Plus, AIPAC travels to APEC
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Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) speaks at a press conference on taxes at the U.S. Capitol Building on August 03, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Thursday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to New York Democratic officials and Jewish community leaders about the main threats that a Mamdani administration could pose to Jewish life in the city, and report on Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’ apology for his controversial video defending Tucker Carlson after Carlson hosted a friendly interview with neo-Nazi leader Nick Fuentes. We also talk to key players in the two-year-long advocacy campaign for the release of the hostages about the days leading up to the return of all the living hostages from Gaza, and interview Sen. James Lankford about key policy issues, including next steps in Gaza. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Elliot Brandt, Yair Lapid and Ambassador Amy Gutmann.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate (formerly the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism) is hosting its second Sports Leaders Convening at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts today. The full-day event will feature Robert Kraft, the organization’s CEO and owner of the New England Patriots; Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League; Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel International; Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network; and leaders from major sports leagues.
- The 2025 Somos Conference, drawing New York Democrats to gather in Puerto Rico, continues today. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is expected to attend, beginning his visit tonight with a cocktail reception hosted by New York Attorney General Letita James. JI correspondent Matthew Kassel is at the conference — send any New York political tips his way.
- This morning, the Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a nomination hearing for Alex Velez-Green to be deputy under secretary of defense for policy, coming days after committee lawmakers blasted the Pentagon office and its head, Elbridge Colby, during a contentious hearing for failing to communicate with them.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, a bill aimed at eliminating loopholes used by museums to possess Nazi-looted artwork that Jewish families have been trying to recover.
- The Edlavitch Jewish Community Center in Washington is beginning a run today screening the movie “The Floaters.” Read JI’s coverage of how the movie came together here.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar and matthew shea
In addition to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s race, we’ve been spotlighting two other mayoral contests where socialist, anti-Israel candidates were running competitively against more traditionally liberal standard-bearers: in Minneapolis and Seattle.
If Mamdani’s bare 50% majority in the three-way race signaled that a far-left candidate could prevail in a deep-blue city — even while dividing the Democratic Party — the underperformance of the two other far-left challengers on big-city ballots underscores the limited appetite even deep-blue constituencies have for radical politics.
In Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey won reelection to a third term over Democratic Socialists of America-affiliated state Sen. Omar Fateh. The race was close: While Frey held a substantial 10-point lead in the first round of balloting, he narrowly secured a victory by six points (50-44%) in the second round of the city’s ranked-choice election system.
Fateh formed an alliance with two other left-wing candidates in the race, but ultimately enough people who didn’t back Frey in the first round chose him as a second or third preference.
Fateh, a progressive affiliated with the DSA, has accused Israel of committing genocide, among other anti-Israel views, and campaigned with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who remains one of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress.
Members of Fateh’s staff had also expressed hostile views towards Israel; his communications manager, Ayana Smith-Kooiman, said in a series of now-deleted social media posts that Israel “does not have a ‘right’ to exist” and “must be dismantled,” and said she did not care about Hamas a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks — statements that drew rebuke from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
The outcome is also looking favorable for the more-moderate incumbent in Seattle — though far from certain. Mayor Bruce Harrell, who trailed his socialist challenger Katie Wilson during the summer primary, is now leading her in the general election by eight points, 54-46%, with more than three-quarters of votes tallied.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
What New York City Jewish leaders are most worried about in a Mamdani mayoralty
New Yorkers elected democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday as the next New York City mayor, ensuring the city will be headed in a leftward ideological direction for the next four years. Mamdani’s election has also sparked widespread concerns in the city’s Jewish community about how the incoming mayor, who refused to condemn “globalize the intifada” rhetoric or acknowledge the State of Israel as a Jewish homeland, would impact the day-to-day life of Jewish New Yorkers. Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen asked senior New York Democratic officials and Jewish community leaders — granted anonymity to offer their candid thoughts — to discuss the top threats that a Mamdani administration could pose to Jewish life in the city.
Chief concerns: Respondents expressed worry that Mamdani’s anti-Israel worldview could lead to heightened antisemitism, bring a vanguard of leftist operatives hostile to Jewish concerns into City Hall, impact the effectiveness of the New York Police Department and fray ties between the city and Israeli institutions or businesses. He has even vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, though experts have voiced doubt on the legality of the move.
FACING THE MUSIC
Heritage’s Roberts apologizes for Carlson video, but leaves plans going forward vague
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts apologized in a staff meeting on Wednesday for his video last week defending Tucker Carlson and refusing to “cancel” neo-Nazi leader Nick Fuentes, saying that the video was the result of internal failures of communication and consultation that left too few people involved in its production, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Roberts and other Heritage leaders also repeatedly made reference to a plan under development for how Heritage will approach its relationship with Carlson going forward, amid strong pressure from numerous staff members to forcefully disavow the right-wing podcast host and his activities, but provided little clarity about what that approach will entail and sidestepped the full-throated denunciation of Carlson that several Heritage staffers sought.
Notable quotable: “About ‘no cancelation,’ is there a limiting principle to that? I should have said that there was, especially in light of Tucker hosting not just Fuentes, but a handful of other people,” Roberts said. “You can say you’re not going to participate in canceling someone — a personal friend, an institutional friend — while also being clear you’re not endorsing everything they’ve said. You’re not endorsing softball interviews. You’re not endorsing putting people on shows. And I should have made that clear.”
Update: In a new public video posted following the staff meeting, Roberts delivered a similar message, saying, “everyone has the responsibility to speak up against the scourge of antisemitism, no matter the messenger. Heritage and I will do so, even when my friend Tucker Carlson needs challenging.”
THE INSIDE STORY
The 36 hours in Washington that took hostage families from grief to gratitude
When several dozen people gathered at the Kennedy Center for a yoga class overlooking the Potomac River on Oct. 8, the class began with a practice familiar to anyone who regularly does yoga: intention setting. Among those taking part in the class were former hostages and the family members of those still held in Gaza, all of whom had gathered at the same spot a day earlier for a somber event marking two years since the attacks that reshaped their lives. “What do you do in yoga? You set your intention. You think about the release of the hostages,” recalled Matan Sivek, who until last month was the director of the Hostage Families Forum’s U.S. operation. As soon as the class ended, a cacophony of cellphones began ringing as news broke about a possible deal. Sivek, and other key players in the campaign for the hostages, spoke with Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch last week to reflect on the two-year-long advocacy campaign — spearheaded by Sivek, his wife Bar Ben-Yaakov and leading Jewish organizations.
Behind the scenes: Within the Trump administration, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was working behind the scenes on behalf of the hostages. His wife, Allison, was the driving force behind his advocacy. Allison Lutnick had gotten to know many of the families after a trip to Israel early last year, when she met the mother of Omer Shem Tov, a hostage who was freed in February. Allison then connected with Sivek when she moved to Washington this year, and soon after he facilitated a meeting between the Lutnicks and several freed hostages at the Lutnicks’ apartment in Miami. “We spent three three hours together in our apartment talking and sharing. They spoke of the horrors of what they’d been through and we spoke of the horrors of what we had been through 24 years earlier on 9/11,” Allison told JI on Wednesday.
postwar policy
Sen. Lankford: Turkey, Qatar should be limited in Gaza reconstruction roles
As the global community looks to advance the ceasefire plan in Gaza, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) emphasized the need for continued pressure from countries like Turkey and Qatar on Hamas to comply with the terms of the ceasefire requiring it to disarm, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. But he also warned that there should be limits on the ways in which Turkey and Qatar are involved in the future of Gaza, arguing that they should have no role in certain sensitive areas, even as they remain involved in reconstruction work.
Looking ahead: Lankford said that ensuring that Hamas disarms, something it has thus far refused to do, will require military, diplomatic and financial pressure, particularly from countries like Turkey and Qatar that have been Hamas patrons. “If the Turks want contracts to be able to rebuild in Gaza, which they do, then that’s not going to happen until Hamas is actually disarmed, so Turkey’s got to decide, ‘Do you want those contracts to be able to rebuild or not?’ If they do, then here’s what that requirement is going to be,” Lankford said. Turkey and Qatar’s roles in the future of Gaza should be limited to certain sectors, Lankford added, given the countries’ hostility to Israel and support for Hamas. He said he’s comfortable seeing Ankara assist with reconstruction, but it should not be involved in running hospitals, schools or mosques or in rebuilding the economy.
TRIP TALK
AIPAC brings delegation of major donors to Taiwan, Japan, South Korea
A delegation organized by AIPAC recently completed a nine-day visit to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik has learned, as the pro-Israel lobbying group seeks to promote ties with Israel among key U.S. allies. Over 200 of AIPAC’s largest donors as well as its CEO, Elliot Brandt; board chair, Michael Tuchin; board president, Bernie Kaminetsky; and top professional staff traveled to the region from Oct. 22-30, according to a participant with knowledge of the trip’s background.
Boosting ties: Though Israel already has warm relations with all three countries, as both Israel and the U.S. look to increase ties in the Indo-Pacific region, the trip was meant to highlight the Jewish state’s relevance in its defense prowess, relationship to the U.S., shared democratic values, growing relations to the Gulf states — which have historically provided the Asian nations with much of their oil and gas — and acumen in the technology and business sectors, the participant said. The large group met with high-level leadership in each country, including the Taiwanese president, vice president and secretary-general of its National Security Council, Korean ministers and a Japanese senior diplomat.
New in town: Israeli chef Eyal Shani teased the imminent opening of a new branch of his Miznon restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan, in an Instagram post yesterday.
BOMBSHELL ANNOUNCEMENT
Israel’s Yesh Atid party drops out of World Zionist Organization, calling it ‘corrupt’
Yair Lapid, Israel’s opposition leader, said on Wednesday that he was pulling his centrist Yesh Atid party out of the World Zionist Organization and called for the “immediate nationalization” of the Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel-Jewish National Fund, which controls more than 10% of the land of Israel, describing the so-called “National Institutions” as hopelessly corrupt, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports.
Background: The announcement comes as the World Zionist Congress was nearing a power-sharing agreement that would have seen Yesh Atid split control of the WZO and KKL-JNF over the next five-year term. An initial arrangement was tentatively approved last week, but it fell apart after Culture Minister Miki Zohar of the Likud party, who negotiated on behalf of the center-right bloc, announced that he planned to name Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s divisive son, Yair, to a senior position within the WZO. A new deal was approaching completion, but Lapid’s decision to abandon the organization throws the negotiation process back into turmoil, with no clear path forward.
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
Steer Clear of Mamdani: The center-left Democratic Party think tank Third Way urged national Democrats “to resist the pressure to align” with the politics and agenda of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, offering 10 reasons why doing so “will fail in tough races.” “The DSA platform is extreme and is a Republican ad maker’s dream: Just a glance at the DSA platform makes clear how politically toxic it would be to any voter not deeply in the sway of socialist ideology. … Indeed, the Mayor-elect’s affiliation with the DSA is already being weaponized against his fellow Democrats, as Republicans have declared him to be their ‘single most effective foil’ as they seek to paint Democrats across the country as radicals. … Mainstream Democrats ran authentic campaigns and won big without being socialists: Two moderate Democrats, Abigail Spanberger (VA) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ) delivered historic victories in key gubernatorial races, with Spanberger flipping Virginia from red to blue. … While they shared Mamdani’s focus on addressing affordability, both Spanberger and Sherrill did so with ideas and narratives drawn from the center left, not the far left.” [ThirdWay]
The Fuentes Feud: The New York Times’ Ross Douthat argues that the older generation of conservatives have a role to play in constraining the younger, “groyper” antisemitic strain on the right. “Whatever share of Capitol Hill interns or think tank employees are actually Fuentes sympathizers, this is the scenario the institutional right needs to avoid right now: preventing radicalized junior staffers from steamrolling or puppeteering nominal superiors. But this isn’t just a matter of imposing discipline; the older generation also has to understand where the radical ideas are coming from, the true shape of the debate. You aren’t going to out-debate Fuentes himself — that’s not the business he’s in — but you still want to understand the chain of ideas that draws younger right-wingers toward antisemitism, and offer adult wisdom that’s responsive to its pull.” [NYTimes]
Kippah Quandary: Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, writes in The Wall Street Journal about his decision to hide his kippah under a hat in anticipation of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral race. “The reason openly identifiable Jews can walk around safely wearing religious garb is the social compact. There is an understanding that people will behave appropriately and that there are consequences for misbehavior. One reason for the spate of attacks on religious Jews in New York in recent years has been the belief that antisemitic assaults won’t be punished. … My fear is that Mayor Mamdani will encourage even more impunity. His antipathy to Israel, and his tacit support for ‘globalizing the intifada,’ may send a signal to the New York City Police Department that protecting Jews won’t be a priority for the city. That in turn could send another signal to people on the streets of New York — that it is open season on Jews.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named his transition team on Wednesday, an all-female group of advisors with experience in city government but lacking backgrounds in education and public safety, as has historically been included in mayors’ transition teams…
Robert Tucker, the Jewish commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, resigned, The New York Post reports, hours before he was set to fly to Israel to meet his counterpart there…
The Wall Street Journal considers the economics behind Mamdani’s largest campaign promises, including a state corporate tax hike, a “millionaires tax,” universal child care and rent stabilization…
The Times of Israel’s Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz rejects the argument that Mamdani’s victory is based on local issues and unconnected to his anti-Israel positions, describing it as “delusional”…
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, citing the “increasing incivility and plain nastiness” in politics and rise of political violence. Golden is one of the few House Democrats to represent a district that President Donald Trump carried in the 2024 presidential election, and his district is now a prime GOP pickup opportunity…
Former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Michael Blake announced a primary campaign against Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and plans to run as an anti-Israel Democrat…
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz met Tuesday with Palestinian diplomats in New York to discuss a U.S.-sponsored U.N. Security Council resolution laying out an international security force to be deployed to Gaza, Axios reports. The U.S. is reportedly looking to bring it to a vote at the UNSC within two weeks…
The U.S. is seeking to strike a deal over dozens of Hamas terrorists “stuck” in tunnels on the Israeli side of the “yellow line” dividing Gaza, providing them safe passage to the Hamas-controlled side and amnesty in exchange for their disarmament, Axios reports…
The U.S. is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus in order to advance a security agreement between Syria and Israel, sources told Reuters…
An event with IDF veterans hosted by Students Supporting Israel at Toronto Metropolitan University yesterday was stormed by anti-Israel protesters, causing one person to be injured. The university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had publicized the event on social media, calling on its followers to demonstrate against it…
The body of Joshua Loitu Mollel, a Tanzanian citizen and agronomy student who was killed and kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, was returned to Israel by Hamas last night…
Recently released hostage Rom Braslavski said he was sexually assaulted by his captors in Gaza, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13 “Hazinor” program…
An Afghan national was arrested in Denmark on Wednesday on suspicion of promising to acquire weapons for an Iranian-backed attack on Jewish targets in Germany…
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was named on Monday as the presenting partner for the inaugural America Business Forum, taking place now in Miami. President Donald Trump spoke at the event, which took place across the street from the future site of his presidential library, on Wednesday…
Saudi Arabia is in talks with Syria to build data cables to connect the Gulf state to Europe, according to Semafor…
Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Israel this week and discussed prospects for peace in the region. Balakrishnan also met with several Israeli lawmakers during his visit…
Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS fashion brand announced on Tuesday that it is entering the Israeli market through a partnership with the Ironi group, which owns Factory 54, and is set to open stores in Ramat Aviv Mall and Big Fashion Glilot, Israel Hayom reports…
Warner Bros. Discovery, under CEO David Zaslav, aims to decide by Christmas whether to sell the entire company or pursue a split. Paramount Skydance, according to NBC, has sent the WBD board multiple letters pressing for its $23.50 per share acquisition offer…
A Reddit rumor, flagged by Puck, claims that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has been planning to make a buyout offer for Warner Bros. to the tune of more than $70 billion…
Joel Pollak, formerly Breitbart’s senior editor-at-large, has been appointed as opinion editor of The New York Post’s new newspaper, The California Post…
Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team is facing off against the Dubai team today in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Round 9 of the EuroCup…
Pic of the Day
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia last night honored Ambassador Amy Gutmann with the Only in America Award, lauding her “indelible contributions to our society.”
“She has been an outspoken advocate for Israel, and steadfast in her forceful opposition to antisemitism, hate, and discrimination in all its forms,” the museum said of the former ambassador to Germany and president emerita of the University of Pennsylvania.
Pictured from left: Weitzman Chair Emeritus Phil Darivoff, Weitzman Co-chairs Sharon Tobin Kestenbaum and Mark Oster, former Ambassador David L. Cohen, University of Pennsylvania President Dr. Larry Jameson, Gutmann, Weitzman Museum President and CEO Dan Tadmor, museum namesake Stuart Weitzman, NBC News Chief Washington Correspondent and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, Chair of the Penn Board of Trustees Ramanan Raghavendran.
