Dan Goldman’s left-wing primary challenger refuses to answer how he came to work with the ‘Hot Girls for Zohran’ founder
Ryan Murphy/Getty Images
Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander speaks to members of the media, alongside supporters, before appearing in court on February 12, 2026 in New York City.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleCongressional candidate and former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander condemned social media posts from a former top campaign consultant that promoted Hamas, Iran and anti-Israel conspiracy theories — but refused to explain how he came to hire him in the first place.
Lander, challenging Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s backing, stressed that he had cut ties with ‘Hot Girls for Zohran’ co-founder Kaif Gilani after Jewish Insider presented him with a raft of the activist’s posts to X. These included retweets of a Holocaust revisionist suggesting Israeli involvement in 9/11 and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a video of Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar and numerous pro-Hamas and pro-Iran statements, as well as original posts attacking Democratic figures and law enforcement.
Gilani’s firm, Brain Child LLC, had been the highest-paid consultant to Lander’s House campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.
“As soon as I became aware of those tweets — which I really did find extremely offensive — I ended the contract with Brain Child immediately,” Lander told JI, a self-described progressive Zionist and outspoken Israel critic, at a press availability on Thursday.
But Lander repeatedly refused to say how he came to hire Gilani, whose background is in finance, to handle his “Website and social media,” as his campaign disclosures show.
“I’m not interested in extending your story,” said Lander, when pressed.
But he did maintain that he never received any referral for Gilani from Mamdani, his staff or his campaign. “Hot Girls for Zohran” was a social media, merchandising and volunteer canvassing operation run independently of the now-mayor’s official election effort, although Mamdani did pose for photos with Gilani and his co-founder, and appeared alongside other people — including model Emily Ratajkowski — wearing the group’s signature T-shirts.
“Did anyone from the mayor’s team refer them? The answer is no,” Lander said.
Earlier in the day, Mamdani himself refused to condemn the content of Gilani’s social media output, which also included attacks against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Plus, Trump sets monthlong timeline for Iran deal
DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Jeremy Carl speaks at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington D.C., Sept. 3, 2025.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again voiced skepticism about the U.S.’ ability to reach an agreement with Iran as he departed Joint Base Andrews today, reports Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov, who is traveling with the prime minister’s delegation.
A day after his White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Netanyahu told reporters, “The president thinks the Iranians understand who they’re dealing with. He thinks the conditions he is setting, combined with their understanding that they made a mistake last time not reaching a deal, could bring them to agree to conditions that will allow a good deal to be reached.”
The prime minister’s view was more reserved: “I do not hide my general skepticism about the possibility of any deal with Iran.” Netanyahu said he told Trump that if a deal is indeed reached, “it must include the components that are important to us, the State of Israel, and, I think, the entire international community: not just the nuclear matter, but also ballistic missiles and Iranian proxies in the region.”
The Prime Minister’s Office also said Netanyahu will not be returning to Washington next week as scheduled, in order to speak at an AIPAC conference, and will instead appear virtually…
At a press conference this afternoon, Trump said the timeline for a potential deal with Iran is “over the next month … should happen quickly.” Asked why Netanyahu wants him to stop negotiating, Trump said, “He didn’t say that, we didn’t discuss that. I’ll talk to [Iran] as long as I like.” Trump additionally said Israeli President Isaac Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” and called him “disgraceful” for not issuing a pardon to Netanyahu…
The Trump administration smuggled around 6,000 Starlink terminals, used to establish internet connection, to activists in Iran during the regime’s violent suppression of nationwide protests, which included internet blackouts, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his team refused to condemn antisemitic and pro-Hamas social media posts from the co-founder of the group ‘Hot Girls for Zohran’ when pressed by JI’s Will Bredderman and other reporters today.
Speaking from City Hall, Mamdani would only stress that Gilani’s organization operated independently of his official election effort: “This was an individual leading an outside group and was never paid for by our campaign,” said Mamdani. “If New Yorkers want to know my views then they can hear it directly from me.
But when JI pressed the mayor directly whether he condemned the content of Gilani’s posts, he refused to respond and left the room, similar to how he fled questions on the matter from Politico on Wednesday…
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) urged the Trump administration today to investigate reports that a clique of radical staffers at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had launched an anti-Israel “working group” inside the agency, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.
In a letter addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Stefanik decried reports that employees had met during work hours at the city bureaucracy’s Queens headquarters. She raised the possibility that the department’s federal funding might have gone toward a prohibited political purpose — or that the gathering may have violated civil rights protections by creating a discriminatory environment for Jewish New Yorkers…
The nomination of Jeremy Carl, tapped to be the assistant secretary of state for international organizations, appears bound to fail after Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) announced his opposition to Carl’s confirmation following his contentious hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Curtis and a series of Democrats questioned Carl over past antisemitic, anti-Israel and otherwise inflammatory comments that the nominee had made online and in a series of podcast appearances, including his assertion that the U.S. spends too much time and energy on Israel “often to the detriment of our own national interest” and that “the Jews love to see themselves as oppressed”…
CENTCOM announced today it had completed a “deliberate and conditions-based” withdrawal of U.S. forces from al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, handing control of the site on the country’s border with Iraq and Jordan to forces aligned with the Syrian government. The U.S. has had a presence at the base since 2016 as part of its fight against ISIS; over 7,000 ISIS detainees are also being transitioned out of Syria into Iraq, while the U.S. troops were relocated to Jordan…
Germany joined the growing calls today for U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese to resign, after France did the same yesterday, over her recent speech at the Al Jazeera Forum where she called Israel humanity’s “common enemy.” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X, “I respect the system of independent rapporteurs of the UN. However, Ms. Albanese has already repeatedly failed in the past. I condemn her recent statements about Israel. She is untenable in her position”…
Israeli authorities arrested several people, and indicted one army reservist and one civilian, for allegedly using classified information to place bets on the popular prediction market Polymarket around the timing of Israel’s war with Iran last June, the Shin Bet announced today. The bets all correctly predicted the timeline of the strikes, raking in more than $150,000, Israeli media reported…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on the race to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, where the congresswoman is coming out forcefully against the lone Jewish candidate in the race — for being too supportive of Netanyahu.
The Munich Security Conference kicks off tomorrow, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the U.S. delegation and speaking from the main stage on Saturday. Dozens of members of Congress were also expected to attend — official travel was canceled due to the impending shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security tomorrow, but members still may attend on their own. One member making a foray into foreign policy is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who will be speaking on two panels at the high-level summit. Other Democrats in attendance will be California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
In observance of President’s Day, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Tuesday. Shabbat Shalom!
Stories You May Have Missed
DOUBLING DOWN
Two Trump religious liberty appointees joined forces in anti-Israel push for antisemitism hearing
Activist Sameerah Munshi was appointed by the White House to the commission’s advisory board; the two women have jointly posted antisemitic content online
DOHA DEALINGS
GOP senator Ted Budd calls on Qatar to extradite Hamas leader to the U.S.
Budd says Qatar should hand over Khaled Mashaal because he has the ‘blood of Americans on his hands’
Departing from Washington, the Israeli PM said he stressed to Trump that if any deal is reached, it must go beyond the nuclear issue
Lahav Harkov
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departs Joint Base Andrews on Feb. 12, 2026.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again voiced skepticism about the U.S.’ ability to reach an agreement with Iran as he departed Joint Base Andrews on Thursday, a day after his White House meeting with President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu said that his nearly three-hour meeting with Trump “mostly focused on the negotiations with Iran.”
“The president thinks the Iranians understand who they’re dealing with,” Netanyahu said. “He thinks the conditions he is setting, combined with their understanding that they made a mistake last time not reaching a deal, could bring them to agree to conditions that will allow a good deal to be reached.”
The prime minister’s view was more reserved: “I do not hide my general skepticism about the possibility of any deal with Iran.”
Netanyahu said he told Trump that if a deal is indeed reached, “it must include the components that are important to us, the State of Israel, and, I think, the entire international community: not just the nuclear matter, but also ballistic missiles and Iranian proxies in the region.”
After Wednesday’s White House meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that the leaders discussed Iran and Gaza, and that Netanyahu “emphasized the security needs of the State of Israel in the context of the negotiations, and the two leaders agreed on continued coordination and the close contact between them.”
Trump posted on Truth Social that he “insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.”
The president warned that last time Tehran did not make a deal, the U.S. launched Operation Midnight Hammer, striking Iran’s nuclear sites.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu will not be returning to Washington next week as he had been scheduled to, in order to speak at an AIPAC conference, and will instead appear virtually.
As he departed Washington a day after his meeting with Trump, Netanyahu voiced skepticism about the U.S.’ ability to reach an agreement with Iran.
— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) February 12, 2026
“The president thinks the Iranians understand who they’re dealing with,” Netanyahu said from Joint Base Andrews. “He thinks the… pic.twitter.com/A1AsiDYZCe
Behind the scenes, the main topic of conversation between the two leaders yesterday appeared to focus on options for action if Iran does not agree to a deal
GPO
President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Feb. 11, 2026.
At first glance, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nearly three-hour meeting at the White House on Wednesday appeared to end without any clear accomplishments.
Instead of the freewheeling question-and-answer sessions with media in the Oval Office and formal press conferences that followed most of Trump and Netanyahu’s previous six meetings since Trump returned to the White House, came a laconic statement from Netanyahu’s office about Israel’s security needs and a Truth Social post from Trump that was staid by the president’s standards.
Trump wrote that he “insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated. If I can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference.” However, the president warned that last time Iran decided against making a deal, “that did not work out well for them,” and the U.S. struck the country’s nuclear sites.
However, Trump and Netanyahu were similarly silent about their meeting in April 2025 — their last in-person meeting before the joint strike in Iran two months later.
Behind the scenes, the main topic of conversation between the two leaders yesterday appeared to focus on options for action if Iran does not agree to a deal.
The lack of press around the meeting was because Netanyahu wanted to keep a relatively low profile and show deference to Trump, since a strike on Iran — should one occur — would be led by the U.S., an Israeli source said.
The Israeli side is very skeptical that any deal can be reached between the U.S. and Iran, with Trump saying publicly that a good deal would mean “no nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles,” and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying the ballistic missile issue is a nonstarter for Tehran.
According to a report by Barak Ravid for Israel’s Channel 12, the Trump administration’s views are very close to those on Netanyahu’s team, with a senior American official also believing the Iranians are unlikely to compromise.
The meeting between the two leaders was “critical,” Ravid quoted the official as saying, because they “need to decide whether to conduct a joint strike if a deal is not reached.” Such a strike would be more likely to succeed if the militaries work together.
One indication of the Trump administration’s pessimism about the talks is the Pentagon’s order, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, for a second aircraft carrier strike group to deploy to the Middle East if negotiations fail, which came after Trump teased the idea earlier this week.
A source in Netanyahu’s delegation said that the prime minister also arrived in Washington with evidence, which he presented to Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Tuesday and Trump on Wednesday, that the Iranians lied to the Americans about their intentions in the talks, which they never planned to include ballistic missiles, as well as about stopping the slaughter of anti-regime protesters.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Iran have yet to set a date for a second round of talks, and the first was under 90 minutes long — with some of that time dedicated to their Omani hosts passing messages back and forth in the indirect talks.
The two leaders avoided the cameras during Israeli PM’s White House visit
GPO
President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Feb. 11, 2026.
The U.S. will continue pursuing diplomacy with Iran, President Donald Trump said following his White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue, to see whether or not a deal can be consummated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference.”
If negotiations do not lead to a deal, the president added, “we will just have to see what the outcome will be. Last time, Iran decided they were better off not making a deal, and they were hit with Midnight Hammer. That did not work out well for them. Hopefully, this time, they will be more reasonable and responsible.”
In addition, Trump wrote, he and Netanyahu discussed “the tremendous progress being made in Gaza.”
Trump characterized the summit as “a very good meeting, the tremendous relationship between our two countries continues.”
Netanyahu’s office said he and Trump discussed Iran, Gaza and regional developments.
“The prime minister stood up for the State of Israel’s security needs in the context of the negotiations, and the two agreed to continue to coordinate closely,” the Prime Minister’s Office statement read.
Netanyahu made a quiet entrance to the White House, and Trump was uncharacteristically camera-shy.
Trump and Netanyahu’s meetings — this was their seventh in the past year — have usually been accompanied by freewheeling press huddles, either in the Oval Office or East Room, in which Trump answered dozens of questions. On Wednesday, however, reporters were not allowed in the room before or after the meeting, which continued longer than scheduled and included lunch.
At the top of the meeting’s agenda were the details of the ongoing negotiations with Iran. The American team is led by White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, both of whom met with Netanyahu at Blair House on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Trump said on Fox Business that the Iranians “want to make a deal. I think they’d be foolish if they didn’t. We took out their nuclear power last time, and we’ll have to see if we take out more this time.”
Trump added that a “good deal” would mean “no nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles, no this or that.”
That statement checks off the most important items on Netanyahu’s priority list for an Iran deal, while leaving out the Islamic Republic’s sponsorship of terrorist proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas. It also does not include any aid to the Iranian protesters against the regime, whom Trump said late last year that he would help.
A source on Netanyahu’s delegation said that the prime minister is aware of the American political sensitivities around their meeting and was cautious to show deference to Trump, lest Netanyahu be seen as trying to push for war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, however, said in an interview that his country’s ballistic missile program is “never negotiable.”
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called Trump ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu to encourage him to reach a deal, according to Qatari media.
Netanyahu met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the Trump meeting, for discussions focused on the administration’s plans for Gaza.
Netanyahu presented Rubio with signed letters certifying his membership in the Board of Peace, which Trump founded to oversee reconstruction and demilitarization in Gaza and attempt to resolve other conflicts.
The Board of Peace’s first meeting is next week, and Netanyahu’s office has yet to say whether he will attend. The prime minister was expected to come back to Washington from Feb. 18-22 for an AIPAC conference beginning that Sunday, and his office said the trip is still on schedule.
The ayatollah is ‘never going to stop killing his people and drinking their blood out of a boot, and he’s never going to stop funding Hamas and Hezbollah,’ Sen. John Kennedy said
Iranian Foreign Ministry / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) meets with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi (R) to exchange views on how to advance US-Iran talks scheduled to be held later in the day, in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on February 06, 2026.
Republicans lawmakers continued to dismiss this week the idea that a nuclear deal with Iran is achievable, despite comments by President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Trump said that the talks with Iran, held in Oman last Friday, had been “very good,” that Tehran “wants to make a deal very badly” and that he is in “no rush” to move ahead. He also said that the Iranian demand that the talks be only focused on nuclear weapons “would be acceptable” — an apparent softening of the U.S. position that any potential agreement should also address Iran’s ballistic missile stockpiles and its support for regional terror proxies. The talks did not appear to touch on the Islamic Republic’s recent violent crackdown on nationwide protests.
Asked about Trump’s comments about a nuclear-only deal, Republicans largely dismissed the idea that any deal would actually be forthcoming.
“Iran’s not going to make a deal with us. They’re going to stall and re-stall to buy time, but they’re not going to make a deal,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Jewish Insider. “The ayatollah is [as] crazy as a bed bug. And he’s never going to give up any hope that he has of nuclear weapons. He’s never going to stop killing his people and drinking their blood out of a boot, and he’s never going to stop funding Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Kennedy predicted that military action is both necessary and forthcoming.
“You’re going to have to give them a curbstomping, but you don’t want to start a regional war doing it,” Kennedy continued. “My guess is that’s what the president is talking to [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio and the military guys with a bunch of their flags in their office [about] right now.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) agreed that the Iranian regime is not genuinely interested in making an agreement with the United States.
“There won’t be a deal,” Scott told JI. “They’re not going to do a deal.”
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he hadn’t seen Trump’s comments but he does not “trust the word of the regime, at all.”
“They have not proven trustworthy with their word in the past, and so you have to have a way to be able to verify everything,” Lankford continued.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), meanwhile, told JI on Monday that he would delay a vote on a war powers resolution he introduced with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocking military action against Iran pending the ongoing talks with the regime.
The resolution would theoretically be eligible for votes by the full Senate later this week, should Kaine and Paul wish to call it up.
The Virginia senator told JI that he and Paul are in discussions about timing for votes, and that he hasn’t yet made a decision on when to call the bill up.
“We have to check each day to see where [the talks] are. I don’t think calling it up in the middle of discussions that have some chance to it — that’s not the right time — but we’ll just see where we are,” Kaine said.
Plus, the stakes of Bibi's upcoming White House visit
Rob Kim/Getty Images for Fanatics
Michael Rubin and Nasser Al-Khelaifi attend Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 at Javits Center on June 22, 2025 in New York City.
👋 Good Monday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington this week following the White House’s talks with Iran on Friday, and have the exclusive on a new report from the North American Values Institute on antisemitism in K-12 schools. We report on Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s praise for the Oct. 7 attacks at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend, as Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin hosted his annual Super Bowl lunch that was attended by a senior Qatari official. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Yakir Gabay and Narges Mohammadi.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Vice President JD Vance is traveling to Armenia today as part of a two-country trip that will also include a stop in Azerbaijan later this week, in a last-minute trip first reported yesterday. Vance will not be in Washington during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, slated for Wednesday.
- Former Israeli hostage and musician Alon Ohel will play a one-night concert in Tel Aviv this evening. In videos shared by his loved ones during his more than two years in captivity, Ohel deftly played the piano, drawing widespread praise for his talent. He’ll be performing alongside a number of high-profile Israeli musicians, including Idan Amedi and Eviatar Banai for the performance, titled “Alon Ohel, Playing for Life.”
- The Religious Liberty Commission is holding its fifth hearing on issues related to antisemitism today at the Museum of the Bible. Speakers at the gathering, which begins this morning and runs through the mid-afternoon, include the Justice Department’s Leo Terrell, former Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl and former U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.
Prince William is making his first official visit to Saudi Arabia this week. The trip comes as Riyadh hosts the World Defense Show, and as the U.K. works to establish Saudi Arabia as a partner in its next-generation Tempest fighter aircraft program. - Somali Defense Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi is also in Riyadh, where earlier in the day he inked a new defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. The Saudi official had met with Jewish leaders in Washington last month, during which he reiterated Riyadh’s opposition to Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to fly to Washington for a Wednesday White House meeting amid increasing concern in Jerusalem that the U.S. and Iran are headed towards a nuclear deal that does not meet Israel’s immediate security need — to drastically limit Iran’s ballistic missile program.
After the first round of indirect negotiations in Oman on Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that talks had been “very good” and that “Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly.”
Asked about Iran’s demand that the talks only be about nuclear weapons, Trump said, “That would be acceptable. One thing, right up front, no nuclear weapons. … They weren’t willing to do that [last year]; now they are willing to do much more.” That message contrasted with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s remarks from last week, that “in order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes the sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region, that includes the nuclear program and that includes the treatment of their own people.”
Netanyahu announced the urgent meeting with Trump, less than two months after they last met at Mar-a-Lago, with a statement that said: “The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis.”
For Israel, while the Iranian nuclear program may be the biggest threat, Operation Midnight Hammer did enough damage that the ballistic missiles are the more urgent concern, one that Iran has been threatening to use against Israel if the U.S. launches an attack.
Though Israel destroyed hundreds of missiles, launchers and production sites during the 12-Day war last June, most of Iran’s missiles remained intact. The prime minister presented the president with evidence during their December meeting that Iran has been working to rebuild its ballistic missile program and air defenses with help from China and Russia.
Any deal that does not include significant limitations on the range of Iran’s ballistic missiles will be woefully inadequate from Israel’s perspective. Plus, as Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday, Israel wants a deal that addresses Iran’s sponsorship of terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed skepticism that the negotiations would bring about an acceptable agreement and noted the legal requirement to bring any such deal before Congress, writing on X: “I hope it can meet our national security objectives and the needs of the people of Iran through diplomacy. Given Iran’s behavior regarding deals, it could be a tough sell. However, I am open-minded, understanding [that] any agreement with the Islamic Republic and the United States must come to Congress for review and a vote.”
FROM CENTER STAGE
In Qatar, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal headlines Al Jazeera Forum focused on defaming Israel
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal addressed Qatar’s 17th Al Jazeera Forum on Sunday in Doha, at a conference that focused heavily on denigrating Israel, while featuring senior officials from Iran and Somalia. Mashaal applauded the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel as having “brought the Palestinian cause back to the forefront of the world” and said that Palestinians “take pride” in “resistance,” a euphemism for violence against Israelis. He called to “pursue Israel and establish that it is a pariah entity that is losing its international legitimacy,” noting the “changes in the elites, universities and social networks” against Israel, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Peak promotion: The Hamas leader, who resides in Doha, also hailed Qatar’s “honorable role in the [Palestinian] cause.” Hamas is designated by the U.S., European Union and other countries as a terrorist organization, and Mashaal is wanted in the U.S. for terrorism, murder conspiracy and sanctions evasion relating to his role in planning the Oct. 7 attacks. Mashaal was listed on the conference’s program and list of speakers in versions of the Al Jazeera Forum website archived by independent researcher Eitan Fischberger, but as of Sunday, Mashaal was no longer listed. At the same time, the Al Jazeera Forum X account extensively promoted Mashaal, with 19 posts about the terror leader’s remarks. The account featured two posts about conference keynote speaker Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran.
Elsewhere at the Forum: Another speaker was Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for “infringement on the sovereignty” of Israel and the U.S. by pursuing International Criminal Court prosecutions of citizens of both countries, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio described her actions last year. Albanese claimed in her remarks, delivered via video, that Israel had committed a premeditated genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and that all of humanity “now has a common enemy” in Israel.
DOHA DISSONANCE
As speakers in Doha brand Israel as humanity’s ‘common enemy,’ Michael Rubin hosts Qatari minister at Super Bowl lunch
As the Al Jazeera Forum took place in Doha, Qatari minister Nasser Al-Khelaifi was being feted by Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin at another high-profile convening — Super Bowl weekend, taking place in Santa Clara, Calif. Al-Khelaifi is the chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), one of the Qatari sovereign wealth funds that invests heavily in international sports and entertainment. Among his other titles, Al-Khelaifi is also a board member of the Qatar Investment Authority, a minister of state and the president of the Paris Saint-Germain Football Club in France and the Qatar Tennis Foundation.
Flourishing friendship: Rubin posted a picture with Al-Khelaifi from his annual Super Bowl luncheon on Instagram with the caption, “Incredible lunch with amazing people across sports, business, and culture.” Rubin and Al-Khelaifi have developed a friendship in recent years, including a long-term partnership between Fanatics and Paris Saint-Germain. Rubin posted a photo with Al-Khelaifi at the F1 Qatar Grand Prix last November, where he called the Qatari minister his “brother” and said, “What you did for both the city of Paris and country of Qatar is truly amazing.”
STICKING BY THE STICKY NOTE
Amid criticism, Kraft’s anti-hate group defends Super Bowl ad against antisemitism
The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate’s widely watched Super Bowl ad last night designed to combat antisemitism instead sparked a heated divide within the Jewish community over the effectiveness of its message, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. Titled “Sticky Note,” the ad from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s group featured a Jewish student being harassed by his high school classmates because of his religion, with bullies placing a “dirty Jew” sticker on his backpack. In a show of allyship, a Black classmate puts a blue square over the note. “Do not listen to that,” he tells his Jewish classmate. “I know how it feels.”
Target audience: A chorus of commentators criticized the advertisement, which is part of a $15 million media campaign that will also include ad spots during the Winter Olympics, for depicting Jews as victims in need of protection from non-Jews and for avoiding the reality that the source of many antisemitic incidents in schools stem from hostility toward or hatred of Israel. But the leader of Kraft’s group told JI that the ad wasn’t trying to appeal to a Jewish audience. Instead, Blue Square Alliance President Adam Katz told JI that with more than 100 million viewers, the Super Bowl provides an opportunity to reach an audience that is “unengaged — and in many cases uninformed — about antisemitism … We’re very focused on this audience that’s lacking awareness, empathy and motivation to act,” he said.
MEJIA MOMENTUM
Will Democrats rally behind progressive socialist Mejia as she vies to represent wealthy N.J. district?
With progressive activist Analilia Mejia’s expected victory in the special election Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, attention is now turning to the upcoming April special election and the June regular election primary as the last chances for moderates and pro-Israel groups to defeat her, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Looking ahead: “June is potentially irresistible for the other candidates who ran … if any of these candidates could get a one-on-one shot at making it in June,” Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said. But unless the field can consolidate, Rasmussen said, it’s hard to see how the result would be any different in June. He said former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who closely trails Mejia, would have the strongest shot at defeating her head-to-head, while former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way might have a tougher battle.
UDP’s outlook: “The outcome in NJ-11 was an anticipated possibility, and our focus remains on who will serve the next full term in Congress,” UDP spokesperson Patrick Dorton said in a statement on Friday. “UDP will be closely monitoring dozens of primary races, including the June NJ-11 primary, to help ensure pro-Israel candidates are elected to Congress.”
EXCLUSIVE
New report warns about the rise of activists smuggling in antisemitic content in K-12 schools
Political activists seeking to push extremist perspectives into the classroom are behind a nationwide acceleration of antisemitic content in K-12 classrooms, with increasingly active movements targeting school boards, district leadership and teacher organizations, according to a report published Monday by the North American Values Institute, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Findings: The group’s 58-page report, “When the Classroom Turns Hostile: A Strategic Response to Extremism and Antisemitism in K-12 Education,” shared exclusively with JI, found that in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, what it described as radical ideological frameworks have dominated key education institutions across the country. Ideologies such as “oppressor-oppressed” are common in schools of education, accreditation bodies, teacher unions and district bureaucracies, all of which shape classroom materials.
MENTORSHIP MOVES
AOC under Matt Duss’ foreign policy tutelage as she makes 2028 moves
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been receiving briefings from Matt Duss, an outspoken critic of the U.S.-Israel alliance and former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as she prepares for a high-profile appearance at the Munich Security Conference this week, The New York Times reported on Friday. Duss, who is now executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, a left-wing think tank, has long been a prominent detractor of U.S. relations with Israel, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Duss’ record: He has called for blocking aid to Israel and has expressed opposition to renewing the 10-year memorandum of understanding, which is set to expire in 2028 and currently provides $3.8 billion in military funding to Israel annually. He has also cast doubt on the Abraham Accords, accusing the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries of using “racist logic” that is “premised on the perpetual repression of Palestinians” and helping to fuel Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Duss has frequently called Israel’s resulting war in Gaza a genocide. “I don’t think a Democrat can be nominated in ‘28 without acknowledging that it is a genocide,” Duss suggested in an interview with The Financial Times last September.
Worthy Reads
Baker’s Recipe: Politico’s Diana Nerozzi and Ian Ward profile the Trump administration’s Andy Baker, whose “fingerprints are evident on some of the Trump administration’s most norm-shattering postures,” including Vice President JD Vance’s address at last year’s Munich Security Conference and the White House’s National Security Strategy. “Behind the scenes, the seldom-pictured and extremely private deputy national security adviser has emerged as a key figure in Vance’s orbit, shaping both the vice president’s foreign policy thinking and some of the White House’s most consequential national security decisions — especially its increasingly confrontational stance toward America’s allies in Europe. … With Vance emerging as a leading candidate to secure the 2028 Republican nomination, Baker, a self-described ‘realist’ who is skeptical of traditional American alliances and U.S. military intervention abroad, is expected to play an even more important role in shaping the future of the GOP’s foreign policy.” [Politico]
Harassed at Haverford: In The Free Press, Haviv Rettig Gur recounts his recent experience as a guest speaker at Haverford College, where his talk was disrupted by anti-Israel student protesters. “It was the strangest thing: The more I treated them like neglected children hungry for knowledge, the more likely they were to respond in healthy and productive ways. I didn’t meet violent illiberal radicals that evening at Haverford; I met children playing at violent illiberal radicalism. I met young people starved for wisdom and authority who had been told that their every emotional kink and outburst was valid and unassailable truth. … In the end, we managed to have an honest exchange of ideas, but it felt as though we had to buck everything their campus culture had taught them in order to reach that point. I met a real hunger for depth and understanding among young people who’d been told in a hundred different ways that their unexamined emotions were wisdom enough.” [FreePress]
The Two Elites: The Financial Times’ Janan Ganesh observes the “fatally interlocking” relationship between the private and public elite, against the backdrop of the resignation of former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. “Most people do not find money — or the main ways of making money, such as banking — intrinsically interesting. This might be less true in societies that are new to wealth. But it holds in the established western cities. There, the self-made often discover too late that all their work and risk-taking has brought them less social status than expected. A minor magazine editor outranks them at a party. A hand-to-mouth actor is more welcome at Soho House. A bureaucrat can affect their business. Most rich people don’t mind. Even those who do tend to react maturely, perhaps sponsoring the arts for some reflected glory or buying a media outlet. But some will cross the line in seeking to be near the beau monde. Which consists of whom? Artists, intellectuals, politicians, even the occasional journalist: the public rather than private 1 per cent. Their value in social settings is high. Their income might not be.” [FT]
Word on the Street
The Pentagon is cutting its graduate-level programmatic and fellowship partnerships with Harvard, alleging that the school is imparting “globalist and radical ideologies” amid ongoing tensions between the school and the Trump administration…
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch named Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the Rev. A.R. Bernard co-heads of the department’s chaplaincy unit, where they will jointly oversee a team of 10 chaplains; Dolan and Bernard, who respectively represent Catholic and Black churches, succeed Rabbi Alvin Kass, who died last year after six decades with the NYPD…
The New York Times looks at how conspiracy theories about the U.S.S. Liberty incident, in which Israel mistakenly fired on a U.S. naval ship during the Six-Day War, are spreading in far-right circles and are being promoted by Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens…
The Washington Post profiles American Conservative editor Curt Mills as the “avatar of a new right” works to shape the future of a post-Trump Republican Party; the “the No. 1 item on Mills’s agenda,” the Post reports, “is pushing back against Trump on U.S. support for Israel’s retaliation against Hamas after the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and agitating for a hard turn away from America’s 80-year bond with the Jewish state”…
The New York Times reviews Allegra Goodman’s This Is Not About Us, a collection of short but intertwined stories about generations of a fictional large Jewish family…
Israeli Olympic bobsled captain AJ Edelman said the apartment where the Israeli team had been staying in Milan ahead of the Olympic Games had been robbed; among the items taken, Edelman said, were thousands of dollars in cash as well as some of the team’s passports…
The Australian state of Queensland introduced a series of hate speech reforms that include the banning of the public use of such slogans as “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”; the move was undertaken in response to the December terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach…
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog visited the site of the Bondi attack earlier today as part of a four-day visit to the country that will also include stops in Melbourne and Canberra…
Israeli carrier El Al was fined $39 million by the country’s Competition Authority over its price-gauging of tickets after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and through May 2024, finding that El Al raised prices on routes — a majority of which were only being served by the airline due to security concerns that resulted in widespread route suspensions — by between 16-31%…
Ynet profiles Israeli real estate investor Yakir Gabay, who was named to the executive board of the Trump administration’s Board of Peace…
The families of Druze children killed in a Hezbollah strike on a soccer field in the Israeli town of Majdal Shams in July 2024 are suing the terror organization for 80 million shekels ($25 million); 12 children were killed and dozens injured in the attack…
Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a series of measures that will allow Israeli authorities to exert more control in the West Bank, with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who backed the expansion, saying, “we will continue to bury the idea of a Palestinian state”…
Iran sentenced activist Narges Mohammadi, who had been imprisoned since her arrest in December and had begun a hunger strike, to seven years in prison…
The new sentence against Mohammadi comes as Iranian security forces arrested four senior politicians affiliated with the country’s reformist parties…
Israeli music icon Matti Caspi died at 76…
Pic of the Day
Attendees of the International Conference of Shluchot in Brooklyn, N.Y., posed for the annual “class photo” outside the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters over the weekend. Some 4,500 women representing more than 100 countries traveled to New York for the annual gathering.
Birthdays
Sports announcer for NBA, NFL and college basketball games on CBS, TNT and TBS, as well as Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network, Ian Eagle turns 57…
Grammy Award-winning songwriter of over 150 hits including “Somewhere Out There” from the movie “An American Tail,” in partnership with his late wife Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman) turns 87… Singer-songwriter, she wrote 118 songs that made it to the Top 100 between 1955 and 1999 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Carole King (born Carol Klein) turns 84… Professor of economics at Columbia University, Nobel laureate in 2001, former SVP and chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz turns 83… Three-time Tony Award and three-time Emmy Award-winning actress, Judith Light turns 77… Professor of history and modern Jewish studies at UCSD, Deborah Hertz turns 77… Israeli singer mostly in the Mizrahi music tradition, he has released over 30 albums, Shimi Tavori (born Shimshon Tawili) turns 73… Former governor of Virginia, chair of the DNC, chair of two Clinton presidential campaigns (Bill’s in 1996, Hillary’s in 2008), Terry McAuliffe, a/k/a “the Macker,” turns 69… Creator of the HBO series “The Wire” (2002-2008) and NBC’s series “Homicide: Life on the Street” (1993-1999), winner of a 2010 MacArthur genius fellowship, David Simon turns 66… Theoretical physics professor at Columbia University since 1996, author of multiple books written for the general public such as Icarus at the Edge of Time, Brian Greene turns 63… Isaac Lieberman… Managing director with the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, he was the lieutenant governor and then attorney general of Delaware, Matthew P. Denn turns 60… Play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s men’s college basketball and for the Toronto Blue Jays, Dan Shulman turns 59… British broadcasting executive who is currently chief content officer at the U.K.’s Channel 4, Ian Katz turns 58… President of the K-12 education portfolio at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Julie Mikuta… Assistant adjunct professor of journalism at UCLA, she was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Los Angeles Times for 16 years, Abigail Helaine “Abbe” Goldman turns 56… Managing director of AlTi Tiedemann Global, Jeffrey L. Zlot… Charleston, S.C., resident, Ellen Miriam Brandwein… Television and film actress, Margarita Levieva turns 46… Member of the Minnesota state Senate since 2011, Jeremy R. Miller turns 43… Senior director of public policy and strategy for Christians United for Israel Action Fund, Boris Zilberman… Director of development for Ben-Gurion University, Jason Pressberg… Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (D-182) since 2023, Benjamin R. Waxman turns 41… Managing partner of Precision Infrastructure Management, Thomas Szold… Brazilian chess grandmaster, André Diamant turns 36… Associate director at Merck Research Laboratories, Carly Abenstein Myar… Israeli judoka, he competed for Israel at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Baruch Shmailov turns 32… Offensive tackle for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, Jake Curhan turns 28…
Mashaal, who resides in Doha, hailed Qatar's ‘honorable role’ in the Palestinian cause
Ali Altunkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal speaks on the second day of the 17th Al Jazeera Forum held in Doha, Qatar on February 8, 2026.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal addressed Qatar’s 17th Al Jazeera Forum on Sunday, at a conference that focused heavily on denigrating Israel, while featuring senior officials from Iran and Somalia.
Mashaal applauded the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel as having “brought the Palestinian cause back to the forefront of the world” and said that Palestinians “take pride” in “resistance,” a euphemism for violence against Israelis. He called to “pursue Israel and establish that it is a pariah entity that is losing its international legitimacy,” noting the “changes in the elites, universities and social networks” against Israel.
The Hamas leader, who resides in Doha, also hailed Qatar’s “honorable role in the [Palestinian] cause.”
Hamas is designated by the U.S., European Union and other countries as a terrorist organization, and Mashaal is wanted in the U.S. for terrorism, murder conspiracy and sanctions evasion relating to his role in planning the Oct. 7 attacks.
Mashaal was listed on the conference’s program and list of speakers in versions of the Al Jazeera Forum website archived by independent researcher Eitan Fischberger, but as of Sunday Mashaal was no longer listed. At the same time, the Al Jazeera Forum X account extensively promoted Mashaal, with 19 posts about the terror leader’s remarks. The account featured two posts about conference keynote speaker Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran.
This year’s Al Jazeera Forum theme is “the Palestinian cause and the regional balance of power in the context of an emerging multipolar world.” The conference website suggests that Israel committed a “genocide in Gaza,” and that Israel “has sought to reoccupy Gaza … or establish settlements in it.” It also argues that Israel faces strategic setbacks as a result.
The speakers’ remarks reflected the forum’s hostile position on Israel.
Araghchi lamented a double standard toward “Israeli expansionism,” arguing that “other countries are demanded to disarm, pressured to reduce defensive capacity, punished for scientific advancement … This is not arms control, not non-proliferation, not security. It is enforcement of permanent inequality. Israel must have a military and strategic edge and others must remain vulnerable.”
Araghchi, speaking a day after he led his country’s negotiations with the U.S. in Oman on dismantling its nuclear program, said that it has an “inalienable right to enrich uranium.”
The Iranian foreign minister also said that “Palestine is the defining question of justice … The strategic and moral compass of our region.”
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud floated the possibility of war with Israel in a pre-conference interview aired on Al Jazeera. He questioned why Israel would want to build a military base “in Somalia,” referring to reports of activity in Somaliland, whose sovereignty Israel recognized in December. He argued a base could only be offensive, ignoring repeated attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, from nearby Yemen, on Israel.
“Israel is preparing or positioning itself to attack someone else,” he said. “We will fight in our capacity; we will defend ourselves, and that means that we will confront any Israeli forces coming in, because we are against that and we will never allow that.”
Another speaker was Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for “infringement on the sovereignty” of Israel and the U.S. by pursuing International Criminal Court prosecutions of citizens of both countries, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio described her actions last year.
Albanese claimed in her remarks, delivered via video, that Israel had committed a premeditated genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and that all of humanity “now has a common enemy” in Israel.
‘The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,’ Netanyahu’s office says
Avi Ohayon (GPO) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes statements at Ben Gurion Airport ahead of his visit to Washington DC, where he will meet with US President Donald Trump in Tel Aviv, Israel on February 02, 2025.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced a last-minute trip to Washington on Wednesday to discuss talks between the U.S. and Iran, a day after President Donald Trump praised the negotiations with Tehran.
“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” the statement, sent Saturday night, read.
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Friday.
Later Friday, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the talks had been “very good.”
“Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly,” he said. “We have to see what that deal is, but I think Iran wants to make a deal very badly, like they should. Last time, they didn’t want to make a deal, but I think this time they feel differently.”
Asked about Iran’s demand that the talks only be about nuclear weapons, Trump said, “That would be acceptable. One thing, right up front, no nuclear weapons. … They weren’t willing to do that [last year]; now they are willing to do much more.”
The president also said that he is in “no rush” in the negotiations, adding, “If you remember in Venezuela, we waited around for a while.”
Trump indicated that the military threat to Iran still stands: “We have a big armada, a big fleet heading in that direction that will be there soon, so we’ll see how that works out. … If they don’t make a deal, the consequences are very steep.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed skepticism that the negotiations would bring about an acceptable agreement, and called for Congressional review and approval, which the 2015 Iran nuclear deal lacked.
“I hope it can meet our national security objectives and the needs of the people of Iran through diplomacy,” Graham wrote on X. “Given Iran’s behavior regarding deals, it could be a tough sell. However, I am open-minded, understanding [that] any agreement with the Islamic Republic and the United States must come to Congress for review and a vote.”
Meanwhile, in Iran, videos and photos were posted online of Iranians once again protesting the regime using methods other than mass demonstrations, The Wall Street Journal reported, including shouting slogans at funerals, doctors condemning the arrest of colleagues for treating wounded protesters, hosting memorials for wounded protesters and more.
