• Talks between the U.S. and Iran could resume in the coming days, President Donald Trump said yesterday. The president’s comments come as the Pentagon prepares to deploy some 10,000 additional troops to the region by the end of the month amid the U.S.’ maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
• The Senate is slated to vote this afternoon on a war powers resolution, as well as on legislation banning arms sales to Israel put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
• Elsewhere in Washington, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and Jeff Bartos, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. for management and reform, are slated to testify today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. priorities at the United Nations.
• Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch will hold a town hall tonight at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue to discuss antisemitism in New York City.
• In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey will join representatives from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to launch the new ARC Health Tech Accelerator in Downtown Boston.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

A popular “domino effect” meme circulates online every few months, linking slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s decision to launch the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — the smallest domino — to a series of major geopolitical shifts across the Middle East. While both simplified and exaggerated, the meme underscores the dramatic reshaping of Middle Eastern power dynamics.

The next domino may be the decades-long fraught relationship between Israel and Lebanon, as Iran’s ironclad grip over the region loosens and its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah, finds itself increasingly weakened and marginalized in Lebanon, where it has for decades played a key role in the country’s politics and military. 

Those current geopolitical conditions — Iran at its weakest point in decades, successive levels of Hezbollah leadership removed from power through Israeli military actions, the degradation of Hamas and a new government in Syria that has separated itself from Tehran — laid the groundwork for yesterday’s State Department summit, convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, between Israel and Lebanon.

The State Department meeting between the ambassadors from Lebanon and Israel took place as the U.S. navigates stalled talks and a tenuous ceasefire with Iran — which was initially on unstable ground as Iran demanded that Israel cease its targeting of Hezbollah as part of the ceasefire. 

A senior Israeli official told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that Iran’s effort to link the two conflicts was “a strategic trap with long-term ramifications.”

“There was real pressure to link the Lebanon front to the Iran ceasefire,” the official said. If President Donald Trump had acquiesced to the Iranian demand to link the two conflicts, the official continued, “We would not be on the path to peace that we’re on now. Keeping the arenas separate ultimately means that the fate of Lebanon is no longer dictated by Iran.”

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

Same as the Old Boss: The Wall Street Journal’s Margherita Stancati, Benoit Faucon and Henna Moussavi look at the maximalist, hard-line positions of the new upper echelon of Iranian leadership, overseen by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. “[The supreme leader] relies on a network of trusted allies that analysts call the Habib Circle. Its members include many veterans of the war with Iraq who served in the Revolutionary Guard’s Habib Battalion, renowned for attracting radicals and named after a seventh-century figure in Shia Islam revered for sacrificing his life in battle. Its recruits included Khamenei himself, who was a teenager when he enlisted toward the end of the war. … The new leadership has proved resilient and adaptable, emerging from the first five weeks of the war with its command and control intact. Their hard-line approach is evident in their appointments.” [WSJ]

Best Chance for Beirut: The Washington Post’s Carine Hajjar posits that the Lebanese government is in a position to take decisive action against both Iran and its Hezbollah proxy. “With the leadership of Hezbollah’s Iranian sponsors in disarray, Lebanon may never get a better chance to reclaim its sovereignty. … Even if the Lebanese are frustrated with Israel striking their country, ‘there’s a reason why these Israeli rockets are falling on us,’ Makram Rabah, an assistant history professor at the American University of Beirut, told me. The Israelis have been clear with the Lebanese: They won’t accept an armed Hezbollah, and if Beirut won’t act, they will.” [WashPost]

The Piker Problem: In his Substack “Identity Crisis,” Shalom Hartman Institute President Yehuda Kurtzer weighs in on the recent decision by The New York Times’ Ezra Klein to platform far-left streamer Hasan Piker. “Liberals must not decide that they need the ugliest forms of illiberalism in order to try to restore our fragile and collapsing liberal order. This was true when it involved defending a US senator hoping to impose martial law on American cities, and it is true now when it involves the demagogue-ing of our public square and the soft-pedaling of antisemitism. On both sides, violence is the tool of authoritarianism, and the enemy of the liberal project. Piker’s very project involves the delegitimating of the very liberal order by whose rules Klein is playing.” [IdentityCrisis]

France and the U.K. are drafting a postwar plan that would free up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and would include mine-clearing technology and military escorts through the waterway; the plan, which European officials will meet to discuss later this week, would require the approval of Iran and likely exclude the U.S….

Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman met this week in New York with Qatari Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari…

The Financial Times reports that Iran clandestinely acquired China’s TEE-01B spy satellite, which it used to target U.S. bases during the recent war…

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and 50 House Democrats introduced a bill to create a commission to assess President Donald Trump’s potential removal from office under the 25th Amendment, a move prompted in part by the Iran war. Efforts to remove Trump under the provision are almost certainly doomed to fail…

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) urged the administration not to renew oil sanctions waivers on Russia and Iran; “Iran continues to reap significant revenue due to its current waiver, providing financial relief to an adversary we are actively fighting. Any additional waivers for Russia or Iran would be against our national interests,” Moran said…

Citing an “unprecedented and escalating threat environment facing religious communities and institutions” across the country, a coalition of Jewish groups, joined by organizations representing a range of other faiths, is urging Senate and House leaders to significantly expand funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to “up to $1 billion,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The Wall Street Journal looks at recent clashes between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, suggesting that the pontiff “has been building broad support within the global church for his course, which combines advocacy for peace and dialogue with a stronger emphasis on traditional Catholic doctrines”…

The Michigan arm of the powerful SEIU labor union announced on Tuesday that it had rescinded its endorsement of Amir Makled, an attorney running for the University of Michigan board of regents, in light of Makled’s deleted social media posts praising the terrorist group Hezbollah, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports… 

Law firm Kirkland & Ellis has reportedly offered a three-year, $80 million package to Joshua Feltman, the chair of Wachtell Lipton’s corporate restructuring and finance department…

Portland Trail Blazers guard Deni Avdija hit the game-winning three-point shot to lead Portland over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA’s play-in game  and into the NBA playoffs; the Israeli NBA star scored 41 points, and tallied 12 assists and 7 rebounds…

The Harvard Crimson reports that Harvard has yet to release a report on antisemitism that was mandated by its January 2025 settlement with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law…

The University of Pennsylvania requested a stay of a judge’s order requiring the school to turn over names of Jewish employees of the school to the Trump administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…

The New York Times spotlights the growing interest from private equity firms in local bagel shops that can be developed and scaled…

MyPrize co-founders and brothers Zach and Max Bruch made a $360,000 donation to establish an endowment for Olami Manhattan to support the group’s efforts to bring young Jewish adults to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…

Axel Springer received approval from U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to purchase The Telegraph, clearing a major hurdle in the German company’s £575m effort to acquire the British publication…  

Days after U.K. authorities revoked Kanye West’s permission to enter the country for a now-canceled music festival over his past antisemitic remarks, French authorities are weighing a similar ban on the artist, who is set to perform in Marseille in June…

Dublin Mayor Ray McAdam apologized to the city’s Jewish community for a series of administrative and procedural errors around a failed effort to rename the city’s Herzog Park, which was named after former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, the father of President Isaac Herzog, who was born in Belfast and raised in Dublin…

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that the country would suspend the automatic renewal of its defense cooperation agreement with Israel, prompting President Donald Trump to rail against Meloni, who has thus far been an ally of his, telling an Italian outlet he’s “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong. … It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance”…

Italian entrepreneur Adriano Goldschmied, who developed dozens of brands of denim jeans, died at 82…

Congressional leaders, newly appointed U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Board Chair Jeff Miller, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others spoke alongside Holocaust survivors on Capitol Hill on Tuesday at the U.S.’ annual commemoration of Yom HaShoah, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Retired U.S. astronaut and a veteran of five space shuttle missions, Marsha Sue Ivins turns 75… 

Psychiatrist, entrepreneur, movie producer and philanthropist, Dr. Henry George Jarecki turns 93… Former 15-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, Howard Lawrence Berman turns 85… Duke University professor, physician, biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate in 2012, Robert Lefkowitz turns 83… Retired U.S. Army chaplain who attained the rank of lieutenant colonel, Rabbi Alan Sherman… Professor of German and comparative literature at New York University, Avital Ronell turns 74… Israeli Breslov rabbi and founder of Chut Shel Chessed Institutions, Shalom Arush turns 74… Former city controller of Philadelphia for 12 years, following 16 years as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Alan Butkovitz turns 74… CEO of DMB Strategic, David Brand… Founder and director of the graduate school in the decorative arts at Bard College in Dutchess County, N.Y., Susan Weber turns 71… Deputy counsel at the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Deborah R. Liebman… Former executive director at American Press Institute, he is the author of 10 books, including three novels, Tom Rosenstiel turns 70… Born in NYC, now living in Jerusalem, he is the rebbe of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty (a position he assumed in 1984 when he was 25), Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer turns 67… Former deputy secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration following four years as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Sarah Bloom Raskin turns 65… Winner of 12 Olympic medals at five different Olympic Games, Dara Grace Torres turns 59… Managing partner, CEO and chief investment officer of Hudson Bay Capital Management, Sander R. Gerber… CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009 on sabbatical this year, prior to that he was the executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Daniel Sokatch turns 58… Cheryl Myra Cohn… Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and founder of the Truman National Security Project, Rachel Kleinfeld, Ph.D…. Head coach of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos basketball program, Joe Pasternack turns 49… Senior political correspondent at The Hill, Amie Parnes turns 49… CEO of the American Fintech Council, Y. Phillip Goldfeder turns 45… Actor, comedian, writer, producer and director, Seth Rogen turns 44… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Mark Treyger turns 44… Co-founder and co-CEO of theSkimm, Carly Zakin… Research manager at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, David May… Director of grants and operations at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Kristin McCarthy… Founder and CEO of Neue Urban, Zach Ehrlich… Social entrepreneur, environmental activist and human rights activist, Erin Schrode… Israeli singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer, Jasmin Moallem turns 31… Moshe Lehrer…