Birthdays
Leading teacher in the Breslov Hasidic movement in Israel, Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter turns 95…
Belgian theoretical physicist, a Holocaust survivor and 2013 Nobel Prize laureate, François Englert turns 93… Former president and CEO of American Jewish World Service until 2016, prior to that she served as the Manhattan borough president, Ruth Wyler Messinger turns 85… Former commissioner of the Social Security Administration until 2021, Andrew Saul turns 79… Former aide to President Bill Clinton and a longtime advisor to Hillary Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal turns 77… Research scientist at NYU’s Langone Medical Center, Barbara Volsky turns 75… Senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, Joseph C. Shenker turns 69… Actress and cellist best known for her lead role in the 1984 film “Footloose” and the television series “Fame,” Lori Singer… and her twin brother, violinist, composer and conductor, he is the founder and music director of the Manhattan Symphonie, Gregory Singer both turn 68… Managing director of the NFL Players Association for 15 years until he retired five months ago, Ira Fishman turns 68… Editorial page editor and Op-Ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times until 2023, Nicholas Goldberg turns 67… Professional poker player from Las Vegas, he has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets and his total tournament winnings exceed $45.5 million, Erik Seidel turns 66… Founder of Nourish Snacks, she is the host of NBC’s “Health & Happiness” and author of 15 New York Times best-sellers, Joy Bauer turns 62… Philanthropist, she is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute, Laurene Powell Jobs turns 62… Principal and COO at Douglass Winthrop Advisors, Andrew S. Weinberg… SVP of investments in the Beverly Hills office of Raymond James, Seth A. Radow… Chairman at IDTFS Bank in Gibraltar, he is a partner in Covenant Winery, Geoffrey Rochwarger turns 55… Executive at Elliott Management, podcast host and author of Start-up Nation and The Genius of Israel, Dan Senor turns 54… Director of external affairs at the William Davidson Foundation, Kari Alterman… Film producer, together with her husband Robert Downey Jr., Susan Nicole Levin Downey turns 52… South Florida entrepreneur, Earl J. Campos-Devine… Head cantor of Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City, Yaakov (“Yanky”) Lemmer turns 42… and his younger brother, the first Hasidic Jew to sign a contract with a leading record label, Shulem Lemmer turns 36… Producer on the Ben Shapiro Show, Jake Pollack turns 30… Former baseball outfielder in the Orioles and Angels systems, he played for Team Israel in 2012 and is now a manager of business development at Robson Forensic, Robert Eric Widlansky turns 41…
Plus, remembering Rabbi Moshe Hauer
Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images
Israeli hostages are handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, as part of the ceasefire agreement in effect in Gaza City, Gaza on October 15, 2025.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the evolving situation in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas forces are violently attacking rival clans following the implementation of the first phase of the Trump administration’s ceasefire plan, and look at how the White House’s moves to address campus antisemitism have morphed into broader efforts to regulate bias in academia. We report on the passing of the Orthodox Union’s Rabbi Moshe Hauer, and cover Gov. Josh Shapiro’s comments this week that antisemitism was a “motivating factor” in the Passover arson attack at the governor’s residence. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Joshua Kushner, Joel Mokyr and Amb. Sammy Revel.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Tamara Zieve with assists from Marc Rod and Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, former Israeli hostage Almog Meir Jan and Yehuda Kaploun, the Trump administration’s nominee to serve as antisemitism envoy, are slated to speak tonight at an event at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington commemorating the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks.
- In New York City, the Consul General of Israel is hosting its own commemoration ceremony this evening.
- Elsewhere in New York City, mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa will participate in a debate hosted by Politico, NBC 4 New York/WNBC and Telemundo 47/WNJU.
- In Israel, we’re monitoring the implementation of the Trump administration’s 20-point ceasefire plan, amid violations by Hamas over the release of bodies of deceased captives. Last night, Hamas returned the bodies of Inbar Haiman, the last remaining female hostage, and Muhammad el-Atrash, who was killed on Oct. 7 while serving in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade.
- The Jewish Democratic Council of America is hosting a meet-the-candidate event tonight with New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ).
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Following the joy in Israel over the return of the remaining living hostages on Monday and President Donald Trump’s declaration that “the long and painful nightmare is finally over” came the letdown: Hamas, as of this morning, had returned only nine out of 28 bodies of the deceased hostages and started to execute rivals and reestablish itself in the areas of Gaza from which the IDF withdrew.
While Trump has repeatedly said the war in Gaza is over, when asked by CBS News if that’s the case, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel “agreed to give peace a chance,” and later in the interview said it still needs to “finish the war as speedily as possible.”
The future of Gaza remains unclear, despite Israel agreeing to Trump’s 20-point plan for the region. Hamas only agreed to the immediate steps in the plan: stopping the war, freeing the hostages in exchange for 1,950 prisoners, including those who killed Israelis in terrorist attacks, and Israel withdrawing to a specified line within Gaza.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday that the plan’s second phase, which entails Hamas’ disarmament and demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, “begins right NOW!!!” Yet, an Israeli official confirmed to Jewish Insider a report that, with Hamas withholding most of the remaining hostages’ bodies, negotiations to continue to the next phase of the plan are on hold.
Disarming Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza are meant to take place “under the supervision of independent monitors,” but those monitors have yet to be selected and sent to the region. The Peace Board announced — and led — by Trump, with the involvement of former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair that is meant to oversee Gaza’s administration by Palestinian technocrats has not yet been formed, nor has the temporary International Stabilization Force meant to train Palestinian police and be part of the “long-term internal security solution” for Gaza and Israel.
Meanwhile, Hamas has entered the vacuum and, in recent days, has tried to consolidate its power by killing members of clans that it accused of collaborating with Israel.
EDUCATION CONSTERNATION
With new higher ed compact, Trump’s antisemitism crusade broadens to fight academic bias
As the Trump administration ratchets up its efforts to influence higher education, the latest White House proposal for colleges and universities is being met with skepticism from academics — even as its authors say its implementation should be a no-brainer. That’s in reference to a White House document called the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a 10-point plan that the federal government is asking universities to sign in order to get preferential treatment for the federal funds upon which research universities rely. If they don’t agree to the terms in the compact — which include commitments to end race-based hiring and admissions, limits on foreign enrollment and a pledge to foster greater ideological diversity — they risk losing billions of dollars. Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch talked to professors from across the country about the compact, which says next to nothing about antisemitism.
Missing link: The compact reflects an evolution of a familiar Trump administration argument: that America’s preeminent educational institutions have strayed from their mission, letting politics interfere with their raison d’etre as centers of academic excellence. Combating antisemitism on college campuses — a cause the Trump administration has prioritized this year — provided President Donald Trump a foray into greater oversight of higher education. But there appears to be no direct line from that fight against antisemitism to the broad ideological framework in this compact, which makes only a passing reference to antisemitism.
Bonus: More than 450 employees of the Department of Education were laid off on Friday as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on the agency; among the offices most affected was the Office for Civil Rights, which has investigated dozens of antisemitic discrimination complaints.
MASSACHUSETTS MATCHUP
Seth Moulton challenging Markey, one of Israel’s leading Senate critics, in high-stakes Dem primary
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) announced Wednesday that he plans to challenge Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) for his Senate seat, grounding his campaign in an argument for generational change, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Differences: But unlike many of the younger challengers taking on older Democratic incumbents in the current election cycle, Moulton is generally more moderate, including on foreign policy issues, than Markey, an outspoken progressive. While Moulton has been strongly critical of Israeli operations in Gaza, his record as a whole leans more pro-Israel than Markey’s.
MTG MOMENTUM
As she emerges as populist GOP critic, Marjorie Taylor Greene amplifies antisemitic rhetoric
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) first became a household name for her embrace of a range of wild conspiracy theories — including antisemitic claims about the Rothschild family like the idea that space-based weapons controlled by the Jewish banking family were the cause of California wildfires. But as the congresswoman has emerged as an unlikely star in liberal circles and mainstream media after breaking with her party on the government shutdown, health-care funding and the Jeffrey Epstein files, her erstwhile critics have all but ignored her increasingly frequent use of antisemitic tropes and embrace of conspiracy theories targeting Jews, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What she’s saying: Earlier this week, the controversial Georgia congresswoman vowed on X, “No bar codes on me. I’ll never take 30 shekels. I’m America only! And Christ is King!” She has also repeatedly boosted claims that Israel and Jewish people were involved in last month’s killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and are seeking to co-opt his organization. And she has accused Israel of “meddling in campaigns and elections” and of “meddling in government policy — government of the United States policy — as well as dictating what America does in foreign wars.”
GUILTY PLEA
Gov. Josh Shapiro now says antisemitism a ‘motivating factor’ in arson attack at residence
Hours after the man accused of an arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in April pled guilty to the attempted murder of Gov. Josh Shapiro, the governor appeared to publicly acknowledge for the first time that the attacker targeted him for his faith, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. Cody Balmer was sentenced to 25-50 years in prison for the attack, which took place hours after Shapiro and his family hosted a Passover Seder at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg. Balmer said after his arrest that he was motivated by the war in Gaza, and that he wanted Shapiro to know that Balmer “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.” Shapiro has avoided calling the attack a hate crime.
What he said: In a CNN interview on Tuesday, Shapiro was asked by anchor Jake Tapper if he believed he was “targeted just because you’re Jewish.” Shapiro responded: “Look, obviously, as governor of Pennsylvania I don’t have foreign policy in my job description. But clearly, the district attorney thought that this was a material fact. “Clearly this was a motivating factor.” Balmer did not face hate crime charges in the case. “Whatever is motivating this political violence in this country, it needs to stop. Whether it’s targeting me because of my faith, whether it’s targeting someone else because of their ideology, it is not OK,” Shapiro said on CNN.
IN MEMORIAM
Congressman blames ‘vandalism’ after swastika flag spotted at staffer’s desk
Rep. Dave Taylor (R-OH) blamed “vandalism” and requested a Capitol Police investigation after a flag showing a swastika overlaid onto the American flag was spotted in a staff member’s cubicle during a virtual meeting, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What happened: The flag was pinned up on the wall of the staffer’s cubicle alongside various other memorabilia including a copy of the U.S. Constitution and a congressional calendar. The incident was first reported by a local outlet. “I am aware of an image that appears to depict a vile and deeply inappropriate symbol near an employee in my office,” Taylor said in a statement issued Wednesday. “The content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff, or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms. Upon learning of this matter, I immediately directed a thorough investigation alongside Capitol Police, which remains ongoing. No further comment will be provided until it has been completed.”
in memoriam
Orthodox Union’s Rabbi Moshe Hauer remembered as ‘master teacher’ and ‘voice of Torah’
Rabbi Moshe Hauer, the executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, died suddenly on Monday evening after suffering a heart attack, his organization said, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. He was 60. Jewish communal leaders remembered Hauer as a friend, a faithful and committed leader and a source of wise counsel.
Remembering: “Rabbi Hauer was a true talmid chacham, a master teacher and communicator, the voice of Torah to the Orthodox community and the voice of Orthodoxy to the world. He personified what it means to be a Torah Jew and took nothing more seriously than his role of sharing the joy of Jewish life with our community and beyond,” OU President Mitchel Aeder and Chief Operating Officer Rabbi Josh Joseph said in a joint statement.
Worthy Reads
The Other Kushner: Colossus‘ Jeremy Stern profiles Thrive Capital’s Joshua Kushner, doing a deep dive into the Kushner family’s history, stemming from the survival of Kushner’s grandmother during the Holocaust. “Despite his success as an entrepreneur, his proximity to political power, his marriage to an American beauty icon, and his mastery of the nexus between capital and technology, there is in Joshua Kushner an enduring sense of Jewish apartness, and an inability to forget that he is two generations from Novogrudok. It shows itself in his compulsion to succeed, in his need to test himself, in the obvious ambivalence he feels about how he comes off, and perhaps in a determination to re-earn a right to a place in America for himself and his family—qualities also visible in the other first- and second-generation Americans who have built, alongside him, one of the more increasingly influential institutions in the country.” [Colossus]
Media Matters in Gaza: In The Wall Street Journal, Rob Satloff, the executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, raises concerns about the potential for unfettered media access to Gaza, which has been tightly regulated by Israel since the start of the war. “Many will seek out a local fixer to translate, arrange interviews, navigate the war zone and secure food and lodging. The bigger outlets will hire huge teams of local crew, including drivers and technicians, in addition to the support staff needed to care for star correspondents who will want to make a Gaza appearance. Even with the best intentions and oversight from headquarters, this will be a bonanza for Hamas’s well-oiled media operation, which has controlled virtually every word written or broadcast in Gaza since 2007. One can be sure Hamas is preparing for what will be both a huge jobs program and a chance to mold the message of powerful media operations.” [WSJ]
What Genocide?: The Free Press’ Eli Lake posits that accusations that Israel was committing a genocide were disproven by the ceasefire agreement inked earlier this week that resulted in the release of the hostages and an Israeli withdrawal from parts of Gaza. “This movement insisted for the duration of the war that Israel was not, in fact, conducting a war of defense to liberate its hostages, but committing a genocide to wipe out the Palestinian people. Sadly, once-credible institutions (and far less credible ones) latched on to the charge, providing the lie with the appearance of truthfulness. … The nation accused of wanting to wipe out — in whole or in part — the Palestinian population of Gaza was willing to end the war in exchange for 20 people. And when the fighting stopped and the hostages came home, the jubilation in Israel was palpable.” [FreePress]
The ADL’s New Fight: In eJewishPhilanthropy, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt explains the ADL’s approach to a post-Oct. 7 world and how the organization plans to address the antisemitism that exploded in the wake of the attacks. “It is affecting people of every denomination and every segment of our community — from the kippah-wearing grandfather walking to synagogue on a Saturday morning, to parents working in white-collar jobs at public companies, young adults enrolled in college, and teens simply watching videos on social media. … The issue is whether we can continue to live openly and proudly as Jews who support the existence of the Jewish state, or face the same fate of our ancestors in so many previous generations. Confronted by this metastasizing threat, the ADL will strive to remain true to our centennial mission statement: to stop the defamation of the Jewish People and secure justice and fair treatment to all.” [eJP]
Word on the Street
Vice President JD Vance has repeatedly rejected the idea of condemning a Young Republicans group chat where members praised Adolf Hitler and joked about the Holocaust. He described the response as “pearl clutching” and those involved as “kids” who “do stupid things” and were telling “edgy, offensive jokes.” Several of the individuals involved were well-established professionals in their 30s…
In the New York Post, Alex Witkoff reflects on how his father, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, “found purpose” following the 2011 death of his son Andrew, saying that “[e]very time he comforts a grieving parent or reunites a hostage with loved ones, he carries Andrew’s memory and President Trump’s directive with him”…
A Washington Post poll conducted last month found that nearly half of Jewish Americans perceive there to be “a lot” of antisemitism in the U.S., while 42% said that they had avoided wearing public clothing or items in the last year that would identify them as being Jewish…
U.S. Border Patrol posted and deleted an Instagram reel of agents on patrol set against antisemitic lyrics from Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us”…
JPMorgan Chase announced plans to contribute $10 billion over the next decade as part of a broader, $1.5 trillion effort to invest in companies “critical to national economic security and resiliency”…
The Wall Street Journal reports on efforts by Paramount CEO David Ellison to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery ahead of CEO David Zaslav’s implementation of a plan to split the company in two…
Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, shared social media posts mourning the death of Palestinian influencer Saleh al-Jafarawi, who posted content celebrating the Oct. 7 attacks, who was killed in clashes earlier this week between Hamas and local Palestinian groups…
Cornell University professor Eric Cheyfitz, who was suspended following the filing of a complaint alleging that the English professor asked an Israeli student to leave his course that covered Gaza, will retire amid a probe into the incident…
The New York Sun, which was acquired by Dovid Efune in 2021, will return to publishing a print edition for the first time since 2008…
The New York Times spotlights Vienna’s Café Centropa and its founder, photographer and archivist Edward Serotta, who for decades has worked to preserve the history of European Jews…
The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the Israel Gymnastics Federation’s appeals to be allowed to compete in the upcoming International Gymnastic Federation championship in Indonesia; Jakarta refused to grant visas to members of the Israeli delegation, effectively banning them from competition…
Eurovision Song Contest organizers postponed an upcoming vote on Israel’s participation in next year’s competition, citing “recent developments in the Middle East”…
Israeli-American economist Joel Mokyr was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics alongside Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for their work linking innovation to economic growth…
The Washington Post looks at the limited impact that some European governments’ banning or limiting of weapons sales to Israel have had on the country’s military capabilities…
Israeli diplomat Sammy Revel presented his credentials to Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in Manama following his appointment to serve as Israel’s envoy to the Arab nation, with which Jerusalem normalized relations in 2020…
A 76-year-old Israeli man injured in an Iranian ballistic missile attack during the 12-day June war died of his injuries this week…
A French man and his partner who were arrested in Iran in 2022 on charges of spying on behalf of France and Israel were both given lengthy prison sentences…
Beth Oppenheim was named CEO of the Jewish refugee aid organization HIAS after previously serving as the organization’s chief advancement officer and chief external relations officer…
The International Legal Forum named Michal Cotler-Wunsh, the former Israeli envoy to combat antisemitism, as its new CEO, effective Nov. 1; Cotler-Wunsh succeeds outgoing CEO Arsen Ostrovsky, who is taking up a senior leadership role at the Australia & Israel Jewish Affairs Council in Sydney…
British clothier Derek Rose, whose eponymous luxury pajama company attracted a celebrity following, died at 93…
Pic of the Day
Matan Angrest, who was released from Hamas captivity on Monday, spoke on Wednesday during the funeral of his tank commander, Daniel Peretz, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and whose remains were returned to Israel this week, at Mount Herzl National Cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel.
