Plus, Houthi hits, Saudi sits — so far
(Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Recording artists Ed Sheeran (L) and Macklemore perform onstage during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 20, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to senators about how the U.S. could respond to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, report on New York GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman’s support for a long-shot House candidate who defended Ye’s antisemitic comments, and report on rapper Macklemore‘s removal from the remainder of Ed Sheeran‘s concert tour over his on-stage anti-Israel activism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Wesley Hunt, Jessica Tarlov and Danny Meyer.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today’s Agenda
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords in Washington. The anniversary of the agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — which has held amid several years of war, during which Israel supplied missile-defense technology to Abu Dhabi — comes at a time of renewed tensions in the region as the Iran-backed Houthis continue to disrupt shipping routes and mount attacks on Saudi targets.
Riyadh — which was on the brink of normalizing relations with Israel prior to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks — now finds itself in what former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney described as the “worst-case scenario” for the Saudis as Iran and its proxies increasingly target the Gulf state. Earlier today, Riyadh vowed to respond “firmly” to the ongoing Houthi attacks.
Those regional tensions will form the backdrop to the Arab Media Summit, which kicks off today in Dubai. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is set to address the opening session of the annual gathering.
In Washington, Vice President JD Vance will address House Republicans today at a political conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club.
Elsewhere in Washington, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Steve Bannon are slated to speak today at the Future of Life Institute’s AI-focused “Pro-Human Assembly.”
The three-day Eradicate Hate Global Summit begins today in Pittsburgh. Former National Amusements President Shari Redstone, Holocaust survivor Dr. Alfred Garfinkle, commentator Van Jones and political scientist Robert Pape are slated to speak at the annual conference.
At noon ET, the academic consortium CASJE and eJewishPhilanthropy will host a panel discussion, “Who Shapes Campus Conversation? What Research Tells Us About Faculty Attitudes Toward Israel and Jews.” Speakers include Hillel International’s Lisa Armony, the Academic Engagement Network’s Raeefa Shams, the Curricular Review Council’s Yuval Avnur and Leonard Saxe and Graham Wright of Brandeis University., while Vance will represent the White House in attending the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero.
One Thing To Know
ON THE HILL
By Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs
Senators returning to Washington on Monday offered mixed responses to the recent Houthi offensive inside Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with some Republicans telling Jewish Insider that the Iran-backed terror group’s moves warranted a response, while some Democrats framed the Houthi attacks as further fallout from the U.S. war against Iran.
The Iran-backed Yemeni terrorist group seized control of key port cities along the Red Sea coast, near the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait, as well as Perim Island inside the waterway and the Hanish archipelago to the north. The U.S. has thus far declined to intervene.
Republicans who spoke to Jewish Insider said they had not been fully briefed on the situation since returning to Washington on Monday after being away for the Senate’s extended August recess. Still, they said a forceful response from the Saudis was warranted, while Democrats generally framed the Houthi offensive as an extension and expansion of the Iran war.
The Big Reads
mackle-no-more
Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of singer Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour after several venues objected to hosting the rapper, following the rapper’s chants of “Free Palestine” and comments and imagery on Gaza during two recent opening sets for Sheeran, Jewish Insider‘s Haley Cohen reports. Among the eight remaining shows on Sheeran’s tour, Macklemore was set to open for the singer at Massachusetts’ Gillette Stadium, which is owned by Robert Kraft. In an Instagram post, Macklemore claimed that Kraft, the founder of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, rallied the other stadium owners to get him dropped from the venues. Kraft responded that the decision came following Macklemore’s “recent actions” and “history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery,” adding that the rapper crossed a line the stadium would not platform.
YE SAYER
Long-shot Brooklyn Republican House candidate Joel Anabilah-Azumah got a boost last week with an endorsement from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — who hopes to unseat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul with an appeal to fellow New York Jews, particularly those discontented with Democrats’ declining support for Israel. But Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman found that Anabilah-Azumah has criticized Zionism while defending a string of antisemitic remarks by rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, who the now-candidate hinted was at risk of assassination by Jewish music industry figures.
BOOKSHELF
In her new book, Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov advocates for constructive disagreement — “acknowledge without accepting,” or hearing someone out, hard as it may be, without torching the relationship or one’s own beliefs. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen ahead of Tuesday’s release of I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends, Tarlov pointed to her closely watched sit-down last year with far-left streamer Hasan Piker as evidence that her framework holds even when strained against its limits. Piker was “incredibly nice and gracious,” she recalled, arguing that calls for him to be shut out of Democratic circles are misguided. The exchange highlights the balancing act central to both Tarlov’s book and her on-air image as the primary liberal co-host on the Fox News talk show “The Five.”
The Rundown
ROAD TO RIYADH
on the trail
delay deja vu
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The Pentagon’s inspector general released a congressionally mandated report — the first since the beginning of the conflict with Iran earlier this year — that found that the war has led to a munitions shortfall for the military, as well as some $208 million in damages to the State Department across Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates…
The U.S. filed a civil forfeiture complaint against Iran alleging that the Islamic Republic laundered some $1.5 billion in oil through cryptocurrency networks to benefit the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…
CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Monday, as Riyadh continues to face escalating attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen; the Saudi leader reportedly urged President Donald Trump last week to conduct strikes against the Houthis, which Trump refused…
Vice President JD Vance told reporters that the U.S. is in direct contact with the Houthis as well as in continued discussions with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, “so we actually feel like we are on top of the situation” amid growing tensions in the region…
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) returned to the Senate floor on Monday evening for the first time since he was hospitalized after a fall in June, appearing in a wheelchair; in a post on X, the Kentucky Republican wrote, “I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me”…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he would not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris chooses to mount another bid, saying that the Venn diagram of their personal and professional relationships “is just pure crossover. I wouldn’t do that”…
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cut an ad for his wife, Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), for her reelection bid; in the TV spot, Sullivan recounts their meeting at the Munich Security Conference when she approached him “to raise her concerns about some of our foreign policies” while she was working for then-Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sullivan was serving as an advisor to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Obama administration…
The New York Times profiles Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer ahead of the release of his new book, What Could Possibly Go Right?, which looks at his past business decisions — for better and for worse — and will be released later this month…
Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil and several of his fellow activists filed a federal lawsuit against the school, arguing that administrators failed to protect them against harassment they allege that they faced on campus due to their activism…
Widespread protests, the largest since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad in 2024, broke out across Syria after Damascus raised diesel prices by 40% and household gas prices by 9% over the weekend…
The New York Times looks at the Israeli pushback to the film “NAZA,” which premiered on Thursday at the Venice Film Festival; Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar called on Jerusalem to revoke the citizenship of the Israeli filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, over the film’s content, which included interviews with anonymous Israeli military and intelligence officials regarding the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza…
Bloomberg reports that Malaysian authorities have for more than a month held three shipments of electric bike parts bound for Israel’s Ashdod port that were seized in mid-August; earlier in August, Malaysia seized a shipment from the Philippines that was bound for Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems…
Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said that Israel’s continued settlement expansion efforts were incompatible with a two-state solution and undermined the prospects of Palestinian statehood…
Jon Gambrell is joining The Wall Street Journal as deputy Middle East bureau chief…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Question Mark: Colossus magazine’s Jeremy Stern profiles Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “Unlike the Boomers and Gen X, he is the only trillion-dollar founder of his generation, and Millennials are cringe. He is Jewish and uncool, yet impervious to humiliation. He is, in one man, the personification of responsibility for alt-right populism; leftwing authoritarianism; the death of journalism; polarization; political propaganda; political censorship; the dangers of free speech; human rights violations; teenage depression; body dysmorphia; and male loneliness. He is an emperor for life. He is, in a word, an easy mark.” [Colossus]
No Choice: Politico’s Daniella Cheslow looks at the challenges facing the U.S. as the Iran-backed Houthis scale up their attacks in the Gulf. “The administration could join the fray after Yemeni forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, failed to repel the Houthis’ capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and three islands key to controlling the waterway. Or the White House could leave the region to sort out the Houthis alone, and bear the pain of oil prices that spiraled up to $109 a barrel Monday. … Neither policy choice for the U.S. is terribly appealing, and one Arab diplomat in the region sensed inaction from the U.S., or ‘a kind of disregard.’” [Politico]
How Not to Teach Your Children: In The Washington Post, Dana Stangel-Plowe, the chief program officer of the North American Values Institute, raises concerns about the increasing politicization of the National Education Association under the leadership of its new president, Princess Moss, who has promoted teacher activism. “In saying so, the president of the nation’s largest teachers union advanced a specific vision for her profession: activism all the way down, no matter how much students struggle to keep up. Her union colleagues are citizens, too, free to have and act on their own political views. But Moss’s vision has no place in the classroom. A teacher’s job isn’t political organizing; it is to educate the nation’s youth.” [WashPost]
Picture of the Day
Noah Wyle celebrated his second consecutive Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series on Monday night for playing Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch in “The Pitt,” which also won outstanding drama series for the second year in a row.
Birthdays
Josh Charles, actor, best known for his roles on “Sports Night” and “The Good Wife,” turns 55
Jac Holzman, founder and former CEO of Elektra Records, he is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, turns 95
Emanuel Tov, professor emeritus at the Hebrew University and a leading scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, turns 85
Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, in northern Israel, known as the “Disco Rabbi,” turns 80
Diane Levin, professor emerita of counseling psychology at Boston University’s Wheelock College, turns 79
Ned Rothenberg, composer and multi-instrument musician, turns 70
Michael L. Reiss, television comedy writer, he served as a showrunner, writer and producer for “The Simpsons” and co-created the animated series “The Critic,” turns 67
Aron Uri Raskas, shareholder of law firm Gunster, turns 64
Nina Jacobson, film executive, she produced “The Hunger Games” film series, turns 61
David Magerman, managing partner and chief technology officer at Differential Ventures in Philadelphia, he is also the founder of a series of kosher restaurants, turns 58
David Folkenflik, NPR’s media correspondent, turns 57
Kira Soltanovich, comedian, writer and actor, turns 53
Deborah Leipzig, former VP of leadership at the Anti-Defamation League
Shayla Rosen, customer success manager at Screencastify, event organizer and fundraiser
Anya Kamenetz, author and longtime education correspondent at NPR, turns 46
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, data scientist, economist and author of the 2017 New York Times bestseller Everybody Lies, turns 44
Evan D. Goldberg, screenwriter, film producer and director, often in collaboration with his childhood friend Seth Rogen, turns 44
Yael Markovich, model and Israeli beauty pageant winner, turns 42
Jonah Raskas, CEO of Harmon Face Values
Josh Gruenbaum, senior advisor to the Board of Peace, he was the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, turns 41
Amanda Bresler, chief strategy officer at PW Communications
Eliza Shapiro, reporter at The New York Times covering NYC affordability issues
Roni Dalumi, singer and actor, she was the 2009 winner of the Israeli version of “A Star is Born,” turns 35
Shani Hazan, beauty pageant titleholder, she was crowned Miss Israel 2012, turns 34
Jeff Lewis, Arizona philanthropist and founder of the Froth and Bubble Foundation
Plus, Pelosi panned for silence amid ally’s anti-Israel rhetoric
Andrew Roth/Sipa USA via AP Images
Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers attends President Donald Trump's rally in Warren, Mich., on April 29, 2025.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how Rep. Mike Rogers is calibrating his Jewish outreach as he builds a broad coalition against Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race, and report on efforts by Bay Area Jewish leaders to push outgoing Rep. Nancy Pelosi to address the anti-Israel rhetoric espoused by Connie Chan, whom Pelosi endorsed in the race to succeed her. We cover the local response to a Vermont synagogue’s fundraiser for Columbia anti-Israel activist Mohsen Madawi, and report on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s announcement that the city plans to soon release a municipal plan to combat antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Tamar Rothstein and Omer Shem Tov.
We also have a new on-demand Live Briefing that you can access throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and on our website.
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.
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: Jewish leaders build up local grassroots organizing to counter radical forces in politics; New AJC regional director looks to business community for allies in Mamdani’s New York; and ‘Shabbat with training wheels’: Sabbath app offers a modern take on unplugging. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- While Washington is quiet during the August recess, the campaign season is kicking into high gear — both for the few remaining states to hold their primaries, and for general ballot candidates who have less than three months before Election Day.
- In Nassau County, N.Y., President Donald Trump will campaign today with N.Y. GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.
- In Florida, where voters will cast their primary ballots on Tuesday, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is campaigning on behalf of several left-wing candidates, including Elijah Manley and Oliver Larkin. Manley and Larkin are respectively challenging Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), two of Congress’ most pro-Israel lawmakers, following a redistricting that has scrambled both lawmakers’ districts. Tlaib is set to participate in several events today, including a rally this evening that was relocated after the initial venue canceled the event amid pushback from area residents.
- On Sunday, voters in California’s 14th Congressional District will head to the polls for the special election to replace Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). More below.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
A quarter century ago, when the late Sen. Joe Lieberman was tapped by Al Gore, the Democratic nominee for president, to be his running mate on the 2000 ticket, the question around many a Shabbat table was, “Is he too Jewish to be in the White House?”
There’s a different question being asked, largely in Democratic circles, of today’s potential Jewish presidential candidates: “Is he the ‘right’ kind of Jewish candidate to be president?” — a question that is almost entirely centered around a candidate’s position on Israel and how openly he identifies with his religious faith.
