy whose security clearance was suspended over alleged misconduct, also backhandedly praised Trump’s new approach in the Middle East. “It’s hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos,” Malley told Axios. 

The Axios story follows our own reporting last month, quoting numerous Obama and Biden-era officials finding common ground with Trump on trying to reach a diplomatic agreement with Iran, even if it requires major concessions. Phil Gordon, Vice President Kamala Harris’ national security advisor, told JI the Trump negotiating team is “gonna have to accept some of the same imperfections that the Obama team did.” 

The big potential question to come is if Trump’s negotiators strike a nuclear deal with Iran that looks awfully similar to Obama’s 2015 deal, short of a dismantlement of the Islamic regime’s nuclear program, will Republicans fall in line or stand their ground on an issue many have spoken out against since the original JCPOA? Only time will tell what transpires, but given the trajectory of our politics, principles tend to bow to power.

Plane Wrong: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire and Russell Berman look at how Republicans are responding — or not addressing — President Donald Trump’s intentions to accept a luxury plane from Qatar. “But in a rare moment of defiance, some of the loudest cries of protest about the possible gift are coming from some of Trump’s staunchest allies. ‘I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right,”’ Ben Shapiro, a Daily Wire co-founder, said on his podcast. ‘President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.’ Even in Washington, a capital now numbed to scandals that were once unthinkable, the idea of accepting the jet is jaw-dropping. Trump’s second administration is yet again displaying a disregard for norms and for traditional legal and political guardrails around elected office — this time at a truly gargantuan scale. Trump’s team has said it believes that the gift would be legal because it would be donated to the Department of Defense (and then to the presidential library). But federal law prohibits government workers from accepting a gift larger than $20 at any one time from any person. Retired General Stanley McChrystal, who once commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told us that he couldn’t ‘accept a lunch at the Capital Grille.’” [TheAtlantic]

Acceptance Rates: In The Wall Street Journal, Alison Leigh Cowan proposes that universities ask questions of their applicants similar to the questions that green card applicants are required to answer on issues regarding violence and behavior. “Foreigners seeking green cards or nonresident visas must answer dozens of yes-or-no questions from the U.S. government. False statements can be grounds for deportation. They are also asked if they have any affiliation to communist or other totalitarian parties, and, in some instances, whether they intend to give financial or other support to terrorists or engage in activity intended to oppose, control or overthrow the U.S. government. American-born university applicants shouldn’t get a free pass. Plenty of them have been on the front lines of the rankest campus spectacles. This extra layer of diligence won’t solve the separate problem posed by tenured faculty who radicalize students once they arrive. But it’s a good place to start: University presidents have more sway over their admissions offices than they do over entrenched faculty members.” [WSJ]

President Donald Trump said on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates that American negotiators are “getting close to maybe doing a deal” with Iran over its nuclear program…

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke about the UAE-U.S. relationship, the Israel-Hamas war and nuclear talks with Iran; regarding Gaza, he called for “an authority that’s not Hamas that controls Gaza”…

During the president’s trip to the UAE, the countries inked an agreement to boost Abu Dhabi’s chip-making capabilities, the first such AI-related deal the U.S. has made since Trump entered office; the deal includes the creation of a 10-mile AI campus in Abu Dhabi supplied by U.S.-made chips…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Thursday with his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, in Turkey as the U.S. moves toward removing sanctions on Damascus following a directive from Trump…

Trump reportedly shared polling with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that showed lagging numbers ahead of her decision not to move forward with a Senate bid challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)…

Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) introduced the Persian Gulf Act, to prohibit the administration from changing the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf, as some in the Trump administration have reportedly considered…

A bipartisan group of 13 House members led by Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) introduced a resolution expressing support for continued and expanded U.S. defense cooperation, particularly in advanced research areas…

A group of nine Democratic legislators, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Summer Lee (D-PA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and Andre Carson (D-IN) introduced a resolution accusing Israel of genocide and calling for the U.S. to “ensure the United States ends its complicity in Israel’s ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people”…

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations voted unanimously to admit the Iranian American Jewish Federation, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

NYU is denying a diploma to a student speaker who railed against American “complicity in this genocide” in Gaza during a commencement ceremony at NYU’s Gallatin School…

Writer Salman Rushdie withdrew as the commencement speaker for Claremont McKenna College ahead of this weekend’s ceremonies…