Writing in eJewishPhilanthropy earlier this month, Peretz’s father, Rabbi Doron Peretz, the executive chairman of the World Mizrachi movement, reflected on the loss of his son, the anniversary of the attacks on Israel and the country’s display of “courage, clarity and unmatched self-sacrifice and heroism” on that day.
Birthdays
Retired basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA, she has five Olympic gold medals, Sue Bird turns 45…
Israeli attorney, chairman of Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball, Shimon Mizrahi turns 86… Retired CFO of Amtrak, Midway Airlines and Airlines Reporting Corporation, Alfred Samuel Altschul turns 86… National president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Morton A. Klein turns 78… Film director, producer, screenwriter and creator of “The Naked Gun” franchise, David Zucker turns 78… Professor emeritus of economics at Smith College and author of 28 books, Andrew S. Zimbalist turns 78… Director of strategy in the policy and government affairs department at AIPAC, Dr. Marvin C. Feuer… Novelist, short story writer and essayist, Elinor Lipman turns 75… Chairman of Sela Capital Real Estate Ltd., he previously served as the director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Finance, Shmuel Slavin turns 72… Executive director of Clark University Hillel, Jeff Narod… Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 1999, David Linsky turns 68… Best-selling French novelist, one of whose books was made into Steven Spielberg’s “Just Like Heaven,” Marc Levy turns 64… President of the American Academy in Berlin, he was the coordinator for counterterrorism during the Obama administration, Daniel Benjamin turns 64… Otolaryngologist who also specializes in facial and reconstructive surgery, Howard David Krein, M.D. turns 59… Senior partner at Battery Ventures Israel’s office, Scott Tobin… Attorney in North Palm Beach, Fla., he served in the Florida House of Representatives, Adam M. Fetterman turns 55… Filmmaker, best known for directing “Monster House” (2006), Gil Kenan turns 49… Actress Kala Lynne Savage turns 47… Founder and chief strategy officer of BrightPower, Jeff Perlman turns 46… Founder and CEO at Social Studies, Inc., he is also the founder of The Gramlist, Brandon Jared Perlman… Three-time U.S. Army light-middleweight boxing champion, he boxed with a Star of David on his trunks, Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson turns 44… Group product manager for data and AI at The Washington Post, Jason Langsner… West Coast regional director at Foundation for Jewish Camp, Margalit C. Rosenthal… SVP for financial planning and analysis at Vibrant Emotional Health, Avi Fink… Senior director of communications at Mark43, Devora Kaye… Business analyst at LWF Group and project manager at Aqualinq, Sam Ginsberg…
Plus, NY Jewish leaders fearful of Mamdani mayoralty
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, attends a news conference about the Israel-Hamas war, and pressure to reduce civilian casualties, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Washington.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Jewish leaders who are reacting with fear and resignation to the increasing likelihood that Zohran Mamdani will be the next mayor of New York City, and cover remarks made by Sen. Elissa Slotkin about rising left-wing antisemitism. We report on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s efforts to push back on GOP isolationists and cover Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s comments about the Trump administration’s settlements with universities over campus antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Richard Goldberg, Mimi Kravetz and Ken Marcus.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is holding a hearing this morning on the state of K-12 education.
- The Atlantic Festival begins in New York City today, opening with a session including former Vice President Mike Pence and former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster.
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is holding a policy forum today on “Recognizing ‘Palestine’: Rationale, Expectations, Implications” with speakers Rob Satloff, the Washington Institute’s executive director, and Tal Becker, former legal advisor to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
- The American Jewish Historical Society is hosting an interview with media executive Barry Diller about his recent memoir, Who Knew.
- Tonight, the Israeli Embassy will host its Rosh Hashanah reception in Washington.
- United Hatzalah will hold its 2025 Los Angeles gala with honorary guest Gal Gadot. Israeli Eurovision performer Yuval Raphael will receive United Hatzalah’s Hero Award and American venture capitalist Shaun Maguire will receive its Am Israel award.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
In the aftermath of Israel’s strike aimed at Hamas leaders in Qatar, questions have emerged about how much the U.S. knew, the extent of President Donald Trump’s frustration with Israel’s actions and what it means for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
But another important question is whether the strike marks a turning point for Qatar — and whether the Gulf nation may now be considering a shift in its own role and behavior.
The fact that the Trump administration has not dwelled on the attack — even sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Israel for a warm visit days after the strike — may give Doha pause. While Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the strike “did not advance Israel or America’s goals,” in the next breath, she said that “eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.” That goes against the Qataris’ preferred narrative, that the U.S. wants it to host terrorists because they’re the only conduit to Hamas, the Taliban and others.
With that in mind, Qatar could reconsider the business of harboring terrorists, because it has become risky and could impact its relations with Western companies and institutions. Though the UAE was not in the terror-supporting business and has long opposed the Muslim Brotherhood, it didn’t prevent people like Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh from visiting the UAE until the Mossad killed him in Dubai in 2010. The Emiratis publicly railed against Israel and the then-quiet relations between the countries were set back, but the UAE cracked down and banned such individuals associated with terror groups from entering their country.
However, Qatar does not seem to be taking recent events as a signal to change. Doha roundly condemned Israel, threatened to stop mediating hostage talks and convened an Arab summit to condemn Israel further. Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad appeared on Al Jazeera yesterday, with the chyron stating that he was in Doha, and the wife of senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya was spotted visiting the grave of her son, killed in the strike, with Qatari security. On Tuesday, the Qatari Defense Minister hosted his Taliban counterpart.
And while Qatar could respond to the strike by turning away from America, it does not seem to have done that, either. Doha publicly denied reports that they were reconsidering its relationship with Washington. After its initial statement, Qatar said it would continue mediating Gaza hostage and ceasefire talks, and shifted to blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rather than Israel, broadly. Doha softened its language in Arabic to describe the hostages, moving from “prisoners” to “captives,” according to Ariel Admoni, a Qatar expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS).
BITING THE BULLET
New York Jewish leaders reckon with a potential Mamdani win
As Jewish leaders reckon with the increasing likelihood that Zohran Mamdani will be the next mayor of New York City, many who have voiced anxiety over his avowedly anti-Israel policies are reacting with a mix of fear and resignation. Their concerns have been mounting as Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, has continued to hold a comfortable lead in the race, where polling shows him handily prevailing over the divided field, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. The 33-year-old democratic socialist and Queens state assemblyman has recently claimed endorsements from prominent party leaders including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who clarified she does not agree with him on Israel issues but said she appreciated his commitment to combating antisemitism as well as his efforts to meet with Jewish community members to address “their concerns directly.”
Community concerns: But multiple Jewish leaders said in interviews with JI on Wednesday that they remain deeply skeptical of his campaign’s outreach and pledges to confront rising antisemitism, citing a string of recent statements in which he has doubled down on his hostile approach to Israel — as well as an ongoing refusal to explicitly denounce extreme rhetoric espoused by his allies on the far left. “I believe that he will genuinely work to drive a wedge between Jews and their neighbors as long as he serves in public office,” Sara Forman, executive director of New York Solidarity Network, a group that supports pro-Israel Democratic candidates for state and local office, told JI. “To this date,” she said of Mamdani, “his actions certainly have given us no indication they match his words.”
calling it out
Sen. Slotkin sounds alarm on left-wing antisemitism at Jewish security briefing
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), speaking on Wednesday to a gathering of Jewish activists on Capitol Hill, highlighted concerns about rising left-wing antisemitism and the ways that antisemitic narratives are being spread to and by college students, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What she said: “We’re used to the right-wing side. What is new and what I think has so many in the Jewish community on our heels is that new left-wing antisemitism and how to approach it,” Slotkin said at a pre-High Holidays security briefing organized by several Jewish communal organizations. “How do we counteract it? How do we protect against it? How do we educate? And certainly, we’re watching, on many college campuses, a lot of young people who actually maybe didn’t grow up with the Jewish community at all, get to campus and maybe repeat what they’re hearing, sometimes not even understanding or knowing,” she continued. “I would just say that one of our responsibilities as Jewish leaders and Jewish activists is to try and really parse through how to deal with antisemitism on the left, since antisemitism on the right isn’t good, but it’s more of a well-known threat.”
HOLDING THE LINE
Johnson discusses efforts to push back on GOP isolationists with pro-Israel leaders
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) spoke about his efforts to hold the line against the isolationist wing of the Republican Party in a private meeting with pro-Israel leaders on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, several individuals who attended the meeting told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod. Johnson, who described himself to the group as a “Reagan Republican” focused on “peace through strength,” acknowledged that isolationism is rising in the Republican Party, and that the party is likely bound for a major debate on the issue after President Donald Trump leaves office.
Preventative action: Johnson also told the group that, in his candidate recruiting efforts, he’s working to filter out isolationists to prevent that wing of the party from growing larger in the House, four people who attended the meeting said. “The speaker was very, very direct about the U.S. role with Israel and in the world and understands that there are voices that don’t agree in both parties, on both extremes, and urges us all to be involved in fighting back against those extremes,” Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told JI.
education cooperation
Education Secretary McMahon says administration not looking for prolonged legal battle with Harvard
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on Wednesday that the Trump administration’s goal is not to engage in a prolonged legal battle with Harvard University and expressed hope that the federal government would be able to reach a settlement that delivers meaningful reforms to the elite campus. McMahon made the comments while appearing at the Federalist Society and the Defense of Freedom Institute’s annual Education Law & Policy Conference on Wednesday morning, after being asked during a moderated conversation with Washington Examiner politics editor Marisa Schultz where negotiations between Harvard and the administration stand, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
McMahon’s mission: “I’m certainly hopeful on the settlement. I have spoken to Alan Garber, their very good president, at the very beginning of this. I haven’t spoken to him since, but I do think that with the idea that Harvard has already started to take certain measures to change what they were doing, I certainly hope that there will be an agreement,” McMahon said. “It’s not our goal to have to go to court to make people abide by the law, to make universities abide by the law.” Asked by Schultz about the ongoing negotiations with the University of California, Los Angeles and other schools, and how the settlements fit into the Trump administration’s “big picture mission for elite universities and colleges in America,” McMahon said that their “goal is really not to be punitive necessarily, but to have universities, I think, return to what we all believe that universities started out to be.”
Backing McMahon: Ken Marcus, the founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, said on Wednesday that he had faith in McMahon to ensure that any settlements the Trump administration were to make with Harvard University or other schools would ensure concrete reforms to address campus antisemitism.
OU Action: Members of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center met with McMahon yesterday to discuss federal efforts to counter antisemitism and new legislation promoting school choice, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
EXPLAINING SNAPBACK
What to expect from snapback sanctions on Iran
The Sept. 27 deadline to snap back United Nations sanctions on Iran’s nuclear and other weapons programs is rapidly approaching. The E3 — as France, Germany and the U.K. are known — announced last month that they planned to trigger the snapback sanctions mechanism, meaning the likely return of all U.N. sanctions that had been “sunsetted” per the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on an episode of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy’s “Mideast Horizons” podcast, Richard Goldberg, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ senior advisor, explained the snapback procedure and how the sanctions are expected to damage Iran’s economy. Goldberg recently finished a stint as the Trump administration’s National Energy Dominance Council’s senior counselor and was the director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction in the first Trump administration.
Now or never: Goldberg said it is important not to stop the snapback process, even if Iran suddenly agrees to cooperate. “You don’t stop the snapback, which goes away in just a few weeks,” he said. “You cannot trigger this again after October; it’s done. Iran just wins all these strategic gains forever. … You have to complete the snapback because you don’t get another chance at it.” The impact of snapback would be significant on several fronts. “On a strategic level, they will no longer have any claim of legitimacy to transfer weapons to Russia,” Goldberg said. “Technically, the Russians today will tell you that it is fully legal under the Security Council, which is true. … That will be done after the snapback is completed.”
survey says
Jewish ‘surge’ post-Oct. 7 slowing for marginalized groups
In the aftermath of the deadly Oct. 7 attacks two years ago, many American Jews were pulled off the sidelines and got much more involved in Jewish life — a trend, dubbed “the surge,” that has continued into a second year, according to a survey released this spring. But a further breakdown of that survey data, shared this week by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), shows that the impact of “the surge” is waning more quickly among Jews from minority populations, including LGBTQ Jews, Jews of color, Jews with disabilities and financially vulnerable Jews, than it is among the broader Jewish community, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Yearly comparison: The survey found that 31% of Jewish respondents said this year that they are engaging more with the Jewish community now than before Oct. 7, down from 43% last year — still significant post-Oct. 7 growth, but slightly down from the immediate aftermath. But among historically marginalized populations, that decrease was even more pronounced. “We’re sad and disheartened to see that these marginalized groups are engaging so much less than they were at this time last year,” JFNA’s chief impact and growth officer, Mimi Kravetz, told JI on Wednesday. “It’s still higher than baseline. There’s still people showing up more. But there has been a more significant drop among these most marginalized groups.”
Worthy Reads
The Ties That Bind: The Wall Street Journal examines why the strong relationship between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been resilient. “Trump, meanwhile, doesn’t want a public break with Netanyahu. He is proud of his close ties to Netanyahu and support for Israel, U.S. officials said. He often boasts about the Abraham Accords brokered during his first term, and continues to push for renewed ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a grand diplomatic prize he openly covets. Netanyahu also finds ways to ingratiate himself with Trump’s inner circle and flatter the president directly. On Saturday, Netanyahu, alongside U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, participated in a cornerstone-laying ceremony to name a promenade in the beachside city of Bat Yam after Trump. In effect, Netanyahu has shaped a relationship where he can temporarily risk Trump’s ire, knowing it won’t last.” [WSJ]
Arrest Warning: Former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz argues in The Wall Street Journal against New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he travels to the city. “It’s easy to mock Zohran Mamdani’s pledge that he will order the New York City Police Department to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister visits the city while Mr. Mamdani is mayor. Does he expect the NYPD to overcome Mr. Netanyahu’s Shin Bet and Secret Service bodyguards? Or will a New York City Criminal Court judge issue a warrant and wait for the prime minister to turn himself in? Has Mr. Mamdani even heard of diplomatic immunity? … Should a Mayor Mamdani attempt such a stunt, I would happily represent the prime minister in a federal lawsuit, which would be the easiest win of my career. … New Yorkers deserve leaders who focus on the city’s and state’s real challenges, not on grandstanding gestures that flirt with illegality and embarrass this great city on the world stage.” [WSJ]
The Charlie Kirk I Knew: In The Free Press, Harvard Law School graduate Adam Sharf recalls how interactions with Charlie Kirk as an undergraduate influenced him to become Orthodox. “He never tried to convert me. What he said instead changed my life: ‘It’s important that you be Jewish.’ … He made a 19-year-old take first principles seriously: why we are here and what we are here for. I began attending Shabbat dinners, meeting weekly with my rabbi to try to understand the covenant Charlie told me about.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced that it has completed the development of the Iron Beam laser missile interception system, which will be operational by the end of the year…
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delayed his announcement to recognize a Palestinian state until this weekend, after President Donald Trump has departed from his state visit to London…
Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, backed by Trump, has proposed creating a “Gaza International Transitional Authority” to govern Gaza postwar, with the goal of replacing Hamas and eventually handing control to a reformed Palestinian Authority, The Times of Israel reports…
An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil must be deported to Syria or Algeria for omitting details from his green card application, despite another court ruling in New Jersey blocking his deportation. Khalil’s lawyers said they intend to appeal the decision but do not expect the appeal to be successful…
Trump told aides that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is f***ing me,” officials told The Wall Street Journal, after Israel attempted to strike Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, as Trump reportedly grows more frustrated with the Israeli prime minister…
The State Department designated four Iran-aligned militias as Foreign Terrorist Organizations on Wednesday…
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff last night in London in a bid to revive ceasefire and hostage-release efforts…
National Students for Justice in Palestine asked members on Wednesday to send letters to a judge in New York asking for a lenient sentence for Tarek Bazrouk, who pleaded guilty in June to attacking three Jews for their Jewish or Israeli identity…
In separate statements, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) on Wednesday accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, the first Jewish lawmakers to do so…
House lawmakers voted down a Republican resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over a social media video she reposted that called Charlie Kirk a “reprehensible human being” and criticized the right’s reaction to his killing…
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) became the latest voice turning Charlie Kirk’s killing into a referendum on his views on Israel and Judaism with a series of social media posts on Wednesday. “Do not allow a foreign country, foreign agents, and another religion [to] tell you about Charlie Kirk. And I hope a foreign country and foreign agents and another religion does not take over Christian Patriotic Turning Point USA,” she wrote, indirectly referring to Israel and Jews…
Disney-owned ABC is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show off air after he said during his Monday show, “The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” …
In an excerpt from former Vice President Kamala Harris’ forthcoming book, 107 Days, she admits she would have preferred to choose former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeig as her running mate in the 2024 election, but “we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man”…
The Gothamist reports on growing tensions between Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani and City Comptroller Brad Lander, just months after they cross-endorsed each other in the primary race. Lander is reportedly insinuating behind closed doors that he’ll be appointed first deputy mayor, the mayor’s right hand, should Mamdani win the election, while Mamdani has told him to back off and insists no personnel decisions have been made…
Pro-Israel philanthropist Ronald Lauder injected $750,000 to the Fix the City PAC, which is backing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his bid to defeat Mamdani as an independent, despite Cuomo’s recent turn away from his full-throated support of Israel’s war in Gaza…
Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas announced plans today for the EU to impose tariffs on Israel and sanction Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, following on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s call last week for the EU to suspend free trade measures with Israel…
The Israeli Ministry of Culture announced it’s cutting state funding for the Ophir Awards, known as the “Israeli Oscars,” after a film about a Palestinian boy from Ramallah seeing the ocean in Tel Aviv won five awards at the show on Tuesday, including 2025 Best Picture. The movie, “The Sea,” is now slated to represent Israel at the Oscars…
Bloomberg profiles Rachel Accurso, also known as Ms. Rachel, a popular children’s content creator and outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, which she regularly refers to as genocide……
The New York Times speaks to Jewish and Muslim experts on whether followers of the religion can accept pig heart transplants…
Restaurateurs Emily and Alon Shaya, along with Tulane University Professor Mara Force, recreated dishes from a recipe book of the Fenves family, saved as they were taken to Auschwitz in 1944, in a project dubbed “Rescued Recipes”…
Pic of the Day
The Michael Levin Base for lone soldiers marked its annual gala on Tuesday evening at the Jerusalem Theater at which U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee gave the keynote address. Michael Dickson, executive director of StandWithUs Israel (left), moderated a panel on the rise of global antisemitism, with panelists (from left to right) Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Israel’s special envoy for trade and innovation and honorary board member of The Michael Levin Base; Adir Schwarz, deputy mayor of Jerusalem; and Matti Friedman, author and journalist.
