Plus, Cuomo comeback vs. Mamdani momentum
IDF
IDF Home Front Command forces operate at the impact site in Beersheva, June 24th, 2025
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Iran’s violation of a ceasefire with Israel hours after it went into effect, and speak to GOP lawmakers about their perspectives on the ceasefire. We interview experts about the state of Iran’s nuclear program following Israeli and American strikes against its facilities and cover efforts by House and Senate Democrats to bring forward votes on war powers resolutions that aim to constrain the administration from taking any further military action against Iran. We also report on how Jewish and pro-Israel activists are responding to the ascent of Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Rep. Carlos Gimenez and Yotam Polizer.
What We’re Watching
- All eyes are on the New York City Democratic mayoral primary to see if former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will prevail over Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, though because of ranked-choice voting, complete results may not be known for several days. Downballot, we’re keeping an eye on the city comptroller’s race, which pits Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine against City Councilmember Justin Brannan. More below.
- President Donald Trump is heading to The Hague, Netherlands, today for the NATO summit, where the war with Iran is likely to be a top agenda item for discussion.
- Prior to his departure, and just before the Daily Kickoff was published, Trump told reporters, Israel and Iran “don’t know what the F*** they’re doing,” and said, “I’m not happy with Israel.” he also wrote on Truth Social, “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”
- Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter is speaking today at a televised town hall hosted by Iran International and American Abroad Media.
- In Washington this morning, the House Appropriations Committee is holding a markup on the Homeland Security bill for 2026. We’ll be keeping an eye on how much is allocated for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
- Later today, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are slated to hold classified briefings with House and Senate lawmakers on the Israel-Iran war.
- At 2 p.m. ET, the House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on “America’s Battle Against Antisemitic Terror.”
- Tonight at the Capitol, the Embassy of Spain and Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) are hosting the World Jewish Congress and the American Sephardi Federation for an event on “The Golden Age of the Jews of Al-Andalus.”
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S matthew kassel
It’s not an overstatement to suggest that the future direction of the Democratic Party could well be decided tonight in New York City, where a far-left, anti-Israel assemblyman from Queens, Zohran Mamdani, has a shot to win the Democratic nomination against presumed favorite, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Most public and internal campaign polls show Cuomo ahead, but a new Emerson College poll released Monday showed Mamdani in the lead for the first time, sending shockwaves through the New York City Jewish community — and beyond.
The notion that a candidate who pointedly declined to condemn “globalize the intifada” rhetoric in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world could be running competitively would have been unthinkable not long ago.
For a party desperately seeking to moderate in the aftermath of brutal defeats in 2024, the prospect of having a socialist mayor for the next four years in the largest city in the country would be an undeniable setback, threatening to reverberate beyond Gotham’s borders.
Mamdani’s rise has particularly fueled anxiety among Jewish leaders — as his hostile views toward Israel have hardly dented his standing in the race. Even if he doesn’t win the nomination, Jewish Democrats uncomfortable with his anti-Israel rhetoric and alleged insensitivity to rising antisemitism fear his surging campaign could end up causing them to rethink their long-standing affiliation with the Democratic Party.
One prominent New York-based Democratic strategist told JI he expected some Jews to relocate to Florida or Texas if Mamdani becomes mayor.
ISRAEL-IRAN WAR, DAY 12
Iran violates ceasefire with Israel within hours
Iran violated a ceasefire with Israel hours after it began on Tuesday, with Israel vowing “powerful strikes” in response, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. The IDF intercepted two missiles from Iran at about 10:30 a.m. No injuries were reported. Despite residents of northern Israel reporting interceptions, Iran denied firing the missiles.
Retaliation order: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he “instructed the IDF to respond forcefully to the violation of the ceasefire by Iran with powerful strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran.” Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF chief of staff, said that “in light of the severe violation of the ceasefire carried out by the Iranian regime, we will respond with force.” A senior Israeli diplomatic source said that “Iran violated the ceasefire — and it will pay.” In the hours before the ceasefire was meant to go into effect at 7 a.m., Iran launched 20 missiles in a series of barrages at Israel, killing four in a direct hit on a building in Beersheba.
Outfoxed: When Fox News anchor Bret Baier scored a primetime interview with Vice President JD Vance for Monday evening, he likely hoped that Vance would have news to share with him. Instead, Baier was the one to break the news to Vance that President Donald Trump had brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran, which Trump announced in a post on Truth Social moments before Vance went on air, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
republican response
GOP lawmakers: Trump ceasefire a sign of ‘peace through strength’
Republicans publicly lauded President Donald Trump’s ceasefire between Israel and Iran as an example of his “peace through strength” approach to foreign policy, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report. “This is a war that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform, alluding to criticism that he was dragging the U.S. into another prolonged Middle East conflict. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters on Monday evening that the news of a ceasefire was “incredible,” saying, “This is what peace through strength looks like.”
Victory lap: Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told JI that he’s “very much pleased” by the news. Pressed on whether he’s concerned that the deal could give Iran breathing room to rebuild its nuclear program, Kennedy said, “There’s this rule when you practice law, when you’ve won for the judge, you shut up. OK? You don’t keep talking. It’s a ceasefire. We won. We ought to take our victory.” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he viewed the ceasefire as a “very good development.” He told reporters, “I think the question now is how do we get to a place where we can get to a deterrence posture, a containment posture for Iran for the long haul, that will keep them in their box, keep Iran in their box, but will also allow us, the United States, to draw down our troop and military presence in the region.”
Still wary: Some national security-focused House Democrats highlighted the risks of Trump’s actions if they did not successfully eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. “If you take this shot, you have to land it, and it’s a very hard shot to land,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) told JI, arguing that the situation highlighted the need for Congress to assert a role in war-making authorities. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, emphasized that the success of the strikes is very uncertain at this point, and that he would be “most worried about an Iran that goes silent right now.” He said, “If Iran goes silent right now, what are they doing? Are they actually developing something?”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jim Banks (R-IN), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Katie Britt (R-AL), James Lankford (R-OK), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Dana Stroul.
Earlier Monday: Iran launched several missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar, Jewish Insider’s Jake Schlanger reports.
WEAPON QUESTION
Will Iran’s nuclear program survive the U.S. and Israeli strikes?
According to President Donald Trump, Iran’s nuclear program is finito. “Obliteration is an accurate term!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday. “Monumental damage was done to all nuclear sites in Iran.” He said on Monday that the three sites hit by U.S. strikes on Sunday morning “were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that the U.S. “took out” Iran’s nuclear program over the weekend. Nuclear experts aren’t as confident. What, exactly, remains of Iran’s nuclear program — which, just weeks ago, Israeli officials said was on the precipice of being able to produce a nuclear weapon — remains an open question, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Uncertainty lingers: Experts agree that the combination of Israel’s strikes that began a week and a half ago, aided by the U.S. military’s intervention on Sunday, has done significant damage to Iran’s nuclear capabilities. But uncertainty lingers about the status of the enriched uranium that had been housed at Fordow, the major Iranian nuclear facility hidden under a mountain that the U.S. struck with bunker-buster bombs this weekend. Reports suggest Tehran may have removed the nuclear materials from Fordow and hidden them elsewhere in Iran. “I think that we can assume that damage was done, but it’s going to take a long time, and we may never know entirely the extent of the damage,” said Tressa Guenov, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who dealt with international security affairs at the Pentagon in the Biden administration. Iran’s claim that it moved the uranium “could be real, or it could be a strategy to keep things ambiguous,” she added.
DEM DRIVE
Democratic efforts to block Trump war powers to continue despite Iran ceasefire
House and Senate Democrats are pushing ahead with efforts to bring forward votes this week in the House and Senate on resolutions that aim to constrain the administration from taking any further military action against Iran in spite of the surprise ceasefire between the U.S. and Israel and Iran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Though Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) said they’re pulling back on efforts to pass a bipartisan war powers resolution, a group of top House Democrats introduced an alternative measure, which aims to address concerns that Massie’s resolution would have blocked U.S. support for Israel’s defense.
Democrats’ positioning: Democratic staffers told JI that Democrats have largely unified publicly against the administration’s strikes on Iran — even some who support them privately — due to a perception that the move was a political weak point for Trump, concerns about being recorded as backing the strikes if they prompted another protracted regional war and a deep level of distrust with the Trump administration and its failure to present Congress with information about the strikes.
SCOOP
Georgetown University ‘appalled’ by department chair’s call for Iran to strike U.S. base
Georgetown University’s administration said it was “appalled” after a prominent faculty member called for Iran to conduct a “symbolic strike” on a U.S. military base in a social media post on Sunday. “We are reviewing this matter to see if further action is warranted,” a spokesperson for the university told Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen on Monday, noting that the administration is “appalled” by the since-deleted tweet by Jonathan Brown, a tenured professor and chair of the university’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service, who has a history of spreading anti-Israel vitriol.
What he wrote: On Sunday, one day after the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear facilities, Brown tweeted: “I’m not an expert, but I assume Iran could still get a bomb easily. I hope Iran does some symbolic strike on a base, then everyone stops.”
And then: Brown, who is the son-in-law of convicted terror supporter Sami Al-Arian and has gone on several X tirades since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks slamming Israel, deleted his tweet on Monday. “I deleted my previous tweet because a lot of people were interpreting it as a call for violence,” Brown wrote. “That’s not what I intended. I have two immediate family members in the US military who’ve served abroad and wouldn’t want any harm to befall American soldiers… or anyone!”
Off base: As Iran targeted Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for the U.S. airstrikes against the Iranian nuclear program, Tucker Carlson claimed on his podcast that the air base, “that they [Qatar] don’t need at all,” exists to protect Israel and Qatar is hosting it “to be nice,” Jewish Insider’s Jake Schlanger reports.
MAMDANI MOMENTUM
Mamdani’s ascent in NYC mayoral primary alarms Jewish voters
As the closely watched Democratic primary for mayor of New York City wraps up today, many Jewish and pro-Israel activists are now confronting a mounting sense of alarm that Zohran Mamdani, a far-left assemblyman from Queens, could win the nomination, propelling a fierce critic of Israel to the general election — and, potentially, Gracie Mansion. In a city home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, Mamdani’s rise has fueled anxiety among Jewish leaders — particularly as his hostile positions toward Israel have hardly dented his standing in a competitive race that has narrowed to a two-person matchup. Even if Mamdani does not win, Jewish Democrats uncomfortable with his strident criticism of Israel and alleged insensitivity to rising antisemitism fear that his surging campaign could end up alienating Jewish voters who have long called the party home, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
If he wins: “The Jewish community is going to face a real shock if Mamdani gets the nomination,” Mitchell Moss, an urban policy professor at New York University who is backing Cuomo, said in an interview with JI on Monday. “A lot of people have come to realize that anti-Israel sentiment has metastasized into antisemitism.” Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic strategist, predicted a Mamdani victory could end up pushing “more Jews nationally into the Republican column” and said Orthodox Jews might choose to relocate to South Florida and New Jersey. “Whether he wins or loses,” Sheinkopf said, the contours of the race have sent a concerning message that he characterized as “Jews don’t matter.”