A long list of Jewish candidates are considering a presidential campaign or are being touted as credible contenders, ranging from moderates including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to progressives such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and those who straddle the ideological divide, like Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
In both 2026 and 2028, the debate over Israel is on the ballot: Congressional primaries are pitting pro-Israel candidates against those who don’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and already a clear divide is emerging in the prospective 2028 presidential field over the issues of the U.S.-Israel relationship and dealing with rising antisemitism.
Even in races where Israel policy is not front-and-center, invoking AIPAC has become something of a catch-all slur for progressives attacking the role of outside money in Democratic primaries. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 hopeful, proudly proclaimed in February that he’d never taken AIPAC money — which of course he hasn’t, given that AIPAC and its affiliated super PAC historically focus on federal, not state, races.
MR. ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD
More than a week after Abdul El-Sayed narrowly clinched the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s bruising Democratic Senate primary, his Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), is working to fine-tune his campaign’s outreach and messaging to disaffected Jewish voters who could play a decisive role in the closely contested race, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Sign of the times: In one of the first major signs of those efforts now materializing, three prominent Jewish Democratic bundlers in Michigan are hosting a fundraiser for Rogers next Tuesday, according to an email invite sent to Jewish community members on Thursday. “This is something that none of us has ever done,” said Hannan Lis, who is leading the fundraiser with Brian Hermelin and Rob Orley. “But we feel this is a departure in the direction of the Democratic Party,” he told JI of El-Sayed’s staunch opposition to Israel and refusal to recognize its right to exist as a Jewish state. “We’re taking a stand here,” he added. “This is beyond politics.”
Survey says: Rogers starts off the Michigan Senate general election race with a narrow advantage over El-Sayed, according to a new Fox News poll, aided by a lead with independents and making inroads with a small but significant number of Democrats willing to cross party lines, JI’s Josh Kraushaar reports.
PLEA TO PELOSI
Leaders in the Bay Area Jewish community are urging former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to speak out or otherwise address her endorsed successor Connie Chan’s decision to lean into Israel and AIPAC-related attacks on her Jewish Democratic opponent, state Sen. Scott Wiener, which some in the Jewish community view as antisemitic, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Weighing in: Tyler Gregory, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area and executive director of Bay Area Jewish Action, told JI he hopes Pelosi will “educate [Chan] about where the line is between criticizing the Israeli government and amplifying antisemitic tropes.” Tali Klima, a spokesperson for Bay Area Jewish Coalition-Action, a separate grassroots group, urged Pelosi to speak out publicly. Both described Pelosi as an ally of the community.
PIKER PROTECTION
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Thursday that she had been “communicating [her] concerns” to the University of Washington over the school’s decision to cancel a planned appearance by antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker, and pushed student groups to engage with the streamer, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
What she said: The University of Washington “informed me that they are doing an internal review to ensure this never happens again,” Jayapal wrote in a post on X. “I encourage student groups who want to hear from Mr. Piker to work with the University to ensure that they can proceed.” She linked in her post a Seattle Times article on Piker claiming he was silenced over his views on Israel.
CASE DISMISSED
A federal judge in Boston dismissed the Trump administration’s antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard University on Thursday, ruling that the incidents were “too isolated and episodic” to show an ongoing violation of civil rights law, Jewish Insider‘s Haley Cohen reports. Judge Richard Stearns pointed out that while the government’s amended complaint cited three March 2025 incidents, it still focused almost entirely on the 2023–2024 school year.
Pushback: The Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which filed its own lawsuit against Harvard in 2024 alleging failure to address antisemitism, said that Thursday’s ruling will make other Title VI cases harder. “This ruling, if broadly adopted by the courts, would add an unprecedented higher bar: the government now has to prove not only that the institution refused to resolve the issue at hand in an agreement with the government but also that additional subsequent violations occurred,” the Brandeis Center said in a statement.
MAYOR’S MOVE
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani followed up his meeting with a group of rabbis earlier this week by touting a plan to battle antisemitism in the five boroughs — without committing to making changes in his rhetoric toward Israel that the group of Jewish religious leaders demanded, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
What he said — and what he didn’t: “I had a candid and productive conversation with rabbis representing a wide swath of New York’s Jewish communities and affiliations, and I appreciated hearing from them,” Mamdani said after an unrelated event in Manhattan on Thursday. But Mamdani did not explicitly state on Thursday that he would act on their recommendations, instead touting his increased spending on groups that run anti-hate crime initiatives and a plan his Office to Combat Antisemitism will release next month to tamp down on the anti-Jewish bias incidents that have risen on his watch.
CONGREGANTS’ CRITICISM
A synagogue in the capital of Vermont co-sponsored a fundraiser last Sunday for Mohsen Mahdawi, a former Columbia University anti-Israel activist who has voiced sympathy for Hamas, drawing sharp criticism from some congregants, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. The event took place at Unitarian Church of Montpelier, which co-sponsored it with Beth Jacob Synagogue, according to a flyer posted on the synagogue’s website and distributed to all members. The congregation is unaffiliated with a denomination.
Details: Some synagogue members reportedly pushed back against the fundraiser before it took place. The synagogue’s board of directors declined to comment to JI. In a statement to JI, the Jewish Communities of Vermont said the “questions surrounding Mohsen Mahdawi, including statements and actions attributed to him, have raised concerns deserving serious and rigorous consideration and prompted strong, deeply felt disagreements. We recognize that the pain is acute. At the same time, a Jewish community intending to practice tikkun olam by creating space for engagement with a specific focus does not necessarily constitute endorsement of everything that person has said or believes.”
Worthy Reads
Pray or Prey?: In The Wall Street Journal, Moshe Davis, who served as the inaugural executive director of the New York Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism under former Mayor Eric Adams, makes the argument for the federal Right to Worship Act, which he helped to craft. “While existing laws cover harassment and obstruction, they don’t reach the organized disruption that actually makes Americans feel afraid to enter their houses of worship. Courts have repeatedly upheld buffer-zone protections for funerals, polling sites and other places where people deserve to be left in peace; a law addressing disruptive behavior at houses of worship is on solid constitutional ground.” [WSJ]
No Deal is a Good Deal: The Washington Post’s editorial board argues that a policy of containment vis-a-vis Iran is a better approach than making a deal with the Islamic Republic. “The U.S. should adapt its blockade to be more sustainable, lowering the number of ships conducting direct interdictions while sanctioning anyone who buys Iranian oil that gets through. The regime’s frozen assets should also stay frozen. And Iran’s proxies should be relentlessly suppressed in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza. Crucially, Trump needs to keep the threat of significant escalation on the table, especially if Iran takes even the smallest step toward reconstituting its nuclear program.” [WashPost]
How DSA Does It: The New York Times’ Charles Homan does a deep dive into the Democratic Socialists of America’s resurgence, as the group seeks to reshape the Democratic Party. “Offline communities built around shared interests — the sort once found in bowling alleys, all-ages punk-rock venues, church basements or radical bookstores — are rare now, and D.S.A. chapters fill this role. They offer not just a different politics but a different model for what participating in politics means. Chapter operations are heavily D.I.Y. affairs, which adds a giddy unreality to their victories, as if a group of college friends started a record label in their dorm room and somehow ended up using it to unseat an eight-term congressman.” [NYTimes]
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Word on the Street
White House advisor Jared Kushner is expected to travel to Israel next week with Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov, where the two will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials to discuss the Hamas disarmament deal; Kushner is also expected to travel to Cairo to meet with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators…
Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the U.S.’ primary goal in the war with Iran is to “keep oil and gasoline cheap for Americans,” while “goal No. 2 is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon”…
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the Trump administration planned to apply economic tactics “that have never been seen on Iran,” as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that the U.S.’ naval blockade of Iran would remain in place “indefinitely”…
CENTCOM announced a new effort to establish the “first-ever multi-domain, multinational attack drone task force,” including consulting with and inviting regional partners to join, that will work to utilize unmanned, one-way attack drones “from above, on, and below the sea” in the Middle East…
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) penned a letter to Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao raising concerns about the deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been on extended deployment in the Middle East; Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a former Marine, said he was seeking an oversight visit to the vessel for a bipartisan Senate delegation…
Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing to send the USS George Washington from the South China Sea to the region to relieve the Lincoln; the move will leave a U.S. void in the Pacific, where Beijing has positioned a carrier…
The United Arab Emirates condemned what it said was a “hostile Iranian attack” targeting two boats linked to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company as the vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz…
Behnam Ben Taleblu, the senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran program, warned on Thursday of potential Iranian escalation — military or otherwise — in the run-up to the midterms, with the goal of disrupting the elections, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Semafor looks at the U.S.’ stalled sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey as Ankara remains in possession of the S-400 Russian air-defense system, the offloading of which is a requirement to move forward with the F-35 sale…
Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), facing a runoff special election to be the GOP nominee for her late brother’s Senate seat, announced she is co-sponsoring several bills in support of the Jewish community and the U.S.-Israel relationship, including the Jewish American Security Act, the U.S.-Israel FUTURES Act, a bill on Iran sanctions and a bill on Iranian human rights and internet access…
Politico profiles Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) as the former Democratic National Committee chair faces a challenging reelection campaign — fighting headwinds from both local activists and the Congressional Black Caucus as she runs in a historically Black district following Florida’s GOP-led redistricting effort…
Former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is slated to headline a Labor Day rally for the Hancock County Maine Democrats next month, his first public appearance since dropping out of the race last month after he was accused of sexual assault by a former romantic partner; a state party official said the event was not a sanctioned party event but hosted by the local activist groups Hancock County Activists and Acadia Action Peacemakers…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights Hasan Piker’s rising popularity on the far left, despite concerns from moderate Democrats that the antisemitic streamer’s brand of progressivism will taint the party in the midterms…
J Street Action Fund, the super PAC affiliated with the progressive Israel advocacy group, on Thursday spent $108,000 on digital advertisements to boost progressive California state Sen. Aisha Wahab in the special election in California’s 14th Congressional District, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
The California state Legislature is considering a bill to require state agencies to include “Jewish” as an ethnicity option on all forms that collect demographic data; the move would make California the first state to officially consider Judaism as more than a religion for identification purposes…
The National Council for Jewish Women is rolling out a new strategic plan, in which local chapters who want to maintain their affiliation with the group need to align with the national organization’s shift away from community service to focus more on advocacy, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Jay Deitcher reports…
An Illinois man who attacked two Jewish students at DePaul University in November 2024 pleaded guilty to committing a hate crime and was sentenced to 600 days in jail; a second assailant who pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges was sentenced to two years’ probation…
Tel Aviv University has removed the name of the Sackler family from its Faculty of Exact Sciences, the final department on its campus that was still named for the family tied to the U.S. opioid crisis, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Justin Hayet reports…
Tamar Rothstein is now communications director for Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY)…
Former Air Force Secretary James Roche, a member of the advisory board of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a board member of the Friends of the Jewish Chapel at the U.S. Naval Academy, died at 86…
Former South Dakota lawmaker and philanthropist Stan Adelstein died at 94…
Find on-demand Live Briefing updates throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Wine of the Week
JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Charley Winery Romi 2021:
This week I marked one of the in-between birthdays. My plan had been to go about my business and let the day pass quietly, like any other. But as the morning wore on, birthday wishes began arriving from friends scattered across the world, and nearly every one carried the same question: What amazing bottle of wine will you crack open tonight to celebrate? Something in me shifted. I wanted a bottle new to me, something vibrant, something I would remember. My hand reached for the Charley Winery Romi, grown in the Judean Hills.
The Romi is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah. The petite came out of the gate crashing into my front palate in a way I will not soon forget: bold, brash and utterly alive. The cabernet followed on the mid-palate with a beautiful infusion of berry, and the finish gathered the two into a genuinely serene moment, the kind of quiet that only a great glass of wine, in the right hour, can bring. The Romi is mevushal, and it would grace any simcha. Serve it with a rich risotto. It will hold beautifully for at least five years.
Pic of the Day
Former hostage Omer Shem Tov, who spent 505 days in Hamas captivity, escorted his sister Dana down the aisle at her wedding to Daniel Saportas on Thursday.