Former Harvard Divinity School student Shabbos Kestenbaum settled his ongoing lawsuit against Harvard; the settlement comes days before a deadline for Kestenbaum to produce a range of documents that included his communications with President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and messages from WhatsApp groups…

The Justice Department told Harvard it is looking into whether the school is complying with a Supreme Court ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions processes…

A Pittsburgh woman pleaded guilty for her role in the vandalism of two Jewish institutions in the Pennsylvania city; Talya Lubit, who is Jewish, was ordered to pay nearly $11,000 in restitution to Chabad of Squirrel Hill, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh and will face a parole board’s recommendation at her June sentencing… 

Officials in southern Nevada are investigating a string of threatening letters sent to Jewish organizations in the Las Vegas area…

The BBC is investigating whether a frequent guest on BBC Arabic who has been billed as both a “journalist” and “foreign policy analyst” served as editor-in-chief of the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa TV until last September…

Vanity Fair profiles Axios reporter Barak Ravid, whose coverage since moving from Israel to Washington in mid-2023 has focused on the 2024 presidential election, U.S.-Israel relations and the Israel-Hamas war…

Israel carried out overnight strikes across the Gaza Strip, targeting what the IDF said was Hamas infrastructure, amid a broader escalation targeting the terror group in the enclave…

Trump addressed food shortages in Gaza on Friday, saying that “a lot of people are starving” but the U.S. is “going to get that taken care of”…

The New York Times reports on Hamas’ celebrations over the killing earlier this week of a pregnant Israeli woman in the West Bank…

Members of the Israeli branch of the Masorti/Conservative movement’s Mercaz Olami paid to publish and distribute posters in Haredi neighborhoods in Israel that equated Zionism with idolatry and heresy as part of an influence campaign aimed at driving a wedge between the Israeli Haredi public and the Haredi officials involved in the World Zionist Organization, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Nira Dayanim reports…

Several dozen people participated in an annual pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, amid security concerns; two years ago, five people were killed in a terror attack targeting pilgrims, who previously numbered in the thousands…

President Donald Trump toured the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue during his visit to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, this morning, the first American presidential visit to the interfaith institution since its inauguration in February 2023, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports.

Managing partner at Accretive LLC, a private equity firm, he is also executive chairman of Fubo TV, Edgar Bronfman Jr. turns 70… 

FRIDAY: Scholar, author and rabbi, he is the founding president of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Irving “Yitz” Greenberg turns 92… Retired judge of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, she has served as president and chair of The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Ellen Moses Heller turns 84… Senior official in the Carter, Bush 41, Clinton and Obama administrations Bernard W. Aronson turns 79… Member of the New York State Assembly for 52 years (longest tenure ever), his term ended in 2022, Richard N. Gottfried turns 78… Chairman of NBC News and MSNBC from 2015 until 2020, Andrew Lack turns 78… Member of the House of Representatives since 2013 (D-FL), she was previously the mayor of West Palm Beach, Lois Frankel turns 77… Harvard history professor, a member of the Rothschild banking family of England, Emma Georgina Rothschild turns 77… Proto-punk singer, songwriter and guitarist, Jonathan Richman turns 74… Radio voice of the Texas Rangers baseball organization since 1979, Eric Nadel turns 74… Rochester, N.Y., resident and advisor to NYC-based Ezras Nashim volunteer ambulance service, Michael E. Pollock… Real estate developer and mechutan of President Trump, his nomination to be U.S. ambassador to France is pending in the Senate, Charles Kushner turns 71… Film and stage actress, noted for “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Terms of Endearment,” Debra Winger turns 70… President of Tribe Media and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal, David Suissa… Real estate mogul and collector of modern and contemporary art, Aby J. Rosen turns 65… Executive assistant at Los Angeles-based FaceCake Marketing Technologies, Esther Bushey… U.S. ambassador to the European Union in the Obama administration, he had a bar mitzvah-like ceremony in Venice in 2017, Anthony Luzzatto Gardner turns 62… Social entrepreneur and co-founder of nonprofit Jumpstart, Jonathan Shawn Landres turns 53… Actress, television personality and author, Victoria Davey (Tori) Spelling turns 52… Host of programs on the Travel Channel and the History Channel, Adam Richman turns 51… VP and associate general counsel at CNN, Drew Shenkman… Managing director at FTI Consulting, Jeff Bechdel… Chef and food blogger, Jamie Neistat Lavarnway… Composer, conductor and music producer known for his film and television scores, Daniel Alexander Slatkin turns 31… 