Worthy Reads
The Donald Doctrine: In The Atlantic, Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg considers President Donald Trump’s legacy in the Middle East. “Until the arrival of Donald Trump, no American president believed that the Iranian threat should be ended — to borrow from the language of the campus anti-Israel movement — by any means necessary. Trump may yet be remembered as a hypocrite who promised a clean American exit from the Middle East but found his presidency — like those of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan before him — hopelessly trapped in Iranian quicksand… But he could also be remembered as the president who averted a second Holocaust.” [TheAtlantic]
The Fall of Tehran?: In The Free Press, Eli Lake considers the implications of regime change in Iran. “This kind of talk has gone out of favor in Washington in recent years. The fall of dictatorships in Libya and Iraq led to confessional sectarian war. The fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt led briefly to a Muslim Brotherhood government in Cairo before a military coup. But in Iran, a country that has experienced democratic uprisings five times since 2017, it now seems like a real possibility. … At the heart of the present uncertainty is a paradox. On the one hand, the Iranian regime is wobbling. On the other, the organic Iranian opposition has been targeted with ruthless lethality by security services that have proven efficient in targeting dissidents. Since 2009 and the Green Movement against the stolen presidential election that year, internal opposition leaders have been killed, exiled, or jailed.” [FreePress]
Falling on Deaf Ears: Commentary’s Seth Mandel looks at the support for tyrannical regimes by some Western progressives, even as dissidents from those regimes advocate otherwise. “Iranian actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi has issued a heartfelt plea to the Western protest class that I fear will fall on deaf ears. Just as the Palestinians who have made it out of Gaza and can speak freely tried, in vain, to convince the anti-Zionist demonstrators to not lionize Hamas, so are Iranian democracy activists learning about the Western fascination and identification with tyrannical regimes. … If the Iranians are ever freed from the occupying force in Tehran, it will be against the wishes of the Western activist class, which is fully invested in the status quo of tyranny anywhere it can be found. And they will almost certainly not be dissuaded by those who actually have to live under those regimes.” [Commentary]
Word on the Street
The New York Times examines how Iranian officials have reacted to the strikes against their nuclear and military facilities, from insisting on normalcy to projecting false strength to cautioning restraint…
The Wall Street Journal looks at Russia’s reluctance to acquiesce to Iranian requests for assistance in its strikes against Israel and the U.S.…
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities — but before Iran attacked U.S. bases and President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire — found that only 36% of respondents (13% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans) said they supported the strikes, while 45% opposed them…
Retired NASA astronaut Terry Virts, a Democrat, announced his campaign to run against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Monday with a video calling out Trump’s “chaos” as well as a lack of leadership in the Democratic Party and its failure to learn from the 2024 election…
The British government announced plans to sanction the anti-Israel activist group Palestine Action following incidents in which members of the group broke into a British air base and damaged military planes and vandalized one of Trump’s golf courses in Scotland…
The 21 members of the House Jewish Caucus — all Democrats — pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a letter sent on Tuesday expressing concerns about Kingsley Wilson, the recently promoted Pentagon press secretary with a history of antisemitic and otherwise controversial comments, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod scoops…
Top Senate leaders introduced a bipartisan resolution on Monday condemning the recent antisemitic attacks in Washington and Boulder, Colo., Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Democrat Jeff Grazyel, a former Morris Township mayor, announced plans to run for Rep. Mikie Sherrill‘s (D-NJ) congressional seat if she wins the New Jersey governor’s race. Grazyel is extensively involved in his local Jewish community, including as a member of the local Jewish Community Relations Council and Jewish federation and his synagogue board…
Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is joining the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law as a distinguished visiting professor…
A New Jersey Assembly committee voted to table a proposed bill that would have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism…
eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher interviews Yotam Polizer, the CEO of IsraAid, on the organization’s pivot from providing humanitarian aid abroad to focusing domestically on Israelis in need in the aftermath of Oct. 7 and the Iranian missile attacks…
The New York Times interviews former talk show host Maury Povich, who launched a podcast earlier this year after hosting more than 30 seasons of his eponymous show…
The New York Times reviews the new documentary “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” about the actress’ rise to stardom and representation of the deaf community in Hollywood…
Cosmochemist Edward Anders, who as a child survived the Holocaust and in his retirement wrote a book about the Jews from his Latvian town who did not, died at 98…
Pic of the Day
U.K. Foreign Minister David Lammy (left) met with former Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi in London on Monday. Sharabi’s wife and two daughters, who were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, were British nationals.
Birthdays
Film director, screenwriter, producer, editor and cinematographer, Todd Strauss-Schulson turns 45…
Ruth Weinstein… Activist investor, he is a co-founder of Trian Fund Management, Nelson Peltz turns 83… Professor emeritus in the College of Business at San Francisco State University, Sam S. Gill turns 83… Former chairman and CEO of New York Life Insurance Company, Seymour “Sy” Sternberg turns 82… Professor of Jewish philosophy at American Jewish University and founding dean of its rabbinical program, Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff turns 82… Founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat, Rabbi Avraham Haim Yosef (Avi) Weiss turns 81… Former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, he is an author and professor at UC Berkeley, Robert Reich turns 79… Former member of Knesset and former chief of staff of the IDF, Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon turns 75… Early childhood specialist at Columbus City Schools and Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio, Carol Glassman… EVP at Edelman until earlier this year, he is the author of a book on the Saatchi & Saatchi ad firm, Kevin Goldman… Circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, Sandra Segal Ikuta turns 71… President and CEO of public relations firm Steinreich Communications, Stanley Steinreich… U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Florida, Beth Francine Bloom turns 63… President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum turns 63… Former principal of Mount Scopus Memorial College in Melbourne, Australia, Rabbi James Kennard turns 61… The first on-air talent of the NFL Network when it debuted in 2003, he has become the face of the network ever since, Rich Eisen turns 56… Israeli businesswoman and owner of the soccer team, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Alona Barkat turns 56… Author and columnist, he is the managing editor at Shtetl, Shulem Deen turns 51… Singer and songwriter known professionally as Ariel Pink, Ariel Marcus Rosenberg turns 47… Director of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Matthew Continetti turns 44… Digital marketing manager at Guardian Pharmacy Services, Brett Rosner… VP of Houston-based RIDA Development, Steven C. Mitzner… 2015 contestant on “Jeopardy!” who earned $413,612 by winning 13 consecutive episodes, Matthew Barnett “Matt” Jackson turns 33… Actress and singer, Elizabeth Greer “Beanie” Feldstein turns 32… Director of legislative fiscal affairs at the Rockland County (N.Y.) legislature, Moshe Gruber… College basketball player for the Harvard Crimson until 2022, then a graduate transfer player at NYU until 2024, Spencer Freedman turns 27… Lois Charles…
Plus, the political extremes horseshoe against Israel ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One after leaving the G7 Leaders' Summit early on June 16, 2025 in Calgary, Alberta.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the latest developments in the war between Israel and Iran, and cover President Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7 in Canada and comments about potential talks with Tehran. We also report on Trump’s rebuke of “kooky” Tucker Carlson over the commentator’s opposition to U.S. support of Israeli strikes, and look at how Jewish LGBTQ community leaders are approaching Pride celebrations that ostracize Jewish and pro-Israel individuals. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Scott Jennings, Jason Isaacs and Jeff Rubin.
What We’re Watching
- We’re continuing to monitor the ongoing situation in Israel and Iran, following another barrage of ballistic missiles fired at Israel by Iran this morning. More below.
- President Donald Trump is back in Washington today, after his early departure from the G7 in Alberta, Canada, where he will meet with senior advisors this morning in the Situation Room to weigh the level of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are among those who will be meeting with the president.
- Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) are expected to put forward a war powers resolution today in the House that would force the administration to seek congressional approval ahead of any U.S. attack on Iran. Yesterday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a war powers resolution in the Senate. More below.
- Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are slated to testify this morning before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the administration’s FY2026 budget request for the intelligence community.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) trip to Israel this week, in which Johnson was slated to address the Knesset, has been postponed due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. Read more here.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MARC ROD
We’ve written a lot about the so-called horseshoe theory of U.S. politics and foreign policy — the point at which the far left and the far right coalesce into agreement — but the Israeli campaign against Iranian military and nuclear targets is providing a particularly stark example of that convergence. The two factions find themselves openly and publicly aligned in opposition to any form of U.S. intervention in Israel’s campaign and against Israel’s operations in general.
An X post by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Sunday provided a distillation of that dynamic. Greene claimed that a regional war or global war, which would likely overwhelm the Middle East, BRICS and NATO, is inevitable and that countries would be “required to take a side.” She continued, “I don’t want to see Israel bombed or Iran bombed or Gaza bombed. … And we do NOT want to be involved or required to pay for ANY OF IT!!!”
Among those who supported Greene’s post were CodePink activist Medea Benjamin, who praised Greene’s “incredibly strong anti-war position!” and Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim, who called the Georgia Republican “presently the most sensible member of Congress.” Doug Stafford, the chief strategist for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), shared Benjamin’s post — and has repeatedly shared and praised both her and Code Pink in the wake of the Israeli operation. Read more here.
It’s not just Greene and Stafford. A host of prominent figures on the right, such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and former Pentagon senior advisor Dan Caldwell are touting narratives about the conflict that would not be out of place at a far-left anti-Israel rally.
ISRAEL-IRAN WAR DAY 5
Israel kills Iranian military chief of staff as attacks from Tehran slow down
Israel killed Iran’s new top military commander and confidante of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei days after eliminating his predecessor, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office announced on Tuesday, after a night in which missile launches from Iran towards Israel slowed down significantly. The Israeli Air Force struck a command center in Tehran, killing Ali Shadmani, Iran’s chief of war general staff, who had authority over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian military. Shadmani, whom the IDF Spokesperson’s Office called “one of the closest figures to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei,” was on the job for four days after Israel killed his predecessor, Alam Ali Rashid, early Friday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Lower volume: Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday morning were the quietest since the beginning of the war with Iran on Friday. The IAF intercepted 30 projectiles launched from Iran toward Israel, with sirens mostly in northern and central Israel and no reports of injuries or damage to property. On Tuesday morning, Iran launched additional missiles at Israel, triggering sirens in the center of the country, including Jerusalem and the West Bank. The IDF said it intercepted most of the projectiles. Magen David Adom reported 14 injuries at eight impact sites, including a bus depot in Herzliya where the blast created a 13-foot-wide hole in the ground.
Top target: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility of targeting Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an interview with ABC News on Monday, amid widespread speculation in Israel and beyond that the strikes on the Islamic Republic could pose an existential challenge to the regime.
DIPLOMACY DIARIES
Trump departs G7 early, denies ‘peace talks’ with Iran
President Donald Trump denied on Tuesday that he was attempting to facilitate “peace talks” with Iran as he returned to Washington after prematurely leaving a meeting of G7 leaders in Canada to monitor the ongoing war between Israel and Iran, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports.
Word of warning: While still aboard Air Force One, the president told reporters that he wanted “a real end” to Iran’s nuclear program and he would be monitoring developments between Israel and Iran from the White House Situation Room. He suggested that Israel was unlikely to slow its strikes on Iranian targets in the coming days, saying that, “You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far.” But the president stopped short of addressing whether the U.S. would join Israel’s strikes, saying he hopes the Iranian nuclear weapons program “is wiped out long before that.”
French folly: French President Emmanuel Macron suggested to reporters on Monday that Trump had departed the G7 earlier to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, saying that “the U.S. assured they will find a ceasefire and, since they can pressure Israel, things may change.” Trump slammed Macron and denied his claims, posting on Truth Social, “Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire.” Trump said he had departed for something “much bigger than that.”
United front: The leaders of the G7 issued a joint statement on Sunday affirming “that Israel has a right to defend itself,” their “support for the security of Israel” and that “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror.” They further “urge[d] that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”
TRUMP CHECKS TUCKER
Trump rebukes ‘kooky Tucker Carlson’ on Iran
President Donald Trump rebuked Tucker Carlson at several points on Monday over Carlson’s comments opposing Trump’s support for Israeli strikes on Iran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
New nickname: Asked Monday at the G7 Summit in Canada about Carlson’s comments accusing Trump of being “complicit” in the war, Trump quipped, “I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.” Trump later posted on his Truth Social platform, “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, ‘Iran CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’”
ALLIES AND ARMS
U.S. should help Israel destroy Fordow, some Senate Republicans say
Some Senate Republicans argued Monday that the U.S. should join Israel’s strikes on Iran to help it destroy deeply entrenched nuclear sites such as the Fordow facility, contending that Israel lacks the capacity to do so on its own. Others, though, argued that Israel may have alternative plans to attack Fordow, while still others suggested that the U.S. should hold back and focus on diplomacy unless U.S. personnel are attacked directly, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Unique needs: Assessments have long held that bunker-busting bombs and larger bombers, neither of which Israel has, are needed to eliminate Fordow, though some analysts have speculated in recent days that Israel has been developing alternative strategies to strike that site. “We have to. I think we have to help. I am going to be encouraging the president [to support Israel] because the greatest tragedy in the world would be if we left the Iranian regime in place with a nuclear easy startup. I’d hate to see Israel spending all those resources of people and dollars on getting the job 90% done,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told JI.
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE).
War powers activated: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a war powers resolution on Monday that aims to block the U.S. from taking military action against Iran in support of Israel’s ongoing operation against the regime, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
STRANDED BUT NOT ALONE
CNN’s Scott Jennings flew to Israel for the first time to understand Oct. 7 — and then war with Iran broke out
CNN contributor Scott Jennings traveled to Israel last week to bear witness to the atrocities Hamas committed during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. But in the wake of Israel launching its military operation to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities and prevent the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon, Jennings is witnessing more than he expected to on his first trip to the Jewish state, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
And then some: “Not only did I get to fulfill my mission of understanding deeply the horrors of Oct. 7, but being here watching the war unfold against Iran, I feel like I am here at the beginning of the war to defend Western civilization,” Jennings, who is traveling with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation, told JI from his hotel in Tiberias on Friday. “I think this has to end with a complete annihilation of Iran’s ability to make a nuclear weapon,” he said, calling on the U.S. to do “whatever we have to do to achieve that in concert with our special partner, Israel.”