Birthdays
Filmmaker and producer, she is the executive director of DOC NYC, a major documentary film festival in NYC, Raphaela Neihausen turns 50 on Friday…
FRIDAY: Social media influencer, she appears regularly on both Instagram and TikTok, Dorothy Katz Wiggins turns 101… American-born British novelist, biographer, journalist and Oscar-winning screenwriter, Frederic Michael Raphael turns 95… Former attorney general of New Jersey and chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, David Samson turns 87… President of the Hampton Synagogue until 2024 and former board member of the UJA-Federation of New York, Carol Levin… Historian and VP of alumni relations for MLB’s New York Mets, the press box at Citi Field is named in his honor, Jay Edward Horwitz turns 81… Member of the New York State Assembly since 2005, Charles D. Lavine turns 79… Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Ester R. Fuchs turns 75… Professor of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, Henry Brem, M.D. turns 74… U.S. district court judge in South Carolina, he is the co-author of a book on the early Jews of Columbia, S.C., Judge Richard Mark Gergel turns 72… Turkish-born economist and professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Dani Rodrik turns 69… U.S. senator (R-TN) since 2021, Bill Hagerty turns 67… Home fragrance and décor guru, Harry Slatkin turns 66… Lecturer at Purdue University, Martin J. Sweet turns 56… Winner of three Pulitzer Prizes as a journalist, Adam Goldman turns 53… VP at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, he was an AIPAC and Republican Jewish Coalition staffer who ran for Congress in 2018, Jeremy Scott Wynes… Professional tennis player for 15 years, primarily a doubles specialist, now an assistant athletic director, Scott Lipsky turns 45… Personal counsel to President Donald Trump, Boris Epshteyn turns 44… Ukrainian-born actor, she moved to Los Angeles at age 7 and has appeared in dozens of films, Mila Kunis turns 43… Opinion editor at eJewishPhilanthropy, Rachel Kohn turns 42… Internet entrepreneur and former CTO at Facebook, he is the co-founder and CEO of Quora, Adam D’Angelo turns 42… President of Anthropic, sister of the CEO, Daniela Lily Amodei turns 39… Retired lacrosse player, he played for ten seasons in Major League Lacrosse and for Team Israel in 2018, Maxwell “Max” Oren Seibald turns 39… Managing director at Marcus & Associates Executive Recruiters, Jacob Lefkowitz… Member of Knesset for Otzma Yehudit, he serves as the minister for the development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, Yitzhak Shimon Wasserlauf turns 34… Ryan Smith… Dylan Cooper… Tim Carney…
SATURDAY: Philadelphia resident, Irvin Farber… Retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Stephen Breyer turns 88… Former CFO of The Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg turns 79… Founder and chairman of the Executive Committee of Limmud FSU, he has also served as treasurer of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization, Chaim Chesler turns 77… Professor emeritus of Jewish education and leadership development at Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Samuel K. Joseph turns 76… Economist, CPA, investment advisor and founding member of wealth advisor RVW Wealth LLC, Selwyn Gerber… Colorado resident, he is an artist and avid mountain biker, William Crary “Bill” Weidman… Chairman of Benj. E. Sherman & Sons, he is the immediate past chair of Israel Policy Forum, David A. Sherman turns 66… Orthopedic and trauma surgeon in Rome, Dr. Dario Perugia turns 64… Co-founding rabbi of Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Ga., Rabbi Mario Karpuj… Emmy Award-winning actor, she played Grace Adler on the 11-season sitcom “Will & Grace,” Debra Messing turns 58… Immediate past board chair of Holocaust Museum Houston, Elyse Spector Kalmans turns 57… Chief development officer for the Birthright Israel Foundation, Margot Ettlinger… U.S. senator (D-PA) since 2023, John Fetterman turns 57… Co-CEO and chairman of the entertainment production company Propagate, Benjamin Noah Silverman turns 56… Associate justice of the California Supreme Court since 2019, Joshua Paul Groban turns 53… Member of the House of Representatives (D-VA) for four years ending in 2023, Elaine Goodman Luria turns 51… Real estate and business law attorney in the Baltimore law firm of Rosen Neuberger Lehmann, Meir Neuberger… Senior director at Teva Pharmaceuticals, he was an international model for Armani and appeared in the Israeli versions of “The Amazing Race” and “Dancing with the Stars,” Raz Meirman-Baruch turns 49… National college football reporter for ESPN, Adam Rittenberg turns 45… Chief of staff at Los Angeles-based Bedrock, Rachel Sterne Haot turns 43… Computer scientist at MIT and podcaster, he interviews notable figures from science, technology, sports and politics, Lex Fridman turns 43… Career counselor, Rachel Spekman… Member of the Alaska House of Representatives until 2023, now mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Grier Hayden Hopkins turns 43… Chief communications officer at AI-native cybersecurity company Tenzai, Yael Wissner-Levy… Contemporary jazz and classical recorder player, vocalist, composer and educator, Tali Rubinstein turns 42… Co-founder of Irenic Capital Management, Adam Jason Katz… Freelance designer, Talia Siegel… MLB pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 and 2016, he played for Team Israel in the 2020 Summer Olympics, he is now a VP at a private equity firm, Jon Moscot turns 35… VP of technology policy at Retail Industry Leaders Association, Justin Goldberger… Founder and managing partner at Ezra Venture Group, Ezra Mosseri… Joe Farry… David Summer…
SUNDAY: Solicitor general of New York, Barbara Dale Underwood turns 82… Retired judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, she is currently of counsel at Boies Schiller Flexner, Shira Ann Scheindlin turns 80… Sportscaster known as the “voice of the Dallas Cowboys,” Brad Sham turns 77… President and CEO of the Business Roundtable, he was previously the White House chief of staff in the Bush 43 administration, Josh Bolten turns 72… Secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging from 2015 to 2023, Rona E. Kramer turns 72… Gerald Platt… Media consultant, Sol Levine… Former commander of the Israeli Air Force and later CEO of El Al, Eliezer Shkedi turns 69… Shareholder in the Denver office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and an AIPAC board member, Steven C. Demby… Founder of Value Retail Plc and co-owner of the NHL’s New York Islanders, his sister is married to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Scott David Malkin turns 68… Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Associated Press, Martha Mendoza turns 60… Founder of Walk Swiftly Productions, she spent 17 years on-air at ESPN/ABC and CBS covering the Super Bowl, NBA playoffs and MLB playoffs, Bonnie Bernstein turns 56… Johannesburg, South Africa-born model, actor and singer-songwriter living in NYC, Caron Bernstein turns 56… Award-winning journalist, currently an opinion columnist for The New York Times, Michael Grunwald… Former lieutenant governor of Vermont, David E. Zuckerman turns 55… Member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Vladimir Beliak turns 53… Mayor of Ramat Gan, Israel, he served as a member of the Knesset and as Israel’s ambassador to the OECD, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, Carmel Shama-HaCohen turns 53… Board member of the Torah School of Greater Washington, Kami Troy… Senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group, Sarah Hofstetter… Co-founder and co-CEO of The Creative Counsel, South Africa’s largest advertising agency, Gil Oved turns 51… Political and public relations consultant based in Albuquerque, N.M., Jonathan Lipshutz… Producer with Reuters News Agency, Matthew J. Silverstein… Chief political analyst for “The Upshot” at The New York Times, Nathan David “Nate” Cohn turns 38… VP at BlackRock, Julian Olidort… Studio manager at Barre3 Bethesda and founder of Atom, LLC, Anna Dubinsky… Founder and CEO at Project Healthy Minds, Phillip Schermer… Argentine former professional tennis player, he has ranked as high as No. 8 in the world, Diego Schwartzman turns 34… Rachel Berman… Associate in the D.C. office of Eversheds Sutherland, Katherine Dolgenos O’Donnell… Member of AJR, an indie pop multi-instrumentalist trio, together with his two brothers, Jack Metzger turns 29… VP at Tier One Rankings, she was the executive assistant to the ambassador at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Galit Tassi Imbo… Director of public affairs at J Street, Cooper Boyar… Ellen Weissfeld… Marshall Cohen… Dave Jacobsen…
Trump, Cruz, Fetterman, Coons and Jewish organizations remembered the South Carolina Republican, who died suddenly at 71
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2026 in Munich, Germany.
As President Donald Trump returned to Washington on the first Sunday of the new year, he was joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who had traveled to the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate a day earlier to be with Trump after he ordered the operation that deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Graham, 71, had been encouraging Trump since returning to office last January to take a more aggressive posture toward the Maduro regime, and vigorously defended the president’s decision to launch a series of strikes targeting Venezuelan boats that the Trump administration alleged were carrying drugs meant to reach U.S. soil. By late October, he was calling on Maduro to flee Venezuela and cede power as tensions between Trump and the dictator escalated.
During an impromptu press conference aboard Air Force One, Trump and Graham defended the merits of the operation and predicted that the Cuban regime was likely to fall as a result of the mission. The South Carolina senator, one of the most hawkish Republican lawmakers on foreign policy, grinned as he heralded the mission as a success.
“When I was on Air Force One with the president flying back and we did that news conference, if you thought I was smiling big on the outside, you have no idea how much I was smiling on the inside,” Graham told Jewish Insider in an interview shortly after arriving in Washington with the president. “This is the best time in my political life because I’ve aligned myself with the strongest president in modern times. We’re getting results that are making this world safer and America more prosperous.”
By that time, more than 10 years after rejecting Trump’s candidacy and decrying him as a “race-baiting, xenophobic bigot” whose rhetoric would “kill my party,” Graham had become one of the president’s closest allies in the Senate and a close confidante on foreign policy matters.
“This is what happens when you stay in his orbit, realizing there’s far more good than bad and understanding that this man has magic that nobody on the planet has,” the South Carolina senator told JI. “It’s not so much that I’m on a roll. It’s the fact that talking with President Trump, he is embracing policies that he calls common sense, and the small part I play on the end of this, I’m so proud of.”
Following Graham’s sudden passing this weekend, Trump somberly reflected on the loss of his friend, political confidante and golfing partner, praising the late senator for his political acumen and his patriotism in a pair of media interviews and two social media posts.
“He’s a tough one to lose. He was great. He was unique in every way, actually,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning of Graham. “He was really a worker. … He was a great politician, actually.”
“He was such an advocate if he wanted to get something. He had a unique ability, he was able to deal with Democrats. If I had a problem, a real problem, I wouldn’t often ask, but if I had a problem with a Democrat, he could work it out,” he continued. “There was nobody like him. He loved being a politician, and he was going to win his election [in November for a fifth Senate term]. … He just had it made.”
Graham passed away on Saturday evening after returning from a congressional delegation that included stops in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Ankara, Turkey, for last week’s NATO summit.
The South Carolina senator arrived to his Capitol Hill townhome late Saturday afternoon and began making phone calls to Republican political allies in the early evening about legislative business, developments in the Middle East and to share details of his recent trip, according to two sources with direct knowledge.
One of those calls was to the president. Another was to Morgan Ortagus, the former deputy presidential envoy for Middle East peace in the second Trump administration and one of Graham’s closest confidantes in Washington. The president said that Graham mentioned being “tired” during their conversation, but noted that “he was fine” and expressed shock at his sudden passing. Ortagus told JI on Sunday afternoon that Graham was upbeat during their final conversation, expressing optimism that Trump was coming around on supporting his Russia sanctions bill and with resuming military operations in Iran.
“Nobody was expecting this. That’s for sure. Not even Lindsey was, or he wouldn’t have been running for another term,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who has had close relationships with both Graham and Trump, said of the senator’s sudden passing. “When a person cuts as wide a swath as Lindsey cuts, it is shocking. It will take some time to process the reality of it. It should really hit on Monday when we show up for work.”
It came as a shock to Trump, Ortagus and everyone else in Graham’s orbit when his office announced his passing in the early hours of Sunday morning, which the Washington D.C. medical examiner’s office, in a preliminary autopsy report, attributed to aortic dissection caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
“He was extremely jazzed up in our last conversation. He had just gotten off the phone with the president, and he was super excited about the Russia sanctions bill and the president deciding to go back into Iran,” Ortagus told JI. “He could not have been happier when I spoke to him last night. He was in the best mood and in a great place. He spoke about how he felt like he was doing consequential work.”
“Nobody was expecting this. That’s for sure. Not even Lindsey was, or he wouldn’t have been running for another term,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who has had close relationships with both Graham and Trump, said of the senator’s sudden passing. “When a person cuts as wide a swath as Lindsey cuts, it is shocking. It will take some time to process the reality of it. It should really hit on Monday when we show up for work.”
Asked about his phone call with Graham during his “Meet the Press” appearance — on which Graham had been scheduled to appear — Trump said, “I just can’t believe it. He was like a member of the family to me. It’s very tough, actually. It’s amazing.”
Trump and Graham formed an unlikely relationship over the course of the first Trump administration, finding common ground with the establishment of the Abraham Accords and the confirmation of the president’s Supreme Court nominees.
Graham briefly broke with Trump in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, condemning the attack and recognizing Biden’s 2020 victory. But within months, Graham was regularly visiting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and publicly urging his party to rally around the president’s bid for a second term in 2024.
“He genuinely had a fantastic relationship with President Trump. They really actually liked each other a lot. I think Trump was his best friend in many ways,” Ortagus said. “He loved the president. It was genuine. They were incredibly good friends.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Graham got to know each other as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the presidential campaign trail in 2016. The two developed a close working relationship in the last decade, finding common ground on economic and foreign policy issues that pitted them against the expanding populist wing of the GOP.
Speaking to JI on Sunday, Cruz said that Graham and Trump “became close friends. Lindsey would call the president early in the morning, late at night and at every hour in between. And the president listened to him. He didn’t always agree, but he trusted him and he knew that Lindsey was speaking from the heart.”
“[Senate Majority Leader] John Thune (R-SD) is going to miss him terribly. Donald Trump is going to miss him terribly,” Cramer told JI. “It confounds them, MAGA world. They love Donald Trump and can’t stand Lindsey Graham, so they’re befuddled by the relationship.”
Cramer noted that Trump has developed political alliances with several former critics, the most notable example being Vice President JD Vance, who was similarly disapproving of the president during the 2016 election. Like Graham, the vice president became an avid defender of Trump during the president’s first term.
While both men found their way into the president’s orbit, they remained on opposing sides of the conservative movement, with Vance becoming one of the leading GOP voices wary of U.S. military engagement abroad and Graham emerging as a leading force behind the effort to maintain an engaged foreign policy.