Plus, Massie challenger gets strong GOP backing
Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council and Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, arrive for an announcement in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 (Photographer: John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wrote to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani today voicing “serious concerns” about Mamdani’s “rescission of executive orders related to antisemitism and boycotts of Israel.”
Cassidy said the New York City Department of Education’s $2.2 billion in federal funding could be rescinded “contingent on compliance with federal civil rights laws and applicable executive orders designed to protect students”…
New York City councilmembers on both sides of the aisle denounced a new working group established by employees of the city’s Department of Health on “global oppression,” Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports, which a presenter at its first meeting on Tuesday acknowledged was “really developed in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”
City Council Speaker Julie Menin called for a probe into the working group at DOH, which operates under Mamdani’s administration, telling the New York Post, “Our health care officials should be fighting infectious diseases and addressing skyrocketing health care costs instead of spending public time debating geopolitics”…
Moshe Davis, the former executive director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism in New York City, told The Free Press upon being ousted from the role by Mamdani, “I don’t think the priority of the administration has been to combat antisemitism.”
Davis, who was a political appointee of former Mayor Eric Adams, said a Mamdani staffer told him they were “looking to go in a different direction” in replacing him with Phylisa Wisdom, a progressive Jewish activist. “Look, I’m a loud, proud Jewish person with a kippah on my head, a proud Zionist. This administration maybe felt that was too much for them,” Davis said. He noted that his requests to meet with the mayor and the memos he produced on rising antisemitism in the city had gone ignored…
Mamdani officially endorsed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in an anticipated move, boosting her reelection prospects while also dealing a blow to her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, who is running to oust Hochul from her left…
Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) and businessman Nate Morris, two of the leading Republican candidates for Kentucky’s Senate seat, today endorsed Ed Gallrein, the GOP challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of the leading Republican critics of Israel in Congress, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
“Ed will never side with AOC or the radical-left against President Trump. He is exactly the kind of conservative warrior we need in Congress, and I’m proud to endorse him,” Barr said in a statement, referencing Massie’s pattern of breaking with various elements of Trump’s agenda, which has included voting against support for Israel.
The endorsements came amid an ongoing series of attacks by Trump on Massie, which included calling Massie a “moron” in remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, as well as attacks on Truth Social this week targeting Massie’s wife…
Daniel Flesch, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation who led the drafting of the organization’s Project Esther report on combating left-wing antisemitism, has parted ways with the conservative think tank, according to Heritage’s website.
Flesch had raised the alarm on right-wing antisemitism after Heritage President Kevin Roberts released a video defending Tucker Carlson for hosting neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes on his podcast, telling the Young Jewish Conservatives in December that, “Now, in some ways, the call is coming from inside the house.” Flesch had also been Heritage’s point person for the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, a coalition of conservative groups that disaffiliated from the think tank after the incident…
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed today that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling to Oman for negotiations with Iran tomorrow, saying at a press conference this afternoon that the president is “standing by for an update from them.”
“The president has obviously been quite clear in his demands of the Iranian regime — zero nuclear capability is something he’s been very explicit about and he wants to see if a deal can be struck. And while these negotiations are taking place, I would remind the Iranian regime that the president has many options at his disposal aside from diplomacy as the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the history of the world,” Leavitt added…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers at a closed-door meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that U.S.-Israel coordination is “as high and as close as possible” ahead of the nuclear talks tomorrow, Israeli media reports, but that he still doesn’t know if President Donald Trump will choose to take military action…
Middle East countries that were originally meant to participate in the talks, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, the UAE and Pakistan, drafted a potential agreement for the U.S. and Iran, including a nonaggression pact, diplomats told The Times of Israel…
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf today, Iranian state media reported, days after attempting to stop and board a U.S.-flagged oil tanker. Reports did not provide the country of origin of the tankers seized today…
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed frustration with the Lebanese government’s stance toward Hezbollah amid struggling disarmament efforts, describing on X a meeting he’d had with Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. “I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, ‘No, not in the context of Lebanon.’ With that, I ended the meeting.”
“They have been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by both Republican and Democrat administrations since 1997 — for good reason. As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them,” Graham continued. The U.S. has provided over $3 billion to shore up the LAF in the last 20 years, including $230 million approved by the Trump administration as recently as October…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for whether AIPAC’s active role in the New Jersey 11th Congressional District Democratic primary — opposing former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) — paid off. Polls in the district close at 8 p.m.
We’ll be watching for readouts from the meeting between White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, advisor Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman at 10 a.m. local time tomorrow, including whether issues beyond Tehran’s nuclear program are discussed.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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SURVEY SAYS
Israelis split on whether to join a U.S. strike on Iran – poll
Right-wing Israelis support a strike even if Iran does not attack, while other political camps prefer to wait and see if Iran strikes Israel first, IDI poll finds
The lack of clarity is reason for concern in Jerusalem, where the line on any potential American agreement with Iran has long been zero enrichment, extensive limitations on ballistic missiles and regional proxy activity
Sayed Hassan/Getty Images
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with his Egyptian counterpart on October 17, 2024 in Cairo, Egypt.
For a brief moment on Wednesday, it looked like Iran talks were off. Tehran wanted to move their location from Turkey to Oman and narrow the scope of the negotiations to its nuclear program. The Trump administration saw this as a bad sign, and anonymous American officials began leaking to the media that Iran wasn’t taking the negotiations seriously.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that the negotiations were uncertain in remarks to the press at the Critical Minerals Ministerial, a conference of 43 foreign and other ministers: “As far as the talks are concerned, I think the Iranians had agreed to a certain format. For whatever reason, it changed … We’ll see if we can get back to the right place. The U.S. is prepared to meet them,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump relayed a warning to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a prerecorded interview with NBC News: “I would say he should be very worried.”
It didn’t take long – just over two hours, to be precise – between the news of the apparent collapse of talks between the U.S. and Iran and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s announcement on X that they were back on: “Nuclear talks with the United States are scheduled to be held in Muscat on about 10 am Friday.” Anonymous American sources then confirmed to various media that negotiations were set to take place, after leaders of Arab and Muslim countries urged the Trump administration to give them a chance, despite Iran’s prevarications.
Still, Araghchi’s statement alludes to one of the major reasons that the talks were, briefly, called off: Are they only “nuclear talks” or are they about a range of malign behavior by the Islamic Republic?
The Iranian answer to that question is clear, but the Trump administration sent mixed messages.
The Trump interview with NBC provided few clues. The president expressed support for the protesters against the Iranian regime, saying “we’ve had their back.”
Yet, in a bit of revisionist history, he portrayed his recent threats to Iran as being solely about the nuclear file: “They were thinking of starting a new [nuclear] site in a different part of the country. We found out about it and said, ‘you do that, we’re going to do very bad things to you,'” Trump said. He didn’t mention ballistic missiles in the interview.
Rubio, however, specified that “as far as the topics [of negotiations] and what the agenda needs to be, I think that in order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes the sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region, that includes the nuclear program and that includes the treatment of their own people.”
“Beyond that,” Rubio said, “the president retains a number of options as to how to respond to [the violent crackdown on protesters] and future events.”
Vice President JD Vance told Megyn Kelly that stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon was the main concern: “In a perfect world, would I love it if a bunch of freedom-loving Iranians… had a government that was much more friendly to the United States of America? Would that be a good thing? Absolutely.”
“But fundamentally,” he added, “the president has been focused … on this question of ensuring that they don’t get a nuclear weapon. .. I feel 100% confident that even if the Iranians were rushing toward a nuclear weapon, they couldn’t get one during the Trump administration. But we’re not thinking about the next three years; we’re thinking about the next 30 years.”
Vance argued that “global nuclear proliferation” is “the biggest threat to the world,” and as such, Trump is seeking to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons so that other countries in the region do not seek to attain them, as well, and is willing to work with unfriendly countries like Russia and China to achieve that because it is “the most important thing you can do for peace and stability.”
The lack of clarity is reason for concern in Jerusalem, where the line on any potential American agreement with Iran, going back to the Obama-era negotiations, has long been zero enrichment and extensive limitations on ballistic missiles and regional proxy activity.
Israel regarded U.S.-Iran negotiations with deep skepticism even before the latest bumps on the road to Oman, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Israel on Tuesday that “Iran proved time after time that its promises cannot be trusted.” Talks that do not include missiles and proxies will likely be viewed with alarm.
Right-wing Israelis support a strike even if Iran does not attack, while other political camps prefer to wait and see if Iran strikes Israel first, IDI poll finds
Stringer/Getty Images
Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot on June 15, 2025 in Tehran, Iran.
Less than half of Israelis support joining an American strike on Iran if Israel is not directly attacked, a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute found this week.
Half of the Israelis polled supported a military response only if Israel is directly attacked by Iran, while 44% backed joining an American strike on Iran even before a potential attack on Israel.
Among Israeli Jews, 46% support intervening only if Iran attacks first, while 48% support involvement regardless.
If those results are further divided between political affiliations, only among Israel’s right does a majority (62%) support joining a preemptive American strike on Iran. On the center-right, 41% support such a scenario, while that number decreases to 35% among centrists, 36% of those polled on the center-left and 31% of respondents who identified as left.
Among Israeli Arabs, 67% would only support an Israeli strike if Iran attacks first.
Israelis are also split over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that U.S. military aid would be phased out in the coming years. About half (49%) think the change would make Israel less secure, while 39.5% think otherwise.
The Israeli right is less likely to think that bringing U.S. military aid down to zero will be harmful to Israel’s security, with only 30% holding that view, while most on the center-right (56%), center (64%), center-left (72%) and left (72%) hold that view.
Most Israeli Jews (54%) believe that President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace will not “help solve the problems in Gaza while maintaining Israel’s security,” while 37% believe it will. When the results are analyzed by political affiliation, a slight majority of those on the left, center and right all agree the Board of Peace will not help.
Among Israeli Arabs, 42% believe the Board of Peace will help and 34% say it will not; 24% did not know.
IDI conducted the poll on January 25-29 among a sample size of 604 with a margin of error of 3.57%.
The Texas senator has drafted legislation to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization ‘if there’s no change in their behavior’
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce summit in Washington on Sept. 10, 2025.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced on Tuesday that he had drafted legislation designating the Polisario Front, the militant group that claims sovereignty over parts of the Western Sahara, as a foreign terrorist organization and will formally introduce it “if there’s no change in their behavior.”
Cruz made the comments at a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing focused on U.S. counterterrorism efforts in North Africa, after the hearing’s witnesses — the State Department’s Robert Palladino and Joel Borkert — both declined to agree with his statement that “the terrorist activity in the Sahel [region in Africa] is coming from the Polisario Front.”
“Iran is trying to turn the Polisario Front into the Houthis for West Africa, a proxy force capable of waging war to threaten regional stability and pressure U.S. partners whenever Iran wants leverage,” Cruz said. “The Polisario Front works with Iranian terrorist groups. It takes drones from the IRGC. It moves weapons and resources around the region, including to jihadists and much more.”
“I believe they should be designated as a terrorist group, and I’ve drafted a bill to do so if there’s no change in their behavior,” he added.
The Polisario Front is a separatist militant group founded in 1973 to fight against the Spanish occupation of parts of the Western Sahara. After Spain handed control of the territory to Mauritania and Morocco in 1975, splitting the land between the two countries, the PF waged war against both nations, hitting military and civilian targets while demanding recognition of Sahrawi ethnic group’s claims to the territory. The group declared in 1976 that all disputed territory in the region was part of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and currently controls an area east of the Moroccan Wall.
Mauritania, now an Islamic republic, fell to the PF and formally recognized the SADR in 1979. While Morocco and the PF agreed to a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 1991 that remains in effect today, the PF’s increasingly close ties to Algeria, Nigeria and Iran while governing the disputed Saharan territory have become a source of concern to those opposed to Tehran’s growing influence in the region.
President Donald Trump recognized Morocco’s claim to the Western Sahara in late 2020 at the conclusion of his first administration, as part of the deal brokered for Morocco to join the Abraham Accords.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced legislation designating the PF as a foreign terrorist organization last June. The House bill has been co-sponsored by Reps. Randy Fine (R-FL), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Jefferson Shreve (R-IN) and Lance Gooden (R-TX).
Speaking on his “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast on Tuesday evening, the Texas senator described Africa as a “major front for radical Islamic terrorism” and said the continent serves as “a major battleground” pitting Russia and China against the United States.
Regarding the PF, Cruz noted that, “The best way to understand it is as a Cold War relic, analogous to the Palestinian Liberation Front, the PLO, but it was in West Africa, and there’s still a degree to which that framework is accurate.”
“It is a darling of the international left and the United Nations, and the group has continued its insurgency against Morocco,” Cruz explained. “The critical dynamic is that Iran has begun pouring resources into the group. … The Iranians have been providing money and weapons and directions.”
Palladino, a senior bureau official with the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said in his opening remarks to the committee that the Trump administration was looking “to North African countries to provide critical support to ensuring terrorist activity in the Sahel does not spread west to the Gulf of Guinea or north to regain a foothold in North Africa, where they represent a more immediate threat to the United States and our interests.”
After Cruz pressed him on if he was referring to the PF, Palladino did not answer directly, instead telling the Texas senator that “President Trump has made clear his desire to achieve a lasting resolution to the problem in the Western Sahara, to that dispute, and as part of that American policy currently, we are engaging all parties.”
Cruz went on to ask Palladino if he believed the PF posed a threat to U.S. interests, to which the NEA official replied, “We’re actively engaging all parties in the Western Sahara dispute in the interest of achieving a lasting and durable peace. That’s the policy of the president. We’re seeking more time to continue to find a way to find common ground and to come to an agreement to stabilize the situation and allow there to be prosperity to follow based upon stability.”
The Texas senator told Palladino that his answers were “positively Shakespearean. It was full of sound and fury and yet signifying nothing.”
Cruz then turned to Borkert, the deputy coordinator for programs and military coordination at the Bureau of Counterterrorism, who similarly declined to single out the PF by name.
“We continue to monitor activities throughout North Africa,” Borkert said. “We continue to see the IRGC and Hezbollah, their activities in that region and globally, and as we look at these activities, we will work with our partner countries in order to counter those threats, and where possible, designate or encourage those countries to designate the IRGC, Hezbollah and those terrorist groups.”
Both men told Cruz that they were not instructed to exclude mentions of the PF in their testimony. Cruz later revealed he did not believe their claims.
“I believe both witnesses were instructed: Do not say a negative word about the Polisario Front,” Cruz said on his podcast that evening. “They were instructed to say nothing about the Polisario Front.”
“The administration is trying to negotiate a big peace deal in Africa. There are folks in the administration who are trying to negotiate a deal in Western Africa, and right now, one of the consequences of that is that they’re reluctant to call out the Polisario Front,” he explained. “I think the Polisario Front is really dangerous. They’re funded by Iran, and so I’m working to call out people who are enemies of America and to impose real costs and consequences on those jihadists that are enemies of America.”
Ahead of nuclear negotiations, the president said the U.S. discovered Iranian officials were ‘thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country’
Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks to the press upon returning to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 13, 2026.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he should be “very worried” ahead of planned nuclear talks, as the president weighs military action amid rising tensions and signs Tehran may be trying to revive its nuclear program.
“I would say he should be very worried, yeah, he should be,” Trump told NBC News when asked whether Khamenei should be concerned. “As you know, they are negotiating with us.”
U.S. and Iranian officials are slated to meet Friday in Oman, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed Wednesday. Iran pushed for the discussions to be moved from Turkey and has insisted they remain limited to its nuclear program. The United States has sought to broaden the agenda to include Tehran’s ballistic missile capabilities and support for regional proxy groups.
Experts told Jewish Insider that despite upcoming discussions, military intervention remains on the table. On Tuesday a U.S. F-35 fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone near the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Later that day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to stop and board a U.S.-flagged commercial tanker in the Strait of Hormuz before a U.S. destroyer intervened and escorted the vessel to safety.
During an interview on the Megyn Kelly Show, Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Trump “will try to achieve what he can through non-military means, but if he feels that the military option is the only option, he is going to choose that option.”
Several Arab and Muslim leaders reportedly lobbied the Trump administration not to walk away from the discussions after Iran demanded to change the venue and format. The administration “told the Arabs we will do the meeting if they insist,” one U.S. official told Axios, but added that they are “very skeptical.”
Satellite images released last week by Planet Labs PBC have also fueled speculation over whether Iran intends to restart its nuclear program after U.S. strikes on several sites in June. Trump confirmed that Iran was “thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country,” but said the U.S. “found out about it.”
“I said, ‘You do that, we’re going to do very bad things to you,’” Trump warned, stating that in the event Iran continued to pursue its nuclear ambitions, the U.S. would respond as it did before. “If they do, we’re going to send” B-2 bombers “right back and do the job again.”
Last month the president had cancelled meetings with Iranian officials and vowed on social media that Tehran would “pay a big price” for its violent crackdown on protesters in early January, stating that “help is on its way.”
When pressed on whether the U.S. continues to back Iranian protesters, Trump said the administration’s position has not changed.
“We’ve had their backs,” said Trump. “If we didn’t take out” Iran’s nuclear sites, “we wouldn’t have peace in the Middle East, because the Arab countries could have never done that.”
Plus, Israel continues to cast doubt over Iran talks
Angelina Katsanis-Pool/Getty Images
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks during a mayoral debate at Rockefeller Center on October 16, 2025 in New York City.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
U.S. officials reportedly backtracked on their rejection of Iranian demands to change the format and venue of nuclear negotiations, set for Friday, after several Middle East leaders intervened to keep the U.S. from walking away, according to Axios. “They asked us to keep the meeting and listen to what the Iranians have to say. We have told the Arabs that we will do the meeting if they insist. But we are very skeptical,” one U.S. official told the outlet.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on X that “nuclear talks … are scheduled to be held in Muscat” at 10 a.m. on Friday, indicating the U.S. agreed to move the venue from Turkey to Oman…
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated today that the Trump administration is seeking a comprehensive deal with Iran to address more than just its pursuit of nuclear weapons — including its ballistic missiles program, support for terror proxies and internal repression as well. Iran has traditionally been resistant to discussing anything beyond its nuclear program.
Asked if Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be worried right now, President Donald Trump told NBC News today, “I would say he should be very worried, yeah, he should be.” Trump said he was interested in negotiations again as he understood Iranian officials were considering restarting their nuclear program, “and if they do, we’re going to send” B-2 bombers “right back to do their job again,” referencing the U.S.’ June strikes…
Israeli officials have voiced skepticism over the prudence of negotiating with Iran at all, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday that Iran’s “promises cannot be trusted,” Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Israeli radio, “Our message to the U.S. is that negotiations with Iran are a waste of time”…
Sam Brownback, the former U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom and a former GOP senator from Kansas, warned at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing today that, unless Syrian minority groups are allowed to maintain their own security forces, they face a likely genocide by government-aligned forces, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
“The new administration in Syria is purging religious minorities, threatening and killing them,” Brownback said. “These groups must be allowed to maintain their own security forces, or I guarantee you today, a genocide will happen in Syria like happened in Iraq to the Yazidis and Christians.”
The Trump administration has remained largely supportive of the al-Sharaa government, and critics have accused the White House of essentially abandoning the U.S.’ longtime Kurdish allies to the Syrian government onslaught…
First Lady Melania Trump welcomed freed Israeli hostages Aviva and Keith Siegel to the White House today, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, one year after Aviva met the first lady for the first time and pleaded for help in securing her husband’s release.
“Aviva is a warrior. She’s a warrior. She was fighting very hard for Keith, and I know he suffered a lot,” Trump said at the meeting. “I’m happy to see you healthy at home with your children, with your grandchildren, with your family, and I know you’re giving back your time, your energy, to other people”…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tapped Phylisa Wisdom, the executive director of the progressive group New York Jewish Agenda, to lead the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, the Forward reports.
Wisdom told JI last month that tackling the “scourge of antisemitism” in the city will require a comprehensive strategy,” noting that the office she will now lead “can play a key role, coordinating between long-standing offices and agencies tasked with combating hate, and input from the diversity of New York’s Jewish community.”
The appointment of the left-wing activist indicates Mamdani’s administration isn’t looking to placate the mainstream Jewish community. Wisdom, while well-known in the New York Jewish community, has traditionally opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and at times vocally opposed Israel’s war in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attacks…
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul selected former New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as her running mate in her reelection race this year — a pick that provoked both applause and consternation among leaders of the state’s Jewish community, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.
Adams was the first council speaker not to lead a delegation to Israel — although she denied that she was boycotting the country, she raised concerns in 2024 when her office drafted an ultimately abandoned resolution urging a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that one Jewish community leader described to JI as “one-sided” and “inflammatory”…
A pair of well-financed groups, whose origin is currently unknown, is set to begin running ads boosting moderate pro-Israel candidates in a series of open House seats in Chicago, each of whom is facing off against vocal anti-Israel opponents, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
The ads — being run by newly formed super PACs Elect Chicago Women and Affordable Chicago Now — boost state Sen. Laura Fine, running in the 9th Congressional District, former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL), running in the 8th District and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, running in the 2nd District.
The ad buys for the two groups add up to millions of dollars across the three races. Given that the groups were just launched, FEC filing policies will not require them to disclose their donors until close to Election Day. But the ads, which do not focus on Israel policy, are widely rumored to be connected to United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-affiliated super PAC…
PEN America, an organization promoting free expression for artists and journalists, said today it would retract its Jan. 29 statement expressing concern about the abrupt cancellation of Israeli comedian Guy Hochman’s shows in New York and Los Angeles. The organization, which alleged Hochman “has been accused by advocacy organizations of incitement to genocide in Gaza,” said it would “remain committed to open and respectful dialogue about the divisions that arise in the course of defending free expression”…
The Washington Post announced mass layoffs of one-third of its staff today, including closing its sports section, reducing its local coverage and letting go all of its Middle East correspondents. The outlet has faced repeated criticism for major factual errors and alleged institutional and reporter bias related to its coverage of Israel and the war in Gaza…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Alphabet’s Israeli-American chief financial officer, Anat Ashkenazi, who got her start at Israel’s Bank Hapoalim more than two decades ago.
It’s primary day in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, as candidates vie for the Democratic nomination to fill Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s House seat. The race has attracted attention for the more than $2 million the AIPAC-linked super PAC United Democracy Project has spent targeting former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who is attempting to beat out others including Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, far-left activist Analilia Mejia and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill.
The Hudson Institute will host Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, for a conversation on the Trump administration’s strategy in confronting the rise of antisemitism.
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With negotiations taking place this week, the secretary of state said any agreement would have to address Iran’s missile program, support for proxy terror groups and internal repression, in addition to the nuclear issue
Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting at the Sate Department in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2026.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined on Wednesday what the Trump administration views as the minimum requirements for successful nuclear negotiations with Iran, insisting that any deal with Tehran be comprehensive and address its ballistic missile capabilities, support for regional terrorism and repression of its people, in addition to the nuclear issue.
“In order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things,” Rubio said during his remarks at an event on critical minerals supply chains, which Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar attended. “That includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region, that includes the nuclear program and that includes the treatment of their own people.”
U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to meet Friday for talks aimed at negotiating a new nuclear agreement, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff leading the delegations. While Iran has insisted the discussions be limited strictly to its nuclear program, the United States has pushed to include Tehran’s ballistic missile capabilities and support for regional proxy groups.
Iran has also demanded that the meeting location be moved from Turkey to Oman and that talks take place in a strictly bilateral format, excluding Arab mediators. Rubio acknowledged the shift on Wednesday, saying Washington remains prepared to engage despite the uncertainty.
“The Iranians had agreed to a certain format and for whatever reasons changed in their system,” Rubio said. “We’ll see if we can get back to the right place, but the United States is prepared to meet with them.”
The diplomatic maneuvering has unfolded against a backdrop of heightened military tensions between the two parties in recent days. On Tuesday, a U.S. F-35 fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone aggressively approaching the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
Later that day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) deployed two fast-attack boats and a drone towards a U.S.-flagged commercial tanker, the Stena Imperative, in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. officials said the IRGC appeared to be attempting to potentially seize the vessel before a U.S. missile destroyer intervened and escorted the tanker out of the area.
Israel has voiced skepticism over the prospects of renewed talks. During White House envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Israel on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him that “Iran proved time after time that its promises cannot be trusted,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Experts have also questioned whether negotiations with Tehran could lead to a meaningful outcome. Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, previously told Jewish Insider that the Trump administration’s demands that Iran abandon its nuclear program, cap its missile program, halt support for regional proxies and terrorism and stop executing its people are “nonstarters for the regime.”
Should negotiations falter, experts have warned that U.S. military action against Iran remains a possibility. Rubio said that President Donald Trump retains “a number of options” for responding to “future events.”
Rubio also touched on what he described as fundamental differences between the despotic Iranian regime and the Iranian people, underscoring that Washington’s strategy is focused on confronting the regime rather than civilians.
“I remind everybody what I’ve been saying through my entire career in public service: the Iranian people and the Iranian regime are very unalike,” Rubio said. “This is a culture with deep history. I know of no other country where there’s a bigger difference between the people that lead the country and the people who live there.”
He added that the regime’s priorities remain a central obstacle to improving living conditions for Iranians.
“One of the reasons why the Iranian regime cannot provide the people of Iran the quality of life that they deserve is because they’re spending all their money,” Rubio said. “They’re spending all their resources, of what is a rich country, sponsoring terrorism, sponsoring all these proxy groups around the world, exporting, as they call it, a revolution.”
"Iran proved time after time that its promises cannot be trusted," Netanyahu told Witkoff in Jerusalem meeting
Kobi Gideon (GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting in his office with US Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (Kobi Gideon (GPO)
There are few things that Ha’aretz and the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 agree on, but with American and Iranian officials set to meet for nuclear talks on Friday, there was near wall-to-wall agreement in Israel that the talks are unlikely to bring positive results.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Israel on Tuesday that “Iran proved time after time that its promises cannot be trusted,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
An Israeli military source told Channel 14 that Netanyahu also warned Witkoff that Iran wants to use the negotiations to “kill time … to transfer offensive weapons to hiding places.”
Witkoff, along with Jared Kushner, are set to represent the U.S. in the talks, which were originally set to be held in Turkey but have reportedly been moved to Oman, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to lead his country’s negotiating team. Iran has also demanded that the negotiations be limited to its nuclear program, while the U.S. seeks to curb Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support for regional proxies.
Hours after Witkoff met with Netanyahu on Tuesday, Iran launched a drone at the USS Abraham Lincoln, which the military shot down, and a U.S. ship escaped an Iranian attempt to stop it at sea.
Jerusalem eyed the move toward negotiations with Iran with skepticism.
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, a member of the Security Cabinet, said on Wednesday, “Let’s admit the truth. There is no value to a diplomatic agreement with Iran.”
“Iran has never kept any of its commitments, and even if it agrees to something, it’ll be a hudna [Arabic for a temporary ceasefire] until Trump is out of office,” Cohen told Israel’s 103FM.
Cohen said that “Trump is a businessman who wants the bottom line, and therefore he is taking his time to bring it. Our message to the U.S. is that negotiations with Iran are a waste of time.”
Cohen argued that it is in the interest of the region to see the Islamic Republic fall: “Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Azerbaijan told the U.S. ‘don’t attack Iran’ out of fear. It’s clearly lip service.”
Ehud Ya’ari, the in-house Middle East analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, wrote in an article published Wednesday that the talks will try to reach “an interim arrangement that will relieve the tension without solving the problems.”
“A move like this is not a good enough solution for Israel,” Ya’ari wrote. “An interim agreement means freezing problems, not solving them.”
At the same time, Ya’ari argued that a broader agreement that will satisfy both Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is impossible, though an interim agreement will also be challenging.
Tamir Hayman, director of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University and former IDF intelligence chief, told Ha’aretz‘s Hebrew podcast “The Week” that “anything is better than an agreement with Iran. …Israel does not want an agreement.”
“Israel does not want any nuclear program at all, zero enrichment,” Hayman said. “We’ll want limits to missile manufacturing and the export of terror to the Middle East export of arms. … My concern in light of past statements by Witkoff is that … he’s only dealing with nuclear and for him, any compromise on enrichment [is acceptable].”
Hayman argued that “you can’t bring down a regime that you are negotiating with…Any agreement they reach is a lifeline for the regime.”
However, he added, “even without an attack, [the mullahs] will fall in the end,” citing the tens of thousands of protesters killed and Iranian leadership’s inability to save the country’s collapsing economy.
Hayman said he used to be opposed to “managing the conflict,” but now he believes that the current situation, in which Iran there is a domestic political and economic crisis and no centrifuges are spinning in Iran, “could be good and increase the chances that it will awaken something inside [Iran].”
Meanwhile, Israelis continued to live under the shadow of threats from Iran’s regime, after over a month of concern that Iran may retaliate for an American strike by attacking Israel. The ad for the latest episode of Eretz Nehederet, Israel’s answer to SNL, opened with host Eyal Kitzis looking bored in the studio with ticking clocks behind him and the message: “So, we are still waiting for Iran to attack.”
Washington Institute expert witnesses argue that the U.S. should condition security assistance to Lebanon on further progress in disarming Hezbollah
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) speaks to reporters as he leaves the House Republican Conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol on December 10, 2025.
Lawmakers and expert witnesses at a House Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee hearing on Tuesday highlighted the ongoing challenges and delays in the disarming of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, but also argued that there is tremendous opportunity in the country if Hezbollah’s influence can be defeated — including potential moves in the near term toward normalization with Israel.
“Right now, we have the chance to help this government break free of the shackles of Iran’s malign influence. Hezbollah’s influence is vastly diminished thanks in large part to decisive Israeli action. But difficult choices now need to be made to permanently block Hezbollah’s path to power,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), the Middle East subcommittee chair, said in his opening statement.
He said that the Lebanese Armed Forces have made strides in disarming Hezbollah but the ceasefire plan’s implementation “has been haphazard at best,” also emphasizing the ongoing economic difficulties and widespread corruption that continue to plague the country and provide Hezbollah and its Iranian backers opportunities to rebuild.
Lawler also emphasized that significant reforms are needed, particularly in southern Lebanon, to ensure that the same corrupt systems that allowed Hezbollah to flourish do not return. In the long term, Lawler said that he hopes to see Lebanon become a “true partner” in the region and normalize its relationship with Israel.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), the ranking member, said that there is a “historic opportunity” in Lebanon but “[t]hat window of opportunity, however, is narrow. Hezbollah is working hard to rebuild, rearm and to reconstitute itself as a major terrorist organization.”
Sherman accused the Trump administration of a “lack of urgency and a lack of the necessary support” to groups working to counter Hezbollah in the country, particularly following cuts to foreign assistance.
He said that comments by the Trump administration “have often sent the wrong signals, particularly when Special Envoy Tom Barrack downplayed Hezbollah and described it as a political party that also has a — let me quote him exactly — ‘a political party that also has a militant aspect to it,’” Sherman continued.
During the hearing, expert witnesses, all from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, warned that the disarmament process is not proceeding smoothly or entirely as expected. All three agreed that the U.S. should condition security assistance to Lebanon on progress in disarming Hezbollah, among other steps. And they each said the U.S. should ramp up its sanctions efforts, targeting Hezbollah and malign actors in the Lebanese government.
David Schenker, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and former Trump administration official, emphasized that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) are encountering ongoing obstacles including Hezbollah’s use of human shields, a lack of political will, ongoing Hezbollah penetration of the LAF, ongoing LAF deference to Hezbollah and threats to LAF forces’ safety.
He said the Lebanese government has not deployed as many troops to southern Lebanon to carry out the disarmament mission as it had promised.
Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and longtime Lebanese journalist, said that the lack of a concrete timeline for disarmament “has produced a de facto freeze,” in which neither the LAF nor Hezbollah are moving forward. She called for outside pressure, including conditions on U.S. aid, to pressure the LAF into continuing with its obligations to disarm Hezbollah.
Dana Stroul, the research director at The Washington Institute and a former Biden administration official, said that defanging Hezbollah requires not only disarming the group but also “addressing the political, social and economic system within which Hezbollah has thrived.” She called for expanded U.S. engagement in the country outside of the security realm.
Stroul, differing from the other witnesses, argued that the U.S. should offer reconstruction assistance — in addition to military aid — to offset the unconditional aid flowing in from Qatar and Turkey and ensure oversight and safeguards. She said that waiting to contribute to reconstruction efforts until after disarmament is complete risks locking the U.S. out of the process and preventing it from enforcing its own conditions.
Schenker argued that the current “division of labor” between the LAF and Israel, which maintains positions inside Lebanon and continues to carry out strikes on Hezbollah outposts, should continue pending further LAF progress. He said that many in the LAF are quietly “very pleased” about the Israeli action, in contrast with their public protests.
In spite of the ongoing issues, the witnesses said that the new Lebanese government is an improvement over previous ones and that there are people within the Lebanese government with whom the U.S. can work and who are making real strides. The witnesses noted that other regional and global developments are also depriving Hezbollah of its key allies.
Schenker and Ghaddar said that, if the Iranian regime were to fall, Hezbollah would be significantly weakened, though Schenker warned that it would not fully disappear due to its various money-generating ventures inside Lebanon and foreign supporters.
The witnesses said that Lebanese normalization with Israel could be achievable.
“Peace between Lebanon and Israel is not separate from this effort, it is what sustains it,” Ghaddar said, adding that such an outcome is “closer than many may assume” but only with a forceful U.S. policy approach. She said that “peace is no longer taboo” and that the “Lebanese street is ready” for such a step. She said that the peace process should begin immediately.
“Peace raises the political cost of re-armament, strengthens state legitimacy, unlocks economic recovery and deprives Hezbollah of its core justification. Without a credible peace horizon, disarmament and economic reform will be temporary,” Ghaddar continued. “With one, they become structural.”
She said that the U.S. should focus on eroding the Lebanese anti-normalization law by offering incentives to not enforce the law, and sanctioning those involved in its enforcement. She also called for continued discussions on economic cooperation between Lebanon and Israel.
Stroul similarly said that a Lebanese government publicly considering normalization with Israel is “not any policy opportunity that, before Oct. 7, we could have imagined,” providing a “tremendous reason for hope,” alongside other improvements in the leadership in Beirut.
Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) raised concerns about the role of the Muslim Brotherhood, backed by Turkey and Qatar, in Lebanon.
Schenker said that the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated party in Lebanon has been “making slow but steady progress.” Ghaddar said that Turkey and Qatar “play a very bad role in Lebanon in terms of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood” and that the Muslim Brotherhood branch, which she described as “Lebanese Hamas,” is a “very dangerous phenomenon.”
Ghaddar added that the Muslim Brotherhood has been treating Hezbollah as a “strategic ally” and that they might form an alliance in the upcoming elections.
Lawmakers and experts highlighted those upcoming Lebanese elections as a potential pivot point for anti-Hezbollah efforts.
Ghaddar warned that, if Hezbollah is able to win all of the Shia seats in the next parliament and the Iranian regime does not fall, the political situation would functionally return to the pre-Oct. 7 status quo.
Stroul said the “U.S. must do more than insist that elections take place on time. Signaling U.S. interest in a parliamentary outcome that demonstrates a break with the pre-Oct. 7 governmental paralysis is critical. The worst case outcome would be a parliamentary makeup that leaves in place Hezbollah-affiliated politicians.”
Ghaddar and Schenker emphasized that the Lebanese diaspora could be a key deciding factor in the upcoming election, but it is unclear if they will be able to vote as required by Lebanese law. The millions of Lebanese citizens living abroad “will have a real impact on whether this government stays or whether we go back to business as usual,” Schenker said.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) highlighted legislation he introduced with Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) ahead of the hearing to authorize sanctions on any individuals involved in blocking Lebanese citizens abroad from voting in the elections or who are otherwise obstructing the Lebanese elections.
Schenker called for the U.S. to press allies to fully designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and repudiated Barrack’s comments about Hezbollah having political and military elements — a stance mirroring that of some European countries.
He said the U.S. needs to be clear that the entire group is a terrorist organization if it wants to see its allies agree to such a designation. But he was skeptical that France, in particular, would be willing to proceed with such a step.
Stroul argued the U.S. needs more technical experts and diplomats focused on Lebanon, noting the repeated turnover in U.S. envoys working on the portfolio. She also urged the Trump administration to welcome Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for a meeting.
Plus, Fine lands key endorsement, polling bump in key IL-9 primary
Tajh Payne/US Navy via Getty Images
U.S. Navy's Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group on Nov. 13, 2025.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Despite negotiations between the U.S. and Iran set for Friday, Tehran is still behaving belligerently — the U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone today as it was flying toward the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, and Iranian gunboats attempted to stop and board a U.S. oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials are also pushing to alter the talks dramatically, including changing the venue from Turkey to Oman, disinviting the foreign ministers of several Middle Eastern countries who were set to participate and limiting discussions only to the nuclear issue and not Tehran’s other malign activities, Axios reports.
Amid these developments, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the talks “are still scheduled as of right now, but of course the president has always a range of options on the table and that includes the use of military force. The Iranians know that better than anyone”…
President Donald Trump does have plenty of firepower at his disposal should talks with Iran not pan out — The Washington Post lays out which military assets are in the region, as the U.S. recently deployed “dozens of aircraft to bases operating near Iran and assembled about 12 warships in or near the Middle East”…
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, before heading to the talks, wherever they may be held, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem today. The prime minister “clarified his position that Iran has proven time and again that its promises cannot be relied upon,” according to a readout, signaling lingering skepticism in Israel that the U.S. will extract any meaningful concessions from Tehran…
Netanyahu also made clear Israel’s expectations for postwar Gaza as the U.S. presses ahead with Phase 2 of the ceasefire deal: that Hamas disarm and the enclave be demilitarized, that Israel be allowed to fulfill its “war objectives prior to the reconstruction of the Strip” and that the Palestinian Authority “not be part of the administration of the Gaza Strip in any way.” The latter demand comes after the technocratic committee set up by the U.S. to oversee reconstruction changed its logo to replicate a PA symbol…
The House of Representatives passed a spending bill to end the partial government shutdown, which Trump signed this afternoon. While the package includes several provisions providing funding to Israel and for joint U.S.-Israel cooperative programs, it only funds the Department of Homeland Security through next week, setting up another battle as the parties spar over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement…
State Sen. Laura Fine secured the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune editorial board in the competitive race for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, over her competitors Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, and social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh.
While Fine’s opponents have been outspoken about their criticisms of Israel on the campaign trail, the editorial board noted Fine said she “had left the progressive caucus in Springfield after she was made to feel uncomfortable for her belief in Israel’s right to defend itself or even to exist,” which it called a “principled position for a principled Democrat.”
Fine’s fundraising figures for the final quarter of 2025 showed she pulled in a whopping $1.2 million, and a new internal poll for Fine’s campaign shows her tied with Biss in first place, holding the momentum in the crowded primary…
New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District’s Democratic primary gained another prominent candidate today: Sue Altman, the state director for Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and the 2024 Democratic nominee for the neighboring 12th District, jumped into the race to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).
Altman has been a member of the progressive left as the former state director for the New Jersey Working Families Party, but took pro-Israel stances during her prior congressional run. Attempting to gain traction in the 7th, though, where the progressive Watson Coleman has said her endorsement will hinge on a candidate’s stance on Israel, Altman said she is now “reevaluating” her position…
Michael Blake, the former New York state assemblyman now mounting a primary challenge to Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), was endorsed today by the longtime mayor of Newark, N.J., Ras Baraka, further solidifying Blake’s departure from his pro-Israel past.
