• We’ll be reporting on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, slated for next week. More below.
• New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in on Jan. 1. New York Attorney General Tish James will conduct the official swearing-in at midnight, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will perform the ceremonial swearing-in during the day.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV’S HARKOV

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Donald Trump next week, the Iranian threat will be at the top of the agenda. That’s a sentence that could have been written countless times in the past – but this time, after the degradation of Iran’s nuclear program, was supposed to be different.

We’re six months out from Operation Midnight Hammer, when the U.S. and Israel worked together to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, and the 11 days of Israeli airstrikes on Iran that preceded it.

But much of the public conversation following that 12-day war focused on the damage done to Iran’s nuclear program – which is likely significant, but still hard to measure precisely – and less on the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missiles and air defenses.

Israel destroyed hundreds of missiles, launchers and production sites, and boasted about its control of the airspace over Tehran a day into the war as testament to its military prowess. But Jerusalem is now deeply concerned that Tehran has managed to recoup, with help from China, much of its losses.

In that vein, Netanyahu and his team are preparing to brief Trump on Israel’s concerns that Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program.

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

• In Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District today, Republican Matt Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn face off in the special election to replace Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), who resigned over the summer. More below.
• In Washington, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates is holding its annual National Day celebration.
• Elsewhere in Washington, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is hosting the premiere of “The Last Twins,” a documentary about the efforts of Erno “Zvi” Spiegel, a Hungarian Jewish man and prisoner at Auschwitz who protected twins imprisoned at the concentration camp.
• Israel Hayom is holding its first New York summit today in Manhattan. Speakers include the Israeli daily’s publisher Dr. Miriam Adelson, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, TWG Global managing partner and former Biden administration senior official Amos Hochstein, the Justice Department’s Harmeet Dhillon and former hostages Guy Gilboa Dallal and Evyatar David.
• The Combat Antisemitism Movement is holding its 2025 North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in New Orleans.
• In Miami, Art Basel kicks off today and runs through the weekend.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Today’s special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District — covering parts of Nashville, its conservative suburbs and rural counties in middle Tennessee — was expected to be a sleepy affair, given that the district backed President Donald Trump with 60% of the vote in 2024. The state’s aggressively partisan redistricting in 2021 was intended to guarantee GOP dominance of the state’s congressional delegation, leaving just one Democratic district in Memphis.

But in a sign that Trump’s growing unpopularity is creating unforeseen problems for Republicans in conservative constituencies, the race between Republican military veteran Matt Van Epps, a former state Cabinet secretary, and Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn is highly competitive. 

The fact that polls show the race tightening — with one Emerson College poll showing Van Epps in a statistical tie with Behn — is a sign of just how treacherous the political landscape has become for Republicans. Gallup’s latest survey found Trump with a 36% job approval, close to an all-time low throughout his two terms in office.  

If Republicans are nervous about holding a seat that Trump won by 22 points, there’s a growing likelihood of a blue wave that would give Democrats comfortable control of the House and an outside shot at a Senate majority. (One useful benchmark: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) carried the 7th District by just two points in her 2018 Senate race, the last election year when Democrats rode a wave to win back the House.)

The fact that Republicans are struggling to make the case that the unapologetically progressive Behn holds views out of step with the conservative district on everything from anti-police rhetoric to antipathy towards her home city of Nashville to a record of hostility against Israel is also a sign of how nationalized our politics have become. In today’s tribal world, candidate quality and specific policy views mean a lot less than the overall political mood (vibes) and the popularity of the president.

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

Target on Their Backs: The New Yorker’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells spotlights the rise in political violence targeting U.S. officials on both sides of the aisle, including the Passover firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion targeting Gov. Josh Shapiro. “[Cody] Balmer had pleaded guilty in mid-October, not just to arson and terrorism but to attempted murder. But Shapiro was still reluctant to focus on his attacker. ‘The prosecutor felt it was important to introduce into evidence the bomber’s claims that he did that because of “what I did to the Palestinians,” so clearly there was some motivation because of my faith,’ Shapiro said. ‘But I think it is dangerous for you or anyone else to think about those who perpetrate these violent attacks as linear thinkers, meaning that they have a left-wing ideology or a right-wing ideology, or that they have a firm set of beliefs the way you might or I might. These are clearly irrational thinkers. And I think that’s true of others who have claimed lives, whether it’s [Minnesota] Speaker [Melissa] Hortman’s or Charlie Kirk’s.’” [NewYorker]

Bearing Arms: The Atlantic’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reports on Germany’s moves to rebuild its offensive military capabilities amid concerns over increased Russian aggression on the Continent and moves by Washington toward neo-isolationism. “[Colonel Dennis] Krüger told me about traveling to Tel Aviv to fine-tune a missile-defense system purchased from the Israelis that can intercept and destroy long-range ballistic missiles in space. … For decades, Germany has been a top exporter of arms to Israel, its commitment to the security of the Jewish state a legacy of the Holocaust. Arrow 3, the largest defense deal in Israeli history, reverses that logic by making Israel a guarantor of German safety. Krüger said that work on the weapons system turned representatives from the two militaries into a ‘family,’ and that they built camaraderie when his staff waited out missile attacks in Tel Aviv’s belowground shelters with their Israeli counterparts. The weapons acquisition from Israel is ‘one next step,’ Krüger said, ‘in overcoming our history.’” [TheAtlantic]

Following a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump called on Jerusalem to “maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria” and warned Israel to avoid scenarios “that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State”…

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, the U.S.’ Syria envoy, met in Damascus on Monday with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in an effort to calm tensions between Syria and Israel following weekend clashes…

Politico looks at concerns among Republican Jewish donors over increasing antisemitism on the right…

Sam Altman’s OpenAI is taking an ownership stake in Josh Kushner’s Thrive Holdings and will integrate its AI tools into Thrive’s companies, which were acquired with an eye toward consolidating them and incorporating AI into their processes; Thrive had previously invested billions of dollars in OpenAI… 

Private equity firm Apax Partners acquired Israeli online marketplace Yad2 for $950 million…

Harvard hired a recent divinity school graduate who was filmed in late 2023 assaulting a Jewish student at a “die-in” at the Cambridge campus…

The New York Times spotlights Eli Zabar’s egg salad sandwich…

Israeli filmmaker Rachel Elitzur interviews religious Jewish couples about their first night of marriage in her short documentary “The First Night”…

The Norwegian government is struggling to reach a consensus on issues regarding oil drilling and Oslo’s sovereign wealth fund’s investments in Israel in its draft budget for the coming year ahead of a vote scheduled for Friday…

A synagogue and memorial in Rome to a 2-year-old Jewish victim of terror were vandalizedearlier this week, drawing condemnations from the city’s Jewish community and Italy’s foreign minister, who called the vandalism “unacceptable”…

Colombia expelled more than two dozen members of the Lev Tahor sect, including 17 children, after a raid on the hotel in which they were staying…

Israel’s Iron Beam system, which intercepts missiles with lasers, will be delivered to the IDF for initial operational use at the end of the month, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold, head of the Israeli Ministry of Defense Research and Development Directorate, said at the International DefenseTech Summit at Tel Aviv University on Monday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports… 

Iran sentenced award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi to a year in prison in absentia; Panahi, whose “It Was Just an Accident” won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, is currently in the U.S. promoting the film…

The Sudanese Armed Forces offered Russia a 25-year naval base deal along the East African coast that, if Moscow accepts, would be its first position in Africa…

Apollo Global Management CEO and UJA-Federation of New York Board Chair Marc Rowan was honored with the Gustave L. Levy Award last night at the 50th UJA-Federation Wall Street Dinner in Manhattan.

Referencing New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s comments regarding the recent protests outside an aliyah event at the Park East Synagogue, Rowan declared Mamdani an “enemy” of the Jewish community, vowing that his organization would “call him out.” 

Read more from eJewishPhilantropy’s Nira Dayanim here.

Actress best known for playing Special Agent Kensi Blye in 277 episodes of CBS’ “NCIS Los Angeles,” Daniela Ruah turns 42… 

Former director of the Mossad and then head of the Israeli National Security Council, Efraim Halevy turns 91… Professor of rabbinic literature at Yeshiva University’s Gruss Institute in Jerusalem, Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff turns 88… Real estate executive and founder of the Sunshine Group, she was an EVP of The Trump Organization until 1985, Louise Mintz Sunshine turns 85… Sociologist and human rights activist, Jack Nusan Porter turns 81… Partner at Personal Healthcare LLC, Pincus Zagelbaum… Former drummer for a rock band in France followed by a career in contemporary Jewish spiritual music in Brooklyn, Isaac “Jacky” Bitton turns 78… EVP at Rubenstein Communications, Nancy Haberman… Author of more than 15 volumes of poetry, he is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Pennsylvania, Bob Perelman turns 78… French historian, professor at Sorbonne Paris North University and author of 30 books on the history of North Africa, Benjamin Stora turns 75… Retired associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Barbara A. Lenk turns 75… Professor emerita at Montana State University, she was a member of the Montana House of Representatives and a board member of Bozeman’s Congregation Beth Shalom, Dr. Franke Wilmer turns 75… Canadian fashion designer and entrepreneur, he is best known for launching the Club Monaco and Joe Fresh brands, Joe Mimran turns 73… Partner in the Madison, Wis., law firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland, she is a class action and labor law attorney, Sarah Siskind… Rabbi of Baltimore’s Congregation Ohel Moshe, Rabbi Zvi Teichman… Celebrity physician and author of diet books, he is the president of the Nutritional Research Foundation, Joel Fuhrman turns 72… Advertising account executive at the Los Angeles Daily Journal Corporation, Lanna Solnit… Cleveland resident, Joseph Schlaiser… Emmy Award-winning actress, Rena Sofer turns 57… Publisher and CEO of The Forward, Rachel Fishman Feddersen… Identical twin sisters, known as The AstroTwins, they are magazine columnists and authors of four books on astrology, Tali Edut and Ophira Edut turn 53… Lecturer of political science at Yale, she was formerly a White House staffer, Eleanor L. Schiff turns 49… Television writer and producer, Murray Selig Miller turns 49… Former member of the Knesset and then Israel’s ambassador to the U.K., Tzipi Hotovely turns 47… Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Annie Fixler… Managing director with Alvarez & Marsal in Atlanta, she was a sabre fencer at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Emily Jacobson Edwards turns 40… Actor, best known for playing Trevor in the coming-of-age film “Eighth Grade,” Fred Hechinger turns 26…

• The International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries begins today in New York City, bringing together 6,200 rabbis from 111 countries.
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama will appear at Washington’s Sixth & I Synagogue this evening to discuss her forthcoming book, The Look.
• Finance industry executives — including Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman — were invited to dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump this evening. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Beware the law of unintended consequences: President Donald Trump’s zeal to aggressively redraw maps in GOP-friendly states is looking like it will bring less of a political advantage to Republicans than originally expected.  

Indeed, if the overall political environment remains in the Democrats’ favor — which would be consistent with the historical precedent of the opposition party gaining seats in the first midterm election of a new president — the House is likely to flip back to the Democrats’ control in 2027.

Here’s the lowdown: California’s referendum on redistricting, which passed overwhelmingly on Election Day, will allow Democrats to gain as many as five seats with a new, more-partisan map — with three Republican-held seats (of GOP Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley and Ken Calvert) all but guaranteed to flip.

That should offset the expected GOP gains in Texas, which started the whole redistricting gamesmanship off with a partisan redraw that guarantees Republicans to pick up at least three Democratic-held seats, with the hope that Republicans can win two additional seats that became more favorable to them.

But there’s a catch with the Texas map. Two of the redrawn districts — the seats of Democratic Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar — are in predominantly Hispanic areas along the U.S.-Mexico border that swung dramatically to Trump in 2024, but had a long tradition of voting Democratic before then. If Democrats rebound with Hispanic voters — as happened in New Jersey and Virginia on Election Day — and the national environment remains rough for Republicans, it’s not hard to see the two Democratic incumbents hanging on.

Adding another wrinkle to the GOP’s redistricting plans: A Utah judge rejected the preferred map drawn by Republican state lawmakers, and selected a new map that would guarantee a Democratic district in Salt Lake City. That would automatically flip one seat to the Democrats, given that the state’s current delegation is made up of four Republicans, all in solidly Republican districts. 

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

Hate on the Right, Then and Now: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens draws comparisons between today’s rising trend of antisemitism within the GOP to past iterations of antisemitic ideology on the right. “The MAGA movement is not antisemitic. But many of its core convictions are antisemitic-adjacent — that is, they have a habit of leading in an anti-Jewish direction. Opposition to free trade, or to a welcoming immigration policy, or to international law that crimps national sovereignty, are legitimate, if often wrongheaded, political positions. But they have a way of melding with hoary stereotypes about ‘the International Jew; working across borders against the interests of so-called real Americans.” [NYTimes]

After Mamdani, Healing Divisions: Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, senior rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, reflects in the Forward about how the New York City Jewish community must unite in the aftermath of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory. “For me, personally, the fact that about a third of New York City’s Jewish voters checked the box for Mamdani is totally bewildering. I am not unaware of the bigger political trends, the shortcomings of the other candidates, or the systemic challenges our city faces; I understand why Mamdani won. But for me, his anti-Zionist rhetoric and his intent to shut down research and economic partnerships between Israel and New York — to name but a few of his promises that would negatively impact our community — not only disqualified him from receiving my vote, but were a meaningful enough concern that I chose to publicly urge Jews and their allies to vote against him as well. And yet, it would seem that what was self-evident to me was not so self-evident to a sizeable percentage of my kinfolk. … We need to learn to walk together again. If, as I have repeatedly claimed, ahavat yisrael — love of the Jewish people — is my North Star, then it is a principle I must uphold even and especially when it is uncomfortable to do so. It is a love that must extend to Jews whose views I neither share nor understand.” [Forward]

Takeover on the Quad: John Ellis, professor emeritus of German literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, argues in The Wall Street Journal for placing universities in a “receivership” to address the dominance of left-wing ideology in higher education. “The discrepancy between what we fund the campuses for and what they are doing is enormous. Promotion of knowledge and understanding has given way to inculcation of a poisonous fringe ideology. Students are encouraged to despise their society and kept ignorant of anything that might make them think otherwise. … The only viable solution is to place schools in ‘receivership,’ a well-established procedure to reform ailing college departments. A new chairman is imposed on a department with a free hand to make whatever appointments he thinks necessary to restore the department to health. By action of lawmakers or trustees, a new president can be imposed on a campus with a mandate to return the school to its proper mission by appointing subordinate administrators, especially deans, committed to reform.” [WSJ]

Investing in the Jewish Future: In Sapir, Jordan Chandler Hirsch argues that the Jewish people should establish a sovereign wealth fund to secure long-term communal and national resilience. “A wealth fund would allow the Jewish community to invite allies and skeptics alike into mutually beneficial investments. It could help key players solve their problems and achieve their goals, thereby securing support for ours. Skeptics who distrust our institutionalism might respect our show of independence. Anti-establishment forces might welcome Jewish capital that strengthens their projects. