Benjamin Landa’s confirmation process could be a tricky one — for multiple reasons
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A statue shows former President George H. W. Bush in front of the Embassy of the United States of America in Budapest.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleBenjamin Landa, a New York businessman and the son of a Holocaust survivor, was nominated in October to be the U.S. ambassador to Hungary — a delicate assignment given tensions over the U.S.’ relationship with the country.
Landa, 69, is a yeshiva graduate and well-known philanthropist supporting Jewish, Israeli and other causes, including as founder of the Chabad of Port Washington. His father, Yehoshua Boruch Landa, served as a rabbi in prewar Czechoslovakia and survived the Nazi regime, but most of his family, who resided in Hungary, were killed in the Holocaust, according to Newsday.
“My father, despite all the horrors he went through, he never lost his humanity, he never lost his sense of humor,” Landa told the New York Post. “It taught me the idea of resilience and starting from scratch – starting all over from the depths of hell to rise like a phoenix and that was my father – he never gave up.”
He’s also been a prominent donor to Republican political causes, and met in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump and advisor Roger Stone earlier this year. Landa was reportedly actively pursuing the role during that White House meeting.
He also met with right-wing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir during the Israeli official’s visit to the United States in April.
But Landa’s confirmation process could be a tricky one — for multiple reasons.
Landa and his business, SentosaCare, have been dogged by a series of scandals. Nursing homes affiliated with Landa’s company have repeatedly faced fines, violations and complaints over allegations of insufficient care, among other issues. A federal judge ruled in 2019 that Landa and his business partner had violated human trafficking laws, using threats to coerce more than 200 nurses to remain in their jobs.
In 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Landa, various business partners and a nursing home of which he was a part owner for “repeated and persistent fraud and illegality … including but not limited to violating several laws designed to protect nursing home residents and cutting necessary staffing in order to further enrich the owners and their families.”
Landa has disputed such allegations and sued media outlets that have alleged wrongdoing or mistreatment of patients in the past. Some lawmakers may bring up the scandals at Landa’s as-yet-unscheduled confirmation hearing.
Additionally, while the Trump administration and other conservatives have forged close relationships with Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, other Republicans have been deeply critical of Orbán and his government, particularly due to the Hungarian leader’s hostility to NATO and the Ukraine war.
In 2023, Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blocked arms sales to Hungary over its refusal to approve Sweden’s entry into NATO.
Landa could face questions at his hearing on how he’ll navigate that relationship and work to persuade Hungary to cooperate with the U.S. on Ukraine and other priorities.
Plus, Torres challenger’s 180 on Israel
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Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts in Washington, D.C. on October 19, 2022.
Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, the first Holocaust survivor elected to Congress, on his 95th birthday, and have the scoop on the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism’s decision to cut ties with the Heritage Foundation. We report on the announcement that Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords, cover a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing where Senate lawmakers reiterated grievances with Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, and highlight the 180 on Israel and AIPAC made by Michael Blake, who has announced a primary challenge to Rep. Ritchie Torres. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Mitch Silber and Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with assists from Matthew Kassel and Emily Jacobs. Have a tip? Email us here.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: The 36 hours in Washington that took hostage families from grief to gratitude; What New York City Jewish leaders are most worried about in a Mamdani mayoralty; and Birthright Israel Foundation celebrates 25 years with $220M raised toward new $900M campaign. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- On Sunday, the Zionist Organization of America will hold its annual gala, where it will present awards to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY); Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter; Leo Terrell, head of the Department of Justice’s antisemitism task force; Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon; and philanthropists Irit and Jonathan Tratt.
- Stefanik will be announcing her campaign for New York governor today, setting up a battle against Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat. Stefanik, who led the fight against campus antisemitism in Congress, is expected to make democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City a major attack line against Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani in the mayoral race.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar
Former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, who turns 95 today, isn’t necessarily a household name — but is one of the more consequential figures in Jewish political history, as the first Holocaust survivor elected to Congress and one of the most prominent Jewish Republicans during a golden period of Jewish representation on Capitol Hill.
Boschwitz now holds the distinction of being the oldest living elected senator, and remains active in political and business life from his home in Plymouth, Minn. He spoke on the phone to Jewish Insider this week about his life story, legacy and thoughts about our current political moment.