Baraka’s support for violent rhetoric by the controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and his condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza are among several positions that have alarmed Jewish leaders in the state; Baraka’s support boosts Blake as he attempts to establish himself as the candidate hostile to Israel in his race, even as he once engaged extensively with AIPAC…
The two Human Rights Watch employees who comprised the organization’s “Israel and Palestine” team both resigned after HRW leadership postponed the publication of their report calling Israel’s refusal to recognize Palestinians’ “right of return” a “crime against humanity,” Jewish Currents reports.
Among other concerns, the organization’s chief advocacy officer had voiced hesitation that the findings were overbroad and “will be misread by many, our detractors first and foremost, as a call to demographically extinguish the Jewishness of the Israeli state”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Seattle Public Schools’ new Jewish superintendent, as the district grapples with rising antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks.
First Lady Melania Trump will host former hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel for a private discussion at the White House.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is also in Washington today and tomorrow to attend Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial, with over 50 countries participating to “strengthen and diversify critical minerals supply chains.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on “defending religious freedom around the world.” Among those testifying is Sam Brownback, the former ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom; the ambassador role is currently empty after former Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), who was tapped by Trump last April for the position, failed to be confirmed (he now holds a similar advisory role at the State Department, which did not require Senate confirmation).
Also taking place on the Hill, the Muslim World League will host a gathering highlighting “faith, leadership, and global coexistence.” Among those speaking are Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa, a prominent Saudi scholar and former justice minister; Imam Talib Shareef, the president of The Nation’s Mosque; and members of Congress.
In the evening, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s student government will vote on a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resolution.
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TEHRAN TALK
Will he or won’t he? Analysts don’t rule out Iran strike despite diplomatic flurry
U.S.-Iran negotiations scheduled are ‘likely a diplomatic box-checking exercise and smokescreen,’ FDD’s Andrea Stricker said, while JINSA’s Jonathan Ruhe said U.S. military action is ‘unlikely for the moment’
DEM DIVIDE
Mamdani, socialist allies face first electoral test in battle for NYC House seat
The fight to succeed Rep. Nydia Velazquez pits Mamdani and the DSA faithful against the congresswoman and her protege
U.S.-Iran negotiations scheduled are ‘likely a diplomatic box-checking exercise and smokescreen,’ FDD’s Andrea Stricker said, while JINSA’s Jonathan Ruhe said U.S. military action is ‘unlikely for the moment’
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.
Despite the Trump administration’s willingness to diplomatically engage with Iranian officials, leading Middle East experts told Jewish Insider on Monday that military action against Tehran still remains a very real possibility.
“I can’t tell you what I’m going to do,” President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday evening when asked about the threshold for an Iran strike.
“We have a tremendous force going there [to the Middle East], just like we did in Venezuela,” said Trump. “I’d like to see a deal negotiated. But right now, we’re talking to [Iran] and if we could work something out, that’d be great. If we can’t, probably bad things will happen.”
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are expected to meet in Istanbul on Friday to discuss a potential new nuclear agreement, according to reports. Jared Kushner, who has played a key role in recent high-profile diplomatic negotiations, is also expected to attend, alongside the foreign ministers of Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, in the first meeting between the U.S. and Iran since U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
The planned talks come as the administration continues to exert pressure on Tehran — in response to Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters last month, Trump has publicly weighed the possibility of U.S. military intervention, ordering the movement of additional military assets into the region and issuing a series of stark warnings on social media indicating that U.S. forces are “ready, willing and able to rapidly fulfill [their] mission, with speed and violence” should a deal fail to be made.
While the administration has emphasized diplomacy as its preferred path, analysts caution that negotiations do not necessarily signal that the U.S. will not strike.
“Military intervention remains likely in light of President Trump’s demonstrated willingness to use force and the U.S. military buildup in the region,” said Michael Koplow, chief policy officer at the Israel Policy Forum. “Given the gulf between the American and Iranian positions and the general hard-line position of the Iranian regime on nuclear issues, it is hard to tag a nuclear deal as a likely outcome.”
Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JI that a strike does remain on the table. She said that a deal could be difficult to reach and the upcoming meeting in Istanbul is unlikely to yield meaningful results or concessions from Iran.
“The planned meeting is likely a diplomatic box-checking exercise and smokescreen to enable a continued U.S. military buildup before Trump authorizes strikes,” Stricker said. “The administration’s demands that Iran abandon nuclear enrichment, cap its missile program, and halt support for regional proxies and terrorism, as well as stop executing its people, are nonstarters for the regime.”
Koplow said the administration’s “mixed signals” on whether it will seek diplomacy or take military action are likely “not a ruse or a diversion,” but instead a signal that Trump “has not actually made up his mind” and is “unsure what his end goal is.”
Jason Greenblatt, who served as White House Middle East envoy in the first Trump administration, asserted that “there’s no mixed signals,” arguing that the president’s messaging has been clear.
“President Trump has made the choice clear: a real, enforceable deal that ends Iran’s nuclear and missile threats and protects the U.S., our allies, and the Iranian people — or decisive action,” said Greenblatt, who emphasized that while Trump is reluctant to engage in war, the president will not accept an agreement he views as insufficient.
“He is not a war president,” Greenblatt said, “but he will not accept a weak deal. Iran’s leadership should understand by now that President Trump means exactly what he says.”
Stricker also noted that Trump has consistently sought to avoid prolonged conflict, but argued that Iran’s internal repression and continued nuclear advances may push the president toward decisive action. On Saturday, satellite images revealed new activity at Iranian nuclear sites, a potential sign that Tehran is aiming to salvage remaining materials from the June strikes.
“President Trump favors stability and prioritizes ending violence in global affairs,” she said. “After achieving the defanging of Tehran’s nuclear program, the regime has shown it remains a threat — the ongoing massacre is too much for Trump to tolerate as the leader of the free world.” “The president will likely ensure the regime pays a price, but whether the price is regime change remains to be seen,” she added.
When detailing what potential U.S. military intervention could look like, Koplow said that it would likely be “limited” in scope.
“Any U.S. action is likely going to fall short of what the Israelis would like to see, which is a campaign that doesn’t stop until the regime has fallen,” said Koplow. “Trump seems to favor quick strikes, and he is also facing wall-to-wall opposition from Arab states regarding the prospects of a long campaign that destabilizes the region and damages prospects for trade, investment, and growth.”
However, other analysts read the shift to negotiations as a signal that intervention is increasingly unlikely. Jonathan Ruhe, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America told JI that U.S. military action is “unlikely for the moment.”
“An even bigger concern now is that military action could be off the table indefinitely, in a way it wasn’t just a day or two ago, as renewed talks now seem more likely,” said Ruhe.
Ruhe also noted that a key indicator of Trump’s intentions will be “how long he keeps the ‘armada’ within striking distance,” referring to the U.S. military assets in the region. He added that negotiating with Tehran will likely result in an unfavorable outcome for the U.S.
“Negotiating with Iran is absolutely the worst possible option for the United States now, because Iran’s regime will go from being on the ropes to thinking it prevailed,” said Ruhe, noting that Tehran is unlikely to agree to an “acceptable deal,” instead using the “prospect of talks to stave off military threats.”
“[Iran] is trying to do what it always does, playing for time and seeing what concessions it can wrangle without ever giving up anything itself,” Ruhe added. “This leaves zero upside for the U.S., since Iran is too emboldened to agree to serious concessions. There’s plenty of downside, too, since U.S. credibility would be dangerously eroded in Tehran’s eyes if Trump fails to fulfill his earlier threats.”
Koplow said Jerusalem is also concerned about a potential nuclear deal and is likely to perceive Iran’s willingness to enter talks as a way of “dragging out the process indefinitely.”
“[The Israelis] are concerned that Trump will back off his threats to take action or end up signing a deal that falls short of addressing the entire basket of issues — nuclear, missiles, and proxies,” said Koplow.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had said Tehran would strike Israel in response to any U.S. military action, in an interview with the Lebanese-based Al Mayadeen.
Stricker warned that any agreement that falls short of dismantling the regime’s power structure and fails to address key issues would be problematic not only for the U.S. and Israel, but for the Iranian public.
“Any deal with the Islamic Republic would represent a historic betrayal of the Iranian people,” Stricker said. “The only negotiation America should entertain with Tehran is the exit of top regime officials from Iran and their relinquishing of power prior to an orderly transition to democracy.”
Ahead of reported talks between the U.S. and Iran, Sen. Mike Rounds said the regime ‘would love to deceive us … I just don’t think we’re going to have much success’
Iranian Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei makes remarks in Tehran, Iran, on May 20, 2025.
Several Republican senators expressed skepticism that the Iranian regime would negotiate in good faith with the United States on its nuclear program or on its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, as the administration pursues a diplomatic approach with Tehran following threats of military action.
Some, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — and the Saudi defense minister, behind closed doors — have warned that, if the U.S. fails to act after President Donald Trump promised Iranian protesters that “help is on its way,” it would be a blow to the U.S.’ credibility in the Middle East and would strengthen the Iranian regime.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) expressed skepticism that the Iranians would engage sincerely or willingly give up their nuclear program in talks with the U.S., reported to be taking place in Turkey on Friday.
“Wouldn’t that be great? It’d be great if they did. It’d be great if they got rid of their nuclear weapons,” Scott told JI. “Do I actually believe they’re going to negotiate in good faith? I don’t.”
Scott added that he was in favor of Trump taking action to support the protesters after promising to do so. “I think if you tell somebody you’re going to help them, you’ve got to help them,” the Florida senator said.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said he believes Trump “wants to avoid a war.”
“I hope he’s successful,” Rounds added, but said that he is not optimistic that a viable deal is achievable. “I, personally, am really discouraged. I don’t think Iran really wants to negotiate a deal that would stop them from doing their terrorist activities, supporting terrorism around the area, and I don’t think they really want to give up their nuclear ambitions — although they would love to deceive us,” Rounds said.
“I wish [Trump] the best. I think he’s right in trying to do [make a deal]. I think that’s what we should be trying to do, but I don’t, I just don’t think we’re going to have much success,” he added.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said, “You can’t trust anything the ayatollah says at all.”
“I don’t know what the details are, so it’s hard for me to say what I’d like to see in [an agreement],” Mullin continued. “We all know that a nuclear Iran can never happen, so that’s got to be part of it. What else happens there? I don’t know, but I still go back to the fact that you can’t trust anything that the ayatollah or this current regime says.”
Mullin disagreed that not striking Iran would be seen as a shift in U.S. policy, describing the administration’s current approach as an extension of the president’s “peace through strength” policy.
“People respect that the president will always strike, or ratchet that up, when the time is right. He always wants diplomacy first, but he’s willing to use the strength part if he has to get to that point,” Mullin said. “And I think that’s what the president has positioned himself to do, but he has multiple options … so hopefully we’ll have a positive outcome without anyone getting hurt.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said that he’d want to see Iran surrender its enriched uranium, give up any future potential to obtain a nuclear weapon, stop funding terrorist groups and “start being a responsible member of a stable world order.”
He disputed the notion that a failure by the U.S. to launch strikes now would hurt the country’s credibility, arguing that any military strikes would be based on U.S. intelligence, which he does not have.
“It’s a lot more complicated. I mean, these folks are entitled to their opinion … obviously I hope the negotiations are successful,” Kennedy said. “Whether the president decides to go further is going to depend an awful lot on national and military intelligence, which I don’t have access to. We have the best spies in the world, and I don’t know what they’re telling the president, but it matters. So I can’t advise him if I don’t have the information from the intelligence community.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that any deal with the Iranians would need to include “a complete renunciation of nuclear arms and ballistic missiles that can reach Israel or our European allies.” He also said the regime’s crackdown on protesters would need to be “renounced.”
“They’re a country that continues to maintain ‘death to America, death to Israel.’ It is what it is,” Blumenthal said. “On a military front, there has to be a complete renunciation of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, and I think the brutal and inhumane tactics toward its own people have to be renounced.”
“I think we should do something, but it may not be a military strike,” he added. “There are a range of actions that we could take, [such as] to expand economic efforts and [implement] a stronger enforcement of sanctions. So between those, there are options.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who recently introduced a war powers resolution to block military action against Iran without congressional authorization, explained to JI that the resolution was a response to Trump’s comments about a potential attack and the current deployment of U.S. military assets to the Middle East.
Kaine said that the resolution would be eligible for consideration on the Senate floor next week, and that whether he calls it up will depend on how events develop and whether it will have the votes to pass.
“What really prompts me is when I think I can get the votes,” Kaine said. “Usually that means something beyond saber-rattling and it’s some kind of step, like in the international waters or Venezuela, we’re actually killing people — that clearly demonstrates we need to do this.”
Kaine also emphasized that the administration’s explanation for potential military action against Iran has shifted — citing both the protests and nuclear issue — and said he was concerned by a report last week that the administration may be considering some ground deployment of special forces into Iran.
“I’ve just got an awful lot of military families in Virginia who don’t want their kids to be in another war in the Middle East,” Kaine said.
Plus, White House press corps welcomes Hamas-friendly outlet
YAR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Pedestrians walk past a mural bearing anti-American symbols on the outer wall of the former U.S. Embassy, now called the "U.S. Den of Espionage Museum," in Tehran, Iran, on October 26, 2025.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
After weeks of rising tensions, the U.S. and Iran are back on the diplomatic track: White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Axios reports, possibly alongside Jared Kushner and the foreign ministers of several countries including Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
What exactly will be up for discussion in the first meeting between the U.S. and Iran since the 12-day war last June is unclear — Iranian officials have said only nuclear activity is on the table, while the U.S. has traditionally maintained support for a comprehensive deal covering nuclear, missile and terror activity…
Before the dialogue in Turkey, Witkoff is slated to stop in Israel tomorrow to consult with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF chief of staff, and hold meetings in the UAE and Qatar…
The parties are still covering all their bases: The U.S. and Israeli navies conducted a joint “routine maritime exercise” in the Red Sea today, after CENTCOM warned Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Friday to “avoid escalatory behavior at sea”…
Back in Washington, the White House tapped Drop Site News, a publication founded in 2024 to offer reporting explicitly hostile to Israel over the war in Gaza and the U.S. response to it, for the press corps’ new media seat on Sunday, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Drop Site has credulously interviewed several Hamas leaders, vigorously denied claims that Hamas terrorists raped anyone during the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and supported the Iranian regime during the anti-government protests last month. Its inclusion among the outlets in Sunday’s press rotation (when no press briefing was held, so its reporter did not get the opportunity to ask a question) was a marked contrast to the mostly right-wing outlets that are usually selected…
And on the campaign trail, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) came out today in support of Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the closely fought Democratic primary to replace her, joining fellow progressives Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in supporting Flanagan over the more moderate Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN). The endorsement comes days after fundraising reports for the final quarter of 2025 showed Craig raised double what Flanagan brought in ($2 million and $1 million, respectively)…
In New York City, Comptroller Mark Levine endorsed Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in his primary against former Comptroller Brad Lander. Lander, challenging Goldman from the left on issues including his support for Israel, is endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further highlighting divisions between Levine and the mayor as the two have sparred over issues including city investment in Israel bonds…
Jacobin profiles Diana Moreno, the democratic socialist running to fill Mamdani’s Queens seat in the state Assembly on a platform highlighting her progressive credentials as an organizer and immigrant.
“Moreno, wearing a keffiyeh, is featured in Mamdani’s launch video, pushing a stroller carrying her newborn son, saying ‘I want to raise my kid in New York.’ ‘I got pregnant one month after the genocide in Gaza started. My relationship to motherhood cannot be divorced from witnessing the world dehumanize children in Palestine,’” she said…
In New York’s 7th Congressional District, Councilmember Julie Won filed paperwork today to join the competitive race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY). All three candidates for the highly progressive district — which include Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who has the backing of Mamdani and the DSA, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who has been endorsed by Velázquez — have made comments critical of Israel.
On the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, Won expressed hope for a ceasefire and return of the hostages, mourning the 1,200 people “brutally killed” by Hamas in Israel and the “over 40,000 brutally killed in Palestine,” a figure Israel disputed at the time.
When a campaign last summer opposing a neighborhood development plan in her district invoked antisemitic rhetoric, Won denounced the move while maintaining her support for the “free Palestine” movement, saying in a statement, “It’s extremely alarming to me that someone would go so low to co-opt a movement of free Palestine for their own purpose — to incite anger and potentially violence … It’s shameful to compare Long Island City to Gaza — where people are literally losing their lives, land and starving to death — to this rezoning and blaming it on a local Jewish landlord who isn’t even part of the rezoning”…
Former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), who switched his candidacy from running for the open Texas Senate seat to its 33rd Congressional District, endorsed Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) for the Senate over his former primary rival, state Sen. James Talarico. Allred alleged that Talarico had called him a “mediocre Black man” and took aim at Talarico’s platform as a devout Christian: “You are not saving religion for the Democratic Party or the left,” Allred said…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for the view from Washington on the continued possibility of U.S. strikes on Iran, even as diplomatic efforts unfold.
We’ll be watching for indications out of White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s meetings in Israel on where the parties stand on engaging with Tehran.
It will be a busy day on the Hill, amid ongoing efforts to end the partial government shutdown: The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on U.S. policy towards Lebanon and “obstacles to dismantling Hezbollah’s grip on power” with testimony from several Washington Institute experts; the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Nazis’ use of Swiss banks; the Helsinki Commission will hold a hearing on Russia’s influence in post-Assad Syria; and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on terrorism in North Africa.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will host its Maryland advocacy day with Gov. Wes Moore as keynote speaker.
The World Governments Summit will kick off in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with speakers including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, Israeli philanthropist and Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua and several other world leaders.
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Trump is adamant that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon, has yet to set a timeline for talks, but if Iran attacks, ‘all bets are off,’ ambassador says
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee delivers remarks as President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 7, 2025, in Washington, DC.
The U.S. would prefer a negotiated agreement with Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in an interview that aired on Israel’s Channel 12 on Saturday night.
“I think everybody would love to see, at least in the U.S., would love to see some type of peaceful settlement in which Iran comes to it and decides that there’s no future for them to have a nuclear device, and there’s no future for them to continue to threaten both Israel and the United States,” Huckabee said.
President Donald Trump is “adamant,” Huckabee said, that “Iran is not going to get a nuclear weapon, not going to enrich uranium, so they’re going to have to get that out of their heads.”
Trump has yet to decide if he will strike Iran or not, the ambassador added.
“President Trump is always hopeful for the best outcome – let’s never forget The Art of the Deal – and if he can get that, that’s ideal,” Huckabee said. “But if he can’t, he’s not afraid to do what he proved last summer when he instigated Midnight Hammer,” the operation in which the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites.
As to the timing for a decision, Huckabee said he was baffled by the decision taken by some airlines to cancel flights as though a strike was imminent. The ambassador posited that Trump is likely to announce a timeline: “Remember last year, he said ‘you have 60 days,’ [and] on day 61 [the American strike on Iran] happened.”
At the same time, Huckabee said, “there are things that could precipitate a more urgent sense of reaction. If Iran were to strike, I think all bets are off.”
Huckabee also said that he “cannot imagine” that a strike on Iran would not be coordinated with Israel.
“The alignment between the United States and Israel is so incredible, more than most Israelis or Americans would ever assess,” he said. “We share intelligence that saves the lives of Americans and Israelis. We share military hardware, we share technology, and you have an excellent relationship between the president and the prime minister.”
Asked if Netanyahu had a significant role in the president calling off a strike on Iran on Jan. 14, Huckabee said “there is a genuine relationship, and there is a partnership that is unlike we have with any other country.”
In Gaza, Huckabee admitted that “there are some question marks” remaining as to how Hamas will be disarmed and who will do it, though Trump has insisted that “if they don’t give up their weapons, it’s going to be very bad.”
“You have every Arab country in the world signing the agreement saying this is going to happen,” Huckabee said. “I don’t trust Hamas to do anything, but I trust the rest of the world to say to Hamas, ‘you signed it, you’re on the line for it, if you don’t fulfil it, the whole world is going to rise up and take you down.’”
As to whether Israel will be the one to disarm Hamas, Huckabee said: “I don’t think the President is going to limit any action solely to Israel. Israel has enough blood in this. Everybody else at Sharm El Sheikh signed in ink; Israel signed in blood.”
Huckabee said that the U.S. is still hopeful that more countries will join the Abraham Accords, and that last week he met with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa to discuss “how do we, as Americans, help our host countries move toward better understanding the escalating tensions and hopefully moving toward the president’s agenda of joining the Abraham Accords. It would be historic. We’d love to see this happen, and I’m optimistic that we will see that.”
The ambassador was noncommittal as to whether Trump would visit Israel in May to receive the Israel Prize in person, but he said it’s “a huge honor” for the president to be the first non-Israeli to be granted the award.
U.S. military assets have moved into the region in recent weeks amid escalating rhetoric from President Trump
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) speak to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on January 07, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY), leading voices in the Senate on war powers issues, introduced a war powers resolution on Friday to block military action against Iran without congressional approval.
The resolution comes after weeks of threats by President Donald Trump against the Iranian regime to intervene on behalf of anti-regime protesters, and amid a U.S. military buildup in the Middle East.
Kaine and Paul can force a vote in the Senate on the resolution, as Kaine has done with resolutions related to a series of other military actions taken by the Trump administration, including last summer’s Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The Senate blocked that resolution by a 53-47 vote; Paul voted with most Democrats in favor of the resolution while Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted with most Republicans against it.
Most recently, five Senate Republicans voted with Democrats for a procedural motion on a resolution to block further military action against Venezuela, but two ultimately flipped, under pressure from the Trump administration, on the final vote, blocking its passage.
Republicans were generally supportive of the U.S. strikes on Iran last summer, and some Democrats did praise the action after the fact, even as they expressed concerns about the administration’s unilateral action without congressional approval.
Trump has cited presidential self-defense authorities in carrying out various military actions around the world, including last summer’s strikes in Iran.
Plus, car ramming suspect charged with multiple hate crimes
John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Jan. 12, 2026.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
After a car repeatedly drove into Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn last night, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced today she is creating a council task force to combat antisemitism, even as Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he plans to retain the mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism (and told local news today he’s “in the final stages” of hiring someone to lead it). The council task force’s co-chair is Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, an outspoken critic of Mamdani…
The suspect arrested in the car ramming has been charged with attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, all enhanced as hate crimes, the NYPD announced this afternoon…
And in the wake of several protests that have disrupted New York Jewish communities in recent months, Menin also introduced a bill that would ban protests within 100 feet of a house of worship — more stringent than Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal of a 25-foot ban.
“The First Amendment right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct. What’s not sacrosanct is inciting violence, intimidation and harassment,” Menin told The New York Times, though some experts cast doubt on the constitutionality of the measure…
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), the chair of the House Committee on Education & Workforce, sent a letter to Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss — who is running for Congress to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) — requesting a briefing on Biss’ role in the 2024 anti-Israel encampment at Northwestern University.
Walberg alleged that Biss had failed “to protect Jewish students” at Northwestern “by refusing to give the university the police support it desperately needed to clear its violent and antisemitic encampment,” which resulted in a failure to arrest protesters who had harassed Jewish students. Biss has also drawn condemnation for allegedly walking back his pro-Israel positions once he was denied the support of AIPAC in his congressional campaign…
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) raised $2.1 million for her Senate campaign in the final quarter of 2025, she announced today, bringing her total raised to $6.8 million. But a new Emerson College poll of the race to replace Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) shows that haul may not be making an impact among primary voters just yet — Stevens polled at 17% to state Sen. Mallory McMorrow’s 22%, with 38% still undecided.
In a general election matchup against presumptive GOP nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), both McMorrow and Stevens poll ahead of Rogers, 46-43% and 47-42% respectively, with 15% undecided. In all cases, physician Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat who has made his hostility to Israel a central component of his campaign, polls behind his opponents…
The Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District got a little less crowded today: Former FBI agent John Sullivan, who served as the top bureau intelligence official in Israel from 2017-2020, dropped out of the race to challenge Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).
“While my congressional campaign is coming to an end, my dedication to our community is not,” Sullivan wrote, telling supporters to “stay tuned.” He did not endorse any of the remaining Democratic candidates, which include front-runner Beth Davidson, a Rockland County legislator, and national security veteran Cait Conley…
The U.S. Navy dispatched an additional warship, the USS Delbert D. Black, to the Middle East in the past two days amid heightened tensions with Iran, Reuters reports, bringing the total number of destroyers in the region to six, in addition to an aircraft carrier…
The European Union voted unanimously to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization today, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports, in a move anticipated after several countries including Italy and France rescinded their long-held objections to the move.
“Repression cannot go unanswered,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote on X following the decision. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise”…
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the “Save the Kurds Act” in response to the Syrian government’s campaign against the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. The legislation would impose sanctions on “Syrian government officials and financial institutions, and any foreign individual who engages in any transaction, including military or financial support, with the Syrian government,” according to a press release.
The bill would also redesignate as a terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the al-Qaida offshoot that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa led before ousting dictator Bashar al-Assad. The Trump administration removed HTS’ terror designation and U.S. sanctions on Syria after al-Sharaa assumed the presidency…
A draft resolution from the Board of Peace dictating the powers of the bodies overseeing postwar Gaza seems to relegate the Gaza Executive Board — whose inclusion of Turkey and Qatar had concerned Israel — to an advisory role for another committee largely made up of White House advisors, The Times of Israel reports. The resolution, which also increases the Trump administration’s role in managing that body, still must be signed by the president…
A man was tried in federal court today for attempting to assassinate former President Joe Biden over anti-Israel animus, traveling to Georgia with a firearm in June 2024 to sneak into a presidential debate hosted by CNN so he could reach Biden, according to the Justice Department.
The man’s manifesto was addressed to “all the Palestinian journalists … and in remembrance of the ones who lost their lives along the way” and said, “It’s time we overthrow these bastards and threaten to pull a f**king D-Day on Tel Aviv,” concluding with “Free Palestine”…
A bipartisan delegation of lawmakers organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem today, including Reps. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Mike Bost (R-IL) and Don Davis (D-NC)…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at the legacy of constitutional lawyer and Jewish activist Nat Lewin, who turns 90 this weekend.
Several Jewish and pro-Israel organizations were invited to a meeting with Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, who is in Washington meeting with Trump administration officials, tomorrow afternoon, JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik has learned, amid a sharp rise in antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric from the kingdom. It’s not clear which organizations will be attending, though the Foundation for Defense of Democracies confirmed it will sit down with KBS separately in the morning.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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PASTOR’S POLEMIC
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COMEBACK BID
Elaine Luria wants to reclaim her post as a pro-Israel leader in Congress
The former congresswoman told JI, ‘Anything that needs to be done to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon needs to be done’
The unanimous decision came after several countries including France and Italy removed their objections due to Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters
Siavosh Hosseini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
EU Flag and 27 members of European countries at the European Parliament building.
The European Union designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization on Thursday, marking a significant shift in policy for European countries that had long been wary of irreparably harming ties with Tehran.
The 27 European Union foreign ministers convened in Brussels, Belgium where they voted unanimously to make the designation as a response to Iran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests. The decision puts the IRGC among the likes of al-Qaida, Hamas and the Islamic State on the EU terror list. The bloc also imposed new sanctions on 15 Iranian officials, including top commanders of the Revolutionary Guard, in addition to existing stringent sanctions.
“Repression cannot go unanswered,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote on X on Thursday following the decision. “EU Foreign Ministers just took the decisive step of designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation. Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.”
Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache, vice president of Europe at the American Jewish Committee, told Jewish Insider the declaration was a “historical political decision.”
“It’s a very key political decision that will also have concrete consequences, because as soon as it is considered a terrorist organization, it will have legal implications,” said Sebban-Bécache. “It means that all the counter-terrorist authorities and organizations in Europe … will now be in charge of also tackling IRGC networks in Europe.”
The United States has long regarded the IRGC, an elite military force separate from the country’s regular army, as a terrorist organization; The State Department proscribed the group, along with its Quds Force, in April 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term. Canada and Australia have also recognized the IRGC as a terrorist group, among other countries.
However, the issue had remained stalled in the EU for years, as designation requires unanimous consent of all member states. Germany and the Netherlands are among the countries that have repeatedly urged for the EU to follow suit of the U.S. Others, such as France, Italy and Spain, remained opposed, citing concerns over diplomatic ties, negotiations over European nationals being held in Iran, lack of a legal basis and ability for the bloc to reach unanimity on the issue.
“It’s a question that was on the table for many, many years,” said Sebban-Bécache. “Some countries were in favor of it, some were reluctant to do it, and because there is a need for unanimity, the discussion never really took place at the EU Council level.”
In January 2023, the European Parliament, one of two legislative bodies of the EU, voted overwhelmingly — 598 to 9 — to call for the union to make such a designation, but the issue remained unresolved.
It was not until Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters earlier this month that the conversation was reignited, sparking holdout countries to reverse course and signal newfound support for such a move. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had confirmed at least 6,126 deaths since the start of the protests earlier this month, adding it was investigating over 17,000 more potential deaths.
“The dramatic events that we’ve witnessed in Iran in the past month have shifted many countries’ positions, and there was some political pressure also mounting,” said Sebban-Bécache, who noted that the designation is the “best tool” for Europe to “isolate” the regime. “I think Europeans also came to the conclusion that that regime can fall and that we all have a role to play to isolate it and to make it accountable.”
On Monday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that Italy would be withdrawing its objections, stating that it is his country’s “highest priority” to protect Iranian citizens. On Wednesday, France followed suit.
Sebban-Bécache noted that the new decision is a way for Europe to further take a stand “against terror” and finally recognize an organization that poses a threat “not just for the Iranian people and the Middle East, but also for international and European security itself.” She noted that the IRGC has tried to develop financial networks in Europe.
“We’ve had proof now for many years that the IRGC has developed an international network … and also has already tried to conduct terrorist attacks around the world and especially in Europe,” said Sebban-Bécache. “We know that IRGC is the organ that is orchestrating all the terror and oppression of the Iranian population inside Iran, but it’s also the organ that is coordinating the financing and support of Iran’s proxies and conducting terrorist activities across the Middle East.”
Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, welcomed the decision, calling it “important and historic.”
“The number one actor in spreading terror and undermining regional stability has now been called by its name,” Sa’ar wrote on X. “Designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization will thwart and criminalize their activities in Europe. It will deal a significant economic blow to an organization that controls a vast share of the Iranian regime’s economy, and it sends an important message to the brave men and women of Iran who are fighting for their freedom.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority also lauded the move, stating that Europe is “waking up to the truth.”
“The IRGC must not be given a free pass to export terror and brutality throughout the globe on behalf of the Ayatollah,” the post read.
Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told JI that Trump is engaged in ‘maximum pressure negotiations,’ that are ‘setting up the regime to say no.’
Daniel Torok/The White House via Getty Images
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) sit in the Situation Room as they monitor the mission that took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, at the White House on June 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump, over the last week, has gradually amped up threats of a military strike against Iran, pivoting away from talk of diplomatic negotiations amid continued intransigence from Tehran.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “a massive Armada is heading to Iran … ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence if necessary. Hopefully, Iran will quickly “Come to the Table” and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!”
The president warned that “the next attack will be far worse” than last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer. “Don’t make that happen,” he added.
The regime’s mission to the United Nations responded with Trump-esque capitalization that “Iran stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests—BUT IF PUSHED, IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF AND RESPOND LIKE NEVER BEFORE!”
Ali Shamkani, an advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who was severely injured in an Israeli airstrike on Iran last June, threatened — in Arabic, English, Hebrew, Russian and Mandarin — that “any military action by [the] US … will be considered the start of [a] war and its response will be immediate, all out and unprecedented, targeting [the] heart of Tel Aviv and all those supporting the aggressor.”
Then, amid widespread reports of secret talks between Washington and Tehran through Omani mediators came the news that they made no progress on limiting the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and that Trump was once again weighing military action, according to CNN.
Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Jewish Insider that Trump is engaged in “maximum-pressure negotiations,” which are “setting up the regime to say no.”
Nadav Pollak, a lecturer at Reichman University and Israeli intelligence veteran, told JI that the latest developments were significant in that “Trump laid out terms for a deal and Iran said no, or didn’t say anything. It’s not surprising, because his terms — no nuclear program, no ballistic missiles over a certain range, no support for its proxies — are a surrender without concessions [from the U.S.], something the supreme leader can’t do.”
At the same time, Diker said, “Iran is desperate to cut a deal. … The Iranians are reaching out to cut a deal, like they always do when they feel cornered. Regime survival is the top priority of the regime.”
“I think it’s fair to assess that Trump senses he has a lot of leverage and a lot of power — and he does — and I think he’s applying maximum pressure on the regime. He knows the regime is weak, but it’s like a rabid dog … that can do anything, which can be very dangerous. They still have a lot of missiles,” he said.
Diker argued that 30 years after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first warned about the Iranian threat in a joint session of Congress, “the stars aligned in terms of Trump and Netanyahu, and they could finally get rid of this regime, but it will come at a price. … The Iranian proxies will put us in a terrible position.”
Israel is not the only country exposed to those dangers, Diker pointed out. “There is pressure on Trump from the Saudis, the Qataris, the Turks and others across the Middle East not to attack because of the distinct fear the regime will start firing rockets, missiles and drones everywhere. … Iranians will just be throwing stuff all over the Middle East, is the fear.”
In Pollak’s assessment, U.S. military action is likely: “Trump, with all his language and rhetoric, climbed too high not to do anything. He also pushed U.S. assets into the region, similar to what he did in Venezuela. …The scope of a strike is unclear. That’s anyone’s guess right now.”
The shift in Trump’s rhetoric in recent days from focusing on the anti-regime protests to stopping Iran’s nuclear program shows that he is “trying to build legitimacy for a strike,” Pollak said. “The protests against the regime was a trigger for him, but he has other objectives in mind.”
Pollak said that Shamkani’s multilingual social media posts were the first public, direct military threat from Iran towards Israel, something he said Israel’s security establishment surely took note of.
“If it wasn’t certain until yesterday that Israel will get targeted, now it is, even if it’s one barrage,” Pollak said.
Whether Israel will take part in the strikes on Iran remains an open question, Pollak said, but assessed that it is likely to happen. He pointed out that IDF Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder was in Washington this week, reportedly to share information about possible targets in Iran.
Pollak pointed out that a month ago, in a press conference with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he would support Israel striking Iran if it continues to produce ballistic missiles, and if Iran tries to rebuild its nuclear weapons program, he would back Israel striking “fast.”
“I think [Netanyahu] for sure would want to take the opportunity to finish some of what we didn’t finish in June,” he said. “The question is whether Trump will let him or not.”
Diker said that “Netanyahu has been hyper-focused on ridding Israel and the world of this regime for 30 years … When Netanyahu says Trump is the best friend Israel ever had, he’s not talking about the Abraham Accords. He’s talking right now about ending the Iranian regime. Netanyahu’s eyes are on that ball.”
‘Today, many of the NGOs and technology providers that maintain these tools are facing closure due to funding cuts,’ the letter warns
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Venezuela, in Washington, DC, United States on January 28, 2026.
A bipartisan group of senators wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday urging him to “surge resources to quickly enable critical internet freedom support” to protesters in Iran, pointing to funding cuts that have stretched resources for such programs.
“Today, many of the NGOs and technology providers that maintain these tools are facing closure due to funding cuts and more importantly, fewer Iranian citizens can share their videos and messages with the world and each other,” the letter warns. “Without the continuous operation of internet freedom programming carried out by the State Department and Open Technology Fund, millions of Iranians will lose their last secure window and voice to the outside world.”
The lawmakers, Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), warned that if U.S. programs fully lapse, regime-controlled programs and state media will step into the gap, “giving the regime near-total control over the digital space and putting users at far greater risk.”
“As we watch brave Iranians take to the streets, it is clear that supporting the Iranian people’s access to information is not a partisan issue but a matter of national security, as well as meeting legislative requirements for a strategy for promoting internet freedom in Iran,” the lawmakers said, pointing to existing legislation mandating the State Department to expand internet access in Iran. “The United States must pair its maximum pressure on the regime with maximum support for the Iranian people.”
The letter comes at a time when Congress has offered few of its own strategies to respond to the wave of protests around Iran — which, according to Rubio, have now largely been put down by the regime.
Such efforts to promote free internet access to the Iranian people, amid efforts by the regime to impose an internet blackout, have emerged as a key area of bipartisan agreement.
Much of the U.S.’ global communications programming, including funding for promoting internet access, was slashed last year amid cutbacks to various foreign aid programs. Some prominent Republicans have criticized the administration, saying that government-sponsored news programming and communications assistance have failed to meet the moment in Iran.
The letter emphasizes the “long-standing and bipartisan commitment” to supporting internet freedom programs, which are “more important than ever as the people of Iran protest against the regime in record numbers.” The legislators noted that prior administrations have, for two decades, supported various anti-censorship and internet freedom tools in Iran, and that Congress passed legislation in 2024 supporting such programs.
“Without U.S. leadership, an entire generation of Iranians would have remained in the dark — and the most powerful source of pressure against the Islamic Republic, the Iranian people themselves, would have been neutralized,” the letter reads.
It notes that the existing U.S. programs allowing a small number of Iranians to remain online had “proved decisive” during the Israel-Iran war last summer to demonstrate the division between the Iranian people and the regime, and said that expanded internet access now “would put a spotlight on the increasingly securitized atmosphere that is cracking down on dissent.”
Plus, Biden officials don't hold back on criticism of Bibi
Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Amber Smalley/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) May 10, 2019 in the Red Sea.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump indicated he’s losing patience with Iran: He posted a stark warning on Truth Social this morning that a “massive Armada is heading to Iran” and “it is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.”
Trump encouraged Tehran to come back to the negotiating table where he demanded it have “no nuclear weapons” — a position that differs from Israel’s, which has said Iran must not be allowed to enrich uranium at all — but made no mention of the protesters Trump had pledged to protect…
Despite Trump’s threat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today that the “armada” of military assets being moved to the Middle East is primarily defensive, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Rubio noted that 30,000-40,000 U.S. troops in the region are “within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian” drones and missiles. “We have to have enough force and power in the region, just on a baseline, to defend against that possibility,” he explained.
In addition, “the president always reserves the preemptive defensive option — in essence, if we have indications that, in fact, they’re going to attack our troops in the region,” Rubio continued, as well as security agreements to defend allies such as Israel “that require us to have a force posture in the region.”
Rubio admitted the U.S. has little clarity on who would govern Iran if the regime collapses: “I don’t think anyone can give you a simple answer as to what happens next in Iran if the supreme leader and the regime were to fall, other than the hope that there would be some ability to have somebody within their systems you could work towards a similar transition” as the U.S. has supported in Venezuela…
Rubio was also questioned by senators about the Board of Peace: He clarified that “the primary and sole focus of that board right now is to administer Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the plan in Gaza,” despite broad language in the body’s charter, and acknowledged that some European allies have declined to join over their concern that the board is competing with the U.N. “This is not a replacement for the U.N. But the U.N. has served very little purpose in the case of Gaza,” Rubio said…
As their own response to Iran’s violent suppression of protests, several European countries changed their position to support the EU designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization, a move they have historically opposed over fears of irreparably severing ties with Tehran.
Ahead of a Thursday meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels — where the bloc was already expected to approve additional sanctions on Iran — Italy, Germany and earlier today France announced they would support the designation, teeing up its approval, which must be unanimous, at tomorrow’s meeting…
The State Department found that the Palestinian Authority paid more than $200 million to terrorists and their families in 2025, the Washington Free Beacon reports, despite the PA claiming it had ended its “pay-to-slay” program last February.
