• Voters in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin head to the polls today for party primaries. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the Senate and gubernatorial Democratic primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota as the far left makes gains in the party. More below on the races we’re watching.
• In addition, South Carolina and Alabama are holding special elections. In the Palmetto State, Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) is running for a full term, which she announced after being tapped to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term following his death last month.
• In Washington, Ken Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, is slated to testify before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a hearing about rules requiring employers to provide yearly reports breaking down their workforce by race, sex and ethnicity.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Today’s Democratic primaries in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin won’t have the same shock value as previous contests that underscored the strength of the anti-establishment, anti-Israel forces within the party. 

But the possibility of Minnesota Democrats nominating a true-blue progressive over a battle-tested moderate lawmaker as their Senate standard-bearer, along with the growing likelihood suburban voters will reject a pragmatist for a left-wing candidate, may well demonstrate just how far left the party has swung in the past year.  

Add to that the likelihood that Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidate Francesca Hong will emerge as the party’s gubernatorial nominee in Wisconsin — providing a spotlight for the socialist group’s governing philosophy in the biggest of battleground states — and the stakes remain awfully high for the Democratic Party tonight.

There’s also a fascinating contest in Connecticut, where Rep. John Larson (D-CT), a former member of House leadership, is facing a real threat from former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. The primary isn’t as neatly driven by ideological differences as it is along generational lines (Larson is 78, Bronin 47), but Larson has been a reliable supporter of Israel during his congressional career, while Bronin has tacked to his left on the issue during the campaign. 

It’s very possible that the left wing of the party ends up with a clean, four-race sweep in these contests. 

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

Reality Bites: The New York Times’ Anton Troianovski looks at the challenges facing President Donald Trump as he tries to wind down the wars in both Iran and Gaza. “The two Middle East conflicts have underscored Mr. Trump’s eagerness to declare success and his inability to impose his will on them, despite the enormous military firepower that he has been able to deploy. Mr. Trump is ‘clearly trying to find a pathway as the midterms approach to downgrade all of this,’ said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank. Instead, Mr. Katulis went on, ‘reality is slapping him in the face.’” [NYTimes]

August Recess: In The Wall Street Journal, presidential historian Tevi Troy explores the history of presidents seeking refuge from the humid August weather in Washington. “These and other instances remind us that even though August is a time to relax, it can also be a time of peril, for presidents and their staff alike. In his memoir of his time in Jimmy Carter’s White House, aide Stuart Eizenstat grumbled on multiple occasions about people being off in August during important events. …On another occasion, U.S. Ambassador to Iran William Sullivan took a long summer vacation in 1978, when Iran was on the path to a revolution against the shah, an important American ally.” [WSJ]

Brothers in Arms: In The Washington Post, singer John Ondrasik, known as Five for Fighting, expresses solidarity with Boy George after the artist received backlash over his new song supporting Israel. “What makes Boy George so enraging to the haters is that he, like me, is not Jewish. That fact sends a signal: This is not a religious battle but a moral one. One of good versus evil, without relativity or equivocation. To the haters, that means Boy George must be ridiculed, marginalized or intimidated, lest he give license to others who might have been cowed into not voicing their support for the Jewish people. In 1982, Boy George, with Culture Club, released the hit song ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.’ In this battle for civilization, the answer is, indisputably, yes.” [WashPost]

Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.

The Washington Post reports that President Donald Trump was clandestinely flown out of Turkey on a small military jet following last month’s NATO summit in Ankara; the president had previously been filmed entering an older Air Force One plane — moving to the smaller plane via catering truck after photos were taken — after the recently gifted Qatari luxury jet he flew on to Turkey was not deemed to have the requisite security features…

The International Atomic Energy Agency will remove nuclear material stored at a secret site in Syria tied to the fallen Assad regime per an agreement reached between the U.S., Jerusalem and Damascus…

The Wall Street Journal reports that Gulf states are resigned to the idea that Iran will have permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz as part of a deal with the U.S., preferring that outcome to war…

Responding to a recent demand from Iran that the U.S. fully compensate it for its war costs in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump issued his own demand on Monday that Tehran compensate the U.S. “for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts,” as well as pay reparations to the “families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years”…

The Defense Department renamed a South Carolina military base in honor of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who died last month; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the ceremony at the Charleston base to honor Graham, who served in the Air Force JAG Corps before retiring as a colonel…

The Cook Political Report switched its rating of the congressional race in Ohio’s 7th District to a “toss-up” from “likely Republican” after Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), who is facing allegations of domestic violence, passed the deadline to withdraw from the race; Miller denies the accusations from his ex-wife, whose father, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), has called for Miller to resign…

Politico reports that White House officials, convinced Miller would not drop his reelection bid, dissuaded Ohio Republican leaders from launching a public campaign against Miller; the report comes as national Democrats step up support for Miller’s general election challenger, Brian Poindexter…

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed should “tone down his rhetoric” about Israel and AIPAC in order to help combat antisemitism within the party…

Two hundred Jewish community activists, rabbis, professionals and academics have signed a petition to the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, urging him to take security measures to protect Jewish delegates at the upcoming party convention; Nessel said last month that antisemitism in the state — and in the statewide Democratic Party — had gotten so bad that she will not attend the convention this month… 

A national co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America said last week that she would have attended an anti-Israel rally in Times Square one day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks had she been in New York City at the time, describing the terror group’s slaughter of more than 1,200 people across southern Israel as “inevitable,” JI’s Gabby Deutch reports…

A group of rabbis from several denominations urged New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday to dial down his rhetoric on Israel, warning him about the impact it is having on the safety of the city’s Jews, during a private meeting at City Hall…

The family of journalist Cara Trager, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Queens by a driver who weeks earlier had vandalized a Jewish-owned bagel shop, is calling on elected officials to make greater efforts to address hate crimes…

Apple reached a $150,000 settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over a complaint filed on behalf of a Jewish employee who said his request to take time off for Jewish holidays was denied and he was fired shortly after making the ask…

Former Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, said he was not called to testify before the country’s royal commission into antisemitism, despite being a leader of the country’s Jewish community and a major advocate of the commission’s creation…

A Syrian court sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity; both men are living in Russia, where they fled as the Assad regime fell in late 2024…

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry announced Bogota’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, days after conservative President Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in; the announcement came shortly after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake shook the western part of the country, killing more than 100 people and prompting messages of condolences from Israeli officials…

On Sunday night, mental health nonprofit Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services, Inc. agreed to hand its winning bid for Camp Lavi in Lakewood, Pa., to the second-place bidder, ensuring that the Modern Orthodox camp would continue operating in its current format. But just before the tentative agreement was to be legally recognized on Monday morning, the second-place bidder said he would not offer his original bid, scuttling the deal and throwing the fate of the camp into limbo, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher has learned… 

Miriam Belsky has been appointed executive vice president of the TruBob Fund, a new national initiative supporting Jewish day schools established by philanthropists Trudy Elbaum Gottesman and Robert W. Gottesman…

Find on-demand Live Briefing updates throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.

The U.K.’s Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council met on Monday with Ed Miliband, who was appointed last month as foreign secretary under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Co-founder and CEO of Israeli interactive video firm Eko, Yoni Bloch turns 45… 

Longtime Democratic Party activist in N.Y.’s Orange and Rockland counties, Doris Feder turns 94… Architect best known for the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Peter David Eisenman turns 94… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, she also served as Brooklyn DA and NYC comptroller, Elizabeth Holtzman turns 85… Principal of Investors Research Group based in Los Angeles, Jacob S. Segal… Former SVP for international affairs at the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Lois Weinsaft… Co-founder of The Carlyle Group, in 2024 he became the principal owner of MLB’s Baltimore Orioles, David Rubenstein turns 77… U.S. trade representative during the Clinton administration, she is chair of Parkside Global Advisors, Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky turns 76… Senior counsel for benefits and employment at the Wagner Law Group, Linda E. Rosenzweig… Lenore Solomon… Artistic director and choreographer of an eponymous dance company based in Union, N.J., Carolyn Dorfman… CEO, chairman and major shareholder of the Russian gas company Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson turns 71… Board member emeritus of AIPAC, Jeffrey Snyder… Former member of the Massachusetts Senate, he is the founder of Cape Air, Daniel A. “Dan” Wolf turns 69… Publisher of Yated Ne’eman, a weekly English-language Haredi newspaper and magazine based in New Jersey, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz turns 68… Israeli minister of regional cooperation, David “Dudi” Amsalem turns 66… Co-founder and partner of MizMaa Ventures and wine columnist for Jewish Insider, Isaac “Yitz” Applbaum… Chairman at Duty Free Americas, his family owns Israel’s Psagot Winery, Simon Falic… Former chief of the Shin Bet/Shabak, Nadav Argaman turns 66… Staff writer at The Atlantic, David Brooks turns 65… Host of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Joe Rogan turns 59… Senior advisor at The Aspen Institute, Ilana Marcus Drimmer… Clarinetist who performs internationally as a soloist, Sharon Kam turns 55… MLB pitcher for seven teams, he has also been the pitching coach for Team Israel, Andrew Lorraine turns 54… NFL offensive lineman for four seasons, he is now the managing partner of Oakland, Calif.-based North Venture Partners, Alex Bernstein turns 51… Chief investment officer and CEO of Toronto-based investment firm Murchinson, Marc Bistricer… NFL punter for seven seasons with the Jaguars and Bears, he was then a financial advisor in the Jacksonville office of Merrill Lynch, Adam Podlesh turns 43… Reporter for Mishpacha Magazine, known as Turx, Avraham Yaakov Tarkieltaub turns 40… Ukrainian-born and San Francisco-raised journalist and copywriter, Yelena Shuster… Complex general surgical oncology fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Sara Ginzberg, M.D…. Daniel Weitz…

• It’s primary day in Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state.
• In Michigan, Democrats will head to the polls to cast their ballots in the heated Senate race between Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Abdul El-Sayed that has become the latest flashpoint in the party’s debate over its ideological future.
• Among the House primaries we’re watching in Michigan: Rep. Shri Thanedar’s (D-MI) effort to hold onto his seat amid a formidable primary challenge from far-left former state Rep. Donavan McKinney; the Democratic primary to take on Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) in which a leading candidate said it was a “moral necessity” to end aid to Israel; and the race for Stevens’ House seat that has been marred by allegations of antisemitism.
• In Missouri, Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) is facing a rematch against former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), whom he unseated two years ago. Read more about the race here.
• Israeli and Lebanese officials are meeting today in Rome for the latest round of U.S.-brokered talks aimed at calming tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border and demilitarizing Hezbollah as the Iran-backed group continues to operate in southern Lebanon.
• Iran and Oman are reportedly nearing an agreement on administering the Strait of Hormuz that would see Iran have control over incoming traffic and be able to charge vessels a “service fee” to be split between Tehran and Muscat.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote this morning on Todd Blanche‘s nomination to be U.S. attorney general after Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) dropped their opposition following an announcement Sunday night from Blanche terminating the administration’s controversial anti-weaponization fund that had raised some GOP concerns.
• The Israel on Campus Coalition’s annual National Leadership Summit concludes this afternoon in Washington. Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) are slated to speak today. More below.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

One of the unsettling realities that American Jews have been learning throughout this election cycle is that antisemitic behavior and virulently anti-Israel rhetoric has become so normalized that it doesn’t register all that much politically anymore. 

The early tell was discovering that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s involvement throughout his life in extreme anti-Israel activism didn’t impact his ability to win an election in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world. 

Then we learned that disgraced former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo — which he later covered up — made very little difference in his political standing in the battleground Senate race. It wasn’t until he was accused of rape that rank-and-file Democrats began to reconsider their support of him.

And today we’re grappling with the possibility that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who won’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state (like Mamdani before him), could prevail in a Democratic primary in a swing state.

