• We’re continuing to watch the situation in the Middle East after Iran fired at U.S. installations in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain overnight, following what the U.S. described as “self-defense strikes” targeting Iranian radar and air-defense sites in response to Iran’s downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter with two crew members on board (both were rescued).
• Shortly after the U.S. strikes, President Donald Trump shared a clip from an episode of “The West Wing” in which the fictional President Jed Bartlet debates “the virtue of a proportional response.”
• Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi is in the United Arab Emirates today, where he’s slated to meet with senior officials in the Gulf state. He will travel to Israel over the weekend to formally inaugurate Hargeisa’s embassy in Jerusalem.
• Back in Washington, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to mark up the HEAL Act this morning.
• The annual Congressional Baseball Game is taking place this evening at Nationals Park, rain or shine.
• The Israel Allies Foundation is holding a belated Jerusalem Day reception this evening on Capitol Hill.
• In New York, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is holding its annual convening on antisemitism today.
• Elsewhere in New York, the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation is holding its annual gala tonight, where the group will honor New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and former Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot.
• The Democrats running in the NY-07 congressional race — Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City Councilmember Julie Won and New York state Assemblymember Claire Valdez — will square off tonight in a debate hosted by PIX 11.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Maine Democrats rallied behind scandal-plagued oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner as their Senate nominee against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Tuesday’s primary, turning to a left-wing outsider running against the political and institutional establishment as its standard-bearer for the general election. 

Platner — whose controversies, including his now-covered Nazi tattoo and abuse allegations, have unnerved many Democrats — will be a political test over whether his brand of progressive populism can win over swing voters in a state critical to the Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.

“In trying so hard to understand me, [the media] failed to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us, about the far too many, working far too hard and struggling far too much,” Platner said in his victory speech. 

Attacking “forever wars,” Platner railed against the Trump administration’s war in Iran, and slammed Collins for “closing hospitals while using our tax dollars to destroy them halfway around the world.” (The line was an apparent attack against Israel’s targeting of Hamas terror infrastructure that was often lodged in medical facilities during the war in Gaza.)

Platner won about 72% of the primary vote despite Gov. Janet Mills remaining on the ballot, a solid enough showing amid all the controversies that should mute any calls for him to drop out of the race. In a statement on Platner’s victory, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) reiterated their support for the nominee: “In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.” 

Mills, for her part, did not mention Platner at all in her statement about the election results.

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

Mae Alsalama: The Associated Press’ Melanie Lidman spotlights Avichay Adraee, who is retiring next week as the IDF’s first Arabic-language spokesperson, having pioneered the position more than two decades ago. “The military’s claim to have found Hamas infrastructure under a luxury hotel in Gaza made little impact, but Adraee said his satirical video of a Hamas leader leaving a Trip Advisor review for the tunnels was widely shared. He has sent birthday messages to singers and holiday greetings to Arab influencers, even exchanging public messages with Lebanese journalists who work for Hezbollah-linked outlets. ‘We want people to be exposed to the really important and serious messages, the information we’re trying to convince them of, but if you want them to remember you, you have to be more creative,’ he said.” [AP]

The Platner Paradigm: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens suggests that Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s candidacy could end the “inconsistent standards selectively applied” to fit certain political biases. “If Platner can pass muster among Democratic primary voters, then the differences between him and Donald Trump are mainly of degree, not of kind. You may still agree with Platner’s politics, and if you’re in Maine, you may still think he’s a better choice than Collins. What you can no longer do, at least not with any intellectual integrity, is to use moral litmus tests to try to disqualify political figures from the opposing party. To be fine with Platner, knowing what you know now, should also require burying #MeToo in the graveyard of discarded progressive shibboleths.” [NYTimes]

Bibi’s Blind Spot: The Wall Street Journal’s William Galston observes the steep drop in support for Israel among broad swaths of Americans. “More than a decade ago, Mr. Netanyahu abandoned his country’s longstanding policy of cultivating bipartisan American support and made a hard right turn toward the Republicans. Today, Republicans over 50 are the only demographic group to give him and his country majority support, even as controversy about American policy in the Middle East rises among younger Republicans, along with anti-Jewish attitudes on the MAGA right and the radical left. Here as elsewhere, Israel’s veteran prime minister has been tactically clever but strategically foolish, leading his country into a political cul de sac.” [WSJ]

Police the Platforms: In the Washington Times, Sander Gerber and Shawn Chenoweth call for the implementation of federal reforms to address malign behavior on social media platforms. “Algorithms do not distinguish between civic contributions and coordinated manipulation by U.S. adversaries. They optimize for attention. The result is a feedback loop that brings fringe narratives into the mainstream and, ultimately, sows national division. The risks are not just to our national security. They are also commercial. The issue is not what people are allowed to say; it is whether users and advertisers know who is speaking and how much of the apparent public reaction is real.” [WashingtonTimes]

President Donald Trump met with former Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski in the Oval Office on Tuesday; Braslavski, who was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza last October, had been unable to join a group of hostages who met with the president late last year, soon after the release of the remaining living hostages…

Senior officials in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reportedly told employees to expect widespread staff cuts in the coming months as part of Trump’s directive to interim DNI Bill Pulte to further shrink the office, which initially saw layoffs following outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation last year…

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) poured cold water on suggestions that he mount another presidential bid; Sanders, who will be 87 on Election Day 2028, said at a National Press Club event that he “suspect[s] that’s not going to happen”…

The Trump administration‘s plans for a $1.5 trillion defense budget seem increasingly shaky as top Senate Republicans on the Appropriations Committee said Tuesday that they do not believe a third reconciliation bill — expected to fund a portion of the defense budget, among other matters — can pass this year, even as House Republicans say they plan to charge ahead…

Speaking at an Agudath Israel of America event on Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said that the Department of Justice will soon file charges in another hate crime case targeting the Jewish community, adding that the DOJ is also looking into cases relating to antisemitic discrimination by local planning departments and commissions in the Northeast…

Progressive activist Randy Villegas, who is running to unseat Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) in California, claimed victory on Tuesday in the jungle primary over Jasmeet Bains, a moderate Democrat who had been favored by pro-Israel leaders as well as the party’s national leadership, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…

Some Democratic lawmakers are threatening to withhold their dues to the DCCC over its boosting of Bains, which included a $135,000 ad buy…

Politico reports that Sherif Soliman, who was tapped by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani earlier this year to head the city’s Office of Management and Budget, may have violated ethics laws when he briefed a group of Democratic Socialists of America members on the city’s finances…