SATURDAY: President of the Philadelphia-based Honickman Foundation, Lynne Korman Honickman turns 89… Annapolis, Md., attorney, Robert M. Pollock… News anchor for 45 years at WPVI-TV (ABC Channel 6) in Philadelphia until he retired in 2022, known professionally as Jim Gardner, James Goldman turns 77… Canadian philanthropist and the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Myra Ava Freeman turns 76… Corporate and securities attorney at NYC’s Eilenberg & Krause, he serves as counsel for Israeli technology companies doing business in the U.S., Sheldon Krause turns 70… Comedian, puppeteer and actor, Marc Weiner turns 70… Founder and president of ENS Resources, a D.C.-based consulting and lobbying firm focused on natural resources and sustainable energy, Eric Sapirstein turns 69… Host of “Marketplace Morning Report” on public radio, David Brancaccio turns 65… Author of the 2005 book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish and a 2017 book about Jewish holidays, she is an honorary president of NYC’s Central Synagogue, Abigail Pogrebin… and her identical twin sister, Robin Pogrebin, reporter on the culture desk for The New York Times, both turn 60… Former general manager for corporate strategy at Microsoft, she was also an EVP at Hillel, Kinney Zalesne turns 59… CPA and founder of the Baltimore Hunger Project, it provides food packs for the weekend that are discretely slipped into over 2,200 poverty-stricken public-school children’s backpacks each Friday, Lynne Berkowitz Kahn… Israeli author and playwright, Sarah Blau turns 52… Reporter for The New York Times covering politics, campaigns and elections, Reid J. Epstein… Former member of Knesset, when elected in 2013 she became the youngest female Knesset member in Israel’s history, Stav Shaffir turns 40… Executive director of Informing Democracy and digital strategy adviser to Democratic organizations and candidates, Jenna Ruth Lowenstein… Digital and social media strategist at AARP, Sarah Sonies… Senior writer at Microsoft’s Future of Work group, Rebecca Rose Nelson Kay… Israeli judoka, he was the 2019 World Champion and won a team bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics, Sagi Aharon Muki turns 33… Director of congregational engagement at Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation in St. Paul, Minn., Heather Renetzky… Senior media relations manager at Rystad Energy, Katherine (Katie) Keenan…

SUNDAY: Leader and rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger since 1996, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter turns 86… Chairman and co-founder of K2 Intelligence and Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Jules B. Kroll turns 84… Best-selling author of nine spy thriller novels, Andrew Gary Kaplan turns 84… Ruth Madoff turns 84… Retired New York Times columnist and editorial writer, he was the NYT’s Jerusalem correspondent for four years in the early 1990s, Clyde Haberman turns 80… President of Everest Management and trustee of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Gary Kopff turns 80… Los Angeles-based attorney and board member of American Friends of Nishmat, Linda Goldenberg Mayman… Longtime Washington correspondent for Newsweek, now writing for SpyTalk, Jonathan Broder turns 77… Longest-serving member of the Maryland House of Delegates, starting in 1983, Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg turns 75… Chair of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, a former IDF major general and leading activist for the disability community, Doron Almog turns 74… Senior advisor at Moelis & Company, a former IDF major general, then CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Shlomo Yanai turns 73… Director of nutrition and hospitality at Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital, Nancy Baumann… Attorney in Atlanta, he was the director of congregational engagement at the Union for Reform Judaism for nine years, Alan Kitey… Film producer, he is the CEO of Miramax since one year ago, Jonathan Glickman turns 56… Venture capitalist and author of a book on business principles derived from the Book of Genesis, Michael A. Eisenberg turns 54… CEO at Waze from 2013 to 2021, Noam Bardin… VP for communications strategy at Strategic Marketing Innovations (SMI), Bryan Bender turns 53… Head of development until earlier this year at NYC charter school system, Uncommon Schools, Sarah Danzig… Author of Substack-based newsletter and blog, “Slow Boring,” he was a co-founder of Vox, Matthew Yglesias turns 44… Founder of London-based Tech With Intention, Eliza Krigman… Senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the White House’s National Security Council, Eric Trager… Founder of Satori Global Media, Joshua Lederman… Former acting under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, then a member of the National Archives Public Interest Declassification Board, Ezra Asa Cohen turns 39… Tech entrepreneur in the AI and gaming space, Dan Garon… Co-founder of Rebel (formerly known as Rebelmail) then acquired by Salesforce, Joe Teplow… Managing associate in the D.C. office of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Lauren DePinto Bomberger… Executive producer of the Net Zero Life Podcast, Netanel (Tani) Levitt… Director of communications at Anduril Industries, Sofia Rose Gross Haft… Five-time member of the U.S. Women’s National Gymnastics Team, now a business manager in the office of the CIO at Citadel, Samantha “Sami” Shapiro turns 32… Chief development officer at TAMID Group, Rachel Philipson Marsh…