Birthdays
Winner of three Grammy Awards for music videos, he is also a filmmaker and photographer, Mark Lee Romanek turns 66…
Marina Del Rey, Calif., resident, Kathy Levinson Wolf… Retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, he served as U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Trump 45 administration, Dr. Ben Carson turns 74… Business executive who served as co-CEO of SAP and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Léo Apotheker turns 72… Harvard professor of psychology, specializing in visual cognition and psycholinguistics, Steven Pinker turns 71… U.S. senator (R-AL), he had a career prior to politics as a collegiate football coach, Tommy Tuberville turns 71… Former CEO of The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, Howard Tevlowitz… Former executive director of the Los Angeles Westside Jewish Community Center, Brian Greene… Attorney general of Israel, Gali Baharav-Miara turns 66… Professor of economics at MIT and a 2021 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, Joshua Angrist turns 65… One of the earliest Israeli tech entrepreneurs, he is best known for starting Aladdin Knowledge Systems in 1985, Yanki Margalit turns 63… Founder and executive chairman of Delek US, Ezra Uzi Yemin turns 57… Classical pianist, Simone Dinnerstein turns 53… Chief policy officer at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Karen Paikin Barall… NBC and MSNBC legal analyst, she was a 2021 candidate for Manhattan district attorney, Tali Farhadian Weinstein turns 50… Founding partner of Shore Capital Partners, he is a part-owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury along with his brother Mat Ishbia, Justin Ryan Ishbia turns 48… Comedian, actor, producer and screenwriter, Billy Eichner turns 47… Rome bureau chief of The New York Times, covering Italy and the Vatican, Jason Horowitz… Director of operations at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, Robin Anderson… Co-host of Bloomberg Surveillance every morning on Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio, Lisa Abramowicz turns 46… Author and CNN analyst, he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Bakari Sellers turns 41… Founder of the Jerusalem Journal, Avi Mayer… Professional poker player whose total career live tournament winnings exceed $24.5 million, Nick Schulman turns 41… Baseball broadcaster for the Washington Nationals, Dan Kolko… Television and film actress, Shoshana Bush turns 37… Senior director at TLG Communications – the Levinson Group, Zak Sawyer…
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images
Former Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) arrives to address a rally attended by supporters of Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) in the village of Abraq, about 60 kilometers northwest of Khartoum, on June 23, 2019.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at Jim Moran’s lobbying work on behalf of Qatar amid a long record of controversy in his relationships with the Jewish community, and report on Sen. Susan Collins’ criticism of 2026 challenger Graham Platner, who called AIPAC “weird” and has accused Israel of committing genocide. We report on Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s condemnation of the antisemitic rhetoric espoused by staffers for Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh, and cover a new Anti-Defamation League report highlighting a white supremacist online forum that has inspired school shooters. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Greg Landsman, Yael Nativ and Daniel Loeb.Ed. note: The next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Monday, Aug. 25.
What We’re Watching
- The American Jewish Committee is holding a web event this afternoon with the founders of The Dinah Project focused on justice for the victims of the sexual violence that took place on Oct. 7, 2023.
- The Milken Institute’s Hamptons Dialogues kick off this morning on the East End of Long Island. What we’re looking out for: On Friday, Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman will speak about K-12 education and the Alpha School, a project he has promoted in recent months that eschews DEI programming and focuses on AI-driven education.
- Later on Friday, former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin are speaking on a panel about the U.S.’ economic advantages.
- On Saturday morning, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his son Alex are hosting a breakfast during which Witkoff and Michael Milken will speak in conversation about global challenges and opportunities.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is slated to speak on a Sunday morning panel focused on U.S. economic security, followed by back-t0-back sessions about the future of American cities, featuring NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein and Related Companies’ Stephen Ross.
- Rubenstein will again take the stage Sunday afternoon for a conversation about sports investments, which will also feature Len Blavatnik.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
It’s notable that Democrats are still relying on experienced, brand-name candidates a bit past their political prime as top recruits for key Senate races.
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, now 72, is seeking a political comeback after losing his reelection bid last year in Ohio. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is pursuing a career change to the Senate at 68 years old. Maine Gov. Janet Mills is being recruited into the Senate race against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) even though she’s 77.
To be sure, these are the strongest challengers Democrats could muster in these three must-win battleground states. All are popular statewide officials with a history of winning support from outside the party base. It’s hard to name any other Democratic candidate more capable of flipping these GOP-held seats than the aforementioned recruits.
But there’s another more uncomfortable reality that is drawing the Democrats towards their stars of yesteryear. In today’s fractured media environment, it’s incredibly hard for a new face to emerge and get the type of publicity rising stars would generate from “earned media” on television and in the press, as was common in the recent past.
And given the declining influence of such mainstream platforms, the best way to get attention is by playing to the party’s activist base on social media. It’s how Zohran Mamdani broke through a comparatively dull field of challengers in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. Going viral is becoming a prerequisite in today’s politics, and the best way to go viral is to play to the extremes — or to, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, emulate President Donald Trump’s online bullying and trolling.
If you don’t have name identification built up from a career in politics, it’s hard to register any other way these days. And it’s exceptionally hard to break through the noise if you’re a thoughtful moderate.
It’s why we’re seeing a slew of Democratic candidates popping up who are looking to capture the anti-establishment mood within the party amid the desire for a younger generation of leadership. At the same time, most of these change-focused candidates also hold political views that are well out of the mainstream.
MORAN’S MORASS
Qatar’s Washington lobbyist invokes old antisemitic tropes in push for influence
During Jim Moran’s 24 years in Congress, the Virginia Democrat had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth, particularly when it came to his Jewish constituents. In 2003, he blamed the Jewish community for President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, prompting several local rabbis to call for his resignation. Four years later, he blamed AIPAC for the war. The blowback was so strong that when then-Sen. Barack Obama accepted Moran’s endorsement of his presidential campaign in 2008, he stated plainly that he disagreed with Moran’s views of the Jewish community. Moran retired from Congress in 2015, but the 80-year-old still walks the halls of Capitol Hill. Now, he’s there as a lobbyist — primarily as a registered foreign agent lobbying on behalf of the government of Qatar, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Influence wars: It is notable that one of the people tasked with advocating for a country that is close to both America and Hamas seems to have a deeply rooted hostility to Israel and even to American Jews, particularly at a moment when Qatar’s dealings in the U.S. are facing greater scrutiny — like when Trump said earlier this year that the U.S. would accept a Qatari gift of a luxury jet to use as Air Force One. Moran and his team have held dozens of meetings with members of Congress since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in 2023 that spurred the ongoing war in Gaza, mainly to talk about “Qatar’s role in the Middle East peace process.” At the same time, he has questioned Jewish involvement in the American political system, including just days after Oct. 7.
WEIRDING OUT
Susan Collins hits newly minted challenger over his anti-Israel rhetoric
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is criticizing Graham Platner, a Democrat running against her in next year’s election, for singling out AIPAC as a “weird” interest group in remarks to a local newspaper in which he also pledged to reject support from the organization. “Sen. Collins is a strong supporter of AIPAC, a bipartisan organization that promotes stronger ties between the United States and Israel,” a spokesperson for Collins told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel. “Nothing about their work is ‘weird’ — in fact, it has never been more important given the aggressive antisemitism that we have seen around the world since the appalling Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack.”
‘Very simple’: In his comment, Platner, a 40-year-old oyster farmer, Marine veteran and political newcomer who launched his bid to challenge Collins on Tuesday, said he would reject backing from corporate super PACs and donations from interest groups such as AIPAC that he called “weird.” “My view here is very simple,” Platner told JI on Wednesday when asked to elaborate on his remark. “What is happening in Gaza is a genocide; I refuse to take money from AIPAC or any group that supports the genocide in Gaza.” In other interviews this week, Platner has similarly accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and endorsed efforts to block U.S. arms sales to Israel.
DELAYED DENUNCIATION
Klobuchar rebukes Fateh campaign staffers who glorified Oct. 7 attacks
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is rebuking a top mayoral candidate in Minneapolis, far-left state Sen. Omar Fateh, who has recently faced criticism for employing campaign staffers who have glorified Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and called for Israel’s destruction, among other extreme comments. In a statement to Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Klobuchar, who is backing Fateh’s chief rival, Mayor Jacob Frey, said the senator “strongly and immediately condemned the Hamas terrorist attack, and condemns any statements to the contrary.”
Breaking the silence: “These comments are outrageous and have no place in our politics,” the spokesperson, Jane Meyer, said of the staffers’remarks, which were unearthed by JI last week. “She has spoken out against antisemitism for years. She has endorsed the mayor and did so months ago.” Klobuchar, who along with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is the most high-profile Democratic official supporting Frey’s campaign, had until now remained silent with regard to Fateh, a 35-year-old democratic socialist whose insurgent bid has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor.
TRIP TALK
Greg Landsman: Israel is ‘close’ to ending Gaza war
Following his recent trip to Israel, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) says he believes that the Jewish state is “as close as I’ve understood it to be to ending” the war in Gaza. “The language around aid has changed. [Israel talks] about surging aid and they talk about ending this war quickly,” Landsman, who discussed his trip on Wednesday with Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs, said. The Ohio Democrat told JI that he believes “everyone should be putting pressure on all parties to end the war. I think it is entirely appropriate to put pressure on the Israeli government to end this war. I also think it is necessary for people to put pressure on Qatar and Egypt to end this war, to use all of the leverage they have, particularly with the senior Hamas leaders that are in Qatar.”
Support system: Landsman, one of 14 House Democrats who took part in a delegation to the Jewish state last week, told JI that the Israeli officials and citizens he spoke with urged him and others on the trip to continue supporting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship during moments when they took issue with some of the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They remind you that they would never want anyone to abandon them, as we would never want anyone to abandon us. It’s an important reminder that being critical of the government when you disagree is part of democracy, it’s why democracy and freedom are so important,” he said. “There’s a line. In terms of having the strength and courage to both stand up to and criticize your partners, while also having the strength and courage to not abandon them, especially a partnership like this one and in an existential moment such as this.”
ONLINE RADICALIZATION
New ADL report highlights white supremacist forum inspiring school shooters
A new report from the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism suggests that an online community of white supremacists is increasingly recruiting and inspiring school shooters, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Violent videos: The research, published Thursday as an interactive timeline, analyzes two school shootings that occurred weeks apart. Despite happening in different states, the report found overlapping online activity between the young perpetrators. In the months leading up to the shootings, both perpetrators were active on the website WatchPeopleDie, a forum where users can post and view real images and videos of violence. ADL researchers found that extremist material — such as white supremacist and antisemitic manifestos and videos of white supremacist and antisemitic mass murders — was widely accessible on WPD.
PRESIDENT’S POV
Trump: Iran would have had nuclear weapons in four weeks at time of U.S. strikes
President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Mark Levin on Tuesday that at the time of the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, he believed Tehran “would have had nuclear weapons in a period of four weeks,” Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports. Calling in to Levin’s radio show, Trump said that, “if we didn’t [strike Iran], they would probably by this time, just about this time, have a nuclear weapon and they would have used it.”
Taking on Tehran: “The Atomic Energy Commission said, this place is gone. [Iran] can maybe start up, but they’re not starting up there,” Trump said of the Iranian nuclear facilities targeted in the operation. The Israel Atomic Energy Commission found that the U.S. strike on the Fordow nuclear facility “destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure” and rendered it “inoperable,” though reports differ on the extent of the damage. The president also boasted about his peacemaking abilities, saying, “I’ve settled six wars and we did the Iran night, wiped out their whole nuclear capability, which they would have used against Israel in two seconds if they had the chance.”
Bonus:The New York Times does a deep dive into the U.S. strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility in June.
Worthy Reads
Trump Card: The Times of Israel’s founding Editor David Horovitz considers how President Donald Trump could hasten the end of the Israel-Hamas war. “Trump’s opening here is to broker a deal — not between Israel and Hamas, which will never sign off on its own path to oblivion, but between Israel and the regional actors who have indicated willingness in principle to step in and rehabilitate the Strip. Netanyahu doesn’t want the PA there. Regional players and Israel’s (now unreliable) international allies have demanded a role for the PA, while stressing the imperative that it be reformed and closely overseen. Washington should strive to produce a viable accommodation, paving the way for non-Hamas governance, negotiating a security mechanism that enables Israel to intervene when necessary, and conditioning the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Gaza on its demilitarization.” [TOI]
Foreign Green on the Green: In Mosaic, Danielle Pletka, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, proposes a crackdown in foreign funding of American universities to address antisemitism on college campuses. “Is Qatar the only driver of campus anti-Semitism? Absolutely not. The resurgence of Marxist thought, critical race theory, and the ‘intersectionality’ that demands that Jews must be reviled along with racism, fossil fuels, ‘settler colonialists,’ and social conservatives deserves a significant chunk of the blame. But there should be little doubt that, in a campus environment hostile to Israel, Zionists, and Jews, the contributions of a country well known for its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and its Hamas progeny is a significant factor. And Qatar isn’t going away any time soon. If American universities are to become more welcoming places for Jews — indeed, if they are to become better institutions altogether — federal and state governments will have to crack down thoroughly on foreign funding, and administrators will have to exercise some restraint and just say no to money that fosters Jew hatred.” [Mosaic]
The Case for Diversity: In recent remarks to Yale’s incoming law school class that were published in The Free Press, Danielle Sassoon, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, reflects on the diversity of opinions among her classmates at the law school 15 years prior that bolstered opportunities for conversation and dialogue. “Ideological familiarity might provide comfort, but don’t take the lazy way out. Recognize that conditioning social acceptance on ideological conformity is the weapon of the intellectually weak. Don’t insulate yourself in an artificial circle of only like-minded peers, or permit others to dehumanize your classmates, whatever their race, religion, or creed. And don’t fall prey to the arrogance of turning analytical questions into moral judgments unworthy of debate. Otherwise, you don’t stand a chance — whether against a hostile judge, a room full of aggressive lawyers 20 years your senior, or as a leader of an institution with people of diverse views and talents.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
The Trump administration announced sanctions on four International Criminal Court officials over the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant…
The State Department fired a contractor and onetime National Iranian American Council intern who clashed with officials over the department’s language around relocating Gazans outside of the enclave, expressing condolences over the death of a Palestinian journalist Israel has claimed was a member of Hamas…
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into Haverford College, three months after the President Wendy Raymond dodged questions regarding antisemitism on the Pennsylvania university’s campus at a congressional hearing…
The New York Times looks at the logistical and bureaucratic challenges facing international students — approximately 1 million of whom study in the U.S. every year — amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student visa holders…
An advisor to New York City Mayor Eric Adams who was also a volunteer on his reelection campaign was suspended after giving more than $100 in cash to a journalist who reported the exchange to her superiors…
eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim interviews outgoing Revson President Julie Sandorf about her foundation’s approach to funding projects and initiatives in New York City, as well as her own questions about how Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani intends to address antisemitism and anti-Israel activity in the city…
Eighteen people were arrested at a two-day worker-led protest at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters as the software giant pledged to review the IDF’s use of its technologies…
An Israeli academic is suing the University of California, Berkeley, alleging that the school, where she had taught a class in 2022, had invited her to apply for another teaching position and rejected her application because she is Israeli; in the lawsuit, Yael Nativ said that the chair of the school’s theater department told her that she would not be offered a position because “[t]hings are very hot right now and many of our grad students are angry” over the political situation in Israel and Gaza…
Third Point founder Daniel Loeb was named chair of the Museum of Jewish Heritage’s board of trustees, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports…
A group of 80 Modern Orthodox rabbis signed on to a letter calling for Israel and its supporters to act with “moral clarity” in regards to the humanitarian situation in Gaza…
The New York Yankees drafted a shortstop who in 2021 had scrawled a swastika on the dorm room door of a Jewish student; Core Jackson, whose acquisition despite the incident was approved by Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, has expressed remorse for his actions, telling The Athletic he was “blackout drunk” at the time and had no memory of the incident…
Brandon Korff, the son of Shari Redstone, recently applied for Israeli residency…
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry criticized what it called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “clumsy intervention” and “inflammatory and provocative” comments made in the wake of Canberra’s cancelation of a visa for hard-right Israeli MK Simcha Rothman; in response, Netanyahu lambasted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a “a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews”…
B’nai Brith Canada issued an open letter calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to reverse his plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next month…
Netanyahu is reportedly mulling the creation of a satellite party to woo right-wing voters disillusioned with his Likud party and its far-right coalition members; the new party would attempt to block former Likud voters from backing former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett or Avigdor Liberman…
Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nassirzadeh said that Tehran had built missiles “with far greater capabilities than previous missiles” and would use them in the event of an Israeli attack on Iran…
Iranian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said that current circumstances are preventing “effective negotiations” between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear program…
The Iranian Navy launched its first drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean since its 12-day war with Israel in June…
Seventy-nine Afghans who had been forcibly returned from Iran were killed in a bus crash in Afghanistan; Tehran has sought to deport more than 1 million Afghans in the country as part of its crackdown on illegal immigration…
A senior Catholic cleric in Lebanon said that Pope Leo XIV was considering a trip to the country as his first overseas trip since becoming pontiff…
British tech pioneer Stephanie Shirley, who fought for women’s inclusion in the field as an adult after fleeing Nazi Europe on the Kindertransport as a child, died at 91…
Psychiatrist Warren Brodey, who coupled his field with the advent of modern technology, died at 101…
Pic of the Day
Former Israeli hostage Andrei Kozlov met with several dozen Holocaust survivors on Tuesday at the Adolph and Lotte Rosenberg Summer Retreat for Holocaust survivors in Kerhonkson, N.Y., hosted by The Blue Card. Read more from eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher here.