“With Lindsey, he was talented,” Cramer said. “He was bright and he knew things that a lot of people don’t know. He had a historical perspective a lot of people don’t have. He had a Rolodex that’s probably in several languages, and he called you from all kinds of time zones. You never knew where he was when he called.”
Despite having those conservative detractors, following his death, Graham was lauded for his humor, his friendship and his public and private support for Trump by those in the president’s orbit — including Vance and other prominent Trump administration officials who were not often ideologically aligned with the late senator.
“Early in my Senate tenure, I remember getting into a shouting match with Lindsey about a Ukraine funding bill at lunch and then learning the very next day that he was pushing rail legislation I really cared about behind the scenes,” Vance wrote on X. “That was Lindsey Graham. He fought like hell for the things he believed in, and he was just as willing to go to bat for you when it counted.”
“Lindsey had the best sense of humor in the Senate. He loved the game of politics. He was constantly asking which races were up and down, and how he could help,” the vice president continued. “As he liked to say, ‘I don’t care if you’re an isolationist or a religious fanatic, so long as you have an R next to your name, I want you to win.’ We certainly had our disagreements. But I couldn’t help but like him. A one of a kind figure in our politics.”
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a longtime Trump advisor, described Graham as a cherished ally to the president in implementing the administration’s policy goals and spoke of telling the late senator “what his friendship meant to me and to us all.”
“I cannot describe to you how much joy President Trump’s leadership and friendship brought to Lindsey,” Miller wrote on X. “Meetings with Graham at the White House were filled with camaraderie, kinship and uproarious laughter.”
“The fact that Lindsey started out as a political opponent only to become one the President’s most steadfast and faithful supporters underscores that Lindsey believed emphatically in the voice of the people,” he explained.
Miller described Graham as “a senator’s senator” and praised his ability to “move a room,” calling it “a glorious thing to witness.”
Sander Gerber, the CEO of Hudson Bay Capital and the architect of the Taylor Force Act, the passage of which Graham championed, told JI, “Lindsey was a maverick. He didn’t care about convention. He cared about doing what was right. When Lindsey set his mind to something, he was going to deliver on it, and he had a keen sense of the politics to be successful at that. He should be remembered as one of the greatest champions for Israel among members of Congress.”
“As heartbreaking as his sudden passing is, I hope it will bring some measure of comfort to those who cherished him to know just how much he was living his dream every day,” Miller said. “Very rarely in life do you get to be exactly where you want to be, when you want to be there, with who you want to be with, doing precisely what you want to do — that was every moment for Lindsey.”
Many of those who spoke about Graham after his passing described the South Carolina Republican, who spent more than two decades in the Senate, as a professional at navigating choppy political waters
“He wasn’t just a good talker, he had depth,” Cramer said. “He knew what the hell he was talking about. He had interesting insights.”
Sander Gerber, the CEO of Hudson Bay Capital and the architect of the Taylor Force Act, the passage of which Graham championed, told JI, “Lindsey was a maverick. He didn’t care about convention. He cared about doing what was right. When Lindsey set his mind to something, he was going to deliver on it, and he had a keen sense of the politics to be successful at that. He should be remembered as one of the greatest champions for Israel among members of Congress.”
“In order to get things done in Congress, to actually make a difference, you need to have the relationships,” Gerber said. “Lindsey was able to cultivate those relationships, and that’s what enabled him to get things done. There are 100 senators, but he was able to get his voice to stand out and to drive policy forward.”
Republicans and Democrats alike predicted Graham would be remembered as a legendary American political figure known for his ability to take political risks and find common ground in unexpected places.
“There was not a fight on domestic or foreign affairs that he didn’t want to jump into,” Ortagus said of Graham. “If he believed in an issue and believed that a particular policy was the right thing, he really didn’t care about the politics. Ultimately, he wouldn’t change what he believed was right based on politics, and that’s in very short supply politically right now.”
Ret. Gen. David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA and head of U.S. Central Command, told JI that Graham’s legacy would be “that of someone who was fiercely committed to the enduring principles, values and freedoms that we cherish, and who had the political skills and determination to see what he supported promoted by legislation, policies and strategies.”
“Sen. Graham’s dedication to the state of Israel and to the Jewish people was deeply sincere. We talked about it all the time. I went to Israel with him many times,” said Morgan Ortagus, the former deputy presidential envoy for Middle East peace in the second Trump administration and one of Graham’s closest confidantes in Washington. “He was a Southern Baptist and believed in the importance of the Jewish state to his core, and was willing to defend it.”
“I think he would be pleased to hear me say that he was not just adept, but was diabolically creative when necessary to achieve the outcomes to which he was committed,” Petraeus said.
Many of Graham’s allies said they expect his longstanding support for Israel and his commitment to aiding Ukraine in Russia’s war against it to be signature pieces of his foreign policy legacy.
“Sen. Graham’s dedication to the state of Israel and to the Jewish people was deeply sincere. We talked about it all the time. I went to Israel with him many times,” Ortagus said. “He was a Southern Baptist and believed in the importance of the Jewish state to his core, and was willing to defend it.”
“We talked a lot in the past year about the rise of antisemitism and anti-Zionism in both parties. He was very close to my daughter and she called him ‘Uncle Lindsey,’” she continued. “I would always remind him that I have a Jewish daughter and that throughout our history, the Jewish people have always thought we were safe until we weren’t.”
Ortagus said she and Graham “agreed that we have to fight antisemitism back in our party, that it can’t be allowed to fester. He would always talk about how important it was. He had deeply held personal beliefs on what America’s relationship with Israel should be. There was nothing cynical or craven about it.”
Cruz described Graham as “a passionate and formidable defender of Israel” and noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “trusted Lindsey and listened to him.”
“Lindsey loved the nation of Israel. He loved the people of Israel, and he believed ferociously in defending and strengthening America’s friendship and alliance with Israel,” the Texas senator said of his late colleague. “Now, Lindsey would sometimes tell his friends messages they didn’t want to hear. Lindsey was not one to just blow smoke. He would tell people exactly what he thought, but that made him an incredibly effective advocate for Israel.”
“Lindsey understood that standing with Israel is overwhelmingly in America’s national security interests,” he continued. “He and I collaborated very closely on articulating why standing with Israel makes America safer, that the enemies of Israel, whether Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran, are the enemies of America as well.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) credited Graham with doing “a masterful job of pulling” senators from across the ideological spectrum “in the same direction” in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, swiftly organizing a bipartisan congressional delegation alongside former Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as he sought to salvage his longstanding efforts to achieve Saudi-Israeli normalization.
“It was an incredible trip, and all of us said it was just one of the most consequential, constructive trips we’d ever been on,” Coons told JI. “[Sen.] Katie Britt (R-AL) came on the trip. It was one of her first trips as a senator, I think. Think about the range of members who we had. We had [Sens.] Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in the same meeting.”
“Even though it was two weeks after Oct. 7 and it was in the middle of that shock, he knew what he was doing,” Coons continued. “He was building a coalition of supporters for the deal that he was hoping he could pull off.”
Coons was one of several people to point to Graham’s well-documented friendships with the late Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), known as the Senate’s “three amigos,” as an important part of his legacy.
“I think he continued McCain’s legacy of fighting for freedom, and he never gave up on the possibility of ending the Arab-Israeli conflict,” Coons said. “That was his prize.”
“He was not afraid to be critical and he was never uncritical of friends. He believed that friends owe it to each other to try to enable them to do better,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said. “He had a vision, which was in effect the normalization of relationships throughout the Middle East, an extension of the Abraham Accords. He pursued it relentlessly.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who maintains a similarly bipartisan reputation in Congress, worked with Graham frequently on foreign policy matters. Blumenthal began traveling abroad with Graham in 2012, two years after being elected to the Senate. Their first trip together was a congressional delegation to the Middle East organized by McCain. The two traveled repeatedly to Ukraine and its European neighbors since Russia’s invasion, and to the Middle East since Oct. 7.
“He loved the Jewish people and he loved the Jewish state, which was so striking to me when I first traveled with him and John McCain to Israel,” Blumenthal told JI. “He and McCain loved the faith of the Jewish people, which of course is so much a part of life in Israel, but Sen. Graham also loved Israel’s ingenuity and inventiveness and the prowess and scrappiness of its military.”
“He was not afraid to be critical and he was never uncritical of friends. He believed that friends owe it to each other to try to enable them to do better,” he continued. “He had a vision, which was in effect the normalization of relationships throughout the Middle East, an extension of the Abraham Accords. He pursued it relentlessly.”
On the Taylor Force Act, Gerber noted that he convinced Graham to push for the Palestinian Authority to end its controversial payment program to Palestinian terrorists and their families, also known as “pay-for-slay,” after showing the senator video footage of the Palestinian Authority celebrating the terrorist who murdered Taylor Force, a U.S. army veteran killed by a Palestinian while visiting Israel in 2016.
“I’d shown this to many other senators, but no one was as upset as Lindsey. I remember him shaking when he saw the footage,” Gerber said. “Originally, I just wanted to educate Congress about what was going on, so I was trying to meet with as many members as I could to let them know the Palestinian Authority had this institutional infrastructure in place.”
Leading Jewish and pro-Israel organizations praised Graham in statements on his passing as a champion for the Jewish state and in the fight to combat rising antisemitism.
“For more than two decades in the United States Senate, his voice was a constant reminder that a strong Israel is firmly in America’s national security interest, and his commitment to these principles never wavered,” AIPAC said. “His many visits to Israel and his love for the Israeli people reflected not just a policy position, but a deep personal connection to the Jewish state and its citizens.”
The American Jewish Committee described the late senator as “a powerful advocate for many of the issues AJC champions, including American global leadership, Israel’s security, a robust North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Ukraine’s defensive fight against Russian aggression.”
AIPAC called Graham “a great friend and true champion of the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
“For more than two decades in the United States Senate, his voice was a constant reminder that a strong Israel is firmly in America’s national security interest, and his commitment to these principles never wavered,” the organization said. “His many visits to Israel and his love for the Israeli people reflected not just a policy position, but a deep personal connection to the Jewish state and its citizens.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition released a statement from Matt Brooks, the organization’s CEO, and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), the organization’s national chairman, describing the late senator as “a dear friend” to both men personally and the organization as a whole.
“On a personal level, Lindsey was a man of deep loyalty, humor, and heart. He treated everyone, ally or adversary, with warmth and respect, and he built friendships across the aisle that many said were impossible in today’s Washington,” the statement read.
The GOP senator’s slow embrace of Trump earned him criticism from constituents and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. As a former conservative House lawmaker who had fought the rise of the Tea Party movement in the early 2010s, Graham had built a reputation as a defense hawk with a penchant for bipartisanship when Trump was first elected in 2016.
Some Democrats were angered by his political pivot, especially during and after the first Trump administration, but Graham maintained strong relationships with his Democratic colleagues and continued working with them frequently on efforts to support Ukraine and other areas of agreement.
“He deeply, genuinely loved the Senate. He tried really hard to do positive things for the institution at the same time that he was a fierce partisan,” Coons said of Graham. “Our fight over Kavanaugh was one of the worst I’ve ever had.”
Another of those Democrats is Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who became close with Graham in the two-and-a-half years since the Oct. 7 attacks. Graham and Fetterman, whose decision to vocally support Israel amid declining support in the Democratic Party prompted his relationship with the progressive left to collapse, frequently engaged on foreign policy matters, especially related to developments in the Middle East.
Fetterman described Graham to JI as “warm, friendly and thoughtful” and called his passing “a tragedy.”
“Israel lost a huge champion with Lindsey Graham,” the Pennsylvania senator said.
Libertarian and isolationist Republicans, meanwhile, grew frustrated that such a hawkish voice was being consulted so closely on foreign policy matters in an America First administration.
“There should be a law that Lindsey Graham can only enter the White House every other week, and that he’s only to meet with under mid-level people, not the president. No more golf outings,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a foe of Graham’s in the Senate Republican Conference who opposed the president’s actions in Venezuela, told reporters in January.
Across the political spectrum, those who knew Graham described him as an irreplaceable fixture in the Senate and predicted that his loss would cause many voids in the upper chamber, where the late senator was supposed to take over as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee next year.
“He links so many things and so many people that without him, there’s a missing link in a lot of relationships between Middle Eastern countries between members of the Senate, between Budget Committee members and leadership, between the Republicans and Democrats,” Cramer said of Graham’s expansive presence in the Senate. “We’ll find out the consequences of losing him in time like this soon, but it’ll be hard to navigate to be sure.”
“I don’t know who can play this role going forward. I just don’t see it,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said. “He’s just not replaceable. There’s not going to be anyone like him again.”
Cruz told JI that, “nobody will fill that void” left by Graham’s absence, citing the respective impacts of McCain and the late Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to the upper chamber.
“When John McCain passed away, that was a void that was never filled. When Orrin Hatch, another longtime legend of the Senate, passed away, that was a void that was never filled,” Cruz said. “Nobody will fill Lindsey’s shoes. Others will step up and lead in different ways, but Lindsey left an indelible mark on the Senate, on the nation and on the hearts of his colleagues.”
“I don’t know who can play this role going forward. I just don’t see it,” Coons said. “He’s just not replaceable. There’s not going to be anyone like him again.”