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s planned trip to Israel was reportedly scrubbed today. Hegseth had been slated to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz before joining President Donald Trump, who is traveling to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar next week for his first trip abroad since reentering office.
• The Financial Times Weekend Festival is taking place tomorrow in Washington. Scheduled speakers include former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, UnHerd’s Sohrab Ahmari, Rev. Johnnie Moore and Steve Bannon.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S HALEY COHEN

It’s not a coincidence that we’ve been focusing on Michigan a lot in these pages. It’s something of a battleground in the domestic politics surrounding antisemitism and the Middle East. Its universities have been among the epicenters of egregiously antisemitic activity. The state’s congressional delegation ranges from a stalwart ally of the state’s Jewish community in Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most radical anti-Israel voices in Congress.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that one of the leading officials in the state, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, found herself caught in political purgatory after abruptly dropping charges against seven University of Michigan students arrested for their role in anti-Israel demonstrations. The students were accused of assaulting police officers and engaging in ethnic intimidation.

Nessel, a Democrat, faced attacks from anti-Israel activists for bringing the case in the first place, and was subject to ugly smears that she only brought charges because of her Jewish identity. Tlaib has for months called on Nessel to recuse herself, arguing she only brought the case because of her “bias.” 

But after Nessel blamed a local Jewish communal organization for playing a role in dropping the case, she’s been facing friendly fire from many of her erstwhile Jewish allies as well. After she dropped the charges on Monday, she criticized the Ann Arbor Jewish Community Relations Council for writing a letter to the court defending her against accusations of bias, claiming it was inappropriate and may have tainted the case. 

In her statement, Nessel maintained the evidence against the suspects was strong, and otherwise would have led to a conviction.

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, told Jewish Insider that the organization has not heard from Nessel since releasing its statement. He said the letter was simply meant to “push back against these accusations against Nessel” and there is confusion over why or how it has compromised the case. 

It’s fair to ask whether Michigan’s charged intra-Democratic politics also played a role in the decision to drop the charges. Nessel is one of the Democratic Party’s leading officials in the state, and didn’t get a lot of public backing from her colleagues when she first brought the case. The Arab American community in the state is significant — and was mobilized against Nessel — often drowning out the Jewish and more-moderate voices looking for accountability for those engaging in antisemitic activity.

On top of that, President Donald Trump’s aggressive (and arguably illiberal) actions against elite colleges with checkered records on antisemitism have made the enforcement against antisemitic hate crimes a more partisan issue, making it uncomfortable for a Democrat who’s tough on enforcement to stand their ground.

The dropped charges also raise legal questions about the validity of the case to begin with — and whether a new precedent is now set for anti-Israel activity in the state, which has seen a spate of antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. 

“If the attorney general believes, as she said in her statement, that a reasonable jury would find the defendants guilty of the charges, we worry about the precedent this decision sets,” a spokesperson for the Michigan office of the Anti-Defamation League told JI. 

Grays’ Anatomy of a Gift: eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports on the recent $125 million gift by Jon and Mindy Gray to Tel Aviv University — the largest in both the school’s history and in the Grays’ giving to Israel causes. “For one of the largest donations ever made to Israeli academia, the ceremony marking the inauguration of the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University on Thursday morning was an understated affair — at least as understated as an event can be when it’s attended by one of the world’s top hedge fund managers, Blackstone President and COO Jonathan Gray; Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog; the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Blackstone Vice Chair Tom Nides; along with some of Israel’s top academics and medical professionals. … ‘We are American Jews who grew up on modest means far from Israel, in Chicago and Philadelphia. But thanks to our families, we have always known where our past was rooted: here in this sacred land, where orange trees were coaxed from the arid desert. Tragically, the unthinkable events of Oct. 7 awakened the need to express that connection in a far more concrete way,’ Jon Gray said, citing his family’s immigration to the United States at the end of the 19th century fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe.” [eJP]