Jews find themselves in the news often these days, and for that reason it makes sense to want to dwell on the extreme, often-antisemitic positions that these radical candidates have espoused. 

But as we head into a general election where several far-left candidates will be testing their political viability in competitive states and districts against strong Republican challengers, it’s important to remember that their biggest vulnerabilities are on issues that don’t directly impact the Jewish community.

The reality is that these candidates are politically problematic to the overall public for reasons that go far beyond their views on Jews or Israel. The same Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) platform that rejects a Jewish state and condones terrorism also is one that envisions abolishing prisons and defunding the police and backs open borders. 

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

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House this morning for their eighth such meeting during Trump’s second term. Read more below. Earlier, Trump is slated to meet separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, before all the leaders — joined by others, including Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid — make their way to the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
• The Jewish Federations of North America is hosting a breakfast at its Washington office in honor of Graham, ahead of his funeral later today.
• Graham’s funeral will begin at the U.S. Capitol with a private ceremony and continue with a service at Washington National Cathedral, where remarks will be delivered by Trump, Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Emillie Boggs Roberts, Graham’s niece.
• The Senate is expected to hold votes on a number of issues including on Jay Clayton’s nomination to become director of national intelligence and on a procedural motion to begin consideration of Russia sanctions legislation championed by Graham before his death, which now includes Iran sanctions as well.
• This evening, Central Synagogue in Manhattan will hold a memorial service for Wesley LePatner, one year after the Blackstone executive and Jewish philanthropist was killed in a shooting at the firm’s Midtown headquarters.
• The 20th Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature will be awarded to Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon for his Oct. 7 memoir, The Gates of Gaza, this evening at a private ceremony in Jerusalem. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S melissa weiss

For watchers of the U.S.-Israel relationship, the events of the last few days have had a familiar feel. On Friday, President Donald Trump suggested at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that Iran would “love to make a deal. I don’t think they’re ready to. I don’t think it’s time yet, but I’m willing to listen.” Today, the president will meet at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the countries weigh a military escalation with Iran.

The similarities to the dialogue surrounding Iran earlier this year are striking. In early February, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly.” Days later, Trump would meet at the White House with Netanyahu for talks focused on Iran. Weeks after that meeting, the U.S. and Israel launched joint military strikes against the Islamic Republic, kicking off a six-week war.

Despite the similarities around these two meetings — much has changed.

In the U.S., there is growing opposition among Americans to renewed military action against Iran — a sentiment that extends to some top military officials, including, reportedly, CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper.

Public perception of Israel — and Israelis — has hit its most negative point in years, with Gen Z Americans across the political spectrum having significantly more favorable views of Palestinians than Israelis. 

The numbers demonstrate the degree to which opinions on Israel and Iran — and the U.S. role in the region — have shifted in the five months since the war began. The domestic politics in the U.S. vis-a-vis Iran look very different than they did during the last Trump-Netanyahu meeting.

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

Winning the Battle, Losing the War: The Atlantic‘s Franklin Foer argues that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has squandered his role as “the guardian of Israel’s standing in America.” “Netanyahu aggressively confronted the military threats — but proceeded to lose on the battlefield that made his career. He had risen to power by persuading Americans on the correctness of his cause, but came to govern as though persuasion were futile, as if his father had been right all along. He never seemed to recognize that his old successes had come amid tailwinds: the Cold War, the wars on terror, decades when America was predisposed to sympathize with Israel’s case. When the zeitgeist turned, Netanyahu did not adjust the argument. He concluded there were no minds to change: The hatred of the Jewish state was immutable. Under Netanyahu, Israeli public diplomacy has treated each new critic not as someone to be persuaded or corrected, but as an anti-Semite revealed.” [TheAtlantic]

A Home for Hate: Matthew Hennessey writes in The Wall Street Journal‘s “Free Expression” newsletter that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recent invective against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was an “antisemitic smoke signal.” “Campaign crowds ate it up when Mr. Mamdani said he was going to make the NYPD enforce the International Criminal Court’s dubious arrest warrant for Mr. Netanyahu. Mr. Mamdani must have loved the buzz. Were he more experienced, or less of a zealot, he might realize that being mayor comes with responsibilities that a rabble-rouser in a kaffiyeh never needs to consider. … Mr. Mamdani and his allies play definitional games: We aren’t antisemitic, they say, only anti-Zionist. … You may think you’re making a clever distinction, or that your limp assertions about hate having no home in the city will absolve you of all blame when someone believes what you say and starts trying to kill Jews while shouting ‘Allahu akbar.’ It won’t.” [WSJ]

Surrender to Socialism: Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen lay out the six stages of “political surrender,” warning the Democratic Party might be on its way to capitulating to socialism. “Republicans didn’t decide to become President Trump’s party. They surrendered to him, one stage at a time, over a decade, in plain sight. Democrats swear that socialism’s growing grip on their party is different, and can be contained. The early signals suggest otherwise. Why it matters: Party transformations follow a predictable six-stage evolution — recoil, squint, rationalize, submit, amplify, and purge. Each stage has language you can hear long before you see it in the votes. Republicans just finished the full cycle. Democrats might be starting it.” [Axios]

Forbidden Fruit: Designer and brand strategist Debbie Millman posits in The New York Times that guidelines around AI usage should follow those of Kabbalah, which many are encouraged not to study until they reach the age of 40. “We do not wait for children to turn 16 to hand them car keys because cars are evil, and we do not insist that surgeons train for years because scalpels are immoral. We build thresholds around powerful things because power requires judgment, and judgment can’t be downloaded or installed. Before a person asks a machine to write for them, they should know what it feels like to write from the depths of their own uncertainty and identity. Before a person lets a machine imitate their voice, they should have endured the long, uneven, often humiliating process of acquiring one.” [NYTimes]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly present intelligence to President Donald Trump at their meeting on Tuesday showing that Iran is rebuilding its military capabilities and pursuing a nuclear bomb at an accelerated pace, according to Israel’s Channel 12…

Asked about Netanyahu’s opposition to the U.S.’ planned sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, Trump told reporters on Monday, “Turkey’s been a great ally — for me. … Nobody tells me what we should be selling,” a clip that the White House’s rapid response social media account posted to X…

Saudi Arabia intercepted drones launched by Iran-backed militias in Iraq on Monday, which were targeting oil facilities in the country’s Eastern Province and in Riyadh, the Saudi Defense Ministry said in a statement. Israel, Jordan and Iraq also reported drone attacks on Monday…


Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said that he wants to include a significant increase in defense funding when the Senate takes up the budget reconciliation bill recently passed by the House, which is aimed in part at covering expenses related to the Iran war…

Next week’s talks between Israel and Lebanon, to be held again in Rome, will focus on expanding the “pilot zone” process in southern Lebanon, resolving “all outstanding border issues” and working towards a comprehensive peace agreement, a State Department official said…

Iranian authorities publicly hanged two men who were found guilty of attacking two police officers during anti-regime protests earlier this year, Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday…

Far-right commentator Laura Loomer told Politico she would “like to serve as an envoy” to Trump on foreign policy, after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who had held a similar role in Trump’s orbit…

Former Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), a relative moderate, joined several left-wing CBC members in endorsing Donovan McKinney, who is challenging Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI)…

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams is being sued by an ex-staffer over allegations that she was discriminated against because she is Palestinian, claiming that Adams had adopted a strict anti-Palestinian stance after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. The aide, Hasibe Rashid, is asking for the court to reinstate her as a policy advisor in Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office…

Several Jewish legal organizations sent Mamdani a letter protesting the makeup of his 18-person judicial nominating advisory committee, which contains no Jewish representation…

In an opinion piece in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, the CEO and chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, decry Mamdani’s repeated claim that Israel committed a “genocide” in Gaza, comparing it to medieval blood libels…

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told Politico he heard from Vice President Kamala Harris, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and GOP Utah Gov. Spencer Cox after his speech laying out his Israel policy at Tel Aviv University earlier this month, saying they were “all very affirmative and all appreciative”…

Daniel Moraff, the political consultant who helped recruit failed Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner before Platner’s campaign collapsed following a rape allegation, was himself accused of sexual assault: One former romantic partner told The Handbasket that Moraff had sex with her in 2019 in spite of her repeated objections and the former campaign manager for Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) said Moraff was barred from Lee’s 2022 campaign due to six allegations of sexual misconduct, including at least one of sexual assault…

David Fox, the dealmaker credited with building Kirkland & Ellis into the world’s biggest law firm, has now launched Irving, a law firm primarily driven by AI, and is building a center for AI at Hebrew University’s law school…

In The Free Press, Casey Babb reports on a spike in emigration of Jewish Canadians due to heightened antisemitism in the country…

The New York Times profiles Sammy Nussdorf, the Jewish 29-year-old who parlayed his family’s business acumen and his TikTok account into Meadow Lane, a viral Lower Manhattan gourmet market that pulled in $3 million in its first 90 days… 

“Mazel Tough,” a new romantic comedy series about modern dating in the Jewish community, will feature Jewish stars Alex Rich, Adam Shapiro, Michael Vlamis and Jonathan Lipnicki…

British musician Boy George released a new single defending Israel’s actions in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks. Posted to his X account with the hashtag “Shalom,” the song is titled “We Will Dance Again,” a mantra used by survivors of the Nova music festival massacre…

Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat voted in the Likud party’s internal elections on Monday in Jerusalem.

The Likud Central Committee approved a proposal that grants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eight reserved slots in the top 29 places on the list, significantly increasing his control over the party’s slate.

Actor and reality show personality, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren turns 54… 

Survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau as a teen, he emigrated to Israel and became an artist, Yehuda Bacon turns 97… Chicago radio and television news personality, Walter David Jacobson turns 89… U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan, then U.S. attorney general during the Bush 43 administration, now of counsel at the international law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, Michael Mukasey turns 85… Swedish industrialist, chairman of the Nobel Foundation (manager of the Nobel Prize) from 2005 to 2013, Marcus Storch Ph.D. turns 84… In 1986 she became the first woman in the IDF to hold the rank of brigadier general, she then served as a member of Knesset, and now serves on multiple for-profit and nonprofit boards, Amira Dotan turns 79… Tax professional, Joe Pollak turns 76… President of the Council on Foreign Relations for 20 years until he retired in 2023, Richard N. Haass turns 75… Tel Aviv-born real estate developer, he has restored many historic buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, Izek Shomof turns 67… Partner and managing director of Meadow Lane Advisors, he serves on the board of American Jewish World Service, Marty Friedman… French-Israeli hairdresser and entrepreneur, Michel Mercier turns 65… American schoolteacher, wrongfully detained by Russia in 2021, he was released in the early weeks of the Trump 47 administration, Marc Hilliard Fogel turns 65… Talent booker, publicist and television and radio personality in Atlanta, Mara Davis turns 57… Tech entrepreneur who has invested in more than 100 startups, New York Times best-selling author, Joshua M. “Josh” Linkner turns 56… Co-founder of the personal genomics and biotechnology company 23andMe, she recently regained control of the company, Anne Wojcicki turns 53… Inaugural Jewish life venture fellow at the William Davidson Foundation, now deputy CEO at UpStart, Jennifer Lew Goldstone… Jerusalem-born actor with more than 30 movie and television roles in the U.S., Ori Pfeffer turns 51… Associate justice of the Supreme Court of California, Leondra Kruger turns 50… Israeli journalist and former member of the Knesset, Ksenia Svetlova turns 49… Managing partner at Altitude Ventures, a healthcare venture capital firm, he served as White House Jewish liaison from 2005 to 2007, Jay Zeidman… Senior reporter at Bloomberg News, Laura Nahmias… CEO and CTO at Diagnostic Robotics in Jerusalem, the firm produced an app for managing COVID-19 patients during the pandemic, Kira Radinsky Ph.D. turns 40… VP of player personnel at MLB’s Miami Marlins, Samuel Mondry-Cohen… Director of operations at Elite Healthcare Consultants, Menachem “Mark” Perl… Actor and producer who stars in the CBS series “Ghosts,” Asher Chazen Grodman turns 39… Staff writer at The New Yorker, Ruby Cramer… Larry Gordon… 