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio will oversee talks in Washington this morning with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and State Department Counselor Michael Needham will also join the talks, slated to start at 11 a.m. Read more here.
• Ahead of the talks, a senior Hezbollah official said the Iran-backed group would not abide by any agreement reached between Beirut and Jerusalem. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has continued since the implementation of the Iran ceasefire, but has largely occurred in southern Lebanon and northern Israel following pressure from the White House for Israel to scale back its attacks in Beirut.
• A second round of in-person negotiations between the U.S. and Iran could take place as soon as this week — days before the April 21 expiration of the current ceasefire — following President Donald Trump’s comments yesterday that “we’ve been called by the other side,” who would “like to make a deal very badly, very badly.”
• The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is hosting its annual Yom HaShoah commemoration on Capitol Hill this morning, with more than 30 Holocaust survivors slated to attend. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Lois Frankel (D-FL) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will participate in the ceremony, during which Ben Ferencz, who served as the U.S.’ chief prosecutor in Nuremberg, will be posthumously honored.
• The Atlantic Council is hosting Jacob Helberg, the State Department’s under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, this evening for a discussion on U.S. economic leadership in the Middle East.
• Semafor’s World Economy Summit continues today in Washington. Speakers include Helberg, Sens. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) and Gary Peters (D-MI), former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Michael Dell, Reid Hoffman, Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick, Forum AI’s Campbell Brown and Citadel’s Ken Griffin.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Tomorrow (April 15) isn’t just Tax Day, but it’s also the deadline for candidates vying in the pivotal midterms to report their latest fundraising figures — an important marker on the political calendar in determining which candidates are raising enough money to run credible campaigns and which will be left financially behind. 

Historically, having a critical mass of prominent, well-heeled supporters was a prerequisite for a congressional candidate being able to get their message out to the public. 

Not long ago, candidates with extreme or exotic views — such as those affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America on the left or those embracing conspiracy theories on the far right — would have a hard time being taken seriously by rank-and-file donors, who typically want a back a winner and would shy away from those with far-out-of-the-mainstream views. 

Similarly, the pro-Israel community historically benefited from the presence of strong organizations like AIPAC that helped pool supporters’ money to favored candidates, giving them outsized impact within both parties. More recently, AIPAC’s super PAC has led the way in engaging directly in political campaigns, directly spending money on behalf of favored candidates and attacking some of the most radical candidates on the ballot.

But in our brave new decentralized world of politics and media, where a critical mass of small-dollar donations from passionate individuals can easily be amassed online (especially through an incendiary video clip or well-timed fundraising appeal), the comparative advantage of having a defined group of reliable donors can be neutralized by an online feeding frenzy that galvanizes enough individuals to give to a radical cause or candidate. 

At the same time, the social media-driven public conversation — without any guardrails and few standards — has totally transformed what is viewed as normal. One recent example: 27-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, a far-left social media influencer without any roots in the Chicago-area district she was running in, raised well over $3 million for her (unsuccessful) primary campaign, fueled by high-volume, low-dollar, largely out-of-state contributions. 

If former House Speaker Tip O’Neill once said all politics is local, the opposite is true today. All politics is now nationalized, with the most outlandish hot takes and incendiary commentary most likely to go viral. 