Birthdays
Mexican writer, playwright and journalist whose work is related to diversity and its obstacles, Sabina Berman Goldberg turns 70… Retired owner of Effective Strategy Consultants, South Florida resident, Irwin Wecker… Senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit (with chambers in Chicago), the first woman appointed to this court, Judge Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner turns 87… President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until the end of 2022, L. Rafael Reif turns 75… Former chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, he was the first Jewish chief justice in Ohio history, Eric S. Brown turns 72… Israeli-born pawnbroker and star of the reality television series “Beverly Hills Pawn,” Yossi Dina turns 71… Businessman and collector of modern and contemporary art, he is a partner in the NFL’s Washington Commanders, Mitchell Rales turns 69… U.S. senator (D-MT) for 18 years, ending earlier this year, Jon Tester turns 69… Israeli physician who was a member of the Knesset, he now serves as mayor of Ashdod, Dr. Yehiel Lasri turns 68… Photographer best known for his fashion and celebrity images, Jerry Avenaim turns 64… Israeli career diplomat who served for six years as consul general in New York, Ido Aharoni turns 63… United States secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent turns 63… President at Maimonides Fund, Mark S. Charendoff… Co-founder of BlueLine Grid, he was previously an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and a member of the Los Angeles City Council, Jack Weiss turns 61… Member of the philanthropic leadership group for the UJA-Federation of New York, Chavie N. Kahn… Partner at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts-KKR where he is the global head of public affairs and a co-head of global impact, Ken Mehlman turns 59… President of Berger Hirschberg Strategies, Rachel Hirschberg Light… Co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin turns 52… MLB pitcher for nine teams in a 16-season career, he was the starting pitcher in three of Team Israel’s first four games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, all of which the team won, Jason Marquis turns 47… District attorney of San Francisco, elected in 2019 and recalled in 2022, Chesa Boudin turns 45… Head coach of the Temple University Owls men’s basketball team, Adam Fisher turns 41… President at Bold Decision, Adam Rosenblatt turns 40… Missions manager for domestic and overseas travel at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Erica N. Miller… Communications director at Breakthrough Energy, David Abadian Heifetz… Pop singer and songwriter, Madeline Fuhrman turns 32… Associate editor at Simon & Schuster, Tzipora (Tzippy) Baitch… An Argov fellow at Reichman University and a Lauder fellow at the World Jewish Congress, Noa Rakel Perugia… Lynn Sharon… James Barton…
Plus, Buttigieg balks on Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) walks in to the weekly cabinet meeting escorted by government military secretary Eyal Zamir (L) in his Jerusalem office, on April 19, 2015. AFP PHOTO / POOL / MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight the extreme comments of two political activists closely affiliated with Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh, and talk to Jewish Democrats working to promote a balanced Israel-related resolution at an upcoming Democratic National Committee meeting as party delegates consider a measure that calls for an arms embargo and a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel. We also cover the reactions of Jewish groups and Canadian politicians to the Toronto International Film Festival’s decision to cancel the screening of an Oct. 7 documentary due to the absence of Hamas’ approval to use footage of its attacks on Israel, and talk to Rep. Brad Schneider about this week’s Democratic congressional delegation visit to Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Pete Buttigieg, Boris Epshteyn and Alex Sagel.
What We’re Watching
- We’re keeping an eye on comments on Israel and Gaza from 2028 Democratic hopefuls, following the publication this morning of an interview with Pete Buttigieg, who, under pressure from anti-Israel activists, clarified his comments about the Israel-Hamas war made on a podcast last week. The former transportation secretary said that he would have backed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) proposals to ban arms sales to Israel, supports the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution and would not back a new 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel.
- The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s National Jewish Retreat continues today in Washington. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, former senior Treasury official Mitchell Silk and Rabbi Levi Shemtov are all slated to speak today.
- On the heels of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s warning this week against foreign support for armed groups in Lebanon, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Khalil Helou, Assaf Orion, Sarit Zehavi are speaking at a virtual event this afternoon focused on Hezbollah’s disarmament and the future of UNIFIL in Lebanon.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
Tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Eyal Zamir, the chief of staff of the IDF, are as high as the record-setting temperatures that have swept the region this week.
The IDF’s top officials and the Israeli government have clashed on a series of issues in recent days, including the appointments of more than two dozen military officials and Zamir’s initial opposition to Netanyahu’s plan to take over Gaza City and expand IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, which was approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet last week.
The IDF chief of staff has warned that the new approach to Gaza risks the lives of the 20 remaining living hostages in the enclave, and would further deplete the military’s resources in Gaza. The army, under strain after nearly two years of war, has — even prior to Zamir’s appointment in March — been at odds with the government over the continued exemption of the majority of the country’s Haredi population from the mandatory conscription required of most Israelis.
Israel Democracy Institute President Yohanan Plesner told Jewish Insider this morning that “historically, the relationship between the political level — prime minister, defense minister — and the top brass of the defense establishment, and mainly the IDF chief of staff, has been based on the premise that when Israel engages or embarks on significant security endeavors, operations and so on, it’s based on mutual consent,” with both parties having “de facto … veto power.”
But now, Plesner said, Netanyahu “is violating this decision-making norm that characterized the way decisions on core security [and] national security issues were made in the past.”
online archive
Omar Fateh’s allies defended Oct. 7, denied Israel’s right to exist
Two political activists closely affiliated with Omar Fateh, a far-left Minnesota state senator who is now running for mayor of Minneapolis, have expressed a range of extreme views on the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, endorsing the violence as a justified act of resistance and accusing Israel of initiating the war in Gaza, among other inflammatory comments, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Their rhetoric could fuel concerns among local Jewish leaders who sounded alarms about Fateh’s close alliances with anti-Israel activists after he won the state Democratic Party endorsement last month over Jacob Frey, the incumbent seeking a third and final term. Fateh, a 35-year-old democratic socialist has been a staunch critic of Israel, calling its conduct in Gaza a genocide and pushing for a ceasefire 10 days after Hamas’ attack.
Friends like these: But some of Fateh’s campaign staffers have gone significantly further than the state legislator, raising questions over his tolerance for incendiary language on a sensitive issue that has stoked growing internal tensions in the state party and could possibly inflect an increasingly bitter mayoral race in the lead-up to November. In a series of now-deleted social media posts, for instance, Fateh’s communications manager, Anya Smith-Kooiman, stated that Israel “does not have a ‘right’ to exist” and “must be dismantled,” while amplifying comments dismissing widespread reports of sexual violence on Oct. 7 as “propaganda” and hailing the attacks as a form of “resistance” that succeeded where the peace process had failed.
FAMILY FEUD
DNC confronts anti-Israel push from party delegates
When Democratic National Committee members gather in Minneapolis later this month for the party’s summer meeting, they’ll consider two Israel-related resolutions — a more balanced one, which has the backing of party chair Ken Martin, and an anti-Israel measure that calls for an arms embargo and a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel. Sources within the DNC say they don’t expect the anti-Israel resolution, which was authored by a committee member from Florida, to pass. But the fact that it will be considered by the body has unnerved Jewish Democrats, who are working behind the scenes to promote the more balanced resolution, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Alternative approach: That one calls for an “immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages, living and deceased, held by Hamas.” It also reiterates Democratic Party support for a two-state solution. (The text of the two resolutions was first reported by Semafor.) The Martin-backed resolution is co-sponsored by the DNC’s entire leadership, including DNC associate chair Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Jewish Labor Committee, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by JI. Both measures will first be voted on by the DNC’s Resolutions Committee.
festival fiasco
Jewish groups, Canadian politicians outraged over film festival’s cancellation of Oct. 7 documentary
Pro-Israel groups and Canadian politicians expressed outrage on Wednesday after organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival canceled an invitation to show the documentary “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” about the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, at its upcoming festival, citing the use of Hamas footage of the attacks that had not been approved for use by the terror group, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
‘Shamelessly disturbing’: “The Toronto International Film Festival’s reasoning for canceling the October 7 documentary screening is completely absurd and transparently dishonest,” the American Jewish Committee said in a statement. “Pulling a movie because footage wasn’t cleared for copyright by a terror group is so ridiculous that it would almost be laughable — if it weren’t so deeply, shamelessly disturbing.” In an open letter, Creative Community for Peace, a nonprofit that mobilizes prominent members of the entertainment community to oppose boycotts of Israel, wrote that “instead of advancing peace, TIFF has chosen to amplify hate.”
Walking it back?: In a statement released last night, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey recognized the concerns, expressed “sincere apologies for any pain” caused and said he is “committed to working with the filmmaker to meet TIFF’s screening requirements to allow the film to be screened at this year’s festival. I have asked our legal team to work with the filmmaker on considering all options available.” He also noted “the urgent need for compassion amid rising antisemitism and Islamophobia,” underscored by Oct. 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza.
TRIP TALK
Democrats discussed Gaza aid, day-after plans with Israeli leadership, Schneider says
A group of congressional Democrats visiting Israel this week, including 11 first-term lawmakers, pressed Israeli leaders on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, emphasizing the need for them to increase aid flows into Gaza, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod on Wednesday.
Readout: Schneider said the “focus of the trip, without question, was understanding Israel’s existential war against Hamas — Hamas attacked on Oct. 7 … understanding the implications of that. But also understanding the humanitarian crisis that’s taking place in Gaza.” He said that the humanitarian crisis, the obstacles to providing aid and what can be done to increase aid flows were a key focus of each of the group’s meetings, including with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Kibbutz Nir Oz, the hardest-hit community in the 10/7 attacks, welcomes 50 new, idealistic residents as it looks to rebuild
Walking along a path on Kibbutz Nir Oz, Yahel Meirovich and Raz Baruch felt the surreal contrast between the quiet birdsong, the deceptively pastoral stillness of the near-deserted kibbutz and the steady thud of bombs heard from the Gaza Strip, less than a mile away. Part of a group of 50 young adults — all of them educators from the Hashomer HaTzair Labor Zionist youth movement (literally, “the young guard”) — who have recently relocated to the kibbutz, the two were keenly aware of the emotional tension hanging in the air, Meirovich told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky a week after their Aug. 3 arrival.
Raised right: The move of the young Hashomer HaTzair educators to Nir Oz is part of the youth movement’s Mefalsei Nativ (“Path Levelers”) program, in partnership with Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was founded by Hashomer HaTzair pioneers, with core support from the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund — the body leading the recovery efforts of kibbutz communities in the Gaza border region since Oct.7, 2023. The Homeward Initiative, an educational foundation strengthening southern and northern communities since the war’s outbreak, has also played a key role in supporting the project from its inception as part of a broader joint effort to build young, vibrant communities in the heart of the hardest-hit kibbutzim. “For us, the decision to move to Nir Oz is the embodiment of everything we were raised on in Hashomer HaTzair – acting together with courage and stepping in where we’re needed,” Meirovich said
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Worthy Reads
Tanker Trouble: In The Wall Street Journal, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Max Meizlish and Bridget Toomey look at how the U.N.’s attempt to remove oil from a moored tanker off the coast of Yemen has served to benefit the country’s Iran-backed Houthis. “Following the transfer of oil, the [tanker] was supposed to be operated by Yemen’s state oil company under the advisory oversight of the U.N. Development Program. In practice, the vessel serves as a floating fuel station for the Houthis. On paper, the U.N. transferred ownership to Yemen’s internationally recognized government — but control is what matters, and the Houthis have it. … All this is being underwritten by the international community. While the Houthis attack commercial vessels and threaten global shipping, the U.N. is bankrolling their offshore oil logistics by paying $450,000 a month for the [tanker]’s operations. A vessel designed to prevent one catastrophe is facilitating another — moving Russian oil in defiance of sanctions, sustaining the Houthis’ illicit fuel economy, and prolonging a regional war.” [WSJ]
Silent Suffering: In the Jewish News Syndicate, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee joins Yehuda Kaploun and Mark Walker, respectively the Trump administration’s nominees to be antisemitism envoy and ambassador-at-large for international freedom, to suggest that recent images from Gaza underscore the need for Hamas to be removed from power. “In today’s world, photos and videos spread faster than any news story. They can capture raw human suffering in a way words never could. We see the faces of Gaza’s civilians bearing witness to Hamas’s brutality, too. We see children hollow-eyed with fear, women clinging to life, men bruised and beaten, each one telling a story of pain and desperation under Hamas’s rule. But for every image we see, there are countless others suffering in silence, locked away in tunnels or makeshift prisons, hidden from view and stripped of their dignity.” [JNS]
Across the Pond: The New York Times’ David Wallace-Wells considers the lessons — and warnings — U.S. politicos can take from U.K. politics as London’s two major parties fail to win over broad swathes of the electorate. “Lately, the spirit of Democratic defeatism that was so obvious right after the election has given way to something a little more confident and combative — though national approval of Democrats is at 30-year lows, the Democratic voters dragging down the figure are still loyal to the party, and Democrats have regained an advantage in party affiliation and opened up a sturdy lead in generic-ballot congressional surveys. The British experience, though, suggests a different interpretive framework entirely: that after an anomalous period of left-liberal unanimity, the two factions are again veering apart, giving off sparks of hostility along the way. That may be manageable, or even healthy, heading into 2026. But 2028? Look out.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
The New York Times’ Mara Gay looks at how former President Barack Obama and some of his closest advisors, including David Axelrod, Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer, have warmed to New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, reporting on a call between the former president and the candidate and saying, “[t]he interest from the closely guarded world of Obama and those around him is the clearest sign yet that Mr. Mamdani is likely to be embraced by the Democratic mainstream, whether the party’s leaders and donors like it or not”; Patrick Gaspard, who served as political director for Obama’s 2008 campaign, is also serving as an advisor to Mamdani and introduced Axelrod to the candidate…
Boris Epshteyn, the personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, connected two of the law firms that reached settlements with the administration — which Epshteyn personally brokered — with the Department of Commerce to assist on trade deals…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tapped Jack Schlossberg to the America 250 Commission ahead of the U.S. Semiquincentennial next year…
A woman who sprayed a foul-smelling liquid on Jewish marchers at Montreal’s Pride parade was arrested following the incident; a member of the local activist group Faction Against Genocide, in Solidarity said the substance, which smelled like urine, was nettle extract…
Alex Sagel, the CEO of Germany-based defense contractor Renk, said the company could move parts of its business out of the country should Berlin move forward with plans to ban arms sales to Israel…
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry denied reports that Juba had engaged in talks regarding the potential relocation of Palestinians from Gaza; the Foreign Ministry’s announcement came the same day as Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Heskel visited the East African nation, where she held meetings with the country’s president, foreign minister and deputy foreign minister…
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that Beirut will not permit the presence of armed groups in the country and warned against foreign interference in Lebanese affairs; Aoun made the comments in a meeting with senior Iranian official Ali Larijani, who was on a three-day visit to Lebanon…
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he will approve tenders to build more than 3,000 housing units in the controversial E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank; in a statement, Smotrich said the construction “buries the idea of a Palestinian state”…
Businessman and philanthropist Bruce Slovin, who oversaw the creation and later served as chairman of the Center for Jewish History, died at 89…
Cable industry pioneer and philanthropist Leonard Tow, who with his wife, Claire, funded journalism initiatives at a number of New York City universities, died at 97…
Pic of the Day
The National Library of Israel received the original manuscript of Naomi Shemer’s song ‘Al Kol Eleh’ this week, gifted by the family of Ruth Nussbaum, Shemer’s sister, for whom the song was written. Nussbaum’s children —Tair, Noa, Yaakov and Avshalom — spoke at the donation event, together with Shemer’s daughter, Lali.