• President Donald Trump is slated to meet today with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at 11 a.m. ET. The meeting comes as Israel moves forward with its plan to withdraw from “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon where the Lebanese Armed Forces will move in and administer the area in accordance with the framework agreement established last month between Beirut and Jerusalem.
• The White House is reportedly mulling a proposal from Middle East mediators including Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan for a 10-day ceasefire to halt fighting between the U.S. and Iran. Earlier today, officials in Bahrain confirmed that sirens sounded in the Gulf state ahead of what was believed to have been another Iranian attack.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are slated to appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning to testify about the Trump administration’s $88 billion supplemental funding request for the Pentagon.
• The House Intelligence Committee is convening a hearing today on the next generation of terror threats, with former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster set to testify.
• Arizona is holding its primaries today, with the GOP’s gubernatorial race between Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Dave Schweikert (R-AZ) taking center billing. The winner will face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November.
• We’re also closely watching the primary results in Arizona’s 1st District, a swing district based in Scottsdale with a sizable Jewish population, which Schweikert is vacating to run for governor. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is backing former TV news anchor Marlene Galan-Woods over former state Rep. Amish Shah, who was the party’s 2024 nominee. The GOP front-runner is former NFL kicker and CBS Sports sideline reporter Jay Feely.
• In New York, Jewish Women International is hosting a day-long workshop series focused on Jewish women in the workplace.
• More than a dozen Jewish and pro-Israel groups, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Israeli-American Council, the Jewish Federations of North America and Christians United for Israel, are hosting a virtual tribute to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tonight ahead of his funeral next week.
• The three-day Gulf Research Meeting kicks off today in Cambridge, U.K. Speakers include Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud; Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari; Mohammed Ibrahim Al Dhaheri, the deputy director of the United Arab Emirates’ Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy; and Arab World Institute President Anne-Claire Legendre. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

In recent weeks, following the collapse of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has fired dozens of times on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

At the same time, it has sustained fire from the U.S., whose military bases across the region have been targeted by the Islamic Republic, with several service members killed. And all the while, Tehran has targeted commercial ships transiting through the strait.

But as focus on the conflict with Iran has shifted from addressing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions to the Strait of Hormuz, Israel has stayed out of the fighting — despite Iranian threats earlier this month to target the Jewish state if the U.S. attacks did not cease.

There is no upside for Israel to reenter the fight, especially when the issue of the Strait of Hormuz falls outside of the objectives set by Israel at the start of the war earlier this year. (This, despite the widespread sentiment among Israelis that this year’s war did not improve Israel’s security situation, according to polling last month from the Israel Democracy Institute.)

Key among the goals laid out by Israel was degrading Iran’s ballistic missile program and setting back elements of its nuclear program. Reopening Hormuz is an American objective, not an Israeli one. With Israel having made the calculus that the most immediate Iranian threats have been blunted — at least in the short term — the current mission has become an American one.

“Israel’s best move is to not move — yet,” Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish Insider this morning. “Washington does the striking. Israel keeps its fire and its threats in reserve, waiting for one of two triggers: a U.S. request to join, or an Iranian regime foolish enough to hit Israel and invite the reprisal that has been promised.”

Despite Iran’s threats to target Israel, such a move would likely be a strategic misstep for the Islamic Republic. Iran’s blockade of the strait and its attacks on Arab and Gulf states are an attempt to reassert its dominance over the region and demonstrate its ability to impact the global energy market. Tehran also appears to be betting that sustained attacks across the region will push Arab states to pressure the U.S. to accept an agreement to reopen the strait, handing the Islamic Republic a win.

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

Eye on 2028: The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich interviews Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), about Kelly’s presidential considerations, Giffords’ recovery after a 2011 shooting and Kelly’s shortlisting as former Vice President Kamala Harris vetted potential running mates. “Kelly told me that he’d only ‘read parts’ of Harris’s memoir. Presumably, these were the parts that corresponded to mentions of ‘Kelly, Mark.’ He smiled when I suggested this and did not deny it. When I brought up that Harris said she was concerned that he wasn’t tested as a national candidate, Kelly grew more openly annoyed than I might have expected, given how beside the point the topic is now. … He also noted, sarcastically, that some people apparently found it charming that Walz asked for Diet Mountain Dew to drink during his VP interview. ‘[Gov. Josh] Shapiro and I asked for water,’ he said, smirking.” [TheAtlantic]

Tehran’s Tactics: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh posit that Iran’s ability to withstand international economic pressure and U.S. strikes has given the Islamic Republic a “wartime advantage” over Washington. “Today’s conflict with the U.S. and Israel lets senior guard commanders, lowly IRGC foot soldiers and the rest of the theocracy’s security forces feel the fraternity of resistance against the regime’s enemies. For a dictatorship that lost most Iranians’ loyalty years ago, these wars were a boon. The zeal of the revolutionary faithful has baffled many Iranian expatriates and analysts, who see a morally, spiritually and financially bankrupt regime.” [WSJ]

Kuwait in the Crosshairs: The Financial Times’ Ahmed Al Omran looks at how the Iranian attacks across the Gulf have affected Kuwait, which has been targeted by more than 1,500 missiles and drones since the start of the war. “The sense of fear is particularly potent in Kuwait, which is still scarred by the trauma of the 1990 Iraqi invasion — a unique experience that sets it apart from other Gulf Arab states. Since the US-Israeli war against Iran started in February, Kuwait’s proximity to the Islamic republic and high concentration of American troops have made it an easy target for Tehran’s short-range missiles. … But the intensity and frequency of the attacks came as a surprise to some observers in Kuwait, which before the war enjoyed relatively cordial relations with Iran.” [FT]

A larger selection of Worthy Reads is available in our Live Briefing.

Amid its escalating conflict with Iran, the White House’s social media feed posted a three-week-old poll on Monday from a right-wing polling firm indicating Americans support the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding established last month, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

The Pentagon confirmed a New York Times report that nearly 100 American troops stationed in Jordan have been injured by Iranian attacks over the last two weeks as the Islamic Republic targets U.S. bases in the region; several of the strikes had not been made public prior to the Times’ reporting…

Israeli intelligence shared with the U.S. indicates that Iran moved thousands of centrifuges into its clandestine Pickaxe Mountain site last fall, following the 12-day war in June; read more about Pickaxe Mountain here…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the “once-unthinkable” ideas being mulled by Washington, Beirut and Jerusalem to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon…

The New Yorker‘s David Kirkpatrick talks to former Biden administration officials about the Biden White House’s policies toward Israel and Gaza at the height of the conflict between Israel and Hamas…

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who is challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), removed from his campaign website family photos that featured his son-in-law, who was found to have promoted white nationalism and Nazi ideology online…

The Washington Post reports on the volatile temperament of Troy Jackson, who is expected to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, during the time that Jackson served as the head of the state Senate…

Axios examines how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) rhetoric as she campaigns for Democrats around the country resembles former President Barack Obama’s own early campaign rhetoric following the launch of his 2008 presidential bid…

Politico looks at how New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has alienated portions of the city’s electorate — including the Black, Jewish and Latino communities — that have traditionally had close ties with City Hall…

The New York Times interviews New York state Assemblymember Micah Lasher about his childhood hobby of performing magic; the New York Democrat, who won last month’s Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), in 1996 published The Magic of Micah Lasher, and performed on national television as a child…

Adam Hamawy and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who won their respective Democratic congressional primaries against more moderate candidates in part by attacking Israel on the campaign trail, were announced as the keynote speakers at the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ annual gala in Washington…

Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgar turned down Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s offer to serve as the country’s interim president, saying she felt she lacked “the strength to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation” in the post-Viktor Orbán era…

The president of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants testified before the country’s royal commission investigating antisemitism that increasing antisemitism in the country has “disturbing parallels” to Nazi Germany, but that he did not believe that the country was “becoming another Germany in the 1930s,” owing to Australia’s “democratic institutions, legal system and civilian civil society”…

OpenAI is reportedly starting a business development operation in Israel, having hired a senior Israeli executive from Amazon Web Services to lead the effort to develop relationships in the Israeli high-tech sector…

Air France paused its flights to and from Dubai until next week; the airline is also temporarily suspending its routes to Saudi Arabia until later this week…

Hamas announced Khalil Al-Hayya, the terror group’s top negotiator in Qatar, as its new leader; Al-Hayya succeeds Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the IDF in October 2024…

Former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is rejoining the Jewish Institute for National Security of America as a distinguished fellow, a position he previously held from 2021 to 2022…

Demonstrators from the Union of Jewish Students of France protested on Monday outside the Paris headquarters of French far-left party La France Insoumise following the interruption over the weekend of a Jewish DJ’s concert in Grenoble. La France Insoumise had for months been calling for a boycott of Barbara Butch’s show last Saturday, which was disrupted by anti-Israel activists.

Retired CEO of Sony/ATV, a large music publishing firm, he is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Martin Bandier turns 85…

President at Admar Group, Henry Dean Ostberg turns 98…  Professor in the physics department at Bar-Ilan University, he won the Israel Prize in 2018, Shlomo Havlin turns 84… Director of the Center for the Political Future at USC, Robert Shrum turns 83… Criminal defense attorney, known for representing many politicians, celebrities and organized crime defendants, Benjamin Brafman turns 78… Former member of the U.K.’s House of Commons, now in the House of Lords, Baroness Susan Veronica Kramer turns 76… Senate majority whip (R-WY), John Barrasso turns 74… Chairman and CEO at Quantitative Financial Strategies, Sanford “Sandy” Jay Grossman turns 73… Endocrinologist and professor at Columbia University’s medical school, she is an honorary president of NYC’s Central Synagogue, Shonni Joy Silverberg, MD… Professor at Columbia Law School and daughter of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jane Carol Ginsburg turns 71… Brooklyn resident, Irene Ostrovsky… Comedian and actor, best known for his five seasons on “Saturday Night Live” ending in 1990, Jon Lovitz turns 69… Former chief rabbi of Moscow, his opposition to the Ukraine war forced him to leave Russia, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt turns 63… Literary agent at the William Morris Endeavor book department, Eric Matthew Simonoff turns 59… Actor and producer, Alysia Reiner turns 56… Professor of astronomy at MIT and winner of a 2013 MacArthur Genius Award, Sara Seager turns 55… Brazilian fashion designer best known for avant-garde designs and eclectic prints, Alexandre Herchcovitch turns 55… CEO of Fanatics, licensed sports merchandise and digital sports platform, Michael G. Rubin turns 54… Founder, president and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) and the Electrification Coalition, Raphael “Robbie” Diamond… Rabbi of Congregation Bais Naftali in Los Angeles, his YouTube channel has over 4.6 million views, Rabbi Yoel Gold… Online media personality and director of product management at Electronic Arts (EA) in British Columbia, Veronica Belmont turns 44… CEO of Women of Reform Judaism since 2023, Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch… Clinical social worker, Aniko Gomory-Pink… Entrepreneur and political activist, she came to prominence as an African-American pro-Israel student activist at the U of New Orleans, Chloé Simone Valdary turns 33… Policy advisor at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Zachary A. Marshall… Senior recruiter at Tines, Rachel Elizabeth Nieves… Attorney in Madrid and secretary general of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain until 2021, Elias Cohen…

• President Donald Trump will meet this morning with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, whom he backed in the country’s elections earlier this year amid an effort to push Baghdad to crack down on Iranian militias operating in Iraq. The meeting comes as the U.S. continued to strike Iranian military targets overnight, including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas, “to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping,” CENTCOM said.
• Earlier in the day, CENTCOM announced that U.S. forces would today resume blockading Iranian ports. Trump also declared that the U.S. would institute a 20% fee on all cargo transiting the waterway. Read more here.
• The Aspen Security Forum kicks off this afternoon in Colorado. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker are set to speak later today on a panel titled, “The State of the World in 2026.”
• Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), will be sworn in to her brother’s Senate seat today at 2:30 p.m. ET, after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced his decision on Monday to appoint her to serve the remainder of Graham’s term. Trump threw his support behind Graham Nordone, saying that appointing her “would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly.” Read more here.
• Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee this morning — the first time Warsh will appear before the Congress since assuming the role.
• The two-day Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), will kick off at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., with a keynote address from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will host some GOP members of Congress for dinner tonight, as the Trump administration seeks more than $67 billion for the Pentagon in its supplemental funding request.
• Lebanese and Israeli officials are meeting today at the U.S. Embassy in Rome to discuss the implementation of a framework agreed to by the countries last month that would see the disarmament of Hezbollah, a withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and an end to the hostilities between Beirut and Jerusalem.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSa weiss

In the span of five days, one of Washington’s most vocal champions of the U.S. relationship with Israel died, while two prospective 2028 Democratic presidential contenders traveled to the Jewish state to define their approaches to the country. Though a coincidence of timing, those events, when taken together, underscored something much more significant: the passing of one generation of American politics vis-a-vis Israel and the opening contest over what will succeed it.