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Proud, but pushed out: Why LGBTQ Jews are creating Pride spaces of their own
In early June, Rabbi Eleanor Steinman wrote to members of Temple Beth Shalom, the Reform congregation she leads in Austin, Texas, sharing the synagogue’s plans to celebrate Pride Month with several events in June. Steinman also revealed that, for the first time in more than two decades, her congregation would not be marching in the Austin Pride parade, which event organizers say draws 200,000 people each August, because of concerns about antisemitism. “The Austin Pride organization took an antisemitic stance in the midst of the Pride Parade and Festival last year,” wrote Steinman, who is gay. Ahead of last year’s Pride parade, slides were leaked from a presentation in which Austin Pride organizers said hate speech against Jews wasn’t welcome, including “symbols, images or flags used by terrorist and hate groups.” It was part of an education campaign for queer activists as anti-Israel sentiment exploded in the queer community after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza, as it did in many other progressive spaces, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Backfiring and backtracking: But the effort to educate about antisemitism backfired. Anti-Israel activists pressured Austin Pride to disavow that message. Austin Pride not only backtracked on barring those slogans; it issued a statement pledging to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and stating that the organization does not work with the Anti-Defamation League. In the months that followed, Jewish leaders and LGBTQ activists pushed Austin Pride’s leadership to consider changing this stance, to no avail. “Despite attempts to meet with Austin Pride since then, a coalition of Jewish leaders were unable to create an environment where we felt we would be both safe and respected as Jewish LGBTQ+ and allies,” Steinman wrote in the email. It was a remarkable statement, tinged with bitter irony: The synagogue first started marching in Pride so that LGBTQ congregants would feel that they could bring their full selves to the Jewish community. Now some of those same congregants feel that they need to suppress their Jewishness in order to fully belong in the queer community.
Worthy Reads
Bibi Turns the Tables: The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Russell Mead considers how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pivoted from a series of domestic and diplomatic crises to mounting one of the most significant military operations in Israeli history. “A coalition in revolt, prosecutors on his heels, powerful rivals looking to unseat him, chilly relations with Mr. Trump, growing opposition from Europe, skeptical military and intelligence chiefs and a hostile press — few leaders anywhere have faced this kind of pressure. By week’s end, Bibi had flipped the script. A series of military blows exposed the weakness of Iran’s sulphurously belligerent regime and demonstrated Israel’s military and intelligence supremacy in the Middle East. The government crisis subsided. Mr. Trump praised Israel’s audacious attack. As in the months after Oct. 7, 2023, a determined prime minister harnessed the Israeli military machine to orchestrate a dazzling series of victories that stunned the world even if they did not win it over.” [WSJ]
More Than Bombs: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius looks at potential avenues to regime change in Iran. “You’ll get no argument from me that it’s long past time for political change in Tehran. The clerical regime has been shedding the blood of Israelis, Americans, Saudis and anyone else who opposed its dictates since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The question is how change will come. What’s the road toward a dynamic country that’s worthy of Iran’s creative, cultured people? Here’s one obvious fact: Israel can’t bomb its way to this new Iran. A campaign of bombing of the kind Tehran is experiencing makes people hunker down, turn inward and often fight harder. Strategic bombing didn’t break the will of the British, German or Japanese people during World War II. It hasn’t yet destroyed Hamas in Gaza, either, for that matter.” [WashPost]
Hate’s Not on the Menu: In the San Francisco Chronicle, Manny Yekutiel condemned the recent vandalism of his eponymous Mission District cafe, which was graffitied with anti-Israel graffiti during recent anti-ICE protests. “A disturbing pattern is emerging — one that even here in San Francisco is endangering the core values this city is meant to uphold: tolerance, inclusion, civic engagement and common humanity. The act of hate at Manny’s is part of a larger danger facing the progressive movement and the country. We are living in a moment where real and painful disagreements are being used as an excuse to turn people against one another. Instead of standing together to fight injustice, some are choosing to let hate and bigotry divide us. We cannot allow that. If we lose the ability to sit across from people we disagree with and have hard conversations, we lose the very foundation of this movement.” [SFChronicle]
Word on the Street
Amos Hochstein, a former special envoy in the Biden administration, told CNBC that only the U.S. could dismantle the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran…
The Senate modified provisions of the Educational Choice for Children Act, a tax credit program for scholarships that could help families afford religious schools, in its version of the budget reconciliation bill; the Senate version of the bill decreases the total annual tax credit from $5 billion to $4 billion, but eliminated a sunset provision that had been in the House version of the bill, making the program permanent. The Senate version also modifies portions of religious liberty protections included in the House bill…
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) told Jewish Insider he hasn’t had any discussions about calling a floor vote to discharge Joel Rayburn‘s nomination from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which it appears Rayburn lacks the votes to advance…
The Florida Legislature earmarked $10 million in funds allotted for Jewish school security, $1 million above the amount recommended by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year…
Chalkbeat interviews historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, who was tapped by the New York City Department of Education to develop a Jewish American history curriculum…
In an interview with Vulture, “White Lotus” actor Jason Isaacs, who is Jewish, reflected on his relationship with Mel Gibson, saying his “The Patriot” co-star, whose antisemitic rant following a 2006 DUI arrest went viral, has “done some things that are unconscionable and unforgivable”…
The New York Times looks at the legacy of Leonard Lauder, who died last week, on the beauty industry; Lauder was known for coining the concept of the “lipstick index”…
The Wing co-founder Audrey Gelman, who opened a home goods and tchotchkes store in Brooklyn in 2022, is pivoting to hospitality, opening a hotel in New York’s Hudson Valley…
The displays of several Israeli defense firms at the Paris Air Show were covered up during the annual gathering; French officials said the companies, including Elbit and Rafael, had disregarded an agreement not to display offensive weapons, while Israel’s Defense Ministry accused France of trying to tamp down competition…
The Wall Street Journal reports that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman have appealed to the U.S. to pressure Israel to halt its strikes on Iran…
The Associated Press looks at how the escalation between Israel and Iran has affected flights and travelers across the region, stranding many far from home…
The Maccabiah Games, which had been slated to take place next month in Israel, are being postponed to 2026 due to the war between Israel and Iran, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
Jeff Rubin announced his upcoming retirement from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he served as communications director since 2011…
Pic of the Day
Ambassador Jim Jeffrey (center) poses with Antoun Sehnaoui (left) and Daniel Glaser, the co-founders of the U.S.-Israel Opera Initiative, at the organization’s launch on Sunday at the Kennedy Center in Washington. The program featured the premiere screening of the opera “Theodor,” about the life of Theodor Herzl. The performance was dedicated to Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli Embassy staffers who were killed in a terror attack at the Capital Jewish Museum last month.