The PA merely “transferred responsibility” for the payments to a new body “under the guise of social welfare,” a report provided to Congress laid out, with evidence from post offices, social media and Telegram “indicating clearly that the compensation in support of terrorism has continued”…
Biden administration officials jumped to the defense of the former president’s Israel policy after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged in a press conference yesterday that some IDF soldiers had been killed in Gaza due to a U.S. arms embargo that caused Israel to run out of ammunition during the Biden presidency.
Brett McGurk, Biden’s senior Middle East advisor, told Axios that Netanyahu’s comments were “categorically false” and that Biden’s “commitment to Israel’s security to include U.S. military assistance was unwavering”; diplomat Amos Hochstein slammed Netanyahu as “ungrateful to a president that literally saved Israel at its most vulnerable moment”; and former State Department antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt said that to ignore Biden’s support for Israel “is to ignore history”…
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visited Moscow today where he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Russia’s continued military presence in the country, Syrian state media reported. Despite its historic backing of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Moscow did not oppose al-Sharaa’s ouster of the dictator, though Russia has sheltered Assad and his family since they fled Damascus.
Russia has begun pulling out from its position in northeast Syria in an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as Damascus mounts a campaign to oust them, though Moscow reportedly hopes to keep its naval and air bases on the Syrian coast…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), as she seeks to reclaim her former seat and shore up support for Israel among her Democratic colleagues.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will speak at Washington’s Sixth & I synagogue in conversation with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) about the governor’s new memoir, Where We Keep the Light.
The Hudson Institute will host a conversation with Jacob Helberg, the under secretary of state for economic affairs, as he returns from a trip around the Middle East where he brought Qatar and the United Arab Emirates into the Pax Silica initiative and signed a joint AI strategic framework in Israel.
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The secretary of state also said that it is unclear who would take over Iran if the supreme leader were removed from power
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Venezuela, in Washington, DC, United States on January 28, 2026.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the Iranian regime is historically weak due to serious economic troubles, but also said that Tehran’s violent crackdown on protesters has appeared to have successfully quelled the demonstrations that have swept the country in recent weeks.
Rubio also said that it’s uncertain who would take over the country if the Iranian regime were to fall. He framed the buildup of U.S. forces in the region — a U.S. carrier strike group arrived in the area this week — as a largely defensive measure to protect U.S. troops and allies from an Iranian attack.
“That regime is probably weaker than it has ever been, and the core problem they face, unlike the protests you saw in the past on some other topics, is that they don’t have a way to address the core complaints of the protests, which is that their economy is in collapse,” Rubio told senators.
“The reason why their economy is in collapse is because they spend all their money and all their resources building weapons and sponsoring terrorist groups around the world instead of reinvesting it back into their society, and as a result have taken on massive global sanctions which have isolated their economy and their country.”
He said the Iranian demonstrators want those sanctions removed and the regime to begin addressing their interests, “and this regime is unwilling to do it.”
Asked who would take over in the event that the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was removed from power, Rubio said that it was uncertain but suggested that the U.S. would expect to work with someone from within the Iranian government, rather than an outside actor, mirroring the approach it has taken in Venezuela.
“I don’t think anyone can give you a simple answer as to what happens next in Iran if the supreme leader and the regime were to fall, other than the hope that there would be some ability to have somebody in their systems that you could work toward a similar transition” as in Venezuela, Rubio said.
“I would imagine it would be even far more complex than [Venezuela] because you’re talking about a regime that’s been in place for a very long time, so that’s going to require a lot of careful thinking, if that eventuality ever presents itself,” he continued.
Addressing the U.S. military buildup in the region, he noted that the 30-40,000 U.S. troops in the region are within range of Iran’s arsenal of thousands of drones and short-range ballistic missiles. He said that the U.S. needs a “baseline” of “force and power” in the region to defend against that threat, if Iran “at some point, as a result of something” decided to attack U.S. forces.
“The president always reserves the preemptive defensive option — in essence, if we have indications that, in fact, they’re going to attack our troops in the region,” he continued, in addition to security agreements to defend allies such as Israel “that require us to have a force posture in the region.”
“I think it’s wise and prudent to have a force posture in the region that could respond and, potentially — not necessarily what’s going to happen — preemptively prevent the attack” against U.S. forces or allies, Rubio added.
The secretary of state said, however, that the violent crackdown by regime officials on the protests, which he said has killed thousands of people, has been “effective and … it’s horrifying.”
Though he said the protests have now “ebbed,” he said he was confident that “they will spark up again in the future because this regime, unless they are willing to change, or leave, have no way of addressing the legitimate and consistent complaints of the people of Iran who deserve better.”
Asked by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) about the makeup of the Trump administration’s newly created Board of Peace — specifically why some close U.S. allies are not part of the group while U.S. adversaries are — and whether the body is intended to be a competitor to the United Nations, Rubio answered, “This is not a replacement for the U.N., but the U.N. has served very little purpose in the case of Gaza other than the food assistance, and so we think it’s critical to have something that’s in charge of that.”
Rubio noted that the Board of Peace was chartered through a U.N. resolution and said that the “primary and sole focus of that board right now is to administer Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the plan in Gaza.” He said that various countries have been invited to the board but some U.S. allies in Europe have declined to join or are waiting on parliamentary approval to do so.
Asked by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) whether the administration would be seeking congressional ratification or legislation to establish and join the Board of Peace, Rubio responded by again highlighting the U.N. Security Council’s support for and recognition of the board.
Rubio’s testimony came at a hearing focused primarily on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela in which former President Nicolás Maduro was arrested and U.S. policy toward Venezuela going forward.
He said that one of the Trump administration’s primary goals in conducting the operation was denying Iran, along with Russia and China, a foothold in the Western Hemisphere. He asserted that the success of the operation could help provide a deterrent to adversaries such as Iran, “because the U.S. is the only country in the world that could have done this operation.”
He also said that he does not anticipate further military action in Venezuela, but that the U.S. would act in case of a threat — offering as an example if Iran were to establish a drone factory in the country.
He further noted that Venezuela had been providing false passports to Iranian and Hezbollah operatives, which he described as deeply concerning.
During a heated back-and-forth with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kaine referenced comments by acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez — who currently has Washington’s support — that the U.S. attack on Venezuela had “Zionist undertones.”
“What the hell did Delcy Rodriguez mean when she said this attack had Zionist undertones?” Kaine said. Rubio responded that he had “an idea what she meant” but Kaine pivoted and Rubio was not able to answer further.
Plus, Emory faculty revolt in defense of Iran official's daughter
MONEY SHARMA/AFP via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (C) inspects a guard of honor during a ceremonial reception at the President House a day after the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 11, 2023.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Saudi Arabia’s shift away from its traditional alliances and towards Islamism is evoking more backlash: Asked about Riyadh’s growing rapprochement with Qatar and Turkey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference this afternoon that he’s following the developments and that Israel “expect[s] from anybody who wants normalization or peace with us that they not participate in efforts steered by forces or ideologies that want the opposite of peace”…
Netanyahu’s comments came shortly after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, where MBS conveyed that “the Kingdom considers any threat or tension against Iran unacceptable”…
That’s not stopping the U.S. from hinting at the continued possibility of strikes on Iran: U.S. Central Command announced it will be conducting a “multi-day readiness exercise” in order to “demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower” across its area of responsibility, which includes Iran…
And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) slammed Riyadh for other nefarious actions in the region, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports, including its “attack” on the UAE and silence regarding the Syrian government’s campaign against the Kurds, demanding the kingdom use its influence to “keep the region from falling further into chaos.”
“Please understand that I am smart enough to know that Saudi Arabia has influence on the Syrian government, and I expect them to use it,” Graham said, adding that he is “trying to work with the administration and regional partners to prevent a bloodbath in Syria against our Kurdish allies”…
(President Donald Trump, meanwhile, had a markedly different take on Syria: He told reporters today that he had a “great conversation” with the “highly respected president of Syria” and that “all of the things having to do with Syria and that area are working out very, very well, so we’re very happy about it”…)
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh also held its first-ever International Holocaust Remembrance Day event, writing that “Today’s modest but meaningful commemoration reflects a universal duty: protecting our shared humanity across cultures, faiths, and nations”…
With Graham eyeing Damascus and Riyadh, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took aim elsewhere, calling for the U.S. to arm protesters in Iran “NOW.” “For the Iranian people to overthrow the Ayatollah — a tyrant who routinely chants ‘death to America’ — would make America much, much safer,” he said…
Authorities in Azerbaijan arrested three people allegedly preparing an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Baku today; the men were affiliated with ISIS-K, the Afghani branch of the terror group…
The Board of Peace is attempting to formalize its processes and responsibilities, according to a draft resolution from the board obtained by The New York Times, which bestows expansive powers to its chairman — Trump — including naming the commander of the International Stabilization Force, which still has yet to be established.
The document also names White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and attorney Martin Edelman as members of the board, the first time they have been identified as such…
After a doctor who is the daughter of a senior Iranian government official departed from Emory University’s medical school, the professor who serves as head of Emory’s faculty leadership council criticized the school for letting her go, JI’s Haley Cohen has learned.
Noelle McAfee, a professor in Emory’s philosophy department, sent a scathing email to the university expressing concern that the school’s dismissal of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, was a politically motivated firing.
“It’s extremely disappointing to see that our leadership here at Emory are consistently caving to political pressure and never taking the side of faculty,” McAfee wrote, quoting an anonymous faculty member, expressing concern that Ardeshir-Larijani, whose father is responsible for the Islamic Republic’s national security, didn’t receive due process…
In the Garden State, Mussab Ali, the former Jersey City Board of Education president and champion of anti-Israel college encampments, officially launched his primary challenge to Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) today, hitting Menendez on day one for supporting Israel and being endorsed by AIPAC.
“Democrats need to step up and become the party where we abandon corporate PACs, we won’t take money from groups like AIPAC, and we need to be accountable to everyday people,” Ali told the New Jersey Globe. He also enters the race with the endorsement of former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who was unseated in part due to his sharp criticisms of Israel…
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Chicago’s City Council voted unanimously to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into its municipal code…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Republican Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, who’s hoping for a conservative shift among Jewish voters in South Florida to help him unseat Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
“October 7: In Their Own Words,” a play drawn directly from testimonies of survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, will premiere at the Kennedy Center. Read JI’s interview with the show’s playwrights here.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be on the Hill, testifying at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. policy towards Venezuela in the aftermath of the ouster of former President Nicolás Maduro.
Stories You May Have Missed
PROBLEMATIC POST
Top Michigan Democratic fundraiser shared Veterans Day post honoring Nazi officer grandfather
Kelly Neumann is serving as the fundraising co-chair for gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson and Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow and has fundraised for several other Michigan Democrats
SABRA SLAM
Deni Avdija to make triumphant DC return as star NBA player
The Portland Trail Blazers forward has emerged as one of Israel’s all-time top athletes
Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, who was employed by Emory's medical school, is the daughter of the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security
Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
Emory University Hospital is seen on August 1, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia.
After a doctor who is the daughter of a senior Iranian government official departed from Emory University’s medical school, the professor who serves as head of Emory’s faculty leadership council criticized the school for letting her go, Jewish Insider has learned.
Noelle McAfee, a professor in Emory’s philosophy department, sent a scathing e-mail to the university and School of Medicine faculty expressing concern that the school’s dismissal of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, was a politically motivated firing.
McAfee, who was arrested in April 2024 for her participation in a campus anti-Israel encampment, said faculty members have expressed to her that Ardeshir-Larijani’s departure is “an act of unbecoming of our tolerant, free, academic community.”
“It’s extremely disappointing to see that our leadership here at Emory are consistently caving to political pressure and never taking the side of faculty,” McAfee wrote, quoting an anonymous faculty member, expressing concern that Ardeshir-Larijani, whose father is responsible for the Islamic Republic’s national security, didn’t receive due process.
On Jan. 19, demonstrators gathered outside Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute to protest the university’s employment of Ardeshir-Larijani.
But McAfee claimed that many faculty members were outraged over the loss of Ardeshir-Larijani to the medical school staff. (In an email to medical school faculty, Emory School of Medicine Dean Sandra Wong did not specify whether Ardeshir-Larijani, who was an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the medical school, was fired or quit.)
McAfee wrote that faculty also told her, “This is creating an actively hostile work environment here at Emory… motivated by a desire to minimize political pressure on Emory to ensure continuance of federal funding” and “it’s extremely disappointing to see that our leadership here at Emory are consistently caving to political political pressure and never taking the side of faculty.”
In a statement to JI, McAfee said her email was “not weighing in on an employment matter one way or another.”
In 2024, Emory School of Medicine fired another oncologist, Professor Abeer AbouYabis, due to her social media posts glorifying Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. The school’s University Senate Committee for Open Expression submitted an investigation report at the time, stating that “AbouYabis’s Open Expression rights likely were violated.”
Emory University did not respond to a request for comment from JI inquiring whether the school was aware of Ardeshir-Larijani’s familial ties when it hired her.
Plus, Kanye West claims he's 'not a Nazi' in full-page WSJ apology
Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images
Vehicle, carrying the body of the last Israeli hostage remaining in Gaza Ran Gvili, arrives the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute prior to the funeral ceremony in Tel Aviv, Israel on January 26, 2026.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
The IDF announced this morning it had identified the remains of the final deceased hostage, Ran Gvili, in Gaza and is returning them to Israel for burial, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports, marking the end of the hostage crisis that had gripped Israel and world Jewry for nearly 850 days in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
Beyond the hostages taken on Oct. 7, Gvili’s return means that no Israelis — living or deceased — are being held by terror groups in Gaza for the first time since 2014.
While the IDF uncovered Gvili’s body in a Muslim cemetery where Hamas had buried it, President Donald Trump told Axios that the terror group “worked very hard to get the body back. They were working with Israel on it. You can imagine how hard it was.”
“Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised,” Trump continued, as the parties move into Phase 2 of his peace deal. For its part, Israel announced it will reopen the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza in a “limited” capacity later this week.
Remarking on Gvili’s return, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added at a press conference this afternoon that “more than 20 new, additional countries have also signed up to join the newly established Board of Peace,” without naming the additions…
The New York Times lays out the latest developments in U.S.-Iran tensions, as American military assets reach the region and Iranian officials, as well as Iranian proxy terror groups, intensify their threats against the U.S. and Israel.
Joe Kent, the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, has warned Iraqi officials that if Iranian-backed militias in Iraq were to strike U.S. troops, the U.S. would retaliate, according to the Times…
Trump told Axios that the situation in regards to Iran is “in flux” but that the U.S. has “a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela.” Still, the president left the possibility of diplomacy with Tehran open: “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk”…
Despite the ongoing tensions, the Trump administration deported about a dozen Iranians back to Tehran yesterday, CNN reports. It’s the third such deportation flight to Iran during Trump’s second term, and the first since the regime began its violent crackdown on protesters…
Elsewhere in the region, Israeli and Lebanese officials were hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Jordan over the weekend to discuss “steps needed for a more peaceful and prosperous region,” according to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut…
Several leading Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups are expressing concerns about the impact of the recent rise in antisemitic and Islamist messaging out of Saudi Arabia, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports, as the Gulf kingdom’s rhetoric is increasingly raising questions about its standing as a reliable U.S. ally in the region.
Among other groups, the Anti-Defamation League said in a sharply worded social media statement last week that it was “alarmed by the increasing frequency and volume of prominent Saudi voices — analysts, journalists and preachers — using openly antisemitic dog whistles and aggressively pushing anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric, often while peddling conspiracy theories about ‘Zionist plots’”…
Turning to the U.S., progressive operative Waleed Shahid announced today that he will assume the newly created role of deputy communications director of economic justice in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office, JI’s Will Bredderman, joining us to cover New York City Hall, reports.
Shahid, the former spokesperson for Justice Democrats, was also a leader in the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which sought to deny support to former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the Biden administration’s support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks, and served as an advisor to former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)…
After the fatal shooting of a man by ICE officers in Minneapolis this weekend, Gov. Tim Walz compared immigration enforcement activities in Minnesota to Anne Frank’s persecution by the Nazis, drawing condemnation from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Someone’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota,” Walz said at a press conference yesterday.
Without referencing Walz or ICE, the USHMM responded in a statement today: “Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish. Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable. Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges”…
Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, whose New York City show was canceled last week amid protests by pro-Hamas groups, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about becoming an “international flashpoint” after his subsequent show in Beverly Hills, Calif., was also canceled and his visa to perform in Canada was revoked.
“I’m not a politician. I’m a comedian. A very Zionist comedian. But it’s terrible to see it happening. But I am not giving up and I’m not giving in. I will not give them the pleasure. But I am getting a lot of threats on my life. I know there’s a big difference between us, but I don’t want to be the Israeli Charlie Kirk,” Hochman said…
Rapper Kanye West took out a full-page ad in today’s print edition of The Wall Street Journal apologizing for his erratic, and often antisemitic, behavior in recent years, claiming his actions stemmed from a brain injury sustained years ago that amplified his bipolar disorder.
“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it,” West wrote in the ad. “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people”…
The Washington Post reportedly informed its staff on a Zoom call today that up to half of employees will be laid off, with the biggest cuts to its foreign and sports desks…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Deni Avdija, the Israeli NBA star making his triumphant return to Washington tomorrow as his current team, the Portland Trail Blazers, takes on his former team, the Wizards, during their Jewish Heritage Night game.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s new memoir, Where We Keep the Light, is out tomorrow. We’ll be taking a look at how Shapiro discusses Israel and Judaism in its pages, as the swing-state governor potentially seeks the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, representatives of the U.S. and Israel will speak at the United Nations, and the Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington will host “Enduring Music: Compositions from the Holocaust,” a concert of music composed in ghettos and death camps.
Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s International Conference on Combating Antisemitism will continue with remarks from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (who addressed the Knesset today), former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and more.
In Berlin, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat will deliver remarks at the WELT Economic Summit, the annual European business and political confab organized by media conglomerate Axel Springer.
Stories You May Have Missed
HER WAY
Tahesha Way campaigns as close ally of Jewish community in pivotal N.J. special election
Way is touting her support for stalled legislation that would codify the IHRA definition of antisemitism into law
FACING SCRUTINY
Josh Gruenbaum’s rapid rise from overseeing federal contracting to dealmaking on the world stage
Gruenbaum started working with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Middle East diplomacy after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in October
Plus, Swiss Shabbat in Davos
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump as he leaves the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026.
👋 Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at President Donald Trump’s mixed messaging on Iran this week, and report on California state Sen. Scott Wiener’s resignation as co-chair of the state legislature’s Jewish caucus after he accused Israel of genocide. We cover a letter from more than 100 New Jersey rabbis condemning former Gov. Phil Murphy and state Assembly leaders over their spiking of an antisemitism bill, and talk to GOP legislators about Trump’s decision to invite Russia and China to join the Board of Peace. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Emily Damari, AJ Edelman and Rabbi Yehoram Ulman.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Marc Rod. 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: Paige Cognetti running in Josh Shapiro’s footsteps in key Pa. swing district; Mississippi’s Jewish community rallies after antisemitic arson; and Amy Acton became a household name in Ohio — now, she wants to be governor. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- The World Economic Forum wrapped up this morning in Davos, Switzerland. Some of those who are staying for the weekend will be attending tonight’s Shabbat dinner in the Alpine town. Though not an official WEF event, the exclusive annual dinner will bring together roughly 150 conference attendees at the conclusion of the busy week. Anne Neuberger, the Biden administration’s deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, and Henry Schein Board Chair and CEO Stanley Bergman, will be the dinner’s main speakers this year, joined by Michelle Bolten, the chief of staff to the vice chairman of BlackRock. Rabbi Menachem Berkowitz, who received his semicha from Chabad last week, will give tonight’s d’var Torah, and professor Ricardo Hausmann will share his thoughts on current events, with a focus on Venezuela. Read more about past Shabbat dinners at Davos here.
- White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in the United Arab Emirates for the weekend for meetings aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war following a meeting last night in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was also attended by White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum, that went into the early morning hours.
- The U.N. Human Rights Council is holding an emergency session today on Iran‘s weekslong crackdown on anti-government protesters.
- Manhattan’s Temple Emanu-El will hold a special interfaith service tonight honoring Cardinal Timothy Dolan as the longtime Catholic official retires as the archbishop of New York.
- The two-day JLI Leadership Summit starts on Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
Tensions are running high across the Middle East after a week in which the U.S. and Iran lobbed threats at each other, dominating headlines, destabilizing markets and leaving many in the region unnerved at the prospect of renewed military action seven months after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran that included U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday, Trump warned that an “armada” was on its way to the Gulf — a reference to the aircraft carrier and fleet of fighter jets being redeployed from the South China Sea.
In response, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned that Iran had its “finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief.”
Trump, true to form, has been unpredictable and inconsistent in his approach to Tehran — alternating between threatening force and teasing diplomacy. “Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk,” Trump said at a signing ceremony in Davos on Thursday, just hours before he told reporters on Air Force One about the naval deployment to the Gulf. “We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” he said on AF1, managing in one whiplash-inducing sentence to lob a threat at Iran while also offering it a theoretical off-ramp.
The president has proven that he is willing to engage in bold action — especially when it comes to Iran. One has only to look to the 2020 killing of Quds Force head Gen. Qassem Soleimani or the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June to see that the Trump administration is willing to engage militarily with Iran in ways prior administrations may have not. (Case in point: former President Joe Biden’s issuance in April 2024 of a one-word warning to Iran — “Don’t” — a day before Tehran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.)
SCOOP
Scott Wiener steps down as co-chair of California Jewish caucus after accusing Israel of genocide
California state Sen. Scott Wiener announced on Thursday that he is stepping down from his role as one of the co-chairs of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, capping off nearly two weeks of controversy and frustration among Jewish leaders in the state after the San Francisco Democrat and congressional candidate declared Israel’s actions in Gaza to be a genocide, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. “My campaign is accelerating, and my recent statements on Israel and Gaza have led to significant controversy in the Jewish community. The time to transition has arrived,” Wiener said in a statement. He will remain in the role until Feb. 15.
Background: Wiener, who is running for Congress in a competitive Democratic primary to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has long declared himself a progressive Zionist while also criticizing the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s actions in Gaza. But after a candidate forum this month where his two competitors were quick to say Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, Wiener faced pressure from his left to use the word himself, and released a video a few days later changing his stance. “I’ve stopped short of calling it genocide, but I can’t anymore,” Wiener said.
MEETING ADJOURNED
Richmond, Calif., City Council fails to censure mayor over antisemitic social media posts
A city council meeting in Richmond, Calif., ended with shouting and frustration after 11 p.m. on Tuesday evening when the body adjourned without considering a measure seeking to censure Mayor Eduardo Martinez, who is under fire from the local Jewish community after sharing antisemitic posts on his LinkedIn page last month, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. Tuesday’s meeting was the first since Martinez shared multiple incendiary posts regarding the terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Australia, last month. He shared one post referring to the shooting as “Israel’s false flag attack.” Another post called the public celebration of Hanukkah “deeply provocative and very un-Jewish” and said it was meant to intimidate Muslims.
Expressing outrage: “This is a complete embarrassment as a city council,” Councilmember Jamelia Brown, one of the officials who sought to issue a formal censure of Martinez, said before walking away from the meeting room. “We will stand in solidarity and say that this was antisemitic conduct and behavior, yet we don’t want to formalize it and put it on record. It’s very coward [sic] behavior.”
PRAIRIE STATE POLITICS
Moderate Democrat faces off against anti-Israel challengers in suburban Chicago battleground
Former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) is emerging as the early front-runner in the Illinois 8th Congressional District primary, with an anti-Israel progressive candidate potentially a strong competitor, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
State of play: “Coming into it, you’d say Melissa would probably be the one to beat. The question is, has the party changed a lot, especially in primaries, since she was in the House last?” Peter Giangreco, a Chicago political strategist, told JI. “Has the party moved — or at least Democratic primary voters, have they moved to the left more than where Melissa is, is sort of an open question.”
ON THE TRAIL
In new ad, John Cornyn blasts radical Islam for Oct. 7, Bondi Beach attacks
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), facing a serious primary challenge from his right, released a new campaign ad on Thursday calling “radical Islam” a “bloodthirsty ideology” that has influenced recent terror attacks targeting Jews, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
The ad: “It fueled the unspeakable crimes on Oct. 7,” Cornyn says in the 30-second ad, called “Evil Face,” before citing the mass shooting last month during a Hanukkah gathering in Australia that was allegedly motivated by the terrorist group ISIS. “It showed its evil face again at Bondi Beach.” Speaking directly to the camera, Cornyn touted his recent efforts to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a nonprofit advocacy group whose executive director has drawn scrutiny for celebrating the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. “Let me be clear: No organization that supports terrorists should receive taxpayer benefits,” Cornyn concludes in the ad. “And Sharia law has no place in American courts or communities.”
SPEAKING OUT
New Jersey rabbis blast ex-Gov. Murphy, Assembly leaders over IHRA bill
Nearly 100 New Jersey rabbis wrote to now-former Gov. Phil Murphy and members of the New Jersey Assembly this week expressing concerns about reporting from Jewish Insider that Murphy and other Democratic leaders had blocked passage of legislation to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
The latest: “This is a deeply troubling failure of leadership that places political calculations above the safety of the Jewish population,” the 95 rabbis wrote. “Prioritizing politics over antisemitism signals that Jewish safety is negotiable and subjects our community to further cases of harassment and violence.” They called on state leaders to immediately take up and pass the IHRA bill.
Elsewhere: Political leaders in North Carolina are condemning the Nazi symbols and antisemitic graffiti discovered earlier this week at a hub of Jewish life in Charlotte, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
NOT CONVINCED
Some Republicans skeptical of Trump’s invitation to Russia, China to join Gaza Board of Peace
Some Republican lawmakers said they’re hesitant about President Donald Trump’s decision to invite Russia and China to be part of the Board of Peace that is set to manage the reconstruction of Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
What they’re saying: “To exclude them from participation would be inappropriate; to include them in any real positive influence — neither one of them contributes money, neither one of them contributes an expertise in democracy,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said. “I don’t mind them being included, but I think we have to be realistic. They both lack either the generosity or the expertise necessary to create a different world for the Palestinians in their future government.” Republicans indicated that they’re open to Trump’s idea of the Board of Peace becoming a replacement or alternative to the United Nations, citing the U.N.’s long-standing anti-Israel bias.
Seeing the big picture: Hamas must demilitarize before Gaza can undergo redevelopment, President Donald Trump’s informal advisor Jared Kushner said on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as he presented the administration’s plan to disarm the terrorist group and rebuild Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Worthy Reads
Iraq and a Hard Place: Bloomberg’s Sam Bagher observes the difficult decisions facing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as the country finds itself being pulled by both Iran and the U.S.“The Arab country is torn between Iran, its erstwhile enemy that wants to maintain its longtime grip on its neighbor, and the U.S., the superpower whose disastrous 2003 invasion destroyed the country and destabilized the Middle East for a generation. … Over the past two years, Sudani has largely steered a middle path through the fallout from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing Gaza war that have humbled Tehran, turned the Jewish state into a regional military hegemon and reshaped the Middle East. But at the same time, taking advantage of Iran’s weakness, he’s worked quietly to move Iraq closer to the US, its wealthy Sunni-led Gulf Arab allies and Turkey. It’s a fine line — he must dismantle Iran-backed militias, entice Western and Gulf Arab investment and bring in American oil companies, all without alienating Shiite political factions backed by Tehran or inviting a stronger response from the Islamic Republic.” [Bloomberg]
Bouncing Bibi: The Financial Times’ Andrew England and James Shotter look at efforts across the Israeli political spectrum to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this year’s election. “As the incumbent, Netanyahu only has to ensure he doesn’t lose. If there is no clear winner — as happened in a string of elections before a 2022 vote — he could remain as caretaker prime minister. Or Netanyahu, as he has done before, could attempt to peel off opponents to form a government. That means only an outright opposition victory, achieved just once in the past 17 years of Netanyahu’s dominance, would dethrone ‘King Bibi’. ‘Politics-wise, Netanyahu pretty much yet again dug himself out of a political grave,’ says Yohanan Plesner, a former member of the Knesset for the centrist Kadima party, now at the Israel Democracy Institute. ‘The least wise thing you can do is predict Netanyahu’s end in politics.’” [FT]
Day-to-Day Hate: In The Washington Post, Or Moshe, who spent more than two years working in the international department of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, warns that antisemitism is increasingly being accepted as a part of society even as attacks against Jews escalate in their brutality and frequency. “I have learned something painful and consistent. Jewish pain is rarely allowed to stand on its own. Instead, it is weighed. Qualified. Contextualized. Explained away. Violence against Jews is treated as a reaction rather than an atrocity. Fear is treated as an exaggeration. Mourning is treated as politics. … Antisemitism today does not always look like the caricatures people expect. It does not always announce itself with slurs or symbols. Sometimes it presents itself as moral clarity. It claims righteousness while denying Jews the right to safety, dignity and self-defense. It insists that Jewish fear is suspicious. That Jewish vulnerability is strategic. That Jewish deaths require footnotes.” [WashPost]
Monuments to Evil: In eJewishPhilanthropy, Menachem Z. Rosensaft calls on New York City leaders, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, to act on a long-standing request from the Jewish community to remove plaques in lower Manhattan honoring French war criminals Marshal Philippe Pétain and Pierre Laval, who were responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of French Jews during the Holocaust. “The two plaques remain as monuments not only to Laval and Pétain, but also to the callous indifference of three successive NYC mayors and municipal administrations to the glorification of two men who epitomized evil. During the primary campaign for last year’s Democratic mayoral nomination, Zohran Mamdani declared that he ‘condemned the Holocaust.’ … Fair enough. I am prepared to take him at his word. As mayor, Mamdani can now demonstrate affirmatively that he is genuinely committed to honor the memory of the more than six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis.”[eJP]
Word on the Street
Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud and Israeli President Isaac Herzog both shared optimistic remarks about the region’s future at a lunch, hosted by Meta President Dina Powell McCormick and philanthropist David Rubenstein, following a signing ceremony inaugurating the new Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…
President Donald Trump said he had rescinded his invitation for Canada to join his newly created Board of Peace, amid a deepening rift between Washington and Ottawa and days after Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that the world was “in the midst of a rupture”…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met this morning with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) in Jerusalem…
The House passed a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, with seven moderate Democrats joining with Republicans to advance the bill in spite of Democratic uproar about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations; the bill, packaged with Pentagon funding legislation, now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain…
House Republicans narrowly defeated a war powers resolution that would have limited the Trump administration’s ability to act in Venezuela without congressional approval; GOP leaders delayed the closing of the vote in order to give Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) time to reach Capitol Hill from Dulles airport via police escort and cast a vote that tied the total count and prevented the resolution from passing…
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) filed paperwork to form a campaign committee as she moves closer to announcing a run for governor in Minnesota…
Former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the school’s anti-Israel protest movement, will likely be rearrested and deported to Algeria, a top Department of Homeland Security official said Wednesday, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
A federal judge issued an order blocking the Trump administration from retaliating against the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association for their efforts to prevent the detention and deportation of visa holders who engaged in anti-Israel activity…
The NYPD arrested two teenagers in connection with the vandalization of a playground in Gravesend Park, Brooklyn, in which dozens of swastikas were graffitied on structures at the playground in two separate incidents; the teens are facing aggravated harassment charges, with one of them facing an additional charge of criminal mischief as a hate crime…
Children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel is under fire for liking a social media comment calling to “Free america from the Jews”; after posting a tearful apology for her initial engagement with the comment — which she said had been an accident — the educator responded “ooooooooooohhhhh” to another user’s suggestion that Jews had left the antisemitic comment…
Israel’s bobsled team, led by Israeli American athlete AJ Edelman, secured a slot in next month’s Winter Olympics in Milan, making history as the country’s first Olympic entrant in the sport; read more about Edelman’s yearslong effort to get an Israeli team to the Olympics here…
Former hostage Emily Damari got engaged to her girlfriend, food influencer Danielle Amit, at a party celebrating the British-Israeli citizen’s one-year anniversary of her release from Hamas captivity…
The U.S. is mulling a full troop withdrawal from Syria, days after Damascus took control over areas previously controlled by the U.S.-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces; a U.S. assessment found that approximately 200 low-level Islamic State fighters escaped from a Syrian prison earlier this week but had been recaptured after SDF forces abandoned the facility they had been guarding…
Baltimore-based entrepreneur and political fundraiser Michael Bronfein, the co-founder and CEO of Curio Wellness, died at 70…
Pic of the Day
At the Sydney Opera House on Thursday, Chabad of Bondi, led by Rabbi Yehoram Ulman (pictured), marked the shloshim — the 30-day milestone after death — of the victims of the Hanukkah terror attack at Bondi Beach, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports.
Birthdays
Singer-songwriter and one of the world’s best-selling recording artists of all time, Neil Diamond turns 85 on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Real estate developer, Bruce Ratner turns 81… Professor of biological chemistry at Weizmann Institute of Science, David Wallach turns 80… Educational consultant, trade association and non-profit executive, Peter D. Rosenstein turns 79… Manager of Innovative Strategies LLLP, he is a board member of the Baltimore-based Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund, Howard K. Cohen… Former U.S. senator (D-DE), Tom Carper turns 79… Israeli archaeologist and professor at the University of Haifa, Estee Dvorjetski turns 75… Former Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa turns 73… President of Lazard, Raymond J. McGuire turns 69… Broadway theater owner, operator, producer and presenter and president of the Nederlander Organization, he is a 13-time Tony Award winner, James L. Nederlander turns 66… Former president of Staples Inc., she serves on the boards of Burlington Stores, CBRE and CarMax, Shira Goodman turns 65… Former CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Camp for 15 years, Jeremy J. Fingerman… Journalist and co-author of Game Change and Double Down: Game Change 2012, John Heilemann turns 60… Palm Beach, Fla., resident, formerly of Greenwich, Conn., Hilary Bangash Cohen… Journalist, screenwriter and film producer, in 2009 he wrote and produced “The Hurt Locker” for which he won two Academy Awards including for Best Picture, Mark Boal turns 53…Film director, comic book artist and musician, S. Craig Zahler turns 53… Israeli set and production designer for the television and film industries, Arad Sawat turns 51… Fourth rebbe of the Pittsburgh hasidic dynasty, Rabbi Meshulam Eliezer Leifer turns 47… Founder and executive director of Jew in the City, Allison F. Josephs… Strategic communications consultant, Arielle Poleg… Head of Meta’s Instagram, Adam Mosseri turns 43… Manhasset, N.Y., native who competed for Israel in figure skating, she was the 2014 Israeli national champion, Danielle Montalbano turns 37… Retired in 2024 as a soccer player for DC United, he also played on the U.S. men’s national soccer team, Steven Mitchell Birnbaum turns 35… NYC native who competed for Israel in pairs figure skating, she and her partner won silver medals in the 2008 and 2009 Israeli championships, Hayley Anne Sacks turns 35…
SATURDAY: Canadian architect and urban renewal advocate, she is a member of the Bronfman family, Phyllis Barbara Lambert turns 99… Born in Tel Aviv, 2011 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry, professor at Technion and Iowa State University, Dan Shechtman turns 85… Chairman of the Sazerac Company and of Crescent Crown Distributing, two of the largest domestic distillers and distributors of spirits and beer in the US, William Goldring turns 83… Professor of modern Jewish history at New York University, Marion Kaplan turns 80… Politician and lawyer who was an official in the Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump administrations, Elliott Abrams turns 78… Professor of alternative dispute resolution and mediation at Hofstra School of Law, Robert Alan Baruch Bush turns 78… Ukrainian-born comedian, actor and writer, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1977 and is noted for the catchphrase “What a country,” Yakov Smirnoff turns 75… Conductor, violinist and violist, who has performed with leading symphony orchestras worldwide, Yuri Bashmet turns 73… VP of strategy at LiveWorld, Daniel Flamberg… Founder of an online software training website which was acquired by LinkedIn in 2015 for $1.5 billion, Lynda Susan Weinman turns 71… Burlingame, California-based surgeon at Peninsula Plastic Surgery, Lorne K. Rosenfield M.D…. Beryl Eckstein… Former senior correspondent for Fox News for 24 years, now a senior correspondent at Newsmax, Rick Leventhal… Former CEO of Ford Motor Company, and now on the boards of Hertz and Qualcomm, Mark Fields (his family’s original name was Finkelman) turns 65… B’nei mitzvah coordinator at Temple Beth Am of Los Angeles, Judith Alban… Former HUD secretary and OMB director, now the president and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, a housing non-profit, Shaun Donovan turns 60… Co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy, he served as associate White House counsel in the Obama administration, Ian Bassin turns 50… Journalist and then tax attorney, now chief legal officer at Ripple Fiber, Joshua Runyan… Sporting director for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Premier League and the FIBA Champions League, Yotam Halperin turns 42… Founder and CEO at TACKMA and a principal at Schottenstein Property Group, Jeffrey Schottenstein… Former regional director of synagogue initiative at AIPAC, Miryam Knafo Schapira… Law Clerk at Fried Frank, Michael Krasna… Musician and former child actor, Jonah Bobo turns 29…
SUNDAY: Senior partner of The Mack Company and a director of Mack-Cali Realty, a real estate investment trust, David S. Mack (family name was Makofsky) turns 84… Israeli peace activist and author, whose fiction and nonfiction books have been translated into more than 30 languages, David Grossman turns 72… Editor-in-chief of The National Memo, Joe Conason (family name was Cohen) turns 72… Retired in 2023 as Dean of the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Naamah Kelman-Ezrachi turns 71… SVP and senior portfolio manager in the Los Angeles office of Morgan Stanley, Robert N. Newman… Stage, film and television actress and television director, Dinah Beth Manoff turns 70… Los Angeles resident, Helene S. Ross… Agent at Creative Artists Agency, Michael Glantz… Chief correspondent and executive editor for CBS News “Eye on America” franchise, Jim Axelrod turns 63… Former member of Knesset for Yesh Atid, he also served as minister of education, Shai Moshe Piron turns 61… Founding partner of merchant bank Finback Investment Partners, John Leachman Oliver III… Member of the Canadian Parliament from Montreal since 2015, he won 12 medals in swimming at the 2013 and 2017 Maccabiah Games, Anthony Housefather turns 55… Author of multiple novels, she is a writer-in-residence in Jewish studies at Stanford University, Maya Arad turns 55… Toronto-born movie and television actress, she had a recurring guest role on the Fox TV series “24,” Mia Kirshner turns 51… National political reporter at The Washington Post covering campaigns, Congress and the White House, Michael Scherer… President and CEO of Knollwood Cemetery Corp, David Newman… President of Ukraine since 2019, he is the first Jewish leader of that country, Volodymyr Zelensky turns 48… Member of the U.S House of Representatives (D-FL), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick turns 47… Benjamin L. Newton… Managing VP of executive operations for the National Association of Manufacturers, Mark Isaacson… Member of the Arizona House of Representatives until 2023, Daniel Hernández Jr. turns 36… Actress, writer and director, Pauline Hope Chalamet turns 34… Associate director of foreign policy at JINSA, Ari Cicurel…
Trump, true to form, has been unpredictable and inconsistent in his approach to Tehran — alternating between threatening force and teasing diplomacy
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.
Tensions are running high across the Middle East after a week in which the U.S. and Iran lobbed threats at each other, dominating headlines, destabilizing markets and leaving many in the region unnerved at the prospect of renewed military action seven months after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran that included U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday, Trump warned that an “armada” was on its way to the Gulf — a reference to the aircraft carrier and fleet of fighter jets being redeployed from the South China Sea.