Harvard University will expand its kosher food offerings following a $100 million gift from the Zimmer Family Foundation that will go in part to bringing kosher dining options to the school’s Eliot House; Stuart Zimmer, who made the donation with his wife, Jennifer, said they hoped “to ensure that every Jewish student feels genuinely welcomed and at home on campus”…

Jewish groups in the Tampa, Fla., area are joining calls for local officials to cancel two upcoming Kanye West shows in the city, amid a wave of cancellations of the rapper’s concerts in Europe tied to his past antisemitic rhetoric…

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for sending an antisemitic message to a Jewish public official in the state telling the official to “[g]o back to Israel or better yet, exterminate yourself and save us the trouble. … We will not stop until your kind is nonexistent”…

In response to the viral image of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg coming face-to-face with Jose Alvarado when the Knicks guard crashed into spectators during Monday night’s NBA Finals game, Bloomberg posted on X, “Great to meet NYC’s homegrown star, @AlvaradoJose15. But next time, Jose, just call me. Let’s go Knicks!”…

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow is the celebrity face of a new advertising campaign promoting Aviv Melisron’s 51 PARK development in Herzliya, Israel…

Berlin’s Babka & Krantz Jewish bakery shuttered its flagship shop, six months after the eatery, which was opened by Polish and Israeli immigrants, closed its second location; the owners cited, in part, “constant verbal abuse” faced by employees in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

New York-based real estate owners Michael and David Shabsels declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey last Thursday, both personally and under their umbrella group, Simad Holdings, a move that could affect thousands of Jewish campers just as the summer season is getting underway, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…

U.K. officials charged a fifth individual — a teenager — in connection with a March arson attack targeting Hatzola ambulances in the heavily Jewish London suburb of Golders Green…

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed that France had banned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, saying that the far-right Israeli official “actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank … [as well as] the creation of new settlements in the West Bank, [and] the recolonization of Gaza”…

The Associated Press does a deep dive into the tensions surrounding the unknown whereabouts of a Palestinian man with Ukrainian citizenship who had escaped Hezbollah custody in Beirut after having been accused by Lebanese officials of plotting attacks in the country; the disappearance of Khaled al-Aydi comes as Hezbollah cracks down on Israeli efforts to infiltrate the terror group…

Iran’s national football federation said that U.S. officials had revoked the ticket allocation for the team’s soccer fans planning to attend the Islamic Republic’s three U.S. matches…Oscar-winning costume designer Albert Wolsky, who as a teenager fled Nazi Europe and went on to accumulate scores of film credits, including “Sophie’s Choice” and “Grease,” died at 95…

Agudath Israel of America celebrated the retirement of Rabbi Abba Cohen (fourth from left), the longtime director of the group’s Washington office, and the opening of the group’s new D.C. headquarters near the Capitol. In addition, the organization announced at Tuesday’s event that Rabbi A.D. Motzen will be taking Cohen’s place as the new head of the Washington office.

Actor and the older sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman turns 60…Author of award-winning books about her experiences before, during and after the Holocaust, Aranka Davidowitz Siegal turns 96… Emmy Award-winning TV journalist who has worked for CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and PBS, he is the author of 14 books, Jeff Greenfield turns 83… Musician, producer, composer and conductor for film and television, Randy Edelman turns 79… Physical therapist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Andrea Sachs… Cathy Farbstein Miller… Senior director of communications for CoGenerate, Stefanie Weiss… Former attorney general and then governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer turns 67… Director of strategic accounts at Pharmacy Management Solutions, Avi H. Goldfeder… Blogger and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Neil Steinberg turns 66… Film, television and stage actor, Gina Gershon turns 64… President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), Michael Makovsky… Israeli film and TV Actor, Avital Abergel turns 49… Veteran of nine NFL seasons as an offensive tackle, he is now the athletic director of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mike Rosenthal turns 49… VP of strategic partnerships at the Birthright Israel Foundation and director of community education at NYC’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, Rabbi Daniel Kraus… Professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, Yascha Mounk turns 44… Economic commentator on Israel’s Channel 13, Matan Hodorov turns 41… Publisher of The New York Sun, he is also honorary chairman of The Algemeiner, Dovid Efune… Actor, producer, writer and director, Joseph Paul “Joey” Zimmerman turns 40… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, Tyler Gregory… Singer, composer and entertainer in the contemporary Jewish religious music industry, Simcha Leiner turns 37… CEO of NYC-based Encounter Programs, designed to transform communal engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Yona Shem-Tov… Belgian singer and songwriter, known as “Blanche,” Ellie Noa Blanche Delvaux turns 27…

• We’re awaiting the final results of yesterday’s runoffs in Texas, which saw Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton trounce Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and antisemitic sex therapist Maureen Galindo defeated in the Democratic primary in the state’s 35th Congressional District. More below.
• We’re monitoring the situation in Iran as the Islamic Republic begins to lift its monthslong internet blackout across the country. Reuters reported on Tuesday that the Pentagon clashed with Elon Musk’s Starlink after the satellite internet company raised the price of deploying direct-to-cell services as well as the cost of its satellite Wi-Fi network used by the Defense Department for its kamikaze drones.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan railed against Israel earlier today while making remarks on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al Adha, suggesting that “the tyrant known as [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu will learn the necessary lesson at the hands of the world’s Muslims.”

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

In last night’s Texas primary runoffs, Democrats successfully prevented a virulent antisemite from becoming the party’s nominee in a battleground House race, while voters also ousted one of the party’s longtime anti-Israel lawmakers for a younger, more pragmatic replacement. 

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was the decisive factor in Paxton’s sweeping victory over Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a widely respected pragmatic conservative who served for years in party leadership. 

The results painted a picture of a volatile electorate in both parties. A late push by the Democrats’ House campaign arm and the pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel helped prevent sex therapist Maureen Galindo, who advocated putting pro-Israel Jews in internment camps as part of her campaign message, from winning a valued nomination in Texas’ swing 35th Congressional District.

Johnny Garcia, a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy long touted by national Democrats as a top recruit, won the Democratic nomination by 28 points (64-36%) despite finishing in second place in the primary. He will face Republican Air Force veteran Carlos de la Cruz in the general election.

DMFI’s political action committee touted its role as an early endorser of Garcia’s campaign, and for being one of the first and few groups to raise the red flag on Galindo’s extreme views. In its victory statement, DMFI also condemned the efforts from a secretive GOP group to spend nearly $1 million on Galindo’s behalf, in hopes of elevating a more vulnerable Democratic candidate to the general election. 