Boschwitz was born in Berlin in 1930. On the day that Hitler took power in 1933, Boschwitz’s father came home and told his family they would be leaving Germany forever. He arrived in the United States in 1935 with his family, completed college at the age of 19, started a retail lumber business and quickly made a career in business and, later, politics.
He was elected as a Republican to the Senate in 1978, scoring an upset against the state’s former Gov. Wendell Anderson. He served there for 12 years, eventually losing reelection in 1990 to Democrat Paul Wellstone.
“When I came to the Senate, I was really the first Jewish conservative that many of my colleagues really met. They hadn’t met many Jewish Republicans at all. I think we had a hand in building some of the pro-Israel feelings now,” Boschwitz told JI. (During the 1980s, four other Jewish GOP senators would end up serving alongside him.)
SCOOP
Heritage-affiliated antisemitism task force to cut ties with embattled think tank
An antisemitism task force affiliated with the Heritage Foundation announced on Thursday that it would cut ties with the conservative institution, as the prominent think tank has come under fire for its defense of Tucker Carlson after the firebrand podcaster hosted neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes for a friendly interview. The co-chairs of the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced in a Thursday email, viewed by Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch, that they will continue their work “outside the Heritage Foundation for a season.”
Leaving a window open: A member of the task force told JI that its members had not ruled out working with Heritage again if the organization improves. “We hope that one day we’ll be able to collaborate with Heritage again,” said the member, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential conversations. The task force was formed following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and was instrumental in the drafting of Project Esther, Heritage’s signature counter-antisemitism framework released last year in response to the Biden administration’s national strategy to combat antisemitism. The Project Esther report made no mention of antisemitism on the political right. In their Thursday email, the co-chairs of the task force said they can no longer ignore it.
airing it out
Senate lawmakers air grievances with Elbridge Colby for second time this week
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee from both parties voiced concerns with Elbridge Colby, under secretary of defense for policy, and his office at the Pentagon, at a committee hearing — for the second time this week, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Consultation and communication: While Thursday’s proceedings, a confirmation hearing for Alex Velez-Green, nominated to be Colby’s top deputy and who has been a senior advisor to him in an interim capacity, were generally less heated than a Tuesday hearing with nominee Austin Dahmer, lawmakers reiterated concerns with a lack of consultation by Colby’s team and alleged rogue decision-making on a range of issues by the office. “Many of this committee have serious concerns about the Pentagon’s policy office and how it is serving the president of the United States and the Congress,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman of the committee, said in his opening statement. “In many of these conversations, we hear that the Pentagon policy office seems to be doing what it pleases without coordinating, even inside the U.S. executive branch.”
U-TURN
Torres challenger attacks Israel, AIPAC in campaign launch, but previously sought pro-Israel allies extensively
Michael Blake, a former New York state assemblyman and eighth-place-finishing New York City mayoral candidate, announced a primary challenge to Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) on Wednesday focused squarely on Torres’ support for Israel and ties to AIPAC. But Blake himself has an extensive history with AIPAC and was, at least through 2020, a vocal supporter of the Jewish state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Recent history: In his campaign announcement on X, Blake said, “I am ready to fight for you and lower your cost of living while Ritchie fights for a Genocide. I will focus on Affordable Housing and Books as Ritchie will only focus on AIPAC and Bibi,” a reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I will invest in the community. Ritchie invests in Bombs.” Social media posts by Blake and others show that he was for years a frequent attendee at AIPAC events, having attended no less than 10 of the organization’s events between 2014 and 2019, and was a featured speaker at least once.
community care
Jewish security leaders brace for Mamdani-era policing cuts
New York City’s leading Jewish security organization has prepared a new set of strategies to respond to policies that the city’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani might put into place that would affect public safety. Among the primary concerns of Mitch Silber, executive director of the Community Security Initiative and former director of NYPD intelligence analysis, is Mamdani’s vow to cut the police department’s Strategic Response Group, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Leaving a void: “SRG is what essentially stands in between ‘Free Palestine’ protesters and the Jewish community,” Silber told JI on Thursday. Disbanding SRG “will diminish public security and security for the Jewish community,” said Silber. Mamdani pledged he would disband the force as mayor in December 2024, saying it had “cost taxpayers millions in lawsuit settlements and brutalized countless New Yorkers exercising their first amendment rights.” SRG was created after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks so that New York City could be prepared in the event of similar multi-site attacks. “There’s no way CSI could replicate that,” Silber said.