Birthdays
Historian and VP of alumni relations for MLB’s New York Mets, the press box at Citi Field is named in his honor, Jay Edward Horwitz turns 80…
Social media influencer, Dorothy Katz Wiggins turns 100… American-born British novelist, biographer, journalist and Oscar-winning screenwriter, Frederic Michael Raphael turns 94… Former attorney general of New Jersey and chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, David Samson turns 86… President of the Hampton Synagogue until 2024 and former board member of the UJA Federation-New York, Carol Levin… Member of the New York State Assembly since 2005, Charles D. Lavine turns 78… Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Ester R. Fuchs turns 74… Professor of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, Henry Brem, MD turns 73… U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina, he is the co-author of a book on the early Jews of Columbia, S.C., Judge Richard Mark Gergel turns 71… Turkish-born economist and professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Dani Rodrik turns 68… U.S. senator (R-TN) since 2021, Bill Hagerty turns 66… Home fragrance and décor guru, Harry Slatkin turns 65… Lecturer at Purdue University, Martin J. Sweet turns 55… Winner of three Pulitzer Prizes as a journalist, Adam Goldman turns 52… Filmmaker and producer, she is the executive director of DOC NYC, a major documentary film festival in NYC, Raphaela Neihausen turns 49… VP at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Jeremy Scott Wynes… Professional tennis player for 15 years, primarily a doubles specialist, now an assistant athletic director, Scott Lipsky turns 44… Senior advisor to President Donald Trump, Boris Epshteyn turns 43… Ukrainian-born actress, she moved to Los Angeles at the age of seven and has appeared in dozens of films, Mila Kunis turns 42… Opinion editor at eJewishPhilanthropy, Rachel Kohn… Internet entrepreneur and former CTO at Facebook, he is the co-founder and CEO of Quora, Adam D’Angelo turns 41… Retired lacrosse player, he played for ten seasons in Major League Lacrosse and for Team Israel in 2018, Maxwell (Max) Oren Seibald turns 38… Principal at Marcus & Associates Executive Recruiters, Jacob Lefkowitz… Member of Knesset for Otzma Yehudit, he serves as the minister for the development of the periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, Yitzhak Shimon Wasserlauf turns 33… Ryan Smith… Dylan Cooper… Tim Carney…
Plus, today's summit in Sardinia
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks during a press conference outside of the Governor's Mansion after an arsonist sets fire to the Governor's Residence in a targeted attack in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on April 13, 2025.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in Lewistown, Pa., and hear his thoughts on New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s defense of calls to “globalize the intifada,” and report on White House official Seb Gorka’s comments yesterday that the U.S. isn’t pursuing regime change in Iran. We report on an Israeli initiative to provide medical assistance to Druze women who were sexually assaulted during sectarian clashes in Syria last week, and cover Sen. Rand Paul’s efforts to delay former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Kemi Badenoch, Seth Klarman and Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Don Bacon.
What We’re Watching
- White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting in Sardinia, Italy, today with Israeli and Qatari officials, including Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, to discuss a potential ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will reportedly attend the Sardinia sit-down, a week after quietly meeting for dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House.
- We reached out to the White House this week about that dinner meeting, for which, notably, no readout or photos were issued. A White House spokesperson told us that “[i]t was a great and productive meeting with one of our country’s greatest allies in the region,” but did not respond to further requests for details.
- To that end, we’re keeping an eye on the ceasefire talks also happening in Doha, where earlier this morning Hamas submitted a new response to the latest proposal, after its prior response was rejected by mediators.
- Dermer is also reportedly slated to meet today in Paris with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, the Trump administration’s Syria envoy, to discuss security issues.
- On Capitol Hill, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) will introduce legislation today requiring the National Education Association to expand its federal charter to prohibit the nation’s largest teachers’ union from “engaging in electoral politics or lobbying” in response to the group’s proposal to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League. Read more here.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding its confirmation hearing today for Jeanine Pirro to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
- Also this morning, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Paul Ingrassia, the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel who has trafficked in conspiracy theories, including describing Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and ensuing war as a “psyop” and defended prominent antisemites including Kanye West, Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes. Senate Republicans told JI last month that they planned to scrutinize Ingrassia’s record ahead of his hearing. Read more here.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S gabby Deutch
Inside a coffee shop in rural Pennsylvania, hundreds of miles from the bustle of Manhattan, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro made his first public comments about Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday following the democratic socialist’s victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary a month earlier.
Mamdani “seemed to run a campaign that excited New Yorkers. He also seemed to run a campaign where he left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things,” Shapiro told Jewish Insider.
Shapiro’s comments come as Mamdani continues to face backlash for declining to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” and as national Democratic figures struggle to figure out how to respond to his come-from-behind victory and to assess what his nomination means for the future of the party.
“I’ll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,” Shapiro told JI. “If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you’re a leader. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader. You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there. You’ve got to condemn that.”
Widely viewed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, Shapiro has steered clear of weighing in on a number of divisive national issues, preferring instead to focus on Pennsylvania, where he maintains a 61% approval rating. But national conversations, including about Israel and antisemitism, have found their way to the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg — in more ways than one.
In April, the residence was set ablaze in an arson attack just hours after Shapiro and his family had hosted a Passover Seder. Police said the alleged perpetrator was motivated by anti-Israel animus, but Shapiro has repeatedly declined to characterize the incident as antisemitic in nature, saying that doing so would be “unhelpful” to prosecutors who have not brought hate crime charges.
Shapiro told JI the arson attack left a profound impact on him, both personally and religiously. It brought him closer, he said, to “my faith and my spirituality.” The attack, Shapiro said, has “given me a deeper, spiritual connection of my faith and a deeper connection to people of other faiths.”
SEB SAYS
White House’s Sebastian Gorka: U.S. not pursuing regime change in Iran
Sebastian Gorka, the White House senior director for counterterrorism and a deputy assistant to the president, said Wednesday at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies that the U.S. is not seeking regime change in Iran, but will maintain its maximum-pressure campaign on Tehran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Covering the waterfront: Gorka also said that he supports efforts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, suggested that he’s pursuing efforts to convince Qatar and Turkey to cut ties with Hamas and said the U.S. wants to see Syrian minority groups come to the table and join with the new Syrian government. He additionally discussed efforts to implement non-Hamas police and security in Gaza, praised Israel’s efforts to undermine Iran and its proxies and spoke about potential Iranian attacks in the U.S.
Shot down: Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) attempted to call up and pass by unanimous consent a resolution urging the United Kingdom, France and Germany to trigger the snapback of United Nations sanctions on Iran under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “as soon as possible,” but was blocked by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
DONE DEAL
Columbia reaches $200 million settlement with Trump administration
Columbia University announced on Wednesday that it reached a deal with the Trump administration to restore some $400 million in federal funding that was cut by the government in March due to the university’s record dealing with antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Details: Under the terms of the settlement, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million over three years to the federal government. In addition, the university has agreed to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $21 million. A number of open civil rights investigations into the university alleging harassment of Jewish students will also be settled under the terms of the agreement, according to which the university will also abide by laws banning the consideration of race in admissions and hiring. Columbia said it will continue to have “autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions, and academic decision-making.”
University statement: “While Columbia does not admit to wrongdoing with this resolution agreement, the institution’s leaders have recognized, repeatedly, that Jewish students and faculty have experienced painful, unacceptable incidents, and that reform was and is needed,” the university said.
SMUGGLING TO SUWEIDA
Israeli Druze women working to aid victims of rape in Syria
Amid clashes between Druze residents of Syria, Bedouins, militias supporting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian government forces in recent weeks, videos and eyewitness testimony has emerged of brutal executions, torture and rape in Sweida, a Druze town in southern Syria. A group of Israelis has been working together to provide medical aid to Syrian Druze women who were allegedly sexually assaulted, Laila Khalife, an Israeli Druze woman who is part of the initiative, told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on Wednesday. There have been reports of rape of Druze girls and women, including the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl, though the number of victims is still unknown.
Aid efforts: Israel began transferring NIS 2 million (over $600,000) in humanitarian aid to the Sweida area in recent days, including food, first aid kits and other medical equipment. Hundreds of Israelis donated blood to be sent to Syria. On Sunday, four Israeli Air Force helicopters reportedly reached the hospital in Sweida, which was attacked in last week’s clashes. In addition to the official aid packages, Druze Israeli women attempted to smuggle emergency contraception delaying or preventing ovulation, to minimize the likelihood of pregnancy among women reportedly raped in the clashes. However, those packages were intercepted.
UNRWA ISSUE
Appropriations Committee Democrats criticize anti-UNRWA provisions in House funding bill
Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee criticized Republican-led efforts to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the House’s draft 2026 budget bill for the State Department and other foreign programs, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Back-and-forth: The exchanges underscore the continued support among some prominent Democrats for restoring the U.S. relationship with the scandal-plagued UNRWA, more than a year after U.S. aid to the group was first halted following allegations that some UNRWA staff participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The budget bill includes a continued ban on aid to the agency and calls on the State Department to put together a plan to replace it. During an Appropriations Committee meeting yesterday, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) particularly questioned the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, describing it as a “‘death trap for starving Palestinians.”
Mideast matters: A bipartisan group of experts urged members of the Senate Foreign Relations Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism subcommittee on Wednesday to support efforts to keep the U.S. engaged with Israel and other allies in the Middle East. The experts, including former Trump and Biden administration officials, warned that a U.S. retreat from the region would create a vacuum quickly filled by American adversaries, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
ONLINE ACTION
Gottheimer, Bacon reup effort to combat antisemitism on social media
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Don Bacon (R-NE) on Wednesday announced the reintroduction of the STOP HATE Act, which aims to crack down on antisemitism on social media. The legislators announced the bill’s reintroduction at a press conference alongside Anti-Defamation CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Countering terrorism: The bill, which was first introduced in November 2023 but failed to progress in the previous Congress, would require social media companies to publicize specific policies on their standards and restrictions for their platforms by designated terrorists, report to the federal government on content flagged and/or removed under these policies and publicly report on incidents incidents in which violate these policies.
STALLING TACTICS
Sen. Rand Paul delays Mike Waltz confirmation over ‘anti-Trump’ concerns
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is delaying efforts to confirm former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations over Waltz’s previous support for a continued U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. Paul told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod on Wednesday he would not vote to support moving Waltz out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a favorable recommendation, as is generally a standard part of the confirmation process.
What this means: Paul’s concerns forced the committee to delay a vote, scheduled for Wednesday, to advance Waltz’s nomination. Paul said he would vote to advance the nomination with a neutral recommendation, which would allow Waltz to move forward for consideration from the full Senate but would be an unusual black mark on Waltz’s nomination. Unless Waltz picks up Democratic support, the committee vote would be tied — preventing the nomination from moving forward — without Paul’s backing.
Worthy Reads
Next-Gen Hard-liners: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh caution that the next generation of Iranian leaders could pose significant threats to both the U.S. and Israel. “They are drawn from militant groups such as the Paydari Front and the second tier of the Revolutionary Guards. They look to guidance from the likes of the religiously obsessional Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who abjures compromise. They are found in the security organs, occupy seats in parliament and run their own education centers. They have created their own underground shadow government and ideological ecosystem. … Indeed, the rising generation of the Revolutionary Guards have defined themselves by their willingness to brutalize their countrymen repeatedly. And these guardsmen have had two other core commitments: the A-bomb program and the proxy war strategy devised by their fallen hero, Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guard dark lord whom an American missile felled in Baghdad in 2020.” [WSJ]
Where’s Marco?: The Financial Times’ Guy Chazan looks at Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s ideological evolution as he has moved to embrace broad swaths of President Donald Trump’s worldview. “As a senator, Rubio was a fervent advocate of American overseas assistance, of Washington’s long-standing alliances and the power of US diplomacy as a force for good in the world. He would stress the need to stand up to dictators and support dissidents campaigning against authoritarian regimes. Yet he has since embraced Trump’s Maga ideology, with its isolationism, impatience with foreign aid and determination to drastically shrink the federal workforce. … But allies dismiss the idea Rubio has changed, insisting that on key issues he has been remarkably consistent. Far from abandoning his values, they say, he has championed them, influencing Trump to adopt a more hawkish posture towards countries such as China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.” [FT]
If Dems Gain Power: In The Atlantic, Paul Rosenzweig considers how a future Democratic presidential administration could employ the same tactics as the Trump administration vis-a-vis sweeping policy shifts, department reorganizations and mass firings. “What lies ahead, then, is a new era of pendulum swings, replacing the stability of the postwar governing consensus. Ahead is a cycle of retributive prosecutions and whipsaw funding decisions. America may see entire Cabinet departments alternatively created and closed every four years while the presidency goes from policy to anti-policy — enforcing DEI in one administration, perhaps, and prohibiting it in the next. The country would, in effect, return to the time before the Pendleton Act, when the entire federal workforce turned over with each successive administration, rewarding cronyism at the expense of expertise.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration is opening an investigation into Harvard’s eligibility in the U.S.’ Exchange Visitor Program after a previous effort to revoke the school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program status was blocked by a federal judge…
The Pentagon’s internal watchdog reportedly received evidence that information about strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen that were shared by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a Signal group chat originated from a classified email sent by CENTCOM head Gen. Erik Kurilla; Hegseth had previously testified under oath that he had not shared classified information in the group chat…
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said he plans to run for reelection to his House seat, and will forgo a gubernatorial bid, clearing a path for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY); Stefanik, who has been mulling a challenge to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, said after Lawler’s announcement that she will decide in November whether to make a bid for the state’s top job…
And in Michigan, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) announced he will not run for the state’s open Senate seat in 2026, following a recent meeting with President Donald Trump in which Huizenga was asked to forgo a bid; Huizenga’s decision leaves former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who made his first Senate bid in 2024 and has Trump’s backing, as the early GOP front-runner…
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to announce his entry into the state’s Senate race next week; Cooper, a Democrat, had been a top party recruit for the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC); on the GOP side, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley is planning to launch his bid for the seat in the next week and a half, after Lara Trump opted not to mount a Senate bid…
Speaking at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), accused Israel of carrying out a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza being paid for by the United States, and called for the U.S. to impose “consequences” against the Israeli government for “the horrors that they’ve committed”; he also urged an independent investigation of alleged settler attacks in the West Bank on a Palestinian church and a Palestinian-American man…
Greg LoGerfo, the acting coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department, described antisemitism as a key motivator for current terrorist threats globally at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing; he also committed to reviewing the Popular Resistance Committees, a Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist group, for a potential terrorist designation…
The most recently filed campaign finance disclosures indicate significant fundraising gains by left-wing Democrats, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pulling in $15.4 million so far this year; Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral candidate in New York City, raised over $850,000 in the two weeks prior and two weeks after his primary win last month…
Stanford suspended the co-op status of a campus residence after a Title VI investigation conducted by the university found that students were asked to leave an event at the Kairos housing co-op based over “the presence of ‘Zionists’ in the group”…
For a “Talks at GS” conversation posted yesterday, philanthropist and Baupost Group CEO Seth Klarman spoke with Goldman Sachs President and COO John Waldron about his approach to shifting market environments…
Apple+ released the first images for the upcoming thriller series “The Savant,” based on a 2019 Cosmopolitan profile of an undercover Anti-Defamation League investigator who monitors extremists groups in an effort to stop terror attacks before they happen…
The Wall Street Journal reviews Jack Wertheimer’s Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life…
U.K. Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch, in an interview with the Financial Times,called Argentinian President Javier Milei “the template” for conservative leaders, and said she considered herself to be a British version of the Argentinian leader…
The Knesset overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution calling for Israeli annexation of the West Bank…
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Aaron David Miller considers the role President Donald Trump could play in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to remain in power, amid the threat of potential new elections…
Brazil said it is finalizing efforts to join South Africa’s International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of commiting genocide in Gaza…
A Norwegian man who had previously worked as a security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo was charged with spying on both the U.S. and Norway on behalf of Iran and Russia; Mohamed Orahhou, who was arrested in November, is believed to have taken and shared intelligence regarding the embassy and employees of Norway’s intelligence services…
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi suggested that Tehran could withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if European powers reimpose sanctions on the country; speaking to reporters in New York, Gharibabadi said that Iran will soon allow a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which had previously been banned from the country, to travel to Tehran for conversations aimed at resuming inspections…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (left) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (right) on Wednesday paid their respects at the memorial to the victims of the Babyn Yar massacre during Sa’ar’s visit to the country, which also included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Birthdays
Actress, best known for her role as Nomi Segal on the Freeform comedy drama “Grown-ish,” Emily Taryn Arlook turns 35…
Philanthropist and former U.S. ambassador to Romania, now senior counsel at Covington and Burling, Alfred H. Moses turns 96… Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who worked for ABC News and CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Lowell Bergman turns 80… Israeli physician, author and playwright, he is the younger brother of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Iddo Netanyahu turns 73… Political consultant known for his role in both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns, Joel Benenson turns 73… Retired Los Angeles-based business and real estate attorney, Michael Jeffrey Bordy… Radio anchor and reporter on both CBS nationally and NYC’s WCBS, Michael Sugerman… Member of Congress (D-FL) until 2022, he previously served as the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist turns 69… Russian businessman and Chairman of the Board of Patrons of The Conference of European Rabbis, Boris Mints turns 67… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, Judge Patty Shwartz turns 64… Presidential historian, professor at McGill and senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute, Gil Troy turns 64… Director of donor development for AIPAC, he is a retired NFL player who played for the Packers and the Cowboys where he won in Super Bowl XXVII, Alan (Shlomo) Veingrad turns 62… Founder of the Migdal Oz seminary for women in Gush Etzion, she is a granddaughter of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Esti Rosenberg… Film director and producer, Douglas Eric Liman turns 60… Partner in Frost Brown Todd and author of The Liberal Case for Israel, he was the first-ever Jewish statewide elected official in Kentucky (state treasurer), Jonathan Miller turns 58… Author, he writes the “My Ride” column for The Wall Street Journal on exotic cars, A.J. Baime turns 54… Mayor of Asheville, N.C., she was elected in 2013, 2017 and 2022, Esther E. Manheimer turns 54… Actress, writer, podcaster and comedian, Jamie Denbo turns 52… President of Access Computer Technology in West Bloomfield, Mich., he is a rabbi, entrepreneur and social media expert, Jason Miller turns 49… President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas… EVP and CFO of Morgan Stanley, Sharon Yeshaya turns 46… Actress, screenwriter and director, Lauren Miller Rogen turns 43… Member of the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester (N.Y.), Aviva M. Futerman Schochat… Co-founder and partner at Orfin Ventures, Adam Finkel… Media director at Access Brand Communications, Sarah Citrenbaum… CEO and founder of Learned Hand, building AI tools for judges, Shlomo Klapper…
Plus, D.C.’s new kosher sushi spot
DigitalGlobe via Getty Images
This is a satellite image of the Fordow facility in Iran.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on how Zohran Mamdani’s supporters and staffers, as well as New York lawmakers and GOP strategists, are responding to the Queens assemblyman’s presumed win in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, and assess how Jewish Democrats are feeling about the direction of the party in the wake of Mamdani’s electoral success. We also cover President Donald Trump’s announcement of a U.S.-Iran meeting taking place next week and the Department of Justice’s continued concern that American Jews may face increased threats in the wake of the U.S. and Israeli campaign against Iran’s nuclear program. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mike Pompeo, Danny Wolf and Yossi Cohen.