On the positive side, an extremist was defeated thanks to leading Democratic Party organizations and officials rushing to condemn her candidacy. It’s a sign of how institutions can use their power to unify in speaking out against hate. On the other hand, she still won over one-third of the runoff vote despite the full-court press from Democrats to oppose her, a sign that it may take aggressive measures simply to stop a crank from prevailing.

Pro-Israel leaders also cheered the resounding defeat of Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who has alienated the Houston Jewish community with his anti-Israel votes in Congress in recent years and lackluster constituent services. Green lost by nearly 40 points to Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX), who was just elected to Congress in a neighboring district and was forced to run against his colleague as a result of redistricting.

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

Blow to Beijing: In The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Michael Singh posits that the war with Iran has revealed the limits of Beijing’s global influence. “[China] hasn’t come to the aid of its key economic partners like the U.A.E. Meanwhile, China’s relations with Iran, its supposed strategic partner, have been tenuous. Beijing has cautiously aided Tehran — buying oil and reportedly providing limited military support. Iran repaid the favor by seizing a Chinese vessel the same day President Trump and Mr. Xi met in Beijing. (Iran also fired on a Chinese vessel days before.) The moves indicated to both leaders exactly what Tehran thought of suggestions that China could force Iran to open the strait.” [WSJ]

Georgia on My Mind: The Washington Post’s editorial board raises concerns about the Republic of Georgia’s pivot to authoritarianism as the country increasingly aligns itself with American adversaries. “The United States’ once-stalwart ally in the region, Georgia, is increasingly turning anti-American. Its government, headed by the Georgian Dream party, has for years openly played footsie with Russia at the expense of its Western ties. Less well-known is that it has also been cultivating ties with Iran.” [WashPost]

Ceasefire in Name Only: In The New York Times, Lebanese writer Rana Hanna reflects on decades of failed ceasefires as a result of Hezbollah’s continued entrenchment in the country. “The state binds itself to agreements on behalf of an actor it can neither compel nor control. A Lebanese cease-fire is a document about the cessation of violence that leaves intact every internal mechanism that produced it. … Having lived all my life with war as the backdrop, I am hesitant to believe that things could change. But I need to. A cease-fire in Lebanon that ends the need for future cease-fires would have to happen on two planes. We would have to sign a peace treaty with our neighbors, and we would have to sign another with ourselves.” [NYTimes]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio tapped longtime advisor Mike Needham to serve as assistant to President Donald Trump and deputy national security advisor…

The Justice Department filed a third lawsuit against UCLA, alleging that the school violated Jewish students’ civil rights by being “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitism in the months after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, including the creation in spring 2024 of an anti-Israel encampment on the campus…

Republicans in both chambers of Congress are urging the Trump administration to move to permanently dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, with a new letter from House Republicans calling for a reworking of Palestinian refugee programs in the region, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

An appellate court granted Mahmoud Khalil a stay of a previous order that denied the former Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader a rehearing of his case as the Trump administration seeks to deport him…

CUNY School of Law once again featured anti-Israel activity at its commencement ceremony on Thursday, allowing antagonistic student activity during its graduation events for the fourth straight year, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Brooklyn’s Park Slope Coop voted by a 2-to-1 margin in favor of boycotting Israeli products, capping off a yearslong endeavor by activists to end the institution’s sales of Israeli-made items including olive oil, hair products and some brands of tahini…

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced it was filing a hate crime charge against a California man who was captured on security footage attacking a visibly Jewish man as he was walking home from synagogue; the victim said that the alleged assailant shouted “Free Palestine!” in the aftermath of the attack…

“CBS Evening News,” hosted by Tony Dokoupil, reached 4 million viewers last week as the Bari Weiss-led network newscast makes inroads against rivals ABC and NBC…

British authorities in Bath are conducting a new probe into social media posts from the former mayor of the city, who resigned after coming under fire for sharing content suggesting that the recent arson attack on Hatzola ambulances in the heavily Jewish London suburb of Golders Green was an “Israeli false flag operation”…

Jordanian-American tech entrepreneur Amjad Masad, who has frequently criticized Israel, was honored by Jordanian King Abdullah II…

The Financial Times reports on the challenges facing the Trump administration’s Board of Peace, which has not received much of the $17 billion in pledged funds for operations; the group received $3 million from Morocco and $20 million from the United Arab Emirates to support the office of Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov, while another $100 million was given by the UAE to fund a currently stalled police-training program…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the death of Hamas military head Mohammed Odeh in an IDF strike in Gaza City, 11 days after Odeh was tapped to succeed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was also killed in an Israeli strike…

The IDF formally dismissed Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the former military advocate-general, who last year admitted to leaking footage from the Sde Teiman detention center that allegedly showed the abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli forces…

Israeli carrier Israir is planning to launch a direct route between Israel and New York City this summer, joining Arkia and El Al, which currently operate regular long-haul flights from Ben Gurion Airport to New York; Israir’s entry into the market comes as U.S. carriers Delta and United continue to delay a resumption of flights to Israel following the outbreak of war with Iran…

The U.S. and Thailand are accelerating talks for the Southeast Asian country’s state-controlled energy company PTT PCL to purchase some $5.4 billion in U.S. energy products per year; the talks, which began last year, ramped up following the onset of the Iran war, as Qatar, which is second only to the U.S. in liquefied natural gas exports, faced extensive damage to its energy infrastructure…

Elbit CEO Bezhalel Machlis told Reuters that the defense contractor is in the process of developing hardware to thwart Hezbollah’s fiber-optic drones, which have evaded Israeli defensive systems and targeted both IDF soldiers and civilians in recent weeks…

Indian authorities said that Iran released 10 Indian sailors who had been imprisoned in the Islamic Republic since the Palau-flagged oil tanker they were on was seized by Iranian forces last July…

Loews Corp Chairman James Tisch was elected as the new co-chair of the Council for a Secure America…

Newspaper mogul Donald Newhouse, who headed Advance Publications’ newspaper division, died at 96…

World War II veteran and Holocaust survivor Ralph Brunn, 101, joined by U.S. Navy veteran Barry Steelman, threw out last night’s ceremonial first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles’ home game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards for Jewish Heritage Night. 