ABRAHAMIC ALLY
Kazakhstan set to join Abraham Accords ahead of Syrian, Saudi leaders’ visits to Washington
Kazakhstan, which has maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992, will join the Abraham Accords, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday. The announcement, made during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit to the White House, came shortly before a planned visit to Washington by Syrian President Ahmad a-Sharaa on Monday, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Nov. 18, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov and Danielle Cohen-Kanik report.
Announcement: In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had held a call between Tokayev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that he will “soon announce a Signing Ceremony to make it official, and there are many more Countries trying to join this club of STRENGTH.” The Kazakh Embassy in Washington characterized the meeting as a discussion of “strengthening the Enhanced Strategic Partnership” between the countries. As of Friday morning, Israel had not issued any official statement on the announcement.
Military matters: The Trump administration is weighing a multibillion-dollar sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, a potential major policy shift that has stirred debate over the military balance in the region and Washington’s commitment to preserving Israel’s “qualitative military edge,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
BOWING OUT
Nancy Pelosi ends storied career in Congress, remembered as longtime ally of Jewish community
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced on Thursday that she would not seek reelection, ending a nearly 40-year career in Congress and earning plaudits across a wide spectrum of Jewish voices, from J Street to AIPAC and many in the San Francisco Jewish community who have worked with her since the 1980s. Pelosi, who is 85, rose to become the first and only female speaker of the House, a position she held from 2007-2011 and again from 2019-2023, when she presided over a divided caucus and a resurgent far-left flank of the party. Pelosi was known for keeping tight control over congressional Democrats and squashing intra-party squabbles, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Support for Israel: “In my view, she was able to keep a pro-Israel consensus in the caucus, but it certainly came at a time when there was more angst around the issue,” said Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council. “While we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye with her on specific policies, she’s always been pro-Israel, and I don’t think anyone can question that.” Marshall Wittmann, an AIPAC spokesperson, said that during her tenure as speaker, Pelosi “helped ensure that Israel had the resources to defend itself, which advances American interests and values.”
Worthy Reads
The GOP Battle Over Bigotry: Author Jamie Kirchick argues in The Washington Post that the fight on the right over Tucker Carlson is a microcosm of deeper moral and ideological fault lines in the GOP. “Carlson’s promotion of [neo-Nazi Nick] Fuentes was a signal moment in the former Fox News star’s moral atrophy. It also has forced an overdue reckoning on the American right. For far too long, the problem of antisemitism has been allowed to fester there because too many conservatives have been reluctant to speak out against its chief propagator … Stalinists and Holocaust deniers like Fuentes are perfectly entitled to spew their nonsense on street corners, through self-published manifestos or in online livestreams. What they are not entitled to is the imprimatur of purportedly respectable institutions whose reputations hinge upon the voices they choose to amplify.” [WashPost]
Teshuva at Heritage: William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, calls on the Heritage Foundation, a place he called a “second home,” to engage in “repentance” in the Washington Times. “Heritage’s decision to defend Mr. Carlson marks a dangerous turning point. An organization that once modeled moral seriousness now tolerates moral confusion. The one that built its reputation on defending Western civilization now aligns itself with those who undermine it. … It pains me to say it, but a relationship that began for me over four decades ago now stands on the edge of breaking. If Heritage cannot right its ship, that long relationship will end. Institutions that trade moral clarity for populist rage do not endure. … Mr. Roberts and Heritage must decide whether they still believe in moral clarity. They can stand for decency, admit error and reaffirm that antisemitism never belongs in conservative thought. Or they can let their silence define them as collaborators in decline.” [WashingtonTimes]