The events of the last week have distilled concerns that have repeatedly emerged at Jewish and Israeli gatherings, over Shabbat meals and in breakfast meetings: As the far left gains traction within the Democratic Party, and as the isolationist right increasingly finds support among Republicans, what does that mean for American Jews and U.S. support for Israel?

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who died suddenly on Saturday, represented a generation of politicians — across the political spectrum — for whom support for Israel was tied to deep, long-standing relationships with the Jewish state’s leaders, the belief in the country’s strategic positioning as a key ally and the ability of Israel’s friends in Washington to challenge Jerusalem without imperiling the relationship. 

His death sent shockwaves across the Jewish community at a time when U.S. support for Israel — including among Republicans — is on the decline.

Days before Graham died, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel was in Israel, where he delivered a speech — his own version of tough talk to Israelis — at Tel Aviv University on the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Speaking to reporters ahead of his speech, Emanuel, who served as White House chief of staff from 2009-2010, said that declining U.S. support for Israel “is not a Democratic Party problem. This is an American problem, and a generational problem.”

Separate from Emanuel’s trip, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) also traveled to Israel last week, gaining attention for an incident in the West Bank in which local security forces stopped Khanna, who was accompanied by aides and an activist from Breaking the Silence, after the congressman entered what had been until recently a closed military zone. He has since called for Israel to investigate the incident, even as Israeli officials denied the congressman’s account. Khanna has not provided any evidence to back up his claim of being detained by settlers.

In his public comments and meetings, Emanuel conveyed a desire to halt the growing daylight between future generations of Israelis and Americans. Khanna, who a decade ago was a staunch supporter of close ties with Jerusalem, has adopted a different political calculation, leaning into the growing anti-Israel sentiment in his party as a launching pad for a national campaign.

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

The Loneliness of Chuck Schumer: The Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn posits that even as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) serves as one of his party’s most prominent voices, antisemitism of the kind Schumer rails against has gained traction among Democrats. “Today’s party is nothing like the one Mr. Schumer grew up in. Those who regard Israel as a genocidal enemy are ascendant, and though the first Jewish Senate minority leader may cast individual pro-Israel votes, he certainly isn’t leading in Congress on Jewish or Israeli issues. His position is like that of the young babysitter in the 1979 horror film ‘When a Stranger Calls.’ After a series of disturbing phone calls, she calls the police. They get back to her with this chilling message: ‘The calls are coming from inside the house.’” [WSJ]

Poison PEN: The Atlantic’s Gal Beckerman observes the “meltdown” taking place at PEN America, following the resignation of the group’s president over an article that looked at the isolation faced by Israeli and Jewish writers. “Thursday’s article nodded to the curtailed freedoms of Israeli and Jewish writers without taking any ideological side. It was far from a battle cry or a shift in priorities. … This reality does not neutralize the cause of pro-Palestinian writers or the suffering in Gaza and elsewhere. The fact that the article was perceived that way, and that it led to the resignation of a president, tells us all a great deal about the hair-trigger moment we live in, and about the precarity of the liberal principles on which PEN America was founded.” [TheAtlantic]

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?: In “Moral Clarity,” Israeli writer Nachum Kaplan reflects on a recent dinner party in which Israel was a main topic of conversations among guests, most of whom were strident critics of Israel. “I walked home reflecting on the strange burden of being pro-Israel in polite society. One is expected to arrive with evidence, history, nuance, empathy, military expertise, legal precision and a detailed alternative strategy for every available course of action. The other side need only arrive with adjectives. Colonial. Genocidal. Apartheid. Brutal. … The ignorance would be less irritating if it were accompanied by humility. Yet ignorance among the educated rarely travels alone. It brings status, vocabulary and the confidence of belonging to a moral majority. Its possessors do not merely lack knowledge. They regard knowledge as faintly disreputable, particularly when it interferes with the emotional clarity of their conclusions.” [MoralClarity]

A larger selection of Worthy Reads is available in our Live Briefing.

The Jewish Federations of North America offered its support for the Stop the Fakes Act, led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), requiring the labeling of AI-generated content online. “By strengthening transparency and accountability online, the Stop the Fakes Act would help protect Jewish communities, and all vulnerable groups, from AI-enabled antisemitism, hate, impersonation, and targeted harassment,” Omer Yarden-Oppenheim, director of government relations at JFNA, said…

Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) urged colleagues to block procedural motions to move ahead with the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act without votes to strip U.S.-Israel military and intelligence cooperation out of the bill…

The Congressional Jewish Staff Association announced its 2026-2027 board, naming Zachary Freiman as president, Lindsey Rubin as vice president of member outreach, Tessa Cate as treasurer, Gabe Feiner as vice president of social programming, Louie Kahn as communications director and Joshua Lash, Max Seltzer and Sasha Frank-Stempel as members-at-large…

Federal officials charged a Texas man with transmitting threatening communications through means of interstate or foreign commerce, alleging he threatened to kill Jewish employees of a security camera company in Georgia…

The New Yorker visits Russ & Daughters with a duo from the Netherlands who are self-styled experts on pickles, as they explore the history of the popular sandwich accompaniment in New York…

U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that the country designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization, with those found guilty of supporting the group facing up to 14 years in prison; the government also banned the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, which No. 10 Downing St. said was behind a number of attacks on British Jewish sites…

The New York Times does a deep dive into a yearslong Mossad effort to groom former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into an Israeli intelligence asset and, potentially, a successor to the Iranian regime; the plot, which included a meeting in Hungary between Ahmadinejad and then-Mossad head David Barnea, ultimately failed following an Israeli attempt to remove the former Iranian president from government surveillance on the first day of the war… 

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the U.S.’ use — for the first time — of drone boats in the war with Iran, as the military increasingly relies on unmanned technologies in battle…

The Financial Times reports on efforts by U.S. adversaries to use cyber attacks to obtain location information about U.S. forces and contractors in the Middle East in the lead-up to the war with Iran…

Dubai-based port operator DP World is planning to build a new port near the city of Fujairah on the United Arab Emirates’ east coast, in an effort to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and decrease the Gulf state’s reliance on the Jebel Ali hub near Dubai…

Israeli Ambassador to Singapore Eli Vered Hazan was named the world chairman of Keren Hayesod, succeeding Sam Grundwerg…

Author Dara Horn (right) discussed her work researching and writing about contemporary antisemitism with Anila Ali, board chair and president of the American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, at AMMWEC’s conference in Washington on Monday about antisemitism and hate. Other speakers included Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Greg Stanton (D-AZ), as well as Luke Moon, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and the head of Generation Zion.

U.S. representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council during the last three years of the Biden administration, she is the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Ambassador Michèle Taylor turns 60… 

Past president of Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Deerfield, Ill., Sandee Holleb… Architect and urban designer, he is identified with Habitat 67, a housing complex built in conjunction with Expo 67 (the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair), Moshe Safdie turns 88… MLB pitcher for 11 seasons, now a sportscaster and author, he won the Cy Young Award and was an MLB All Star in 1980, Steve Stone turns 79… Los Angeles resident, Susan Farrell… Film producer, best known for the “Lethal Weapon” series, the first two “Die Hard” movies and the “Matrix” trilogy, Joel Silver turns 74… Film and theatrical producer, in 2012 he became the first producer to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award, Scott Rudin turns 68… Co-founder and managing director of Beverly Hills Private Wealth, Scott M. Shagrin… United States secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick turns 65… Media columnist for the Chicago Tribune until 2021, Phil Rosenthal turns 63… Illustrator and author best known as the writer of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick turns 60… Principal at Oakland, Calif.-based Full Court Press Communications and a past president of the Oakland Hebrew Day School, Daniel Eli Cohen… Member of the Washington State Senate until 2023, David S. Frockt turns 57… President and CEO at the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, Renee Wizig-Barrios… Rapper and record producer from Brooklyn known as “Ill Bill,” he is the producer, founder and CEO of Uncle Howie Records, William “Bill” Braunstein turns 54… Professor in the department of genetics at the Harvard Medical School, David Emil Reich, Ph.D. turns 52… COO at Aish Global, Elliot Mathias… Fashion designer and cast member on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Dorit Kemsley turns 50… Retired mixed martial artist, now a life coach, Emily Peters-Kagan turns 45… Co-founder and executive chairman of Pinterest, Ben Silbermann turns 44… Interior designer and owner of Tribe By Design, Tehillah Braun… Professional golfer with four tournament wins in the Asian and European tours, David Lipsky turns 38… Founder at Bashert Group and head of a NYC-based family office, Daniel B. Jeydel… AVP for grantmaking at Hillel International, she is on the board of the Siegel JCC of Delaware, Rachel Giattino… Reporter covering housing and the home building industry for The Wall Street Journal, Nicole Friedman… Director of Chabad Georgetown and rabbi at the Pentagon, Rabbi Menachem Shemtov turns 36… Creator of the Instagram feed called Second Date Shadchan, Elizabeth Morgan “Lizzy” Brenner… Collegiate basketball star for Princeton and Maryland, now playing for Perfumerías Avenida of Spain’s Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, Abby Meyers turns 27… Attorney and founder of In Every Generation, David Rosenberg-Wohl…

• Technical delegations from the U.S. and Iran are meeting separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Doha, but have no plans to meet directly. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the focus of ‌the discussions is the release of Tehran’s frozen funds and the Strait of Hormuz, while President Donald Trump indicated on Monday that the negotiations would focus on Iran’s nuclear program.
• The Wall Street Journal reveals that after Saudi Arabia blocked U.S. military access needed for Project Freedom — Trump’s operation to crack open the Strait of Hormuz — and prompted the White House to threaten to withhold missile interceptors from the kingdom, the confrontation triggered a widening rift in the U.S.-Saudi relationship, with the U.S. now considering reducing its military footprint in the kingdom. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Gulf last week but skipped a visit to Saudi Arabia; the week before, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declined an invitation to attend the G7 summit in France, reportedly in protest of the U.S.’ handling of the war with Iran.
• Some of the most prominent figures in U.S.-Israel diplomacy, Israeli national security and the American Jewish community are gathering at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, to help train a new generation of leaders confronting Israel’s evolving strategic challenges, as part of a pilot program that ends on Thursday. Among the faculty is former Ambassador Dennis Ross, the veteran Middle East negotiator who advised four U.S. presidents; Howard Kohr, the former longtime executive director of AIPAC; and Malcolm Hoenlein, who for decades served as executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Read more in eJewishPhilanthropy.
• The Herzliya Conference wraps up today in Israel: Among the many top national security and political officials speaking are former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; former Israeli Ambassadors to the U.S. Danny Ayalon and Michael Herzog; former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro; EU Ambassador to Israel Michael Mann; Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot; Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Liberman; Democrats party leader Yair Golan; Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas; and Nadav Tamir, executive director of J Street Israel.
• And the Aspen Ideas Festival concludes today in Colorado. Jeff Flake, the former U.S. senator and former U.S. ambassador to Turkey; the Atlantic Council’s Ian Brzezinski; and the Stimson Center’s Emma Ashford will speak on a panel about the “next chapter of the trans-Atlantic relationship.”