Plus, McMorrow slams politicians palling around with Piker
Screenshot
"Rabbi Goldman" on Instagram
👋 Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on an AI-generated Instagram account of an Orthodox-looking rabbi that is pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories, and look at the discrepancy between Israeli estimates of Iran’s remaining ballistic missile launchers and ongoing fire from the Islamic Republic. We report on Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow’s condemnation of rival Abdul El-Sayed for campaigning with far-left activist Hasan Piker, and look at what the diversion of global attention and resources to Iran has meant for Hamas’ control in Gaza. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: David Sacks, Sheryl Sandberg and Nadav Lapid.
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
- President Donald Trump will give the closing speech this afternoon at FII PRIORITY in Miami. The president’s address caps off the final day of panels and speakers at the three-day, Saudi-backed confab, and will be preceded by separate sessions with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Paramount Skydance’s David Ellison, as well as a speech by FIFA head Gianni Infantino.
- Trump’s appearance in Miami comes a day after he announced a 10-day delay in potential plans to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure to allow for continued talks. More below.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to France today for a G7 meeting. One person who will be absent from the Paris gathering is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was uninvited from the summit following pressure from the U.S. Speaking to reporters before departing for France, Rubio said that “countries that care about international law … should be doing something about” Iran’s efforts to disrupt shipping routes.
- UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council-New York are holding a rally this morning in Manhattan to celebrate the City Council’s passage yesterday of two pieces of legislation establishing buffer zones around schools and places of worship.
- The two bills now head to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for his signature. Mamdani has not indicated if he will sign either bill, one of which — the legislation mandating a perimeter around synagogues — passed with a veto-proof majority. Read more from JI’s Will Bredderman here.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Days after launching the war against Iran last month, Israel and the U.S. began signaling that they were quickly degrading the Iranian ballistic missile threat. Two weeks into the war, the White House posted on X that “Iran’s entire ballistic missile capacity [was] functionally destroyed.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference last week that “Iran’s missile and drone arsenal is being massively degraded and will be destroyed.” The IDF has repeatedly sent updates over the past month about having destroyed the majority of Iran’s ballistic missiles and launchers.
So why are missile barrages and rushing to the bomb shelters still a part of most Israelis’ daily lives?
Sirens sounded 10 times in Israel’s center on Thursday. In the last week, about 1,000 alerts were sent out to different parts of Israel due to Iranian missiles. Israelis from Eilat to the Golan have spent many hours in shelters since the war began. Two fatalities were reported in recent days, but nearly 300 people have been injured since the beginning of this week, according to the spokesperson for Magen David Adom emergency services.
Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish Insider that “this is a war, and wars have tides that come in and out … [they] require a certain amount of adjustment and patience. You’re not going to get everything you want in a linear fashion.”
Yaakov Katz, a military expert and author of While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East, argued to JI that missile launcher destruction is the wrong way of looking at the war, meant to “create a narrative of accomplishment,” when there is still much work to be done.
While Katz said that he doesn’t “diminish from the value of taking a threat, degrading it and having more time to live in a place of security,” he does not view that as a victory, because the threat will return. He pointed to how rapidly Iran was able to produce new ballistic missiles after last year’s 12-day war: “They’re going to rebuild everything.”
“Just saying they destroyed 70-80% of missile launchers … If that’s your measure of success, you’re basically confirming there will be another war in the future,” he added.
SCOOP
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who is running in a tight three-way Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, slammed one of her opponents, Abdul El-Sayed, for his decision to campaign with the far-left political streamer Hasan Piker, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports from Royal Oak, Mich. Piker, who has a history of antisemitic and pro-Hamas remarks, is slated to appear at two campaign rallies with El-Sayed and Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) in April.
What she said: “It is somebody who says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks and views and followers, which is not entirely different from somebody like Nick Fuentes,” McMorrow told JI in an interview Thursday, referring to the neo-Nazi podcaster. “[Piker] is a provocateur, to put it lightly, who says things that are misogynistic and antisemitic, and said that the United States deserved 9/11. That is not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state.”
TOXIC TECHNOLOGY
An AI-generated Instagram account portraying an Orthodox-looking rabbi is pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories to its more than 1.4 million followers, and it’s not the only one, a study published this week about antisemitic content on the social media platform has found, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Findings: An account called “Rabbi Goldman” “uses fake, AI-created authority figures to spread hate” in “a troubling and growing tactic,” according to the report, published on Wednesday by the Combat Antisemitism Movement. The 12-page report documents 100 posts that researchers described as antisemitic, pushed directly to Instagram accounts over a 96-hour period from March 19-22. These posts, actively suggested by the platform’s recommendation systems, generated more than 5.3 million likes and 3.8 million shares, with an estimated reach of 150 to 280 million users, according to the report.
EXCLUSIVE
A new report by the American Jewish Committee, released on Friday, found that 73% of American Jews saw or heard antisemitism online in the last year and 21% said that the antisemitism they witnessed made them feel physically threatened, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Getting to the root: Top officials at the group say that this pervasive antisemitism online is the fundamental root of the current wave of antisemitic sentiment society-wide, including violent extremist attacks on Jewish communities in the U.S. and globally, and that protecting the Jewish community requires making real progress in tackling that problem. The group’s CEO, Ted Deutch, told JI in an interview on Thursday that the report further finds that those pushing antisemitic content have found an “alarming number of ways” to avoid rules on various platforms to safeguard against hate.
Piker problem: Deutch also said that Democratic lawmakers and candidates should not associate with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has a record of antisemitism and support for terrorism, drawing parallels between Piker on the far left and white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes on the far right. “In both cases, each party should make clear that voices that aren’t representative of their parties have no place in an official campaign setting — shouldn’t be welcomed, shouldn’t be welcomed in to share their views,” Deutch said.
RIPPLE EFFECT?
As the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran nears the one-month mark, experts say the war has diverted diplomatic and military attention away from Gaza, creating a mixed picture: Hamas has used the pause in sustained Israeli military pressure to reassert control in areas it still governs, while the degradation of Iran’s capabilities could ultimately leave the group weaker and more isolated once the conflict subsides, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
State of play: Matthew Levitt, director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s program on counterterrorism and intelligence, said that while Hamas’ retrenchment in the enclave may cause concern, “the reality is [Hamas is] not able to expand beyond the less than half [of the enclave] that it controls.” He also noted that the current conflict in Iran may actually create the conditions to further weaken, pressure and isolate the terrorist group when the war subsides.
Fog of war: President Donald Trump announced on Thursday afternoon that he would extend his pause on plans to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure, “per Iranian government request,” for an additional 10 days amid ongoing diplomatic negotiations to end the war, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.
GOP GAPS
Republican lawmakers are growing frustrated with the war in Iran and with the administration’s frequently shifting rhetoric about it — including from some otherwise-hawkish lawmakers, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who previously called for an end to the war, told Bloomberg on Thursday that she’s working on a potential authorization for use of military force in Iran, to limit the scope of the U.S. operation and prevent the deployment of ground troops.
Cracks showing: “I don’t know what else to do,” Murkowski told the outlet. “I’m worried we get out of town and the president goes in with ground troops aiming for a full takeover.” The Senate is scheduled to be in recess for the next two weeks. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who has generally been supportive of the war effort, told NOTUS on Thursday after a House Armed Services Committee briefing the day prior that he was unclear on the U.S.’ plans and goals in the war. “What is the end-state goal? What is the mission? I think clarity there would be helpful,” Bacon said.
Read the full story here for additional comments from Reps. Rob Wittmann (R-VA), Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Nancy Mace (R-SC).
Tehran talks: Jared Kushner, an informal Middle East envoy to the White House, said Thursday that Iran had not been serious about reaching a nuclear deal with the United States before President Donald Trump, his father-in-law, chose to attack the country in a joint military operation with Israel, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.
PLAYING DEFENSE
After Janeese Lewis George met last week with Washington rabbis and other local Jewish leaders who were concerned about her views on Israel and antisemitism, the Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate released a statement pledging to stand firm in both her opposition to antisemitism and her support for the Palestinian cause, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Statement: “Those two things are not in conflict,” Lewis George, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, wrote in a statement that was posted to her campaign website on Wednesday. “To the Jewish community in DC: I will not be a mayor who includes or excludes you based on your opinions or feelings on matters here and across the world. I will always protect your freedom, safety, and sense of belonging,” Lewis George, a D.C. councilmember, wrote in the statement. Lewis George also noted that she was one of the first councilmembers in the District to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and that she met with students at George Washington University who were advocating for a ceasefire.
Worthy Reads
Blind Spot on Hate: In The Free Press, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair examines what he considers to be the unwillingness of Western leaders to fight the ideologies that breed antisemitism. “The problem is that, under pressure from party activists and parts of the Muslim community, many progressive politicians who do sincerely reject antisemitism are not making these arguments, and failing to take head-on this literally ‘unholy alliance’ between parts of the left and Islamists in our own societies whose ideology leads inexorably to antisemitism. Because failure to do so creates the climate in which, even if antisemitism is not explicitly condoned, it flourishes.” [FreePress]
The 1930s Redux: The Wall Street Journal’s Natasha Dangoor looks at Jewish communal concerns about rising antisemitism in the West as “Jews the world over” become targets amid increasingly violent antisemitism tied to Israel’s wars in Gaza and Iran. “While the attacks gain global media attention, it is daily life that has gotten less comfortable for many Jews who participate in communal life. Outside synagogues and Jewish schools, concrete barriers, high walls and security personnel are a constant reminder of the threats they face. … ‘It feels like the 1930s,’ said Ralph Pais, a 45-year-old real-estate investor who splits his time between Antwerp and Brussels.” [WSJ]
The Brotherhood’s New Turf: In The Washington Post, Tareq Alotaiba, a fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard University, considers why the Muslim Brotherhood has proliferated across Europe. “The modus operandi of the Brotherhood is patience — it waits until it is confident in its strength, then moves against the established state structure. … One challenge in addressing the threat lies in the group’s approach to its Islamist agenda. Although its ideology has inspired much terrorism, its methods have seldom been violent. The Brotherhood’s strategy is to slowly indoctrinate youth until the organization can leverage its societal influence into political control.” [WashPost]
Word on the Street
Vice President JD Vance, who Axios reports is increasingly taking on the Trump administration’s Iran negotiation efforts, met yesterday in Washington with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani…
The Pentagon is mulling sending an additional 10,000 troops to the Middle East, after calling up thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division earlier this week…
The potential move comes as Israel, reportedly concerned that the U.S. could potentially wind down the war against Iran, increasingly targets the Islamic Republic’s military infrastructure in an effort to hobble the regime’s arms-production abilities…
Iran is indicating to the U.N. that it will enforce a kind of “toll” for vessels to access the Strait of Hormuz, as it maintains control of the vital waterway…
The New York Times does a deep dive into Binance’s failure to stop the transmission of $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency to Iran-linked groups in violation of U.S. sanctions…
David Sacks departed his role as the White House’s AI and crypto czar after hitting the 130-day limit as a special government employee; Sacks will continue to serve as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology…
The State Department is sending $1.25 billion to the Board of Peace, the majority of which was taken from funds ear marked for international disaster assistance…
The Senate approved by unanimous consent a proposal to fund most of the programs under the Department of Homeland Security; Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol were omitted from the late-night deal…
Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the Abraham Accords Defense Cooperation Act, which requires the administration to establish a cooperation initiative with Abraham Accords countries and creates a funding avenue for such cooperative efforts…
The selection committee in Columbia University’s history department recommended the school hire Rosie Bsheer, who was removed from her leadership role at Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies over the center’s imbalanced programming on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for the New York school’s next Edward Said Professorship in Modern Arab Studies and Literature…
The Free Press spotlights the political trajectory of far-left activist Calla Walsh, the former Democratic organizer who interned for Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) before becoming more aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, serving jail time for anti-Israel vandalism and eventually relocating to a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon, where the 21-year-old now lives…
The Jewish Federation of Detroit condemned “recent remarks from prominent individuals praising U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah and downplaying the attack on Temple Israel,” following Detroit News interviews with prominent Arab American activists in the Detroit area, including the publisher of the Arab American News, expressing support for the terror group…
Lean In, the nonprofit founded by Sheryl Sandberg, has lost approximately a quarter of its staff as the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation scales up its efforts to combat the “manosphere” and “tradwife” movements gaining traction among young people…
The New York Times reviews “Yes,” writer-director Nadav Lapid’s latest satirical film, which takes place in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and spotlights a fictional couple who tries to ingratiate themselves with the country’s powerbrokers…
A judge in Montreal dropped charges against a woman who made a Nazi salute at pro-Israel demonstrators and repeatedly threatened that they would be targeted with a “final solution”…
Authorities in London announced charges against a Palestinian British doctor with a history of making antisemitic comments online of having invited support for Hamas on multiple occasions…
Two British men arrested in connection with an arson attack on Hatzola ambulances in London’s Golders Green suburb were released on bail…
Israeli-born professor Edna Foa, who pioneered the use of prolonged exposure therapy to treat PTSD, died at 88…
Pic of the Day
Former Israeli hostage Bar Kupershtein released the music video for his song, “The Last War,” which recounts his time in captivity in Gaza and recovery after his release in October. The music video includes clips of Kupershtein with his father, Tal, who relearned to talk after surviving a stroke in order to advocate for his son’s release.