The Mamdani Doctrine: Zineb Riboua, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, writes in The Free Press about New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s worldview. “I grew up amid the lingering echoes of decolonization, which continue to mold perceptions of justice and power, albeit less overtly than in the West. From high school onward, Third World rhetoric permeated everyday discourse on climate change, Palestine, or inequality. The issues evolve, but the lens persists — a moral binary logic that divides the powerful from the powerless. … What Mamdani represents is not a new movement but a continuation of this sensibility. His stances on housing, policing, and Palestine project global anti-imperial archetypes onto contemporary New York City politics. The landlord morphs into the colonizer, the tenant into the colonized. The New York City Police Department becomes the occupier. The city’s streets serve as metaphorical battlegrounds in the decolonization process. Mamdani’s movement transcends socialism, unmoored from class or ownership, and eludes Islamism, unbound by theocratic aims. Here, Islam serves as an emblem of subjugation with universal resonance, a faith recast as resistance against Western dominance.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, in an interview with Semafor, revealed he had a “healthy dialogue” with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the wake of Mamdani’s win where the two “agreed to disagree” on some issues. Shapiro also commented on the ongoing “conservative infighting over antisemitism”: “I don’t share a lot in common ideologically or on the issues with Sen. [Ted] Cruz,” but Cruz “did the right thing by speaking out against [Nick] Fuentes and [Tucker] Carlson and the Heritage Foundation and others”…
In another interview with Puck, Shapiro commented on the shifting opinions on Israel in the Democratic Party: “I don’t pay attention to shifting political winds. I try and do what I think is right, and say what I believe. … I believe in Israel, but I don’t like the direction that it’s going under Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership”…
Two top advisors to Mamdani, Ali Najmi and Elle Bisgaard-Church, attended a Somos reception in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council and UJA-Federation of New York. “We are here to represent the transition with the Jewish community, and we’re so happy to be here,” Najmi, a Mamdani confidante who serves as chief counsel to the mayor-elect’s transition team, told JI’s Matthew Kassel. “We see so many good friends and old friends, and we’re so looking forward to our new friends, and the food was great here”…
Spotted at the JCRC-UJA Federation event: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Brad Lander, Alex Bores, Lincoln Restler, Kalman Yeger, Mark Treyger, Micah Lasher, Michael Miller, Leon Goldenberg, Josh Mehlman, Sara Forman, Jason Koppel, Yeruchim Silber, Menashe Shapiro, Joel Eisdorfer, Jacob Eisdorfer, Daniel Rosenthal, Hindy Poupko, Mercedes Narcisse, Sandy Nurse, Eddie Gibbs, Thomas DiNapoli, Noam Gilboord…
Federal prosecutors are conducting a corruption investigation into a foreign trip taken by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel E. Bowser with members of her staff that was paid for by Qatar, The New York Times reports…
A new course on “Gender, Reproduction, and Genocide” in Gaza was introduced at Princeton University, taught by a scholar who was briefly arrested for incitement while teaching at Hebrew University in Jerusalem for her inflammatory rhetoric about Israel, which has included calling for the end of the Jewish state…
The Israeli government has hired firms to conduct public diplomacy campaigns, including outreach to evangelical Christians and boosting search results on AI services like ChatGPT, Haaretz reports. The firms and experts hired seem to indicate a focus on amplifying pro-Israel messages among the American right…
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted on Thursday to advance legislation eliminating loopholes used by museums and other stakeholders to continue possessing Nazi-looted artwork that Jewish families have been trying to recover since the end of World War II. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked during the vote that their names be added as co-sponsors to the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, led by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)…
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Ideologically Motivated Violence Accountability Act, which would provide sentencing enhancements for crimes committed “wholly or in part because of the victim’s actual or perceived political or religious beliefs, affiliation, expression, or activity” or to “make a public statement concerning any political or religious belief, practice, institution, group, ideology, event or public figure”…
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a Senate candidate, and Del. James Moylan (R-Guam) introduced a bill requiring a “whole-of-government strategy to interrupt cooperation among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea”…
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is expected to step down from his position next week, with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter taking over some of his responsibilities regarding ties with the Trump administration…
The Treasury Department announced sanctions today against members of Hezbollah’s “finance team” who “oversee the movement of funds from Iran” in an effort to support the Lebanese government’s moves to disarm the terror group…