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Progressives in Colorado scored a number of key victories Tuesday night, including Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidate Melat Kiros’ defeat of Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) in the state’s 1st Congressional District.

The Colorado results suggest that, far from being contained to a few scattered congressional districts in New York City, the momentum for far-left, anti-Israel candidates is only growing within the Democratic Party, especially within urban population centers.

Kiros, a 29-year-old doctoral student, campaigned on her hostility to Israel and faced scrutiny when she declined to call the firebombing attack on a hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., antisemitic. DeGette, despite a long-standing progressive record in Congress, struggled to satisfy a critical mass of Democratic voters who preferred a more radical choice, especially when it came to opposing Israel.

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) survived a scare from a little-known socialist challenger, state Sen. Julie Gonzales, but only won renomination with less than 60% of the Democratic vote. Even in the vote-rich Denver suburbs, the far-left challenger came within striking distance of the state’s well-known senator and former governor.

Former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a moderate championed by Democratic Majority for Israel, lost badly to state Rep. Manny Rutinel for the Democratic nomination in Colorado’s swing 8th District, currently held by Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO). With most votes counted, Rutinel holds a 28-point lead over Bird, 62-34%.

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

When the DSA Came for Lander: Park Avenue Synagogue Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove penned a letter dated two years from now, published in the New York Daily News, to New York Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander, predicting that he will be ousted by a Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate in the next primary. “They told you it was never about being a Jew — only about being a Zionist — as if the two could be peeled apart, as if your Jewishness had nothing to do with the nation they demanded you disown. There’s an old teaching about the man who thinks he can ride the tiger and dismount whenever he likes. You didn’t tame the coalition you joined. You were, for one term, useful — until the moment it decided to disown you. You could renounce the policy, the lobby, even Zionism, but you could not renounce being a Jew.” [Daily News]

Drone Prone: Foreign Policy’s John Haltiwanger unpacks Israel’s “Hezbollah drone problem.” “After the fighting resumed in March, it wasn’t long before explosive drones were a leading cause of battlefield deaths for Israel in Lebanon. As a result, Netanyahu established a team of experts to address the issue and pledged to give the IDF an unlimited budget to address the Hezbollah drone threat. But there are no simple solutions. … In ancient Rome, gladiators used nets to entangle opponents before moving in for the kill. Today, Israeli troops are using the same primitive tool to defend against drones and intercept them before they reach their targets. The situation is indicative of how militaries have struggled to find countermeasures to drones and have been forced to adapt, particularly as the technology evolves at such a rapid pace.” [FP]

Separate But Equal: Hannah Rosenthal, former special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism under the Obama administration, argues in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency against the proposal of combining the role of the antisemitism envoy with that of the special envoy on Holocaust issues. “The office of special envoy on antisemitism and the special envoy on the Holocaust are complementary, but not duplicative. The former works to address contemporary antisemitism, hate crimes, extremism and government policy around the world. The latter focuses on historical justice, restitution, remembrance, archives and Holocaust-era accountability. The United States deliberately created separate offices because both missions are full time responsibilities.” [JTA]

Jews Turning on Israel: Actor and Jewish commentator Jonah Platt argues in a post on X against the trope of the young, “self-hating” Jew in an essay on X. “It’s maddening. It’s dangerous. It’s irresponsible. It’s shameful. But it isn’t nefarious. It isn’t Jew-hatred, it isn’t self-hatred, and honestly, it isn’t that hard to understand. These are disconnected, uneducated people, surrounded by like-minded peers, all reinforcing one another in a disconnected, uneducated worldview — one they’re not especially invested in anyway, and focus on only because progressive society says they’re supposed to.” [X]

President Donald Trump is considering returning to a full-scale military conflict with Iran and has discussed the idea with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine in recent days, The Wall Street Journal reports, but has decided to continue on the diplomatic track for now…

In an analysis of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies found that the Trump administration is “evidently not applying [the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act’s] requirements and restrictions to the MOU, apparently on the basis of an opinion from the Department of Justice,” but the White House and DOJ “have apparently not shared this surprising opinion, or its arguments, with either Congress or the public”…

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Monday that he did a “happy dance,” after Iran was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup, telling reporters that Iranian officials tried to bring into the U.S. individuals with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that accommodating the team while protecting national security had demanded incomparable attention…

The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center — a coalition comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the U.S. — announced joint sanctions against five entities and 16 individuals tied to Hezbollah’s financial network…

Oman has submitted a proposal to the U.S. for Muscat and Tehran to collect service fees from shipping companies seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz, according to The New York Times. One of Iran’s deputy foreign ministers, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on Monday if Iran was unable to come to an arrangement with Oman it would move forward on its own…

A person close to the anti-Israel American Priorities super PAC told CNN many of its contributors weren’t very politically active until New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign victory, which was the “moment that inspired them and brought them into the fold”…

Former Vice President Kamala Harris called Mamdani last week, and is holding lengthy, closed-door meetings with Palestinian activists in the run-up to a possible presidential campaign, Axios reports…

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper, warned of the “tremendous danger and fear” for American Jews as they are being “dehumanized” and antisemitism is “becoming normalized”…

Phylisa Wisdom, the liberal activist appointed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as executive director of his Office to Combat Antisemitism, got a harsh reception at a Holocaust memorial event in Brooklyn on Sunday. Video from the event shows a small group of hecklers booing, calling Wisdom a “kapo” and shouting that she was supportive of Adolf Hitler, JI’s Will Bredderman reports…

Far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed dismissed a question on CNN about the Democratic Party’s “embrace” of antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker as a “ridiculous way to think about politics”…

Adam Jentleson, former chief of staff to Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) who went on to found the center-left Searchlight Institute think tank, urged Democrats to “just say no to AIPAC,” arguing the pro-Israel organization has “evolved from a group to a ‘Group,’” in the pejorative sense…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited southern Lebanon on Tuesday for the first time since the U.S.-brokered security agreement was signed last Friday. Netanyahu told IDF troops, “We will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is removed”…

“Pod Save America” co-host Jon Lovett said the harassment of California state Sen. Scott Wiener at a transgender pride march last week was “as pure antisemitism as you can see”…

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jewish man from Ohio who was barred from holding Shabbat prayer meetings in his home without a “special use permit” and later faced harassment from city officials who encouraged neighbors to watch his home for signs of religious activity…

Haaretz tracks the carbon footprint of FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he has traveled between World Cup matches across North America on a Qatari private jet, racking up 47,337 kilometers (29,000 miles) from the tournament’s opening days through the first knockout match, after championing the body’s sustainability strategy…

Ellie Gottheimer and Larra Mullin, the children of Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, are releasing Shmoo & Ozzie Go to Washington today, a children’s book on bipartisanship. Proceeds from the book will go to support homeless children…

Mark Isakowitz, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA)’s chief of staff, is set to release a book in January about his personal journey following the loss of his father, who immigrated to America after surviving Auschwitz, and Isakowitz’s daily practice of reciting the mourner’s prayer at a synagogue in Washington, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports…

Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner tapped Carolin Hulshoff Pol to serve as CEO of Telegraph Media Group following the German media company’s completion of its £575 million acquisition of the British publisher, ending a three-year ownership transition…

Former Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. (res.) Amikam Norkin is a leading candidate to head Anduril’s operations in Israel, as the American defense tech company explores a major expansion into the Israeli market, Calcalist reports…

The Iranian regime plans to take over St. Peter Evangelical Church, the oldest Protestant church in Iran, and evict the 20 families living there, The Free Press reports. The theocratic regime had thus far left it alone in fear of the U.S.’ retaliation, according to the outlet…

The Washington State Democratic Party adopted into its platform during its June convention an amendment blaming the “dramatic resurgence in antisemitism … in part [on] actions taken by the Israeli government,” Jewish News Syndicate reports…

Pentagon official Jason Olson has departed his position as the director of deradicalization for the Gaza Board of Peace, an official from the body told The Times of Israel, as the BoP is convening for discussions in Cyprus…

Tuesday marked the end of Steffen Seibert‘s four-year term as German ambassador to Israel. In a farewell social media video, he paid tribute to the country by listing 25 things he will miss. Seibert is succeeded by Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, who most recently served as the German Ambassador to Moscow…

Judah Gribetz, who as a top aide to Gov. Hugh Carey helped negotiate New York City‘s rescue from financial collapse in the 1970s and later devised a distribution plan for $1.25 billion in restitution to Holocaust survivors in a landmark class-action suit against Swiss banks, died Friday at 97…

Comedian Judy Gold spoke at an event hosted by the Israeli Embassy in Washington, “A Zionist LGBTQ+ Celebration,” at Adas Israel Congregation on Tuesday — a night of solidarity in memory of Sarah Milgrim, the embassy staffer murdered alongside her partner, Yaron Lischinsky, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May 2025. Milgrim spent her time at the embassy building bridges between Israel and marginalized communities, including D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Jewish community.

Television, film and theater actor, including early career roles in Yiddish theater, Michael Burstein turns 81…

Applied mathematician, statistician and physicist, professor emeritus at both MIT and Harvard, Herman Chernoff turns 103… Former U.S. assistant secretary of education and former research professor at NYU, Diane Silvers Ravitch turns 88… Nobel laureate in economics for 1997 and co-creator of the Black-Scholes model for valuing options and other derivatives, Myron Scholes turns 85… Noted British art dealer and founder of an eponymous London art gallery, Victoria Marion Miro turns 81… Born in a DP Camp to her Holocaust survivor parents, she was the first Jewish woman to serve on the Canadian Supreme Court, Rosalie Silberman Abella turns 80… Israeli-Russian businessman, with holdings in energy and international real estate development, Shalva Chigirinsky turns 77… Partner in the Encino, Calif.-based law firm of Nolan Heimann, Douglas E. Mirell… Campaign, communications and fundraising consultant, Robert Kaplan turns 69… Hall of Fame player and coach in the WNBA and now an NBA broadcaster, Nancy Lieberman turns 68… Attorney and longtime Democratic activist in Pittsburgh, he is a regional chair of the ADL, Steven D. Irwin turns 67… Senior columnist at The Forward and former CEO of the A-Mark Foundation, Rob Eshman… President emeritus of the Orthodox Union and a retired partner at Ropes & Gray, Mark “Moishe” Bane… Under secretary of state for political affairs during most of the Biden administration, Victoria Jane Nuland (family name was Nudelman) turns 65… Journalist, filmmaker and educator, he is the co-founder of Aish[dot]com, Shraga Simmons turns 65… Professor of Jewish thought at Hebrew University, Benjamin Brown turns 60… Member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2014, Marcus Bertram Simon turns 56… U.S. senator (R-IA), Joni Ernst turns 56… Screenwriter, producer and film director known for romantic comedy films, Marc Silverstein turns 55… Los Angeles resident, Adam B. Siegel… NASA astronaut, on her 2019 trip to the International Space Station she took novelty socks with Stars of David and menorahs, Jessica Meir turns 49… Co-founder of Edgeline Films, Elyse Steinberg… Hasidic musician mixing elements of dancehall, reggae, hip-hop and R&B, known by his stage name DeScribe, Shneur Hasofer turns 44…

