• President Donald Trump is speaking at an event today in Hebron, Ky., the home turf of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the House GOP’s leading isolationist and anti-Israel voice who has also opposed key Trump administration policies. Massie won’t be at the Hebron event, but Ed Gallrein, who is mounting a primary challenge to Massie and has already been endorsed by the president, will be in attendance. Read more here.
• Fox News’ Bret Baier will discuss his years covering the White House and Pentagon in conversation with Gary Rosenblatt tonight at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York City. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

When Israel and the U.S. launched their first strikes on Iran, Ron Dermer was in Australia, about as far as one could get from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem or the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. He soon found himself, like many other Israelis wanting to get home from abroad, on a plane to Taba, Egypt, from which point he would cross back into Israel, where airspace remains restricted.

Since November, when he resigned from his official post as strategic affairs minister, Dermer has spent most of his time traveling for speaking engagements. But now, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Jewish Insider, Dermer is back again in public service. 

He may not have an official title, but he is doing what he has done for the previous three years — serving as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest and most trusted advisor. Israel’s Walla News quoted a source in the Prime Minister’s Office who said Dermer was reporting for “reserve duty,” like over 100,000 other Israelis since the outset of the war with Iran.

Netanyahu and Dermer’s relationship has been so close for the past 26 years that Dermer has been called the prime minister’s third son and nicknamed “Bibi’s brain.” With a very small inner circle and few advisors whom he truly trusts, Netanyahu views Dermer as a critical asset to his team at a time when the U.S. and Israel are making decisions that will determine the future of the Middle East for years to come.

Dermer is also known as having a good relationship with the Trump administration, and has reportedly been taking part in Netanyahu’s nightly calls with President Donald Trump. 

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

Russia-Iran Axis: In The Washington Post, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) argues that the U.S. must address the looming threat posed by Russia as it bolsters Iran in the current war against the U.S. and Israel. “That Russia-Iran partnership is now shaping the war in the Middle East as well. According to The Washington Post, U.S. officials believe Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran as Tehran targets American and allied interests in the region. Russia is not a bystander in this crisis. It is helping Iran challenge the United States. … Stopping Iran’s attacks on Americans must go hand in hand with tightening pressure on the Kremlin. Enforcing sanctions on Russia’s oil exports, cracking down on the shadow fleet that funds Putin’s war and deepening cooperation with Ukraine’s battle-tested military are not favors to Kyiv. They are steps that protect American troops and interests.” [WashPost]

School Daze: The New Yorker’s Nicholas Lemann looks at tensions between universities that have long relied on federal funding and the government as the Trump administration cracks down on campuses over social issues and schools’ alleged failures to address antisemitism. “The Trump Administration has deployed a brutally effective, previously unused technique for getting these institutions’ full attention: suspending their funds, even those appropriated by Congress and legally committed to in contracts. The Trump Administration is unusual in its disregard for the law, rough way of doing business, and heedlessness about the effects of its actions. Still, it isn’t completely out of touch with political reality. These actions are not nearly as unpopular as universities think they should be.” [NewYorker]

The Hamas Caucus: Commentary’s Seth Mandel reflects on the growing tolerance in some political circles for individuals who support Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. “Most of all, it’s just a strange feeling to know how many of the people you interact with would be unmoved if you were to go up in flames right in front of them. Essentially, October 7 became the kind of dividing line that made a lot of Jews understand history. So it’s a useful question to ponder: How should we act? After all, not only must we maintain precisely the values we did before, but we also should work toward returning society to a place in which support for October 7 brings public shame.” [Commentary]

Lev’s Lefty Son: USA Today’s Jay Stahl profiles Gen Z Democratic influencer Aaron Parnas, the son of former Trump associate and congressional candidate Lev Parnas. “From his front-facing iPhone camera, the low-key lawyer, formerly a practicing civil litigator, amassed more than 7.5 million followers on Instagram and TikTok. His fan base eclipses the entire following of progressive American media companies such as The Huffington Post and Mother Jones. … His TikTok has nearly 600 million all-time likes. His Parnas Perspective newsletter on Substack is ranked No. 1 in the news category. He wakes up every day by 7:45 a.m., pours a cup of coffee and releases his first Substack morning report by 9:30 a.m. ET. His loyal fan base is diverse, ranging from Gen Z political observers to White MS NOW moms and Black TikTokers who praise his go-go-go posting schedule.” [USAToday]

With no clear path to confirmation in the Senate, Jeremy Carl withdrew his nomination to be assistant secretary of state for international organizations on Tuesday, a month after he was grilled at a confirmation hearing and struggled to explain his past antisemitic, anti-Israel and otherwise inflammatory comments, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The Senate confirmed Gen. Joshua Rudd as head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command in a 71-29 vote…

The Pentagon said that approximately 140 U.S. servicemembers have been injured since the start of the war with Iran, the majority of whom have suffered minor injuries…

A U.S. diplomatic facility in Baghdad was struck in a drone assault believed to have been launched by a pro-Iran militia; five of the six drones fired at the logistics hub were shot down, with one hitting the compound…

The State Department ordered the evacuation of U.S. diplomats and their families from a consulate in the southern Turkish city of Adana and suspended all consular services at the branch after two missiles aimed at Turkey were shot down…

Iranian and Israeli officials said that newly named Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded during the opening salvos of the war last month, though the extent of his injuries was unknown…

Israeli officials told the Financial Times that they expect the country’s conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon to continue on after the conclusion of the war with Iran…

The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers the possible scenarios going forward in Iran, including regime change, regime modification and potential state collapse…

The Washington Post looks at an Iran-backed propaganda effort using the conspiracy theory that the U.S. and Israel jointly launched the war against Iran to distract from the Epstein files in an effort to draw attention to Tehran’s talking points…

The Financial Times reports on the use of a “number station” in western Europe that is transmitting what appear to be Farsi codes to receivers in Iran as part of what former U.S. intelligence officials have suggested could be a way for Washington to connect with agents inside the Islamic Republic…

FIFA head Gianni Infantino said that President Donald Trump had provided assurances that the Iranian national soccer team would be “welcome” to participate in this year’s World Cup, which is taking place at a number of venues across North America…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and the United Arab Emirates’ Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, both of which were built to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is where Iran has begun to lay mines…

A federal judge is weighing whether to force the University of Pennsylvania to turn over records of Jewish students and faculty to the Trump administration as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attempts to conduct a probe into antisemitism at the Ivy League school; read more about the legal battle here… 

Clay Fuller, a Trump-endorsed district attorney, easily advanced to a runoff in the special election to replace former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in Congress; Fuller will face off next month against a long-shot Democratic candidate, veteran Shawn Harris…

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is endorsing former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn in the race to replace retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD); Hoyer, who served with Pelosi in House Democratic leadership, has endorsed state Del. Adrian Boafo…

Populist political neophyte Allison Ziogas launched a bid for Congress in New York City’s only red district, which covers Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn and is currently represented by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY); Ziogas has tapped Democratic consultant Morris Katz, who has worked with far-left candidates including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner… 

CNN significantly changed a story and removed a social media post on Tuesday that downplayed an attempted terrorist attack over the weekend outside of Manhattan’s Gracie Mansion, initially writing that the suspects traveled from Pennsylvania for “what could’ve been a normal day” during the city’s “abnormally warm weather,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman filed for an initial public offering to take his hedge fund public in tandem with a new investment fund, Pershing Square USA…

J., The Jewish News of Northern California spotlights the newly formed Garry’s List, the self-described “radically centrist,” nonpartisan group formed by Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan that seeks to influence California state politics and is attracting Jewish and Israeli tech and business professionals…

Police in San Jose, Calif., are investigating a violent attack against two adult men outside an upscale restaurant as an antisemitic hate crime, a spokesperson for the police department confirmed on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. Tali Klima, a spokesperson for the grassroots advocacy group Bay Area Jewish Coalition, urged elected officials in the Silicon Valley community to speak out against the attack, which occurred in Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) district…

The Secure Community Network said that there is no known threat to the Jewish community following an active shooter incident Tuesday afternoon near the Agudath Israel of Baltimore synagogue in which a Baltimore Police officer and a suspect were shot, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Police in Teaneck, N.J., arrested a teenager accused of shooting a Jewish man with a gel pellet gun from a car after stopping to ask the man his views on the Israel-Palestinian conflict…

U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood approved a request from London’s Metropolitan Police to ban the annual Al Quds Day march, which had been slated for Saturday and had faced criticism for organizers’ support for assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei…

Australia assisted two additional members of Iran’s national women’s soccer team in seeking asylum after granting asylum to five of their teammates; one of the women changed her mind and contacted the Iranian Embassy to assist in repatriation efforts, disclosing the team’s location to Iranian officials and prompting those who planned to stay in Australia to have to move… 

Former Heritage Foundation staffer Daniel Flesch is joining the Foundation for Defense of Democracies after departing Heritage amid a mass exodus in response to Heritage President Kevin Roberts’ defense of Tucker Carlson…

United Hatzalah President Eli Beer (left) on Tuesday visited a site in central Israel where a fragment of an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile landed.

Composer and conductor, he has composed the music for nearly 100 feature films, David Louis Newman turns 72…

Pioneering investor in high-tech startups, he was the chairman of Compaq Computer for 18 years, Benjamin “Ben” M. Rosen turns 93… Professor emeritus at Princeton University whose research focused upon the Cairo Geniza and Jewish life in Muslim countries, Mark R. Cohen turns 83… Doctor of nursing practice, Hermine Jan Warren… Film producer, director and writer, Jerry Gordon Zucker turns 76… Retired office administrator at Creative Wealth Management in Islandia, N.Y., Glenda Kresh… Culinary writer, television host and novelist, Steven Raichlen turns 73… Suzanne Dreyfus… Co-owner of One Oak Vineyard in Sonoma, Calif., Laura Zimmerman… Chairman of Lions Gate Entertainment and head of MHR Fund Management, Mark Rachesky turns 67… President of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, popularly known by his initials MBZ, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan turns 65… CEO of The Carlyle Group, the world’s sixth-largest private equity firm, Harvey M. Schwartz turns 62… Managing director of Rockefeller Capital Management, Alexandra Lebenthal turns 62… College physician at Stony Brook University, internal medicine specialist, Richard E. Tuckman, MD turns 61… CEO of Weiss Public Affairs, Amy Weiss… President of JCS International, a global media company, she was a journalist for over two decades with Yedioth Ahronoth, Michal Grayevsky… Singer-songwriter, she also promotes an eponymous line of eyeglasses, Lisa Loeb turns 58… Keyboardist for the rock band Foo Fighters, Rami Jaffee turns 57… Technology executive and data scientist, Jon Cohen… CEO of Campus Apartments and a limited partner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, David J. Adelman turns 54… Chief of staff at American Friends of Magen David Adom, Daniel Kochavi… United States District Court judge based in Atlanta since 2019, Judge Steven Daniel Grimberg turns 52… Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist who has twice been recognized as Israel’s Singer of the Year, Keren Peles Toor turns 47… Film, theater and television actress, Lucy Chet DeVito turns 43… Partner at Ridgewood Energy, an energy-focused private equity firm, Samuel J. Lissner… CEO of Flowcarbon, Dana Stern Gibber… Financial consultant at Wells Fargo Advisors, Lev Beltser… Assistant director of Ramah Sports Academy, Ayala Wasser… Director of the Israel office at Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre, Richard Pater… Principal and chief strategist at MCS Group, Sharon Polansky…

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are holding a press conference at 8 a.m. about the ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations in Iran.
• Legislators on both sides of the Capitol could vote as soon as today on war powers resolutions. More below on an effort by a group of moderate House Democrats to push an alternative resolution that would give the Trump administration some leeway as it continues to strike Iran.
• In Iran, multiday funeral proceedings for assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that were slated to begin today have been postponed. Surviving senior Iranian clerics could announce a successor to Khamenei as soon as today, with his son Mojtaba Khamenei considered a likely contender. More below.
• The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is releasing its annual report this afternoon at an event on Capitol Hill.
• The Heritage Foundation is launching its 2026 “Index of U.S. Military Strength” at an event this morning at the think tank’s Washington headquarters. Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX), Pat Harrigan (R-TX) and Matt Van Epps (R-TN) are slated to give remarks, along with Heritage’s Rob Greenway and Victoria Coates.
• Reut USA’s “AJ2026: Launching a Decade of Renewal” kicks off today in Miami. Read more here.
• Author Izabella Tabarovsky is speaking tonight at a UJA-Federation of New York event about her latest book, Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

A strong anti-incumbent mood is apparent in the electorate, based on primary results from North Carolina and Texas’ congressional primaries Tuesday night. Meanwhile, one sitting Democratic lawmaker who lost support from AIPAC is narrowly fending off a challenge from a virulently anti-Israel challenger who campaigned in the closing days of the primary against the Iran war. 