Birthdays
Hollywood mogul, CEO of Endeavor and CEO and executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, which owns the UFC and WWE, Ariel Zev “Ari” Emanuel turns 65 on Sunday…
FRIDAY: Composer and violinist, he has been active in the presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960s, Malcolm Goldstein turns 90… President for 28 years at the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, he is now its executive vice chairman, Steven B. Nasatir turns 81… Principal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal until 2013, then the executive editor of The Verge and editor-at-large of Recode, he is now retired, Walter S. Mossberg turns 79… Executive director at Milwaukee’s Grand Avenue Club (a mental health center), Rachel Forman… Chairman and CEO of First International Resources in Fort Lee, N.J., Zev Furst turns 78… Sports agent who has represented the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft eight times, he is the real-life inspiration of the sports agent in the film “Jerry Maguire” in 1996, Leigh Steinberg turns 77… Retired host of the “Matty in the Morning Show,” which ran for 41 years in Massachusetts on KISS 108, Matt Siegel turns 76… Deputy director of leadership giving at Baruch College, Linda Altshuler… Former member of the Knesset, he resigned in January 2026 to become deputy communications minister, Yisrael Eichler turns 71… Moral philosopher, she is the director of the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, Germany, Susan Neiman turns 71… Former NFL linebacker, now president of Performance Coaching (training real estate agents), he was a captain of the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII (1983), Steven Mark Shull turns 68… Economist and banker in Latvia, Valerijs Kargins turns 65… Smooth jazz saxophonist, he has been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Dave Koz turns 63… Actress and producer, now serving as senior VP at the Youth Renewal Fund, Sabrina Wachtel Kurzman turns 62… Managing director of Maimonides Fund, he is a 1994 graduate of Columbia Law School, Daniel Gamulka… CEO since 2004 of BBYO, an organization launched almost 100 years ago (formerly B’nai B’rith Youth Organization), Matthew Grossman turns 55… President of NYC’s Tenement Museum, Dr. Annie Polland… Founder and CEO of the Movement Vision Lab, a grassroots think tank, she is a political commentator and community organizer, Sally Kohn turns 49… Associate professor at Columbia University School of the Arts, she is the author of six full-length collections of poetry, Dorothea Lasky turns 48… Human rights attorney and head of the Sydney office of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, Arsen Ostrovsky turns 46… Senior political reporter at MS NOW, Jacob Hirsch Soboroff turns 43… Hitting coach in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, he played for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic and the 2020 Olympics, Blake Shane Gailen turns 41… Former professional ice hockey player, he played on Israel’s national team and in the U.S., Canada and Japan, now a partner at McKinsey & Company, Oren Eizenman turns 41… VP at SignalFlare.ai, he is a former associate director in the NYC area for AIPAC, Adam B. Engel… Assistant principal at Snowden Farm Elementary School in Clarksburg, Md., Kayla Brameyer… Communications and social media specialist, Daniella Greenbaum Davis… Son of Jared and Ivanka, Theodore James Kushner turns 10…
SATURDAY: Professor emeritus of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in physics, Jerome Isaac Friedman turns 96… Chairman and CEO of the Hartz Group and Hartz Mountain Corporation, a leading seller of pet supplies, Leonard Norman Stern turns 88… Israeli electrical engineer and business executive, he was the founder and first general manager of Intel Israel and the inventor of the EPROM chip, Dov Frohman turns 87… Expert on the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, and wife of the late U.S. Sen. and VPOTUS candidate Joe Lieberman, Hadassah Lieberman turns 78… Glenview, Ill., resident, Genie Kutchins… Iranian-born CEO of Los Angeles-based toy company MGA Entertainment (maker of Little Tikes and Bratz and Lalaloopsy dolls), Isaac Larian turns 72… Former member of the Knesset for 13 years, she served as the leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Shelly Yachimovich turns 66… Special envoy and coordinator for the U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center during the Biden administration, James Phillip Rubin turns 66… One of four hostages held at gunpoint for 11 hours at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, in January 2022, Jeffrey R. Cohen… Former rhythmic gymnast, now teaching yoga in Connecticut, she represented the U.S. at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Valerie Le Zimring-Schneiderman turns 61… “Lexington” columnist at The Economist, he is the younger brother of U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), James Douglas Bennet turns 60… Presidential historian and Jewish liaison in the Bush 43 administration, he is now a senior scholar at Yeshiva University and a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, Tevi Troy turns 59… President and CEO of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Adam Lehman turns 59… Film producer, entertainment executive and director of movies, music videos and television programs, Brett Ratner turns 57… Journalist, crime writer and blogger who has spent most of his career in Japan, he assisted the U.S. State Department’s investigation into human trafficking in Japan, Jake Adelstein turns 57… Israeli journalist, she is both a television and radio news presenter, Keren Neubach turns 56… Novelist, television producer and journalist, one of her novels was made into a major motion picture, Jennifer Weiner turns 56… U.S. senator (R-FL), she was appointed last year to the seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ashley Moody turns 51… Author of eight best-selling novels including in 2003 The Devil Wears Prada, based upon the author’s time as an assistant to Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, Lauren Weisberger turns 49… Member of the Knesset since 2015 for the Likud party, now serving as the minister of culture and sports, Makhlouf “Miki” Zohar turns 46… Benjy Spiro… Los Angeles-based, Israeli-born fashion designer, Yotam Solomon turns 39… Retired MLB outfielder for the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, now a real estate developer in Bali, Indonesia, Ryan Kalish turns 38… VP at Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre global logistics center near Baltimore, Michael Hurwitz… SVP of asset management at Hackman Capital Partners, Zachary David Sokoloff… Quarterback for the Tulane University Green Wave football team, Jake Retzlaff turns 24…
SUNDAY: Israeli chemist, professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at UCLA, winner of the 1974 Israel Prize and the 1988 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, Raphael David Levine turns 88… Organizer of the annual morning minyan services since 1983 for runners in the NYC Marathon, Peter Berkowsky turns 84… Attorney, New York Times best-selling author and sports agent for many athletes including Cal Ripken, Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Kirby Puckett and Eddie Murray, Ronald M. Shapiro turns 83… Houston-based labor law, employment law and personal injury attorney, active in Jewish organizations, Carol Cohen Nelkin… University of Chicago professor and winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in economics, Roger Myerson turns 75… Investor, computer scientist and founder of D. E. Shaw & Co., a hedge fund based upon high-speed quantitative trading, David Elliot Shaw turns 75… Economist, professor emeritus at NYU and chairman and CEO of consulting firm Roubini Macro Associates, Nouriel Roubini turns 68… Miami businesswoman, JoAnne Papir… U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, he was the co-founder and co-CEO of Cerberus Capital Management, Stephen Andrew Feinberg turns 66… U.S. senator (D-NV), Catherine Cortez Masto turns 62… Director of the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, David Barnea turns 61… French film director and writer, best known for his 2011 film “The Artist,” which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Michel Hazanavicius turns 59… Budget secretary for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Uri Z. Monson turns 57… Vice president and senior advisor at The Rockefeller Foundation and adjunct fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Eric Pelofsky… Founder of Leopard Strategies, Liz Jaff… White House staff secretary in the Trump administration, Will Scharf turns 40… Communications director for Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), David A. Bergstein… Associate director at Power Insights, Annie Rosen Pai… Director of business development at Logical Buildings, Alex Zafran…
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
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 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
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
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
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
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…
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) arrives for a confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to senators about how the Trump administration should address the Houthis deadly attacks on ships in the Red Sea this week despite the terror group’s supposed ceasefire with the U.S., and report on DNC Chair Ken Martin’s dismissal of Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the “globalize the intifada” slogan. We have an exclusive on a bipartisan letter from lawmakers demanding answers from Elon Musk regarding his AI chatbot’s antisemitic screeds, and talk to the family members of fallen IDF soldiers whose bodies are still being held in Gaza. Additionally, we feature a rundown of the who’s who at this week’s annual Sun Valley conference. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Larry David, Robert Kraft and Jochanan Senf.
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: Jewish students forge ahead in attending Ivy League universities, despite fears of antisemitism; Israel shifts approach to Syria’s new government as apprehension wanes; and As teachers unions target ADL and oppose antisemitism bill, Jewish educators sound the alarm. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- Fox will air an hour-long interview tomorrow night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recorded with Mark Levin during the Israeli leader’s trip to the U.S. this week.
- On Sunday, former Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY) and Peter King (R-NY) will sit with author Daniel Silva at Long Island’s Sid Jacobson JCC to discuss Silva’s latest novel, An Inside Job.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Since Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, there’s been a fascinating disconnect between the polls showing Mamdani still vulnerable in the general election and the sclerosis among political leaders unable to make the tough decisions on whether to rally behind an alternative in a bid to stop the socialist candidate from becoming the next mayor.
There hasn’t been much good polling since the primary, but the most recent general election surveys all paint a picture of Mamdani leading the race with a plurality, but far below what a typical Democratic nominee should be receiving after a stunning, come-from-behind defeat of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
One poll, conducted by the Democratic firm Slingshot Strategies between July 2-6, found Mamdani winning 35% of registered voters, Cuomo at 25%, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa tallying 14%, Mayor Eric Adams at 11% and attorney Jim Walden at 1%. Thirteen percent said they were undecided.
A late-June poll by the GOP firm American Pulse found Mamdani at 35%, Cuomo at 29%, Sliwa winning 16% and Adams with 14%. Asked whether they were leaning towards voting for Mamdani or anyone but Mamdani, it was close to an even split, with 48% leaning towards Mamdani and 46% preferring anyone else.
Of note, both polls found the combined Cuomo and Adams vote — which roughly encompasses the lion’s share of the moderate Democratic electorate — narrowly outpacing Mamdani’s share of support. In other words, the Mamdani alternative wouldn’t necessarily need a large portion of the Republican vote to prevail.
SEA CHANGE
A top Senate lawmaker indicated on Thursday that he’s open to resumed U.S. involvement in the campaign against the Houthis, amid a ramp-up of the group’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Israel that comes two months after the U.S. and the Houthis reached a ceasefire that ended the American bombing campaign against the group, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: “The Houthis need to be totally eliminated,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told JI. “They have no purpose other than to kill free people.” Asked if the U.S. should become involved directly against the Houthis again, Wicker said, “I wouldn’t rule that out.”
Read the full story here, plus additional comments from Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Ted Budd (R-NC).
Exclusive
A group comprised largely of Democratic House lawmakers wrote to Elon Musk on Thursday condemning the antisemitic and violent screeds published by X’s AI chatbot Grok earlier this week, calling the posts “deeply alarming” and demanding answers about recent updates made to the bot that may have enabled the disturbing posts, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Ongoing issue: “We write to express our grave concern about the internal actions that led to this dark turn. X plays a significant role as a platform for public discourse, and as one of the largest AI companies, xAI’s work products carry serious implications for the public interest,” the letter reads. “Unfortunately, this isn’t a new phenomenon at X. Grok’s recent outputs are just the latest chapter in X’s long and troubling record of enabling antisemitism and incitement to spread unchecked, with real-world consequences.”
slogan saga
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin declined on Wednesday to criticize New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the “globalize the intifada” slogan, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. The DNC chair, who was elected earlier this year, praised the party for being a “big tent” comprising different ideologies, including “leftists” such as Mamdani.
Tent talk: Asked during a “PBS NewsHour” interview about concerns from Jewish Democrats regarding Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase, Martin replied, “There’s no candidate in this party that I agree 100 percent of the time with, to be honest with you. There’s things that I don’t agree with Mamdani that he said.” Martin said that he had learned through his 14 years as chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Party and his tenure at the DNC “that you win through addition. You win by bringing people into your coalition. We have conservative Democrats. We have centrist Democrats. We have labor progressives like me, and we have this new brand of Democrat, which is the leftist.”
garden state race
As she works to defend her seat from a growing list of Republican challengers, Rep. Nellie Pou’s (D-NJ) liberal political positioning and voting record place her in a unique position for a Democrat in whose district President Donald Trump scored a surprise win last November, at the same time Pou was elected for the first time, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Key example: One vote last month highlights that dynamic: she was the only Democrat representing a Trump-won district to vote last month against a Republican-led resolution condemning the antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colo., urging stronger enforcement of immigration laws and supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Pou, and nearly all other Democrats, voted in favor of a second resolution condemning a series of recent antisemitic attacks without the immigration language.
hostage hopes talks
As negotiations continue for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, in which half of the remaining 50 hostages are expected to return to Israel over 60 days, families of those still being held are waiting to learn if their loved ones will be among those coming home soon. About 20 of the hostages are thought to be alive, but the families of the 30 others are also hoping to have a measure of closure, with their loved ones’ remains returned to be buried in Israel, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
‘Nerve-wracking’ wait: Rabbi Doron Perez described this period, in which there is constant discussion of a possible deal with hostages’ bodies returned to Israel, “is very nerve-wracking. … It aggravates the wound.” His son Daniel was a 22-year-old officer in the IDF armored corps on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. For five months, the family thought Daniel had been kidnapped, before learning that he had been killed on the day of the terrorist attacks and his body taken to Gaza. When there is no talk of negotiations, Perez said, “You start thinking again, ‘Where is Daniel? Where is his body? Where is he being held?’ Some were found in cemeteries, some in tunnels, some in cupboards. You try to put it out of your mind, the vivid thoughts of where he may be, but [news about negotiations] brings it up again.”
inside story
The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces has been thrown into turmoil following the leak of an internal investigative report to the Israeli news outlet Ynet last week that detailed serious allegations against the organization’s top leadership, particularly its board chair, Morey Levovitz, of mismanagement, wasteful spending and creating a toxic work environment, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports.