In response, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned that Iran had its “finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief.”
Trump, true to form, has been unpredictable and inconsistent in his approach to Tehran — alternating between threatening force and teasing diplomacy. “Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk,” Trump said at a signing ceremony in Davos on Thursday, just hours before he told reporters on Air Force One about the naval deployment to the Gulf. “We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” he said on AF1, managing in one whiplash-inducing sentence to lob a threat at Iran while also offering it a theoretical off-ramp.
The president has proven that he is willing to engage in bold action — especially when it comes to Iran. One has only to look to the 2020 killing of Quds Force head Gen. Qassem Soleimani or the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June to see that the Trump administration is willing to engage militarily with Iran in ways prior administrations may have not. (Case in point: former President Joe Biden’s issuance in April 2024 of a one-word warning to Iran — “Don’t” — a day before Tehran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.)
More recently, the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro demonstrates that the Trump administration isn’t opposed to regime change. And indeed, that was a possibility the president has mulled vis-a-vis Tehran, telling Politico last weekend that it was “time to look for new leadership in Iran.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s inner circle and key allies are split over how to approach Iran. White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has been a vocal backer of using diplomacy to quell tensions with Tehran.
“Iran needs to change its ways,” Witkoff told Bloomberg on Wednesday in Davos. “They need to do that. And if they do, if they indicate that they’re willing to do that, I think we can diplomatically settle this.”
Witkoff additionally expressed disappointment that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had been removed from the agenda at Davos after quietly being added last week, saying he had been “looking forward to meeting [Araghchi], because we have to build that communication channel, because the alternative to that is not a good alternative.”
Hours after Witkoff’s comments, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posted a thinly veiled reference to the White House envoy, saying he was “unnerved by statements being made by people involved in the Iran file suggesting that if the ayatollah could change his ways, we might be able to reach an agreement with the regime.”
“Anyone who believes that the ayatollah is remotely interested in changing his ways does not understand the history of the ayatollah and the murderous regime,” Graham continued. “That’s the same as believing someone could have done a deal with Hitler.”
Within Iran, there are still hopes that U.S. action will topple Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Economist notes a joke making the rounds among Iranian civil servants: “We used to worry we’d become Venezuela. Now we worry we won’t.”
Heading into the weekend with tensions still high, those who have to live with the consequences of the continuation of the Iranian regime — from the Iranians who have faced years of repression to the Israelis preparing their bomb shelters for the next war to people across the region whose lives have been upended by Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza — will be watching closely for any signal from Trump and his top advisors about Washington’s next moves, and their reverberations around the world.
Plus, Cornyn targets 'radical Islam' in heated TX-SEN primary
Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
Jared Kushner speaks at the "Board of Peace" meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Before officials departed from Davos, Switzerland, today, the Trump administration undertook a big task: laying out its complete vision for the demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Jared Kushner, speaking after President Donald Trump’s remarks at his founding ceremony for the Board of Peace, presented the administration’s “demilitarization principles” meant to be implemented in the next 100 days, including the destruction of “heavy weapons, tunnels, military infrastructure, weapons production facilities and munitions.”
The ultimate vision sees a completely overhauled Gaza including a port and a tourism zone along the Mediterranean coast, as well as large residential areas and industrial complexes, while retaining the IDF security perimeter.
But “this deal only happened because … we all worked together to make this happen,” Kushner said, urging countries, including Israel, to put aside their differences to bring the plan to fruition. “I see people criticizing Israel, or Israel criticizing Turkey and Qatar. Just calm down and work together for 30 days”…
Meanwhile, several of the highest-profile attendees of the Board of Peace ceremony hustled to a private lunch, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, including Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who both spoke hopefully about the future of the Abraham Accords.
Also in the room: Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and more…
The Wall Street Journal lays out the concerns of the Board of Peace holdouts — including China, Russia, France and Britain, who are wary of joining a body where they don’t hold a permanent veto and that seeks to replace the one where they do, at the U.N. Security Council. There’s also the issue of its broad mandate: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said today that European leaders could work with the board “if we narrow it down to Gaza like it was meant to be”…
The U.S. is weighing a complete withdrawal of its troops from Syria, the Journal also reports, shortly after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s forces carried out a campaign against the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, ultimately ordering it to disband.
The U.S. has around 1,000 troops in the country, many of whom are co-located with the SDF, where they carry out missions against ISIS (SDF forces were in charge of guarding ISIS prisoners until last weekend). Recent events have led the U.S. to question the viability of its mission in Syria, American officials told the Journal…
Elsewhere in the region, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a stark warning to the U.S. and Israel, even as Trump said this morning that he’s open to diplomatic dialogue with Tehran.
The IRGC and Iran “have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “a leader dearer than their own lives,” Mohammad Pakpour said, as Iran issued its first official death toll of the protests, putting the number killed at 3,117…
Stateside, California state Sen. Scott Wiener, who is running for retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) seat, announced today that he is stepping down from his role as one of the co-chairs of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, capping off nearly two weeks of controversy and frustration among Jewish leaders in the state after the San Francisco Democrat declared Israel’s actions in Gaza to be a genocide.
Wiener said in a statement, which was obtained by JI, that the decision was prompted in part by the fallout of his genocide comments. “My campaign is accelerating, and my recent statements on Israel and Gaza have led to significant controversy in the Jewish community. The time to transition has arrived,” Wiener said. He will remain in the role until Feb. 15.
In an interview with Politico this week, Wiener said he’s heard from unhappy Jewish voters and leaders in the days after his comments, but asked them to remember his record. “If you’re mad at me, if you feel betrayed, I respect and honor that. But just also remember how many times I’ve gone to the mat for this community, and the bullets I’ve taken for this community,” Wiener said…
In a new ad released today, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), facing a serious primary challenge from his right, calls “radical Islam” a “bloodthirsty ideology” that has influenced recent terror attacks targeting Jews, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.
“It fueled the unspeakable crimes on Oct. 7,” Cornyn says in the 30-second ad, called “Evil Face,” before citing the mass shooting last month during a Hanukkah gathering in Australia that was allegedly motivated by ISIS. “It showed its evil face again at Bondi Beach.”
The ad comes as Cornyn’s opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has also made combating “radical Islamist terrorist groups” a priority, as he engages in a lawsuit with the Council on American-Islamic Relations…
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro further clarified the questions he was asked by Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign as he was vetted to be her running mate, in an interview airing this weekend on “CBS Sunday Morning.” “They actually asked if I was an agent [of the Israeli government] and if I had ever spoken to an undercover agent of the Israeli government,” he said, to which he pointed out that he wouldn’t necessarily be aware if he had spoken to someone undercover.
“I think it went beyond just checking a box on a questionnaire,” Shapiro said of his perception of the questioning. “I can tell you that it landed on me in an offensive way. I have dedicated my entire adult life to serving this country. … For someone to question my loyalty, particularly as someone who is as open about his faith as he is, was offensive to me”…
The Department of Homeland Security said Columbia University graduate student and protest leader Mahmoud Khalil could be deported to Algeria, JI’s Haley Cohen reports, shortly after a federal appeals court ruled Khalil could be rearrested.
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said on NewsNation yesterday, “it looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now. It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card. You are a guest in this country — act like it. It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that Khalil “is a New Yorker. He should remain in New York City.” He called the “attack” on Khalil “part of a larger attack on the freedom of speech that is especially pronounced when it comes to the use of that speech to stand up for Palestinian human rights. I will make that clear to everyone. He deserves to be in the city just like any other New Yorker”…
Australia’s main opposition coalition, composed of the Liberal and National parties, split yesterday — during the country’s day of mourning for the Hanukkah Bondi Beach massacre — over a disagreement about the government’s proposed hate speech laws, which were introduced as a response to the attack. The Liberal party voted with the government to adopt the reforms, which increase penalties for hate speech and ban groups who promote it, while the Nationals were opposed, citing concerns around free speech…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a rundown of the state of the race in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, where former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) is fending off far-left Israel detractors.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration’s focus will shift back from Gaza to Russia and Ukraine, as the countries hold trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, UAE, tomorrow and Saturday. White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner headed from the Board of Peace ceremony to Moscow earlier today.
Diplomats and Jewish leaders will head to Jerusalem for the 2nd annual International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, hosted by Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, which kicks off Monday evening. Last year’s inaugural conference was mired in controversy over the inclusion of far-right European politicians, causing several leading Jewish figures to cancel their appearances (many of whom similarly do not appear on this year’s agenda).
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
Stories You May Have Missed
COGNETTI’S CAMPAIGN
Paige Cognetti running in Josh Shapiro’s footsteps in key Pa. swing district
The Scranton mayor is championing her support for Israel as she challenges GOP Rep. Rob Bresnahan
FACING SCRUTINY
Gov. Spanberger disappoints Va. Jewish leaders with appointment of Jim Moran to GMU board
Moran, a former longtime congressman now lobbying for Qatar, has an extensive record of using antisemitic tropes and hostility to Israel
But, the president noted, the regime is ‘shooting people indiscriminately in the streets’
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump as he leaves the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he hopes no military action will be needed in Iran, but stopped short of ruling it out as the U.S. continues to move military assets to the Middle East.
“We hope there’s not going to be further [military] action,” Trump said during an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, while alluding to the fact that it still might be a possibility given Tehran’s conduct in suppressing nationwide demonstrations. “But you know, [the regime is] shooting people indiscriminately in the streets.”
The president has previously called the Iranian regime’s killing of protesters a “red line” and vowed to protesters that “help is on its way.” Trump repeated his claim on Wednesday that Iranian authorities had planned to hang 837 protesters last week, but “canceled it” after he warned them not to.
Trump has thus far refrained from authorizing military action against Iran — even as the U.S. has continued to move military assets to the Middle East in preparation for potential escalation, with reports indicating that the Pentagon has relocated more F-15 fighter jets to the region in recent days.
When asked by CNBC’s Joe Kernen whether people should “stay tuned” on Iran, Trump was noncommittal: “I guess — I mean, look, it’s a rough place,” he said.
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, also at Davos, told Bloomberg News that diplomatic engagement remains possible if Tehran changes course.
“Iran needs to change its ways,” Witkoff said. “If they indicate that they’re willing to do that, I think we can diplomatically settle this.” But asked if he believes Iran wants to take the diplomatic path, Witkoff said, “We don’t have that sense yet.”
Still, the president noted that if Tehran were to continue pursuing nuclear capabilities, an attack similar to the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last June is “going to happen again.”
“They keep experimenting with nuclear, and, you know, at some point they’re going to get the idea that they can’t do that,” he said.
Plus, Pritzker defends Harris amid Shapiro antisemitism allegations
Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images
President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, 2026.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump took center stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this morning, and while headlines were dominated by his proclamations of the U.S.’ intent to acquire Greenland (and subsequent announcement that he and the NATO secretary general are coming to an agreement on the issue), Trump also issued a stark warning to Hamas in his remarks, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
“Hamas has agreed to give up their weapons,” Trump told a packed room of attendees. “If they don’t do it, they’ll be blown away very quickly.”
The president has made similar statements since the adoption of the ceasefire in October, though he laid out a more concrete timeline for his expectation of disarmament: “They’ve got to do it, and we’re going to know over the next two or three days, certainly over the next two or three weeks, whether or not they’re going to do it,” said Trump…
Ahead of the signing ceremony for the Board of Peace that Trump is hosting in Davos tomorrow, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar and the UAE issued a joint statement accepting his invitation to join.
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told Bloomberg News “20 or 25 leaders have already said yes” to attend the signing ceremony, despite other world leaders already having departed from Switzerland. “Everyone wants to be a part of this,” he said…
On the sidelines of the confab, Trump spoke with CNBC about U.S. relations with Iran amid heightened tensions and American military assets moving into the Gulf. “We hope there’s not going to be further [military] action, but they’re shooting people indiscriminately in the streets,” Trump said of the Iranian regime.
Asked by host Joe Kernen, “Should we stay tuned in Iran?” Trump was noncommittal: “I guess — I mean, look, it’s a rough place,” he said. But he added that if Iran continues to try to acquire nuclear capabilities, strikes like those the U.S. and Israel carried out in June are “going to happen again.”
Witkoff similarly told Bloomberg, “Iran needs to change its ways, they need to do that. And if they do, if they indicate they’re willing to do that, I think we can diplomatically settle this.” Asked if he has the sense that Iran wants to take the diplomatic path, Witkoff said, “We don’t have that sense yet”…
The Treasury Department issued sanctions today against six “Gaza-based organizations that claim to provide medical care to Palestinian civilians but in fact support the military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades,” the department said. “The fraudulent nature of these organizations, which use deception to raise funds from international donors, demonstrates Hamas’s perfidy and deprives innocent civilians of the medical care they need.”
The department also designated the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad as a terror group, a move that lawmakers have pushed, for “not only work[ing] with, and in support of, Hamas — it operates at Hamas’s behest.” The group, which claims to be a Palestinian advocacy organization, was designated as such by Israel in 2021 and was alleged to have organized recent anti-Israel flotillas…
Meanwhile in the Big Apple, divisions between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Comptroller Mark Levine over their positions on Israel surfaced, as Mamdani pushed back on Levine’s recent statements that he remains committed to resuming the city’s investment in Israel Bonds.
“I’ve made clear my position, which is that I don’t think that we should purchase Israel Bonds. We don’t purchase bonds for any other sovereign nation’s debt. The comptroller has also made his position clear, and I continue to stand by mine,” Mamdani said at a press conference today…
While he is distancing himself from Levine, Mamdani is presenting a united front with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, The New York Times writes, as the two navigate their differences on policing, Israel and other issues…
Mamdani also said today that he was “sickened” by antisemitic vandalism found in Borough Park, which saw many swastikas painted around the predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. “I stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish New Yorkers who were targeted. My administration is working closely with the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force as well as our Parks Department, and those responsible will be investigated and held accountable,” he said in a statement…
Not 24 hours earlier, a Manhattan comedy club canceled Israeli comedian Guy Hochman’s show last night after pro-Hamas groups protested outside of the venue, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. “The owner of the place was afraid and canceled the show,” Hochman told JI, referring to Broadway Comedy Club, located near Times Square. “So, I did an alternative show for my audience outside freezing to death”…
Some of the candidates competing for retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) seat in New York’s 12th Congressional District provided insight into their positions on Israel in a candidate questionnaire to receive the endorsement of the Working Families Party, Politico reports.
Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg and state Assemblymembers Alex Bores and Micah Lasher all said they would not support a resolution sponsored by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide; Bores and Lasher said they would not support the “Block the Bombs Act” placing sweeping restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel, while Schlossberg said he’s unsure; and Schlossberg said he would support a bill brought several years ago that sought to prohibit U.S. aid to Israel from being used for a variety of military operations, while Bores said he would not and Lasher was unsure…
After Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro alleged that Vice President Kamala Harris’ team asked if he had ever been an Israeli agent as he was being considered to be her running mate, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, told reporters yesterday that he didn’t think the questions during the vetting process were inappropriate. “The questions are tough. I think you’ve got to be tough during the process,” he said.
“I mean, what’s appropriate and inappropriate in the context of getting, as one pundit calls it, ‘an MRI for your soul,’ when you’re out there in the national political arena?” Pritzker, who was also vetted by the Harris team, asked. His comments are at odds with moderate Democrats on Capitol Hill, who told JI that Shapiro’s account was “totally insane,” “problematic” and “incredibly disturbing”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Paige Cognetti, the Democratic mayor of Scranton, Pa., seeking to flip a northeast Pennsylvania swing seat by emphasizing her pro-Israel bona fides.
President Donald Trump will hold the signing ceremony for his Board of Peace with several world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, tomorrow morning local time (around 4:30 a.m. ET).
Australia will hold a national day of mourning to honor the victims of the terror attack that took place at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced.
The Sundance Film Festival kicks off in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah: For the cinephiles keeping track, on the docket this year is a Hebrew coming-of-age film set in the ‘80s titled “Tell Me Everything,” a documentary about three doctors providing humanitarian care in Gaza, a panel by the Jewish Institute for Television & Cinema on combating antisemitism through film and more.
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Israel likely to send a bobsledding team to the Winter Olympic Games for the first time
‘It’s like the actual talented version of ‘Cool Runnings,’’ Israel bobsled team pilot AJ Edelman tells JI
Plus, Lawler calls on NY-17 opponents to denounce antisemitic ad
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
President Donald Trump gives a press briefing at the White House on January 20, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump continues to promote his Board of Peace ahead of its launch at the World Economic Forum later this week: In its charter sent to leaders around the world, the president laid out a vision for the body, which has grown into a U.N.-like institution that would mediate global conflicts and would require countries to pay $1 billion to secure a permanent seat, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Asked at a press conference this afternoon if he intends for the body to replace the U.N., Trump said it “might.” “Wish the United Nations could do more, wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” he said.
More than 10 countries have reportedly signed on to join the board, whose charter does not mention Gaza, including the UAE and Hungary. But its expanded mandate has made other countries wary: When told France does not intend to accept the invitation to join, Trump threatened to put a 200% tariff on French wines and Champagnes…
At the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent credited the U.S.’ “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran for the protest movement that wracked the country in recent weeks. “It’s worked because in December, their economy collapsed. … They are not able to get imports, and this is why the people took to the streets. … This is economic statecraft, no shots fired, and things are moving in a very positive way here,” Bessent said…
Asked about the remaining potential for U.S. military action in Iran over its violent crackdown on the protests, Trump said at this afternoon’s press conference, “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future” and once again praised the regime for not proceeding with its plans to hang 837 protesters. “We’re just going to have to see what happens,” Trump said…
Israeli authorities began demolishing the compound that previously housed the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Jerusalem, a year after Israel passed a law banning UNRWA from operating in the country over the involvement of its employees in terror activities, including the Oct. 7 attacks.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry denied U.N. claims that the compound has diplomatic immunity, saying in a statement, “Even prior to the passage of legislation in January 2025, UNRWA had already ceased its operations at this site and no longer had any UN personnel or UN activity there. The compound does not enjoy any immunity and the seizure of this compound by Israeli authorities was carried out in accordance with both Israeli and international law”…
Several European countries have not sent their representatives back to the U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel after the holidays, Reuters reports, as the countries, including Germany, France and Britain, consider the value of engaging with the body that diplomats called “directionless” and a “disaster”…
In campaign news, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) condemned as antisemitic an ad running in New York’s suburban 17th Congressional District that targets him for his support for Israel and for receiving backing from pro-Israel donors, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
“This ad is a disgrace,” Lawler said in a statement. “This kind of politics has no place in the Hudson Valley. I am calling on every candidate running in NY-17 to publicly and unequivocally denounce this ad immediately. Silence is an endorsement.”
The ad, paid for by the anti-Israel Institute for Middle East Understanding, states in part, “Israelis enjoy universal healthcare, while Americans go bankrupt from medical bills. Lawler’s reward? Giant campaign donations from AIPAC and the pro-Netanyahu lobby.” The 17th District, one of Democrats’ top targets in November, has a sizable Jewish population and many pro-Israel swing voters, which have been key to Lawler’s past victories…
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC with ties to Senate GOP leadership and one of the largest independent spenders in Senate races, announced an initial investment of $42 million to back Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Maine. It’s the super PAC’s largest spend ever in the state, which will be rolled out in August, as Collins enters a general election likely facing either Gov. Janet Mills or oyster farmer Graham Platner…
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) launched her bid to challenge Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) this morning, days after Trump endorsed her on social media. Cassidy, who already has several primary challengers, drew the ire of the president when he voted to convict during his 2021 impeachment proceedings, though Cassidy had told other senators privately that he believed Trump would stay out of the race…
The University of Pennsylvania, which is being sued by the Trump administration over its alleged failure to comply with subpoenas related to an investigation into antisemitism at the Ivy League school, is fighting back against the administration’s request for records about Jewish employees, calling it “disconcerting” and an “extraordinary and unconstitutional demand.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had reportedly sought information about university employees who submitted complaints about antisemitic discrimination and those who were members of Jewish campus groups; Penn said in its filing that the EEOC is “entirely disregarding the frightening and well-documented history of governmental entities that undertook efforts to identify and assemble information regarding persons of Jewish ancestry”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a deep dive into J Street’s embrace of Democrats seeking to create distance between the U.S. and Israel.
The World Economic Forum continues in Davos, where President Donald Trump will give an address at 8:30 a.m. ET. Also appearing onstage tomorrow are Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa; Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi; governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Kevin Sitt of Oklahoma; Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud; Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang; JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon; and David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar.
Mark your calendars: AIPAC will host its Congressional Summit from Feb. 22-24, with a potential appearance by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Jewish communal source confirmed to JI.
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The letter was signed by 45 House Republicans and 14 House Democrats
John McDonnell/Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations | Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
A bipartisan group of 59 House lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday urging the State Department to continue condemning Iran’s crackdown on protesters across the country.
The letter, led by Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), encourages the Trump administration to remain vocally supportive of the protesters amid “the Iranian regime’s ongoing violent suppression of protests across Iran.” The lawmakers urged Rubio to continue speaking out and ensure “whole-of-government support” from the U.S. is presented publicly to Iranians.
“The Iranian people have made clear their demand for a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic grounded in political pluralism and respect for human dignity,” the letter reads. “Protesters have also explicitly rejected all forms of authoritarian rule, whether Iran’s former monarchy dictatorship or its current theocratic system, and seek the right to determine their own future. Recent international reactions against the regime’s brutalities underscore the urgent global concern over continued violence against civilians and abuses of power in Iran.”
“We urge the Department of State to continue publicly condemning the Iranian regime’s violent repression of protesters, including attacks on hospitals and medical facilities,” it continues. “At this critical juncture, whole-of-government support is essential to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to universal human rights and solidarity with the Iranian people.”
The lawmakers also noted their “deep concern” about the ongoing crackdown against protesters.
“Credible reports indicate the use of lethal force, mass arrests, and intimidation against civilians exercising their fundamental rights,” they wrote. “We are particularly alarmed by reports that Iranian authorities have targeted civilian sites, including hospitals and medical facilities, denying injured protesters access to urgent medical care. Such actions constitute violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.”
Weber’s letter was cosigned by Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Andy Barr (R-KY), Austin Scott (R-GA), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Brian Babin (R-TX), James Walkinshaw (D-VA), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), William Timmons (R-SC), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Maria Salazar (R-FL), John Rutherford (R-FL), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Carol Miller (R-WV), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Tom Kean (R-NJ), Jeff Hurd (R-CO), Val Hoyle (D-OR), Andy Harris (R-MD), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Michael Guest (R-MS), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), Randy Fine (R-FL), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Danny Davis (D-IL), Jeff Crank (R-CO), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Herbert Conaway (D-NJ), Mike Carey (R-OH), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Mike Bost (R-IL), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Rick Allen (R-GA).
“The Iranian people have made it unmistakably clear that they reject this regime and the system of repression it has imposed on them,” Weber said in a statement on the letter. “From mass arrests to targeting hospitals, the regime has shown it will use any means to silence political dissent. The United States must continue to condemn these abuses and stand with the Iranian people as they demand the right to determine their own future.”
Analysts still think it’s possible that Trump will take action against Iran, but worry his backtracking on providing help to Iranian protesters could hurt American deterrence
Daniel Torok/The White House via Getty Images
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) sit in the Situation Room as they monitor the mission that took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, at the White House on June 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Even as President Donald Trump backed away from taking immediate military action against Iran, several leading foreign policy analysts believe a U.S. strike against the Islamic Republic remains a possibility, arguing that the administration may be deliberately keeping Tehran off balance and preserving its military options.
Trump appeared to ease off on striking Iran after being advised by administration officials that a large-scale attack is unlikely to bring about regime change and could instead trigger a broader regional conflict, and hearing concerns from allies — including Israel, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — who have urged him not to carry out military action. U.S. officials said Washington is now monitoring to see whether Tehran is backing down from its violent crackdowns against protesters before determining whether to act.
“Even though Trump did not direct strikes on Wednesday, he is keeping options open,” said Dana Stroul, the research director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, pointing to the administration’s decision to reposition the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East. “The buildup of military posture in the region over the coming weeks keeps plenty of military options on the table and maintains pressure on the Iranian regime.”
Stroul said the president appears to be taking additional time to ensure the U.S. is prepared not only to act against Iran, but also to defend regional partners in the event Iran attacks U.S. allies or military bases in the region, in retaliation.
Analysts cautioned that the delay should not be interpreted as a decision against military action altogether. Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Jewish Insider that he believes a strike is still on the table, putting the odds at “60–40 [percent]” in favor of a strike.
“There’s still a very real possibility of a strike,” Miller said. “I don’t see how the president gets out of the box he put himself in,” referring to Trump’s public calls for Iranians to continue protesting and his promise of U.S. assistance. “When an American president emboldens demonstrators and then says ‘We will help you’ without the capacity to really protect them, you have to wonder whether that’s morally conscious.”
Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, also noted that Trump’s rhetoric has made the administration’s hesitation striking.
“It’s puzzling and upsetting that President Trump would call on the Iranian people to continue protesting in the midst of gunfire and then wait so long to act,” Stricker said. She suggested the delay could reflect a deliberate effort to gain military or intelligence advantages before a strike.
“I lean more toward a possible deception campaign designed to expose IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] movements and preparations before an actual U.S. attack,” Stricker said, adding that the administration may prefer to wait until additional U.S. naval assets arrive in the region, which she said would “happen in the coming days.”
Other analysts were more skeptical that Trump’s hesitance is a cover for an impending operation. Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Iran envoy in the first Trump administration, said it’s possible the president won’t act at all.
“As of noon today, it seems Trump will not do anything, which is extraordinary after he urged Iranians to protest and seize institutions at the risk of their lives,” Abrams said on Thursday. “It is unconscionable to say ‘Help is on the way’ and then do nothing. I hope the president will change his mind.”
While the Iranian regime has faced unprecedented pressure at home and abroad, Stroul warned that Iranian retaliation could be significant in the event of a strike — potentially another factor in Trump’s hesitation.
“The regime still has substantial missile and cyber capabilities,” she said. In the event of a strike, “the U.S. and Israel would need to prepare for the possibility of a sustained, destructive conflict that could be extremely costly in human life, military platforms and infrastructure.”
Concerns over retaliation have fueled lobbying by Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, urging Trump to avoid military action, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly conveyed a similar message to the president on Wednesday
“Arab governments recognize that the regime in Tehran is destabilized but still dangerous,” Stroul said. “Desperate leaders often take unpredictable, aggressive actions. For a region trying to turn the page after years of conflict, leaders are wary of another escalation that could jeopardize economic and security priorities.”
Even among experts who believe military action remains possible, there is broad agreement that it’s not clear what the consequences of a strike would be or that sustained military engagement would lead to the collapse of the regime.
“Any military strike has to answer the question of how it actually changes the balance between a repressive regime and protesters who have very limited means to push back,” Miller said. “There’s no guarantee that even massive strikes would lead to regime change.”
Miller and Stricker both noted that the administration has also not articulated a clear plan for alternative political leadership in Iran should the regime fall — an issue that complicates any decision to intervene.
“Penalizing the regime enough to support the Iranian people could produce unclear outcomes in terms of who provides order and security afterward,” Stricker said. “At the same time, if Trump ultimately does not act, it will be seen by many Iranians as a historic betrayal — and by U.S. adversaries as weakness.”
If the reports are true, the South Carolina senator said, ‘there will be a dramatic rethinking on my part’
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned on Thursday that he would be “dramatically rethinking” the “nature of” the U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states if they “intervened on behalf of Iran to avoid decisive military action” by President Donald Trump against the Iranian regime.
Graham made the comments in a post Thursday morning on X in response to reports that Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman urged Trump against striking Tehran to avoid disrupting oil markets and sparking broader regional conflict, and without a clear succession plan for regime change.
The Saudis have also told the Iranians that they would not get involved in a potential conflict between the U.S. and Iran, nor would they allow the U.S. to use their airspace for strikes targeting the regime, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
“All the headlines suggesting that our so-called Arab allies have intervened on behalf of Iran to avoid decisive military action by President Trump are beyond disturbing. The ayatollah’s regime has American blood on its hands. They are slaughtering people in the streets,” Graham wrote on X. “If it is accurate that the Arab response is ‘action is not necessary against Iran’ given this current outrageous slaughter of innocent people, then there will be a dramatic rethinking on my part regarding the nature of the alliances now and in the future.”
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Thursday morning, Graham rejected the notion that Trump was reversing course on striking Iran. “There are a lot of headlines out there that are, in my view, not accurate. … President Trump’s resolve is not the question. The question is when we do an operation like this, should it be bigger or smaller? I’m in the camp of bigger.”
“Time will tell. I’m hopeful and optimistic that the [Iranian] regime’s days are numbered,” the South Carolina senator said of what’s to come.
Graham revealed in a post on X later Thursday that he is on his way to Israel to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “at this crucial time in the history of the Middle East.”
“The goal is to build on the historic opportunities created by President Trump’s unprecedented leadership, to stand up to evil, and to support the people who are sacrificing for freedom,” Graham wrote of the visit. “The Trump-Netanyahu alliance has thus far been one of the strongest partnerships in the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and I am hopeful it will pay dividends in the near future.”
“We live in a time of great consequence with the Middle East on the verge of previously unimaginable change,” he added. “Standing together and following through on our commitments only makes us stronger.”
Plus, all the president's advice on Iran
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Demonstrators hold a rally and march to the national ICE headquarters to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, April 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
U.S. officials advised President Donald Trump that a large-scale military campaign against Iran is unlikely to topple the regime and could spark a wider regional conflict, The Wall Street Journal reports, a message that coincided with the president dialing back his warnings to Tehran over its violent suppression of protests.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also reportedly weighed in yesterday, asking Trump to postpone any strikes, and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt have communicated similar messages.
U.S. officials told the Journal these developments have led Trump to hold off on strikes for now, though he directed military assets to be readied in case of action. The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier strike group is reportedly being moved from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East.
In a similar vein, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited an Arrow missile defense battery site in Israel today and directed a drill simulating a missile attack, saying in a statement, “It is important that every citizen of Israel knows that the IDF is constantly prepared to defend the country”…
In the absence of military action, the U.S. is punishing Iran economically, issuing sanctions today against what it called “the architects” of the crackdown. The Treasury Department will “use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Among the sanctioned Iranian officials are Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security, who was “one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people,” according to the Treasury Department, and several commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces…
Turning to Gaza, American officials expressed their optimism about Phase 2 of the peace plan shortly after its launch yesterday, telling reporters, “For the first time in Gaza in almost a long time, there’s no Palestinian Authority and there’s no Hamas governing it.”
“We’ve talked to a number of Hamas people, and we’re hearing throughout the Arab world that people don’t want to be at war anymore. They want peace,” one of the officials said, claiming Hamas leaders “are indicating that there’s a real possibility” they will lay down their arms…
A new Emerson College poll released today shows the Republican primary for Texas Senate in a dead heat, with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, polling at 26% and 27%, respectively. With Trump refraining from offering his endorsement to either candidate, it’s likely the race will head to a runoff.
On the Democratic side, state Sen. James Talarico is leading the primary over Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), 47-38%. Talarico has recently caused concern in the Texas Jewish community over his increasingly critical rhetoric on Israel, leading some to tell Jewish Insider that, without concerted outreach from his team, they’re likely to back Crockett…
A competitive Democratic primary is also underway in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, where surgeon Adam Hamawy entered the race today to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) with a profile that may help him break through the field.
Hamawy, of Egyptian descent, served as a trauma combat surgeon during the Iraq War, where he operated on Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who credits him with saving her life. In May 2024, he joined a delegation of American doctors to assist in health-care efforts in Gaza, where he was temporarily stuck during an Israeli border closure (he returned for a second mission in January 2025).
Though Hamawy has not run for office before, he has spoken extensively about his experience treating “mass casualties” in the enclave and condemning Israel and the U.S.’ role in the “indiscriminate killing and destruction there.” Watson Coleman, also an outspoken critic of Israel, brought him as her guest to Trump’s 2025 State of the Union address…
Asked about his views on Israel, Antonio Delgado, New York’s lieutenant governor who is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul from her left, said in an interview released Tuesday that the U.S. should not “fund, provide weapons or diplomatic cover to any military operation that causes catastrophic civilian deaths or mass starvation … Otherwise, we are complicit.”
Delgado pledged not to take money from AIPAC, though the pro-Israel group does not contribute to gubernatorial races, and Delgado took a 2019 trip to Israel as a member of Congress with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation.
Delgado further described Netanyahu as “deeply problematic” and a “war criminal,” but when asked if Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, he largely demurred. “I can see how people would want to argue it both ways and I’m sensitive to this, candidly, based on my own relationships,” he said. Delgado’s wife is Jewish and they are raising their children Jewish. “It’s hard to argue against scholars. … [But] wherever you fall on that question, we can’t fund it. … We can’t be complicit in it, anymore”…
A federal appeals court ruled today that former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the school’s anti-Israel protest movement, could be rearrested, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. Khalil was released in June from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, where he had been held for three months.
In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel decided that the federal district court in New Jersey that issued Khalil’s release did not have jurisdiction over the matter and that it should have been handled in immigration court, which is part of the executive branch overseen by the Justice Department, meaning Khalil is now liable to be rearrested.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani denounced the ruling, saying in a statement, “as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free — and must remain free”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Amy Acton, the Jewish public health expert hoping to become the first Democrat to win an Ohio governor’s race in 20 years.
The U.S. and Israel will sign a strategic framework on AI cooperation at the City of David tomorrow, led by Jacob Helberg, the U.S. under secretary of state for economic affairs, and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Erez Eskel, head of Israel’s National AI Directorate. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are also expected to be in attendance.
Also heading to Israel is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who announced a last-minute trip this afternoon to meet with Netanyahu “at this crucial time in the history of the Middle East.”
Iran International will hold its second briefing of the week in Washington with former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus. Read JI’s coverage of Wednesday’s event here.
Honduran President-elect Nasry Asfura will travel to Israel over the weekend, where he is expected to meet with Netanyahu, Sa’ar and President Isaac Herzog, as well as visit Yad Vashem and the Western Wall. Asfura, who will take office later this month, met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington earlier this week and was hosted by AIPAC leadership.
In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Tuesday. Shabbat Shalom!
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Joel Rayburn, a former Trump admin nominee, said the U.S. should carry out a sustained ‘campaign’ of pressure
Matthew Shea
Iran International event, Jan 14th. 2025
Middle East policy experts argued on Wednesday that the United States should actively intervene in Iran’s unrest — including through cyber measures, economic pressure and potentially military strikes — amid the regime’s crackdown on nationwide protests. The comments were made during a program hosted by Iran International, one of the largest independent Persian-language news outlets in the world.
President Donald Trump has for days issued repeated warnings to the regime that the U.S. is “watching closely” and that Iran would “pay hell” for killing protesters. On Wednesday afternoon, however, the president said he had been notified that the “killing in Iran is stopping” and that Iran would not be conducting executions of protesters, as was expected, and downplayed the severity of protester deaths.
“The first thing I would recommend is that we use our very impressive capabilities to shut down the communication system for the government,” said Robert Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, speaking of a potential retaliation for the regime’s decision to cut internet access to the public. “This will be a huge step.”
Satloff said if that did not work, he would then support subsequent U.S. strikes on Iranian military infrastructure.
“If that first act does not bring about a substantial change in Iranian behavior, then I would target very specifically the barracks and the facilities of the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps],” said Satloff.
Joel Rayburn, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former diplomat in the Middle East, argued that any U.S. intervention in Iran should not be a “one-off military strike,” but rather a sustained “campaign” of economic and political pressure.
Rayburn was tapped by the White House to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in February 2025, however, his nomination was ultimately pulled last October.
“We have to use all of the tools at our disposal,” Rayburn said Wednesday. “There’s no reason not to be fully implementing maximum pressure to pressure the Iranian regime in order to change its behavior.”
Responding to questions about whether a weak Iranian regime — in the midst of dire economic and political challenges — can survive the protests, Rayburn suggested it is bound to fall, stating that there will be a “day after this Khamenei regime,” referring to Iran’s supreme leader, and that he believes that day will come “sooner rather than later.”
“The Iranian regime is going to collapse at some point in the not-too-distant future,” said Rayburn. “[It] can no longer function as a state. The last function they can perform is to use violence against their own people. That means they are not a sustainable regime.”
Tehran has threatened to respond to any military action with retaliation against the U.S. and Israel. Satloff said the fall of the regime would be “an enormous strategic gain for Israel,” but noted that Jerusalem is “playing it quiet.”
“The Israelis have made at least the tactical decision, that since Donald Trump has been out front, that Donald Trump has drawn a line in the sand, let Donald Trump be the key actor right now,” said Satloff. “There is no comparative advantage for Israel to be out in front in any military fashion. Let the United States play this role, the president seems to have embraced it.”
He also cast doubt on the likelihood that Tehran would strike Israel in response to U.S. action. Reports have indicated that Iran and Israel have conveyed reassurances through Russian intermediaries that neither side intends to carry out a preemptive strike.
“If the Iranians make the mistake of retaliating against Israel or Israeli assets, or Jewish assets around the world, there will be a very high price to pay,” said Satloff.
Analysts also weighed in on reports that Gulf allies have been lobbying the Trump administration to refrain from striking or intervening in Iran, warning that a U.S. intervention could be ineffective and expose them to retaliation. While the analysts acknowledged those concerns, they argued that regional governments would ultimately like to see the regime fall.
“I don’t think there are any major frontline countries in the Gulf region that believe that the Iranian regime is a regime that they can live with indefinitely,” said Rayburn. “We have not seen real restraint from the Arab capitals to either U.S. or Israeli pressure against the Iranian regime. All of those capitals would be better off without the regime.”
Regardless of whether the U.S. intervenes, Satloff emphasized that any outcome is “ultimately an Iranian process and an Iranian decision.”
“This will be their [the Iranian people’s] revolution, if it happens,” said Satloff. “It will not be something that we trigger or engineer, but to help them to be able to assert their own wishes and desires for the future.”
The president said he was told ‘on good authority’ that the regime has stopped killing protesters and will not carry out executions
Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026.
President Donald Trump indicated that his threats to Iran over its use of violence on protesters have had their desired effect, saying on Wednesday afternoon that “the killing in Iran is stopping.”
Speaking to reporters at a bill signing in the Oval Office, Trump said, “We have been notified and pretty strongly — but we’ll find out what that all means — but we were told that the killing in Iran is stopping, it’s stopped, and that there’s no plan for executions. … So I’ve been told that on good authority. We’ll find out about it, I’m sure, if it happens, we’ll all be very upset.”
“They’re not going to have an execution, which a lot of people were talking about for the last couple days. Today was going to be the day of execution,” the president said, referring to at least one protester who was due to be executed by the regime today, his family and human rights groups said.
Trump later claimed that information was provided to him “by very important sources on the other side, that the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place. There was supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place.”
“And we’re going to find out. I mean, I’ll find out after this, you’ll find out, but we’ve been told on good authority. And I hope it’s true. Who knows, right? Who knows,” he said.
Pressed about videos of body bags emerging out of Iran that indicate large-scale killings, Trump downplayed the issue, saying, “People were shooting at them with guns, and they were shooting back. It’s one of those things.”
Asked if this means military action against Iran is now “off the table,” Trump replied, “Well, we’re going to watch and see what the process is. But we were given a very good statement by people who are aware of what’s going on.”