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

• Turning Point USA’s AmFest kicks off today in Phoenix, Ariz., and runs through Sunday. Speakers at the conference, the group’s first major gathering since the assassination of its founder, Charlie Kirk, in September, include Vice President JD Vance, Erika Kirk, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump Jr., Ben Shapiro, Jesse Watters, Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, Vivek Ramaswamy, Matt Walsh, Russell Brand, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Roger Stone, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Jack Posobiec and Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Mike Collins (R-GA).
• The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is holding the last in its series of “Lox and Legislators” events. This morning’s gathering will feature remarks from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, as well as panel discussions with local councilmembers and nonprofit leaders.
• In New York, the Brooklyn Nets, who face off against the Miami Heat tonight, will pay tribute to those killed in the terror attack on Sunday in Sydney, Australia. A nephew of slain Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger will participate in the tribute.
• German and Israeli defense officials are signing an expanded agreement today that will see Berlin purchase an additional $3.1 billion worth of Arrow 3 interceptors and launchers.
• We’re tracking events in Sydney, Australia, after police in the New South Wales capital detained seven men earlier today who were believed to be connected to what a police department spokesperson said was “information received that a violent act was possibly being planned.”
  
  

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

Norman Podhoretz, the pugnacious editor and neoconservative pioneer who died on Tuesday at the age of 95, charted a protean trajectory through American politics and intellectual discourse, rising to prominence as a leading champion of a muscular foreign policy vision conjoined with a fierce support for Israel that influenced such presidents as Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Despite his early political conversion from staunch liberal to conservative trailblazer, Podhoretz — the always-ambitious son of a Yiddish-speaking milkman from Eastern Europe who was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn — remained consistent in his commitment to defending Israel as well as promoting the Jewish ideals that guided his social and professional ascent.

During his 35-year tenure helming Commentary — from 1960 to 1995 — he established the periodical as a lightning rod of disputatious ideas that helped drive the conservative movement, while at the same time building his reputation as an estimable thinker in Jewish American debate of the mid-20th century. 

Under his editorial stewardship, Podhoretz transformed the magazine — then published by the American Jewish Committee — into a pro-Israel force that significantly shaped American foreign policy in the Middle East while helping steer the GOP to a more instinctive embrace of the Jewish state as a key ally.

“The neoconservatives played a pivotal role in providing the intellectual firepower for the case for Israel,” Jacob Heilbrunn, the author of a book about the movement Podhoretz founded, They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons, told Jewish Insider in an interview on Wednesday. “They did that not only by arguing that Israel was a vital outpost in opposing the spread of communism in the Middle East, but also in forging and defending the rise of the evangelicals who supported Israel.”

Absent Podhoretz and his ideological comrades including Irving Kristol, another neoconservative leader, “I don’t think that you would have had the intellectual justification for defending Israel inside the GOP,” Heilbrunn said, noting that the party had previously been “hostile to Israel.”

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

The Dem Divide: In The Atlantic, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro warns about elements of the Democratic Party that are shifting toward the fringe left’s stance on Israel, citing recent criticism of the party’s position on Israel by his former colleague, Obama administration official Ben Rhodes. “But there is a darker danger to the approach that Rhodes and others endorse. Nearly by definition, calls for ending all U.S.-Israel security cooperation draw those making them into alignment with others on a much more extreme fringe—those for whom it is not enough to end U.S. military assistance to Israel, who fundamentally believe that there is no legitimacy for Israel to exist as a Jewish state. They have found their voice and are making it heard. If the test of fealty for the Democratic Party becomes supporting international efforts to pressure Israel to define itself out of existence, or expressing indifference to the campaign of Israel’s enemies to destroy it, we will be in a much uglier place.” [TheAtlantic]

No-show of Support: In The Washington Post, Alon Meltzer, the associate rabbi of Sydney’s Bondi Mizrachi Synagogue reflects on the lack of mass gatherings opposing antisemitism and showing support for the Jewish community, compared to large-scale shows of support for Palestinians. “In August, an estimated 100,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to protest a conflict thousands of miles away. Many marched out of genuine concern for human suffering. … If 100,000 people can mobilize for a distant war, surely a million could rise up today and say: enough. Not with flowers alone. Not with thoughts and prayers. But with action. With a collective demand that antisemitism — in all its forms — is wrong and must stop now. This needs to occur in every country claiming to live by Western democratic values. We need to hear your voice! I fear that such a vision exists only in my imagination.” [WashPost]

The Senate confirmed Jared Isaacman to be the administrator to NASA in a 63-30 vote; read our profile of Isaacman here…

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced that he will depart the agency next month…

A spokesperson for Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), a co-chair of the Senate antisemitism task force, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod on Wednesday that the Coast Guard had assured Lankford that the service would be correcting its policy to make clear that swastikas would be banned — before reverting this week to a previous policy that had prompted criticism from Lankford and other lawmakers…

The Qatar Investment Authority is purchasing part of philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs’ stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Washington Wizards, the Washington Mystics, the Washington Capitals and the G League’s Capital City Go-Go…