Fresh concerns: Since the 18-page report was leaked last week, eJP has spoken with several current and former FIDF employees and lay leaders across the United States and Israel to assess its veracity, finding that in addition to the allegations that were included in the report, current and former employees have also raised credible concerns within the organization about dishonest fundraising tactics and the improper handling of sexual harassment claims. “When you have 60-80 employees saying the same thing, at some point, it can’t not be true,” one former employee told eJP.
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s ‘Your Daily Phil’ newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
On the Nobel Watch: In his “Clarity” Substack, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren reflects on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week. “As Netanyahu knows well, the president deserves a Nobel Prize for making peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but the Saudis won’t negotiate as long as the IDF is fighting in Gaza. So Trump wants a ceasefire that’s acceptable not only to the U.S. and Israel but also to Hamas. … But beyond a Gaza ceasefire, the key to the regional transformation remains America’s continued commitment to deter Iranian aggression. Though badly battered by Israel and the United States, Iran will certainly try to recover from Operation Rising Lion and Operation Midnight Hammer — first by sending armed bands across our northern border and soon by trying to rebuild Fordow.” [Clarity]Anxious in Iran: In The Atlantic, Roya Hakakian considers the impact of last month’s war between Israel and Iran on the Islamic Republic’s small Jewish community. “The signs in Iran are ominous — and the pleas from Iranian Jewish elders may now go unheard. The community’s old talisman may no longer hold its charm. An overlooked victim of the 12-day military operation against Iran is Iranian civil society, especially its minorities, particularly Jewish Iranians, who were already at risk. Since the war, their conditions have infinitely worsened — a fact that should lead the Trump administration to reconsider its refugee ban. The United States took on a moral responsibility for Iran’s persecuted citizens when it became a combatant against their oppressive regime.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
State officials are pressuring the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to post the agency’s long-overdue guidelines for applicants for security grants, warning that the continued failure to do so is imperiling security and counterterror efforts across the country…
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced bipartisan legislation on Thursday that would expedite arms sales to U.S. partners that normalize relations with Israel and work with the U.S. in its efforts to counter Iran and its terrorist proxies, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report…
The Hill talks to Jewish House Democrats, including Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), concerned over New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada” and refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state…
eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher looks at how pulpit rabbis are responding to the IRS’ recent decision that will allow clergymembers to endorse political candidates while retaining their congregations’ tax-exempt status…
Former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was held in an immigration detention center for months as the government sought to deport him over his anti-Israel campus organizing, filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Trump administration…
Unilever tapped executive Jochanan Senf to be the next CEO of subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s, amid a yearslong dispute with the ice cream company’s board over its social justice initiatives; Senf had previously served as the managing director of Ben & Jerry’s in Europe…
The New York Times reports on Bill Ackman’s foray this week into professional tennis, where he played a doubles match alongside former professional tennis player Jack Sock, losing in straight sets…
Larry David is set to write and star in a new sketch comedy series about U.S. history for HBO, working with former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground company, following the end of his long-running “Curb Your Enthusiasm” series on the network…
The Forward spotlights White Oak, Pa., a mill town that once boasted a large Jewish community, as it struggles to draw in new Jewish families…
A new report from a U.K. parliamentary committee found that the threats posed by Iran to the country — including targeted assassinations and attacks on dissidents — are similar to those posed by Russia…
An Israeli security guard was killed in a terror attack at a West Bank shopping complex; the assailants, who were killed at the scene, were reportedly police officers in the Palestinian Authority’s force who had recently completed their training…
Israel will allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza utilizing additional access routes and distribution points, following meetings between Israeli and EU officials…
A senior Israeli official said that at least some of the enriched uranium stored at the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran survived the U.S.’ bunker-buster strikes on the facility last month, and could feasibly be accessed by Iranian nuclear engineers…
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel could conduct future strikes on Iranian targets if it feels threatened, saying that “Israel’s long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel”…
The U.S. re-upped its travel warning urging American citizens against traveling to Iran, as Tehran confirmed the arrest last month of an 18-year-old French-German cyclist who had been traveling through the country…
Alan Hassenfeld, a former executive of Hasbro Games and major Jewish philanthropist who was a mainstay of the Rhode Island Jewish community, died at 76…
Pic of the Day
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his wife, Dana Blumberg, are among the attendees at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, this week.
The annual invite-only retreat kicked off earlier this week, once again drawing a who’s who of media moguls, tech titans, political heavyweights and dealmakers. A-listers and boardroom titans traded suits for the fleece vests commonly associated with Sun Valley and jeans and polo shirts as they huddled for panels, private chats and leisurely walks in the Idaho sun.
This year’s attendees include Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Bloomberg, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Joshua Kushner, Yousef Al Otaiba, Mathias Döpfner, Diane von Furstenberg, Barry Diller, Brian Roberts, Adam Silver, Gary Bettman, Mitch Rales, Bob Iger, Alex Karp and more.
Birthdays
Founder and CEO of Wisconsin-based Good Karma Brands, Craig Karmazin turns 50…
FRIDAY: Entrepreneur, investment banker, civil servant and political advisor, Stephen Berger turns 86… Developmental psychologist at Harvard, he was selected in the 1981 inaugural class of MacArthur genius fellows, Howard Gardner turns 82… Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, he was PM Tony Blair’s special envoy to the Middle East for nine years, Baron Michael Abraham Levy turns 81… U.S. senator (D-MA), Ed Markey turns 79… EVP of the Milken Family Foundation and past chair of the board of trustees of JFNA, Richard V. Sandler turns 77… Journalist covering classical music, he is the author of Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947, Norman Lebrecht turns 77… Founder of Schnur Associates, she spent 12 years as executive director of the Greater New York Coalition for Soviet Jewry, Zeesy Schnur… West Orange, N.J., resident, Jeffrey Maas… Actress, she portrayed Frau Farbissina in the Austin Powers film series, Mindy Lee Sterling turns 72… Singer-songwriter, known by his stage name “RebbeSoul,” Bruce Burger turns 68… Founder and retired CEO of Sidewalk Labs (an Alphabet company), he was previously CEO of Bloomberg L.P., Daniel L. Doctoroff turns 67… Group EVP of public relations for Discovery Channel and Science Channel from 2007 until 2023, Laurie Goldberg… Executive chairman of Aston Martin and the owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team, Lawrence Stroll turns 66… Radiation oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvey Jay Mamon, MD, Ph.D…. Managing member at Samuel Capital Management, Barry Mannis… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Yaron Mazuz turns 63… Former commander of the IDF’s Southern Command, now in the IDF Reserves, Maj. Gen. Shlomo “Sami” Turgeman turns 61… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit since 2014, Judge Robin Stacie Rosenbaum turns 59… Retired tax attorney, she now bakes challahs on Manhattan’s UWS to benefit the UJA, Adina Tamar Spiro Wagman… Executive editor of The City, Alyssa A. Katz… Founder of Koz and Effect LLC, Lindsey Caren Kozberg… Consultant focused upon social impact strategies, Joshua D. Wachs… Actor, podcaster and lead singer of the band Sun Spin, Michael Owen Rosenbaum turns 53… Ukrainian-born computer scientist and internet entrepreneur, Max Levchin turns 50… Principal at Civitas Public Affairs Group, Celine Mizrahi… Chabad rabbi at Washington University in St. Louis, Rabbi Hershey Novack… Comedian, podcaster and political commentator, Katherine Rose “Katie” Halper turns 44… Screenwriter and executive producer, Theodore Beren Bressman… Retired ice hockey forward, he played for 19 seasons in the U.S., Canada and Europe, now a businessman in Destin, Fla., Jacob Micflikier turns 41… Executive director of the New Democrat Coalition, Anne Sokolov… and her twin sister, a co-founder at Social Goods, Kate Sokolov… Offensive guard in the NFL for eight seasons until 2015, his Hebrew name is Gedalia Yitzhak, Geoff Schwartz turns 39… Senior deputy associate counsel in the White House Counsel’s office during the Biden administration, Matthew J. Rosenbaum… Bryan Stone…
SATURDAY: Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Rita E. Hauser turns 91… Former congressman (R-OK) for 16 years, Marvin Henry “Mickey” Edwards turns 88… Former executive director of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, Dan Botnick… Canadian journalist, social activist and author of three bestselling books, Michele Landsberg turns 86… Former member of the Florida House of Representatives for eight years, Franklin Sands turns 85… Best-selling author, screenwriter, and playwright, sister of the late Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron turns 81… Professor of religion at the University of Vermont, he was an advisor to Bernie Sanders on his 2016 presidential campaign, as an undergraduate at Yale his roommate was Joe Lieberman, Richard Sugarman turns 81… Co-founder of Imagine Entertainment, his films and TV series have been nominated for 47 Academy Awards and 217 Emmys, Brian Grazer turns 74… Obstetrical nurse and board-certified lactation consultant in NYC, Rhona Yolkut… Founding executive director (now retired) of Newton, Mass.-based Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, focused on children with special educational needs, Arlene Remz… Businessman born in Ukraine, living in London, co-owner of the Midland Group with holdings in steel, shipping, real estate, agriculture and sports, Eduard Shifrin turns 65… Former member of the Knesset for the Blue and White party, he grew up in Raleigh, N.C., as Albert Rosenthal, Alon Tal turns 65… Chief television critic for The New York Times, James “Jim” Poniewozik turns 57… Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission until this past January, Jessica Rosenworcel turns 54… Israeli journalist and former member of Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Anastassia Michaeli turns 50… Founder of Innovation Policy Solutions, a D.C.-based health care consulting and advocacy firm, Jennifer Leib… U.S. senator (I-AZ) until January 2025, Kyrsten Sinema turns 49… Israeli news anchor, television presenter and journalist, Yonit Levi turns 48… Winner of an Olympic gold medal (Athens, 2004) and a silver medal (Sydney, 2000) as a freestyle swimmer, now in the product development software business, Scott Daniel Goldblatt turns 46… Senior reporter at CNN, Edward-Isaac Dovere… Partner in the Des Moines-based public relations firm AdelmanDean Group, Liz Rodgers Adelman… Israeli media personality, sociologist and fashion and jewelry designer, Ortal Ben Dayan turns 44… U.S. senator (D-NJ), Andrew Kim turns 43… President of executive communications firm A.H. Levy & Co based in NYC, Alex Halpern Levy… Intensive care nurse now living in Jerusalem, Rena Meira Rotter… Benjamin Birnbaum… Actress, she is well known for playing a Jewish character on television (the title character in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), though she herself is not of Jewish descent, Rachel Brosnahan turns 35… National director of Teach Coalition, Sydney Altfield… Board member of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and the Israel Policy Forum, Steven Koppel…
SUNDAY: Scottsdale, Ariz., resident, retired teacher, Howie K. Kipnes… Actor whose films have grossed more than $10 billion, his maternal grandmother was Anna Lifschutz, a Jewish immigrant from Minsk, he is best known as the title character in the “Indiana Jones” film series, Harrison Ford turns 83… Fellow at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Michael W. Cohen, MD… Ridgefield, Conn., resident, Louis Panzer… Lecturer on the federal budget process following 37 years at various federal agencies, Johnny Cahn… Co-host of “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN since 2001, Anthony Irwin “Tony” Kornheiser turns 77… Actress, best known for her role as Frenchy in “Grease,” Edith “Didi” Conn turns 74… Author of crime and suspense novels, he is also a conservative commentator, Andrew Klavan turns 71… Guide and educator at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Rabbi Dr. Eric Marshall Lankin… Senior manager of regulatory and legislative affairs at PJM Interconnection, Stuart Widom… Country music artist, Victoria Lynn Shaw turns 63… Television executive and producer, she was the president of HBO’s entertainment division until 2008 and was responsible for commissioning “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and other hit shows, Carolyn Strauss turns 62… Film director and screenwriter, Shari Springer Berman turns 62… Television writer, David X. Cohen turns 59… Author and journalist, Katie Roiphe turns 57… Chief legal officer and chief policy officer at HackerOne, Ilona Cohen… Owner of the D.C. area franchises of SafeSplash Swim Schools, Jennifer Rebecca Goodman Lilintahl… Founder of Omanut Collective, Sarah Persitz… Director of major gifts at American Friends of Magen David Adom, Yishai Mizrahi… Creator, writer and producer of the TV show “Casual” which ran from 2015 to 2018, Alexander “Zander” Sutton Lehmann turns 38… Aspen, Colo.-based neuro-linguistic programming coach, she is also the CEO and founder of entertainment agency Art of Air, Ariana Gradow… Managing director at BDT & MSD Partners, Nicholas Avery Newburger… Managing partner at Surround Ventures, Jared Kash… Television and film actor, Wyatt Jess Oleff (family name was Olefsky) turns 22… Technology investor and executive, Eric A. Kohlmann… Reporter at Punchbowl News, Max Cohen…
As chief of staff for freshman Rep. Michelle Steel, Arie Dana makes history on Capitol Hill
Hilary Eldridge/Jewish Insider
Arie Dana
When Arie Dana walked up to a Capitol Hill coffee shop on a recent spring morning, I called him over to my table. “How’d you know it was me?” he asked. “Because I look like the Jewish guy?”
In a fitted blue suit, a navy sweater and light brown oxfords, Dana looked the part of a young, ambitious congressional staffer. He wore round tortoiseshell glasses; his combed-back graying hair appeared perfectly in place.
What gave Dana away as “the Jewish guy” — even more than the yarmulke on the back of his head — was his beard. In some places it extended more than a foot, the dark brown hair interspersed with gray. Dana has an identical twin brother, but “I’m the only bearded one of the family,” he told me, smiling. During our conversation, a young man with unkempt curly hair walked by and shouted “Nice beard, dude!” Dana thanked him.
Nine days after his December 2020 wedding to a woman he met at the University of Southern California Chabad house on Rosh Hashanah, Dana moved to Washington D.C. to serve as the chief of staff for newly elected freshman Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), for whom he has worked since graduating college more than a decade ago.
***
Dana’s journey to this moment began during his freshman year at USC. “I was a College Republican, and one of my fellow College Republican friends was Michelle [Steel]’s daughter,” Dana said.
After graduating, he took an internship with a California state assemblyman, until he received a call from his College Republicans friend. “Michelle’s daughter said to me, ‘Hey, I think my mom is looking for a communications director, are you interested in applying?’” Dana had previously volunteered on her 2006 campaign for the State Board of Equalization, the only elected tax commission in the country. He took the job.
Last November, Steel, then a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, beat incumbent first-term Democrat Harley Rouda (D-CA) to become one of the first three Korean-born members of Congress. (Young Kim (R-CA) also represents parts of Orange County, while Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) represents the area around Tacoma, Wash.)
“I was actually in Crown Heights” — the Brooklyn neighborhood home to the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement — “doing some pre-wedding shopping with my fiancée, and I got an email: ‘Arie, book your flight to D.C. for orientation,’” he recounted. He got on a plane to Washington, and “by the end of the orientation, she asked me to be her chief of staff,” Dana recalled.
“Arie has been a dedicated member of my team for more than 10 years in three different elected positions,” Steel told JI. “Arie is the one who introduced me to Orange County’s Jewish community, and I’m grateful for his leadership, which is needed here in Washington.”
Dana is far from the first Orthodox Jew to work on the Hill. There was Peter Deutsch, a former member of Congress who now lives in Israel, and of course Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who went on to serve as Al Gore’s running mate on the 2000 Democratic ticket. Before Jack Lew served as Treasury secretary under Barack Obama, he was a staffer for House Speaker Tip O’Neill.
But according to Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) and Washington’s most prominent Chabad rabbi, “there has never before been a chief of staff to a member — which is the most senior position you get — who was Hasidic in appearance and in observance.” Put more bluntly: “You’ve had many people who were shomer Shabbas, but they were not as outwardly recognizable as observant as Arie Dana,” Shemtov explained. “This speaks volumes about what it is possible to achieve in America without compromising religious principles.”
***
When Dana was a freshman at USC, he met Rabbi Dov Wagner, the school’s Chabad rabbi. “We always do, on Sukkot, a sukkah in the middle of campus, and offer students the opportunity to make a blessing over the lulav and etrog,” Wagner told JI. “He stopped by the sukkah at that time and made a little connection.” Dana would not reconnect with Wagner in a serious way until after he graduated.
Raised by Mexican parents in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, Dana did not grow up Orthodox. “In Mexico, some of the different Jewish denominations that you see in [the U.S.] don’t really exist,” he explained. “There’s less religious and there’s more religious, but it’s a very traditional environment.”
Dana had his bar mitzvah at a Reform congregation. “We were the first people, I think, who put on tefillin, ever, in this temple for our bar mitzvah, and it was something that I kept up doing,” Dana said. In college, “I was looking for ways to be more religiously involved. But I also had my parents at home, and we had Shabbat dinner every Friday night,” which did not leave much time for him to get involved with Jewish groups on campus.
Both Dana and his twin brother started at USC as architecture majors, though Arie later changed his major to religion. (His brother and his sister-in-law, who is also an architect, are now working on an expansion for the USC Chabad house.)
Dana’s family was not politically active when he was growing up. He was a teenager on Sept. 11, 2001, “which was a very transformative thing to happen your freshman year of high school,” Dana noted. He started reading up on the Middle East, terrorism and foreign affairs, before expanding into other topics.
“I started reading a lot of libertarian thinkers and philosophers and got into the idea of the free market [as] a great way to help individuals from all backgrounds earn their own success,” Dana explained. “Freedom — in that sense of letting people on their own choose how they want to create their own communities without external force — made me really interested in the political world.”
Apparently, it’s a value espoused by Steel as well: Years later, when she was elected to Congress, she joined the “Freedom Force,” a group of Republican members formed to counter Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive “Squad.”
But first, at the State Board of Equalization, Dana received an education in big government. There’s “this big state agency,” Dana explained, that, in his view, could get in the way of “allow[ing] people to have the most freedom possible to live their lives the way they want to.”
At the same time, he was also receiving a new religious education. “I had this great idea that I was going to be an Orthodox Sephardic Jew,” Dana said. But there was no Sephardic community near where he was living, so he began learning again with Rabbi Wagner from USC. They had reconnected when Dana came to Chabad alumni events with a woman he was dating at the time.
“He had this incredible journey of really engaging in his Judaism very seriously and making it an important part of his life,” said Wagner, the USC rabbi. Dana and Wagner would study the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, together. “Learning those things drew me into starting to study chassidus more. And then over time, I was just like, ‘Oh, I think I think this is where I’m supposed to be,” he noted.
He began to observe Shabbat and keep kosher, which is when people close to him noticed his new observance. “With friends, it was a little bit harder than it was at work,” Dana recounted. “The standard thing is to go out to dinner, or [hang out on] Friday nights, and you can’t do any of those things anymore.”
At work, “it started out with me just turning off my phone on Friday evenings. I didn’t really say so much about it,” he recalled. “Then [Steel] asked me, ‘Hey, why do you wait and not answer your phone until Saturday night?’” [I responded] ‘Oh, because I’m starting to keep the Sabbath.’”
Last winter, Dana and Steel “already had a general understanding of many years,” he said. So when Orange County officials had to have an emergency press conference about the coronavirus, Steel knew not to call Dana. “It ended up being a Saturday morning press conference in Orange County, where they ended up announcing that there was going to be a state of emergency,” Dana explained. “I found out about it Saturday night. I was like, okay, it’s gonna be a busy week,” he said.
It ended up being not just a busy week but a busy year, as the virus spread and Steel’s campaign for Congress heated up. “It was a lot of work in those days. I was leaving barely enough time to get home, and I would just rush home and change quickly and go to synagogue — or not go to synagogue; I stayed at home because everything closed, which in a way makes it easier,” he said.
“Arie has been a dedicated member of my team for more than 10 years in three different elected positions,” Steel told JI. “Arie is the one who introduced me to Orange County’s Jewish community, and I’m grateful for his leadership, which is needed here in Washington.”
One silver lining of the pandemic was the Rosh Hashanah dinner where Dana met his soon-to-be wife. “Even during COVID,” said Wagner, “the right people come together.” Dana had been spending a lot of time with Wagner, with most other Jewish organizations not holding events. On Rosh Hashanah, his future wife Chana “just showed up at our door, looking for a place” to celebrate the holiday, Wagner recalled. “Of the very few guests there, two of them met and, thankfully, hit it off.”
They got married in December, and nine days later moved across the country to the first place Dana had ever lived outside of Los Angeles. About a week later, rioters stormed the Capitol.
Dana and his team were in Steel’s office, trying to get the congresswoman out of the Capitol complex — she had tested positive for the coronavirus that morning and did not want to infect her staffers. “We had doctor’s orders, of course, to get her out of the Capitol as fast as we could so that she could go isolate,” Dana said. But when he called the sergeant-at-arms’ office to ask for the best way out, the response was: “There is no safe way out at this time.” So Dana and the other staffers stayed in one wing of the office while Steel isolated in her personal office, keeping the door closed for the next 10 hours that they were trapped together. Her case ended up being mild, and no one else in the office got sick.
Insurrection aside, Dana has also missed the celebrations and events that typically mark the beginning of a new congressional session. He had to a hire an entirely new team, looking for people who “have experience on what the Hill is like” and understand things like ”what the schedule for a day is like, what do the votes mean, the procedural rules.” Back in Orange County, “there aren’t 2 a.m. votes on Friday night,” Dana explained. “Official business was a lot more regimented and scheduled.” Amid all the new things to learn, he at least knew that his boss understood why he could not be present during those rare Friday night votes.
The new job brings new policy areas for Dana to learn about, but “we’re trying to be focused on local issues anway,” he said. “The foreign policy side is probably the biggest single change,” he added, but “with the congresswoman being very involved in the Asian-American community,” she already had some experience in foreign affairs. Since coming to Washington, Steel has joined with other Asian American members of Congress to call out violence against the Asian American Pacific Islander community, including after the mass shooting at a series of Asian-owned massage parlors in Atlanta this week. “What happened in Atlanta last night was senseless and tragic, and unfortunately only adds to a long list of recent violent crimes against our Asian American and Pacific Islander community,” Steel said in a statement, before testifying yesterday at a congressional hearing on anti-Asian American discrimination.
According to Dana, Steel also sees collaboration with Israel as a priority. “Water issues are something that’s a huge deal in California, and we have hi-tech and biomedical innovation,” said Dana. “She’s talked a lot about trying to find priorities of places to work together with Israel and the United States to advance that type of innovative spirit and find solutions to those types of issues.”
Dana is excited to explore Washington’s Jewish community more as the weather improves and the pandemic subsides. “I’m really eager to see what the Jewish community is like,” Dana said. Capitol Hill is not known for having a large Orthodox community, but “we’ve had a very warm welcome from the community that there is.” On a typical Saturday, Dana normally walks across town to Chabad in Dupont Circle.
The lack of kosher restaurants in the District is also an adjustment, with the presence of just a single kosher meat restaurant, CharBar. But in some ways, that reminds Dana of home: “Orange County also had only one kosher restaurant.”
Scene Last Night: The Becket Fund honored Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks at its Canterbury Medal dinner for defending religious freedom. Some highlights from Rabbi Sacks’s speech – “Every persons faith is a flame – your flame doesn’t take from mine – and together we can light the world.” — “Secular societies are much less tolerant than the religions they accuse of intolerance.” — “Religion is the root of America… Don’t believe that when you sever these roots, the tree will survive.” — “America’s great contribution was to make faith into a force for liberty.” Cardinal Tim Dolan also spoke and said, “Rabbi Sacks reminds us that “a world without religion is a world condemned to violence and tyranny.” Mark Kellner profiled Rabbi Sacks for [DesertNews]…. Chelsea Clinton’s Jewish Mother-in-law skipped her own fundraiser headlined by Hillary Clinton: Congressional hopeful, Marjorie Margolies, instead attended a local Montgomery County Democratic Party dinner in her district. It didn’t matter too much as most donors were clearly only there to show early support for a likely Hillary 2016 campaign. The event marked Hillary’s first campaign appearance of 2014. Last night’s host, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, supported Hillary in the 2008 primary but then switched to support McCain in the general election. (more…)
In tomorrow’s NYTimes Magazine, Mark Leibovich (author of the best-selling book This Town) interviews Sen. John McCain in a piece titled “How John McCain Turned His Clichés Into Meaning.” In it McCain talks about wanting to convert to Judaism, that is until his friend, former Sen. Joe Lieberman, reminds him about the necessary circumcision.
“Funny story about Lieberman,” he says to me. The Israeli ambassador in Washington honored him after he left the Senate. “Everyone was saying Joe’s the most wonderful guy, the usual crap you hear,” McCain says. “So I got up, I was the last guy, and I say: ‘I’m here to announce that I’m converting to Judaism. Because for all these years with Joe, I’ve had to eat that crappy salmon. I had to ride the damn Shabbat elevator. I’ve observed Shabbat to a point where I couldn’t even ride in a goddamn car. I’ve had all of the bull associated with this religion, and I’ve gotten not a single benefit. So I’m converting to Judaism.’ ”
Lieberman then stood up and announced that before McCain could convert, he must first have a proper bris. In the retelling, McCain pronounces it “brits” — which is how he pronounced it when he told me this story a week earlier.
Also in the article, Leibovich describes McCain’s experience as a POW in Vietnam.
In his book about five Naval Academy graduates, “The Nightingale’s Song,” the journalist Robert Timberg described what McCain looked like after two months of imprisonment — weighing less than 100 pounds, with collapsed cheeks and atrophied limbs. “His eyes, I’ll never forget,” McCain’s cellmate, Bud Day, told Timberg. “They were bug-eyed like you see in those pictures from the Jewish concentration camps. His eyes were real popeyed like that.”
First Look – Meet the Ted Cruz of Israel – Danny Danon is driving Bibi – and just about everyone else – crazy, by Ben Birnbaum in the New Republic: “Many Israelis, even some of his ideological allies, wished Danon would disappear. “Whenever I see him representing my views, I am a little bit embarrassed,” one prominent right-wing figure told me. But over the past year, Danon has parlayed his headline-making power into actual power. He finished fifth in Likud primaries (ahead of many veteran ministers) and was named deputy defense minister after the January election. Then, in a surprise coup, he became chairman of Likud’s central committee, making it impossible for his detractors to just write him off. He’s basically Israel’s Ted Cruz: a 42-year-old media hound doing everything he can to push his party— and his country—to the right.” [New Republic] (more…)
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