The rhetoric marked a shift for the president, who a day prior had posted on social media a message to “Iranian patriots” who he told to “save the names of the killers and abusers” and that “help is on its way.” Reports indicate Iranian officials had made contact with the Trump administration seeking a diplomatic off-ramp to the escalating tension.
Plus, poll shows Stevens as most electable Dem in MI-SEN race
Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump indicated that his threats to Iran are making an impact; he told reporters this afternoon, “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, it’s stopped, and there’s no plans for executions,” referencing reports that an arrested protester was due to be executed today.
Trump later appeared to downplay protester deaths, calling it “one of those things … people were shooting at them with guns and they were shooting back.” It’s a notable change in tune from the president, who just yesterday told Iranian protesters to “save the names of the killers and abusers” and that “help is on its way.”
Asked if this means that military action against Iran is off the table, Trump responded, “We’re going to watch it and see what the process is, but we were given a very good statement” that the killing has stopped “by people that are aware of what’s going on”…
Others are still bracing for potential military action: Some personnel were told to evacuate the U.S.’ Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by tonight, Reuters reports. (Recall that Iran launched several missiles at Al Udeid after the U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites last June.)
A number of airlines have canceled or suspended flights to Iran; the Lufthansa group, in addition to avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace, said it will only operate day flights to Israel and Jordan through Jan. 19, avoiding overnight trips.
IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin warned on social media to avoid rumors and misinformation about the evolving situation, saying the IDF is “prepared for defense and on alert for surprise scenarios”…
White House special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of Phase 2 of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan today, “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.” This phase “establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza … and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel,” Witkoff said.
“The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Witkoff added, though the U.S. has not taken action on Hamas’ failure to return the body of Ran Gvili, the final hostage, in the three months since the terror group was meant to at the outset of the ceasefire agreement.
It is still unclear how the U.S. and its partners will disarm Hamas or remove it from power, with the International Stabilization Force still not in place and foreign nations refusing to engage with Hamas militants…
Meanwhile, the midterms are picking up speed: New polling out of the Michigan Senate race shows Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) looking like the most electable Democrat against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), the expected GOP nominee.
In a Detroit News poll testing general election matchups, Stevens and Rogers were tied at 44% each, while physician Abdul El-Sayed, who has made criticism of Israel central to his campaign, fared the worst, losing to Rogers 48-42%. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, another critic of Israel, would also trail, 46-42%, the poll found…
In the Garden State, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) secured the endorsement of Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) today, a meaningful show of support from the progressive-minded senator as Menendez may face a primary challenge from his left from Mussab Ali.
Ali, who is expected to join the race shortly, is a vocal opponent of Israel and has been a champion for the anti-Israel protests and encampments that roiled college campuses in recent years; Kim has also been criticized by Jewish leaders for his support of measures blocking some arms sales to Israel…
Trump will not be endorsing three Republican senators facing competitive reelection campaigns: Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Politico reports. Cornyn and Cassidy are facing serious Republican primary opposition, while Collins is facing the likelihood of a hotly contested general election…
The State Department is indefinitely suspending immigration visa processing for individuals from 75 countries starting Jan. 21, building on the Trump administration’s total and partial immigration bans that already exist on nearly 40 countries. The pause will impact those looking to permanently immigrate who may “become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people,” the State Department said…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Ryan Crosswell, the Marine veteran and former Republican looking to win the Democratic nomination in a key Pennsylvania swing district.
The technocratic Palestinian committee launched with Phase 2 of the Gaza Peace Plan — which will be headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister for the Palestinian Authority — is expected to hold its first meeting tomorrow in Cairo, also attended by Nickolay Mladenov, the former U.N. envoy to the Middle East now leading the Gaza Board of Peace.
The Israeli American Council kicks off its annual summit tomorrow in Hollywood, Fla., with a plenary including Adm. (res.) Daniel Hagari, the previous IDF spokesperson; Boaz Levy, the CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries; and Betsy Korn, the chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
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MAYOR’S M.O.
Mamdani’s antisemitism strategy: Reluctant to confront extremist threats while pledging to protect Jews
The mayor’s comments responding to pro-Hamas protesters in Queens and an arson attack on a synagogue in Jackson, Miss., illustrate what Mamdani’s critics interpret as a core tension animating his assessment of antisemitism
FIGHTER FAULT LINES
Saudi Arabia’s talks to acquire Chinese-Pakistani JF-17 jets could complicate its pursuit of U.S. F-35s
Analysts tell JI that the move ‘is not the behavior Washington can reasonably expect from a partner who would like to be trusted with the F-35’
Plus, J Street plays both sides
Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks to the press upon returning to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 13, 2026.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against Iran reached a fever pitch today, as reports indicate over 12,000 — and potentially as many as 20,000 — protesters have been killed by the regime amid nationwide demonstrations.
Trump posted on social media this morning that he has “cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS,” and said to the demonstrators, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”
Trump ended his message promising, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” without specifying what actions the U.S. may take, though he told reporters in Detroit that “it’s not a bad idea” for U.S. allies “to get out” of Iran.
Administration officials held several discussions today on options for intervening in Iran; Vice President JD Vance, whose team has pushed back on characterizations that he is opposed to military strikes, led the major briefing with the National Security Council’s Principals Committee this afternoon. Trump was in Michigan for a speech on the economy and likely did not attend…
As the U.S. weighs its next steps, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar are advocating against strikes, warning the administration that destabilization of the Iranian regime could impact oil markets and hurt the American economy, The Wall Street Journal reports. Saudi officials told Iran that they will not allow the U.S. to use their airspace to conduct strikes…
While Trump blocks meetings with Iranian officials, his special envoy Steve Witkoff secretly met with the exiled former Iranian crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, over the weekend, Axios reports, in the first high-level meeting with the regime’s opposition since the protests began. It’s not clear how much support the son of the deposed shah has in Iran, though videos from recent protests show demonstrators chanting slogans associated with him and the monarchy…
Looking to the campaign trail, in a first, J Street endorsed Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in his reelection race while also listing his opponent, former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, as an “approved” candidate. It’s currently the only race where the group is supporting a challenger to an incumbent, in a district where the candidates’ differing stances on Israel are a key issue…
Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor of North Carolina now running for the seat of retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), raised more than $9.5 million in the final quarter of 2025, The Hill reports, a major haul for a seat that Democrats view as one of their best chances to flip. His opponent, former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, reportedly raised $5.1 million during the same time frame…
The Trump administration designated three Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations today, including chapters in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were named as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, with the State Department citing their provision of “material support to Hamas,” while the organization’s branch in Lebanon received the more stringent label of Foreign Terrorist Organization…
The U.S. is “closely monitoring developments in Aleppo,” Syria, and “urg[ing] all parties to exercise maximum restraint,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement today, after days of fighting between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces killed dozens and displaced over 150,000 people in the city.
SDF fighters were expelled from two neighborhoods they had held since 2011 over the weekend, leading to protests by thousands of Kurds and marking a setback for efforts to integrate the SDF into the armed forces and to unify the country’s diverse populations…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of the new president of the University of Michigan, who Jewish leaders are optimistic will improve the climate on a campus that experienced some of the most disruptive anti-Israel and antisemitic activity in the aftermath of Oct. 7.
Trump will address the issue of Iran in an interview airing on “CBS Evening News” tonight.
Tomorrow, Iran International will host a town hall with Robert Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Joel Rayburn, the former deputy assistant secretary for Levant Affairs and U.S. special envoy for Syria.
In Netanya, Israel, the Tribe of Nova Foundation will host a ribbon-cutting for Nova House, a center primarily funded by UJA-Federation of New York for survivors of the music festival massacre.
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SCOOP
Trump, Netanyahu at odds over Israeli plans to end reliance on U.S. military aid
Two sources told JI the president pushed back on Netanyahu’s claims about the prudence of Israel’s proposal to end U.S. military assistance over the next decade
FUND IT OR LOSE IT
Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell to Jewish donors: ‘Act quickly’ to fund theater’s Israeli Lounge or risk losing it
Grenell, at October event for Oct. 7-themed exhibit, told attendees: ‘It certainly would be a shame if we lost this room to a corporation or an individual and it was no longer the lounge‘
As the demonstrations in Iran grew and the regime’s response grew more violent, international talk about Israeli airstrikes subsided to near-silence
Stringer/Getty Images
Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot on June 15, 2025 in Tehran, Iran.
The mass protests across Iran erupted just over two weeks ago — the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Palm Beach, Fla., to meet with President Donald Trump.
The big question as Netanyahu and Trump met was whether the president would give Israel a green light to strike Iran as it reconstituted its ballistic missile program at a pace that raised major concerns in Jerusalem. Trump’s response was a resounding yes, adding that if Iran would start rebuilding its nuclear program, the answer would be yes and “fast.”
At the same time, Israeli defense figures and officials made it known through the media that Jerusalem’s more immediate worry was that Tehran would misinterpret events and strike Israel first. Netanyahu reportedly told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel is not interested in escalating, but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, appeared to reject the overture in a post on X, saying “the malicious enemy is a deceiving liar.”
But as the demonstrations in Iran grew and the regime’s response grew more and more violent – Iran International reported 12,000 protesters have been killed as of Tuesday morning, while an Iranian official put the death toll at 2,000 – international talk about Israeli airstrikes subsided to near-silence.
Asked how Israel’s calculation about striking Iranian missile or nuclear sites may have changed in the last two weeks, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on the “Misgav Mideast Horizons Podcast”: “With the United States threatening to intervene, what would we have to gain from this? Other than providing a pretext for the Iranians to strike back at us. I think we’re operating responsibly, prudently.”
Still, Israelis remain jittery about a second round of war with Iran, to the extent that the IDF’s spokesperson, Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin, released a statement on Monday evening warning that “in recent days, many rumors have circulated in light of the situation in Iran. …The IDF is prepared defensively and remains on alert for surprise scenarios if required. The protests in Iran are a domestic matter. …We will provide updates if there are any changes. I emphasize: Do not lend a hand to rumors.”
Hostile actors — like the Hamas-affiliated Palestine Chronicle – misrepresented the Israeli Health Ministry’s distribution on Monday of new emergency preparation instructions incorporating the lessons of June’s 12-day war, as though hospitals were imminently entering emergency mode — even though the ministry’s letter explicitly said there is no need to do so. Other false reports stated that local governments in Israel had opened bomb shelters, leading several municipalities to issue denials.
Netanyahu said in Sunday’s Cabinet meeting that Israel is “closely monitoring what is happening in Iran. The demonstrations for freedom spread throughout the country. The people of Israel, the whole world, are amazed by the great courage of the citizens of Iran. Israel supports their struggle for freedom and strongly condemns the massacres of innocent civilians. We all hope the Persian people will soon be freed from the yoke of tyranny, and when that day arrives, Israel and Iran will go back to being faithful partners in building a future of prosperity and peace for both nations.”
Yet, hours later, he ordered a media blackout on the topic, silencing Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel and Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, who have signaled their support for Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah.
Oren said that “Israel has only to gain from” the protests.
As to accusations from the Iranian regime — as well as American extremist podcasters on the right and left — Oren said: “I think Israel, and I say this very guardedly, has the ability to assist the protesters with communications, with information. … Are we providing them with arms? No, Are we saying we’re going to intervene militarily to help bring down the regime? We’re not saying that, and I think that’s why it was prudent to put the kibosh on those ministers who are flexing their muscles publicly vis-a-vis Iran.”
Plus, Trump favors strikes on Iran over diplomacy
Russell Yip/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
California State Senator Scott Wiener addresses the SF Chronicle Editorial Board on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 in San Francisco, Calif.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
The suspect in the arson attack that destroyed Mississippi’s largest synagogue early Saturday morning confessed to targeting the building because of its “Jewish ties,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
In an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi more than 48 hours after the attack, the FBI said the suspect, Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, admitted to starting the blaze at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., due to “the building’s Jewish ties” and referred to the institution as the “synagogue of Satan” in an interview with the Jackson Fire Department. Pittman was charged with “maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive”…
President Donald Trump said Iranian officials made contact with the U.S. over the weekend and proposed restarting nuclear negotiations, telling reporters, “A meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting,” referring to the U.S. potentially taking military action in Iran over its violent crackdown on protesters around the country.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also spoke with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days about the protests, Axios reports; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today that an Iranian government official who spoke to Witkoff “express[ed] a far different tone than what you’re seeing publicly.”
Trump is currently leaning toward authorizing military strikes rather than engaging in diplomacy, The Wall Street Journal reports, and he is scheduled to hold a briefing tomorrow with advisors, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, to make a determination…
California Jewish communal organizations released a joint statement today condemning state Sen. Scott Wiener’s remarks on Israel, after the Jewish House candidate said in a video statement yesterday that he is changing his position and will now call Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
“We recognize that Senator Wiener has been a strong supporter of the Jewish community throughout the Israel-Hamas war and his many years of public service, and that he has directly experienced antisemitic attacks simply for being Jewish. Unfortunately, Senator Wiener’s newly stated position is both incorrect and lacks moral clarity. … We call on the Senator and our elected, civic, and education leaders to recognize and reflect on the consequences of their words in this fraught and polarizing environment,” the statement read…
In a major recruiting win for Senate Democrats, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) announced her run against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) today, JI’s Marc Rod reports, giving Democrats an outside chance of picking up the red-state Senate seat.
Peltola maintained a strongly pro-Israel voting record during her one term in the House, breaking on numerous occasions with a majority of her party to vote for measures supporting the Jewish state post-Oct. 7, including supporting a stand-alone Israel aid package opposed by many Democrats. Sullivan, for his part, has been a hawkish pro-Israel voice in the Senate, and has pushed for a more aggressive stance toward Iran…
Democratic Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo is launching a bid to succeed his former mentor, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), as the former House majority leader retires. Boafo, who served as campaign manager for Hoyer, is expected to be the party favorite in the primary, Politico reports. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who rose to prominence after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, is also considering joining the race…
In another race to watch, Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ) in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District gained another opponent in Tiffany Burress, a Republican political newcomer and wife of former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress. On the first day of her campaign, Burress has already secured the backing of several GOP county chairs, as the party looks to flip the seat away from Pou after Trump unexpectedly carried the district in 2024…
Former Obama administration officials and Crooked Media hosts Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Ben Rhodes are hosting a fundraiser in Hollywood, Calif., on Thursday for Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left, anti-Israel candidate running for Senate in Michigan, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
El-Sayed, a physician and former director of the Wayne County Department of Health, has made his criticisms of Israel a centerpiece of his campaign, blasting other candidates in the race as being insufficiently hostile to the Jewish state. Favreau, Lovett and Rhodes, on their “Pod Save America” and “Pod Save the World” podcasts, have also emerged as a vocal force against Israel and AIPAC in the Democratic Party, and have boosted prominent anti-Israel candidates in other hot-button primaries…
The future of the Israeli Lounge at the Trump-Kennedy Center is reportedly in peril, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Judah Ari Gross reports, “unless a major donor from the Jewish community steps up and makes a large donation,” far-right commentator Laura Loomer said over the weekend. The center’s president, Richard Grenell, is seeking to renovate the space; Loomer has suggested Qatar may look to provide the funds for the room’s overhaul…
The New York Times reports on the brewing fight between states over the order of 2028 Democratic presidential primary elections…
Dina Powell McCormick, a banking executive, former deputy national security advisor to Trump and wife of Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), was named president and vice chair of Meta, reporting to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Axios reports. Zuckerberg said in a statement that Powell McCormick will focus on “partnering with governments and sovereigns to build, deploy, invest in, and finance Meta’s AI and infrastructure”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for more details on the motives and background of the suspected arsonist who set fire to the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., over the weekend.
President Donald Trump will receive a major briefing on avenues for responding to Iran’s violent suppression of protests, including cyber, economic and military options.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will deliver her State of the State address in Albany, where she plans to announce her proposal to create a 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship and health-care facilities. (The legislation, while welcomed by major Jewish groups, would not have prevented the pro-Hamas protest that disrupted a Queens community last week, which took place approximately 300 feet away from the targeted synagogue.) New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to be in attendance.
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VENEZUELAN VIEWS
After years in exile, Venezuelan Jews celebrate the fall of Maduro
Some Venezuelan Jews see similarities in the response of far-left activists to Trump’s capture of Maduro and their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza
ON ALERT
Hezbollah’s continued presence in south Lebanon alarms Israel, despite disarmament claims
The Lebanese Armed Forces said it took operational control south of the Litani River, but has fallen well short of fully disarming the terrorist group
Plus, Trump mulls military action as Tehran murders protesters
Amos Ben Gershom via Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (L) at the Israeli Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on December 21, 2025.
👋 Good Monday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we bring you the latest on the anti-government protests in Iran and the U.S.’ new threats to the Islamic Republic if it continues killing protesters, and report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments published on Friday that Israel wants to phase out U.S. aid in the next decade. We cover Saturday’s arson attack targeting Mississippi’s oldest synagogue, and report on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s stalled and muted response to pro-Hamas demonstrators who rallied outside a synagogue last week. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jerome Powell, Larry Page and Miriam Zivin.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Mahmoud Abbas, the 90-year-old longtime president of the Palestinian Authority, is in a hospital in Ramallah this morning. According to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, he is undergoing routine medical checkups.
- We’re monitoring the situation in Iran where the death toll has risen in recent days as the regime ramps up its crackdown on the nationwide protests. President Donald Trump is set to be briefed tomorrow on options to respond to the escalation. More below.
- Trump is expected to announce the global leaders of the U.S.-backed Gaza Board of Peace this week. The first meeting of the board is set to take place later this month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The board’s launch comes as Israel prepares plans for a potential ground operation in Gaza in response to Hamas’ refusal to disarm.
- Qatar is signing the U.S.-led Pax Silica declaration today, joining the effort to strengthen AI and semiconductor supply chains. The United Arab Emirates is set to sign onto the declaration later this week. Israel, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Britain and Australia are already part of the coalition.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
As another election year gets underway, two liberal Jewish politicians offered a window last week into just how fraught the issue of Israel has become in some Democratic primaries — and how even pushing back against claims that Israel is committing genocide is inviting intraparty political backlash, at least in the deepest-blue parts of the country.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) faces a primary challenge from the left in Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. When Goldman formally launched his reelection campaign last week, he was asked by a reporter if he believes Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Goldman equivocated — a notable shift for a lawmaker who in February 2024 signed onto a letter calling claims of genocide in Gaza “false.”
“I think there needs to be a serious investigation into what went on in Gaza during the war,” Goldman said. “What you call it is I think more of a legal matter, in my view, but what we all can agree on is that the destruction [in Gaza] was unconscionable and devastating and I am really grateful that it is over and the hostages are out and we can move forward.” (Lander, in contrast, has accused Israel of genocide.)
Across the country, in San Francisco, California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat running to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was asked the same question at a candidate forum. His two primary opponents — Connie Chan, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — both raised placards that said “yes.” Wiener did not raise either the “yes” or “no” placard.
Wiener followed up with a post on X claiming that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “demands more discussion and certainly more time,” which, after receiving blowback on social media, he subsequently deleted. He then backtracked completely: On Sunday afternoon, Wiener posted a video to social media stating that he’s “stopped short of calling [Israel’s actions in Gaza] a genocide, but I can’t anymore.”
FIREBOMBING PROBE
Jackson’s only synagogue targeted in arson attack
A suspect is under arrest for an arson attack that significantly damaged Mississippi’s largest synagogue early Saturday morning, authorities reported. Local law enforcement arrested a suspect whom they believe purposefully set fire to Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday, Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed. The suspect’s name and motive have not been disclosed, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. According to internal security camera footage, a person was filmed splashing liquid along a wall and onto a couch inside the synagogue’s lobby shortly before the fire was ignited, Mississippi Today reported.
Storied past: Beth Israel Congregation is the only synagogue in Jackson, the state’s capital and most populous city. The historic building also houses the offices of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which supports Jewish life in the region. Located in a major hub of the Civil Rights Movement, Beth Israel was bombed in 1967 by the Ku Klux Klan over the rabbi’s support for racial justice — including providing chaplain services to activists incarcerated for challenging segregated busing in the state.
TOUGH TALK
Tehran threatens to attack U.S. bases as Trump considers military options against Iran
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated on Sunday as President Donald Trump weighed options for striking Iran amid the regime’s crackdown on protesters, and Tehran threatened to strike U.S. bases in response, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports. Trump was briefed in recent days on options for sites to strike in Iran, The New York Times reported, after he issued several threats warning that the U.S. could get involved if the Iranian regime attempted to violently suppress the nationwide demonstrations that have racked the country for several weeks.
Returning the threat: In response, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said on Sunday that the country would attack American military bases in the region if the U.S. follows through, and even raised the possibility of a preemptive strike. Ghalibaf also threatened to attack regional shipping lanes and Israel.
Further messaging: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors today that Tehran “is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war,” and is “also ready for negotiations but these negotiations should be fair.” Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump, asked whether the regime has crossed his red line, said, “They’re starting to,” … “We’re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.”
AID EXIT
Netanyahu: Israel seeking to end U.S. aid within 10 years
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel is seeking to end the military assistance it receives from the U.S. in the next 10 years, a move that he said is “in the works,” Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch and Danielle Cohen-Kanik report.
What he said: In an interview with The Economist released Friday, Netanyahu said that during his December visit to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., he told Trump that Israel “very deeply appreciate[s] the military aid that America has given us over the years.” But, he said, “we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacity. And our economy, which will reach, certainly within a decade, will reach about a trillion dollars — it’s not a huge economy, but it’s not a small economy. So I want to taper off military aid within the next 10 years.”
Exclusive: Following Netanyahu’s announcement, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told JI that he will push forward an effort to end U.S. aid more quickly — a major shift from one of Israel’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
LEADERSHIP TEST
Mamdani’s slow, muted response condemning pro-Hamas protest alarming NYC Dems
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism from Democratic leaders over his delayed and muted response to last week’s pro-Hamas protest in Queens that caused nearby schools and a synagogue to close early in anticipation of the demonstration, where dozens of masked protesters chanted “We support Hamas” near the synagogue, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Delayed response: The newly inaugurated mayor remained silent Thursday night and much of the following day regarding the demonstration, which marked his first major test in protecting the city’s Jewish community. His spokesperson did not respond to multiple inquiries from JI on Thursday. Mamdani broke his silence late in the afternoon on Friday when he was asked about the protesters’ pro-Hamas chant by Politico reporter Jason Beeferman while leaving a campaign event in Brooklyn for an ally. “That language is wrong,” Mamdani replied. “I think that language has no place in New York City.”
Sign of the times: The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board argues that Mamdani’s response to the protest coupled with efforts by Breads Bakery employees for the company to cut its ties with Israel reflect the political climate in New York City under the new mayor.
WALKING BACK
Mallory McMorrow says Gaza genocide accusations, which she backed, have become ‘political purity test’
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a Democratic candidate for Senate, said in a recent radio interview that accusations of genocide against Israel — with which she has previously agreed — have become a “political purity test,” arguing that there has been too much emphasis on that specific word, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: Asked on local radio station WDET last week whether her stance has changed since October, when she affirmed that she believed the war in Gaza met the definition of a genocide, McMorrow did not offer a direct yes or no answer. “I am somebody who looks at the videos, the photos, the amount of pain that has been caused in the Middle East, and you can’t not be heartbroken,” McMorrow said. “But I also feel like we are getting lost in this conversation, and it feels like a political purity test on a word — a word that, by the way, to people who lost family members in the Holocaust, does mean something very different and very visceral.” McMorrow went on to criticize an unnamed opponent for campaigning on the issue of the war in Gaza, presumably referring to Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left Democrat who has made his opposition to Israel a centerpiece of his campaign.
ON ALERT
Hezbollah’s continued presence in south Lebanon alarms Israel, despite disarmament
The Lebanese Armed Forces announced Thursday that it had taken operational control of the south of the country and successfully completed the first phase of its operation to disarm Hezbollah — a claim that experts say is unlikely to satisfy Israel and could risk further escalation. Under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese government was tasked with removing the terror group south of the Litani River, near Israel’s border, with a deadline of Dec. 31, 2025, before moving to the second phase of disarmament north of the Litani. Experts told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea that the Lebanese army’s claim has done little to quell Israeli concerns.
Opposing information: “Despite the statements published today in Lebanon, the facts remain that extensive Hezbollah military infrastructure still exists south of the Litani River,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated in a post on X on Thursday. Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the situation has become increasingly tense because there is “no indication” that Lebanon will move forward with the next phases of disarmament and that it is “more likely” the country is “not going to move north of Litani” in order to avoid confrontation with Hezbollah.
Worthy Reads
Iran on the Brink: In The Atlantic, Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Jack A. Goldstone, the author of Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction, weigh the likelihood that the Iranian regime will collapse imminently. “One of us, Jack, has written at length about the five specific conditions necessary for a revolution to succeed: a fiscal crisis, divided elites, a diverse oppositional coalition, a convincing narrative of resistance, and a favorable international environment. This winter, for the first time since 1979, Iran checks nearly all five boxes… The final and decisive catalyst for revolution is an international environment that helps sink the regime rather than bolster it. After North Korea, Iran may be the most strategically isolated country in the world. Over the past two years — since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which Ayatollah Khamenei alone among major world leaders openly endorsed — Iran’s regional proxies and global allies have been decimated or deposed.” [Atlantic]
Crackdown Crisis: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius posits that the Iranian regime’s protest crackdowns, which have occurred a number of times in recent years, have only served to delay an eventual effective uprising. “The Iranian regime is on a one-way street to disaster. A senior European diplomat in Tehran shared that assessment with me several years ago, and it remains true. Iran has powerful security tools, but they’re getting rusty. The regime couldn’t protect its proxies Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. And most important, Iran couldn’t shield itself from Israel’s systematic assault in June. … The wild card this year is whether the regime’s hard-liners have lost their edge. Like the Soviet Union during its last years, the security agencies may have lost their ideological commitment and discipline. They’ve watched helplessly as their proxy forces were crushed in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. And they’ve suffered the same scourge of inflation and economic stagnation as the rest of the nation. They’re not broken, but they appear more fragile than in the past.” [WashPost]
Read His Lips: In Semafor, Jason Greenblatt, who served as the White House Middle East envoy during the first Trump administration, posits that Iran should take seriously President Donald Trump’s warnings that the U.S. could back the protesters demonstrating against the regime if Tehran continues to use violence against them. “Trump has established a record of acting when he draws lines. He views the June conflict with Iran — short, focused, and devastating to its strategic military assets — as proof that decisive and limited force can restore balance rather than prolong instability. In his view, hesitation invites escalation. Clear consequences reduce it. Diplomacy is preferable, but diplomacy without credibility is meaningless. … What separates Trump from many of his predecessors is not an appetite for war, but a refusal to tolerate endless gray zones. His worldview is not anti-Iranian or anti-Venezuelan. It is anti-destabilization. That applies equally to nuclear brinkmanship in the Middle East and narco-state behavior in the Western Hemisphere that corrodes security at home and abroad.” [Semafor]
The Torture Chronicles: In The Atlantic, Russia-Israeli academic Elizabeth Tsurkov recounts her 902-day captivity in Iraq. “The interrogators kept threatening me with torture, but in those opening weeks, they refrained from acting on the threats — I assume on orders from higher up. Instead, because they were clearly untrained in conducting interrogations that did not involve torture, they fell back on interrogation methods they had probably seen in movies. To intimidate me, Maher would blow smoke in my face, but because he was using an e-cigarette, all I got was a gust of strawberry-smelling vape. It wasn’t quite the tough-guy routine he was after. Later, he tried the ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine on me but undermined the effect by playing both characters himself, on alternate days, which just made him seem deranged.” [Atlantic]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump told The New York Times that neither the Republican Party nor the MAGA movement have space for antisemitism, saying that the GOP doesn’t “need” or “like” people who espouse antisemitism; the president also called himself “the least antisemitic person probably there is anywhere in the world”…
Far-right commentator Tucker Carlson joined a lunch with Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Friday, later attending a meeting between the president and oil and gas executives regarding Venezuela…
Federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, over renovations made to the agency’s Washington headquarters; Powell released a video alleging that the investigation came as a result of his clashes with the Trump administration over interest rates…
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) denied the White House’s allegation that she had tipped Code Pink off to a lunch the president was having at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in September, where the far-left activist group confronted the president in a now-viral incident…
Steve Bannon is reportedly laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid in an effort to push an America First agenda during the primary season. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who has appeared on Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, told Axios, “The Bannon campaign will merge the foreign policy of Rand Paul with the tax policy of Elizabeth Warren”…
Police in New Jersey arrested a man suspected of throwing a rock at a yeshiva school bus on the New Jersey Turnpike, injuring an 8-year-old girl; the man, Hernando Garciamorales, had been linked to a series of prior rock-throwing incidents…
Google co-founder Larry Page bought two Miami properties for $173.4 million, amid an influx of Silicon Valley execs to South Florida as California gears up for a referendum on a tax on billionaires…
A U.K. medical tribunal cleared the rector of the University of Glasgow of misconduct allegations for social media posts and an op-ed in which he praised members of Hamas and the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine…
Israel struck at least seven Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon on Sunday, days after the Lebanese Armed Forces claimed that the Iran-backed terror group had fully disarmed…
Israeli police detained Tzachi Braverman, the chief of staff to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for questioning over allegations that he attempted to hinder an investigation into the leaking of a classified military document in 2024…
The Associated Press reports on an ethics debate inside Israel over Sara Netanyahu’s retouching of official government photos…
The U.S. conducted strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, weeks after an attack by an ISIS-aligned member of Syria’s security forces killed two U.S. servicemembers and a civilian interpreter…
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, met with Ben Black, CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, in Doha on Monday…
The Qatari prime minister also met with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg and discussed “the close strategic relations” between the two countries, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry…
A Bahraini court sentenced political activist Ebrahim Sharif to six months in prison and a fine over a recent interview in Lebanon in which Sharif criticized Arab states and said more support should be given to the Palestinians…
In The New York Times’ “Modern Love” column, Taiwanese-American economist David Woo reflects on his marriage to Israeli architect Margalit Shinar, who is 40 years his senior…
Jewish actors Timothée Chalamet and Seth Rogen took home awards at the Golden Globes — Chalamet for his role in the movie “Marty Supreme” and Rogen for his satire show “The Studio”…
Richard Hirschhaut is joining Jewish National Fund-USA as its national campaign director for the West Coast and Mountain states after six years as the director of the American Jewish Committee’s Los Angeles office…
Mothers Against Campus Antisemitism tapped Miriam Zivin as the advocacy group’s new board president, following a weekslong dispute between the organization’s founder and board, eJewishPhilanthropy’sJay Deitcher reports…
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) delivered the opening remarks at a Tzedek Association fundraising event in Deal, N.J….
Chabad of Westport hosted former hostage Eliya Cohen and survivor of the Nova music festival massacre Ziv Aboud, who recently got engaged and have been touring the U.S. in recent weeks, sharing their stories and working to fight misinformation…
Hessy Levinsons Taft, whose baby photo was used on the cover of the Sonne ins Haus pro-Nazi magazine as a depiction of the ideal Aryan infant by editors who did not know she was Jewish, died at 91…
Dr. Jerome Lowenstein, a physician who later became publisher of the Bellevue Literary Press, which published the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winner for fiction, died at 92…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (right) met with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, in Jerusalem on Sunday, as part of a nine-day trip by the Japanese foreign minister that will also include visits to the West Bank, Qatar, the Philippines and India. According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Motegi explained during the meeting Japan’s position on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank and “stated that Japan will play a proactive role in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, in improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza and in engaging in the early-recovery and reconstruction efforts.”
Birthdays
Author of over 40 books, most widely recognized for his crime fiction, Walter Ellis Mosley turns 74…
Real estate and casino magnate, he is a minority owner of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, Neil Gary Bluhm turns 88… U.S.-born biochemist, he moved to Israel in 1973, winner of the Israel Prize (1999) and professor emeritus at Hebrew U, Howard “Chaim” Cedar turns 83… Stephen Moses… Israel-born jewelry designer, editor and businesswoman, she was the first lady of Iceland from 2003 until 2016, Dorrit Moussaieff turns 76… NYC-based psychiatrist and president of the Child Mind Institute, Harold S. Koplewicz, MD turns 73… Radio personality on Sirius XM, Howard Stern turns 72… British novelist and grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien (one of the latter’s two Jewish grandchildren), Simon Mario Reuel Tolkien turns 67… Senior director of philanthropic engagement at Jewish Funders Network, she was a consultant for DreamWorks on the film “The Prince of Egypt,” Tzivia Schwartz Getzug… Midday news anchor at Washington’s WTOP Radio, Debra Feinstein turns 64… Board member and former chair of Hillel International, she is also a board chair of Mem Global (f/k/a Moishe House), Tina Price… Member of the Maryland House of Delegates, Jon S. Cardin turns 56… Identical twin comedians and actors, Randy Sklar and Jason Sklar turn 54… Filmmaker known for parody films, Aaron Seltzer turns 52… First-ever woman to be an MLB coach, in 2024 she was a co-founder of a women’s pro baseball league, Justine Siegal Ph.D. turns 51… Rabbinical advisor of Shabtai, Shmully Hecht turns 51… Recording artist and musical entertainer, Yaakov Shwekey turns 49… Professional golfer, Rob Oppenheim turns 46… Two-time Olympian (2012 and 2016) in beach volleyball, now a chiropractor and performance coach, Josh Binstock turns 45… Founder of The Jewish Majority, Jonathan Schulman… Director of major gifts in the mid-Atlantic region for American Friends of Magen David Adom, Ira Gewanter… Executive director of the Hillel at Virginia Tech, Amanda Herring… VP of finance and operations at NYC-based Hornig Capital Partners, Daniel Silvermintz… Israeli tennis player, Lina Glushko turns 26…
Trump was reportedly briefed in recent days on options for sites to strike in Iran as the regime cracks down on protesters
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Iranian Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaks with the media in a media conference at a conference hall in the Iranian Parliament building in Tehran, Iran, on December 2, 2025.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated on Sunday as President Donald Trump weighed options for striking Iran amid the regime’s crackdown on protesters, and Tehran threatened to strike U.S. bases in response.
Trump was briefed in recent days on options for sites to strike in Iran, The New York Times reported, after he issued several threats warning that the U.S. could get involved if the Iranian regime attempted to violently suppress the nationwide demonstrations that have racked the country for several weeks.
The options include nonmilitary sites in Tehran, the Times wrote, as well as a large-scale aerial strike on military targets, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump has not yet made a decision whether to proceed and no U.S. military action has been taken in preparation thus far, U.S. officials told the Times and the Journal.
In response to the reports, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said on Sunday that the country would attack American military bases in the region if the U.S. follows through, and even raised the possibility of a preemptive strike. Ghalibaf also threatened to attack regional shipping lanes and Israel.
Over the last week, Trump has made repeated threats against the Iranian regime that the U.S. was “locked and loaded” and would “rescue” demonstrators if security forces began killing them. Human rights groups say the death toll has reached over 200 as the protests, sparked by a severe economic crisis in the country, have spread, with protesters explicitly calling for regime change.
The president wrote on Truth Social on Saturday that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before” and that the “USA stands ready to help!!!”
Trump has floated the possibility of regime change in Iran before. During the country’s June war with Israel, when the U.S. struck nuclear sites inside Iran, Trump wrote on social media that the U.S. knows “exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.” Later, he wrote, “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”
GOP lawmakers have voiced their support for renewed U.S. strikes on Iran, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sharing a message to Khamenei on Fox News last week: “You need to understand, if you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is gonna kill you.”
Experts say what is unfolding now could be more significant than protests of the past, expressing to JI that recent developments could pose an unprecedented challenge to a regime already under strain
Kamran / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran on January 8, 2026.
The United States, Israel and their regional allies are watching closely as sustained unrest in Iran puts renewed pressure on the regime at a moment of economic strain, international isolation and lingering fallout from the 12-day war with Israel last June.
Recent demonstrations have spread across all 31 of Iran’s provinces, fueled by public anger over a collapsing economy, inflation exceeding 40% and aggressive crackdowns by security forces. Economic pressure — intensified by costly proxy wars and United Nations sanctions — have sent Iran’s currency into a sharp decline.
Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said the regime’s “unwillingness to be responsive to its people’s basic demands and rights,” is also a factor. Adding that Tehran has a “clear preference to spend the country’s resources on military projects like its proxies, missiles and nuclear program instead of its citizens’ well-being.”
More than 400 demonstrations took place this week alone, with at least 743 recorded over the past month, according to a tracker from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The death toll has reached at least 38, with more than 2,200 arrests reported. The demonstrations are the largest since April 2025 and among the most sustained since late 2022 as videos continue to circulate online of Iranians flooding the streets, burning regime flags and lighting fire to statues of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ruhe said that uprisings by the Iranian people against the regime are not uncommon. “In 2009 it was political corruption, when the regime clearly stole the presidential election to get [former President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad reelected,” he said. “In 2017-18 it was economic and foreign policy issues, for instance Iranians being killed in the Syrian civil war and the regime’s lavish spending on its proxies instead of at home. In 2022 it was social and cultural issues, namely hijab enforcement.”
But experts say what is unfolding now could be more significant than protests of the past, expressing to Jewish Insider that recent developments could pose an unprecedented challenge to a regime already under strain.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, the senior director of FDD’s Iran program, called the protests a “nationwide anti-regime uprising,” telling JI that they are reaching a “crescendo” with a “greater demographic and geographic group of Iranians protesting.”
“Protests have rapidly spread due to the shared consensus that the Islamic Republic of Iran is behind the demise of Iran,” said Taleblu, who called the demonstrators “historic and different” given how the Iranian people have “not given up” in the face of crackdowns. “This matters for a regime that is battered and bruised.”
Ruhe also said the protests are “different from past waves,” explaining that the regime is less capable of solving the issues of the Iranian people in the current moment.
“The economic grievances that triggered the current protests are much more clearly beyond the regime’s ability to fix than they might have been years ago, before the effects of the regime’s corruption and mismanagement had reached the point where the country is running out of electricity and water and its money is absolutely worthless,” said Ruhe.
The ayatollah’s fears are also likely heightened by the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela that ousted President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. pursuing similar actions in Iran is unlikely, however, Iranian officials have expressed concerns that their regime in Tehran could be next. President Donald Trump has warned that the U.S. is watching the protests “very closely.”
In response, the Iranian regime has vowed to crack down against protesters, with Khamenei stating last week that they must be “put in their place.” The regime also appeared to cut off internet access on Thursday. But none of these methods have seemed to quell the unrest, with recent reports suggesting Khamenei could flee Tehran for Moscow if security forces become overwhelmed by protests.
Nadav Eyal wrote that the continued protests could indicate that “fear has shifted sides” from the people of Iran to the regime itself.
“The oppressors are no longer as certain as they once were in using force. They cannot compete with sheer numbers, with masses filling the streets,” Eyal wrote on X. “The Islamic Republic still possesses formidable repressive capacity. Yet the signals — hesitation, mixed messaging, demonstration of fear by cutting internet — suggest a leadership aware that it may no longer be able to rely on obedience.”
‘If Iran restarts their nuclear ambitions, I fully support bombing them until they get the message,’ the Pennsylvania senator told JI
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) talks with reporters after the Senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said on Thursday that he would support the U.S. striking Iran’s nuclear facilities again to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear program — if the regime is found to be making strides toward restoring sites damaged by U.S. and Israeli strikes last year.
The Pennsylvania senator told Jewish Insider that he believes the U.S. and Israel should keep targeting Iranian nuclear facilities until Iran’s leaders “get the message” that the Islamic Republic will never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.
“If Iran restarts their nuclear ambitions, I fully support bombing them until they get the message,” Fetterman told JI.