Big picture: There’s a deep skepticism of the political establishment throughout the country within both parties. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a center-right hawk who was one of the stars of the 2018 GOP freshman class, badly lost to state Rep. Steve Toth, a right-wing challenger backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is doing a bit better than public polls suggested, but still is only polling in the low 40s against MAGA-aligned Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a race that’s headed to a runoff.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who has been enmeshed in scandal after his extramarital affair with a staffer, who later died by suicide, became public, is leading social media influencer Brandon Herrera, but is also only polling in the low-40s and will also be headed to a runoff. 

On the Democratic side, Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC), who was boosted to office in 2022 with AIPAC support but has since grown more critical of Israel, is clinging to a one-point lead (49-48%) over Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, who would have become one of the most anti-Israel lawmakers in Congress if she was elected. Allam was backed by the far-left Justice Democrats and received support from a new super PAC attempting to elect anti-Israel lawmakers.

The Iran war may have played a key role in the primary. Foushee won the early vote by an eight-point margin, but Allam carried the Election Day vote by six points — after airing an ad blasting the war in Iran and baselessly accusing the United States of targeting civilians. 

And in a member-against-member Democratic primary in Texas, Rep. Al Green (D-TX), one of the most left-wing members of Congress who has been a reliable vote against Israel, is narrowly trailing newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX), a more mainstream Democrat. Menefee looks like the favorite, but is short of the 50% necessary to avoid a runoff. 

Meanwhile, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) is on track to reclaim his old suburban Dallas seat, unseating Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX) in the process. But he’s likely heading to a runoff as well. 

All told, pro-Israel Democrats can express a bit of relief toward Tuesday night’s primary results. Assuming Foushee holds on to victory, it blocks the path of a Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) prototype from getting elected to Congress. If Allam prevailed, she could have held that safely Democratic seat — and an anti-Israel platform — for many years.

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

Regional Realignment: In The Wall Street Journal, Shimon Refaeli, an advisor to former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, posits that Iran’s attacks on Arab countries across the Middle East underscores the importance of a new regional order — proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024 — that brings together Israel and moderate Arab states. “A regional alliance could evolve from a mechanism to contain Iran into a broader framework for regional stabilization and deterrence. In this sense, the emerging alliance is an expression of a deeper structural change in the region: the convergence of moderate states around shared interests of stability, technology, air defense, trade routes and maritime security. The Iranian threat exposed the need for an integrated system. Even if the threat diminishes, that need won’t disappear. It will become the foundation for a long-term security architecture.” [WSJ]

Minority Rights: In The Washington Post, Aram Hessami argues that Iran’s ethnic minority groups — which comprise approximately half of the Islamic Republic’s population — are a key cog in any future Iranian government. “Even as Iranian minorities endured decades of discrimination at the hands of the theocratic regime, they built networks of civic engagement, political leadership and social organization that make them uniquely capable of contributing to a future state grounded in pluralism and citizenship. … Their organizational depth and their long history of fostering political associations and activism qualify them to defend against tyranny and help lay the foundation for democratic, pluralistic, lasting governance.” [WashPost]

Crying Over Khamenei: The Atlantic’s Gal Beckerman reflects on the emotional response of Iranians, both pro- and anti-regime, to the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “It would be easy to reduce these tears to simple expressions of either happiness or sadness. But if we recognize the deeper well they are drawn from, the implications for what happens next are much more troubling. You can’t just wipe away that feeling of rupture, or the decades of fear that preceded it. People become comfortable with the reality they know; they will mourn even an abusive father, and might require a lifetime to overcome the abuse. Even those who unreservedly despised him, but had no other leader, might not know what to look for in an alternative, or whether to trust a good steward if one comes along.” [TheAtlantic]

Facing concerns from Senate Republicans over her agency’s preparedness, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday defended the department’s ability to respond to potential Iranian sleeper-cell threats as the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded and under a partial shutdown amid an escalating conflict with Tehran, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports… 

Axios reports on a Feb. 23 call between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which Israel shared intelligence indicating that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his top advisors would be meeting in a single location, prompting the strikes that would take place days later…

The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into the hour-by-hour U.S. and Israeli military moves that took down the top echelon of the regime…

Politico spotlights Iran’s Kharg Island, which houses the Islamic Republic’s most important oil facility, as Trump faces calls to seize the Persian Gulf island…

Talking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that on three occasions, talks with Iran “opened up with the Iranian negotiators telling us they had the inalienable right to enrich all the nuclear fuel that they possessed,” with Witkoff and Jared Kushner responding “that the president feels we have the inalienable right to stop you dead in your tracks”…

Hannity told podcaster and former White House official Katie Miller that his former colleague, far-right commentator Tucker Carlson, is “not the person that I knew when he was at Fox”…

A new poll from Fox News found Americans split 50-50 on U.S. military action targeting Iran…

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who voiced support over the weekend for strikes against Iran, said that the U.S.- and Israeli-led war is “another example of the failure of the international order”… 

In an interview at Bloomberg Invest 2026, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan said that Iran was “a problem that needed to be dealt with, and if it were dealt with in other years, it would have been more difficult. And so the notion that it’s being dealt with today in some ways is reassuring, notwithstanding the current instability”…

Democratic lawmakers speaking at the Monday evening gala of J Street’s Washington conference argued that the joint U.S.-Israel operation that killed many top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would ultimately make Iranians, Israelis and the United States less safe, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

In an event to promote his upcoming book, California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested that the U.S. may have to rethink its military aid to Israel, and said that it would be accurate to describe Israel as “sort of an apartheid state”…

The Jewish Agency for Israel is launching a new fund to provide direct and immediate grants to victims of Iranian attacks in Israel during the current conflict,eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…

The Department of Homeland Security is opening an investigation into antisemitic comments allegedly made by Greg Bovino, the former head of U.S. Border Patrol, complaining about the inaccessibility of the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, who is Jewish, over Shabbat…

The King County Prosecutor’s Office in Washington state filed criminal trespass charges against nearly three dozen people accused of taking over a building on the University of Washington’s flagship campus last spring, but stopped short of charging them with vandalism despite the demonstrators having caused more than $1 million in damage to the building…

An X account believed to belong to the man who killed three people in Austin, Texas, over the weekend was found to contain numerous antisemitic and pro-Iranian regime posts…

Police in San Luis Obispo, Calif., are investigating an incident that took place outside the house of the California Polytechnic State University chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi in which a group of men yelled antisemitic slurs at members of the Jewish fraternity; the incident comes as the university faces congressional scrutiny over its handling of antisemitism on campus…

A Toronto synagogue was shot at Monday night, causing damage to the building’s exterior, according to police. Toronto Police Service said that there were several bullet holes in the front windows of Temple Emanu-El in North York; no injuries were reported, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Team Israel played an exhibition game against the Miami Marlins ahead of the team’s first game in the World Baseball Classic this upcoming weekend…

The German Culture Ministry, which provides funding for the annual Berlinale, is creating a board of advisors to oversee the film festival’s executive director and instituting a code of conduct regarding antisemitism after incidents last year in which award winners used their speaking time to criticize Israel…

Geraldine Schottenstein, who with her husband, Jerome, was a major donor to Jewish causes in the Columbus, Ohio, area, including Jewish Columbus and the newly renamed Jerome and Geraldine Schottenstein Chabad House Student Center at The Ohio State University, died at 93…

American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad)’s Rabbi Levi Shemtov led a Megillah reading yesterday in the Indian Treaty Room at the White House for over 50 senior administration officials and staff.

British promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts and television broadcasts, Harvey Goldsmith turns 80…

Composer, conductor, author and music professor, Samuel Adler turns 98… Broadcast journalist and author, she is best known as a correspondent for the ABC news magazine “20/20” for almost 30 years, Lynn Sherr turns 84… Board member emeritus at New York City Center, Perry B. Granoff turns 83… North American representative of World ORT for 20 years, Harry Nadler… Screenwriter and director, she is the mother of actors Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal turns 80… Retired CEO of LCH Clearnet LLC, a clearinghouse affiliated with the London Stock Exchange, David A. Weisbrod… Former director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, Rabbi Avi Shafran turns 72… U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) turns 68… Founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, Eva Moskowitz turns 62… President of the New England Patriots, Jonathan A. Kraft turns 62… Manager of the Louvre’s restitution investigations of art looted from Jewish families during the Nazi and Vichy regimes, Emmanuelle Polack turns 61… U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) turns 58… Former member of both the New York City Council and state Assembly, now at the Brandeis Center, Rory I. Lancman turns 57… Evan L. Presser… Staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, Emily Bazelon… Chief of staff at Goldman Sachs, Russell Horwitz… First Jewish player to be selected in the top round of the NHL Draft (1998), Michael Henrich turns 46… Member of the Knesset for the New Hope party, Sharren Haskel turns 42… VP of public policy at the International Council of Shopping Centers, Abigail Goldstein “Abby” Jagoda… Brazilian entrepreneur and software engineer who co-founded Instagram in 2010, Michel “Mike” Krieger turns 40… Singer, music producer and composer, Aryeh Kunstler turns 40… Chief of staff for New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Victoria “Tori” Burhans Kelly… Israeli-born basketball player who played for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans, Gal Mekel turns 38… Model and actress, she was a lead Victoria’s Secret model, Erin Heatherton (born as Erin Heather Bubley) turns 37… Foreign policy advisor for U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Jennifer Miller… Ice hockey goaltender for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey League, Yaniv Perets turns 26…

• President Donald Trump will speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this afternoon local time after a delayed arrival resulting from an electrical issue on Air Force One that forced the initial plane to return to Joint Base Andrews after an hour in flight to be swapped out.
• We expect Trump to speak at length about the Board of Peace he is assembling, a day after the president told reporters at the White House that the body could serve as an alternative to the U.N. Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel would join the body, after previously criticizing the inclusion of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the board’s executive committee.
• The president’s address will be preceded by an interview with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, and followed by a session focused on the political realignment of the Middle East. Speakers in the latter session include Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, U.K. Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper and International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi.
• Later in the day, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is slated to speak at the WEF about the U.S.-China relationship.
• We’re continuing to monitor the situation in the Middle East, as the U.S. deploys an aircraft carrier and fighter jets to the region. Trump issued his harshest warning yet to Iran, vowing in an interview with NewsNation last night to “wipe them off the face of this Earth” if Tehran makes an assassination attempt against him. “Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump said.
• In Washington, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding its markup of the Eastern Mediterranean Gateway Act.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

When President Donald Trump first raised the idea of establishing a Board of Peace in October, it was as part of his 20-step ceasefire plan for Gaza. The board was meant to oversee a committee of Palestinian technocrats — whose composition was announced last week — and “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza … [and] call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.” 