Stage, film and television actor and producer, Ben Feldman turns 46…

Professor emeritus at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, he is the author of over 80 books, Philip Kotler turns 95… Founder of Val d’Or Apparel and Cannon County Knitting Mills, Martin “Marty” Granoff turns 90… CEO of British real estate firm Heron International, he was knighted in 2024, Sir Gerald Ronson turns 87… Senior U.S. district judge for the Central District of California, Christina A. Snyder turns 79… Retired in 2014 as school rabbi and director of Jewish studies at The Rashi School, a K-8 Reform Jewish school in Dedham, Mass., Ellen Weinstein Pildis… Partner in the D.C. office of ArentFox Schiff, he wrote a book about the struggle for Jewish civil rights during the French Revolution, Gerard Leval turns 76… Analytical psychotherapist, author, and Jewish Renewal rabbi, Tirzah Firestone turns 72… Former MLB pitcher who played for the White Sox and Pirates, he is now a financial advisor at RBC Wealth Management, Ross Baumgarten turns 71… Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian and director, Richard Schiff turns 71… Owner of a 900-acre plant nursery in Kansas, he is a former MLB pitcher and was an MLB All Star in 1979 and 1982, Mark Clear turns 70… Marriage counselor, therapist and author, Sherry Amatenstein… U.S. ambassador to Argentina during the Biden administration, he served for six years as chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Marc R. Stanley turns 69… Beverly Hills-based immigration attorney, founder and chairman of the Los Angeles Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, Neil J. Sheff… EVP of talent and technology at Phibro Animal Health, Jonathan Bendheim… Chicago-based reporter at The New York Times, he was a Rhodes Scholar and then a longtime senior editor for The New Republic, Noam Scheiber… Director of development at the Livingston, N.J.-based Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy, Grant Silverstein… Science of Success columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Benjamin Zachary Cohen… Director of legislative affairs and policy at General Atomics, Katherina “Katya” Dimenstein… Assistant district attorney for Dallas County, Joshua A. Fitterman… Reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer since 2012, Andrew Seidman… Emily Cohen… 

• The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on the Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The vote comes a day after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who last week fell short in his reelection bid after President Donald Trump endorsed an opponent, flipped his vote to advance a similar Democratic-led measure in the Senate. More below.
• The House Education Committee’s subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions is holding a hearing this morning on antisemitism in the healthcare field, with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s Deena Margolies, Dr. Jacob Agronin, Bend the Arc CEO Jamie Beran and American Jewish Medical Association CEO Eveline Shekhman set to testify. Read more here.
• Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) is among those slated to speak at a hearing being convened this morning by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the State Department’s budget request for its adjacent entities.
• The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the Southern Poverty Law Center in a session titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate.”
• Elsewhere in Washington this morning, the Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Combat Antisemitism Movement and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History are hosting a congressional breakfast to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month. Sam Salz, who in 2022 became one of the only Orthodox Jews to play Division I college football when he walked on to Texas A&M’s team, will give the breakfast’s keynote address.
• Down Pennsylvania Ave., the Hudson Institute is holding an event with Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, on modernizing public diplomacy to address global challenges. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is slated to give introductory remarks at the event.
• The Federalist Society is hosting its inaugural Legislative Branch Summit today in Washington.
• In Israel, the Knesset unanimously advanced a bill to dissolve the body, which if passed would automatically trigger elections, which are slated to take place no later than October 27. The bill will still need to go through several more readings and votes before it is passed.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Pro-Israel and Republican Jewish groups helped oust one of their leading GOP antagonists on Tuesday night, aligning with President Donald Trump to defeat Rep.Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the most expensive House primary in recent memory. 

Ed Gallrein, a military veteran and farmer recruited by the Trump White House to challenge Massie, decisively defeated the congressman by 10 points, 55-45%. Massie, a libertarian lawmaker who long cast lonely Republican votes against Israel funding and resolutions condemning antisemitism, increasingly trafficked in bigoted rhetoric in the closing weeks of the campaign. 

In his concession speech, Massie continued his antisemitic vitriol against his opponent, telling the crowd: “I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.” Even though Trump’s outspoken opposition was the leading factor behind his demise, he routinely blamed Jewish and pro-Israel donors like Miriam Adelson for costing him his seat and insinuated that Israel was buying seats in Congress. 

Massie first drew the ire of Trump for voting against his “big beautiful” reconciliation bill last year, and the anger was exacerbated by his work with Democrats to force the Department of Justice to release all of the files involving Jeffrey Epstein. 

Outside groups, including a Trump-aligned super PAC (MAGA KY) and those affiliated with the Republican Jewish Coalition, AIPAC and Christians United for Israel, spent aggressively with ads and billboards attacking Massie over his record, with several pointing out his opposition to Israel and Trump’s foreign policy.

Massie’s defeat also underscores Trump’s strong and continued support within the party, with his endorsements in primaries almost always translating into his candidate’s victory. His opposition to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) led to his defeat last week, and he successfully ousted most of the Indiana GOP state senators who opposed his redistricting efforts.

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

Narrative War: Days after The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof published a piece alleging numerous abuses of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli security officials, Kristof’s colleague on the Opinion desk, Bret Stephens, observes the documented history of news outlets publishing falsehoods about Israel without basic fact-checking. “The common thread in these and many other stories is that they all involve strenuous, if ultimately embarrassed, efforts to prove that Israelis deliberately seek to kill the innocent and maim the vulnerable, apparently for no other reason than gratuitous cruelty. This isn’t a matter of reporters’ impartially trying to expose wrongdoing wherever they find it — if that were the case, the errors wouldn’t invariably lean in the same ideological direction. It isn’t speaking truth to power. It’s feeding narratives to the credulous.” [NYTimes]

Drawing Down Aid: In The Wall Street Journal, the American Enterprise Institute’s Daniel Samet argues in favor of winding down U.S. aid to Israel, calling it a “political liability” that could affect the future of the relationship between the countries. “Military aid to Israel, which Washington began supplying in significant amounts during the 1960s, has been a sound investment. The U.S. has financed a reliable ally that fights and wins wars against America’s enemies. Yet Israel no longer commands the affection of the American people as widely as it once did. Ending military assistance is a political imperative in changing times.” [WSJ]

U.S. forces in the Indian Ocean seized an Iran-linked oil tanker that had been under U.S. sanctions since March; the vessel was believed to be carrying upwards of a million barrels of crude oil that was loaded earlier this year from Iran’s Kharg Island…

The New York Times reports on an Israeli-developed plan, backed by the U.S., for former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was under house arrest in Tehran, to be installed as the leader of Iran; the plan reportedly fell apart after the hard-liner was injured on the first day of the war in a strike intended to free him from house arrest and, per the Times, “became disillusioned with the regime change plan”…

Ahmadinejad biographer and Israeli analyst Meir Javedanfar dismissed the report, calling it “a disinformation campaign initiated by those that tried to assassinate him”; Javedanfar said that the “disinformation is being used to create chaos within the ranks of the Islamic Republic of Iran” following what he described as “an assassination attempt gone wrong”… 