Birthdays
Comedian, actor, director, writer and producer, Michael Showalter turns 55…
Diplomat and attorney, undersecretary of state for International Security Affairs in the Carter administration, longtime U.N. special representative, Matthew Nimetz turns 86… Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, professor at Georgetown and UC Berkeley, he is married to former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin, George Akerlof turns 85… One of the world’s best-selling singer-songwriters over the course of seven decades, born Barry Alan Pincus, Barry Manilow turns 82… Former member of the Knesset for the Zionist Union party, Eitan Broshi turns 75… Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission during the Obama administration, Jonathan David (“Jon”) Leibowitz turns 67… Deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration during the first two years of the Biden administration, Stephanie Pollack turns 65… President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors until earlier this year, Aaron Dan Peskin turns 61… Singer and composer, a pioneer of the Turkish and Arab music genres in Israel, Ofer Yoel Levy turns 61… Fashion designer, daughter of Reva Schapira, Tory Burch turns 59… Active in interfaith peace initiatives between Judaism and Islam and in encounters for Jews with Eastern religions, Rabbi Yakov Meir Nagen (born Genack) turns 58… Founder and chairman of Shavei Israel, Michael Freund turns 57… British historian, columnist and musician, Dominic Green, Ph.D. turns 55… International human rights attorney who serves as managing director of the law firm Perseus Strategies, Jared Matthew Genser turns 53… Screenwriter, television producer, director and voice actor, Matthew Ian Senreich turns 51… Advocacy, philanthropic and political counsel at Chicago-based Beyond Advisers, David Elliot Horwich… SVP for the economic program at Third Way think tank, Gabe Horwitz… Chief philanthropy officer of the Jewish Community Foundation and Jewish Federation of Broward County, Keith Mark Goldmann… VP of government affairs for the Conservation Lands Foundation, David Eric Feinman… Former rabbi of the Elmora Hills Minyan in Union County, N.J., now an LCSW therapist in private practice, Rabbi Michael Bleicher… NYC-based senior editor for The Hollywood Reporter, Alexander Weprin… Professional surfer and musician, his family owns Banzai Bagels on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Makua Rothman turns 41… Founder and executive director of the Zioness Movement, Amanda Berman… Director of national outreach for the East at the New Israel Fund, Alexander Willick… Award-winning college football and basketball analyst for NBC Sports and SiriusXM, Nicole Auerbach… Member of the U.S. Ski Team’s alpine program, he competed for the USA in both the 2014 (Sochi) and 2018 (PyeongChang) Winter Olympics, Jared Goldberg turns 34… Senior art director at Business Insider, Rebecca Zisser… Shortstop for Team Israel at the 2020 Olympics, Scott Burcham turns 32… Actress best known for her roles in the CBS series “Fam” and the Netflix series “Grand Army,” Odessa Zion Segall Adlon turns 25… D.C.-based freelance foreign media consultant, she is also a real estate agent, Mounira Al Hmoud…
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Anadolu via Getty Images
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Rome, Italy on April 19, 2025, as the second round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States begins in the Italian capital, following the first round held in Oman.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the state of the New York City mayoral race two months before the Democratic primary, and talk to former Obama administration officials about the Trump administration’s pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran. We report on the firing of the Columbia Journalism Review’s executive editor in part over his concerns over the blurring of lines between activism and journalism, and cover the Anti-Defamation League’s new audit of antisemitic incidents. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Haley Stevens, Pierre Poilievre and Eden Golan.
What We’re Watching
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are slated to meet this morning with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Washington.
- The Vatican announced that the funeral for Pope Francis will be held on Saturday. President Donald Trump said that he and First Lady Melania Trump will attend, marking the president’s first overseas trip of his second term.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet this evening to discuss U.S.-Iran talks and Iran’s nuclear program.
- Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is in the U.S. this week for a multicity trip that includes events and meetings in Miami, Washington and New York.
- The National Press Club postponed a press conference featuring leaders of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, which had been slated to take place this morning.
What You Should Know
In two months, New York City Democratic voters will head to the polls to vote for the candidate who will likely be the city’s next mayor. The primary, featuring former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a cast of lesser-known local Democrats, will be one of the first tests for the party over its direction in the new Trump era, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
The race pits a pragmatic, established figure in Cuomo, who has high name recognition but plenty of baggage stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct that led him to resign from the state’s governorship. One of his emerging opponents is a charismatic far-left candidate, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who, as The Free Press puts it, “wants to turn the Big Apple into a Havana on the Hudson.” Cuomo has been a pro-Israel stalwart, while Mamdani represents the Democratic Socialists of America wing of the party that is virulently anti-Israel.
There are many other candidates in the race, but few who are presenting the ideologically moderate profile that Cuomo brings to the table. Most are trying to capture the activist energy of the AOC wing of the party, even if their specific policy positions on local issues vary. This, despite the fact that the New York City electorate moved decidedly to the right in the 2024 elections, with working-class voters in particular rejecting the leftward drift of the party.
Polls have shown Cuomo with a significant advantage, but with elevated unfavorable ratings. A recent Siena poll conducted for the AARP found Cuomo leading Mamdani 34-16% on the first ballot, and by a substantial 64-36% margin at the end of the ranked-choice voting process. The poll found him dominating voters over 50 with 42% of the vote (with the next-closest challenger, Scott Stringer, only polling at 9% with older voters), but actually trailing Mamdani with younger voters between the ages of 18-49.
A separate statewide Siena poll, conducted in March, found Cuomo with just a plus-12 favorability (51-39% fav/unfav) among Democratic voters in the Empire State. Like many traditional Democratic figures, even as a front-runner, he’s struggling to win support among the younger voters whose anti-establishment views are disrupting the party.
The primary election will come as Democrats are trying to figure out the party’s future direction amid a humiliating defeat last November. The results showed that progressivism was a turnoff to swing voters, especially among nonwhite working-class voters that once made up the base of the party in cities like New York. Despite the Trump administration’s disruptiveness in its first months, there hasn’t been the same level of rallying against the White House, compared to the surge of activism after President Donald Trump’s first election.
Indeed, the moderates have the electoral momentum at their back. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, running on a Bloomberg-style technocratic message of competence over ideology, unseated a progressive incumbent last November. Two pragmatic pro-Israel Democrats ousted two of the most radical members of Congress, former Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, in primaries. Last week’s mayoral election in Oakland, Calif. — one of the most progressive cities in the country — nearly featured an upset from a moderate insurgent against former Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).