The University of Maryland, College Park student government unanimously passed two resolutions hostile towards Israel on Wednesday night, including one that called for the school to ban members of the Israel Defense Forces from speaking on campus, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
Pope Leo XIV met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday at the Vatican and the two discussed “an urgent need to provide assistance to the civilian population in Gaza and to end the conflict by pursuing a two-State solution,” according to a statement by the Holy See…
A covert operation reportedly carried out by Qatar sought to find evidence tying the woman who made sexual abuse allegations against Karim Khan, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, to Israel; according to documents obtained by The Guardian, no such connection was found…
Two 19-year-olds from Montclair, N.J., were arrested on Tuesday on accusations of participating in an ISIS-inspired terror group, with one allegedly planning a Boston-bombing-style attack…
French police arrested four protesters who repeatedly disrupted an Israel Philharmonic Orchestra concert in Paris on Thursday…
British authorities arrested 11 people amid protests surrounding Wednesday’s highly politicized soccer match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Birmingham, after police banned Maccabi fans from attending the game. Aston Villa won 2-0…
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a 70-year-old Iranian American Jewish man from New York to two years in prison for traveling to Israel 13 years ago to celebrate his son’s bar mitzvah…
Former Vice President Mike Pence announced his forthcoming book, What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience, will be released June 2, 2026…
Ye, formerly Kanye West, met with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, an influential Orthodox rabbi who serves as the chief rabbi of Morocco, to apologize for his repeated extreme antisemitic remarks. “I feel really blessed to sit here and take accountability. I was dealing with various issues. I was dealing with bipolar also, so I would take the ideas I had and forget about the protection of the people around me and myself”…
The Wall Street Journal interviews Ruth Porat, the Jewish chief investment officer and president of Google and its parent company, Alphabet…
The Financial Times details the unraveling of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious megacity project, The Line, now with a significantly reduced vision, due to finance and physical constraints…
Singapore announced it will replace its fleet of Hermes 450 drones, used by the Singapore Air Force for 20 years, with the Hermes 900 model, produced by Israel’s Elbit Systems. Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in separate meetings in Jerusalem on Thursday focused on boosting ties between the two countries…
FIFA announced the creation of a FIFA Peace Prize which will “recognize exceptional actions for peace,” which it intends to present to its recipient, rumored to be President Donald Trump, at the World Cup draw in Washington on Dec. 5…
Pic of the Day
Israeli American citizen Capt. Omer Neutra was laid to rest this morning at the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv after his body was returned to Israel from Gaza on Sunday. Neutra was killed and kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. The 21-year-old Long Island native, an IDF tank commander, was among the first soldiers to respond to the attack, serving near the community of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Birthdays
Journalist and pioneering podcaster, he is the creator and host of “How I Built This” and “Wisdom from the Top,” Guy Raz turns 50 on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Neuropsychiatrist, a 1944 graduate of Yeshivah of Flatbush and 2000 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, Eric Kandel turns 96…Former U.S. senator from Minnesota, he later served on the boards of AIPAC and JINSA, Rudy Boschwitz turns 95… MIT professor in electrical engineering and computer science, Barbara Liskov turns 86… Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, he was the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Donald Kohn turns 83… University professor at Harvard, expert on Shakespeare, he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Stephen Greenblatt turns 82… Founding president of Santa Monica, Calif., synagogue, Kehilat Maarav, and senior partner in the West Los Angeles law firm of Selvin & Weiner, Beryl Weiner turns 82… Past international president of the FJMC International (formerly the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs), Thomas “Tom” Sudow turns 73… Entrepreneur, bar owner and television personality, Jonathan “Jon” Peter Taffer turns 71… Constituent affairs representative and community liaison for Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Laurie Tobias Cohen… Volunteer coordinator for the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, Marcy Meyers… President and CEO of the Boston-based Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action, Cindy Rowe… Funeral director at Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Michael R. Holub… Director, writer and showrunner of the legal drama series “Suits,” Aaron Thomas Korsh turns 59… Former professional racing driver, now CEO of McLaren Racing, Zakary Challen Brown turns 54… Chairman and CEO of luxury apparel company Canada Goose, Dani Reiss turns 52… European casino owner, art collector and CEO of Vestar Group, Leon Tsoukernik turns 52… Deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Aryeh Yitzhak King turns 52… Founder and director of Eden Village Camp, an environmental Jewish summer camp based in New York, Yoni Stadlin… and his twin brother, rabbi, wilderness guide, experiential educator and artist, Pesach Stadlin, both turn 47… EVP of communications at NBC Universal, Jennifer B. Friedman… Reporter for Sportico focused on the business of college sports, Daniel Libit… Baseball outfielder, he won two minor league batting titles, Brian Horwitz turns 43… Consultant for family foundations, he holds two graduate degrees in Nursing, Avi Zenilman… Northeast regional deputy director at AIPAC, Alexa Jordan Silverman… National political reporter at Politico, Elena Schneider… Founder and CEO emeritus at Swipe Out Hunger, Rachel Sumekh… Toronto-native, he is the founder and CEO of Count Me In, a global youth empowerment organization, Shane Feldman… Co-founder and CEO at Moneta Labs Limited, Tomer Aharonovitch…
SATURDAY: U.S. attorney for New Jersey, then a U.S. District Court judge, now a criminal defense attorney, Herbert Jay Stern turns 89… Actress, comedian and writer, she played the recurring role of Doris Klompus on “Seinfeld,” her solo theater shows include “Yenta Unplugged” and “The Yenta Cometh,” Annie Korzen turns 87… French heiress, pediatrician, businesswoman and philanthropist, Léone-Noëlle Meyer turns 86… Former CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, he was a senior White House aide to President Bill Clinton, Ira C. Magaziner turns 78… Leader of the Sephardic baal teshuva movement in Israel, Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak turns 72… Senior managing director and global head of government relations for Blackstone, Wayne Berman turns 69… COO at Forsight, Michael Sosebee… Emirati businessman, developer of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, Mohamed Alabbar turns 69… Health-care executive, venture capitalist and real estate developer, Daniel E. Straus turns 69… Financial consultant at Retirement Benefits Consulting, Michelle Feinberg Silverstein… Israel’s former minister of defense, Yoav Gallant turns 67… Television producer, she is the co-author of Sheryl Sandberg’s 2013 book Lean In, Helen Vivian “Nell” Scovell turns 65… NYC area attorney, Charles “Chesky” Wertman… Principal at Lore Strategies, Laurie Moskowitz… Popular Israeli female vocalist in the Mizrahi music genre, Zehava Ben turns 57… Board member at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Allison Gingold… Sports journalist for TelevisaUnivision Deportes Network, he was born in Ashkelon, Israel, and has covered both the World Cup and the Summer Olympics, David Moshé Faitelson turns 57… Professional poker player and fashion designer, Beth Shak turns 56… Founder of Ayecha, Yavilah McCoy turns 53… Congregational rabbi in Paris and co-leader of the Liberal Jewish Movement of France, Delphine Horvilleur turns 51… Kyiv-born CEO of Gold Star Financial Group including sports management, mortgage lending, publishing, film production and venture capital, Daniel Milstein turns 50… Israeli singer, Lior Narkis turns 49… Senior Director for Global Policy and Defense Cooperation at Saronic Technologies, Mira Kogen Resnick turns 43… Canadian entrepreneur and president of Shopify, Harley Finkelstein turns 42… Director of high school affairs at the American Jewish Committee, Aaron Bregman… Principal at Bayit Consulting, he is active in both the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Israel Policy Forum, Roei Eisenberg turns 38… Film and television actor, Jared Kusnitz turns 37…Consultant on media, strategic communications, branding and podcast production, Alana Weiner… Student at Johns Hopkins University in the Class of 2026, Cameron Elizabeth Fields…
SUNDAY: Israeli novelist and playwright, she is the mother of former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Shulamit Lapid turns 91… British businessman and philanthropist, formerly chairman of Lloyds Bank, a major U.K. bank, Sir Maurice Victor Blank turns 83… Professional baseball manager in the minor leagues and college, he managed Team Israel in 2016 and 2017, Jerry Weinstein turns 82… Israeli war hero and longtime past member of the Knesset, Zevulun Orlev turns 80… Principal of Los Angeles-based PR and public affairs firm Cerrell Associates, Hal Dash… San Diego-based media developer, Daniel Ajzen… Mitchell Bedell… Founder of the Etz Chaim Center of Jewish Studies in Baltimore, Rabbi Shlomo Porter turns 76… Former deputy national security advisor for President Donald Trump, Charles Martin Kupperman turns 75… Former U.S. senator (D-OH) and current candidate for the U.S. Senate, Sherrod Brown turns 73… Senior producer at NBC Nightly News, Joel Seidman… Political consultant and fundraiser, founder of “No Labels,” Nancy