• White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Qatar to represent the U.S. in talks with Iran, as the status of the negotiations remains unclear. The technical talks on the memorandum of understanding meant to be taking place separately are also up in the air — Iran’s foreign ministry said an Iranian technical delegation will be in Doha this week but will not be meeting with American officials. More below.
• Representatives of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace are meeting this week in Cyprus as they seek to advance plans for a committee of Palestinian technocrats to replace Hamas in governing the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reports. Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sits on the Board of Peace’s executive board and has recently taken on a larger role in the organization, is set to participate in the “strategic workshop” being held from Tuesday to Thursday.
• Colorado voters will head to the polls in today’s Democratic primaries, where moderate candidates are fearing a far-left wave. More below.
• Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, will testify before the House Appropriations Committee where he is expected to address the White House’s $88 billion supplemental funding request for the war with Iran and FY2027 budget request.
• The Israeli Embassy in Washington will hold a “Zionist LGBTQ+ celebration” on the last day of Pride Month in memory of slain embassy staffer Sarah Milgrim’s allyship.
• In Israel, Reichman University’s Herzliya Conference kicks off, focusing this year on national security and national resilience. Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address the confab, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee; Amos Hochstein, who served as a Middle East envoy under former President Joe Biden; former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo; former Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi; journalist Barak Ravid; and Aliyah Minister Ofir Sofer.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Colorado is a state famous for its moderation, with its governor (Jared Polis) and two senators (Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper) among the most pragmatic figures in Democratic politics. So if a far-left, anti-Israel wave sweeps over the Democratic Party in tonight’s statewide primaries, it will be a true wake-up call for those downplaying the rise of the socialist left.

The biggest race we’re tracking — and the one where a Democratic incumbent looks most vulnerable — is the primary between longtime Rep. Diana DeGette, 68, an influential progressive who has left an imprint on major legislation in Congress, and Democratic Socialists of America-affiliated 29-year-old doctoral student Melat Kiros, whose deep-seated antagonism against Israel is a top focus of her campaign.  

Kiros is the latest example of how radical candidates running for office on their hostility toward Israel are also indulgent of the rising antisemitism around them. Her political awakening came after she was fired from the law firm Sidley Austin for writing a public letter denouncing the hundreds of law firms that signed a petition calling on law schools to do a better job addressing antisemitism on their campuses.

Kiros was angered that the law firms considered those calling for the elimination of Israel as antisemitic. In the last week, she also refused to call the firebombing of a hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., antisemitic. Sense a pattern?

As JI’s Marc Rod reported, Kiros’ extreme views have done little to dent her support in a progressive Denver-area district that DeGette has easily held for the last three decades. In March, DeGette barely won the 30% of the vote from party activists necessary to qualify for the primary ballot — in what could be a foreshadowing of the primary results tonight.

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

• Voters in Maryland, New York and Utah are heading to the polls for their primaries today. The biggest races to watch are in New York, where New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has endorsed three far-left, anti-Israel candidates running against Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. We’re also closely watching the hotly contested Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), in a Manhattan district with the largest Jewish constituency in the country. 
• In Maryland, we’re keeping a close eye on the race to replace former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), where state Del. Adrian Boafo, endorsed by the outgoing congressman and a strong ally of Israel, has emerged as the favorite. See more below. 
• Israeli and Lebanese representatives are expected to begin multiday talks in Washington in a continuation of the countries’ direct negotiations, starting with a joint military and political session, days after the U.S. and Iran said they had established a “deconfliction cell” to end military operations in Lebanon without Israel’s involvement. 
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted multiple times on Monday that the IDF retains the right to act against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon if necessary, as Axios reported that the Israeli government fears the U.S. is limiting its freedom of action through its negotiations with Iran. On Tuesday morning, the IDF said it struck armed terrorists operating close to Israeli soldiers in Ali al-Taher Ridge area in southern Lebanon.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio is departing for a three-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss issues including the memorandum of understanding with Iran and transit through the Strait of Hormuz. 
• Orthodox Union Advocacy will hold its annual lobbying day on the Hill, including a luncheon with senators from both parties.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S matthew kassel

As Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) prepares to step down at the end of his current term, the former Democratic House majority leader is staking his pro-Israel legacy on a little-known candidate who he hopes will uphold his long-standing commitment to maintaining a close relationship with the Jewish state.

In throwing his support behind Adrian Boafo, a 32-year-old Maryland state delegate who is among two dozen Democratic candidates running in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District primary on Tuesday, Hoyer, 87, is using his connections to establishment party leaders and ties with pro-Israel groups to boost his hand-picked choice to the nomination for a safely blue seat.

United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s super PAC, has emerged as the biggest spender in the race, investing more than $5.7 million as part of an aggressive effort to promote Boafo launched by Hoyer and his allies. 

The well-funded foray is a useful illustration of the degree to which planning and organization helped put Boafo in contention for the seat Hoyer has held for 45 years, in contrast with recent primaries where UDP and other pro-Israel advocacy groups have been relatively cautious with their engagement while being outflanked by the far left.

A UDP source, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the race, said polling showed Boafo was not in the lead when Hoyer endorsed him in January. “It’s a super close race that could go either way,” the source told Jewish Insider on Monday, stressing a high level of undecided primary voters. “Many candidates are in contention.”

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

AI Accuracy?: ForumAI CEO Campbell Brown writes in The Wall Street Journal about AI models’ limitations in assessing accurate information. “We tested the major AI models on three dimensions this group identified as the foundation of trustworthy information: quality of sources, factual accuracy and whether they present a response with real balance or just the appearance of it. We found serious gaps: The models misstated public opinion on political topics and attributed quotations to people who didn’t say them … The most revealing failures were much subtler. When we asked the major models something as basic as what form of government the U.S. has, one of them, Claude Opus 4.7, cited Global Times, a Chinese state-run tabloid.” [WSJ]

MOU As Rough Draft: In Newsweek, former White House Middle East Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt offers a conflicted but measured assessment of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, drawing from his diplomatic experience during Trump’s first term. “I read the 14 points of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) the way I used to read drafts in the White House and, before that, for two decades at The Trump Organization: pen in hand, marking up every clause … My honest reaction, reading it that way, is that I have serious questions about its structure and its terms … And yet I know how incomplete my reaction is, coming from someone standing outside the room. I spent three years watching the gap between what the public saw and what was actually happening behind closed doors, and I learned that the view from outside the room almost always misses things the people inside knew or were reaching for.” [Newsweek] 

Trump’s ‘Surrender’: Former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), now board chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, slams President Donald Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran as a mirage obfuscating his negotiation failures. “Like the arsonist who wants credit for putting out the fire he started, Mr. Trump now claims victory with a deal that pauses Iran’s use of a previously unused weapon — a weapon that may be as powerful as its nuclear threat — the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Add to that the release of hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran and you have the real Art of the Deal: surrender and betrayal of the American people, the Gulf States, Israel, and our NATO allies.” [Substack]

What Greenspan Meant: Greg Ip, The Wall Street Journal’s chief economics commentator, reflects on the impact Alan Greenspan, who died on Monday, left on the country and on Ip personally, after years covering him as he reported on the Federal Reserve. “He was introverted, but came alive when the topic of conversation interested him. Luckily, our interests overlapped. For my fellow journalists and me, Greenspan wasn’t just a news subject but a bottomless well of insight and ideas. And he loved that role. I came away from every meeting with Greenspan smarter. Admonished for not knowing Knut Wicksell’s theory of the natural rate of interest, I quickly brushed up. After a discussion of Keynesian prescriptions for preventing depression in the 1940s, he sent me to read George Terborgh, an obscure economist with a contrarian and bullish view on American potential.” [WSJ]

The FBI announced the arrest of two more individuals who allegedly plotted to attack members of Congress connected to the “pro-Israel lobby” at the UFC event at the White House last week, joining five other suspects charged with conspiracy to commit murder…

Three people were killed in a shooting attack in Côte-des-Neiges, a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Montreal. A civilian, a police officer and the suspect were confirmed dead by Montreal police, while one other police officer was seriously injured but in stable condition, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen and Tamara Zieve report…

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is investigating a Brooklyn cafe after it banned Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) from its store, posting discriminatory messages online that accused the congressman of enabling genocide and tying him to AIPAC, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

The coffee shop is owned by Parviz Mukhamadkulov, who, the Free Beacon reported, is a donor to scandal-plagued Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner… 

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) announced last week that he had been endorsed by the anti-Israel group TrackAIPAC, which has faced widespread accusations of antisemitism, after becoming the first politician or candidate to sign a new “pledge” promulgated by the group, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro called Vice President JD Vance’s conduct in negotiations with Iran over the weekend “humiliating,” slamming Vance — while continuing to praise President Donald Trump — on his show on Monday for “looking weak in front of the Qataris, the Pakistanis and most of all, the Iranians”…

Three men killed in a small plane crash in Bowie, Md., on Saturday night have been identified as Israeli citizens, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems announced it would phase out its use of Chinese-manufactured vehicles, following similar moves by other entities including the IDF and Rafael as the vehicles are increasingly viewed as a security risk by both Jerusalem and Washington…

Shin Bet chief David Zini has instructed officials to prepare for a potential attack in Israel’s southern resort city, warning that “the next October 7 will be in Eilat,” Haaretz reports, citing security sources… 

An independent U.N. inquiry found that Israeli forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and war crimes in the West Bank. The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the report as a “libelous sham,” and said it “lacks any credible verification mechanism for its claims” and ignores “Hamas’ cynical use of Palestinian children as human shields”…

A federal investigation found that the condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla., almost exactly five years ago, that killed 98 people began with a structural failure in the building’s garage three weeks earlier…

The New York Times spotlights “Food Network” star Ina Garten’s foray into podcasting with her forthcoming show “Happy Hour With Ina Garten,” after Vox Media secured the in-demand contract in a seven-figure deal…

Alan Greenspan — the influential economist who led the Federal Reserve for 19 years across four presidencies — died on Monday at 100, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

Music executive Clive Davis, who championed the careers of stars including Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Barry Manilow, died on Monday at 94…

Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the Trump administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said on Monday that his office, under President Donald Trump, had been given a broader remit across the federal government, including assisting in the recent arrest and indictment of an alleged mastermind of attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and the U.S.

Kaploun said at an Orthodox Union conference in Washington that his office had worked with the Department of Justice, FBI, intelligence community and the White House to help bring to justice Mohammed Al-Saadi, an Iranian Iraqi Kata-ib Hizballah operative allegedly involved in more than two dozen attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the U.S., Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. 