At the same time, the energy in the party has remained on the left’s side. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have been rallying crowds to their side since the election, in one of the few displays of grassroots enthusiasm since November. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a political pragmatist at heart, drew the ire of many in his party for not initiating a government shutdown in protest of the president’s policies. Newly elected DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, a 25-year-old left-wing activist, is getting attention for backing primaries to incumbent Democrats in safe seats.
June’s New York City primary will be the biggest test of whether the loud left-wing activism actually reflects the sentiment of a majority of Democratic voters. It didn’t in the last mayoral race, where Eric Adams ran as the moderate, pro-law-and-order Democrat and prevailed over candidates who were more progressive.
If the left can’t make it in a Democratic primary in Gotham, it will have trouble making it anywhere else — especially when the biggest battlegrounds for the party will be for general election voters in much redder constituencies.
tehran tango
Obamaworld cheers Trump’s diplomacy with Iran
As nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue this week, foreign policy hawks who opposed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action are worried about the prospective nuclear deal, which former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley dubbed “Obama 2.0” on Saturday. They aren’t wrong to spot the similarities between what President Donald Trump’s team is reportedly negotiating now and what former President Barack Obama achieved a decade ago. Several left-leaning national security experts who served in the Obama administration and were staunch advocates for the JCPOA are now cautiously cheering on the emerging potential outline of Trump’s deal as his team shuttles between Rome and Oman for negotiations with the Iranian, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Catching up: “It’s hard not to take a jab at Donald Trump for walking away from the nuclear deal in the first place, because I think if we get to a deal it’ll probably be something pretty similar,” said Ilan Goldenberg, who served as an Iran advisor at the Pentagon in Obama’s first term and then worked on Israeli-Palestinian issues under former Secretary of State John Kerry. “I have a lot of other things that I can disagree with him on, but if he wants to do the right thing here, I’ll support that.”
SHE’S RUNNING
Haley Stevens declares candidacy for Michigan Senate seat
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) announced Tuesday morning that she’s entering the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat, setting up an intraparty showdown in one of the most consequential battleground states in the country, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Josh Kraushaar report. Stevens is a leading contender for the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). She will be facing state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, who led the Wayne County Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services. Former Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate, a former NFL player, is also seriously considering a run.
Jewish community perspective: Stevens is a favorite within the state’s Jewish community for her outspoken support for Israel and condemnation of high-profile antisemitic incidents at a time when many Michigan Democrats have pandered to anti-Israel activists. She represents a sizable Jewish community in the Detroit suburbs with which she forged a strong relationship in part during her successful primary campaign against then-Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI). But pro-Israel groups also view McMorrow as a reliable ally, and are more concerned with blocking the candidacy of El-Sayed, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive who supports cutting off aid to Israel.
antisemitism audit
ADL: New record for antisemitic incidents set in 2024
Jews in America faced more than 25 anti-Jewish incidents per day last year — more than one per hour. All told, as the war in Gaza raged on and campus protests exploded across the country, 2024 saw the largest number of reported antisemitic incidents on record, with over 9,000 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism in the U.S., according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, which was released on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Driving force: It is the highest level recorded since the ADL first began collecting data in 1979. 2024 also marked the first year that Israel- and Zionism-related incidents made up a majority of all occurrences (58% of the total). “In 2024, hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the U.S., with more than half of all antisemitic incidents referencing Israel or Zionism,” Oren Segal, the ADL’s vice president of the ADL Center on Extremism, said in a statement.
courtroom clash
Harvard sues Trump administration over funding freeze
Harvard University filed suit against the Trump administration on Monday in response to its multibillion-dollar cuts to the university — which came in part due to what the White House perceives as a failure to combat the rise of antisemitism that has roiled the Ivy League’s campus since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. The filing, which argues that the funding freeze violates the First Amendment by “imposing viewpoint-based conditions on Harvard’s funding,” comes one day after the Trump administration reportedly planned to cut another $1 billion in federal grants and contracts from Harvard, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. The administration had already cut $2.2 billion last week and has put a total of $9 billion of its funding under review.
What they’re saying: An April 11 letter from the Trump administration called for reforms to Harvard’s governance structure, its hiring of faculty, its admissions policies and its approach to antisemitism, with stringent federal reporting requirements — demands were expected to be implemented by August. In the 51-page complaint filed in federal court in Massachusetts, Harvard’s lawyers wrote that “the tradeoff put to Harvard and other universities is clear: Allow the Government to micromanage your academic institution or jeopardize the institution’s ability to pursue medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and innovative solutions.”
BACKLASH BEAT
Columbia Journalism Review editor fired after drawing line between journalism and activism
After being let go from his post as executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review last week, Sewell Chan pinned the firing — which he called “hasty” and “ill-considered” — in part on a recent interaction he had with a staff member “passionately devoted” to activism in support of Gaza on Columbia’s campus, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Chan’s statement: Chan wrote that he was informed last Monday of complaints from staff regarding three separate interactions in the past weeks during which he gave what he described as “fair and critical feedback rooted in editorial rigor.” Among those communications, according to Chan, included a talk with a fellow who was “passionately devoted to the cause of the Gaza protests at Columbia.” The student journalist had written an article about the “recent detention of a Palestinian graduate student” for a publication that he had previously covered for CJR. Chan did not disclose the name of the student or the publication. “I told him there was a significant ethical problem with writing for an outlet he had just covered,” Chan wrote, adding that the other two interactions involved letting go a staff member who “declined” to come into the office and write at least one story a week, despite the journalism school’s attendance policy; as well as a second conversation with an editor working on a “sensitive” investigation about sexual harassment.
HUCKABEE IN THE HOLYLAND
Huckabee: Americans ‘greatly benefit’ from close ties to Israel
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee conveyed a message to the growing isolationist camp on the American right as he submitted his diplomatic credentials on Monday in Jerusalem: Maintaining close relations with Israel and countering the Iranian nuclear threat are beneficial to Americans. “The Iranian regime and all the hostility it has inflicted on the world for 46 years continues to threaten not only the peace of Israel but the peace of the United States,” Huckabee said in the ceremony at the residence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. “Iranians have always said, ‘Death to Israel,’ and chapter two is ‘Death to America’… Israel is the appetizer, and the United States is the entree.” He added, “We care deeply about the threats that face Israel because those are also the threats that face our country.”