Elliott Investment Management has amassed a stake of more than $1 billion in Lululemon Athletica as it works to position former Ralph Lauren senior executive Jane Nielsen as a potential successor to the athleisurewear company’s CEO Calvin McDonald, who is stepping down next month…

Police in San Francisco arrested a man in connection with a suspected arson attack at San Francisco Hillel earlier this month that significantly damaged the structure…

Time interviews U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner about Paris’ response to antisemitism in the country… 

In the wake of the Bondi Beach attack, popular Sydney bagel shop Avner’s, owned by Australian Jewish celebrity chef Ed Halmagyi, announced its closure, citing “two years of near constant antisemitic harassment”; a note posted to the door of Avner’s said that “[i]n the wake of the pogrom at Bondi, one thing has become clear – it is no longer possible to make outwardly, publicly, proudly Jewish places and events safe in Australia”… 

Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the occasion of the holiday season; a readout from the Vatican said the pontiff restated the “Catholic Church’s firm condemnation of all forms of antisemitism, which, throughout the world, continues to sow fear in Jewish communities and in society as a whole”…

The police forces of London and Manchester, U.K., announced their officers would arrest demonstrators who use the term “globalize the intifada,” saying in a statement, “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence”… 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed off on a $37 billion deal with Cairo that will see Israel supply natural gas to Egypt…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel plans to open an embassy in Fiji next year, months after the Pacific island nation opened an embassy in Jerusalem…

Israel denied entry to the West Bank to a delegation of Canadian officials whom Israeli officials said were linked to the NGO Islamic Relief Worldwide, which Jerusalem classifies as a terror group…

Sweden confirmed Iranian reports that a Swedish national had been arrested in Tehran on suspicion of spying for Israel…

The Washington Post does a deep dive into Israel’s Operation Narnia, the June 2024 effort to assassinate top Iranian nuclear scientists…

The New York Times reports on recent speeches by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledging that he is unable to fix the country’s mounting problems, including a struggling economy, water-deficit issues and corruption…

Benjamin Lee has been tapped to serve as the international media advisor for Israeli President Isaac Herzog; Lee succeeds Jason Pearlman, who is concluding his second stint in the position…

Rabbi Levi Shemtov spoke at yesterday’s Capitol Hill Hanukkah event hosted by Jewish legislators. Behind Shemtov, from left to right: Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Craig Goldman (R-TX) and Steve Cohen (D-TN).

Film critic, historian and author of 15 books on cinema, Leonard Maltin turns 75…

Founder of supply chain firm HAVI, active in over 100 countries, in 2019 he and his wife Harriette pledged $25 million to BBYO, Theodore F. Perlman turns 89… Professor emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the Hebrew University, Moshe Sharon turns 88… Winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Medicine, he served as director of NIH for seven years and then director of the National Cancer Institute for 15 years, Harold Eliot Varmus turns 86… Office manager in the D.C. office of Kator, Parks, Weiser & Wright, Ramona Cohen… Co-founder of DreamWorks Studios, Academy Award-winning director of “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” plus many other box-office record-setters including “E.T.” and “Jaws,” Steven Spielberg turns 79… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-FL) from 2009 until 2025, William Joseph “Bill” Posey turns 78… Former CFO of the Pentagon in the Bush 43 administration, he is presently a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Dov S. Zakheim turns 77… Winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in economics, he is a professor at Stanford and professor emeritus at Harvard, Alvin Eliot Roth turns 74… Network engineer sometimes called “the mother of the Internet” for her inventions of the spanning-tree protocol (STP) and the TRILL protocol, Radia Joy Perlman turns 74… Diplomat and ambassador, David Michael Satterfield turns 71… Television writer, producer and director, best known as the co-creator and executive producer of the award-winning series “24” which ran for eight seasons on Fox, Joel Surnow turns 70… Labor leader and president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten turns 68… Founder and chief executive of Third Point LLC, Daniel S. Loeb turns 64… Retired editor of The Jewish Chronicle, Stephen Pollard turns 61… Member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Gael Grunewald turns 61… Associate director of development at Ohel Children’s Home, Erica Skolnick… Partner at the communications firm 30 Point Strategies, Noam Neusner… Former special envoy of Israel’s Foreign Ministry to combat antisemitism and member of the Knesset, Michal Cotler-Wunsh turns 55… Motivational speaker and teacher, his book about his own coping with Tourette syndrome was made into a Hallmark movie, Brad Cohen turns 52… Member of the House of Representatives (D-FL), Jared Moskowitz turns 45… Director of policy for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul until earlier this year when he successfully ran for the state Assembly, now running to succeed his former boss, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Micah Lasher turns 44… Manager of public policy and government relations for Wing, Jesse Suskin… Executive producer at CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rachel Streitfeld… Multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator, known for his double bass performances, Adam Ben Ezra turns 43… Winner of four straight NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championships while at UCLA, Jillian Amaris Kraus turns 39… AVP of external affairs at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Marc Ashed… Eliezer H. “Elie” Peltz… Consultant at Brussels-based Trinomics, Jessica Glicker… Intelligence lead at ActiveFence, Emily Cooper…