Iranian state media reported that Tehran had offered a new proposal to the U.S. that would include the withdrawal of U.S. troops from areas near Iran, an end to hostilities targeting both Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon and reparations for damages the regime sustained in the recent war…

The United Arab Emirates said that three drones that targeted the country’s nuclear power plant over the weekend originated from Iraq, deepening speculation that Iran, which backs militias in the country, was behind the attack…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the challenges facing Kuwait following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has halted the Gulf state’s ability to ship crude oil…

President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Tuesday, dealing a significant blow to Cornyn’s bid for a fifth term, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…

Former CIA officer Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, an ally of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, is departing her senior roles at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Management and Budget to return to the private sector…

The Senate passed a resolution honoring Jewish American Heritage Month by unanimous consent…

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), responding to Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) primary defeat, said that Massie “lost because he had the guts to stand up to the Epstein class and against the war”; the California Democrat, who is mulling a 2028 presidential bid, said he welcomed “voters who feel rejected by Trump,” pledging to “build a movement to stand for Team America”…

The South Carolina Statehouse approved a new congressional map that would eliminate the district represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the state’s only Democratic district; the new map will next head to the state Senate for a vote…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has in recent days held a series of meetings and listening sessions with Wall Street executives, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, after Mamdani angered business leaders by filming a video outside the home of Citadel’s Ken Griffin in which the mayor announced a plan to tax second homes in the city…

Police in New York are investigating the death of a Jewish bakery owner and former Hatzolah volunteer whose body was found in the Queens neighborhood of Flushing after he was shot in the neck and back…

The Strokes announced that guitarist Nick Valensi, who is Jewish, won’t be participating in the band’s upcoming summer tour, weeks after Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said on the “SubwayTakes” web series that “American Zionists get the benefits of white privileged people, but talk like they are Black people during slavery”…

Mohamed Hagi, Somaliland‘s newly arrived ambassador to Israel, announced that Hargeisa planned to open its embassy in the country in Jerusalem…

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed that the International Criminal Court was seeking a warrant for his arrest; the ICC would not comment on the claim, saying that requests for warrants are confidential…

In what he said was a response to the ICC’s request for a warrant, Smotrich threatened to evict residents of the West Bank Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar…

Comedy writer Barry Blaustein, a longtime collaborator of comedian Eddie Murphy who worked on the screenplays of “Coming to America” and “The Nutty Professor,” died at 71…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who is in Prague this week for meetings with senior officials, announced the launch of the Israel-Czech Republic Business Forum alongside his Czech counterpart, Petr Macinka.

Emmy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Rachel Platten turns 45… 

CEO at Kings’ Care – A Safe Place, operator of multiple drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment centers, Ilene Leiter… Canadian businesswoman and elected official, she served in the Ontario Assembly and in the Canadian House of Commons, Elinor Caplan turns 82… Former member of the New York State Assembly until 2020, representing the 97th Assembly District in Rockland County, Ellen Jaffee turns 82… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CT) for 20 years, he was born in a DP camp in Germany after WWII, Sam Gejdenson turns 78… Chagrin Falls, Ohio, attorney, Robert Charles Rosenfeld… CEO emeritus of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Michael S. Miller… Seamstress and weaver, Bernice Ann Penn Venable… Retired in 2022 as a federal judge for the Southern District of Texas, she is now a mediator and arbitrator, Judge Nancy Ellen Friedman Atlas turns 77… Five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and writer who has worked on “Saturday Night Live,” PBS’ “Great Performances” and “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” Alan Zweibel turns 76… U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) turns 75… Former director of international affairs, policy and planning at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, following 12 years at the ADL, Michael Alan Salberg… Professor at Tulane, he was president of the Aspen Institute, CEO of CNN and managing editor of Time, Walter Isaacson turns 74… Born in upstate New York as Michael Scott Bornstein, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and then member of the Knesset, Michael Oren turns 71… Actor and singer, known for her work in musical theater, Judy Kuhn turns 68… CEO and founder of Abrams Media, chief legal analyst for ABC News and the founder of Mediaite, Dan Abrams turns 60… NYC location scout and unit production manager for feature films, TV and commercials, David Brotsky… Co-founder and CEO of Breitbart News, Larry Solov turns 58… Senior advisor at Majority Democrats, Ami Copeland… French singer and actor, at 13 she became the youngest singer to ever reach No. 1 in the French charts, Elsa Lunghini turns 53… Co-president of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, Matthew Silverman turns 50… Principal of public policy at Amazon, Philip Justin “PJ” Hoffman… Program officer of Jewish life at the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Vadim Avshalumov… Founder and CEO of Berkeley, California-based Caribou Biosciences, a genome engineering company, Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D…. Senior director of government relations and strategy for the ADL, Lauren D. Wolman… Executive communications leader, Susan Sloan… VP of digital advocacy at McGuireWoods Consulting, Josh Canter… Beauty pageant winner who was awarded the title of Miss Israel 2014, Doron Matalon turns 33… Master of public policy candidate at Oxford University, Aylon Berger turns 26… Conservative political activist, he is a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Kyle Kashuv turns 25… 

• President Donald Trump will arrive in China this evening ahead of his meeting tomorrow in Beijing with President Xi Jinping. More below.
• In Washington, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding markups on a number of pieces of legislation, including a resolution condemning attacks on civilians in Sudan and calling for an end to external support for warring parties in the war-torn country.
• Elsewhere in D.C., the Jewish Democratic Council of America’s annual gathering continues. Speakers today include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, pollster Jim Gerstein, former diplomat Dennis Ross, former Pentagon officials Jeremy Bash and Dana Stroul, and former national security officials Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer.
• Tonight, the Israeli Embassy in Washington is holding a belated Yom Ha’atzmaut reception.
• Nonprofit executive Denise Powell defeated Nebraska state Sen. John Cavanaugh by two points (39-37%) in the Democratic primary last night in Nebraska’s 2nd District. Cavanaugh, a consistent Israel critic, was one of 10 state senators who declined to sign onto a resolution supporting Israel and condemning Hamas on the first anniversary of the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Powell will face Republican Brinker Harding, an Omaha city councilmember, in a bid to succeed retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE).
• President Isaac Herzog is hosting the “President’s Conference for a Shared Israeli Future” today in Jerusalem. Actor Gal Gadot is participating in a panel dedicated to relations between Israel and the Diaspora.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

There will be a number of items on the agenda when the two most powerful men in the world — President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping — meet in Beijing tomorrow, chief among them tech and AI. The president is bringing with him a roster of top business leaders, including Elon Musk, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon, Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman.