What We’re Watching
- Senior administration officials will brief the Senate today on U.S. operations in Iran and the Israel-Iran war. The White House will reportedly limit the classified information shared with legislators in the briefing, amid concerns over leaks such as the limited intelligence assessment reported by CNN earlier this week. Absent from the briefing will be Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who had previously been slated to brief legislators alongside CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is holding a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon to discuss the U.S.’ weekend strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
- The Aspen Ideas Festival continues in Colorado. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Rabbi Shira Stutman are slated to speak on panels today. At 6 p.m. ET, former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will speak in conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
- The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America conclude their two-day leadership fly-in to Washington today. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) told the group on Wednesday that funding for the National Security Grant Program — including grants applied for in 2024 and new grants for 2025 — should move forward “very, very quickly.”
- Elsewhere in Washington, Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Shri Thanedar (D-MI) are slated to speak at the March on Washington for Jewish Civil Rights on the Capitol grounds.
- In Venice, Italy, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez‘s wedding weekend kicks off today. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Oprah Winfrey and the Kardashian family are among the attendees; Jordanian Queen Rania is rumored to have received an invite to the nuptials as well.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Israel is feeling victorious after its 12-day war with Iran, which culminated in the U.S. strikes on underground nuclear sites that significantly degraded and rolled back Tehran’s nuclear program. While the country is mourning 29 civilian deaths — in addition to seven soldiers killed in Gaza this week — and thousands have lost their homes in missile strikes, nearly two-thirds of Israelis, according to a new poll, think their country won the war.
But there have been some cautionary signals about the state of Iran’s nuclear program since the fighting ended, most notably a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency report from the U.S. that suggested — with reportedly low confidence — that the bombings only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months. President Donald Trump, at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, called the DIA intelligence report, which was based on satellite imagery, “fake news” and cited a more favorable Israeli intelligence report as being more reliable. And CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Thursday that “a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes.”
Further dampening the mood was Trump angrily and publicly pressuring Israel not to aggressively respond to a ceasefire violation that came within hours of a volley of missiles that killed several Israelis right before the ceasefire went into effect.
But as Israeli officials and national security experts have taken the time to assess the geopolitical landscape, the overall picture is one of significant military success.
The Trump administration and Israeli officials have an interest in presenting the mission in Iran as successful, which may lead some to trust the intelligence leaks over their statements. However, their assessment of the DIA report as “flat-out wrong,” as the White House put it, is backed up by several experts surveyed by Jewish Insider – though most cautioned that it’s unlikely anyone knows the full extent of the damage yet.
Israel “attacked and had aerial superiority in Iran for nearly two weeks and could have continued for as long as [it] wanted, had international legitimacy and not just American support, but involvement,” IDF Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and the former head of the research division of the Israel Defense Forces’ Intelligence Directorate, said. “The change in mindset is more important than the physical damage. Iran can build a new Fordow in three or four years; they were already working on more underground facilities, but what is the point if they know that the U.S. has an unlimited number of bombs that they can drop anywhere and are willing to use them?”
In a televised message on Thursday, Iranian Supreme Leader Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised “Iran’s victory over the U.S. regime” and claimed that the “Zionist regime was practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic.”
EXTREMISM EMPOWERED
Mamdani’s radical supporters, staffers under the spotlight after victory
Zohran Mamdani’s commanding performance in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday night underscored how the 33-year-old assemblyman, a democratic socialist from Queens, successfully built a coalition extending well beyond his far-left base of support. But while his focus on affordability resonated with many voters across the five boroughs who rejected former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani’s all-but-certain victory has also empowered some of his more extreme supporters to espouse incendiary rhetoric that his critics say has helped fuel a rise in antisemitism in the city, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Online incitement: In celebrating the presumed upset by a candidate with a long record of anti-Israel activism, many of Mamdani’s allies on the far left have promoted calls to “globalize the intifada,” a motto he had refused to condemn in the final stretch of the campaign, while attacking “Zionists” and using threatening language that has raised alarms within the city’s mainstream Jewish community. “Consider the intifada globalized,” one prominent Mamdani supporter wrote on social media, using a phrase that critics interpret as violent incitement against Jews — and echoing a number of comments invoking similar language in the wake of the bitterly contested primary. “The last 24 hours will be an inflection point in history for Zionism and the entity,” said another backer with a relatively sizable following on social media. “Tonight we celebrate,” a like-minded Mamdani enthusiast added in an ominously worded post. “Tomorrow we get the lists from Zohran and the round up begins.”
PARTY CRASHER
After Mamdani victory, Jewish Democrats alarmed by party’s tolerance of antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism
Many Jewish Democrats are questioning where their party is heading after a dynamic young socialist with radical anti-Israel politics is on track to become mayor of the largest city in America, which has the largest Jewish population of any city in the world. Coupled with Democrats’ reluctance to offer support for President Donald Trump’s targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, which drew support from major Jewish groups, Zohran Mamdani’s ascension has some pro-Israel Democrats concerned about the future of their party, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Good ol’ days: “[President Joe] Biden was elected running a campaign in 2020 premised on combating antisemitism. That was the animating feature that got him into the race. So the politics of this have really moved,” said a former White House official. “This is all about language and people using their microphones, and the fact that someone could feel empowered to double down on these ideas and win a mayoral race in New York City, that doesn’t happen by accident. It takes years of moving the goalposts on this language, on what it means to be antisemitic in America in 2025.” Put more bluntly by another senior Biden administration official: “I feel like a person without a party.”
Toeing the waters: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) congratulated Mamdani on Wednesday for his presumed victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary but stopped short of endorsing the far-left state assemblyman’s candidacy in the general election, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
REPUBLICAN PLAYBOOK
GOP strategists, lawmakers seek to tie vulnerable Dems to Mamdani following NYC primary win
Republican campaign operatives say they intend to tie vulnerable Democratic candidates to Zohran Mamdani, the presumed winner of New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, over his far-left policies, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. GOP operatives told JI they expect Mamdani to prominently feature in future ads and broader messaging targeting Democrats nationwide.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth: “From a political standpoint, this takes the party’s most polarizing progressive and puts them on a national stage. It’s a big opportunity for us. There’s gonna be massive ramifications on the national level. It’s a real gift for Republicans,” a longtime GOP campaign operative told JI.
Keeping distance: Other New York lawmakers, including Reps. Laura Gillen (D-NY), Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and George Latimer (D-NY), declined to support Mamdani, citing ongoing concerns about his ideological record. Both Gillen and Suozzi represent Long Island-based swing districts, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
THE ART OF NO DEAL
Trump announces meeting with Iran but says a nuclear agreement ‘is not necessary’
President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the U.S. and Iran will hold a meeting next week, but said that he doesn’t think reaching a nuclear agreement with the country is necessary in the aftermath of U.S. strikes on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports. Speaking at a press conference before leaving the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump said, in response to a question asking if he was interested in restarting nuclear negotiations with Iran, “I’m not.”
Done and dusted: “The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done,” Trump continued. “And you know, I could get a statement that they’re not going to go nuclear. We’re probably going to ask for that, but they’re not going to be doing it anyway.” He said he had asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to draw up a “little agreement for them to sign, because I think we can get him to sign it. I don’t think it’s necessary.”
Case closed: Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told a gathering of American Jewish leaders on Wednesday that the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz had “destroyed” the sites, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
ON ALERT
AG Bondi says DOJ is keeping a close eye on potential threats to Jewish community
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday that the Department of Justice was keeping a close eye on potential homeland threats to the Jewish community that may be motivated by the American and Israeli military strikes on Iran. Bondi’s comments followed recent administration warnings about potential Iran-linked “sleeper cells” in the country or radicalization of individuals domestically by Shia or Iranian propaganda, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
What she said: Bondi, asked by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) about potential threats to the Jewish community, highlighted the Capital Jewish Museum attack, the firebombing of activists at a hostage-awareness march in Boulder, Colo., and the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home as a series of connected incidents. “We are all over these cases, working hand in hand with the FBI, with Homeland Security, all of our agencies are working so well together to try to combat this throughout our country,” Bondi said. “Without getting into detail in this setting, Iran, of course, is a threat. They have been a threat, and they always will be a threat to our country. And we are working hand in hand with all of our agencies to protect Americans and to keep us safe. We have a 24/7 command center at the FBI set up for situations just like you described, senator.”
Better protection: Bob Milgrim, father of Sarah Milgrim, one of the two Israeli Embassy employee who were killed last month at the Capital Jewish Museum, told a group of Jewish leaders on Wednesday that better security at the event where his daughter was slain might have prevented the attack, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
POMPEO’S PRAISE
Mike Pompeo says nuclear strikes restored deterrence against Iran, North Korea
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised President Donald Trump on Wednesday for his decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend, pushing back on criticism from the isolationist right that the attack would embroil the U.S. in another prolonged conflict in the Middle East, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. Pompeo appeared at the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire, a part of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, for “Building Back American Deterrence and Strength in a Dangerous World.”
What he said: The former secretary of state said during a moderated conversation with Tim Horgan, WACNH’s executive director, that the U.S. strikes served to prevent war rather than cause it. “Make no mistake, President Trump’s decision to act … delivered more security for our friends in Israel and made the world safer. America reasserted its global leadership. We didn’t send the 82nd [bomb squadron] — we sent America,” Pompeo said. Pompeo said that he believed the strikes by Israel and the U.S. on Iran’s nuclear facilities had restored deterrence in regard to both Iran and North Korea. “I do know this: [North Korean] Chairman Kim [Jong Un] is sitting a little less comfortably on his throne today,” he said.
Worthy Reads
Going to Extremes: In the New York Post, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt raises concerns about the ‘horseshoe theory’ that has united the far right and far left around the U.S. strikes on Iran. “From radical-left activists claiming America lives ‘under a Zionist regime’ to far-right conspiracy theorists pushing tropes about Jewish foreign-policy manipulation, the extremes of American politics are perverting healthy democratic debate and corrupting legitimate policy disagreements about foreign intervention. … Today, as Americans debate Trump’s military action against Iran, the same dangerous patterns are emerging. Whether dressed up as ‘anti-Zionism’ or presented as high-minded foreign policy analysis in coded language, legitimate policy debates have become vehicles to spread antisemitism.” [NYPost]
A Striking Change: In The Wall Street Journal, Elliott Abrams considers the shift in American policy and the U.S. approach to the Middle East over the four decades between Israel’s attack on Iraq’s Osirak reactor and this month’s joint Israeli-American efforts to neutralize the Iranian nuclear program. “So the U.S. moved in 26 years from condemnation of a surprise Israeli attack on the Iraqi reactor to knowledge and effective approval of the Israeli strike on the Syrian reactor. Another 18 years later, the U.S. actually joined the effort to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. What explains this progression? Relations between the U.S. and Israel grew closer in those four decades, except in the Obama years. American officials and analysts more broadly understood Israel’s value as an ally. U.S. aid budgets grew. Israel joined the U.S. Central Command and began to coordinate through it with Arab armed forces. It became increasingly obvious that Iran was a deadly enemy of the U.S. and the greatest state supporter of terrorism, and its growing alignment with Russia and China made it more dangerous.” [WSJ]
It’s the Economy, Stupid — Again: In The Washington Post, James Carville and Stan Greenberg predict an “earthquake” in the 2026 midterm elections as focus shifts to voters’ economic concerns. “In primaries this month in New Jersey and Virginia, Democratic voters nominated moderate and progressive candidates for governor with broad appeal. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a retired Navy helicopter pilot, and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, a former CIA officer, each flipped Republican-held House seats in 2018. They made affordability their top priority. … In the past two years, no mainstream statewide candidate has lost to a challenger from the Bernie Sanders wing. In fact, two members of ‘the Squad’ — Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri — lost their House seats in Democratic primaries last year. The reason is the great majority of Democratic voters hate the activist, elite agenda that dominated the Democratic Party under President Joe Biden.” [WashPost]
In the (Think) Tank: In Politico, Tevi Troy considers the challenges facing newly created Democratic think tanks at a time when the party appears reluctant to embrace new thinking. “Think tank history tells us that this latest iteration can play an important role in the Democratic Party’s climb back to relevance. But the institution only works if a party is aiming for a reboot or a new direction. And it’s not clear Democrats are ready or willing to do that. … New think tanks arising out of election defeats are only useful if they can create a permission structure for changing what isn’t working. It’s not the 501(C)(3) tax status of think tanks that have enabled them to help parties recover from crushing defeats in the past. It’s the willingness to rethink, reexamine and challenge the accepted precepts of a party that has been failing to appeal to voters.” [Politico]
Word on the Street
In a post on his Truth Social site, President Donald Trump called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be given a pardon — or have corruption charges against him dropped entirely — alleging that Netanyahu, with whom Trump said he “went through HELL,” was facing a “ridiculous Witch Hunt”…
Trump is considering naming a successor to Fed chair Jerome Powell as soon as September; those in consideration for the role include former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former World Bank President David Malpass and Fed governor Christopher Waller…
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff suggested in a Fox News interview that the U.S. “will have big announcements on countries that are coming into the Abraham Accords,” a month after making similar comments at an Israeli Independence Day celebration in Washington…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday for dehydration…
Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), who served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during the first Trump administration, announced his bid for Senate in New Hampshire, setting up a potential matchup against Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH); Brown previously mounted a Senate bid in the state in 2014, where he narrowly lost to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)…
AIPAC’s PAC is reportedly searching for a potential candidate to run against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has repeatedly opposed legislation to combat antisemitism and support Israel…
Marc Andreessen and Mark Levin were among those named to the Trump administration’s Homeland Security Advisory Council…
White Plains, N.Y., Common Councilman Justin Brasch declared victory over former Councilwoman Nadine Hunt-Robinson in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor…
The Justice Department charged the man accused of firebombing a hostage-awareness rally in Boulder, Colo., last month with committing hate crimes…
A mediator proposed that Trump and Paramount Global settle Trump’s lawsuit against the company for $20 million, with some of that money going to PSAs on Paramount’s networks to combat antisemitism; the lawsuit stems from an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris on CBS’ “60 Minutes” program that the president alleged was selectively edited…
The Brooklyn Nets selected Israeli-American basketball players Danny Wolfand Ben Saraf in the first round of Wednesday night’s draft…
Goldsmiths College issued an apology to Jewish students and faculty for having allowed a “culture” of antisemitism to permeate the London university in recent years…
Xero will acquire Matan Bar and Ilan Atias’ bill-pay startup Melio for $2.5 billion, the largest acquisition in the New Zealand-based accounting-software provider’s history…
Former Mossad head Yossi Cohen is working on a book on his five years leading the agency, deepening speculation that Cohen is poised to enter politics…
Pic of the Day
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), hung a mezuzah on the doorpost at the grand opening on Wednesday of Oro Nami, a new kosher sushi restaurant in the West End neighborhood of Washington.