Fetterman was supportive of President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities amid the 12-day war with Israel last year and has emerged as one of the staunchest Iran hawks in the Democratic Party. He criticized members of his party last June who spoke out against Israel’s strikes on Iran and Trump’s subsequent decision to join the strikes.
“It was just astonishing to see colleagues criticizing these things. It’s like, do you think you can negotiate with that regime? Do you think you want to run that scenario and allow them to acquire 1,000 pounds of weapons grade uranium?” Fetterman told JI at the time. “I can’t understand, I can’t even begin to understand that.”
For his part, the president said late last month while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was open to another round of strikes against Iran.
Asked by reporters if he will support another Israeli attack on Iran if it continues its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, Trump said, “If they continue with the missiles? Yes. If the nuclear? Fast, OK? One will be yes, absolutely; the other was, we’ll do it immediately.”
“Iran may be behaving badly,” he added. “It hasn’t been confirmed, but if it’s confirmed, look, they know the consequences.”
Fetterman is the first Democrat in Congress to publicly endorse additional strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, a move several of his Republican colleagues have also gotten behind.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in Israel last month that Washington had a duty to act on “credible evidence” that Iran is looking for avenues to rebuild its nuclear program. The South Carolina senator argued it was imperative that the U.S. and Israel “hit them before they can” do so.
“We obliterated the Iranian nuclear facilities. We did not obliterate Iran’s desire to have a nuclear weapon,” Graham said. “The regime hasn’t changed at all. They still want to kill all the Jews, consider America the great Satan, and purify Islam.”
“Are they regenerating their nuclear capability? Are they building more ballistic missiles that could hurt Europe and Israel?” he added. “I don’t know, but there’s evidence that, yes, they are.”
‘To the ayatollah: You need to understand, if you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is gonna kill you,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham said
Kamran / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran on January 8, 2026.
Multiple Senate Republicans voiced support for President Donald Trump’s threat that the U.S. would intervene directly should the Iranian regime escalate its crackdown on the protests sweeping Iran — which appears to have already begun.
Trump warned in a post on his Truth Social platform last Friday that if Iran shoots “and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”
The president renewed that threat on Thursday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” saying, “If they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots, they have lots of riots. If they do it, we’re going to hit them very hard.” But on Fox News’s “Hannity,” he said that “for the most part” the regime has not engaged in mass killings of protesters.
Asked on Thursday about the possibility of the U.S. helping the Iranian protesters, Vice President JD Vance expressed his support for the protesters but said he’d defer to Trump on what actions they would take. He also said the U.S. remains open to a “real negotiation” with Iran on its nuclear program.
“I’ll let the president speak to what we’re going to do in the future, but we certainly stand with anybody across the world, including the Iranian people, who are advocating for their rights,” he added.
Trump’s threat has been largely well-received by GOP lawmakers, but lawmakers from both parties have expressed support for the protesters generally.
“To the people of Iran: We stand with you tonight,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News on Tuesday evening. “We stand for you taking back your country from the ayatollah, a religious Nazi who kills you and terrorizes the world,” he said, referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “We pray for you. We support you. Donald J. Trump is not Barack Obama. He has your back. … Help is on the way.”
“And to the ayatollah: You need to understand, if you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is gonna kill you. Change is coming to Iran. It’ll be the biggest change in the history of the Mideast to get rid of this Nazi regime.”
“President Trump has been very clear: If the ayatollah harms the protesters, the consequences would be catastrophically painful,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told Jewish Insider. “The regime should understand that the president is deadly serious and will enjoy strong support in Congress.”
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) told JI that “what the president said … [is] one of the things that we can do to help protect the Iranians who are protesting.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told JI that the U.S. should act “in any possible way to support the Iranian protesters” and said he’d back any efforts in Congress to do so.
“That’s the real truth to power. They started to kill people there. Remember, they are now so desperate. They’re trying to offer people $7 a month. They’re that desperate,” Fetterman said. “How courageous those protesters are — and that’s a testament to the opportunities Israel and our strikes created — they inspire me. These are Iranian protesters. That is real courage and real — being willing to either get killed, beaten, tortured or disappeared, that’s what happens in true autocracies.”
Other senators spoke more broadly about offering U.S. support for the protesters without addressing direct intervention.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) noted that lawmakers haven’t engaged extensively about ways for Congress to support the protesters since returning from the holiday recess on Monday, but said it was important for them to express their support. “I’m open to any ideas. I think there’s been very little talk [among lawmakers] in specific terms,” Blumenthal told JI.
“We should speak out and support them in spirit,” Blumenthal said. “I don’t know how much we can do, practically speaking. I know the president has talked about some kind of measures if anyone is killed. I don’t know exactly what he has in mind, but we ought to be supporting the freedom fighters and brave protesters in any way we can.”
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said that the “biggest thing that we can do is actually have public officials speak out that our problem with Iran is not the people of Iran, it’s the Iranian regime. Our problem is the same problem the people of Iran have.”
“The regime oppresses them, prevents them from actually being [as] successful as they could be. The people of Iran [are] extremely well educated, extremely sharp people [and] could be a lot more prosperous than they are, but they’re trapped behind a regime that’s obsessed with terrorism, and so they’re holding back their entire country so they can fund Hezbollah,” Lankford said. “So people can’t get food, people can’t have a stable currency, because they want to fund terrorism. Until they have an ability to be able to pick new leaders that will actually represent their values, they’re stuck.”
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said it is “wonderful” to see the protests happening and that the U.S. “should support them diplomatically, technologically and in other ways, so that they can communicate.”
“But I think we should be very hesitant about expressing our willingness to use military force in yet another country for yet another reason,” Schiff added.
Other Democrats have also discouraged the use of U.S. military force in response to the protests.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) said the U.S. should “continue to show attention” toward Iran, “making sure we’re not just losing track of everything because of Venezuela, and just continuing to show that we want to make sure that the regime doesn’t crack down brutally as they have in the past.”
“I think that that’s an important sign right now, as this is continuing on,” Kim continued.
Plus, New Jersey IHRA bill scuttled
Kamran / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran on January 8, 2026.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Protests are escalating across Iran, with videos showing masses of demonstrators taking to the streets and security forces at times overwhelmed. Human rights groups estimate dozens of protesters have already been killed and reports indicate the country is experiencing an internet blackout. Storeowners are reportedly shuttering their businesses in an economic boycott, further deepening the economic crisis that spurred the unrest.
President Donald Trump reiterated his warning today that the Iranian regime will “have to pay hell” if “they start killing people, which they tend to do,” speculating that the deaths so far have been caused by stampedes and not law enforcement. Vice President JD Vance said at a press briefing that the Iranian regime “has a lot of problems” and that “the smartest thing for them to have done … is for them to actually have a real negotiation with the United States”…
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that he is establishing a royal commission into antisemitism in the country, after the deadly terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney last month. The commission, considered a powerful tool in Australian governance, will investigate the scope and causes of antisemitism and make recommendations for law enforcement, in a report due on the year anniversary of the Dec. 14 attack…
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spain would send “peacekeeping troops” to the Gaza Strip “when the opportunity presents itself.” Speaking to a gathering of ambassadors in Madrid today, he said, “Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip … Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine.” Many countries remain wary of contributing troops to stabilize Gaza over concerns of being required to engage with Hamas…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with Nickolay Mladenov, former U.N. envoy to the Middle East and soon-to-be representative of the U.S.-led Board of Peace in Gaza…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been silent thus far today about a protest taking place tonight organized by the radical anti-Israel group responsible for a similar protest outside the Park East Synagogue in November, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
The group posted the address of the real estate event they intend to protest, which is taking place at a synagogue in Queens’ heavily Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills. The synagogue canceled prayer services and two nearby schools, Yeshiva of Central Queens and PS 165, announced early closures. Democratic state Assemblymember Sam Berger, who represents the area, told JI that local principals, staff and parents are “very concerned.” The surrounding area has been “completely upended,” he said…
The New Jersey Legislature will not give further consideration to a bill seeking to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into state law during this legislative session, the bill’s lead sponsor announced, after several years of the Jewish community’s urging for the measure to be adopted…
Rob Sand, the state auditor and Democratic candidate for governor of Iowa, announced he raised over $9.5 million in 2025, more than double the record for off-year fundraising for a gubernatorial election in the state. Sand told Jewish Insider in 2019, when he first took office as auditor, that he conducted what was “definitely the first audit” to ensure agencies were in compliance with a state anti-BDS law. “When you say [you are] willing to be supportive of your ally [Israel], you need to put your money where your mouth is,” he said at the time…
Far-left New York state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez joined the race to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) today in the progressive 7th Congressional District covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens. The Democratic Socialists of America and Mamdani are expected to endorse Valdez, a move that could prove consequential in the district that The New York Times said will “pit left against lefter.”
Valdez, who has already brought on several of Mamdani’s advisors, was a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and pro-Israel political groups; her opponent, Antonio Reynoso, takes similar stances but is viewed as a more “traditional progressive” and is expected to secure Velázquez’s support, the Times reports…
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) officially announced his retirement today after serving 23 terms, one of the longest-serving House members in U.S. history. Speaking on the House floor, the former majority leader and pro-Israel champion warned he was “deeply concerned that this House is not living up to the founders’ goals” and that the country “is heading not toward greatness, but toward smallness, pettiness, divisiveness, loneliness and disdainfulness”…
In his first State of the State address since 2020 — and final before his term ends next year — California Gov. Gavin Newsom heralded his state as a “beacon” and a “policy blueprint for others to follow.” He denounced Trump and laid out a policy agenda including clean energy, increased wages and lowered housing costs, in a speech seen as laying the groundwork for his potential 2028 presidential run…
The Qatar Investment Authority and Emirati-based MGX, linked to a UAE sovereign wealth fund, participated in the latest fundraising round for Elon Musk’s xAI, which raised over $15 billion total. Gulf investors including QIA and the Saudi and Omani sovereign funds have taken part in previous fundraising rounds for the company that owns the Grok AI chatbot on X…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at how legislation in New Jersey to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism was scuttled — and who was behind the bill’s demise.
The third season of the hit TV show “Tehran” will premiere in the U.S. on Apple TV tomorrow, after a delay of several years. The popular international thriller, which follows a Mossad agent operating undercover in Iran, was indefinitely postponed at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The season ran in Israel in December 2024, and Apple has announced the fourth season is already in production.
On Saturday, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt will sit in conversation with Rabbi David Wolpe about the “golden age of American Jewry” at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
Stories You May Have Missed
SAUDI SPOTLIGHT
U.S. lawmakers weigh in on fears of Saudi Arabia accommodating Islamists
The lawmakers downplayed reports of a serious Gulf rift, with Rep. Brad Sherman calling the increasing disputes between neighbors ‘tactical, not ideological’
MENIN’S MOMENT
New York Jewish leaders hope Menin will serve as check against Mamdani
Julie Menin was elected the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council on Wednesday
As Israel signals restraint and Iran faces mounting internal pressures, both sides are increasingly wary of miscalculating
Stringer/Getty Images
Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot on June 15, 2025 in Tehran, Iran.
At the conclusion of the 12-day war in June of last year, both Israel and Iran suspected that the ceasefire brokered by the U.S. would be a pause, not a final cessation of hostilities. That truce has lasted for more than six months, with both sides wary of entering another military conflict — one likely to be more deadly and destructive than the first.
But now, amid destabilizing world events from Venezuela to the Middle East — compounded by growing domestic pressure on the Islamic Republic amid nationwide protests — that ceasefire is even more tenuous, with officials in Tehran and Jerusalem closely watching the other’s every move, careful not to make a potentially disastrous miscalculation — even as both sides make overtures at de-escalation.
Speaking at the Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “President [Donald] Trump and I have expressed a firm stance — we won’t allow Iran to rebuild its ballistic missile industry or to renew the nuclear program, which we damaged severely in Operation Rising Lion.”
In response, Iran’s newly formed Defense Council warned on Tuesday that the country could act preemptively if it detects clear signs of a threat. “The long-standing enemies of this land … are pursuing a targeted approach by repeating and intensifying threatening language and interventionist statements in clear conflict with the accepted principles of international law, which is aimed at dismembering our beloved Iran and harming the country’s identity,” the council said.
Recent reports suggest that Israel, in an attempt to de-escalate tensions, has used Moscow as an intermediary, communicating through Russian President Vladimir Putin that it has no intention of launching a preemptive strike on Iranian soil. Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are unconvinced.
In a post on X, Khamenei accused Israel of deception: “What makes the enemy first request a ceasefire during [12-day] war with the Iranian nation, then send messages saying he doesn’t want to fight us?”
“Now if he doesn’t believe the messaging and thinks that Israel is about to attack then you can understand why Israel is worried Iran is about to miscalculate and attack. Very tense days/weeks ahead of us,” Nadav Pollak, a lecturer on the Middle East at Reichman University, commented on Khamenei’s post.
Pollak told Jewish Insider that he sees the perception gaps between Israel and Iran as the “No. 1 risk for miscalculation. As we’ve seen from Khamenei’s tweet, he doesn’t believe the messages that came from Jerusalem about Israel not planning to attack. In his mind, Bibi just came back from Washington with Trump supporting action against Iran if some red lines are crossed. Bibi also continues to talk about the Iranian ballistic missile threat every week and that Israel will need to do something.”
Israeli commentator Nadav Eyal noted on Dan Senor’s “Call Me Back” podcast that “Israeli security officials are extremely worried about what’s happening vis-a-vis Iran, first and foremost because the Iranians are so tense and they are constantly fearing an Israeli attack themselves. So their first worry is miscalculation … If Iran senses that Israel might attack, it wants to preempt that. If Israel thinks that Iran is going to do that, it would want to preempt that.”
Tehran is also facing trouble at home, amid protests that have spread across the country over the last two weeks. The growing unrest, coupled with the Islamic Republic’s economic and climate woes, has put added pressure on the ayatollahs.
Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told JI that due to the Iranian regime’s vulnerable position amid nationwide protests over a severe economic crisis, “hardliners” within the IRGC could be weighing using a strike to “divert the public” and create national unity. However, he expressed that the decision would be a “strategic mistake,” suggesting that an Iranian strike this year is “highly unlikely.”
“It’s hard to see what the Iranians would gain,” said Miller. “A strike is simply going to wreak additional havoc on what the vast majority of the Iranian public is protesting against, which is inflation, a devaluation of the Iranian currency.”
Blaise Misztal, vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, echoed those sentiments, adding that any Iranian strike now while the regime in Tehran is “on the ropes” would be “suicidal.”
“It seems unlikely that Iran would choose this moment to attack Israel,” said Misztal. “While it certainly might be looking for some way to distract its citizens from their grievances, all the evidence suggests that external aggression would have the opposite effect.”
Misztal said the Iranian regime is facing skyrocketing inflation and crumbling infrastructure “because it has chosen guns over butter and Iranians know it.”
“To once again pick up guns would only further inflame Iranians’ rightful anger,” said Misztal. “Not to mention that a direct Iranian attack against Israel would surely invite a devastating Israeli, if not also American, response.”
The lingering question is whether the fear of miscalculation will push either side toward action.
At a swearing-in ceremony on Monday, interim President Delcy Rodríguez appeared to embrace the ambassadors of Iran, China and Russia
Venezuelan National Assembly/Anadolu via Getty Images
At the opening session of the National Assembly, Delcy Rodriguez (2nd L) is sworn in as acting president of Venezuela on January 5, 2026.
In the aftermath of U.S. strikes in Venezuela and the capture of leader Nicolás Maduro, uncertainty remains over whether the South American country’s ties to key U.S. adversaries and hostile posture toward Israel will change under interim President Delcy Rodríguez.
During his time in power, Maduro’s Venezuela had been deeply embedded in a broader network of U.S. adversaries, particularly Iran, Russia and China.
Dana Stroul, research director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained that Venezuela “is a key supplier of cheap oil to China and has provided fertile ground for Iran’s terrorist network abroad.”
“Venezuela under Maduro was firmly part of the anti-American bloc of countries seeking to upend the post-WWII order,” said Michael Koplow, chief policy officer at Israel Policy Forum. “Venezuela has particularly tight financial links with Iran and Hezbollah involving drugs and money laundering.”
The U.S. operation to oust Maduro was condemned by both China and Iran, who called it a violation of international law and demanded the illegitimate leader be freed. Experts have told Jewish Insider that the move potentially weakens Tehran’s hold in Latin America.
“It’s no surprise that the key enablers of the Maduro regime have all rejected the U.S. actions in Venezuela,” said Stroul. “They are now faced with the challenge of filling the Western Hemisphere gap in their network of anti-U.S. stakeholders.”
Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said China and Iran will “miss having a Venezuelan partner to poke America in the eye from close range, launder their money, run their drugs and buy their weapons.”
Maduro also positioned himself as a consistent adversary of Israel, severing diplomatic relations in 2009 and repeatedly aligning Caracas with Palestinian causes and with Iran. After Venezuela’s disputed election in July 2024, Maduro accused “international Zionism” of orchestrating unrest in the country, claiming in a televised address that “all the communication power of Zionism, which controls all the social networks, the satellites and all the power, is behind this coup d’état.”
But despite Maduro’s capture and vows from Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to return to the country and reject the authority of the interim president, the U.S. appears to be backing Rodríguez, who is closely aligned with Maduro and has shown a similar posture when it comes to Israel and U.S. adversaries, creating concerns over whether the direction of Venezuela’s foreign policy will change.
Brad Bowman, a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JI that the Trump administration’s apparent backing of Rodríguez is a “mistake” and that he doesn’t see “any reason to believe” she would depart from Maduro’s approach to U.S. adversaries.
“I have concern that we still have most of the problematic elements of the regime in Venezuela remaining in place,” said Bowman. “[Rodríguez] has been part of a regime that has been hostile to the United States and cozy with the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terror proxies. If one were a betting person, you would say at a minimum that [Rodríguez] is going to continue to harbor those problematic views toward China, Russia and Iran, if not manifest them in policy.”
At a swearing-in ceremony on Monday, the new leader appeared to embrace the ambassadors of Iran, China and Russia. In an address to the nation on Sunday, Rodríguez claimed the U.S. operation to capture the illegitimate dictator had “Zionist undertones,” echoing the sentiments of her predecessor.
“Rodríguez wasted little time before blaming Jews — or Zionists — for Maduro’s capture,” said David May, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “A junior partner of Iran, China, and Russia’s axis of aggressors and host of the Hezbollah terrorist group, the regime of [former Venezuelan dictator Hugo] Chávez and Maduro will continue to be hostile to Israel and the West.”
Koplow said Venezuela’s tight bonds with Iran and Hezbollah create an “anti-Israel narrative that is wrapped up in any action regarding Venezuela.”
“The close U.S.-Israel relationship has created a decades-long anti-American and anti-Israel front that links opposition to one as part and parcel of opposition to the other in a larger anti-imperialist position that takes an anti-Western and anti-Zionist stance, and we are seeing that play out in the Venezuela situation as well,” said Koplow.
Ruhe said Rodríguez’s claims were “sadly unsurprising,” and that “the Venezuelan government needs a perpetual enemy to justify its own rule.”
“The United States is the most obvious target, but leaders in Caracas scapegoat Jews and Israel, too,” said Ruhe, who added that the interim president’s initial statements “indicate key continuities with Maduro and Hugo Chavez before him.”
Bowman added that it is “not impossible” to change Rodríguez’s course of action away from Maduro’s past policy if it benefits her “personal political interests,” noting that it may take “an extraordinary set of incentives to get her to change course.”
Republican senators agreed President Donald Trump would make good on his threat to strike Iran again if it attempts to rebuild its nuclear capabilities
Satellite image (c) 2025 Maxar Technologies.
ISFAHAN NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY CENTER, IRAN -- JUNE 22, 2025: 04 Maxar satellite image reveals multiple buildings damaged or destroyed at the Isfahan nuclear technology center after the airstrikes. Charring and roof collapses are visible across the compound.
Lawmakers said on Monday that an additional round of U.S. strikes on Iran remains on the table if the regime makes strides in rebuilding its nuclear program or other malign activities, echoing recent warnings from President Donald Trump.
Trump also threatened last week that the U.S. would intervene to protect Iranian protesters if the regime cracked down on nationwide demonstrations, as U.S. officials are watching closely while Tehran reportedly accelerates efforts to restore its ballistic missile capabilities — developments that could spark renewed conflict with Israel and potentially the United States.
Republican senators expressed confidence that the president would strike Iranian nuclear facilities a second time if the U.S. determined that Tehran was working to restore its nuclear program.
“I think there’s a chance” Trump will strike Iran’s nuclear sites again, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told Jewish Insider. “If they go forward again and start building up nuclear facilities, yeah, I think Trump’s going to bomb the hell out of them.”
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) told JI, “President Trump is demonstrating that we have the most outstanding military in the world. And if he believes we have to hit Iran again, I believe he will do that.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) agreed but dismissed the suggestion that Trump’s willingness to order the operation that deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last week signified that the president was looking to resume strikes against Iran.
“I don’t think one’s related to the other,” Kennedy told JI. “I also think that if Iran starts back in terms of developing a nuclear weapon, or substantially tries to increase the number of missiles that they have, I think the president should hit them and I believe he will.”
Asked about Trump’s threat to intervene to prevent crackdowns on Iranian protesters, and rumors of a potential second round of Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) emphasized the threat of Iran’s missile and nuclear programs.
“We should be considering what action may be appropriate if Iran progresses with its missile building and nuclear programs, which are obviously a pressing and dire threat to us and Israel,” Blumenthal said.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), a leading voice in the Senate for constraining presidential war powers, who is pushing to block further action in Venezuela, told JI that the U.S. should not be sending in its military in response to the protests, particularly without congressional debate and approval.
“This president should not willy-nilly use the press, use the military as his palace guard to go here, there and everywhere,” Kaine said. “Not Nigeria, not Iran, not Venezuela, not international waters, not Cuba, not Mexico, not Panama, not Greenland. It should be a debate with Congress.”
He added that a constituent, whose son is an Army Ranger, urged Kaine during the holidays to work to prevent unilateral military deployments by the administration. “And I am representing one of the most pro-military states in the country, and that’s what my state thinks,” Kaine explained.
Plus, Mamdani's first mayoral moves rankle Jewish community
Nicole Combeau/Bloomberg
A resident holds a newspaper with news about ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a celebration at El Arepazo in Doral, Florida, US, on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at what the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro could mean for Iran’s influence in South America, and report on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first days in office, which included the revocation of executive orders on supporting Israel and combating antisemitism. We have the exclusive on AIPAC’s appointment of Deryn Sousa as the organization’s new spokesperson, succeeding Marshall Wittmann, and report on Jewish communal priorities on Capitol Hill in the new year. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Julie Menin, Rabbi Zvi Hershcovich and Este Haim.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- As Congress returns this week, we’ll be keeping an eye on the Hill’s response to the ongoing wave of protests across Iran, the ripple effects of the Trump administration’s arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the emerging rift among the U.S.’ Gulf allies.
- Following the winter break, lawmakers’ top priority now will be finalizing a deal on government funding before the end-of-month deadline. It’s looking less likely that we’ll see a repeat of last year’s extended government shutdown. There are still plenty of areas to be negotiated between the two chambers, including security grant funding, United Nations funding and funding levels for U.S.-Israel cooperative programs.
- We’re keeping an eye on the ongoing protests in Iran. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One last night, President Donald Trump reiterated his recent comments that the U.S. would intervene if Iranian officials were to kill protesters, having said on his Truth Social site on Friday that “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is scheduled to make his first appearance in U.S. federal court at 12 p.m. ET today, where he will appear before Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old Orthodox Jewish federal judge.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who had been planning a 2026 reelection bid, is set to make an announcement regarding his political future this morning, a day after meeting with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The impromptu press conference comes as Walz’s administration faces criticism and an investigation into widespread fraud centered around the state’s Somali diaspora population.
- U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Syria envoy Tom Barrack is mediating talks in Paris today between senior Israeli and Syrian officials, aimed at reaching a security agreement between the countries.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
As protests continue to spread throughout Iran and the geopolitical repercussions of the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ripple across world capitals, the sentiment around the Middle East and in Washington is that renewed conflict with the Islamic Republic may well be on the horizon.
While smaller than previous nationwide protests in 2019 and 2022, the newest demonstrations come as Iran is facing economic instability, crushing international sanctions and record droughts. The protests that have spread across the country in recent days are the first major demonstrations since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, with an assist from the U.S., last June that damaged the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and further destabilized Iran.
The protests in Iran were already gaining steam at the time a Delta Force team apprehended Maduro and his wife on Saturday and brought them to the U.S. to stand trial on drug trafficking charges. But the Trump administration’s decision to send elite forces into Caracas and forcibly remove Maduro signals to Tehran — as well as Moscow and Beijing — that Washington is taking a tougher approach to regimes it sees as destabilizing and threatening to U.S. interests.
The world is watching this geopolitical high-wire act with wariness. In Israel, officials are closely monitoring the instability in Iran, concerned that the regime in Tehran could move to strike Israel in an effort to consolidate domestic support and quell the protests; Israel could also see a window of opportunity to strike Iran at a weak moment, either of which could reignite warfare between Jerusalem and Tehran.
It was less than a week ago that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and discussed the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile program.
In his weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, Netanyahu addressed Iran in the context of his Palm Beach meeting last week, saying that Israel “reiterated our joint position of zero enrichment on one hand, and the need to remove the 400 kilograms of enriched material from Iran and oversee the sites with tight and genuine supervision.”
Noting that his sit-down with Trump was taking place as anti-government protests broke out in Iran, Netanyahu added, “The Government of Israel, the State of Israel, and my policy, we identify with the struggle of the Iranian people, with their aspirations for freedom, liberty, and justice. It is very possible that we are standing at the moment when the Iranian people are taking their fate into their own hands.”
DOMINO EFFECT
Toppling Maduro may weaken Iran’s hold in Latin America
The U.S.’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday is expected to weaken Iran’s terrorism efforts, weapons production and economic activity in Latin America, experts say. With Vice President Delcy Rodriguez taking power — and the Trump administration expressing willingness to work with her — it remains unclear whether Maduro’s regime will largely remain intact with American supervision or if the government will ultimately be replaced by the democratic opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Corina Machado, or someone else, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Expected impact: Emanuele Ottolenghi, senior research fellow at the Center for Research on Terror Financing, told JI that “if the regime remains in place [under Washington’s supervision], there will have to be adjustments in its regional posture and foreign policy. That means, of course, the role that nefarious foreign actors such as China, Russia, Cuba and Iran played in Venezuela will change.” Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, told JI that “the Iranians turned Venezuela into a strategic hub, and now that has disappeared.”
Bonus: Politico talks to Vandenberg Coalition head Carrie Filipetti, who served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Cuba and Venezuela during the first Trump administration, about the apprehension of Maduro and potential next steps for the U.S. vis-à-vis its Venezuela policy.
shifting alliances
Saudi Arabia pivots from moderation
Saudi Arabia is recalibrating its regional posture in ways that are challenging long-held assumptions about Riyadh’s role as a moderating force in the Middle East, as recent moves across Yemen, Sudan and the Horn of Africa expose the country’s widening rift with the United Arab Emirates and a growing alignment with Qatar and Turkey — two countries with openly hostile positions toward Israel, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs, Lahav Harkov and Matthew Shea report.
Series of events: The realignment has been most stark on the issue of Yemen, where Saudi Arabia led an airstrike on an Emirati shipment of vehicles last week that Riyadh claimed was intended for the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which has consolidated power in the country’s south as Saudi-backed efforts to stabilize the war-torn nation have stalled. Hours after the strike, the Emirati government announced it would withdraw its remaining troops from the country. The Saudis’ decision to embrace Islamist-aligned factions in Sudan, where the UAE is aligned with rival forces, has caused additional fissures with the Emiratis, putting the two U.S. allies and Gulf power players at odds. The Gulf states have also taken opposite sides on Somalia, with the UAE quietly supportive of Somaliland, while Saudi Arabia condemned Israel for recognizing its independence.
Qatari condolences: Qatari Education Minister Lolwah Al-Khater publicly mourned the death of Huthayfa Samir Abdullah Al-Kahlout, a senior Hamas military spokesman who served as the public face of the group’s media strategy during the war in Gaza, drawing renewed scrutiny of Qatar’s ties to the militant group, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
DAY ONE DOOZY
Mamdani slammed for repealing antisemitism executive orders
Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism for repealing executive orders issued by former Mayor Eric Adams aimed at tackling antisemitism, including implementing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions order. The revocation of those orders came as part of a blanket repeal of all of Adams’ executive orders following his September 2024 indictment on federal corruption charges, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Community reaction: In a joint statement, the UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, American Jewish Committee of New York, Anti-Defamation League of New York/New Jersey, Agudath Israel of America, the New York Board of Rabbis and the Orthodox Union said that the Jewish community “will be looking for clear and sustained leadership that demonstrates a serious commitment to confronting antisemitism and ensures that the powers of the mayor’s office are used to promote safety and unity, not to advance divisive efforts such as BDS.” The statement continued, “Singling Israel out for sanction is not the way to make Jewish New Yorkers feel included and safe, and will undermine any words to that effect.”
Bonus: The New York Times reports that Mamdani’s decision to issue a blanket revocation of Adams’ executive orders was made in an effort to alleviate anger by Jewish groups over the rescinding of the two orders related to Israel and antisemitism.
EXCLUSIVE
AIPAC appoints Deryn Sousa as spokesperson
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee appointed Deryn Sousa as spokesperson, replacing Marshall Wittmann, who retired at the end of 2025 after 13 years in the role. Sousa steps into the public-facing position during a time when AIPAC is regularly in the spotlight — and as the powerful pro-Israel organization faces outsized criticism from the far left and far right over its influence in the American political system, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Background: Sousa reflects a different career trajectory than that taken by Wittmann, who came to AIPAC toward the end of his career after decades working in politics in Washington, including as communications director for Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John McCain (R-AZ). Sousa has worked for AIPAC for a decade, having joined the organization soon after she graduated from the University of Georgia, where she studied Arabic and international affairs. She moved to Washington for the spokesperson role from Houston, where she served until recently as AIPAC’s Southwest regional political director.
MONEY IN THE BANK
Massie challenger raises $1.2 million in final quarter of 2025
Ed Gallrein, the Republican primary challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) backed by President Donald Trump, said Friday that he had raised $1.2 million in the final quarter of 2025, a sizable sum that puts him in strong financial shape in preparation for a grueling race against Massie. Gallrein’s fundraising haul signals that he’s a more viable candidate than Massie’s previous challengers, and highlights the power of Trump’s endorsement, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Moving against Massie: Trump and his allies have also committed significant resources to the effort to defeat Massie, an isolationist Republican who has frequently opposed legislation to combat antisemitism and has broken with Trump on many key elements of his agenda, including on issues related to Israel and Iran. “This fundraising number reflects the overwhelming support Ed’s campaign has received right out of the gate,” Gallrein spokesperson Lance Trover said in a statement. “President Trump endorsed Ed because he knows Ed is fighting to put America First and will partner with him to unleash our economy, lower taxes, and stop the woke agenda.”
ON THE AGENDA
Security remains Jewish community’s top lobbying priority for 2026
Going into 2026, Jewish community groups said their advocacy priorities for Congress and the federal government remain largely consistent, with a focus across many of the major advocacy organizations on bolstering community security through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and tackling antisemitism online, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
The hurdles: While Congress has increased its attention to Jewish communal issues in the years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, including a string of high-profile hearings on antisemitism and several bills passed to support Israel and combat Iran, many key legislative priorities for the Jewish community — including bills on antisemitism and substantial increases to annual security funding for nonprofits — have remained stubbornly intractable.
Worthy Reads
American Muscle: Politico’s Sophia Cai, Felicia Schwartz, Dasha Burns and Eric Bazail-Eimil posit that the Trump administration is taking a more hawkish approach to foreign policy in its second term. “The Saturday morning raid is a brazen escalation of U.S. involvement in a foreign country that landed the same weekend Trump publicly threatened to defend Iranian demonstrators against their own government. It serves as a fitting coda to Trump’s first year back in power, one marked by dramatically more involvement in foreign conflicts than candidate Trump or first-term Trump predicted. … Still, the move against [Nicolás] Maduro would have been almost unimaginable during Trump’s first term and during the heat of the 2024 campaign, when Trump adopted the views of restrainers who were skeptical of unconditional aid to Ukraine and spoke of the need to stop engaging in ‘forever wars.’” [Politico]
The Ties That Bind: In The Wall Street Journal, Armin Rosen observes the relationship between Somaliland and Israel, the latter of which was the first country to recognize Hargeisa’s independence last month. “Across 1,600 miles of distance, there is a surprisingly deep kinship between Hargeisa and Jerusalem. … Both countries see themselves as global outsiders waging a long campaign for legitimacy and respect. Israeli citizens and products are still banned in dozens of Muslim countries. As an unrecognized state, Somaliland lacks access to the Swift system for clearing international financial transactions, and its government is effectively blocked from borrowing meaningful amounts of money. Like Israel, a poor, war-ravaged and diplomatically isolated desert outpost during its first decades of existence, Somaliland has to find its way without much help.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
The New York Post interviews New York City Councilmember Julie Menin about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as Menin, who is Jewish, is expected to become city council speaker; Menin said she called Mamdani shortly after his revocation of Israel- and antisemitism-related executive orders to express her concern over the moves…
Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate James Fishback is facing resurgent allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a minor who worked at his nonprofit organization in 2022; Fishback called the allegations “completely false”…
Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch interviews Zvi Hershcovich, the Philadelphia-based Chabad rabbi running a digital clubhouse for Jewish hockey fanatics…
The Chabad house in Kathmandu, Nepal, is temporarily closed following a dispute with the building’s landlord; Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz and Rebbetzin Chani Lifshitz are looking for a new site for the Chabad house, which is a popular site for Israeli and Jewish trekkers and gained fame for hosting the largest Passover Seder in the world…
The New York Times reports on efforts to repatriate items that had belonged to Holocaust victims to their descendants…
A new report from the Israel Advanced Technology Industries Association found that more than half of the companies surveyed saw an increase in requests from employees to relocate outside of Israel…
Einav Zangauker, who gained prominence in Israel for her advocacy on behalf of her son, Matan, who was a hostage in Gaza, announced Matan’s engagement to Ilana Gritzewsky; Zangauker was released from Hamas captivity in October 2025, while Gritzewsky, who was also taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, was freed in November 2023…
Former Israeli hostage Romi Gonen recounted multiple incidents of sexual assault during the 471 days she spent in Hamas captivity in Gaza, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12…
The BBC reached a five-figure settlement with an Israeli family from the Gaza envelope whose home a BBC reporting team filmed from without permission in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…
Egypt and Qatar inked an agreement that will see Doha sending gas to Cairo as Egypt works to diversify its national gas imports…
Swiss officials identified the bodies of Israeli teenager Charlotte Needham and Jewish sisters Alicia and Diana Gunst, who died in a fire at a Swiss ski resort on New Year’s Eve…
Singer Este Haim married tech entrepreneur Jonathan Levin in a New Year’s Eve wedding in Los Angeles…
eJewishPhilanthropy talks to friends and colleagues of philanthropist Morris Kahn, who died last week at 95…
Former Orthodox Union head Rabbi Julius Berman, who previously served as chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and chair of the board at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, died at 80… Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of Anne Frank, died at 96… Holocaust survivor Edward Gastfriend, who was instrumental in the creation of Philadelphia’s Holocaust Memorial Plaza, died at 100… Record executive and political activist Howie Klein died at 77 (read Phil Klein’s obituary for his father in the National Review here)… Journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Amb. Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, died at 35… Former Rep. Dick Zimmer (R-NJ) died at 81… Richard Pollak, the founder and editor of More magazine, died at 91… Piano virtuoso Gary Graffman died at 87… Longtime Upper East Side veterinarian Lewis Berman, whose clientele included the pets of numerous celebrities and high-profile figures, died at 90…
Pic of the Day
Israel’s Noa Szollos finished 28th in the Women’s Slalom race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2025-2026, earning Israel’s first-ever World Cup points in alpine skiing.
Birthdays
Tennis player ranked No. 1 in Israel for most of 2022, Yshai Oliel turns 26..
Author of 10 books including Mitzvah Man and collections of short fiction including Minyan: Ten Interwoven Stories, John Jacob Clayton turns 91… Sports journalist, author and former ombudsman for ESPN, Robert Lipsyte turns 88… NBA superfan who attends over 100 basketball games nationally each season, James F. Goldstein turns 86… Former member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party, Eliyahu Gabai turns 83… Former Philadelphia mayor for eight years, and then another eight years as Pennsylvania’s governor, currently a special counsel at Ballard Spahr, Ed Rendell turns 82… Retired attorney from Latham & Watkins, Paul Israel Meyer… San Diego-based attorney, she served as a member of Congress and as chief of staff for former California Gov. Gray Davis, Lynn Alice Schenk turns 81… Former attorney general of the U.K, now London co-managing partner and chair of the European and Asian litigation practice at Debevoise & Plimpton, Lord Peter Goldsmith turns 76… CEO of Legacy Interactive / Legacy Games, Ariella Lehrer, Ph.D…. Founder and principal of DC-based Mager & Associates, a boutique public policy and advocacy consulting firm, Mimi Mager… Retired chairman of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet LeYisrael), Daniel “Danny” Atar turns 68… Journalist John F. Solomon turns 59… Actress and television personality, she is best known for her nine seasons on “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” Heather Paige Kent Dubrow turns 57… Partner of both the law firm Galper & Goldberg PLLC and the PR firm Trident GMG, Joshua P. Galper… Professional poker player with more than $29 million of winnings, including $10 million at the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship, Michael Mizrachi turns 45… NYC-based saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, Oded Tzur turns 42… Founder and creative director of Alsall Studio, a social media and web design firm, Alexandra Lauren Sall…
The newest demonstrations come as Iran is facing economic instability, crushing international sanctions and record drought
Olivier Douliery/Abaca/Sipa USA via AP Images
Activists take part in a rally supporting protestors in Iran at Lafayette Square, across from the White House in Washington, DC on January 3, 2026.
As protests continue to spread throughout Iran and the geopolitical repercussions of the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ripple across world capitals, the sentiment around the Middle East and in Washington is that renewed conflict with the Islamic Republic may well be on the horizon.
While smaller than previous nationwide protests in 2019 and 2022, the newest demonstrations come as Iran is facing economic instability, crushing international sanctions and record droughts. The protests that have spread across the country in recent days are the first major demonstrations since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, with an assist from the U.S., last June that damaged the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and further destabilized Iran.
The protests in Iran were already gaining steam at the time a Delta Force team apprehended Maduro and his wife on Saturday and brought them to the U.S. to stand trial on drug trafficking charges. But the Trump administration’s decision to send elite forces into Caracas and forcibly remove Maduro signals to Tehran — as well as Moscow and Beijing — that Washington is taking a tougher approach to regimes it sees as destabilizing and threatening to U.S. interests.
The world is watching this geopolitical high-wire act with uncertainty. In Israel, officials are closely monitoring the instability in Iran, concerned that the regime in Tehran could move to strike Israel in an effort to consolidate domestic support and quell the protests; Israel could also see a window of opportunity to strike Iran at a weak moment, either of which could reignite warfare between Jerusalem and Tehran. It was less than a week ago that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and discussed the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile program.
In his weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, Netanyahu addressed Iran in the context of his Palm Beach meeting last week, saying that Israel “reiterated our joint position of zero enrichment on one hand, and the need to remove the 400 kilograms of enriched material from Iran and oversee the sites with tight and genuine supervision.”