Plan B, For Bomb: Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen suggests that the U.S. should take military action against Iran if Tehran doesn’t agree to dismantling its nuclear program. “Trump understands the nature of an Iranian regime that has plotted to assassinate American officials on American soil — including him. Like presidents before him, he has pledged that Iran will not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. Unlike presidents before him, he is now poised to deliver on that pledge and actually stop them. I don’t believe Trump will agree to a deal with Iran that is weaker than the deal Bush negotiated with Libya. If Trump can convince Iranian officials to allow U.S. military aircraft to land in their country, load up all of their uranium, centrifuges, bomb designs and ballistic missiles, and fly them to Oak Ridge — and agree to cease its support for terrorism — then Trump should sign on the dotted line. If not, then it’s time for Plan B — and for the United States and Israel to, in Trump’s words, ‘bomb the hell out of them.’” [WashPost]

Harvard’s Defiance: In The Wall Street Journal, Roland Fryer, an economics professor at Harvard and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, considers the clash between “economic interests and principle” as the university’s battles with the Trump administration. “My hope is that Harvard has realized its past wrongs and will resist these pressures going forward — allowing the university to determine and uphold its own core values. But two other theories would explain Harvard’s recent behavior just as well. One is political bias. Harvard’s leadership leans decidedly to the left and will likely be far friendlier to pressure from that direction. Its spine could thus weaken again once the presidency changes hands. The other explanation is simple economics. Like any institution, Harvard seeks to maximize its utility — prestige, endowment growth, influence. That might mean resisting federal policy that threatens core funding, but yielding quietly on symbolic or lower-stakes issues. Behavior under this explanation is determined not by veritas — truth, Harvard’s motto — but by coldly calculated costs and benefits. … I hope that Harvard’s current defiance is a burning-bush moment: a real commitment to institutional independence and to the search for truth that will last beyond a single presidency. The economist in me worries that it’s only another move in a political chess match — one in which the board tilts depending on who’s in power and which way the wind blows.” [WSJ] 

Portnoy’s Complaint: MSNBC columnist and New School professor Natalia Mehlman Petrzela considers how educators can combat antisemitism, following a recent antisemitic incident at a Philadelphia bar that garnered national attention. “Students should learn about Jewish history and identity as an important part of their study of the United States. Social studies curricula should teach about Jews as immigrants, Americans, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, and as members of a diverse community from many national and ethnic backgrounds who hold a range of views on any given topic, including Israel, and most importantly, as everyday people deserving of respect and full civil rights. Understanding antisemitism is of paramount importance, but it should not be addressed only in response to incidences of Jew hatred, or uniquely in relation to the Holocaust. Rather, antisemitism should be explained as a centuries-old hatred that shape-shifts depending on the historical moment, to be about religion, biology or culture, and as still very much with us. Teaching about Jewish identities and experiences, both of perseverance and success and of facing persistent discrimination, is important to understanding, and improving, our pluralistic society.” [MSNBC]

President Donald Trump met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Thursday during Dermer’s trip to Washington to discuss Gaza and ongoing nuclear talks with Iran…

Judea Pearl, the father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, clarified reports on Thursday that a terrorist tied to his son’s death had been killed by Indian forces in Pakistan; Pearl said that Abdul Rauf Azhar’s group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, “was not directly involved in the plot to abduct Danny, it was indirectly responsible. Azhar orchestrated the hijacking [of IC-814 in 1999] that led to the release of Omar Sheikh — the man who lured Danny into captivity”… 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin held a ceremony in his office with Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) in Washington, to inscribe letters into The Washington Torah and affix a mezuzah to his office door… 

The Trump administration canceled an additional $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University amid a growing battle between the school and the White House…

Claire Shipman, the acting president of Columbia University, released a five-minute video stridently criticizing the anti-Israel campus activists who disrupted hundreds of students studying in the school’s main library during finals week…

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) launched his Senate campaign challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA); Carter is the first Republican to enter the race to unseat Ossoff…

Ivanka Trump made her first public appearance since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year, speaking with Arianna Huffington at the Heartland Summit in Bentonville, Ark., about Planet Harvest, the produce company she co-founded after leaving her White House role in the first Trump administration…