Birthdays
First Jewish federal cabinet member to serve in post-WWII Germany, she is minister for education, family, seniors, women and youth, Karin Prien turns 60…
Artist known for his Expressionist paintings, Jonah Kinigstein turns 102… British Labour party member of Parliament for 42 years ending in 2017, David Winnick turns 92… Member of the New York State Senate from Queens since 1999, she chairs the committee on higher education, Toby Ann Stavisky turns 86… Partner in the law firm BakerHostetler, known for his recovery of $14.5 billion from the Madoff investment scandal, Irving H. Picard turns 84… Retired co-host for more than 30 years of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Robert Siegel turns 78… Rabbi of Congregation Chaverim in Tucson, Ariz., for more than 35 years, Stephanie Aaron… Founder of Grover Strategies, he was previously chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Alan Solow turns 71… CEO of Emerging Star Capital and the author of a biography of President Bill Clinton, Robert E. Levin… Attorney and Holocaust survivors’ rights advocate, Samuel J. Dubbin turns 70… CEO of ZMC, he was previously chairman of CBS and CEO of 20th Century Fox, Strauss Zelnick turns 68… Professor of psychology at Loyola University Maryland, she is known for her work on sleep patterns and behavioral well-being, Amy Ruth Wolfson, Ph.D…. Israeli actress and comedian, Anat Waxman turns 64… Once the wealthiest of all Russian businessmen, then a prisoner in Russia and now living in London, Mikhail Khodorkovsky turns 62… Novelist and journalist, most notable as the author of the Magicians trilogy, Lev Grossman… and his twin brother, author, video game designer and adjunct instructor at NYU, Austin Grossman both turn 56… Former dean of Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, now head of school at Ramaz, Noam T. Wasserman turns 56… President and founder of Reut Group, Gidi Grinstein turns 55… Political commentator, YouTube personality, comedian and talk show host, Dave Rubin turns 49… Head of external communications at Geico, Ross Feinstein… Partner since January in Mayer Brown’s D.C. office, Michael “Mickey” Leibner… VP of Israel and Jewish affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Sara Fredman Aeder… Executive director at the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, David Bocarsly turns 35… Project leader at Boston Consulting Group, Asher J. Mayerson… Author and former RNC national spokesperson, Elizabeth Pipko turns 30…
Plus, overnight Iranian strikes hit Israeli hospital
DigitalGlobe via Getty Images
This is a satellite image of the Fordow facility in Iran.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the early morning Iranian strikes that hit Israel’s Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Tel Aviv’s Diamond District and the city of Holon, and cover President Donald Trump’s comments on potential U.S. military involvement against Iran’s nuclear program. We cover Sen. Ted Cruz’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson and report on former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pushback against Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the “globalize the intifada” slogan. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Alex Wong, Morgan Ortagus and Haim.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump will hold an intelligence briefing in the Situation Room this morning. The meeting comes days after the president reportedly approved a plan to attack Iran. Trump has so far held off on issuing the final order to move forward on the attack plan, in order to give Tehran the opportunity to abandon its nuclear program diplomatically.
- We’re also keeping an eye on U.S. military movements in the region, signaling U.S. military preparation for possible strikes on Iran — including whether those movements will include planes capable of carrying the bunker-buster bombs believed necessary to strike Iran’s underground nuclear facility at Fordow.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Lahav harkov
Israelis woke to sirens this morning — a routine occurrence over the past week — but were shocked to learn that Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, one of the country’s major hospitals, had been among the sites hit in the most recent barrage of ballistic missiles from Iran. In addition to Soroka, there were direct hits in the Tel Aviv area that wounded 89, including three seriously.
The missile struck the hospital’s old surgical building, severely damaging it and causing what a Soroka spokesperson described as “extensive damage in various areas” of the hospital complex. The surgical building had been recently evacuated in light of the war, and patients and staff had been moved to areas with reinforced walls. Injuries from the strike were light, hospital representatives said.
Soroka is the largest hospital in the Negev, such that the strike left a large swath of Israel without a functioning major medical center. Other hospitals in the area, including Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon and Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod, prepared to take in patients from buildings that were damaged. Magen David Adom provided four intensive care buses, able to transport a total of 23 ICU patients and 50 lightly injured casualties.
Early Thursday, the IDF struck an inactive nuclear reactor near Arak in Iran after sending warnings to civilians in the area. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said the strike included “the structure of the reactor’s core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production.” The IDF also gave details of strikes on the active nuclear site in Natanz, which “contained components and specialized equipment used to advance nuclear weapons development and projects designed to accelerate the regime’s nuclear program.”
In addition, 40 IAF fighter jets struck dozens of military targets in Tehran and other parts of the country, including factories manufacturing ballistic missile and air-defense components, as well as air-defense batteries, surface-to-surface missile storage sites, radar systems and other targets.
close to the vest
Trump on U.S. striking Iran: ‘I may do it, I may not do it’
There is a chance the U.S. will join Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday, adding that “nobody knows” yet what he will decide, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What he said: “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump said in his first public comments about Iran after an hour-long Situation Room briefing on Tuesday. He said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “keep going.” Trump added, “So far he’s doing a good job.” He acknowledged that some of his supporters “are a little bit unhappy” about his posture toward Iran, but added that there are “some people that are very happy.” Trump further threw his support behind Israel’s actions: “All I’m doing is saying you can’t have a nuclear weapon. I’m trying to do it nicely, and then on Day 61, I said, let’s go,” he said.
Disowned: “My supporters don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon. … Very simple: If they think it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, then they should oppose me,” Trump said in response to a question in the Oval Office later in the day about the foreign policy debates between hawks and isolationists in the GOP base, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. “The problem is they get themselves into a thing: They don’t want them to have nuclear, but then they say, ‘Well, we don’t want to fight.’ Well, you’re going to have to make a choice because it’s possible that you’re going to have to fight for them not to have nuclear.”
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
Hegseth defends Kingsley Wilson amid questioning about antisemitic record
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth offered a strident defense of Kingsley Wilson, the recently promoted Pentagon press secretary with a history of espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories, under questioning at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
No hesitation: “I’ve worked directly with her, she does a fantastic job, and any suggestion that I or her or others are party to antisemitism is a mischaracterization attempting to win political points,” Hegseth said in a heated exchange with Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who co-chairs the Senate antisemitism task force. “Senator, you’re attempting to win political points on the backs of mischaracterizing the statements of a member of my department and I’m not going to stand for that,” Hegseth continued. Rosen shot back that his answer made clear Hegseth was not serious about fighting antisemitism.
TC VS TC
The key moments from the testy Tucker Carlson-Ted Cruz showdown
Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) interview on Tucker Carlson’s podcast published on Wednesday devolved into a shouting match at times between the two GOP heavyweights, with insults and charges of ignorance and antisemitism dominating the two-hour conversation between one of the Republican Party’s biggest pro-Israel champions and one of the most vocal critics of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Increasingly tense: The interview was relatively civil for the first hour, but began to devolve when Carlson and Cruz started debating the benefits of the U.S. relationship with Israel and the merits of Israel and the United States allegedly spying on one another. Carlson pressed Cruz to say that allies spying on one another was wrong, which Cruz responded to by asking why Carlson and others had an “obsession with Israel” while ignoring similar behavior from other allies. Carlson rejected that he was “obsessed with Israel.”
TRANSITION
Morgan Ortagus joins U.S. mission to the U.N. after NSC shake-up
Morgan Ortagus, who joined the Trump administration as Steve Witkoff’s deputy Middle East special envoy, has now moved to a position at the U.S. mission to the United Nations, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. A State Department directory lists Ortagus as a senior policy advisor at the mission to the U.N., according to a screenshot obtained by JI.
Background: Ortagus left Witkoff’s office after a widespread purge of Israel and Iran officials at the National Security Council. Ortagus is close with Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor who is now his pick to serve as ambassador to the UN.
SEEKING STRATEGY
Top Senate Democrats caution Trump against potential U.S. Iran strikes
Asserting that President Donald Trump “owes Congress and the American people a strategy for U.S. engagement” in the Middle East, top Senate Democrats cautioned in a statement on Wednesday afternoon against potential U.S. strikes on Iran and argued that the president would need congressional authorization to conduct such an operation, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Why it matters: The signatories to the statement include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrats on several key Senate committees and subcommittees. The statement suggests that a direct U.S. military intervention in Iran would see little support among Senate Democrats. “We are deeply concerned about a lack of preparation, strategy, and clearly defined objectives, and the enormous risk to Americans and civilians in the region,” the senators said.
Elsewhere on the Hill: Meanwhile, a group of 10 House Republicans led by Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Ann Wagner (R-MO) wrote to Trump on Wednesday with a very different message: “We fully support future efforts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program and, if necessary, take decisive action to protect American lives and interests, as is within your powers as Commander-in-Chief.” They also reiterated that no deal with Iran can allow Iran to continue enriching uranium. “Above all, we are in full support of the red line you have set with Iran to prevent them from regaining their power and influence in the region via proxy groups or a nuclear weapon.”
COSTLY COMMENT
Cuomo denounces Mamdani for defending calls to ‘globalize the intifada’
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke out against Zohran Mamdani, his top rival in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, for defending calls to “globalize the intifada” in a widely criticized podcast appearance this week, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Cuomo’s criticism: “Yesterday when Zohran Mamdani was asked a direct question about what he thought of the phrase ‘globalize the intifada,’ he dismissed it as ‘language that is subject to interpretation,’” Cuomo said in a social media post on Wednesday. “That is not only wrong — it is dangerous. At a time when we are seeing antisemitism on the rise and in fact witnessing once again violence against Jews resulting in their deaths in Washington, D.C., or their burning in Denver (sic) — we know all too well that words matter. They fuel hate. They fuel murder.”
Worthy Reads
Endgame in Iran: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens suggests how the Trump administration could use military and diplomatic means to achieve an end to the war that eliminates the nuclear threat from Iran and stabilizes the region. “Here, then, is what Trump should do: First, drop bunker busters on Fordo and other hardened nuclear sites to ensure that Iran has no fast route to a bomb. That would need to be followed up by dropping a diplomatic bunker buster on Tehran — the proverbial offer Iran can’t refuse. … The regime would have to agree to two things: First, permanent, verifiable, comprehensive and immediate denuclearization, including a system of intrusive inspections and an end to its enrichment programs. Second, an end to its financial and military support for Hezbollah, Hamas and other foreign proxies.” [NYTimes]
‘America First’ in Iran: In Semafor, former Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt explains President Donald Trump’s approach to Iran. “Meanwhile, Trump is showing Iran its options before it hits the point of no return. If Tehran pursued a new approach — surrendering its nuclear program, dismantling its missile arsenal and proxies, and allowing genuine freedom for its people — it could chart a different course. The likelihood of this is exceedingly low. Trump making the stakes clear is exactly on brand. He doesn’t waste time with niceties or euphemisms. He says things like, ‘We know exactly where the so-called “Supreme Leader” is hiding…But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers’ and threatening to kill the Ayatollah if he makes a false move. His direct communication style is worth a thousand clever diplomatic maneuvers.” [Semafor]
Iran’s Opposition in Fear: The Atlantic’s Arash Azizi talks to regime opponents in Iran about how they view the military confrontation between Israel and Iran. “Most of the activists I spoke with — about a dozen — blamed the war largely on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and evinced no political support for his regime. Nor were they supportive of Iran’s attacks on Israel, which have already killed at least 23 Israeli civilians, injured hundreds more, and sent thousands of people to bomb shelters every night. But they in no way welcomed the Israeli strikes on their country. They worried about their own safety — and also about societal collapse and the destruction of Iran’s infrastructure.” [TheAtlantic]
Proxies on the Sidelines: The Wall Street Journal’s Sudarsan Raghavan, Summer Said and Saleh al-Batati report on the reluctance of Iran’s regional proxies to join Tehran in attacking Israel. “The bruising wars have left Iran’s allies wary of taking on Israel, which has demonstrated vastly superior military and intelligence capabilities. Some are now focused on their own interests and have a lot to lose from an expanding war, such as Iraq’s militia members who are now making fortunes in the oil sector. Others, like Hezbollah, are trying to rebuild and nursing grievances over the lack of support from Tehran during the group’s war with Israel, according to Arab diplomats who speak to the group regularly.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
The Washington Post looks at President Donald Trump’s inner circle advising him on Israel-Iran policy; Vice President JD Vance, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are among “a small group of lower-key but more experienced aides” who the president is leaning on over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard…
Politico reports on the leading role CENTCOM head Gen. Erik Kurilla has taken in overseeing Pentagon policy vis-a-vis the Israel-Iran war since it began last week…
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations called on Wednesday for the international community to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports…
Sens. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) introduced a Senate version of a resolution condemning rising antisemitic violence that passed the House nearly unanimously earlier this month. The Senate resolution has close to 40 co-sponsors…
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee declined to call up Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be deputy secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs for a vote today, further dimming the prospects of Rayburn being confirmed to the State Department post, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Bipartisan groups of House and Senate members have introduced legislation to repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, sanctions legislation passed in 2019 targeting the former Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad, a step that proponents say will help remove obstacles to reconstruction and stabilization efforts in post-Assad Syria, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
The New York Times profiles Katie Miller, the wife of Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and former spokesperson for the Department of Government Efficiency who has continued to work for Elon Musk following his departure from the Trump administration…
Alex Wong, who served as deputy national security advisor until last month, is joining the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board…
Virginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, who has raised concerns among members of the state’s Jewish community for her efforts to lobby against antisemitism legislation, won the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, defeating former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney…
Federal prosecutors can move forward with hate crimes charges against an Egyptian national accused of firebombing attendees at a hostage-awareness rally in Boulder, Colo., following a judge’s ruling on Wednesday…
Applicants for student visas will have to put their social media profiles on publicly viewable settings as part of what a senior State Department official called “enhanced social media vetting” amid a broader crackdown on foreign students by the Trump administration…
The Wall Street Journal reviews “I Quit,” the first new album by Haim in five years…
Photography critic Vicki Goldberg died at 88…
Pic of the Day
Charles Kushner was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to France on Wednesday at the White House. In attendance were Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, in addition to other relatives.
Birthdays
Singer known as Skye, Daniel Skye turns 25…
Attorney, investment banker, film producer and former deputy mayor of NYC, Kenneth Lipper turns 84… Rabbi emeritus of Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, N.J., Rabbi Bennett F. Miller… Historian of the Jews in Muslim lands in the modern era, he won the Israel Prize this year for Jewish history, Yaron Tsur turns 77… Retired territory sales manager for GlaxoSmithKline, Harry E. Wenkert… Retired president and CEO of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, last month he was appointed as the interim president of American Jewish University, Jay Sanderson turns 68… Inna N. Zalevsky… Overland Park, Kan., resident, Kathi Shaivitz Rosenberg… Former director of communications for Kings Bay Y, Adrienne M. Knoll… Member of the European Jewish Parliament for Latvia, Valery Engel, Ph.D. turns 64… Physician specializing in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, Jessica Rosenberg Brown, MD… Co-founder of Centerview Partners, Blair Effron turns 63… Singer-songwriter, actress and television personality, Paula Abdul turns 63… Former member of Knesset for the Zionist Union party, Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin turns 55… Co-founder of nine venture-backed companies in the telecom, high-tech, pharmaceuticals, energy, water, and biotechnology industries, Andrew T. Perlman turns 50… Human rights activist and advocate for women and minorities in Iran, Marjan Keypour Greenblatt… Director of the export control department in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eitan Weiss… Director of affinities and major giving at the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, Tslil Shtulsaft… Founder of JSwipe dating app, David Austin Yarus… Rhythmic gymnast from Israel who competed in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Neta Rivkin turns 34… VP at Jewish Federations of North America, Anna Langer… COO at Lightning Inspiration, Alex Jakubowski… Organization director at Senate Leadership Fund & One Nation, Cydney Couch…