The following month, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution supporting the ceasefire plan and “welcom[ing] the establishment of the Board of Peace,” authorizing it to operate in Gaza until the end of 2027. 

But the board’s charter describes a body concerned with peace worldwide, not with removing Hamas’ terror threat in Gaza, and in fact, it does not mention Hamas, Gaza or Israel at all. Its expansive, stated role is to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” 

Indeed, it appears to be an attempt to compete with the United Nations. Its preamble says: “Declaring that durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed … Emphasizing the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body.” Asked at a press conference on Wednesday if he intends for the body to replace the U.N., Trump said it “might.” “I wish the United Nations could do more. I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” he said.  

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

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio is holding House and Senate briefings this morning before meeting this afternoon with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud.
• The New York City Council will elect its next speaker today. Councilmember Julie Menin, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, announced last month she’d garnered support from a supermajority of councilmembers. Read our report on Menin — and the counterweight she is expected to be to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s agenda — here.
• Mamdani’s first major test with the Jewish community could come as soon as this evening, when PAL-Awda, the group behind the November protest outside a synagogue that was hosting a Nefesh B’Nefesh event about immigrating to Israel, is slated to protest another event hosted by NBN tonight in Manhattan.
• Elsewhere in Manhattan, the annual Colel Chabad International Awards Gala is taking place tonight. Russian-Israeli entrepreneur Yitzchak Mirilashvili, Heather and Joe Sarachek, Sara and Harry Krakowski and Lauren and Martin Tabaksblat are set to be honored at the event. Also slated to be honored is Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Syrian immigrant to Australia who helped disarm one of the Bondi Beach terrorists during last month’s terror attack in Sydney.
• The Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Center is holding a panel discussion this morning at its Washington headquarters on the future of humanitarian assistance. Speakers include IsraAID CEO Yotam Polizer, Zipline Africa’s Caitlin Burton, DAI’s Tine Knott and UNICEF USA’s Patrick Quirk

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Tamara ziEVE AND MATTHEW SHEA

At the conclusion of the 12-day war in June of last year, both Israel and Iran suspected that the ceasefire brokered by the U.S. would be a pause, not a final cessation of hostilities. That truce has lasted for more than six months, with both sides wary of entering another military conflict — one likely to be more deadly and destructive than the first. 

But now, amid destabilizing world events from Venezuela to the Middle East — compounded by growing domestic pressure on the Islamic Republic amid nationwide protests — that ceasefire is even more tenuous, with officials in Tehran and Jerusalem closely watching the other’s every move, careful not to make a potentially disastrous miscalculation — even as both sides make overtures at de-escalation.

Speaking at the Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “President [Donald] Trump and I have expressed a firm stance — we won’t allow Iran to rebuild its ballistic missile industry or to renew the nuclear program, which we damaged severely in Operation Rising Lion.”

In response, Iran’s newly formed Defense Council warned on Tuesday that the country could act preemptively if it detects clear signs of a threat. “The long-standing enemies of this land … are pursuing a targeted approach by repeating and intensifying threatening language and interventionist statements in clear conflict with the accepted principles of international law, which is aimed at dismembering our beloved Iran and harming the country’s identity,” the council said.

Recent reports suggest that Israel, in an attempt to de-escalate tensions, has used Moscow as an intermediary, communicating through Russian President Vladimir Putin that it has no intention of launching a preemptive strike on Iranian soil. Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are unconvinced. 

In a post on X, Khamenei accused Israel of deception: “What makes the enemy first request a ceasefire during [12-day] war with the Iranian nation, then send messages saying he doesn’t want to fight us?” 

“Now if he doesn’t believe the messaging and thinks that Israel is about to attack then you can understand why Israel is worried Iran is about to miscalculate and attack. Very tense days/weeks ahead of us,” Nadav Pollak, a lecturer on the Middle East at Reichman University, commented on Khamenei’s post.

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

• President Donald Trump will give a televised address at 9 p.m. ET.
• The Heritage Foundation is hosting a sit-down this afternoon between Heritage President Kevin Roberts and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
• Elsewhere in Washington, Jewish members of Congress are hosting the annual Capitol Hill Hanukkah party. Across town, the Israeli Embassy in Washington is hosting its annual Hanukkah reception tonight.
• Norman Podhoretz, the longtime editor of Commentary magazine and influential conservative thought leader, died on Tuesday. In a remembrance of his father, John Podhoretz wrote: “He bound himself fast to his people, his heritage, and his history. His knowledge extended beyond literature to Jewish history, Jewish thinking, Jewish faith, and the Hebrew Bible, with all of which he was intimately familiar and ever fascinated.”
• Australian police charged Naveed Akram, one of the suspects in the Sunday terror attack in Sydney, with 15 counts of murder in addition to dozens of other offenses, including committing a terrorist act; Akram is in stable condition at a Sydney hospital after spending two days in a coma.

A QUICK WORD WITH THE JI team

As Jewish communities are marking Hanukkah under the shadow of the deadly terror attack in Sydney that marred the beginning of the Jewish holiday, leaders in Washington and New York addressed growing concerns about antisemitism at several Hanukkah events held yesterday.

President Donald Trump warned that Israel and the “Jewish lobby” have lost their influence in Washington and that Congress is “becoming antisemitic,” in a holiday message delivered to attendees at the White House’s annual Hanukkah party.

Speaking from the East Room to a gathering of lawmakers and prominent Jewish figures ahead of a ceremonial menorah lighting, the president repeatedly cautioned that the Jewish community and its allies “have to be very careful because bad things are happening” to Jewish people and to Israel’s global standing, citing the shooting in Sydney and the ongoing denials of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, speaking at a Hanukkah reception hosted by Israel’s U.N. mission at The Jewish Museum in Manhattan, said the U.S. “can and will confront antisemitism without apology, without hesitation and will do so everywhere around the world, including right here in the halls of the U.N.” Read the full story here.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-FL) annual Hanukkah party featured remarks by Shira Gvili, sister of Ran Gvili, the last hostage in Gaza, JI’s Marc Rod reports. Gvili highlighted that her brother had always dreamed of being a police officer and ran into the fight on Oct. 7 — when he was killed — despite waiting for surgery for a broken shoulder. She also noted that he volunteered to support Holocaust survivors.

“On this celebration of light, of heroes, as we do on Hanukkah, Ran is not only my hero, he is our hero. For everyone lighting a candle tonight, may the glow of the menorah [brighten] the darkened moments. May the glow of the menorah’s light bring Ran home tonight,” Gvili continued.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also delivered remarks, and nearly 40 lawmakers — a majority of them Democrats — stopped through the gathering. These included Reps. Ed Case (D-HI), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Daniel Goldman (D-NY), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), David Kustoff (R-TN), George Latimer (D-NY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), April McClain Delaney (D-MD), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Grace Meng (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Don Davis (D-NC). 

Jeffries said that, after the attack in Australia, “it’s incumbent on all of us as leaders not just to, of course, authentically express our thoughts and prayers on behalf and directed at those families who have suffered from this unconscionable, unthinkable, unspeakable tragedy, but to make it clear that we all have a responsibility to combat antisemitism whenever and wherever it’s found, and make sure that no matter what it takes, we’re committed, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to bury antisemitism in the ground never to rise again.”

Jeffries continued, “At the same time, we’ll also make clear that we will continue to stand up for Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and Democratic state and a homeland for the Jewish people.”

⚠️ Shoulder to Shoulder: In The Times of Israel, Israeli President Isaac Herzog reflects on the Sydney terror attack and the meaning of Hanukkah. “Yet as we reflect on the miracle of the return home of our brothers and sisters, we also confront a deeply troubling reality beyond Israel’s borders. As the October 7th massacre in southern Israel was still ongoing, Jewish communities around the world began to experience a vicious wave of hatred. Institutional antisemitism, Holocaust inversion, conspiracies left and right, Jew-hatred platformed on social media, and moral bankruptcy masquerading as social justice have all disturbingly increased across the Western world. The deadly terror attack in Sydney this week demonstrates where these dangerous trends can lead.” [TOI]

👮 ‘Forever Changed’: In The New York Times, Alex Ryvchin, the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, mourns those killed in Sunday’s terror attack in Sydney, as well as the sense of communal security that no longer exists for Australian Jews. “Now we have suffered a loss that is impossible to measure or articulate. It is a loss felt nationally for a country that is forever changed. It is a loss felt communally for a way of life defined by pride and open observance that no longer exists. And it is a loss we feel individually for the friends and relatives who died in our arms from hideous wounds inflicted by high-powered shells used for hunting game. … My community will never recover from this, I am sure. My rabbi, my friend, Eli Schlanger lived by a mission of being proud of who he was as a Jew. The annual Hanukkah event he hosted on the beach was the ultimate evidence of our acceptance, the proof that we were safe in our acts of community pride. That is all gone now. And with it, a man who had shown us the way.” [NYTimes]

 ⚖️ After Bondi: In the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood posits that governments need to take serious, tangible actions that go beyond antisemitism education to address threats to the Jewish community. “With an attack like this, the only effective response is the zealous prosecution of anyone who planned or supported it, and the protection of those who might be targeted in similar attacks in the future. Museum education is nice, but if an attack is under way, a police officer with a rifle has more stopping power. Self-study to determine whether Jews are systematically excluded or vilified is worthwhile but will take time. Restrictions on speech are another matter, and a distraction from real police work. It should not be a crime to inquire about the whereabouts of Jews, or even to say you wish to gas them. But if you spray-paint a Jewish school or set a car on fire, a government with its resources properly ordered will find and charge you before you graduate to violent crime.” [TheAtlantic]

The Sudanese Armed Forces – backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Iran – are the subject of a new CNN investigation that found them responsible for mass killing of civilians and dumping their bodies into canals… 

United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed re-upped a 2024 Atlantic piece by Palestinian political activist Samer Sinijlawi calling for leadership changes in Israel and the Palestinian Authority…

Turkey was excluded from a CENTCOM-hosted conference in Doha, Qatar, focused on putting together an international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip…

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said that the Trump administration needs to put forward a new nominee for the post of ambassador for religious freedom as former Rep. Mark Walker’s (R-NC) nomination remains stalled in the Senate…

The widow of a security officer who was killed in a mass shooting at the Park Avenue building housing the headquarters of the NFL is suing the league, the real estate firm that owns the building and the building’s security company over their failures to prevent the attack, in which philanthropist Wesley LePatner and two others were also killed…

The NYPD is investigating an incident in which a group of Orthodox Jewish men were harassed and assaulted on a subway car after video of the confrontation was posted to social media; police are also investigating as a hate crime a separate incident, also filmed, in which a visibly Jewish man was attacked while walking down the street in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood…

Two members of the Heritage Foundation’s board resigned amid a series of high-profile departures from the think tank over its embrace of Tucker Carlson and failure to denounce extremist views; Abby Spencer Moffat said Heritage was “unwilling or unable to meet this moment with the clarity and courage it requires,” while Shane McCullar said the think tank was “unwilling to confront the lapses in judgment that have harmed its credibility, its culture, and the conservative movement it once helped shape”…

Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to reject Skydance Paramount’s hostile takeover bid due to concerns over financing; Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, which had provided some backing to Paramount in its effort, withdrew its support for Paramount’s bid…

The Financial Times reports on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to build out AI infrastructure as he looks to compete with OpenAI and Google…

Qatar Sports Investments-owned Paris Saint-Germain was ordered by a French court to pay more than $70 million to former PSG star Kylian Mbappé resulting from unpaid wages and bonuses…

Actress Sydney Sweeney wore a gown by Israeli designer Galia Lahav to the premiere of her new film, “The Housemaid”…

Iranian victims of the Women, Life, Freedom protests that swept through the Islamic Republic in 2022 are suing more than three dozen Iranian officials in an Argentine court, alleging the officials committed or were complicit in crimes against humanity…

PBS reports from Hezbollah’s secretive military installations following their seizure by the Lebanese Armed Forces… 

Wall Street investment banker Arthur Carter, who would go on to purchase The Nation and found The New York Observer, died at 93…

Actor Jonah Platt sat in conversation with former Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi on Monday night at the American Friends of Magen David Adom’s Miami Gala.

Grammy Award-winning songwriter and musician, Benjamin Goldwasser turns 43… 

Retired attorney and vice chair of the American Jewish International Relations Institute, Stuart Sloame turns 86… Former CEO of multiple companies including the San Francisco 49ers and FAO Schwarz, Peter L. Harris turns 82… VP of strategic planning and marketing at Queens-based NewInteractions, Paulette Mandelbaum… Professor of Jewish history, culture and society at Columbia University, Elisheva Carlebach Jofen turns 71… Retired chair of the physician assistant studies program at Rutgers, Dr. Jill A. Reichman turns 70… Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and senior foreign policy advisor to prime ministers Sharon, Barak and Netanyahu, Danny Ayalon turns 70… Longtime chairman and CEO of HBO, he now heads Eden Productions, Richard Plepler turns 67… Israeli film director, screenwriter, animator and film-score composer, Ari Folman turns 63… Former president of Freedom House, now the director at Voice of America, Michael J. Abramowitz turns 62… Chief of the General Staff of the IDF until this past March, Herzl “Herzi” Halevi turns 58… Founder and CEO of LionTree LLC, Aryeh B. Bourkoff turns 53… Pastry chef, television personality and cookbook author, Jeffrey Adam “Duff” Goldman turns 51… Israeli former soccer goalkeeper, then on the coaching staff for the national team, Nir Davidovich turns 49… CEO of the New Legacy Group of Companies, he is also founder and chair emeritus of Project Sunshine, Joseph Weilgus… Co-director of New Public, Eli Pariser turns 45… Senior writer at National Review and author of Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America, Noah C. Rothman… Director of foundation partnerships at the UJA-Federation of New York, Julia Sobel… National correspondent for Vanity Fair and author of the 2018 book Born Trump: Inside America’s First Family, Emily Jane Fox… State general manager for Maryland at Entyre Care, Daniel Ensign… Actor, singer-songwriter and musician, he starred in the Nickelodeon television series “The Naked Brothers Band,” Nat Wolff turns 31…

• The House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a vote today to advance legislation designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. More below.
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a vote this morning on advancing the nominations of Yehuda Kaploun and Tammy Bruce to be the State Department’s antisemitism envoy and deputy representative to the U.N., respectively.
• Jared Isaacman will face the Senate Commerce Committee today for a second hearing to be the administrator of NASA, eight months after his initial nomination was pulled during a spat between Elon Musk, who backed his nomination, and President Donald Trump.
• Elsewhere in Washington, SKDK is hosting a small gathering with the parents of slain Israeli Americans Omer Neutra and Itay Chen and their supporters.
• In Maryland, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is hosting its annual “Lox and Legislators” event in Rockville this morning. Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Democratic Reps. April McClain Delaney and Glenn Ivey are slated to speak.
• In New York, Israel Policy Forum is honoring Bob Elman and Bob Sugarman this afternoon at the group’s annual gala. The event will also feature a discussion with Ambassador Michael Ratney, Elisa Ewers and Rachel Brandenburg on the future of U.S. leadership in the Middle East.
• White House Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus is in Israel this week for meetings with senior Israeli officials. Israeli media reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is expected to present Ortagus with recent findings indicating that Hezbollah is rearming itself in Lebanon in violation of a ceasefire agreement inked between Jerusalem and Beirut last year. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S marc rod

Qatar, whose ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have drawn scrutiny in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, is doubling down on a charm offensive focused on a handful of GOP lawmakers and conservative social media influencers, all while hosting two of the most established brands in American news. 

A group of House Republicans visited Qatar during the House’s Thanksgiving recess last week, including Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Lance Gooden (R-TX). The trip occurred just before the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on legislation that classifies the entire Muslim Brotherhood organization globally as a terrorist group.

A group of conservative social media influencers also visited Qatar over Thanksgiving, posting glowing dispatches lauding the country and its role in hosting a U.S. military base. 

Rob Smith, one of the invited guests, posted credulously about Qatar on his Instagram feed after the trip, “I wasn’t aware of a great deal of things about Qatar, only misperceptions and half-truths I’d read about online. When the opportunity was presented to me, with full authority and autonomy to ask the tough questions of the officials I’d be meeting with, I decided to risk any potential criticism and to travel and experience it for myself.”

Meanwhile, numerous prominent celebrities — including comedian Kevin Hart, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and tennis star Novak Djokovic — gathered in Doha over the weekend for the 2025 Formula One Qatar Grand Prix.

And this week, the country is hosting the Doha Forum, a conference co-sponsored by CNN. Those attending the conference include several Trump administration officials and ambassadors, politicians and philanthropists, alongside Israel-bashing officials such as former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, sanctioned U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and former Iran envoy Rob Malley.

Others on the guest list include: Donald Trump Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz, the Heritage Foundation’s Victoria Coates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour and other officials, leaders and analysts from around the world.

Also this week, The Wall Street Journal is hosting a technology conference in Doha, featuring business leaders and celebrities, hosted by various Journal reporters. As JI’s Matthew Kassel reports (see more below), the summit is raising ethical questions surrounding the paper’s deepening business ties with Qatar — even as the Journal’s conservative editorial page has slammed the Gulf monarchy as a financial and diplomatic sponsor of Hamas. 

Each of these events comes at a time when Qatar’s complicated public reputation in the United States is becoming a flashpoint, particularly inside the conservative movement.

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

The Instagram Mayor: The Wall Street Journal’s Jim Carlton spotlights San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s embrace of social media as a means to boost the city’s standing after being elected on a platform of revitalizing the Bay Area, which for years had been plagued by economic and safety issues. “The 47-year-old Levi Strauss heir has become ubiquitous on the city’s social-media scene. He posts musings every day from his wanderings around San Francisco, some on somber topics like ongoing drug use but most are upbeat — even a bit hokey. … Social media, he added, is his way of telling San Franciscans — and the world — how the city is progressing. ‘It’s about being unfiltered, speaking directly to the people of San Francisco,’ the mayor said as he walked along the city’s waterfront last month after one of many stops, holding an umbrella against a cold, light rain.” [WSJ]

Having Hurwitz’s Back: In the Jewish Telegraph Agency, Jarrod Bernstein, Shelley Greenspan and Chanan Weissman, all former White House Jewish liaisons, defend former White House speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz amid a deluge of online criticism over a misleadingly edited video clip in which Hurwitz discussed how Holocaust education has impacted conversations about the Israel-Hamas war. “What followed was a torrent of outrage from people who claimed Sarah was arguing that we shouldn’t teach Holocaust education because doing so makes young people think the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is a genocide. Others claimed she was saying that genocide only matters when it’s perpetrated against Jews. Such sentiments would obviously be obscene, and we were shocked that people would attribute them to Sarah, someone who just published a book in which she expressed profound anguish about the unbearable deaths of civilians in Gaza. … Sarah was also conveying that, contrary to the impression young people get on social media, what happened in Gaza is not analogous to the Holocaust. It was a devastating war that does not fit neatly into a simplistic frame of oppressor versus oppressed. That black and white paradigm disregards the complex challenges that continue to stymie a resolution to this heartbreaking conflict.” [JTA]

Spotlight Shapiro: The Atlantic‘s Tim Alberta profiles Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, amid speculation that the moderate Democrat could mount a presidential bid in 2028. “For a man with such an established public profile—years as a congressional aide, decades in various elected offices, a network as extensive as that of any Democrat in office today—Shapiro remains something of a mystery, a man whose real views and motives are widely debated but ill-defined. In conversations with dozens of people who know the governor, a certain irony is inescapable. Shapiro seems to believe that he is uniquely equipped to run for president and repair the Democratic Party’s deficit of trust and authenticity. Any such campaign, however, would expose deficits of his own.” [TheAtlantic]

The State Department’s Jacob Helberg said that the U.S. is looking to lock in agreements with eight countries, including Israel and the United Arab Emirates, that will strengthen supply chains for computer chips and minerals critical to the production of AI technology; the White House is hosting the first meeting with officials from the countries on Dec. 12…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed openness to a U.S.-brokered security deal with Damascus involving southern Syria, with the caveat that Syria respects the buffer zone between the countries…

Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn by nine points in the special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District…

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) ruled out a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), announcing on Tuesday that she’ll run for reelection in Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District…

James Solomon won Jersey City’s runoff election for mayor, besting former Gov. Jim McGreevey…

Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Claudia Tenney (R-NY) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to work to secure the release of Kamran Hekmati, an American-Iranian dual citizen and member of the Persian Jewish community arrested in Iran earlier this year for having visited Israel 13 years ago…

The New York Young Republican Club is slated to honor far-right Alternative for Germany senior official Markus Frohnmaier at its upcoming annual gala…

A new offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly has backing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi; Paramount made the higher, second-round bid for the entire company, while Netflix and Comcast submitted bids for only Warner Bros.’ studios and streaming business… 

Philanthropists Michael and Susan Dell are donating $6.25 billion to back the creation of seed investment accounts for children in the U.S. as part of the “Trump accounts” program…

The family of Holocaust survivor Erno Spiegel donated the pen he used to falsify records to save dozens of sets of twins who were subject to medical experiments at Auschwitz…

OneTable laid off 25% of its employees as it undertakes a “planned, strategic shift” in its staffing…

The U.K.’s independent advisor on antisemitism told Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee that U.K. police altered evidence it used to justify banning Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a recent soccer match against Aston Villa…

U.K. Attorney General Richard Hermer urged Nigel Farage to apologize to former classmates over what they claimed were repeated antisemitic and racist insults from the Reform UK leader during his teenage years… 

Israel is finalizing the handover of its Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system to Germany, marking, at $4.2 billion, Jerusalem’s largest defense export deal…

Israeli officials said that remains transferred from Hamas to Red Cross officials on Tuesday do not match either of the remaining two hostages in Gaza…

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is slated to reopen in the coming days, allowing access out of the enclave to Palestinians who have been approved by Israeli security officials…

Lockheed Martin, together with Israel’s Industrial Cooperation Authority, signed an extension this week for the Umbrella Industrial Cooperation Agreement (UICA) through the end of 2029. The ceremony was led by Israeli Minister of Economy Nir Barkat (center left), Lockheed Martin Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John (center right), Lockheed Martin Israel Chief Executive Tal Galor (right), the ministry’s Head of Industry Division Nurit Tsur-Rabino and Head of Industrial Cooperation Authority Division Yazeed Sheick-Yousif.

Professional tennis player with a WTA doubles ranking that reached as high as 21, Sharon Fichman turns 35…

Close associate of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and influential leader within Chabad, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda “Yudel” Krinsky turns 92… Founder of a successful wedding gown business and a lifestyle coach, Sandy Stackler… 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winner for his book on Arabs and Jews in Israel, he was a long-serving foreign correspondent and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, David K. Shipler turns 83… Member of the New York State Assembly since 1994, Jeffrey Dinowitz turns 71… Former Argentine minister of foreign affairs, Gerardo Werthein turns 70… Miami-based criminal defense attorney whose clients have included O.J. Simpson and Charlie Sheen, Yale Lance Galanter turns 69… Painter and art teacher residing in Maryland, her teaching career started in Petach Tikva, Heidi Praff… Former editorial page editor at USA Today, William “Bill” Sternberg… Former member of the House of Representatives (D-NC) until January, now chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, Kathy Manning turns 69… British publicist, music manager and former tabloid journalist, Rob Goldstone turns 65… President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2023, Sally A. Kornbluth turns 65… Aerospace and technology executive, entertainment attorney and media mogul, Jon F. Vein turns 62… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Eli Avidar turns 61… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, she won Adam Schiff’s House seat in 2025, Democrat Laura Friedman turns 59… First VP at Adat Ari El Congregation in Valley Village, Calif., Malinda Wozniak Marcus… Cellist and associate professor at McGill University, Matt Haimovitz turns 55… SVP of strategic initiatives at NBC News until 2024, now a communications consultant, Alison “Ali” Weisberg Zelenko… Associate professor of Jewish history and chair of Jewish studies at Yeshiva University, Joshua M. Karlip, Ph.D. turns 54… French journalist, author, television and radio personality, Marie Drucker turns 51… Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian and actress, she discovered her Eritrean Jewish roots as an adult, Tiffany Haddish turns 46… Financial trader and founder of XTX Markets, Alex Gerko turns 46… CEO of Solar One, he was a member of the New York City Council through 2021, Stephen T. Levin turns 44… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Rachel Sarah Bloomekatz turns 43… Hasidic singer, his music videos have 120 million views on YouTube, Benzion Hakohen “Benny” Friedman turns 41… Founding partner and head of business strategy at Triadic, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Edelman… 

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is in Paris today for meetings with senior French officials, including Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. The meeting comes days after France, joined by the U.S., U.K. and Germany, pushed for the International Atomic Energy Agency to pressure Iran to allow inspectors access to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.
• The Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy is hosting a daylong conference in Abu Dhabi on the Abraham Accords’ impact across the region.
• Pope Leo XIV is making his first international trip since becoming pontiff, traveling on Thursday to Turkey and from there to Lebanon on Sunday. In Turkey, the pope is scheduled to meet with Turkish Chief Rabbi David Sevi as well as other religious leaders.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S HALEY cOHEN

For more than two years, Jewish communities around the country — despite deep rifts over Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza — demonstrated a historic united effort to bring home the hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. In cities coast to coast, Jewish individuals and groups across different denominations, political affiliations and ages gathered together for rallies, fundraisers and walks, voicing a singular message: “Bring Them Home Now.”  

The efforts culminated last month with the release of the remaining living hostages and a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. But heads of leading Jewish organizations say the work is not done and there are several new consensus issues for American Jews, with many echoing that tackling the increase in antisemitism remains a central and unifying concern.  

“Helping to rebuild Israel, continuing to secure our communities and leaning into a surge in Jewish life” that sparked new energy in the community in the wake of Oct. 7 are the next issues Jewish federations nationwide are addressing, Eric Fingerhut, CEO of Jewish Federations of North America, told Jewish Insider. 

“We all understand that there are serious and long-term issues related to the war in Israel, both related to trauma and mental health issues that have arisen, all of the rebuilding that is needed and support to those who fought and bereaved families,” said Fingerhut. 

“The toxic combination of rising security threats and antisemitism remain a top priority. We still have work to do to make sure our communities are fully secure,” he continued. An October JFNA and Anti-Defamation League survey found that more than half of all Jewish Americans experienced at least one form of antisemitism in the past year; 14% have developed exit plans to flee the U.S. if the situation worsens. 

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

X Marks the Spot: In The Washington Post, Tinder founder Sean Rad and former Twitter/X executive Zach Schapira praise X’s recent decision to make public information regarding user location, and suggest what steps other social media platforms can take in the interest of transparency. “Social platforms fundamentally changed how people and ideas move across borders. A borderless digital ecosystem shrank distances, opened markets and created the potential for a global town square. Those benefits are profound, and worth preserving. But when political conversation moved online, one assumption baked into that early design became dangerously outdated: that geography no longer matters. … X’s recent bold decision, led by Head of Product Nikita Bier, to add country labels to accounts reflects an important shift: a recognition that geographic transparency is crucial context to help users understand whether a post is a firsthand account or distant commentary, whether it reflects genuine local sentiment or coordinated foreign messaging.” [WashPost]

Spotlight on Sudan: In Newsweek, former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt pushes back against criticism of the United Arab Emirates’ involvement in the Sudanese civil war. “Before the UAE became involved, Sudan had already collapsed, multiple times. The country has endured civil wars, coups, economic breakdowns and revolutions. Its institutions were hollowed out long before any recent foreign role. Blaming the UAE for ‘causing’ Sudan’s unraveling ignores decades of internal governance failures, competing militarized elites and the near-total absence of a functioning state. Sudan’s tragedy is primarily Sudanese in origin, even if outsiders have played supporting roles. Here is another hard reality: No war-torn state, especially one with Sudan’s history, recovers without responsible, significant external support—financial, humanitarian and diplomatic. Countries do not rebuild themselves in isolation. They need partners. And yes, those partners, whether the UAE or anyone else, will always have interests alongside their intentions to help.” [Newsweek]

History Lesson: In Moment Magazine, Menachem Z. Rosensaft raises concerns about U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose’s recent comments absolving Poland of complicity in the Holocaust. “Forty years ago, I criticized President Ronald Reagan when he said that the members of the notorious Nazi Waffen-SS buried at the German military cemetery at Bitburg ‘were victims, just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps.’ I said at that time that ‘The photograph of the president of the United States laying a wreath in the name of the United States at a cemetery which includes SS officers will be used and exploited by revisionist historians and neo-Nazis as proof that the president has forgiven the SS and it is now all right to forget.’ In a similar vein, Rose’s ill-advised and historically false whitewashing of the Polish role in the genocide of European Jewry is certain to be fodder for Polish and other antisemites who seek to trivialize (if not dismiss altogether) the Holocaust as a minor, essentially meaningless occurrence that does not warrant commemoration or remembrance.” [Moment]

Comics as Jewish Lit: eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher spotlights a new exhibit at Manhattan’s Jack Kirby Museum commemorating the Jewish comic book author’s life and legacy. “The Kirby Museum, along with The Siegel and Shuster Society, which honors Superman’s Jewish co-creators, is one of the few nonprofits celebrating the Jewish masterminds of the comics medium. Even though these writers and artists’ creations are plastered on nearly every child’s lunch box — not only in America, but around the world — their foundations and museums often lack the financial support of nonprofits dedicated to those deemed ‘fine’ artists. … ‘Comic books are Jewish literature,’ [author Roy Schwartz] said. ‘They tell the same stories as Philip Roth and Bernard Malamud and Primo Levi just through metaphor and hyperbole with a younger audience in mind, but they’re selling the same bagels on the same street corner, and this canon of Jewish American literature and art deserves to be on the same shelf as those other greats.’” [eJP]

President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman clashed last week in a private meeting over the possibility of Riyadh normalizing relations with Israel, with the Saudi leader reportedly saying that anti-Israel sentiment in the Gulf nation was too high at the moment for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords…

The Trump administration is driving efforts to construct housing in Israeli-controlled portions of the Gaza Strip to shelter tens of thousands of Palestinians, with the goal of having the first residential units inhabitable in the coming months…

Reps. Craig Goldman (R-TX), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced a resolution praising the expansion of the Abraham Accords to include Kazakhstan…

Bloomberg reports on a leaked audio recording of a call between White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and a senior foreign policy aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin last month in which Witkoff reportedly advised Moscow on how to approach President Donald Trump in negotiations regarding Ukraine…

Politico looks at how Trump’s friendly meeting with and praise for New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani could complicate efforts by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is mounting a bid for governor, to tie Mamdani to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, whom Stefanik is challenging…

Former FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker, who is Jewish, cited his religion as one of the factors in his decision to resign following Mamdani’s election, saying that Mamdani’s “whole campaign really reflected” incompatibilities between himself and the incoming administration…

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said she will not seek a fourth term in next November’s election…

A final report approved unanimously by Massachusetts’ Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism determined that antisemitism is on the upswing in the state and made a number of recommendations, including the implementation of guidelines for primary and secondary schools to address discrimination and funding for the state’s new Hate Crimes Awareness and Response Team…

The Wall Street Journal reports on the uptick in universities asking applicants about navigating differing opinions as they look to recruit student populations that can thoughtfully approach disagreements…

An Illinois man was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to battery in a 2024 incident in which he and an accomplice assaulted two Jewish students at DePaul University; the second attacker remains at large…

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced plans to retry Pedro Hernandez for the 1979 kidnapping and murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz, eight years after the New York man was convicted after a federal appeals court overturned the conviction earlier this year, citing the original judge having erred in his instructions to the jury…

Israel identified the remains of hostage Dror Or, who was killed at his home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, after they were handed over on Tuesday by Palestinian terror groups in Gaza; Or’s wife, Yonat, was killed in the attacks, and two of their three children were taken hostage and released during the November 2023 ceasefire…

Israel is expanding the exemption on personal customs imports for products under $150; previously, imports totaling more than $75 were subject to customs and import fees…

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil accused Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar of being a “war criminal” after Sa’ar spoke about connections between Caracas and Iran and the latter’s terrorist proxies, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports… 

Reuters reports on an effort by Israeli researchers to use AI to transcribe and sift through the medieval Cairo Geniza, which contains more than 400,000 documents, only a fraction of which have been deciphered…

Lebanon granted citizenship to FIFA President Gianni Infantino in what the Lebanese Football Association called a “symbolic” gesture; the move is expected to cause consternation in the country, where Lebanese women cannot pass their citizenship to their foreign husbands, or to their children if the father is not Lebanese…

Jewish communal leaders in New York City joined First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (center) for a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday for a new Holocaust memorial in Queens.

First Jewish governor of Delaware from 2009-2017 and later U.S. ambassador to Italy, Jack Alan Markell turns 65… 

Holocaust refugee from Budapest, Hungary, he founded a generic drug company in 1965 that he sold to Teva Pharmaceuticals 35 years later, University of Toronto’s pharmacy school bears his name, Leslie Dan turns 96… San Francisco-based venture capitalist, he is a founding partner of CMEA Capital, Formation 8 and Baruch Future Ventures, Thomas R. Baruch turns 87… President of the Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies, Arthur Hessel turns 83… Diplomat and author, he worked under Presidents Bush (41), Clinton and Obama on Middle East matters, in 2002 he co-founded a synagogue in Rockville, Md., Dennis B. Ross turns 77… Former national executive director of the Zionist Organization of America, Gary P. Ratner turns 77… Former member of the Illinois House of Representatives for 32 years, now a lobbyist, Louis I. Lang turns 76… U.S. senator from West Virginia, Shelley Moore Capito turns 72… Pulitzer Prize-winning author of nonfiction books based on his biological observations, he is a professor at Columbia University School of Journalism, Jonathan Weiner turns 72… Israel bureau chief and a senior editor for the Middle East at Bloomberg News, Ethan Samuel Bronner turns 71… Editor, journalist and publisher of Hebrew media for U.S.-based Israeli readers, he is the author of several books and award-winning screenplays, Meir Doron turns 71… Staff cartoonist for The New Yorker, where she has published more than 1,000 cartoons, Roz Chast turns 71… Israeli reporter and writer, Ari Shavit turns 68… Mayor of Miami Beach, Fla., from 2017-2023, prior to that he served in both houses of the Florida Legislature, Daniel Saul Gelber turns 65… District Attorney of Los Angeles County, Nathan Joseph Hochman turns 62… Former professional tennis player, he won three singles and one doubles title on the ATP Tour, Jay Berger turns 59… CEO and founder of Dansdeals, a credit card and travel blog, Daniel Eleff turns 41… Editor-in-chief of W Magazine, Sara Anne Moonves turns 41… Software engineer at Regard, Benjamin Huebscher… Executive director of Agudath Israel of Ohio, Rabbi Eric “Yitz” Frank… Executive director at the Council for a Secure America, Jennifer Sutton… Senior counselor at Palantir Technologies, Jordan Chandler Hirsch… Television and film actress, Anjelica Bette Fellini turns 31…

• In New York, former Israeli hostage Emily Damari will sit in conversation this evening with Noa Tishby at Temple Emanu-El.
• The Jewish Institute for National Security of America’s U.S.-Israel national security summit begins today in Aventura, Fla.
• On the heels of last night’s election, New York Democrats are heading to Puerto Rico today for the 2025 Somos Conference. Will you be there? JI’s Matthew Kassel will be covering the conference — say hello if you see him.
• The two-day SALT conference kicks off today in London. Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci are among the speakers at the fintech-focused summit.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Democrats scored sweeping victories across the country yesterday, with moderate lawmakers comfortably winning governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, while a democratic socialist prevailed in the closely watched New York City mayoral contest. California overwhelmingly voted to redistrict its congressional maps, a response to efforts in some red states to reconfigure congressional maps to give the GOP an edge. 

The results underscore the widespread backlash to President Donald Trump’s polarizing governance in the first year of his second term in office, and indicate the likelihood that Democrats have momentum heading into next year’s midterm elections, where the party is looking to retake control of at least one branch of Congress.

In Virginia, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee, easily defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, the sitting lieutenant governor, by a double-digit margin (57-43%), bringing in a sizable Democratic majority in the state’s House of Delegates. Her victory was so sweeping that the Democrats’ scandal-plagued attorney general nominee Jay Jones, who was under fire for texts he sent several years ago wishing political violence against GOP colleagues, narrowly prevailed over the Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican.

In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) comfortably prevailed over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, outperforming polls suggesting a close race. With most of the vote reporting, Sherrill leads by a whopping 13-point margin, 56-43%. In Bergen County, a bellwether county with a significant Jewish population, Sherrill won over 55% of the vote, a dominant performance illustrating the breadth of her support.

In New York City, DSA-aligned Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani prevailed over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent, though by a narrower margin than polling suggested. Mamdani leads Cuomo by eight points, 50-42%, with Republican Curtis Sliwa only winning 7% of the vote. The outcome suggested that many GOP voters ended up switching their support to Cuomo, who won a last-minute endorsement from Trump.

The Jewish vote in New York City went heavily for Cuomo, 60-31%, according to the exit polling, but Mamdani won nearly one-third support despite a long record of anti-Israel hostility and refusal to condemn “globalize the intifada” rhetoric, among other positions that alienated the mainstream Jewish community.

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

Mamdani and the Machers: The New York Times’ Nicholas Fandos reports on New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s meetings with high-profile figures, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he looked to shore up support in the weeks prior to his election. “The [NYPD chief] appointment would be one of the most significant he would make, and Mr. Mamdani needed to know he would have a partner to implement a series of progressive reforms he had pitched for the Police Department. Ultimately, both Ms. Hochul and Mr. Mamdani came around. … Mr. Bloomberg had privately told associates over the summer he was done with Mr. Cuomo after spending more than $8 million to back him in the primary. Mr. Mamdani left the meeting thinking he had done enough to keep it that way. He was wrong. Angry over Mr. Mamdani’s comments on Israel and worried about his inexperience, Mr. Bloomberg ultimately sent $5 million to two super PACs attacking Mr. Mamdani and re-upped his endorsement of Mr. Cuomo — but did so only six days before Election Day.” [NYTimes]

No to the Groypers: In The Wall Street Journal, Ben Shapiro argues that the conservative movement in the U.S. is “at a crossroads” amid an ideological split within the Republican Party over its embrace of Tucker Carlson and platforming of Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. “The Republican Party, like the Democratic Party before it, is at risk of being eaten alive by fringe actors. To allow it is both morally unjustifiable and politically obtuse. Americans reject this garbage. If Republicans cower before Nazi apologists and their popularizers, the GOP will lose — and deserve to. Our answer must be no. No to the groypers and their publicists like Mr. Carlson. No to demoralization. No to bigotry and antimeritocratic nonsense. No to anti-Americanism. This is our country, our party and our conservative movement. We can’t stand by while it is fractured by those who betray our most fundamental principles. If we lose the right, then we will surely lose to the left — and either way, we will lose our country.” [WSJ]

If Rabin Were Alive…: In The Atlantic, Dennis Ross, who worked closely with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin while serving as the White House’s chief Middle East negotiator during the mid-1990s, considers how Rabin might have approached some of the country’s current challenges. “Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack and Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza have produced a mutual animosity that won’t soon disappear. But a more promising factor has also emerged: Arab states finally seem ready to assume some responsibility for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. … If Rabin were alive, he would spot this strategic opening and try to seize it. He would see in Trump’s 20-point peace plan an opportunity to rebuild a better Gaza and create a coalition with Arab states to oppose Iran and extremist forces in the region. Rabin would understand that Israel has to make some concessions to Palestinians in order to enhance the prospects of a regional coalition. But he would also require Palestinians to do their part by ensuring security and reforming the Palestinian Authority.” [TheAtlantic]

ABCs of Gaza Aid: In The Washington Post, Stony Brook University professor Todd Pittinsky calls for conditioning reconstruction aid to Gaza on education reforms in the enclave. “Every generation in Gaza grows up memorizing the language of martyrdom. Schools, summer camps, mosques and media channels work in concert to instill an uncompromising worldview: violence is virtuous, compromise is weakness and the annihilation of Israel is a sacred duty. Hamas’s rockets are the visible expression of decades of indoctrination of the next generation. Gaza’s children are the victims of this violent ideology. Few parents in London, Paris or Washington would tolerate their child being taught that violence is noble or that neighbors are subhuman. Yet the international community has subsidized precisely that curriculum for Palestinian children — and then has acted shocked when violence perpetuates itself. It’s time for that to end.” [WashPost]

President Donald Trump renominated Jared Isaacman to be NASA director, six months after pulling the Elon Musk ally’s initial nomination amid a spat with Musk…

The White House is seeking a full repeal of existing sanctions on Syria ahead of President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s meeting with Trump in Washington on Monday…

The Pentagon is advancing its consideration of a request from Saudi Arabia to purchase up to four dozen F-35 fighter jets; at a Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Israeli Security Cabinet member Avi Dichter said Israel is having discussions in Washington in which it is “shedding light on the threats” of the potential sale…

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is mulling a challenge to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA); if she enters the race, Pressley will also face Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who announced his bid for the seat last month…

The Justice Department ended its antitrust investigation into Assaf Rappaport’s Wiz, clearing a key hurdle in Google’s effort to purchase the cybersecurity company for $32 billion…

Millennium Management CEO Israel “Izzy” Englander sold roughly 15% — valued at $2 billion — of his stake in the company the 77-year-old founded in 1989…

The Telegraph reports on a leaked BBC memo regarding the findings of an internal investigation by Michael Prescott, who until June was an independent external advisor for the network; Prescott’s 19-page report found “systemic problems” in BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, which he said “pushed Hamas lies” and “minimised Israeli suffering”…

The New York Times interviews Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov about the torture and solitary confinement she endured over the two and a half years she was a hostage of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group in Iraq…

The U.N. Security Council voted to approve a resolution backing Morocco’s claim to the Western Sahara; the U.S., which led the measure, and 10 other countries voted in favor, while Russia, China and Pakistan abstained and Algeria voted no…

Israel received the remains of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, the last remaining American hostage, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while stationed along the Gaza border…

The Knesset is moving forward with legislation that would increase government oversight of the country’s media outlets…

Iran freed two French nationals who had been imprisoned in the country for more than three years; the couple had faced decades in prison after being convicted of espionage…

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said that Iran must “seriously improve” its cooperation with nuclear inspectors, who have not been permitted to access the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities that were damaged during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June…

Stanley Chesley, a class-action lawyer and philanthropist who prioritized Jewish causes and projects in his hometown of Cincinnati, died at 89, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…

Julie Fishman Rayman (right), the American Jewish Committee’s senior vice president of policy and political affairs, interviewed the Department of Justice’s Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division, on Tuesday at AJC’s National Leadership Council Advocacy Fly-In in Washington.