The Washington Post reviews British author Rachel Cockerell’s Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promised Land, about her great-grandfather’s efforts to help Russian Jews emigrate to Galveston, Texas, in the early 20th century…

A British art dealer who appeared on the TV show “Bargain Hunt” pleaded guilty to a series of charges tied to his sale of art to a Hezbollah financier in violation of the country’s 2000 Terrorism Act…

Brigham Young University quarterback Jake Retzlaff is in Israel this week for his first trip to the Jewish state; Retzlaff, who is Jewish, is making the trip along with five teammates through an initiative run by Athletes for Israel…

The Adelson Family Foundation made a “transformative” seven-figure gift to the American Friends of Bar-Ilan University to help create the Israeli school’s Adelson Institute for Smart Materials, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

Former World Food Program head David Beasley, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000, is in talks with key stakeholders, including the Trump administration and Israeli government, to lead the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as the U.S., Israel and a number of aid groups work to address mounting food distribution challenges in Gaza…

The mother of Israeli hostage Tamir Nimrodi said her son, who was serving on the Nahal Oz base when he was taken captive alive by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, is one of three hostages whose status is unknown; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged earlier this week that Israel had not had signs of life since early in the war from three of the 24 hostages who were taken captive alive that day…

A Jewish jeweler from the Tunisian island of Djerba was injured in an axe attack days before thousands of Jews from around the world are slated to travel to the city for an annual Lag B’Omer pilgrimage; five people were killed in a terror attack targeting the city’s synagogue, the oldest in Africa, in 2023… 

The Walt Disney Co. announced plans to open a theme park on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, which CEO Bob Iger said will be “authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati”…

Paul Singer is stepping down as chair of the Manhattan Institute after 17 years in the role, and will be succeeded by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos…

Film director Ziad Doueiri, Forbes Executive Vice President Moira Forbes, staff from Iran International and Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner were honored last night at the America Abroad Media awards in Washington. Döpfner was introduced by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), who called him a “true groundbreaking innovator in the media landscape.”

Attendees at the dinner included U.S. Ambassador to Israel Yechiel Leiter, Deputy Middle East Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus, Brett Ratner, Elliot Ackerman, former Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Sara Bloomfield, Jan Bayer, Michael and Sofia Haft and Karim Sadjadpour.

Israeli actress, she appeared in 30 episodes of “Shtisel,” played the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “Unorthodox” and appeared as the Marvel superhero “Sabra” in the newest “Captain America” film, Shira Haas turns 30 on Sunday…

FRIDAY: Holocaust survivor, philanthropist and social activist, she marched in Selma, Ala., with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965, Eva Haller turns 95… Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter, James L. Brooks turns 85… Guitarist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock-pop-jazz group Blood, Sweat & Tears, Steve Katz turns 80… Israeli rabbi who is a co-founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yoel Bin-Nun turns 79… Mashgiach at Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Rabbi Beryl Weisbord turns 78… Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Michael Levitt turns 78… Pianist, singer-songwriter and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Billy Joel turns 76… Physician in Burlington, Vt., she was the first lady of Vermont from 1991 until 2003 when her husband (Howard Dean) was governor, Judith Steinberg Dean turns 72… Sharon Mallory Doble… Co-founder and board member of PlayMedia Systems, Brian D. Litman… Founding executive director of Chai Mitzvah, The Resource Center for Jewish Engagement, Audrey B. Lichter turns 70… Film director and producer, Barry Avrich turns 62… Staff writer at The Atlantic and author of five books, Mark Leibovich turns 60… Chair of Bain Capital and owner of a minority interest in the Boston Celtics, Jonathan Lavine turns 59… President of global affairs at Meta/Facebook, he was previously the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a law clerk for Justice Scalia, Joel D. Kaplan turns 56… NYC-based celebrity chiropractor, Arkady Aaron Lipnitsky, DC… and his twin brother, managing director at Baltimore’s Pimlico Capital, Victor “Yaakov” Lipnitsky both turn 52… VP at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Lesli Rosenblatt Gillette… Owner of NYC’s Dylan’s Candy Bar, Dylan Lauren turns 51… Executive director of the Richardson Center and former IDF paratrooper, he has negotiated the release of political prisoners worldwide, Michael “Mickey” Bergman turns 49… Deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs during the Biden administration, Aaron Scheinberg turns 44… Founder and managing member at Revelstoke PLLC, Danielle Elizabeth Friedman… Opinion columnist and podcast host at The New York Times, Ezra Klein turns 41… Jenna Weisbord… Principal at Blackstone Growth Israel, Nathaniel Rosen… Graduate of Harvard Law School, Mikhael Smits…

SATURDAY: Scion of a Hasidic dynasty and leader of the Beth Jehudah congregation in Milwaukee, Rabbi Michel Twerski… and his twin brother, who is a professor at Brooklyn Law School, following a career as dean at Hofstra University School of Law, Aaron Twerski, both turn 86… Real estate developer and principal owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Stephen M. Ross turns 85… Leading Democratic pollster and political strategist, Stanley Bernard “Stan” Greenberg turns 80… British actress, she is a vocal supporter of Israel, Dame Maureen Lipman turns 79… Israeli businessman and philanthropist, his family founded and owned Israel Discount Bank, Leon Recanati turns 77… Founder and CEO of OPTI Connectivity, Edward Brill… CEO of Medical Reimbursement Data Management in Chapel Hill, N.C., Robert Jameson… American-born Israeli singer, songwriter and music producer, Yehudah Katz turns 74… Claims examiner at Chubb Insurance, David Beck… Anchor for SportsCenter and other programs on ESPN since 1979, Chris “Boomer” Berman turns 70… Former NBA player whose career spanned 18 seasons on 7 teams, Danny Schayes turns 66… U.S. senator (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith turns 66… U.S. senator (R-UT), John Curtis turns 65… Reform rabbi living in Israel, she is the sister of actress Laura Silverman and comedian Sarah Silverman, Susan Silverman turns 62… Brazilian businessman, serial entrepreneur and partner with Donald Trump in Trump Realty Brazil, Ricardo Samuel Goldstein turns 59… Neil Winchel… Attorney general of Colorado, elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, he is running for governor of Colorado in 2026, Philip Jacob Weiser turns 57… Senior rabbi of Houston’s Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Brian Strauss turns 53… Israeli rock musician, singer-songwriter, music producer and author, Aviv Geffen turns 52… Editor-in-chief, recipe developer, art director and food stylist of Fleishigs, a kosher food magazine, Shifra Klein turns 43… Reporter for the Associated Press based in Israel, Melanie B. Lidman… Video games reporter at Bloomberg News, Jason Schreier turns 38… Manager of government affairs at the American Forest & Paper Association, Fara Klein Sonderling… Associate director of communications in the D.C. office of Pew Research Center, Rachel Weisel Drian… National correspondent for New York magazine, Gabriel Debenedetti… Editorial director at The Record by Recorded Future, Adam Janofsky… Actress who has appeared in many films and television series, Halston Sage (born Halston Jean Schrage) turns 32… Scriptwriter and actress, she is the daughter of Larry David, Cazzie Laurel David turns 31… Mollie Harrison…

SUNDAY: Israeli optical and kinetic artist and sculptor, born Yaacov Gibstein, Yaacov Agam turns 97… Sociologist and author, Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D. turns 80… Israeli social activist focused on issues of women’s and human rights, Iris Stern Levi turns 72… Treasurer and receiver-general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Deborah Beth Goldberg turns 71… Past president and then chairman of AIPAC, Morton Zvi Fridman, MD turns 67… Copy chief at Random House until 2023 and the author of Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, Benjamin Dreyer turns 67… Brian Mullen… Howard M. Pollack… CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, William Albert “Bill” Ackman turns 59… Michael Pregent… Member of the California state Senate since 2016, he is a co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, Scott Wiener turns 55… Co-founder and president of Omaha Productions, which he started with Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz… Filmmaker and podcast host, Dan Trachtenberg turns 44… Deputy chief of staff in the Office of the President at Carnegie Mellon University, Pamela Eichenbaum… Senior cost analyst at the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Michael Jeremy Alexander… PR and brand manager for overseas resource development at Leket Israel, Shira Woolf… Founder and CEO of the digital asset technology company Architect Financial Technologies, Brett Harrison turns 37… Staff writer at Time magazine, Olivia B. Waxman… Manager of paid search and e-commerce at Wavemaker, James Frichner… Paralympic track and field athlete, he is also a motivational speaker and disability rights advocate, Ezra Frech turns 20…

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Founder of Follow Team Israel, David Wiseman…