And while emerging technologies will be a major topic of conversation during the three-day trip, most eyes — and markets — are on the tenuous ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Beijing has, after all, been playing a major role in the U.S.-Iran conflict — even if it has done so from the margins: serving as the largest importer of oil from the Islamic Republic in violation of U.S. sanctions, meeting with top Iranian officials (including last week’s sit-down between Xi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi) and transferring weapons to Iran through third countries.

Trump, who has spent much of his second term welcoming leaders to Washington, will be on Xi’s home turf, face-to-face with a leader who is opting not to use his leverage to push Iran into making concessions. The longer the uncertainty continues, the more restless even the president’s most fervent supporters will get — especially with the midterms approaching.

That dynamic is already beginning to play out on Capitol Hill. Yesterday, JI reported on divisions among Republican senators over whether the U.S. should reengage militarily with Iran, while last week, Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI), who is facing a tough reelection battle in his swing district, became the first GOP lawmaker to introduce an authorization for use of military force in Iran.

All of that is good for Xi, and gives him little incentive to use China’s economic and diplomatic leverage over the Islamic Republic, which while knocked down a few pegs, has managed to maintain control despite the severe blows it has been dealt.

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

Dahiya or Dubai?: The New York Times’ Tom Friedman talks to Emirati Lebanese writer Nadim Koteich about the two warring visions for the future of the Middle East, which Koteich refers to as “Dahiya or Dubai” — respectively a Hezbollah-controlled area of Beirut and a flourishing Middle Eastern business hub. “Anything this Dahiya vision touches ‘is a kiss of death for a country,’ as Koteich put it. ‘It turns it into another mediocre version of Iran.’ … [The Dubai model] proclaimed that the future belongs to those governments that produce noncorrupt, responsible bureaucracies, and that support moderate Islam, religious pluralism and an openness to the world and anyone eager to bring their talents. … The Dubai model is precisely the one Tehran wants to destroy.” [NYTimes]

AI in the Negev: In The Wall Street Journal, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Mike Doran and Zineb Riboua advocate for the development of a joint U.S.-Israel AI hub in Israel’s Negev desert dubbed by Jerusalem as Project Spire. “Technologies developed at Spire would remain under American ownership, enabling scaling and manufacturing back in the U.S. — creating jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. A successful Negev base would serve as the prototype. Once proven, the model can be replicated with Britain, Japan, India and other trusted partners. In the contest to neutralize China’s espionage apparatus, Project Spire offers the foundation for enduring American primacy.” [WSJ]

Doing Deals in the ‘Stans: Politico’s Diana Nerozzi and Phelim Kine profile Sergio Gor, President Donald Trump’s envoy to India and Central Asia, who has focused the administration’s efforts in the region on dealmaking. “But Gor’s investment focus is a welcome change to those in the region and Central Asian countries have embraced the Trump administration’s focus on ‘business, business, business,’ said a Washington-based Central Asia diplomat. For Central Asian leaders that’s a welcome shift away from a traditional U.S. focus on governance issues. … ‘He’s much more effective because he has that direct line to the White House,’ a second Central Asian diplomat said. ‘That means he can much more easily overcome the bureaucracy of D.C.’” [Politico]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday that the Trump administration does not plan to and does not believe it needs to seek congressional approval should it decide to resume military operations in Iran, further sidelining Congress at a time when a growing number of Republicans are becoming hesitant about continued U.S. military operations, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Vice President JD Vance tapped Cliff Sims, who served as special assistant to the president and director of White House message strategy in the first Trump administration, to serve as a national security advisor; Sims previously worked closely with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and served as chair of the CIA’s external advisory board…

The Wall Street Journal looks at how infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman has been turned into an “emergency logistics lifeline” for trucks carrying exports bypassing the closed Strait of Hormuz…

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps expanded its definition of the boundaries of the Strait of Hormuz to encompass a much wider area than before the war… 

Kuwait accused Iran of sending members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the strategically located Kuwaiti-held Bubiyan Island earlier this month, where the fighters exchanged fire with Kuwaiti soldiers, injuring one; four of the six IRGC fighters who took part in the attack on the island, located in the Persian Gulf, were arrested…

Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia launched covert strikes against Iran in late March in response to attacks from the Islamic Republic on Saudi territory…

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed into law a bill requiring the disclosure of foreign government funding in statewide K-12 schools; read more about the first-in-the-nation legislation here…

Politico reports on the “overwhelming evidence” that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who cites his background in medicine and experience as a physician in campaign materials and interviews, has “no experience as a licensed medical doctor”…

The New York Times looks at efforts by two GOP-linked super PACs to get involved in Democratic primaries in Nebraska, Texas, Ohio and California to boost their preferred general election candidates, in one instance sending out a mailer in support of a fringe candidate who has espoused antisemitic tropes…

The NYPD arrested four protesters demonstrating outside of a Jewish senior home in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood, which was hosting an event promoting real estate opportunities in Israel… 

In text messages shared on X, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt appeared to denounce antisemitism, calling it a “legitimate mind virus and sign of a decaying society,” adding that he has “been horrified to see how the Jewish community has been vilified over the past few years”…

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, released a new online resource that provides educational materials focused on the American Jewish experience…

The Wall Street Journal interviews Israeli-American therapist Orna Guralnik ahead of the release on Friday of the new series “Couples Therapy,” in which Guralnik plays a major role…

A survey conducted by the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia and presented to the royal commission investigating antisemitism in the country found that 80% of Jewish women surveyed said that they or a family member had experienced antisemitism firsthand in the last two years; the survey also found that of that group, more than two-thirds had been called “genocidal” because they were Jewish, Israeli or Zionist…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing growing calls to step down following last week’s local elections that saw his Labour Party lose more than 1,000 municipal seats…

Israeli singer Noam Bettan advanced to the Eurovision finals after his performance of “Michelle” at last night’s semifinals in Vienna…

Hezbollah head Naim Kassem called on the Lebanese government to pull out of direct talks with Israel, the third round of which is scheduled for Thursday, and return to indirect talks…

The family of slain Israeli American hostage Omer Neutra, who was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and his body taken to Gaza, was awarded an honorary degree from Binghamton University at a reception hosted by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (left) to mark Jewish American Heritage Month.