Ethiopian-born Israeli model who won the title of Miss Israel in 2013, Yityish “Titi” Aynaw turns 35… 

Real estate developer and co-founder of Tishman Speyer, Jerry Speyer turns 86… Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Clarence Thomas turns 78… Senior advisor at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, he is the author of 24 books on foreign affairs, global politics and travel, Robert D. Kaplan turns 74… Novelist and journalist, Roy Hoffman turns 73… Los Angeles-based socialite, restaurateur and breast cancer fundraiser, a 2008 Lifetime Television movie starring Renée Zellweger portrayed her cancer-fighting efforts, Lilly Tartikoff Karatz turns 73… Klezmer expert, violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer and playwright, Yale Strom turns 69… Senior director of health policy at the National Consumers League until 2024, Robin Strongin… President of the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, Dr. Jonathan Solomon Stamler turns 67… Sports memorabilia marketer, in 2009 his firm sold all of the seats, signs and lockers from the old Yankee Stadium, Brandon Steiner turns 67… Member of the Pennsylvania state Senate until 2020, now president of Cannabis GPO, Daylin Leach turns 65… Editorial director of Ben Yehuda Press, Lawrence Yudelson… Former teacher for 19 years at Golda Och Academy in West Orange, N.J., she is on Hadassah’s 2025 list of 18 American Zionist Women You Should Know, Stephanie Z. Bonder… Israeli-American professor, journalist and filmmaker, Boaz Dvir turns 59… Film and television actor, her Hebrew name is Bat-Sheva, Selma Blair Beitner turns 54… U.S. special envoy for hostage response, Adam Seth Boehler turns 53… EVP and general manager of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, Howie Roseman turns 51… President and COO of D1 Capital Partners, he was deputy director of the White House National Economic Council in the Trump 45 administration, Jeremy Katz… Founder of Innovation: Africa, which uses Israeli solar technology to bring electricity and solar-powered water pumps to impoverished African villages, Sivan Borowich-Ya’ari turns 48… Actor and comedian, best known for playing Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on CBS’ sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” Melissa Rauch turns 46… Actor, singer and model, Marielle Jaffe turns 37… Executive assistant to the CEO at Jazz, Gila Bublick turns 37… Western regional major gifts director at United Hatzalah of Israel, Ely Benhamo… Recent MBA graduate at Columbia Business School, Josh Lauder…

• Voters in Maine head to the polls today to cast their ballots in the state’s primary races, including the Democratic primary for Senate, where embattled oyster farmer Graham Platner is expected to win the nomination following Gov. Janet Mills’ suspension of her campaign earlier this spring. We’ll be watching the margin by which Platner, who has been dogged by a series of scandals ranging from a Nazi tattoo to comments supporting Hamas tactics to past volatile romantic relationships, wins tonight — which will indicate his strength going into the general election against one of the Senate’s most moderate Republicans, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
• We’ll also be keeping an eye on primaries in Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina.
• In the Middle East, Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes near Tyre in southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning after the IDF issued an evacuation order to residents of the city. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that, though Israel is “holding its fire” against Iran, Jerusalem has “a full right to self-defense” and is “exercising it to the extent necessary.” Two Israeli sources told CNN that Jerusalem planned to continue its operations against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
• The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the Southern Poverty Law Center. The hearing comes two months after the Department of Justice charged the group with fraud in connection with now-defunct efforts to spend upwards of $3 million to pay informants at extremist groups.
• The House Appropriations Committee is holding markups this morning on the 2027 budgets for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor.
• Elsewhere in Washington, Chabad-Lubavitch’s Living Legacy International Conference, which kicked off last night, resumes this morning with a congressional leadership breakfast followed by events at the Library of Congress, a luncheon at the State Department, a roundtable with Jewish leaders from around the world this afternoon and a gala dinner in the evening.
• Agudath Israel of America is holding a dinner to dedicate its new Washington office and pay tribute to Rabbi Abba Cohen, the longtime head of the group’s DC operations.
• The Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum kicks off today in Washington. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Alan Armstrong (R-OK); Reps. Ami Bera (D-CA), Young Kim (R-CA); Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Development Finance Corporation CEO Ben Black and TWG Global’s Amos Hochstein are slated to speak at the two-day gathering.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Domestic politics isn’t always the best lens through which to evaluate foreign policy decisions. 

But in assessing why President Donald Trump has gone to significant lengths to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from striking back against Iran’s attacks, and why Netanyahu went ahead with the first wave of military strikes before standing down, it’s instructive to understand how the domestic politics in the U.S. and Israel are diverging. 

The joint U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran, which began on Feb. 28 and has evolved into a very tenuous ceasefire since April 8, has not achieved many of the military goals outlined by both sides. Iran’s extremist leadership is still in place, it still maintains its nuclear ambitions and retains its nuclear material, and its ballistic missile stockpiles, while damaged, still remain. 

On the Lebanese front, Hezbollah continues to threaten Israel’s north and not abide by any of the diplomatic agreements recently negotiated between Israel and the Lebanese government. 

As a result of the limited achievements so far, public support for renewing military action against Iran has been low among the American public, and the overall operation is receiving lukewarm backing from Republicans. 

Over two-thirds of voters in a recent Economist/YouGov poll said the U.S. “should make a deal to end the war in Iran as quickly as possible,” with just 11% disagreeing. Over half of Republicans shared the same sentiment of ending the war, with just 21% opposing. 

Support for the war itself was much higher among Republicans than Democrats or independents, but still less than typical partisan support for Trump’s actions, with 67% of GOP voters backing the war in Iran and 20% opposing. (Among all voters, just 28% said they supported the war against Iran, with 60% opposing.)

These polling numbers explain why Trump, ever cognizant of public opinion especially in the run-up to a consequential midterm election, is trying to avoid reengaging with Iran militarily — even as he desperately seeks for some diplomatic off-ramp that Iran isn’t giving him.

In fact, it’s Trump’s very transparent desperation for a deal with Iran — and apparent unwillingness to go back to war —that’s emboldening Iran to continue its rejectionism to the point where it launched ballistic missiles at Israel over the weekend, feeling confident Trump would constrain Israel from any sustained response (which he did). 

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

High Seas Hostage Diplomacy: For CNN, Brett McGurk, who served as the White House’s coordinator for the Middle East in the Biden administration, posits that Iran is applying the same tactics to negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz as it did to talks over hostages held in the Islamic Republic. “For Iran, [holding the Strait] is possession. It now has something the US (and for that matter, the rest of the world) wants. And it will not give it up unless and until America pays an exorbitant price. In Tehran’s eyes, the strait has now become the most valuable hostage it has ever possessed. … The question in Washington is when a deal might be concluded following exchanges of texts through mediators. The question in Tehran is simply whether Trump will pay the price they are demanding. It’s the classic dynamic of a hostage negotiation.” [CNN]

Broad Daylight: The Financial Times explores the divide between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Dahlia Scheindlin, a Tel Aviv-based pollster and political analyst, said there was also an element of ‘political theatre’ to the public disagreements. ‘Trump is basically trying to show the American public that he’s trying to keep the war from re-escalating and he’s trying to keep America from getting involved again,’ she said. ‘And Netanyahu looks good to his domestic audience because he’s defying Trump.’” [FT]

Boycotts and Battlefields: In The Washington Post, Aaron Kaplowitz, president of the United States-Israel Business Alliance, argues that efforts to boycott Israeli defense technology, as some European countries have done on the basis of “moral leadership,” risks forgoing technology that is effective on the battlefield. “According to defense officials, governments that have announced boycotts on Israeli weapons makers are placing orders anyway. That is what governing by perception looks like: Speeches for the activist base. Procurement contracts in the back office. European defense ministries understand what they cannot say in public. Israeli systems are battle-tested in real time against adaptive enemies, and there are not many alternatives that perform as well. The defense systems a nation procures depends on what has the best capabilities.” [WashPost]

Vice President JD Vance was asked by Fox News host Jesse Watters about reports that Israel was spying on the U.S. and engaging in military operations in Lebanon, responding that “The Israelis and I, the Israelis and the United States, we have a lot of shared interests, but we also have some situations where our interests diverge. While Israel obviously has objectives it has, the U.S. main objective in Iran is that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon… We’ve created this space necessary where the president believes, and I think he’s right, that we can get the long-term settlement to an Iran nuclear deal. Israel may like that, they may not like that… this is in the best interest of the United States of America”…

President Donald Trump nominated Todd Blanche to be attorney general; Blanche has been serving in the role in an acting capacity since former AG Pam Bondi departed the position in April…

A State Department report submitted to Congress last month accuses Russia, Iran and China of weaponizing antisemitic imagery and rhetoric “across physical and cyber domains”…

Two crew members of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter were rescued after it went down in the Strait of Hormuz; the cause of the helicopter’s downing remains under investigation…

Thirty-eight Senate Democrats, led by Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), demanded the administration provide Congress with the legal opinion backing its determination that U.S. hostilities against Iran have ended, given the ongoing strikes and U.S. presence in the region…

By voice votes, the House passed legislation requiring the Trump administration to determine whether various Iranian clerics, and other Iranian entities meet the standards to face U.S. sanctions, and requiring the State Department to brief Congress on antisemitism in Europe…

Eighty-five House Democrats led by Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) urged the administration to act to halt construction of the E1 settlement project in the West Bank…

Third Point founder Dan Loeb hosted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday at his hedge fund’s Manhattan office, according to a photo posted on Loeb’s Instagram account…

Axios reports that Paramount executives have engaged in preliminary conversations for a business-side counterpart to CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss…

Federal officials arrested a New Jersey man on charges of attempting to provide support to the Islamic State; authorities said that Mohamed Sagha had displayed an interest in attacking a Jewish site or National Guard station in the state…

Under the headline “The New York Primary That Is All About Israel,” The Wall Street Journal looks at the degree to which debate over Israel and U.S. policy in the Middle East is “dividing neighbors and consuming” New York’s 10th Congressional District, where Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) is facing a tough primary challenge from former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander…

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a far-left Democrat, edged out Republican Spencer Pratt for the second runoff spot in the race for Los Angeles mayor; Raman will face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, also a Democrat, in November…

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Meta President Dina Powell McCormick and Mike Rowe, the CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, announce the launch of America’s Workforce Academy, a partnership between Meta and a number of partner groups to train would-be workers on AI technology…

Meta accused NSO Group of attempting to hack its WhatsApp messaging service in violation of a court order prohibiting the Israeli spyware firm from doing so…

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried submitted a formal request to the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney Office seeking a presidential pardon after serving more than two years of a 25-year term for overseeing a fraudulent cryptocurrency empire…

Richmond, Calif., Mayor Eduardo Martinez is expected to lose his bid for reelection after coming under fire for sharing antisemitic conspiracy theories, including a post that the terror attack at a Sydney, Australia, Hanukkah celebration was an Israeli false flag operation; Martinez trails at least two other candidates in the race, leaving him short of the runoff…

In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, members of the J7 — leading Jewish groups from Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. — raise concerns about rising antisemitism in Canada and call on Ottawa to take a “whole-of-government effort” and address what the body sees as Canada’s “lack of urgency, coordination, and enforcement” as well as “of real action” to address antisemitism…

Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, was suspended on Monday over allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide; the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties will hold a special session to determine the future of Khan’s employment by the court…  

The Wall Street Journal looks at the precarious situation in Lebanon as Beirut, backed by Washington and amid talks with Israel, seeks to degrade Hezbollah as the Iranian-backed group maintains its deep entrenchment in the country’s military and politics…

An Israeli man on Monday visited the wreckage of an Iranian missile near the West Bank city of Jericho, following strikes from Iran earlier in the day targeting Israel.