Two-way street: “It’s also important for Americans to know that, while we hope to be a good friend of Israel and provide assistance when we can, I never want Americans to think that we Americans are not greatly benefitted by our partnership with our ally Israel,” the ambassador stated. “We benefit dramatically in the sharing of intelligence, in the sharing of technology and in the sharing of agricultural innovation that Israel has led the world in creating.”
Worthy Reads
No Endgame in Sight: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius posits that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas are refusing to take serious steps to reach the end of the war because such a deal would endanger each of their holds on power. “Wars end when public opinion demands peace. And there are new demands from Palestinians and Israelis alike to break the logjam and move toward a new ceasefire and hostage release. The anti-war protesters aren’t a majority on either side, but they illustrate the bitterness and exhaustion this conflict has produced. Thousands of Palestinians courageously joined anti-war protests in Gaza last month, according to Associated Press reporters there. … The awful truth at the center of this conflict is that Netanyahu has never had a plan for what happens when it’s over. He wants a Gaza that’s not governed by Hamas or reoccupied by Israel, but he refuses to create a pathway for eventual Palestinian governance because this would rupture his right-wing coalition.” [WashPost]
Job Insecurity: The Atlantic’s Rose Horowitch looks at the challenges facing Ivy League presidents, following Columbia University’s announcement that it would begin a search for the school’s next leader after the departure of its third president in as many years. “With declining trust in higher education, campuses fractured over the Israel-Hamas conflict, and a White House eager to wage populist war on elites (a White House run, incidentally, by Trump, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, and Yale Law alumnus J. D. Vance), the job of elite college president, formerly considered difficult but prestigious, has become, on many campuses, impossible and thankless. Presidents are charged with leading an inflexible organization made up of autonomous and competing constituencies through a period that requires immediate change. But they can’t do anything without angering either parents, students, professors, donors, administrators, or Trump. Any false step might cost them their position. … Universities searching for new presidents are now prioritizing candidates who can play politics on a national level — candidates with political acumen and crisis-management experience.” [TheAtlantic]
Split Screen: Tablet’s Park MacDougald looks at the ideological fights at the Pentagon that have fueled for the recent upheavals within the department. “We are not witnessing an ‘internal fight; within MAGA, because there is no MAGA beyond Trump. Instead, [writer Lee] Smith wrote, ‘What we’re seeing … is an external faction trying to attach itself to MAGA in order to strangle Trump’s America First foreign policy.’ With that faction now openly attacking the administration and making common cause with its enemies to undermine the administration, the only question is how much longer Trump can put up with it.” [Tablet]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump is backing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid discord within the Pentagon, investigations into leaks and security breaches and the departures of numerous senior Pentagon officials in recent weeks…
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce summoned DePaul University President Robert Manuel to testify in its upcoming hearing on campus antisemitism next month…
A federal jury found Nadine Menendez, the wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), guilty of bribery and obstruction charges tied to money and gold bars her husband received while in office; Menendez will be sentenced in June, the same month her husband is slated to start his 11-year prison term…
In The Wall Street Journal, former White House staffer and presidential historian Tevi Troy looks at the history of Hollywood figures advising Democratic presidential candidates following the release earlier this month of Chris Whipple’s Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History…
Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre suggested that if his party wins the country’s upcoming elections, the government will consider funding cuts to universities that don’t act to address campus antisemitism…
Jason Horowitz, the Rome bureau chief for The New York Times, reflects on the time he spent covering and traveling with Pope Francis prior to the pontiff’s death earlier this week…
A new report from the Claims Conference found that 70% of the remaining 200,000 Holocaust survivors in the world will die in the next decade; the median age of survivors is 87…
Israeli cybersecurity startup Cyvore Security emerged from stealth mode with an initial investment of $2.5 million…
Shin Bet head Ronen Bar alleged in an affidavit that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had demanded Bar display personal loyalty to Netanyahu; among other scathing allegations, Bar, whom Netanyahu is attempting to dismiss, said that the prime minister had ordered him to spy on Israelis involved in anti-government protests…
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told an Israeli radio station that bringing the hostages home was a secondary war aim to destroying Hamas…
Israel canceled the visas for 27 left-wing French lawmakers who had been slated to travel to the country this week, citing an Israeli law that allows for the revocation of visas to travelers who could act against the State of Israel…
An Israeli man is missing and feared dead after being filmed tussling with at least one shark off the coast of Hadera…
Palestinian media reported that Syrian officials arrested two senior leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad based in Syria…
Anne Neuberger, who served as deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology in the Biden administration, was named the Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University…
Sociologist Herbert Gans, whose research focused on American society in the second half of the 20th century, an interest he attributed to the absence of culture in Germany, from which he escaped as a child, died at 97…
Pic of the Day
Eden Golan released the music video for her new song, “Pieces.”
Birthdays
Real estate developer and principal owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf turns 75…
Calgary-based CEO of Balmon Investments, Alvin Gerald Libin turns 94… Co-founder of Human Rights Watch and formerly national director of the ACLU, Aryeh Neier turns 88… English journalist and former anchor of BBC Television’s “Newsnight,” Adam Eliot Geoffrey Raphael turns 87… Conductor and professor of music at Boston University, Joshua Rifkin turns 81… Former longtime mayor of Madison, Wis., Paul R. Soglin turns 80… Managing director emeritus of Kalorama Partners, D. Jeffrey (“Jeff”) Hirschberg… Former chief economist at the World Bank, Sir Nicholas Herbert Stern turns 79… President and chief investment officer of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google, Ruth Porat turns 68… Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The Washington Post, Sari Horwitz turns 68… NYC area accountant, he is a partner at EisnerAmper LLP, Edward Lifshitz… Chicago-based philanthropist who serves as president of the National Ramah Commission, Arnie Harris… New Zealand native now serving as the CEO of Australian-based job-board SEEK, Ian Mark Narev turns 58… Founder and editor of the data-journalism and research initiative themadad, Shmuel Rosner turns 57… NYC-based attorney, member of Kriss & Feuerstein LLP, Jerold C. Feuerstein turns 57… News director of The Forward, Benyamin Cohen turns 50… Russian and Israeli public figure, media manager and an art dealer, Yegor Altman turns 50… Member of the Knesset for the National Unity party, Yehiel Moshe “Hili” Tropper turns 47… Tel Aviv-based deputy bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, Shayndi Raice… Managing director of external communications for the Jewish Federations of North America, Niv Elis… CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman turns 40… Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Zachary Krooks… Competitive ice dancer, Elliana Pogrebinsky turns 27…