Emmy Award-winning film, television and stage actress, Zohra Lampert turns 89…

Professor emerita of Yiddish literature at Harvard University, she is presently a distinguished senior fellow at The Tikvah Fund, Ruth Wisse turns 90… Actor and producer, Harvey Keitel turns 87… Ophthalmologist in South Florida, he is the father of Facebook’s former COO Sheryl Sandberg, Dr. Joel Sandberg turns 83… Former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at American Jewish University, Samuel Edelman turns 78… Professor of mathematics at Princeton since 1987, he was a winner of a 1991 MacArthur genius fellowship, Sergiu Klainerman turns 76… Former FDA commissioner in the 1990s, then chief science officer for COVID-19 response during the Biden administration, David A. Kessler turns 75… Retired editor and columnist for the New York Post, he was also managing editor of The Jerusalem Post, Eric Fettmann turns 73… Rabbi Uren Reich turns 70… Chief rabbi of the city of Shoham in central Israel, chairman of the Tzohar organization and rabbi for the Ezra youth movement, Rabbi David Stav turns 66… Founder and former CEO of LRN, a legal research, ethics and compliance management firm, Dov Seidman turns 62… Past chair of JFNA’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board and of the Hartford (Conn.) Federation, Carolyn Gitlin… Retired NFL defensive lineman, he played for the Raiders and Panthers, Josh Heinrich Taves, a/k/a Josh Heinrich, turns 54… Ice hockey player, she won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Sara Ann DeCosta-Hayes turns 49… U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) turns 49… CEO of Friedkin Philanthropies, previously chief Jewish life officer at JFNA, Sarah Eisenman… Former Israel director for J Street, then the chief of staff for Israel’s Ministry for Regional Cooperation, Yael Patir … Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, she was previously a member of the House of Commons, Baroness Luciana Berger turns 45… Software entrepreneur, Google project manager, then Facebook engineering lead, Justin Rosenstein turns 43… Israeli rapper, singer, songwriter and actor, known by his stage name Tuna, Itay Zvulun turns 42… Retired NFL offensive lineman for seven NFL teams, now a regional manager at Rocksolid, Brian de la Puente turns 41… Actress, writer, producer and director, best known as the creator, writer and star of the HBO series “Girls,” Lena Dunham turns 40… Hannah Sirdofsky… Co-founder in 2018 of Manna Tree Partners, she is the daughter of Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, Gabrielle “Ellie” Rubenstein… Chief of staff and senior program manager at Jigsaw, a unit within Google, she is an alum of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Raquel Saxe Gelb… Therapist in Philadelphia, Bela Galit Krifcher turns 33… Law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Dore Lev Feith turns 30… VP of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, Jesse Martin Arm… Gold medalist for Israel in rhythmic gymnastics at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Linoy Ashram turns 27… 

• President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday afternoon that the ceasefire with Iran that was set to expire shortly would be extended “until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” even as a second round of talks between Washington and Tehran remained on pause. The president said the extension was made at the request of Pakistani army chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country hosted the first talks.
• Trump said that the U.S.’ maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain in place. The Wall Street Journal reports that ahead of the first round of talks between the U.S. and Iran earlier this month, Tehran went into the negotiations believing that its drone and UAV capabilities and control over the strait gave it leverage, but found that the U.S. blockade “has chipped away at Tehran’s advantage.”
• Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Iranian boats fired on two cargo ships off the coasts of Oman and Iran.
• Senate Democrats will make a fifth attempt to pass a war powers resolution today after the vote, which was expected yesterday, was bumped.
• TheAnti-Defamation League is hosting a fly-in in Washington today, with members of the West Bloomfield, Mich., Jackson, Miss., and Boulder, Colo., Jewish communities — all of which have been targeted in antisemitic attacks in the last year — as well as the organizer of the event last May at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in which two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed. The community representatives will be lobbying officials on the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, the Pray Safe Act and the Safeguarding Access to Congregations and Religious Establishments from Disruption Act.
• Jonathan Burke, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, is slated to testify before the House Financial Services Committee this afternoon on the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions. 
• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the Justice Department’s Leo Terrell are slated to speak at a forum on Capitol Hill focused on terrorism and religious violence being hosted by the International Committee on Nigeria and EMET.
• Elsewhere in D.C., mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie is holding a meet-and-greet with young Jewish professionals.
• In Pittsburgh tonight, Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate will host a unity dinner and fireside chat — featuring Gov. Josh Shapiro — for Black and Jewish college students in partnership with the NFL, Hillel International, United Negro College Fund and the Pittsburgh Steelers. 
• In New York, the City Council’s task force on antisemitism will hold its first hearing this afternoon on antisemitic hate crimes and bias.
• This morning, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and New York City Comptroller Mark Levine will sit in conversation at an event at 92NY focused on the future of the city’s Jewish community.
• And further uptown, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) will be interviewed by Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman about her new book, Poisoned Ivies.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

Every year, ahead of Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics releases the latest population figures. As Israel turns 78, the country’s population stands at 10.2 million, up 1.4% from last year, which the bureau said is one of the highest growth rates in the Western world. 

In the last year, 177,000 babies were born in Israel, and 27% of the population is under age 14. 

If having a baby is an expression of hope, then clearly Israelis, with the highest birthrate by far among developed countries, are an optimistic bunch. According to the CBS, 91% of Israelis are satisfied or very satisfied with their life, 96% are satisfied or very satisfied with their family and even two-thirds of Israelis are happy with their economic situation. 

That would explain why, despite the events of recent years, Israel was ranked the eighth-happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Index released last month. 

You couldn’t blame Israelis if they felt differently. After all, the last year was a roller-coaster of emotions. 

This time in 2025, there were still dozens of hostages in Gaza, with weekly protests for their freedom but little by way of any plan or agreement to get them out. Fighting continued in Gaza, even though Hamas’ leadership had largely been eliminated, the Houthis were regularly launching missiles at Israel and Iran was rushing toward a nuclear weapon.

Then came the 12-day war with Iran in June, with the U.S. joining for the coda to destroy much of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities. Finally, in October, the last of the living hostages held in Gaza passed from Hamas’ hands, and they were home.