Israeli singer and survivor of the Nova Music Festival, she won second place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, Yuval Raphael turns 25…

Singer, poet and actor, best known as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, Art Garfunkel turns 84… Co-founder and chairman of Rexford Industrial Realty, Richard Ziman turns 83… Television and film critic, Jeffrey Lyons turns 81… French public intellectual, media personality and author, Bernard-Henri Lévy turns 77… Economist and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University where he remains a University Professor, Jeffrey Sachs turns 71… Israeli ceramic artist and sculptor, Daniela Yaniv-Richter turns 69… Psychologist and wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu turns 67… Director at The Gottesman Fund, Diane Bennett Eidman… Music producer and entertainment attorney, Kevon Glickman… Former prime minister of Israel, now leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid turns 62… Former regional director of AJC New York, now CEO at Healthcare Foundation of NJ, Michael Schmidt… Research division director for JewishGen USA, Ellen Shindelman Kowitt turns 58… Senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes turns 56… Host, anchor and correspondent for CBS News and CBS Sports, Dana Jacobson turns 54… General counsel of The Jewish Theological Seminary, Keath Blatt… Jerusalem-born pianist, she has performed with major orchestras worldwide, Orli Shaham turns 50… Director at the Domestic Policy Council in the first six months of the Trump 47 administration, now director  of federal education policy at America First Policy Institute, Max Eden turns 37… CEO and organizer of Los Angeles-based Aesthetics and Edits, Tara Khoshbin… Legal correspondent at Business Insider, Jacob Shamsian… Legislative assistant for Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Talia Katz…

• The World Zionist Congress continues today in Jerusalem. We’re monitoring efforts by the center-left and center-right blocs to broker a coalition agreement that will determine control over national institutions. Voting on dozens of resolutions and amendments that was previously slated for Thursday — including one resolution regarding Haredi military enlistment — was moved to today in an effort to avoid planned protests outside Jerusalem’s convention center by members of the Haredi community.
• Tonight in Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is holding its annual gala. This year’s gala will honor former Rep. David Trone (D-MD) and his wife, June; JCRC Vice President Behnam Dayanim; and Eva Davis, the co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Network Council.
• The Future Investment Initiative summit continues today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. More below.
• The two men convicted earlier this year for their roles in an Iran-backed assassination plot targeting Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad will be sentenced today in New York. Prosecutors are seeking 55-year sentences for the two men, who are believed to have ties to the Russian mafia.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S EMILY JACOBS AND MATTHEW SHEA

The tenuous ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that had threatened to collapse earlier this week following repeated Hamas violations, including the killing of an IDF soldier in Rafah, and a series of Israeli strikes that killed dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip last night was restored on Wednesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces announced that in accordance with a directive from political leaders, it had renewed enforcement of the ceasefire. The army said it had hit dozens of terror targets and struck over 30 terrorists holding command positions within terrorist organizations operating in Gaza.

Israel had protested to the White House over what it says are multiple violations of the deal by Hamas — including the terror group’s slow-walking of its return of the bodies of the 13 remaining hostages and its staging of the discovery of additional remains of a hostage whose body was repatriated by the IDF in December 2023. But Trump administration officials, who were presented with evidence of the staging, including drone footage, reportedly told aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they didn’t view Hamas’ actions as a breach of the agreement.

But in comments to reporters on Air Force One heading to Seoul, South Korea, President Donald Trump backed the Israeli strikes. “They killed an Israeli soldier, so the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit,” Trump said. “Hamas is a small thing, but they kill people. They grew up killing people, and I guess they don’t stop.”

The ceasefire’s temporary lapse did not surprise some on Capitol Hill. “You’re going to see a lot of this,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Jewish Insider of the renewed skirmishes in Gaza. “I mean, the Hamas soldiers are not terribly civilized, and the fact that there’s a ceasefire is of no moment to many of them. You’re periodically going to see them continue to shoot at the Israeli soldiers, and when they do, the Israeli soldiers are going to shoot back and kill them.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he felt it was “entirely appropriate” that Israel struck Hamas targets in order to protect Israeli forces. “If Hamas is attacking them, violating, obviously, the ceasefire and attacking IDF soldiers, Israel has been very clear: If you shoot us, we’re going to actually stop you,” the Oklahoma Republican said.

Democrats who spoke to JI on Tuesday were less critical of Hamas’ repeated violations and focused on Jerusalem’s actions. “My question is: Is he trying to undo the deal?” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) asked of Netanyahu. “If he’s trying to undo the deal, then he’s got another problem, which is [that] they [the U.S.] want more nations in the Abraham Accords, and those nations have said we’re not coming in unless there is a path forward to Palestinian autonomy.”

Gaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, predicted that the breakout of strikes was an isolated episode that would be “contained,” calling this week’s escalation “concerning but not surprising.” Ceasefires, al-Omari added, “take a while to solidify and stabilize, whether because of accidents or because the sides testing the limits of the ceasefire.” 

Read more here for additional reactions from the Hill and insights from Middle East experts.

Eye on Iraq: The Atlantic’s Robert Worth looks at how Iraq is managing its relationships with both the U.S. and Iran as Iranian-backed companies and groups gain footholds in the once war-torn country. “Iran has taken a beating from both the United States and Israel over the past year, and its vaunted ‘Axis of Resistance’ lies in ruins. Iraq finds itself in the uncomfortable position of being the Islamic Republic’s last major ally in the region and an economic lifeline for its cash-starved regime. President Donald Trump has said nothing about this relationship, even as he’s continued to try to choke off Iran’s economy with sanctions. … Recent American presidents have reluctantly accepted the limits of Iraq’s political system, pressing Iraqi leaders to distance themselves from Tehran but avoiding the kinds of measures that would tilt the country back into open conflict. Trump, who is not known for his patience with diplomatic compromise, may take a different approach.” [TheAtlantic]

Ink Stain: The New York Times’ Tressie McMillan Cottom weighs in on the willingness of some Democratic officials’ to overlook concerns about Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s tattoo of a Nazi symbol. “I don’t particularly care about the symbols people use to signal their membership in a group. Maybe you do need a terrifying tattoo to be a real Marine. And maybe sometimes that terrifying tattoo might resemble Nazi iconography. If you are willing to accept that from a distance, as many Democrats say they are, a person may not be able to tell the real symbol of hate from its doppelgänger, that is for you to live with. But, I do care about the political trade-offs we will ask people to make in the name of pragmatism. If the Democratic future requires us to exchange our discomfort with casual Nazism to advance a political agenda, I am not interested.” [NYTimes]

Erdogan’s Ambitions: In Foreign Policy, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Sinan Ciddi and William Doran explore Turkey’s role as a major arms supplier across Africa. “Alongside its diplomatic surge, Turkey has emerged as a major arms supplier. Turkish drone and small-arms exports have surged, while its military footprint — both through the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkish private military companies — has expanded rapidly. These arms exports exacerbate instability in African states facing civil wars, routinely violating international sanctions and ending up in the hands of malicious regional actors. [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan views Africa as an arena where Turkey can meet regional security demands while enhancing its diplomatic standing, military prestige, and market access. Arms sales form the backbone of this ambition.” [ForeignPolicy]

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) will introduce a resolution this week affirming Israel’s sovereignty over the Temple Mount, a sacred site for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and demanding equal freedom of worship for all, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs has learned… 

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is mulling a bid for governor of New York, is releasing a book that does a deep dive into what she describes as “far-left indoctrination, division, and moral rot” in higher education; Poisoned Ivies, which was born out of Stefanik’s now-viral grilling of university presidents during a December 2023 Capitol Hill hearing, will be published in April 2026…

Tarek Bazrouk, an anti-Israel activist who attacked Jews at Israel demonstrations in New York City on three separate occasions over the last two years, was sentenced to 17 months in prison…

Authorities in Alabama arrested a man who had issued threats against Jewish institutions in the state; officials said Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker had been stockpiling ammunition, body armor and “other items related to the plans of violence”…

Several members of the Muslim Student Association at a Fairfax County, Va., high school were suspended following an outcry over the group’s posting of videos of students imitating hostage-taking…

Violinist Itzhak Perlman will appear as the featured guest on the next episode of The Food Network’s “Be My Guest with Ina Garten,” airing this weekend…

The New York Times reviews Barak Goodman’s new two-part documentary “Kissinger,” about former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s life and career, which debuted this week on PBS…

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen said that the ice cream company’s parent Unilever prevented the ice cream maker from creating a “flavor for Palestine” and that he would make his own watermelon-flavored ice cream instead…

British Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis spoke to Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday outside of the Vatican as the Holy See marked the 60th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate that reshaped Catholic-Jewish relations…

The children of a Jewish-German couple that fled Nazi Germany in 1936 and was unable to recoup the proceeds of the sale of their art collection, which was forfeited to the Nazis, are suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Greek museum over Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 “Olive Picking,” which had belonged to their parents and is now on display at the Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens…

More than 150 Hamas terrorists who were recently released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire were reportedly moved from the luxury resort in Cairo in which they were staying, following a report earlier this week that the released prisoners were being housed in a hotel alongside tourists…

Writer Barbara Gips, who crafted the taglines for dozens of movies including “Alien” and “Fatal Attraction,” died at 89…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the 39th World Zionist Congress, at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem, last night. 

Emmy Award-winning television producer, writer and actor, best known for NBC’s “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” Michael Schur turns 50… 

Haifa, Israel-born director and screenwriter of animated and live-action films including “The Lord of the Rings,” Ralph Bakshi turns 87… Dean emeritus of the Yale School of Management, he has served in the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Clinton administrations, Jeffrey E. Garten turns 79… Academy Award-winning actor, who played Yoni Netanyahu in the 1976 film “Victory at Entebbe,” Richard Dreyfuss turns 78… Retired CEO of the Center for the National Interest and publisher of its namesake foreign policy magazine, The National Interest, Dimitri Simes turns 78… Former director of the social justice organizing program at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Mordechai Eliyahu Liebling turns 77… Pulitzer Prize-winning author and editor of The New Yorker since 1998, David Remnick turns 67… Bernard Greenberg… Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Phoenix, Dana Evan Kaplan turns 65… Author, satirist and public speaker, Evan Sayet turns 65… Classical pianist, Susan Merdinger turns 63… Sports agent who has negotiated over $10 billion of player contracts, Drew Rosenhaus turns 59… Actor who appeared in 612 episodes of daytime soap opera “As the World Turns,” his mother, Rina Plotnik, served in the IDF, Grayson McCouch turns 57… Screenwriter and film director based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Andrea Dorfman turns 57… Mathematician, cryptologist and computer scientist, Daniel J. Bernstein turns 54… Israeli collaborative artist, designer and photographer, Moshe Hacmon turns 48… VP for strategic communications and business development at Anchorage-based Northern Compass Group, Rachel Barinbaum… Jockey who has won more than 1,740 races with earnings of more than $67.6 million, David Cohen turns 41… Marketing director for Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group, Leigh Shirvan Helfenbein… Senior product manager at Audible, Samantha Zeldin… Former national spokesperson for the Harris Walz campaign, now an AVP for public affairs at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, Seth Schuster… Ph.D. candidate in Russian and East European history at Harvard, Leora Eisenberg… Booking producer at NBC Universal’s “The Beat with Ari Melber,” David Siegel…