Belated birthday (was last week): Founding national campaign director for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, he was a presidential appointee to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council from 2008-2013, Joe Brodecki turned 78 last Friday…

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

A QUICK WORD WITH THE JI team

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump welcomed the Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity last month to the White House on Thursday. “You’re not a hostage anymore. Today you’re heroes,” Trump said…

The released hostages were on Capitol Hill yesterday for a meeting with lawmakers that was hosted by Reps. Haley Stevens (D-MI), co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Hostage Task Force, and Craig Goldman (R-TX). Other members of Congress in attendance included Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mike Haridopolos (R-FL), John McGuire (R-VA), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA)…

New York elected officials spoke out against a protest that took place last night outside Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, where demonstrators chanted “Death to the IDF” and “Intifada revolution.” Mayor Eric Adams called the incident “totally unacceptable no matter your faith or background” and said he plans to visit the synagogue. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the incident “was shameful and a blatant attack on the Jewish community,” while Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said the use of the term “intifada” amounted to “an unmistakable incitement to violence against Jews”…

Incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also weighed in on the incident, which occurred outside an event hosted in the synagogue by Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that promotes immigration to Israel. “The mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so,” a spokesperson for Mamdani told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel. “He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law,” without noting what violations of international law were being promoted…

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he plans to introduce a resolution condemning “Nick Fuentes and his white supremacist views, condemning [Tucker] Carlson’s platforming of hate and condemning antisemitism and white supremacy,” The Forward reported. Schumer said he hopes the measure will garner bipartisan support…

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) published an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News calling on fellow conservatives to condemn rising antisemitism on the political right. “Now is the time to speak the truth with clarity and conviction, and to condemn these un-American and anti-conservative ideas for what they are,” wrote Cornyn, who faces a tough primary battle against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt…

The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika as a hate symbol, The Washington Post reported, according to a policy that will go into effect next month. The new policy will classify the swastika as “potentially divisive.” It will also apply that description to nooses and the Confederate flag, but displays of the Confederate flag will still be banned…

The Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting front companies that are selling crude oil to benefit the Iranian regime, JI’s Marc Rod reports. “Today’s action continues Treasury’s campaign to cut off funding for the Iranian regime’s development of nuclear weapons and support of terrorist proxies,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement…

The U.S. has presented a framework for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with a senior Pentagon official meeting the Ukrainian leader in Kyiv on Thursday…

Democratic Majority for Israel announced its endorsements on Thursday of three House members mounting Senate bids: Reps. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Angie Craig (D-MN) and Chris Pappas (D-NH), as well as former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who is also running for Senate, JI’s Marc Rod reports. Stevens and Craig are facing serious primary challenges from candidates aligned with the anti-Israel left …

Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral this morning drew a remarkably bipartisan audience, with guests including former President Joe Biden (who turns 83 today); former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Al Gore and Dan Quayle; Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD); Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD); Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Barrasso (R-WY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA); and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) TV host Rachel Maddow. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were not invited to the funeral, and neither attended.

Vance said in a moderated conversation with Breitbart News on Thursday that the Republican Party would not go back to the “Republican orthodoxy” of the Bush-Cheney era when Trump leaves office, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports. “Whether intentional or not, that was the legacy of the Republican Party that came before Donald J. Trump. I’m glad the president got us away from that Republican Party. It lost. It was also a disaster for the United States of America,” Vance said…

J Street chief policy officer Ilan Goldenberg, who served as Kamala Harris’ Jewish outreach director on her 2024 presidential campaign, laid out what he described as a new way for Democrats to talk about Israel that eschews both “reflexively supporting Israel” and “embracing an anti-Zionist or post-Zionist platform” — a hint at the Democratic Party’s future messaging as its voters are becoming less supportive of the Jewish state. One notable talking point: “Make clear that Israel is a friend, but the blank check era is over”…

Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR), a freshman lawmaker who was backed by AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC in her 2024 congressional primary, delivered a speech on the House floor on Thursday in which she drew comparisons between the Holocaust and the war in Gaza, JI’s Marc Rod reports. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum condemned her remarks…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in tomorrow’s Jewish Insider for Netanyahu advisor Caroline Glick’s comments at a Hudson Institute event on Thursday regarding Israel’s strategic challenges and opportunities. 