Noting that his sit-down with Trump was taking place as anti-government protests broke out in Iran, Netanyahu added, “The Government of Israel, the State of Israel, and my policy, we identify with the struggle of the Iranian people, with their aspirations for freedom, liberty, and justice. It is very possible that we are standing at the moment when the Iranian people are taking their fate into their own hands.”
With an eye toward Washington, the question is whether Trump will back future military action in Iran, after his success ousting Maduro in Caracas. Despite the widespread protests in Iran, there is no consolidated opposition, where the regime’s opponents are, as The Atlantic’s Arash Azizi writes, “hopelessly disorganized and disunited.”
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One last night, Trump reiterated his recent comments that the U.S. would intervene if Iranian officials were to kill protesters, having said on his Truth Social site on Friday that “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
The Associated Press, citing human rights activists, reported that 15 people had been killed as of Saturday, the same day that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public comments since the outbreak of protests, saying that “rioters must be put in their place.”
Iran’s political leadership appears at an impasse in its efforts to contain the demonstrations — or improve the conditions that led to them — with the hands of President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials largely tied by the supreme leader. That could push the regime to act out of desperation — or to collapse entirely.
An increasingly unlikely scenario is that the protests fizzle out and Khamenei reasserts control — a move that would likely need to occur alongside an economic upturn to pull the rial up from record lows.
The first days of 2026 have seen tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets across Iran and an administration in Washington flexing its military power, setting the stage for a potential power realignment in the Middle East and around the world.
Caracas served as the hub of Tehran's operations in the Western Hemisphere
PEDRO MATTEY/AFP via Getty Images
A woman carrying an Iranian flag and a Venezuelan flag participates in a march in Caracas on June 25, 2025.
The U.S.’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday is expected to weaken Iran’s terrorism efforts, weapons production and economic activity in Latin America, experts say.
With Vice President Delcy Rodriguez taking power — and the Trump administration expressing willingness to work with her — it remains unclear whether Maduro’s regime will largely remain intact with American supervision or if the government will ultimately be replaced by the democratic opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Corina Machado, or someone else.
While Venezuela’s future remains unclear, Israel’s leaders applauded what they saw as a pro-American turn, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing support for the Trump administration’s “determined decision and action of the United States to restore freedom and justice to that part of the world.”
“Across Latin America right now, we are seeing a transformation,” Netanyahu said. “Several countries are returning to the American axis and, not surprisingly, to a connection with the State of Israel. We welcome this.”
Emmanuele Ottolenghi, senior research fellow at the Center for Research on Terror Financing, told Jewish Insider that “if the regime remains in place [under Washington’s supervision], there will have to be adjustments in its regional posture and foreign policy. That means, of course, the role that nefarious foreign actors such as China, Russia, Cuba and Iran played in Venezuela will change.”
Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, told JI that “the Iranians turned Venezuela into a strategic hub, and now that has disappeared.”
“Iran built a very deep operative and strategic relationship with [Maduro’s predecessor Hugo] Chavez, and it uses Venezuela … as its jumping-off point for influence in Latin America,” he said.
Ottolenghi said that Maduro’s government allowed Iran to operate freely in Venezuela, which Tehran took advantage of in a variety of arenas, including propaganda, terrorism and arms manufacturing.
Tehran established a drone factory in Venezuela, in which Venezuelans produced Iranian drones, Ottolenghi said.
The recently foiled terrorist plot to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico was planned by Iranian operatives in Caracas, Ottolenghi added.
“The Iranians made Caracas the hub of all their propaganda and soft power operations in the region, including their Spanish-language 24/7 news network,” Ottolenghi said. “They established a permanent presence in Caracas for their missionary network, under the umbrella of the sanctioned Al-Mustafa International University.”
After former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Caracas in 2023, scientific and academic exchanges between the countries grew, and Iran was granted greater access to Venezuela’s economy.
The economic relationship with Venezuela has been important for Iran, Ottolenghi said.
“Venezuela assisted Iran in evading sanctions prior to the JCPOA [2015 Iranian nuclear deal], but since 2019-2020, when the Venezuelan economy sharply deteriorated, Iran gained the upper hand in the relationship,” he said. “Maduro essentially joined the ‘axis of resistance.’”
The country with the largest proven oil reserves in the world needed to buy refined gasoline from Iran because of “the dramatic deterioration in quality in the oil industry in Venezuela after years of cronyism, brain drain, corruption and mismanagement purging the national oil company,” Ottolenghi explained. “The Iranians stepped in to stop Venezuela from collapsing for lack of refined [oil] products, providing technicians, technology, refined gasoline shipped from Iran in exchange for gold. That gave [Iran] even more leverage inside Venezuela, including the ability to operate one of the refineries for their own needs.”
As for Hezbollah, Citrinowicz noted that the Lebanese terrorist organization is “very important to [Iran], in that it connects the Shi’ite communities in Latin America.”
Ottolenghi said that Hezbollah “benefitted from both the protection of the regime and the large expat community of Lebanese immigrants and their descendants … who are sympathetic to the movement and enabled them to become involved in money laundering and other financial activities … including crypto and reportedly illegal gold mining in the southeast of the country.”
Though Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy, it has independent sources of income, including the Latin American drug trade.
Maduro’s fall “will make it hard [for Hezbollah] to keep up those ties,” Citrinowicz said.
Ottolenghi said that “traditionally, [Hezbollah] has played mainly the role of intermediary for drug cartels, providing services in logistics, distribution and financial channels to move the money in complex translational transactions.”
However, he noted that, as opposed to Tehran, Hezbollah’s operations in Latin America have not been primarily based in Venezuela, and that until recently, the terrorist group’s senior official in Latin America was based in São Paolo, Brazil.
“Insofar as Maduro’s removal may curb Iran’s influence and its proxies in Venezuela, it does not address necessarily what Hezbollah is doing in other countries,” Ottolenghi said.
Maduro’s fall is one of “a series of blows” to Iran in recent years, Citrinowicz said, with the governments of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina turning more pro-American, and the same is likely to happen in Colombia in its upcoming presidential election.
“Iran likes working with socialist regimes that counter the West,” Citrinowicz said. “They can’t leave Latin America entirely. … They will need to work with what’s left and emphasize Cuba and Nicaragua.”
Citrinowicz said that Iran will likely pivot its investments of time and money to Africa.
Meeting in Florida, Trump and Netanyahu projected unity but highlighted disagreements on Turkey, Syria and the West Bank
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida.
President Donald Trump vowed on Monday that he would support the U.S. or Israel launching another round of strikes against Iran if Tehran is attempting to rebuild its ballistic missile program or nuclear facilities.
Trump made the comments while speaking to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the latter’s fifth visit to the United States this year.
Asked if he will support another Israeli attack on Iran if they continue their ballistic missile and nuclear programs, Trump said, “If they continue with the missiles? Yes. If the nuclear? Fast, okay? One will be yes, absolutely; the other was, we’ll do it immediately.”
He added later, “If they are [rearming], we’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that build up. … We don’t want to waste the fuel on a B-2 [bomber]. It’s a 37-hour trip, both ways, I don’t want to waste a lot of fuel,” suggesting the U.S. would again utilize its bomber jets that conducted the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The president repeatedly urged Tehran to return to the negotiating table with the U.S. while cautioning that the regime would face consequences for declining his offer to address the nuclear issue diplomatically. “They could have made a deal the last time before we went through the big attack on them, and they decided not to make the deal. They wish they made that deal. So I think, again, they should make a deal,” he said.
About reports that Iran is rearming, Trump said, “Iran may be behaving badly. It hasn’t been confirmed, but if it’s confirmed, look, they know the consequences.”
“This is just what we hear, but usually where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” he continued. “I’m hearing that their [efforts are] not nuclear yet, but maybe nuclear, too. The sites were obliterated, but they’re looking at other sites [than the ones the U.S. bombed in June]. That’s what I’ve heard. They’re looking. It’ll take a long time. They’re not going to go back to where they were, but they have other places they can go. And if they’re doing that, they’re making a big mistake.”
Trump repeatedly praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his remarks with Netanyahu, pledging to thaw tensions between the Turkish and Israeli leaders and repeated that he was “very seriously” considering approving Turkey’s longstanding requests to purchase F-35 fighter jets from the United States. “We’re thinking about it very seriously,” Trump said about the move, which Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said last month that Israel opposes.
“I know President Erdogan very well, and as you all know, he’s a very good friend of mine … and I do respect him and Bibi respects him, and they’re not going to have a problem,” Trump said.
Speaking to reporters alongside Netanyahu ahead of their meeting, Trump also voiced his support for Turkey joining the proposed U.S.-led International Stabilization Force to be deployed in Gaza.
“I have a great relationship with President Erdogan, and we’ll be talking about it. And if it’s good, I think that’s good. And a lot will be having to do with Bibi, we’re going to be talking about that,” Trump said. “But Turkey has been great, and he [Erdogan] has been excellent, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know about you [Netanyahu], but to me he’s been very good.”
Netanyahu did not comment on the suggestion at the time or during the press conference later on, though Israel, as well as several U.S. lawmakers, has said it opposes Ankara’s involvement in the proposed peacekeeping force due largely to Turkey’s ties to Hamas, despite the supportive posture from the Trump administration.
The president later used the topic of Syria to again praise Erdogan, arguing the Turkish leader deserved “a lot of credit” for ousting the Assad regime.
“Don’t forget, it was President Erdogan that helped very much get rid of a very bad ruler of Syria. That was President Erdogan, and he never wanted the credit for it, but he really gets a lot of credit. Bibi agrees with that. … I know it,” Trump told reporters.
The president went on to say that the U.S. and Israel “have an understanding regarding Syria” and that he was working to improve relations between the Jewish state and its neighbor, praising Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa along the way.
“We do have an understanding regarding Syria. Now with Syria, your new president. I respect him. He’s a very strong guy. That’s what you need in Syria. You can’t put a choir boy, you can’t put somebody that’s a perfect person — everything’s nice, no problems in life,” Trump said.
“I’m sure that Israel and him will get along,” he continued. “I will try and make it so that they do get along. I think they will.”
For its part, Israel has been wary of al-Sharaa and the new Syrian government, with the IDF maintaining control of the 155-square-mile buffer zone between the two countries since the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad last year, against Damascus’ wishes. Israel and Syria have also continued to disagree on the contours of a potential security agreement, which the Trump administration has continuously sought, with Netanyahu maintaining that any agreement must require Syria to accept the demilitarization of territory stretching from southern Damascus to the Israeli border.
Trump was also asked about the Lebanese government’s failure thus far to disarm Hezbollah, amid reports that the terror group is rearming. The president demurred when pressed on his support of Israel striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon again as a result, instead only acknowledging his disapproval with the terrorist organization.
“Well, we’re going to see about that. We’ll see about it,” Trump said. “The Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage, if you think of it, with Hezbollah, but Hezbollah has been behaving badly. So we’ll see what happens.”
Asked about attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, Trump acknowledged that he and Netanyahu discussed the West Bank during the meeting and that they’re not in complete alignment on the issue. Still, Trump expressed confidence that all parties would reach “a conclusion” to prevent the matter from undermining the implementation of his broader peace plan, though he declined to offer specifics.
“Well, we have had a discussion, big discussion, for a long time on the West Bank. And I wouldn’t say we agree on the West Bank 100%, but we will come to a conclusion on the West Bank. … It’ll be announced at an appropriate time, but [Netanyahu] will do the right thing. I know that. I know him very well. He will do the right thing,” he said.
Trump also expressed gratitude during his remarks for being named the recipient of the Israel Prize, the Jewish state’s highest cultural honor awarded by the country’s education minister. Netanyahu said Trump will be the first non-Israeli to receive the award, which the president said “really is a great honor.”
Netanyahu invited Trump to visit Israel on Yom Ha’atzmaut, the Jewish state’s independence day, in April, which will be an election year, to receive the award in person.
Joined by Trump at his the meeting with Netanyahu were White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles; Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy at the White House; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Steve Witkoff, the White House’s Mideast envoy; and Jared Kushner, Trump’s advisor on Middle East efforts.
Netanyahu also met individually with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth while at the president’s property.
As they denounce the UAE’s alleged backing of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, far-left lawmakers have passed over the Muslim Brotherhood affiliations and foreign backing of the rival Sudanese Armed Forces
Tariq Mohamed/Xinhua via Getty Images
Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan in the vehicle, chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council and commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces SAF, departs from the Presidential Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, on March 26, 2025.
In recent days, a chorus of left-wing lawmakers in Congress have ramped up their ire towards the United Arab Emirates, accusing the Gulf country of helping fuel the yearslong civil war in Sudan by reportedly backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the non-Islamist Arab force fighting the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
The UAE has long denied allegations of involvement in the war. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that, according to sources, recent assessments by the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department’s intelligence bureau purport to show the UAE sending Chinese drones to the RSF.
On the other side, Iran, Russia, Egypt and Turkey have provided support to the SAF, according to conflict monitors and reporting by Bloomberg and The Washington Post.
The war in Sudan has wrought havoc upon the eastern African nation, with both warring factions committing crimes against humanity. The conflict has killed as many as 150,000 people and has displaced around 12 million.
Over the more than two-year long conflict, both militias have been accused of widespread sexual assault, mass killings of civilians, torture and deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure. On Monday, the RSF captured the city of El Fasher after an 18-month blockade which saw the group effectively devastate the city, with reports of mass killings, sexual violence and the destruction of hospitals and displacement camps.
The U.S. government, under former President Joe Biden, determined the RSF was committing genocide and found both the RSF and SAF guilty of committing war crimes.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood’s growing influence with the Sudanese Armed Forces has alarmed experts, who warn that the SAF’s deepening ties to Islamist networks threaten regional stability and could pose a risk far beyond the eastern African nation.
“The Muslim Brotherhood has had a strong presence in Sudan since the 1940s and that presence has evolved over the years,” Norman Roule, a former senior U.S. intelligence official, told Jewish Insider. “It’s important to note that this presence is also why Iran is such a strong supporter of the Burhan [head of SAF] government.”
Liam Karr, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, who has condemned actions on both sides of the conflict, says the ties date back to former Islamist dictator Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for several decades before the SAF overthrew him in 2019.
“The SAF is working with several Islamist brigades that consist of former Bashir-era army, police and intelligence personnel,” Karr told JI. “This includes the al Baraa Ibn Malik Brigade, which is widely associated with the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood and Bashir and has an estimated 20,000 fighters.”
In recent months, the SAF has received explosive attack drones from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to aid in the conflict, while Egypt, one of their key backers, arrested a key Islamist militia leader aligned with the group — signaling that even staunch regional supporters of the group are “growing wary of its Islamist factions,” according to Foundation for Defense of Democracies Research Fellow Hussain Adbul-Hussain.
Roule said Iran has a vested interest in providing the SAF with weaponry in order to reestablish a presence in the region and revitalize their “broken proxies,” following Israel’s degrading of its military capabilities and of its proxy Hezbollah, as well as the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.
“This is of extreme importance to the U.S. and its partners in the region, because if the Quds Force [IRGC] is able to establish a presence it lost in Syria, it would be able to reestablish training camps it operated a decade ago for Hamas smugglers, routes for weapons that it could send back into Gaza and revitalize Lebanese Hezbollah, as well as provide a transshipment location of weapons to the Houthis,” said Roule. “The Muslim Brotherhood presence in Khartoum is of serious concern for the United States and deserves much greater attention. It is a significant threat to the United States, Israel and the region.”
Anti-Israel lawmakers, including some of the Jewish state’s most vocal critics in the House, have sounded the alarm on the RSF, but have notably glossed over the SAF and its increasingly Islamist alignment.
“Sudan is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and a genocide,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in a post on social media on Tuesday. “The UAE and other arms dealers to the RSF and RSF-aligned militias must be held accountable.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) echoed the same sentiment, saying she is “horrified” by the RSF’s “mass killings of civilians.”
“We must do everything in our power to stop this genocide, including cutting off all weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates who are arming and funding this ethnic cleansing,” said Tlaib on social media on Wednesday.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) followed suit and similarly directed his criticism at the Emirates.
“I am incredibly concerned about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and the atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces,” Castro wrote on social media on Wednesday. “The United States must put pressure on the RSF and those who back it — including the United Arab Emirates — to end these atrocities.”
A number of far-left activists online have also singled out the RSF and its reported Emirati ties for condemnation.
Kenneth Roth, a virulent critic of Israel and former head of Human Rights Watch, posted on Tuesday, “British arms sold to the United Arab Emirates are being found in Sudan, where the UAE is arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces as they commit genocide.”
“Both the Biden and Trump administrations refused to hold the UAE accountable as it armed Sudan’s RSF, despite massacre after massacre, atrocity after atrocity,” wrote New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, adding, “Members of Congress are showing more responsibility and initiative.”
House Democrats, led by Reps. Gregory Meeks and Sara Jacobs, released a statement in April marking the two year anniversary of the conflict. “External actors like the UAE must immediately stop fueling the conflict by arming the warring parties,” the statement said notably only listing the UAE and omitting any mention of Turkey, Iran, Russia, and other countries who have sent arms to factions in Sudan.
A bi-partisan group of senators, including Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, released a statement on Thursday breaking in tone from the other lawmakers – condemning both sides and making mention of all nations reportedly backing the war.
“Both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have committed atrocities against civilians and pursued a zero-sum war at any cost,” the lawmakers said in a statement. “Foreign backers of the RSF and SAF-including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Russia, Iran, China and governments in the immediate region-have fueled and profited from the conflict and legitimized the monsters destroying Sudan,” the senators continued.
Secular forces in Sudan have called for the country’s Islamist movement to be classified as a terrorist group, according to Hussain. Sudan’s Civil Democratic Alliance of Revolutionary Forces (Sumud) has stated that the “Islamist movement sees no pathway for ending the fighting other than the complete submission of the Sudanese people to its terrorist regime, an arrangement that has never achieved peace.”
Karr says the Trump administration and the SAF’s own partners have put “heavy pressure” on the group to “distance itself politically from the Islamist groups.” Karr also believes pressure should be applied to the RSF.
In his second term, President Donald Trump voiced support for designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Various members of congress have introduced legislation that would require the secretary of state to use this designation, though Congress has yet to move forward with the legislation.
Sen. Lindsey Graham sounded skeptical that Hamas would accept the deal: ‘Distrust and verify with these guys’
Amir Levy/Getty Images
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks at a press conference on US-Israel relations on February 17, 2025 at the Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Senators reacted with cautious optimism — and a degree of skepticism — to President Donald Trump’s announcement on Monday of a sweeping deal that would end the war in Gaza, see the release of the remaining hostages and facilitate reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned that the execution of the deal would require close monitoring of Hamas’ compliance and that long-term peace in the region will likely require eliminating Iran’s other proxies, in addition to Hamas.
“I hope Hamas agrees — we’ll get the hostages home. Distrust and verify with these guys,” Graham said. “A lot of loopholes if you don’t watch it, but I hope we can land this deal.”
“When you talk about normalizing the Mideast, I’m all for that. But after Oct. 7, we have to learn one thing: As long as radical Islamic terrorist groups exist, you can’t have a normal Mideast,” Graham continued. “I hope we can land this deal and bring the hostages home and start a new chapter in Gaza and the West Bank, but I will never support normalization until Hezbollah is dealt with. You cannot say the Mideast is a normal place as long as Hezbollah is a threat the way it is today.”
He said that he’s concerned that Hezbollah would replicate Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack if Israel and Saudi Arabia again begin to move toward normalization again before the Lebanese terror group is eliminated.
“If we do the Hamas deal, we should insist that the region deal with Hezbollah and take them both down, then eventually the Houthis,” he continued. “My takeaway of Oct. 7 is if you don’t have these radical groups in a box, you can never really achieve peace.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said that there are “some details to be filled in, but I think by and large this seems like a very encouraging development.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) was hesitant to offer an assessment of the deal before Hamas had agreed to the terms.
“It’s the deal that hasn’t happened yet. It’d be nice. I mean, I guess it would be great if we get the hostages back and we get a ceasefire and we get to rebuild Gaza. That all sounds really good. I’m glad that Trump cares about this. It seems optimistic,” he told JI.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) expressed some hesitation about engaging with the Qataris and taking a deal, but suggested Trump was ready to bring the conflict to a close.
“It’s bold. It’s gutsy on the president’s part. I just will believe it when I see it. I’m just so skeptical of one side in this, getting Qatar in there and involved,” Cramer told JI. “Clearly we’re playing along a little. I don’t know. I just don’t know. I think the timing for Trump is sort of like, ‘Okay, now’s the time [for a ceasefire]. We’ve done the dance long enough.’”
Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) said he’s reviewing the plan, adding that the elimination of Hamas is a necessity.
“You can’t have Hamas promising the destruction of Israel,” he continued. “As long as there’s no threat, I see an opportunity here, but you can’t make a deal with somebody that wants to exterminate you.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Jim Risch (R-ID) praised the plan on X. “President Trump again shows his commitment to peace with his plan to bring all the hostages home, end the war in Gaza and transition to a future that allows the Palestinian people to prosper without Hamas’ terror schemes,” Risch said. “Anyone who wants a better future for the Palestinian people should join this pursuit of peace.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Jewish Insider he’s “glad they look like they’re moving toward peace.”
“I don’t think Israel is worried any longer about being popular. I think Israel was worried about its survival, and I respect that. And they’re going to do whatever it takes,” Kennedy continued. “Now, will Hamas accept it? I don’t know. I really don’t know. I hope they do. But if they don’t, I think Israel needs to continue to do what it’s been doing and wipe Hamas off the face of the earth.”
Democrats expressed hope that the deal would bring the war to a close.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told JI, “I’m encouraged the president’s engaging directly and saying this war must end. Humanitarian relief needs to go in, hostages need to come out, there needs to be a plan going forward for Gaza,” but said he hadn’t seen the details of Trump’s announcement.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that he was not familiar with the specifics of the plan. “If there’s a ceasefire and return of the hostages and humanitarian relief, bravo,” Blumenthal said.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s Gaza operations in the Senate, told JI he hadn’t reviewed the plan but “my main concern [is to] start getting food and medicine in. That has to happen immediately.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. “I call on Hamas to accept, and Israel to faithfully implement, the proposal laid out by the United States.”
Prior to the meeting, leading Senate Democrats had urged Trump to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a hostage deal that ends the war, as well as to pressure Netanyahu to rule out annexation of the West Bank.
‘It was made very clear to us it was not enough to just negotiate over their nuclear ambitions, that in their weakened state, you could not separate Iran's malignancy when it comes to all of their activity,’ she said
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Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) speaks during a press conference on new legislation to support Holocaust education nationwide at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 27, 2023, in Washington, D.C.
Arab and Israeli leaders are insisting that any U.S. deal with Iran also include provisions to address Iran’s other malign activities in the region, including support for terrorist proxies, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) told Jewish Insider following a trip earlier this month to meet with Israeli and Arab leaders in the Middle East.
Wasserman Schultz traveled with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) to the Middle East for the third time since Oct. 7, 2023, visiting Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan.
“There was a very clear urgency that the leaders we spoke to had to make sure that we … don’t let Iran up from their very weakened state. They’ve been badly pummeled and had significant defeats,” Wasserman Schultz told JI last week. “The consensus across the region, no matter where we went, was that we needed to make sure that continued and that we prevented them from achieving their nuclear weapons goals and that we particularly prevented them from continuing their support for terrorist activity.”
She said that notion was raised by multiple leaders without prompting from the U.S. lawmakers.
She said that “across the board” the leaders shared her view that any deal with Iran must “include defanging them — and that was a term that was used repeatedly, defanging them — and stopping them from continuing to terrorize” the region.
“It was made very clear to us it was not enough to just negotiate over their nuclear ambitions, that in their weakened state, you could not separate Iran’s malignancy when it comes to all of their activity — particularly if they got any relief from sanctions,” she said.
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, the lead negotiator for the U.S. in talks with Iran, suggested in a recent Fox News interview that the U.S. would consider allowing Iran to retain its enrichment capacity as part of a deal — a statement he later walked back — while Wasserman Schultz and Ernst were in the region. The outline Witkoff provided on Fox appeared to many to be equivalent to the original 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action which Trump withdrew from in his first term.
Wasserman Schultz called it “incredibly hypocritical” for officials from the new Trump administration, such as Witkoff, to endorse terms of a deal similar to the JCPOA. Wasserman Schultz ultimately voted for the JCPOA in 2015 and calls it “the most difficult vote I’ve cast in all the years I’ve been in Congress.”
She called on Witkoff and the American negotiators to seek a deal stronger than the original JCPOA, making her the latest pro-Israel Democrat to raise concerns about the potential terms of a new deal with Iran.
She said she’s “frustrated and concerned … and even angry” that the administration seems to be going “from pillar to post. Their discussions seem like they’re happening on quicksand and I have seen nothing that looks different than the agreement that [Trump] pulled out of.”
With Iran significantly weaker and more vulnerable than it was in 2015, Wasserman Schultz said the U.S. must seize the opportunity to push for a more comprehensive deal to prevent Iranian terrorist activity and stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
If the U.S. does return to a deal similar to the JCPOA, Wasserman Schultz said that the ultimate result of Trump’s withdrawal from the original deal would have been allowing Iran to get “perilously close to a nuclear weapon” and removing the option to strengthen the original agreement through further negotiations.
Wasserman Schultz said that she told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who aggressively opposed the 2015 deal, that she expected he would offer “the same howling pushback that occurred back during the Obama years when those negotiations were taking place” if Trump moves toward a deal similar to the JCPOA.
Wasserman Schultz and Ernst also discussed the ongoing war with Hamas in their meeting with Netanyahu. Compared to previous meetings, Wasserman Schultz said she believed that the prime minister and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer outlined more comprehensive and specific strategies to achieve the release of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza.
“I probably have met with him five or six times over the course of the last year and a half there in Israel and in the U.S.,” Wasserman Schultz explained. “I was glad to see that they had varying approaches in terms of their negotiations and strategy with the ceasefire and hostage deals that they’re discussing. I was glad to see that and hear for the first time Dermer — and Netanyahu too — talk about the various options that they had, as opposed to it being a more minimalist conversation.”
Wasserman Schultz said she and Ernst had also spoken to Arab leaders about their proposals for post-war Gaza and achieving Saudi-Israeli normalization. She said the Arab leaders had been “very clear-eyed” about the difficulties of finding credible Palestinian leadership able to help move toward an eventual Palestinian state, but said they believed it was possible.
“I came away feeling like there could be some progress made. But it was clear that as a result of the war in Gaza, the signs of progress that we had hoped for when we were in Saudi Arabia on the night of Oct. 6 [2023] [were] further away at the moment than [they were] then,” Wasserman Schultz said.
But she added that the countries which have normalized relations with Israel are not retreating from those agreements and remain committed to them, highlighting as one example of the progress made that she was able to attend a Seder on the first night of Passover in Abu Dhabi.
Graham, on Fox News Sunday: ‘There's an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven't seen in decades’
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reiterated his hope that the United States would support Israel if it chooses to strike Iran’s nuclear program.
Graham made the comments during a Fox News Sunday appearance after being asked about a resolution he introduced alongside Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)stating that “all options should be considered” with respect to addressing the nuclear program.
“The Israelis are going to have to make a decision relatively soon [on] what to do about the Iran nuclear program,” Graham said.
“I am here to tell you and the audience in the world that I think America should support an effort by Israel if they decide to decimate the Iranian nuclear program because I think it’s a threat to mankind. Israel is strong. Iran is weak. Hezbollah, Hamas have been decimated. They’re not finished off, but they’ve been weakened. And there’s an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven’t seen in decades.”
Graham, who repeatedly praised Fetterman as “a champion” for the pro-Israel cause, added that he believed “it would be in the world’s interest for us to decimate the Iranian nuclear threat while we can. If we don’t, we will regret it later.”
He also clarified that he was urging U.S. support for an Israeli strike, not a U.S. military-led operation. “They [the Israelis] need some assistance, but it would be their actions,” Graham said.
The comments come as speculation mounts about how President Donald Trump will approach the issue of a nuclear Iran. The second Trump administration is expected to reimpose the “maximum-pressure” sanctions policy against Iran that it utilized during Trump’s first term.
Trump has also expressed interest in a new diplomatic agreement with Iran, a move that would run counter to his approach in the region during his first term.
The president, after signing a series of executive orders, said he hopes to avoid military action against Iran
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Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff introduces U.S. President Donald Trump during an indoor inauguration parade at Capital One Arena
President Donald Trump refuted reports that Steve Witkoff, his Middle East envoy, will take over the Iran file, while also lauding Witkoff for his work helping negotiate the cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
“No,” Trump said on Thursday after signing a series of executive orders, when asked by a reporter whether he would put Witkoff in charge of Iran strategy and speaking directly with the Iranians. “But he’s certainly somebody I would use. He’s done a fantastic job. He’s a great negotiator.”
Trump declined to answer a question about whether he would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Instead, he said he hopes for a diplomatic solution with Iran.
“It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go to that further step,” Trump said, regarding the possibility of strikes. “Iran hopefully will make a deal. I mean, if they don’t make a deal, I guess that’s okay, too.”
The incoming Trump administration’s nominee to be secretary of state is expected to enjoy an easy glide-path to confirmation with overwhelming bipartisan support
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President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing at Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the incoming Trump administration’s nominee to be secretary of state, said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is open to a new nuclear deal with Iran, under strict conditions.
Over the course of his testimony, Rubio also framed the announcement of a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza and recent losses for Iran and its proxies in the region as creating an opportunity for major steps forward on regional normalization and Israeli-Palestinian peace, condemned the International Criminal Court’s targeting of Israel and spoke forcefully about the need to combat antisemitism globally.
Overall, Rubio’s hearing — businesslike and cordial, focused on details of every region of the globe — marked a striking difference from the heated partisan slug-fests at confirmation hearings for other top Trump nominees this week. Rubio is expected to enjoy an easy glide-path to confirmation with overwhelming bipartisan support.
“My view is that we should be open to any arrangement that allows us to have safety and stability in the region, but one in which we’re clear-eyed,” Rubio said on the subject of Iran’s nuclear program. “Any concessions that we make to the Iranian regime, we should anticipate that they will use, as they have used in the past, to build their weapons systems and to try to restart their sponsorship of Hezbollah and other related entities around the region.”
He described the Iranian regime as at its “weakest point in recent memory, maybe ever,” with its air defenses degraded, its regional partners and proxies undermined and its economy in dire straits.
Secretary of State Nominee @marcorubio appeared at his confirmation hearing today, and discussed Israel, the ICC and Iran, among other issues. The following thread includes some of the highlights:
— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) January 15, 2025
"How can any nation state on the planet co-exist side-by-side with a group of… pic.twitter.com/8x2Jl5oRab
Rubio said that this could push the Iranian regime in one of two directions: toward negotiations to buy time to rebuild, or toward rapid nuclearization as a method of regime protection.
He said that recent outreach from the regime to European nations, in the context of the expiration of snapback sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal later this year, indicates that Iran may be leaning toward pursuing negotiations.
He said the U.S. cannot allow “under any circumstances” Iran to become a nuclear weapons state, to continue to sponsor terrorism or have the ability to attack its neighbors and the United States. He also noted that U.S. policy would be shaped by Iran’s yearslong efforts to assassinate Trump and other U.S. officials.
Rubio was careful to repeatedly draw a clear distinction between the Iranian regime of “radical Shia clerics” and the people of Iran, arguing that the gap between the regime and Iranian citizens is perhaps the widest of any country on Earth.
“In no way [are] the clerics who run that country representative of the people of that country and of its history and of the contributions it has made to humanity,” Rubio said.
He also noted that in Iran and other key U.S. adversaries, a “market” has developed for kidnapping and holding American citizens hostage, emphasizing the need for greater awareness about those risks.
Rubio described the cease-fire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas — announced in the middle of his hearing — as “a foundation to build upon” toward broader regional change, including Israeli-Palestinian peace and regional normalization. He said that the deal, in combination with the cratering of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of the Assad regime, had altered the landscape of the Middle East, potentially opening pathways to renewed normalization and an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"I don't know of any nation on earth in which there is a bigger difference between the people and those who govern them than what exists in Iran. And that's a fact that needs to be made repeatedly." pic.twitter.com/cVAx1iUFCU
— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) January 15, 2025
“There are opportunities now in the Middle East that did not exist 90 days ago,” Rubio said. “There are now factors at play in the Middle East that I think we can build upon and may open the door to extraordinary and historic opportunities, not just to provide for Israel’s security but ultimately begin to confront some of these other factors. But these things are going to be hard work and they’re going to require us to take advantage of those opportunities if they exist.”
Rubio said that the six-week first phase of the deal will be a critical period to build international cooperation to bring stability and new governance into Gaza. He said that both President Joe Biden and Trump deserved credit for working in tandem in the negotiations.
But he also noted that the deal did not ensure the release of all of the hostages, and emphasized that any cease-fire would be short-lived if hostages remain in Hamas captivity.
“Without the hostage situation resolved, this situation will not be resolved. It is the lynchpin,” Rubio said. “Hamas has been severely degraded, but these people, who include a number of American citizens, need to be home as soon as possible, and that will remain a priority in any engagement that we’re involved in.”
Rubio said that potential normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be “one of the most historic developments in the history of the region,” adding that the Saudis and other partners in the Middle East should be part of the post-war stabilization efforts in Gaza and that a normalization agreement would help bring “a level of stability and peace” to the entire region.
He said that a key part of expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords is ensuring that there are benefits to the countries joining the pact, such as, for Saudi Arabia, high tech investment, economic diversification and security against the mutual Iranian threat. He said the U.S. could help provide security assurances as well.
"Any concessions we make to the Iranian regime we should anticipate that they will use as they have used in the past to rebuild their weapons systems and to try to restart their sponsorship of Hezbollah and other related entities around the region." pic.twitter.com/CjH9BNsJVA
— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) January 15, 2025
“We’re still going to have some issues with UAE and with Saudi Arabia, but we also have to be pragmatic enough to understand what an enormous achievement it would be if, in fact, you not just get a cease-fire but that leads to the opportunity of a Saudi-Israeli partnership and joint recognition,” Rubio said.
One such issue with the United Arab Emirates that Rubio said the U.S. should raise is Abu Dhabi’s support for a militant group in Sudan that Rubio and the Biden administration have said is commiting genocide. At the same time, he described the UAE as a critical partner to build stability in the Middle East.
On the subject of Israeli-Palestinian peace and a two-state solution, Rubio argued that the “conditions for that have not been in place for some time” — noting that the Palestinian Authority had rejected a Trump administration peace proposal in 2020.
He argued that if Israel had not responded forcefully to the Oct. 7 attack, the country may have faced existential threats from enemies on its various borders.
But Rubio said that there has been a potential “dynamic shift in the region” that has “an historic opportunity, if appropriately structured and pursued, that changes the dynamics of what might be possible.” He emphasized that for Israel, its existential safety is the non-negotiable starting point. If Israeli security can be guaranteed, Rubio said, there may be more opportunities for a peace process.
He said the key question for the Palestinians moving forward will be the future of governance in Gaza. “[Israel] can’t turn it over to people who seek [it’s] destruction … You cannot coexist with armed elements at your border who seek your destruction and evisceration as a state.”
Pressed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — who accused the administration of secretly prohibiting Jews in the West Bank from accessing U.S. grants — Rubio committed to ending any waivers to sanctions in Gaza and the West Bank, ending what Cruz described as “discriminatory policies, including the Biden administration’s secret boycott policies” in the territory and ending the Biden administration’s sanctions regime against Israeli settlers accused of inciting violence in the West Bank.
One of the alleged boycotts, through the Development Finance Corporation, does not appear to have been revealed publicly before the hearing.
Senator @tedcruz pressed Senator @marcorubio during his secretary of state confirmation hearing on reversing discriminatory sanctions against Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria.
— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) January 15, 2025
Rubio responded: "I'm confident in saying that President Trump's administration will continue… pic.twitter.com/i4p9mNkwny
He did not address a question from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) about whether the Trump administration would oppose potential Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
Addressing the ICC prosecutions targeting Israeli leaders, Rubio said that the court had “done tremendous damage to its global credibility” with the effort, calling the case “completely flawed” and “completely offensive” in drawing equivalency between Israel and Hamas.
“Hamas carried out an atrocious operation. They sent a bunch of savages into Israel with the express and explicit purpose of targeting civilians,” Rubio said. “They deliberately targeted civilians. The ones they didn’t murder, the families they didn’t eviscerate, the people whose skulls they didn’t crack open, they kidnapped, and to this day continue to hold people, innocents that they took.”
He said that Israel cannot be expected to “coexist side-by-side with a group of savages like Hamas. They have to defend their national security and their national interest. And they didn’t target civilians.”
Rubio said that innocent people had been caught up in the war, “but there is a difference between those who in the conduct of armed action deliberately target civilians and those who do as much as they can to avoid civilians being caught up against an enemy that doesn’t wear a uniform, against an enemy that hides in tunnels, against an enemy that hides behind women and children.”
Further, Rubio said the case appeared to be a “test run” for a future case targeting U.S. leaders and military personnel.
Echoing rhetoric from other top Trump nominees, Rubio said that any individuals in the U.S. on visas who express support for Hamas or other terrorist groups should lose their visas and be forced out of the country.
Rubio committed to Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) that the Trump administration would quickly nominate a qualified individual to serve as U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, saying that the nominee “needs to be someone that enjoys broad support across different sectors.”
He also said that the administration would promptly name a deputy envoy to run the office until an envoy is confirmed. Rubio said the antisemitism envoy role is particularly urgent in light of a recent Anti-Defamation League report that showed 60% of people hold some antisemitic views.
“Antisemitism is a unique danger. The suffering that it inflicted on the world historically, but within the last century, is unimaginable and can never be allowed to be repeated, and it’s something that we should make sure we’re constantly speaking out against, and identifying for what it is,” Rubio said. “I think the U.S.’s role in speaking out in that regard is indispensable, and we need to be forceful about it.”
Asked by multiple senators about the incoming administration’s approach to multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, Rubio said that the guiding philosophy for the administration’s engagement with such organizations will be whether engagement with them makes the U.S. safer and more prosperous. He said that no international organizations would be allowed to hold a veto over U.S. security interests.
Any funding to such organizations will require strict examination, Rubio added, suggesting that the administration may pull back funding from some of them.
He further described the U.N. Security Council as having become “almost irrelevant” and “weaponized” against the United States because of the power of Russia and China, which he called two of the top drivers of global conflict.
Rubio also said that international organizations had become “havens” for antisemitism, undermining their credibility.
Rubio characterized the new regime in Syria, led by leaders of an Al-Qaeda offshoot, as “not ideal” but nonetheless “worth exploring.”
“I do think it’s important to respond to this opportunity in Syria,” Rubio said. “It is in the national interest of the United States, if possible, to have a Syria that’s no longer a playground for ISIS, that respects religious minorities … that protects the Kurds and at the same time is not a vehicle through which Iran can spread its terrorism.”
Rubio said that an improved situation in Syria could positively impact Lebanon, Israel, Gaza and the Middle East as a whole. He said Iran and Russia would return to fill the gap in Syria if the U.S. does not “explore these opportunities.”
He described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as an “impediment” to that path forward, and said the Trump administration would communicate immediately to Erdoğan not to move against the Kurds in Syria. He said the U.S. should maintain its support for the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces — something Trump sought to pull back in his first administration.