Jacobson turns 63… Executive director of Los Angeles-based Remember Us: The Holocaust Bnai Mitzvah Project, Samara Hutman… Professor of journalism and media studies at Fordham University, Amy Beth Aronson turns 63… Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, Douglas C. Gessner… Partner at Covington & Burling specializing in export controls and sanctions, he was previously the assistant secretary of commerce for export administration during the Bush 43 administration, Peter Lichtenbaum turns 60… Chairman and CEO of Sky Harbour, he is an American-born Israeli fighter pilot and author of a 2018 book on the future of Judaism, Tal Keinan turns 56… Grammy Award-winning record producer specializing in comedy, Dan Schlissel turns 55… Founding CEO of OneTable, she retired as CEO in 2024, Aliza Kline… Associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court since 2015, despite being legally blind since birth as a result of retinitis pigmentosa, Richard H. Bernstein turns 51… Israeli singer and actress, Maya Bouskilla turns 48… Co-founder and executive director of the States Project, he was elected the youngest member of the New York state Senate in 2008, serving until 2017, Daniel Squadron turns 46… COO at Orchestra, a PR and communications firm, David Levine… Singer, songwriter and rapper, Ari Benjamin Lesser turns 39… Army JAG officer, Matthew Adam McCoy…
Boschwitz spoke to JI about his life story, legacy and thoughts about our current political moment
AP Photo/Adam Bettcher
Former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz and his wife Ellen introduce Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley at a campaign event, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Bloomington, Minn.
Former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, who turns 95 today, isn’t necessarily a household name — but is one of the more consequential figures in Jewish political history, as the first Holocaust refugee elected to Congress and one of the most prominent Jewish Republicans during a golden period of Jewish representation on Capitol Hill.
Boschwitz now holds the distinction of being the oldest living elected senator, and remains active in political and business life from his home in Plymouth, Minn. He spoke on the phone to Jewish Insider this week about his life story, legacy and thoughts about our current political moment.
Boschwitz was born in Berlin in 1930. On the day that Hitler took power in 1933, Boschwitz’s father came home and told his family they would be leaving Germany forever. He arrived in the United States in 1935 with his family, completed college at the age of 19, started a retail lumber business and quickly made a career in business and, later, politics.
He was elected as a Republican to the Senate in 1978, scoring an upset against the state’s former Gov. Wendell Anderson. He served there for 12 years, eventually losing reelection in 1990 to Democrat Paul Wellstone.
“When I came to the Senate, I was really the first Jewish conservative that many of my colleagues really met. They hadn’t met many Jewish Republicans at all. I think we had a hand in building some of the pro-Israel feelings now,” Boschwitz told JI. (During the 1980s, four other Jewish GOP senators would end up serving alongside him.)
In the Senate, Boschwitz served in GOP leadership, including as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, where he helped raise money and lead the campaign to elect GOP senators. He held seats on the influential Budget Committee, Foreign Relations Committee and Agriculture Committee, which helped him build support in a big farming state like Minnesota.
“The highlights of my career: I voted for the Reagan defense budgets and for lower taxes that resulted in a strong economy and winning the Cold War without a shot,” Boschwitz said.
After leaving the Senate, Boschwitz was named as President George H.W. Bush’s emissary to Ethiopia, where he led the American delegation to negotiate the release of Ethiopian Jews to allow their migration to Israel in what became known as Operation Solomon. Earlier as a senator, Boschwitz led an Ethiopian Jewish caucus that featured dozens of senators from both parties.
Aside from his legislative work, Boschwitz was also known as something of a matchmaker for young Jewish professionals on Capitol Hill, sponsoring parties for Jewish singles who worked around Washington.
“I was very active in the Jewish community… I wanted young Jewish members of the congressional staff to know that there was a Jewish senator who was interested in them,” Boschwitz told JI.
Despite Minnesota’s relatively small Jewish population, Boschwitz held a Senate seat that, famously, was represented by four different Jewish senators over four decades — with Wellstone, current Republican Jewish Coalition National Chairman Norm Coleman and comedian Al Franken all holding the same Senate seat from 1978 until Franken’s resignation in 2018.
Asked in closing how concerned he was about the rise of antisemitism in this country, Boschwitz simply said: “Yes, there has been a rise in antisemitism. But I think that the U.S. is not a country where the Jews have to be careful or look for another place to go. I’m a fan of magnificent America.”