Tomorrow, President Donald Trump will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office, the first meeting between the two polarizing politicians. “Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday announcing the meeting. 

National security officials from the U.S. and Europe will travel to Halifax, Nova Scotia, tomorrow for the Halifax International Security Forum, an annual conference focused on promoting democracy around the world. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hoeven (R-ND), Angus King (I-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) will be in attendance. 

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!

• It’s primary day in New Jersey. More below on the state’s gubernatorial primaries.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is testifying before the House Appropriations Committee this morning, alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. It’s the first of three hearings Hegseth is slated to sit for this week, and the first since the “Signalgate” incident in which Hegseth and others, including Vice President JD Vance, discussed plans for a strike on Houthi targets in Yemen in a group chat that included journalist Jeffrey Goldberg.
• Also this morning, the House Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing on “U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Greater Middle East and Africa” with CENTCOM Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla, while CIA Director John Ratcliffe testifies before the House Intelligence Committee.
• This afternoon, former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom and the American Enterprise Institute’s Michael Rubin will discuss human rights in Turkey at a hearing being convened by the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
• We’re also keeping an eye on the Knesset, where Israel’s opposition is expected to put forward a vote tomorrow to dissolve the government, which would trigger new elections. The motion is likely to pass only if the Haredi parties that are part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition break with the prime minister over Haredi military conscription.

A QUICK WORD WITH MATTHEW KASSEL

As New Jersey’s competitive gubernatorial primary takes place today, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) looks like the front-runner in the crowded Democratic field but without much public polling and a late flurry of advertising, there’s still a considerable amount of uncertainty as to who will emerge as the nominee in the six-way race.  

Sherrill, a military veteran who has represented a suburban north New Jersey seat since 2018, is the favorite of many Democratic Party officials and has been leading in the limited public polling of the race. The congresswoman has also been one of the top fundraisers in the field, along with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who has been courting support from the state’s sizable Jewish community.

“Josh has been betting on the Jewish community coming out strong, and there is a realistic possibility that if new voters emerge in places like Lakewood, which is the fifth-largest city in New Jersey now, it could play a decisive role,” one Jewish community activist, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss the primary, told Jewish Insider on Monday.

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

Tunnel Visions: The New York Times’ Isabel Kershner interviews former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov about the religious journey he experienced while in Hamas captivity in Gaza. “A few days into his captivity, he said, he began to speak to God. He made vows. He began to bless whatever food he was given. And he had requests — some of which he believes were answered. ‘You are looking for something to lean on, to hold onto,’ Mr. Shem Tov said in a recent interview at his family home in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. ‘The first place I went to was God. I would feel a power enter me,’ he said. … Mr. Shem Tov, who turned 22 in captivity, said he had always had faith, but had never been religiously observant. Many other released hostages have spoken of similar experiences, finding solace and the strength to survive by connecting or reconnecting with God and recalling oft-forgotten Jewish rituals.” [NYTimes]

Tug-of-War on Tehran: Politico’s Rachael Bade and Felicia Schwartz look at the behind-the-scenes efforts by both the isolationist wing of the GOP and Iran hawks to impact President Donald Trump’s final decision on how to address Iran. “The private lobbying and public sniping highlight a vast breach in the GOP over U.S. foreign policy just months into Trump’s first term. While many hawkish members of the old guard have viewed [Mideast envoy Steve] Witkoff’s diplomatic effort with skepticism, the more restrained wing of the party has been adamant about defusing tensions with Tehran. In the middle of the tug-of-war is Trump, who ran on a promise of ending what his followers see as endless U.S. foreign adventurism and war.” [Politico]

Doctor Without Borders: In The New Yorker, Eyal Press spotlights Israeli-Arab Dr. Lina Qasem Hassan, who in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks traveled to treat survivors of the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, about her experiences as a medical provider of Palestinian descent treating Israelis in a post-Oct. 7 environment. “But Qasem Hassan wasn’t going anywhere, even as she acknowledged feeling increasingly isolated, not only from her Jewish peers but also from some of her fellow Palestinians, including family members. Her older brother, a successful economist, and her sister, a government lawyer, have repeatedly warned her that her outspokenness could damage not only her career but theirs. … [S]he had sometimes asked herself if going to the Dead Sea after October 7th had been the right decision. She ultimately decided that she was proud of it. She told me, ‘I did it for myself, because it put to the test the idea I was raised on — that all people are equal and that human pain is universal.’” [NewYorker]