• We’re keeping an eye on the situation in the Middle East and Washington following Israel’s targeting of senior Hamas officials in Doha yesterday. More below.
• The California Senate’s Education Committee is holding a hearing this afternoon on AB 715, legislation meant to address antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools. One of the legislators supporting the bill told The Jewish News of Northern California that the text had become “narrower” after the bill’s backers “compromised on numerous things with our colleagues who expressed concerns” over the legislation.
• Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Ari Berman will serve as the Senate’s guest chaplain today. C-SPAN’s Howard Mortman, author of When Rabbis Bless Congress, notes that Berman, who delivered the benediction at President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, will become the third rabbi to have prayed both in Congress and during a presidential inauguration.
• Elsewhere on Capitol Hill today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s subcommittee on early childhood, elementary and secondary education is holding a hearing on antisemitism in K-12 schools. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Brandy Shufutinsky, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s Rachel Lerman, Defending Education’s Nicole Neily and T’ruah’s Rabbi Jill Jacobs are slated to testify.
• Brandeis University is unveiling its “New Vision for American Higher Education” this afternoon at the National Press Club. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is slated to speak at the event. Across town, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is speaking at a Heritage Foundation event focused on the Muslim Brotherhood.
• The American Jewish Committee is holding an event this morning marking the upcoming fifth anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords.
• This afternoon, the Jewish Democratic Council of America is hosting “Israel and Gaza: Two Years Later and What Comes Next” with Israel Policy Forum’s Michael Koplow.
• Elsewhere in DC, the National Union for Democracy in Iran and MEAD are continuing their conference in Washington today.
• Some MEAD attendees are heading to Israel for the Jefferies TechTrek conference in Tel Aviv, which kicked off with a welcome reception last night. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, Paul Singer, Bill Ackman, Shaun Maguire and Dan Loeb are among those gathered for Jefferies.
• The Climate Solutions Prize Tour kicks off today in the United Arab Emirates, before moving to Israel on Sunday.
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in London today for a two-day visit.
• In Canada, “The Road Between Us,” about Israeli Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon’s efforts to rescue his son’s family from their Gaza envelope home on Oct. 7, 2023, will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, after it was previously removed from the slate of films over what organizers said was a failure to get Hamas to approve the use of its videos of the attacks.
• In Pennsylvania, representatives from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will deliver a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Talya Lubit, who pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy and defacing and damaging Chabad of Squirrel Hill.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS AND Lahav harkov

Nearly a day after an Israeli airstrike targeted a meeting of high-level Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, there are more questions than answers, both in Jerusalem and Washington. Israel has not confirmed which officials were killed in the strike, while Hamas has said that five officials from the group, including the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, were killed in addition to a member of the Qatari security forces. 

Israeli reports earlier today indicate that the strike did not kill the most senior echelon of the terror group, which for years has been based in Qatar, a U.S. ally.

Amid ongoing uncertainty over the success of the strike, the operation was met with rare condemnation from the White House, first from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and then from President Donald Trump himself, who said he “was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect” — perhaps, in part, because the operation is not believed to have taken out the most senior Hamas officials.

But it was Trump himself who said over the weekend on his Truth Social site that he had “warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting” the ceasefire and hostage-release deal that had been put forward by the U.S.

At the same time that Trump officials, including the president, were criticizing the operation, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee was embracing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the U.S. Embassy’s belated Independence Day celebration in Jerusalem, where the prime minister addressed a smaller group of VIPs attending the party.

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

Empty Gestures: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers the ramifications of the “gesture politics” that politicians and activists engage in around the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “What, then, do these gestures accomplish? The legitimate needs of the Palestinian people are these: an end to this war; an end to being dragged into future wars by Hamas; an end to the chronic misgovernance of the Palestinian Authority; the establishment of a self-governing political order that improves the lives of Palestinians without endangering the lives of Israelis; the eventual creation, under conditions of mutual trust, of a Palestinian state. Immediate recognition of such a state advances none of this. It is the proverbial cart before the horse. France and its fellow travelers aren’t aiming to do much to help actual Palestinians. Mainly, they seek to congratulate themselves. Countries achieve irrelevance when moral onanism takes the place of serious policy as the principal instrument of national policy.” [NYTimes]

Bullish Economy: In The Wall Street Journal, Nimrod Sapir considers why Israel’s economy has “defied expectations and displayed remarkable resilience” over nearly two years of war and growing international isolation. “Demographics further bolster Israel’s prospects: a growing, youthful labor force. Israel has the highest population growth rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, and that growth goes far beyond the Haredi and Arab sectors. Surging global demand for Israeli defense systems likewise strengthens the export base and opens new markets. Israel’s military achievements — particularly in neutralizing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and diminishing threats from its proxies — are reshaping the geopolitical landscape. For the first time in decades, investors can anticipate a gradual easing of geopolitical risks that have long weighed heavily on Israel’s economic potential.” [WSJ]

New Stage of War: The Free Press‘ Jay Solomon spotlights Qatar’s years of engaging in “one of the Middle East’s most dangerous games of double-dealing” by hosting Hamas officials as it benefits from its allyship with Western nations. “Israel’s attack on Qatari soil, and the U.S.’s connivance, marks the crossing of another boundary in the Jewish state’s two-year war with Hamas, sparked by the October 7 attack. … Israel’s attack inside Qatar may open a new chapter of direct conflict between Netanyahu’s government and the Al Thanis, though likely not involving their militaries. Qatar is one of the world’s richest nations per capita and possesses vast resources to challenge the legitimacy of the state of Israel through Doha’s global media operations, including the Al Jazeera television network and support for international bodies like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.” [FreePress]

Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrapped up a bipartisan delegation to Italy, Tunisia and Morocco…

Democrat James Walkinshaw is won the special election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, succeeding Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who died earlier this year and for whom Walkinshaw served as chief of staff until 2019…

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is slated to travel to the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly later this month; al-Sharaa, who will speak to the gathering on Sept. 24, is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the annual confab…

Northwestern University announced the hiring of Henry Bienen to succeed outgoing President Michael Schill; Bienen previously led the school from 1995-2009, during which time he spearheaded the launch of Northwestern’s campus in Qatar…

The FBI is investigating threats made to several Pittsburgh-area Jewish organizations, including the Tree of Life… 

Police in Oregon are searching for an individual who spray-painted swastikas on the Oregon Jewish Holocaust Museum earlier this summer…

Actress Scarlett Johansson said she intentionally cast Holocaust survivors in “Eleanor the Great,” her directorial debut, about an elderly American Jewish woman who assumes the childhood storyline of a deceased friend who had survived the Holocaust…

United Against Nuclear Iran CEO Mark Wallace sent a letter to the head of the U.S.-based Marriott International, inquiring about the hotel chain’s hosting of Hamas officials at the Ritz Carlton in Doha, Qatar…

The Wall Street Journal reports that Turkey and Egypt warned Hamas officials abroad in recent weeks to tighten security measures around their meetings…

Spain banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, amid rising tensions between Jerusalem and Madrid over the war in Gaza and a Spanish arms embargo on Israel…

Former National Security Council staffer Oliver North quietly married his former secretary, Fawn Hall, nearly four decades after the Iran-Contra affair both were involved in…

The son of a British couple detained since January in Iran said his parents’ situation is “dire” following their meeting with the British ambassador in Tehran…

The International Atomic Energy Agency reached an agreement with Iran to resume inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities, three months after cooperation ceased amid the 12-day Israel-Iran war…

Zachary Isakowitz, who previously worked at the Semiconductor Industry Association as head of government affairs and at the Treasury, is joining Nvidia as a director of government affairs.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (on guitar) and Paul Singer (on keyboard) jammed out to Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” at the embassy’s belated Independence Day celebration last night at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.

Writer, columnist and author of four New York Times bestsellers, Amity Ruth Shlaes turns 65…

Chairman of Shamrock Holdings, Roy Disney’s private investment company, Stanley Gold turns 83… Retired realtor in Southern California, Dianne Varon… Former EVP and general counsel at Chicago’s futures broker Rosenthal Collins Group, Gerald Fishman… Past president of Congregation Ahavas Israel in Passaic, N.J., Howard Penner… Retired coordinator at Truman Heartland Community Foundation, she had been a Hebrew teacher at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, Kan., Henri Goettel… Houston attorney, and Republican Party activist, Gary M. Polland turns 75… Denver attorney and politician, he served in the Colorado House of Representatives for eight years, Joel Judd turns 73… Executive assistant to the office managing partner of the E&Y office in Tampa, Nancy Carol Finkel… U.S. senator (R-WY), Cynthia Lummis turns 71… Retired VP at Goldman Sachs, now a part-time elementary school teacher, Matthew Fried… Real estate attorney in South Florida, Steven A. Greenspan… Award-winning journalist and author, he wrote a 2024 book on Bernie Madoff, Richard Behar… Former acting administrator of the DEA, now a senior counsel at D.C.’s Crowell & Moring, Charles Philip “Chuck” Rosenberg turns 65… Founder and managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, Andrew Shapiro… NYC trusts and estates attorney, Lawrence Ira Garbuz… Co-founder and partner of One Madison Group, Jonathan Soros turns 55… Television writer and producer whose work includes “The Big Bang Theory,” Eric Kaplan turns 54… Executive director of the Maryland/Mid-Atlantic region of Agudath Israel, Ariel Sadwin… Writer, actress and comedian, she was a writer for “Saturday Night Live,” Sarah Schneider turns 42… Principal at Blue Zone Partners and managing partner at Precision Infrastructure Management, Charles Szold… PR strategist, Josh Nass… Chief foreign correspondent for Fox News, his 2024 book, Black Saturday, covers the events of Oct. 7 and the war that followed, Trey Yingst turns 32… Jennifer Meyer…

• Texas Republicans are expected to move forward today on a mid-decade redistricting effort that would redraw the state’s congressional lines to benefit the GOP. Today’s vote was delayed by several weeks after Democratic legislators left the state to prevent a quorum for the vote to take place.
• Former Boston Red Sox player Kevin Youkilis is speaking about Jewish identity in sports at an Anti-Defamation League web event today kicking off the ADL’s “Game Changers” series.
• Palestinian writer and researcher Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, the director of the Atlantic Council’s Realign for Palestine program, is speaking today at Los Angeles’ Sinai Temple.
• U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner is in Israel today. Last night, he and his wife, Seryl, had dinner in Jerusalem with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet, at the ambassador’s residence.
• Israel is inaugurating its embassy in Zambia today.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

Israel is finalizing plans this week for a ground offensive into Gaza City, with the goal of having fully evacuated the city by the symbolic date of Oct. 7, 2025. Speaking at his weekly Sunday meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would “complete the victory” over Hamas. Tens of thousands of IDF reservists will begin receiving call-up notices today in preparation for the offensive.

The plans come amid a renewed push for Palestinian statehood, led by France and Saudi Arabia, that has seen a surge in support from global heads of state, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. 

Palestinian statehood efforts also have support in Congress, where Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is leading a group of House Democrats in calling on President Donald Trump to recognize a Palestinian state.

But both objectives — “total victory” over Hamas and Palestinian statehood — are at present incompatible with the realities on the ground.

Netanyahu has not wavered from his stated objective of “total victory” — even as he has yet to articulate, in practical terms, what that looks like — or how the Gaza City offensive will achieve it.

Outside of Israel, efforts to unilaterally recognize Palestinian statehood have ignored core challenges facing both Palestinian society and government, the former of which was plagued by antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric long before Oct. 7, 2023, and the latter of which has for decades been mired in corruption and nepotism and lacks the ground support needed for long-term stability.

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