Producer, director, playwright and screenwriter, he has won an Academy Award, five Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes, Aaron Benjamin Sorkin turns 65…

Former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, Walter Julius Levy turns 104… Journalist for 30 years at CBS and NBC who then became the founding director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, then a fellow at GWU, Marvin Kalb turns 96… Retired Israeli diplomat who served as ambassador to Italy and France and world chairman of Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal, Aviezer “Avi” Pazner turns 89… Author of 12 books, journalist, lecturer and social activist, founding editor of Ms. Magazine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin turns 87… British businessman, co-founder with his brother Maurice of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi which became the largest in the world, noted for his art collection and for founding Saatchi Gallery, Charles Saatchi turns 83… Diplomat and Shakespeare historian, he was the longtime national editor of Washingtonian magazine, Kenneth Adelman turns 80… Founder of Commonwealth Financial Network (a broker/dealer network) and former chairman of Southworth Development (a golf and leisure business), Joseph Deitch turns 76… Professional mediator, for years she was a syndicated advice columnist in Jewish newspapers, Wendy J. Belzberg… Israel’s former minister of defense and deputy prime minister, Benny Gantz turns 67… Canadian journalist, author, documentary film producer and television personality, Steven Hillel Paikin turns 66… Former lead singer of the Israeli pop rock band Mashina, Yuval Banay turns 64… CEO of Jewish Women’s International, Meredith Jacobs… Managing director at Major, Lindsey & Africa, Craig Appelbaum… EVP of Jewish Funders Network, Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu… Screenwriter, director and producer, Hayden Schlossberg turns 48… Founder and CEO of Delve, an AI platform for public affairs, he was previously a Bush 43 White House Jewish liaison, Jeff Berkowitz… NYC-based writer, actor and entrepreneur, he is a co-founder of Swish Beverages, David Oliver Cohen turns 46… Jerusalem-born Academy Award-winning actor, producer and director, Natalie Portman turns 45… Online producer, writer and director, who together with his brother Benny founded the “React” video series, Rafi Fine turns 43… Multimedia artist known for her work in photography, makeup, hairstyling and textile crafts, Anna Marie Tendler turns 41… Composer and lyricist, in 2024 he became the 20th person to complete the EGOT, an acronym for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards, Benj Pasek turns 41… Israeli tech entrepreneur, he is the founder and CEO of A.Team, Raphael Ouzan turns 39… Director of the Yale Journalism Initiative, her book, A Flower Traveled In My Blood, was published last year, Haley Cohen Gilliland… Deputy assistant secretary for strategic communications at the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, Jeff Solnet… Ice hockey player for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers and best-selling author of children’s books, Zachary Martin Hyman turns 34… Serial entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Setscale, Daniel Fine… 

• It’s primary day in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. We’ll be closely following the results as polls close this evening, with an eye toward the results of the Los Angeles mayoral and controller elections, as well as the NJ-12 Democratic primary, where Adam Hamawy, who is under scrutiny for his past ties to Islamist extremists, is the front-runner in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).
• The American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum concludes today. Speakers at the closing plenary include the Justice Department’s Harmeet Dhillon, Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA), and Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio is slated to testify this morning before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the State Department’s budget. This afternoon, Rubio will appear before the House Appropriations Committee for a separate hearing on the department’s budget. Following Rubio, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will appear before the House committee for a hearing on the Justice Department’s upcoming budget.
• Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is set to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee this afternoon on his department’s budget for the upcoming year.
• The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding a closed-door intel briefing today.
• Roman Gofman begins his tenure today as head of the Mossad, after Israel’s High Court rejected two petitions challenging his appointment. He was sworn in earlier today at a command-change ceremony at the Mossad headquarters that was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
• The Israel Democracy Institute’s Eli Hurvitz Conference on Economy and Society kicked off earlier today in Jerusalem. Speakers include former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, as well as MKs Avigdor Liberman, Benny Gantz and Mansour Abbas. Read more here.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

As the 2028 presidential campaign season nears, a handful of prospective candidates from the Democratic Party’s left flank are raising their profiles with efforts to shape a more critical approach to U.S. policy toward Israel.

Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), as well as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), all of whom are seen as potential presidential prospects, have been among the party’s most prominent critics of Israel on Capitol Hill amid a marked decline in Democratic support for the Jewish state. 

Recent moves suggest they are each testing voter appetite for a possible White House campaign. Even as they are not considered top-tier contenders in what is likely to be a crowded primary field, history has shown they could be positioning themselves for a Cabinet role — particularly if they prove successful in driving the national conversation on the debate stage and other forums.

Murphy, for instance, released a book last month, Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America, of the sort that typically presages a bid for higher office. The senator has otherwise continued to promote what he terms a “forward-looking foreign policy,” which has included an increasingly antagonistic assessment of Israel and its relationship with the United States.

Van Hollen, meanwhile, published a deeply disputed op-ed in The New York Times last week that argued for wholly jettisoning the Democratic Party’s “unconditional support to Israeli governments” that, he warned, has “increasingly undermined American interests and values.”

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

Tech-tonic Shift: In The Atlantic, Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin explore how Iran’s crackdowns on tech startups dealt a death blow to the industry as it was on the rise. “The story of Iran’s start-ups could have been a triumphant one for Iran’s private sector, and for a young generation seeking opportunity and connection with the outside world. Instead, this is a story of thievery. … Iran’s tech entrepreneurs had built their businesses on a paradox. They were inspired by the Silicon Valley mythos of fierce competition, user-first design, and disruption. But Silicon Valley had arisen in a time and place where access to infrastructure, especially the internet, was relatively free and open. Iran’s economy was built on closed networks.” [TheAtlantic]

Not Easy Being Green: The Financial Times’ Anna Gross and Rachel Rees do a deep dive into the political evolution of U.K. Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who has come under fire amid numerous reports that he exaggerated or misrepresented elements of his background. “Within months of being overlooked [as a Liberal Democrat candidate], Polanski had joined the Green Party. He now describes himself as an ‘eco-populist,’ and has become the most popular figure on the left, fighting to reduce inequality, lower living costs and oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza. But Polanski has faced allegations that he misled the public about his career, his legal address and whether he voted in local elections.” [FT]

Survivor’s Story: In eJewishPhilanthropy, British-born Nova music festival survivor Maayan Dee describes her experience marching in Sunday’s Israel Day on Fifth parade in Manhattan. “Trauma isolates. It makes you feel that no one can understand, that the world keeps spinning while you’re frozen in the same field, on the same ground, that same Saturday morning. And after Oct. 7, alongside the personal pain, came something else: the feeling that the world doesn’t see us, that our story is being erased. But then something like this happens. You plant your feet on a street in Manhattan and you see a sea of blue and white. Jews and non-Jews who had no obligation to be there, and yet they were.” [eJP]

President Donald Trump reportedly went on an expletive-laden tirade against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call on Monday over the Israeli leader’s plans, since scrapped, to escalate military activities in Lebanon; a U.S. official speaking to Axios summed up Trump’s comments to Netanyahu as, “You’re f**king crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this”…

Israeli journalist Amit Segal said earlier today that the Axios report was “inaccurate,” noting that “Trump did not make personal remarks about jail or claim Netanyahu is hated globally” but indicated that “defending Israel’s global position is difficult and breeds hatred”…

A federal prosecutor told a judge in New York that the government may charge additional people in a wide-ranging terror probe following the arrest of the head of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia…

The Wall Street Journal looks at the White House’s efforts to pressure Oman, which has largely stayed neutral in the conflict with Iran, to side with the U.S. and cut its relations with Tehran…

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) blamed low turnout for his loss to Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s GOP Senate primary last week, and said that Trump’s endorsement of Paxton “wasn’t as [impactful] as he thought.” Cornyn said he “absolutely” believes that Paxton’s nomination endangers the seat, and that he stands by his comments during the campaign…

Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks celebrated his group’s role in ousting Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in his primary election earlier this month at the organization’s  “America 250”-themed gala Sunday night, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

The New York Times does a deep dive into the congressional race pitting far-left activist Claire Valdez against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who was endorsed by outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), as the race splits members of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s coalition…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in an interview with a local news outlet that she remains on the ballot in the state’s Democratic Senate primary, amid a new report that Graham Platner, who had been leading Mills in primary polling prior to her suspension of her campaign, had inappropriately communicated with at least half a dozen women while married to his wife… 

Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan met on Monday in Qatar with Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al-Thani, the Gulf state’s minister of commerce…

Barry Diller’s People Inc. is preparing an $18 billion bid to take over MGM Resorts…

In a speech addressing antisemitism in Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the country’s “civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians; the Canadian premier also announced the establishment of a new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion…

The Associated Press spotlights efforts by residents of Bedzin, Poland, and historians in the country to preserve World War II-era artifacts, including a building in what was the city’s Jewish ghetto that had secret bunkers and acted as a hub for Jewish resistance fighters…

El Al will resume its flights between Israel and San Francisco, more than six years after the route was paused amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; the airline will run three weekly nonstop flights — under the flight number LY49, in tribute to the San Francisco 49ers — between Ben Gurion Airport and SFO…

Israel’s Defense Ministry said that France has barred official Israeli participation in the upcoming Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris taking place later this month…

Thousands of Haredi demonstrators protesting Israel’s proposed draft laws crippled transportation in parts of the country on Monday, blocking highways and train tracks between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem…

The Associated Press reports on rising levels of child marriage in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war…

A Russian cargo ship arrived in Syria last month to resupply Moscow’s air base in the country, the first time it has done so since the fall of the Assad regime, signaling Russian officials’ intention to maintain the installation under the government of Ahmad al-Sharaa…

A memorial ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Monday marking the one-year anniversary of the murders of Israeli Embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky was filled with many tears, some anger and even a few laughs, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Milgrim’s father, Robert, told an assembled crowd of dignitaries, Jewish leaders and D.C. staffers that he was saddened not only by the death of his daughter but by the ways in which her death exemplifies the challenges facing every Jewish community.

Aerospace engineer and a former NASA astronaut, he flew on three shuttle missions and took a memento from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum into space, Mark L. Polansky (right) turns 70…

Former member of the British Parliament from Manchester and then a member of European Parliament, David Anthony Gerald Sumberg turns 85… Co-founder of ReelAbilities, a film festival by, or about, people with disabilities, Anita Altman turns 81… Israeli entrepreneur and inventor, founder of Indigo Digital Press and known as the father of commercial digital printing, Benny Landa turns 80… Johns Hopkins University professor and a pioneer in the field of cancer genomics, Dr. Bert Vogelstein turns 77… Writer-at-large for New York magazine since 2011, following a 31-year career at The New York Times, Frank Rich turns 77… SVP of institutional advancement at Brandeis University, Jordan E. Tannenbaum… Commissioner of the National Hockey League since 1993, Gary Bettman turns 74… Holiday and weekend cantor at Los Angeles Jewish Health (formerly Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging), Ben Zion Kogen… Former board chair of Sapir Academic College in the western Negev, he was one of Israel’s senior peace negotiators at the Camp David summit in 2000, Gilead Sher turns 73… Founder of Newark, N.J.-based IDT Corp and numerous affiliates and spinoffs, Howard S. Jonas turns 70… Dinorah Cecilia Baroody… General manager of The Piedmont Club, a Spartanburg, S.C., private social club, Davina Weinstein… Radio and television talk show host, Andrew Joseph “Andy” Cohen turns 58… President of Marvel Studios and chief creative officer for Marvel Comics, Marvel Television and Marvel Animation, Kevin Feige turns 53… Special counsel focused on land use and zoning at NYC-based law firm Goldstein Hall, Jessica Ashenberg Loeser… SVP of EnTrust Global, Jordan David Kaplan… Director of technology at Santa Monica, Calif.-based Action Network, a tech platform for progressive causes, Jason S. Rosenbaum… Woman Grandmaster chess player, she won the 2004 Israel Women’s Chess Championship, Bella Igla Gesser turns 41… Equestrian show jumper, she represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Danielle “Dani” Goldstein Waldman turns 41… Co-founder and former CEO of The Wing, now the owner of The Six Bells (“a new old country store”) in Brooklyn, Audrey H. Gelman turns 39… Founder and CEO at Button AI, a company for AI paralegals that settle estates, Jared R. Fleitman… CEO and co-founder at Platform Cannabis Advisors, Benjamin G. Sheridan… Theater, television and film actor best known for his lead role in “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical,” Ethan Samuel Slater turns 34… Israeli K-pop singer, whose first two songs when she was 17 both topped Israeli airplay charts, Ella-Lee Lahav turns 23…