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

Barrack Going Rogue: The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board raises concerns that U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack is deviating from U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. “​​In 30 minutes at Turkey’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Friday, Mr. Barrack managed to counsel the Middle East against democracy, push cooperation with Hezbollah, mock the Lebanon cease-fire, call to include Iran in Lebanon talks, play down Turkey’s purchase of Russian air defenses, and threaten Israel on Turkey’s behalf. On each point, Mr. Barrack is undermining U.S. policy. Iran has no business in Lebanon’s affairs, and President Trump has been at pains to distance Iran from the Lebanon cease-fire.” [WSJ]

Poison For the Dems: In The Washington Post, Democratic strategist Ethan Wolf posits that efforts by some Democrats to engage with extremists, such as Hasan Piker, risk damaging efforts to expand the party’s footprint ahead of the midterms and 2028 presidential election. “Democrats have been here before. The party’s most successful leaders understood that expanding the tent and policing its boundaries are necessary complements, not contradictions. … Open the tent. Talk to more people. Take more communication risks. But do it in a way that affirms the truth. The left is culturally savvy, not aloof; it is scornful of anti-Americanism, antisemitism and bigotry, not tolerant of them.” [WashPost]

Gaza Lit: In The Free Press, Matti Friedman introduces the concept of “Gazology,” a literary genre that removes Hamas and its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks from discourse around Gaza and is powered almost entirely by authors with no firsthand experience. “And lastly, and most importantly, Gazology rests on the idea that the Gaza war is not just Israel’s fault, a bad decision, or even a crime, but the doorway to the dark workings of the world. It’s in the last point that a reader glimpses the battery powering the genre. Gazology is a literature of Jewish evil. Its origins lie not in journalism or academic inquiry but in the pseudosciences that have sprung up over the centuries to explain the problems of humanity with stories about the malevolence of this group of people.” [FreePress]

What War Goals?: Puck’s Peter Hamby looks at recent polling indicating that Americans are confused about the Trump administration’s goals in the Iran war. “The takeaway from that thicket of answers is that there is no consensus view among voters as to what the war is for. … Taken together, it’s an ugly messaging failure for the president and his team at the White House. An imperfect comparison: After the invasion of Iraq, regardless of whether they supported the war or not, almost 90 percent of American voters agreed that the United States would find weapons of mass destruction there. Dubya and his crew of neocons might have cooked up the evidence, but at least they sold it.”[Puck]

The University of Texas’ Dell Medical Center announced a $750 million gift from Michael and Susan Dell to fund what UT officials are calling the country’s first “AI-native” medical campus. The Dells are now the first UT donors to surpass over $1 billion in donations…

Kanye West was spotted leaving the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles as the singer faces the cancellation of numerous stops on his upcoming European tour; some countries, including the U.K. and France, have revoked his entry permit, while in others, the venues and organizers themselves canceled shows due to West’s past antisemitic comments…

The Treasury Department announced sanctions targeting more than a dozen individuals and companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that assisted Iran in procuring and transporting weapons and aircraft… 

The U.S. suspended cash transfers to Iraq — including a delivery of $500 million in U.S. currency — with Treasury officials pressing Baghdad to dismantle Iran-backed militias in the country…

Half an hour before Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) was set to face a House Ethics Committee hearing recommending sanctions for a range of financial crimes, the Florida Democrat stepped down from Congress…

Representatives from the Board of Peace have reportedly met with officials from DP World to discuss the United Arab Emirates-owned company’s potential overseeing of humanitarian aid distribution in the Gaza Strip…

President Donald Trump has reportedly told aides that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is “begging” for a job in the administration — including potentially secretary of defense or being named a Supreme Court justice — when his term ends in early 2027…

Speaking at a health care summit on Tuesday, Mark Cuban, who had backed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, said he would not support her in a future bid as she mulls entering the 2028 race… 

A number of private-equity firms and investors are expressing interest in acquiring Casey Wasserman’s talent and marketing agency, which could be valued at $3 billion, as Wasserman looks to sell the company after the release of emails earlier this year between him and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell…

The Department of Justice announced an investigation into the University of Washington’s handling of antisemitism, citing an event by an anti-Israel group that aimed to raise funds for Lebanon; the university distanced itself from the group, SUPER UW, saying that its status as a registered student organization was revoked last year, though the group’s membership is comprised of current students…

Two IDF soldiers involved in the desecration of a statue of Jesus in a southern Lebanese Christian town were sentenced to 30 days in military detention and will be removed from combat duty; six others who witnessed the incident, a photo of which went viral earlier this week, will be summoned for further discussions…

U.N. officials convened representatives from Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen in Amman, Jordan, for a meeting aimed at de-escalating tensions…

New York magazine profiles Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence, New York City’s “most in-demand mohel,” who has built a full-time practice performing hundreds of ritual circumcisions each year across the tri-state area…

Argentine President Javier Milei (left) joined in singing the Spanish song “Libre” onstage at the 78th anniversary Independence Day ceremony, held at Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, on Tuesday. Milei also lit a torch, one of Israel’s highest honors, at the ceremony.

Former chief economist at the World Bank, Sir Nicholas Herbert Stern turns 80… 

Calgary-based CEO of Balmon Investments, Alvin Gerald Libin turns 95… Co-founder of Human Rights Watch, formerly national director of the ACLU and then president of George Soros’ Open Society Institute, Aryeh Neier turns 89… English journalist and former anchor of BBC Television’s “Newsnight,” Adam Eliot Geoffrey Raphael turns 88… Conductor and professor of music at Boston University, Joshua Rifkin turns 82… Former mayor of Madison, Wis., he has served as mayor three times for a total of 22 years, Paul R. Soglin turns 81… Managing director emeritus of Kalorama Partners, D. Jeffrey “Jeff” Hirschberg… Real estate developer and principal owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf turns 76… President and chief investment officer of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google, Ruth Porat turns 69… Four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The Washington Post, Sari Horwitz turns 69… NYC-area accountant, he is chief financial officer at Melar Acquisition Corp, Edward Lifshitz… Chicago-based philanthropist and immediate past board chair of Ramah Camping Movement, Arnie Harris… New Zealand native now serving as the CEO of Australian-based job-board SEEK, Ian Mark Narev turns 59… Founder and editor of the data-journalism and research initiative themadad, Shmuel Rosner turns 58… NYC-based attorney, co-founding partner of Kriss & Feuerstein LLP, Jerold C. Feuerstein turns 58… Senior writer at The Forward and the author of My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith, Benyamin Cohen turns 51… Russian and Israeli public figure, media manager and an art dealer, Yegor Altman turns 51… Member of the Knesset for the National Unity party, Yehiel Moshe “Hili” Tropper turns 48… Tel Aviv-based deputy bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, Shayndi Raice… Associate VP of external communications for the Jewish Federations of North America, Niv Elis… Former president of Y Combinator and now the CEO of OpenAI, Samuel H. “Sam” Altman turns 41… Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Zachary Krooks… Retired competitive ice dancer, Elliana Pogrebinsky turns 28…