The Justice Department is suing an Oakland, Calif., coffeehouse and its Palestinian owner over a 2024 incident in which a man wearing a yarmulke was denied service and asked to leave the premises…

NBC News reports on the White House’s struggle to hire Pentagon staff to work under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, amid broader tensions between the administration and Hegseth, who was reportedly instructed to cancel a trip to the Middle East because the itinerary included a stop in Israel…

A new poll by the Pew Research Center found that the global Jewish population increased by 1 million between 2010-2020, to 15 million; Pew noted that the total number of Jews in the world is still less than the pre-World War II number of 16.5 million…

Solidarity PAC, a pro-Israel super PAC in New York City, is backing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo as its top choice for mayor and urging supporters not to rank Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in the primary, according to a new voter guide shared first with JI…

The Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition announced it is supporting Cuomo, saying in a statement that the election “presents a stark and urgent choice for Jewish voters”…

Ken Moelis will step down from his eponymous investment bank later this year; Moelis, who launched the firm in 2007, will be succeeded by co-founder Navid Mahmoodzadegan, the bank’s co-president…

The New Yorker spotlights television writer Gertrude Berg, whose 1950s show “The Goldbergs,” about a midcentury Jewish family in the Bronx, was among the first family sitcoms…

Police in Ottawa, Canada, are investigating the vandalism of the city’s National Holocaust Monument that took place earlier this week…

The family of Israeli hostage Matan Angrest released video taken from his capture on Oct. 7, 2023; in the video, Angrest’s limp body is seen being tossed off a tank into the arms of terrorists…

The New York Times interviews former hostage Liat Beinin Atzili, who was released from captivity in November 2023 and whose husband, Aviv, was killed in the Oct. 7 attack…

Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in Israel last night, traveling to the Western Wall in Jerusalem shortly after landing…

Climate activist Greta Thunberg departed Israel on an El Al flight to France on Tuesday morning, a day after the boat she and other activists had attempted to sail to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli forces…

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said that Iran’s announcement that it had obtained information about an Israeli nuclear program appeared to refer to Israel’s Soreq Nuclear Research Center, which operates under the IAEA’s supervision…

Israel’s navy conducted strikes against Houthi targets in the Yemeni port of Hodeida, the first time Israel has attacked the Iran-backed group from the sea…

Iran expanded its ban on dog-walking — first instituted in Tehran in 2019 — to several major cities around the country; Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had previously called dog ownership “reprehensible”…

The Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Okla., announced a new initiative, the Elson Israel Fellowship, aimed at making the city a center for Israel-related thought. The four inaugural fellows are: World Zionist Organization advisor Avi Gamulka, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross, author and educator Sarah Sassoon and community organizer and researcher Barak Sella…

The board of trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America elected Gary Torgow, a Detroit-based philanthropist and board president of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, as the group’s chair…

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) spoke at a ceremony on Monday to rename the Delray Beach post office after Ben Ferencz, who led post-World War II Nuremberg prosecutions of Nazis. Read more about Frankel’s yearslong effort to honor Ferencz here.

Author of award-winning books about her experiences before, during and after the Holocaust, Aranka Davidowitz Siegal turns 95… 

Journalist and author, Jeff Greenfield turns 82… Musician, producer, composer and conductor for film and television, Randy Edelman turns 78… Physical therapist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Andrea Sachs… Cathy Farbstein Miller… Senior director of communications for CoGenerate, Stefanie Weiss… Former attorney general and later governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer turns 66… Director of business development at Evergreen Benefits Group, Avi H. Goldfeder… Blogger and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Neil Steinberg turns 65… Film, television and stage actress, Gina Gershon turns 63… President and CEO of JINSA, Michael Makovsky… Actress and the older sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman turns 59… Israeli film and TV actress, Avital Abergel turns 48… Veteran of nine NFL seasons as an offensive tackle, he is now the athletic director of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mike Rosenthal turns 48… VP of strategic partnerships at the Birthright Israel Foundation and director of community education at NYC’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, Rabbi Daniel Kraus… Professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, Yascha Mounk turns 43… Economic commentator on Israeli television, Matan Hodorov turns 40… Publisher of The New York Sun and CEO of The Algemeiner, Dovid Efune… Actor, producer, writer and director, Joseph Paul “Joey” Zimmerman turns 39… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, Tyler Gregory… Singer, composer and entertainer, Simcha Leiner turns 36… CEO of Encounter Programs, Yona Shem-Tov… Belgian singer and songwriter, known as “Blanche,” Ellie Blanche Delvaux turns 26…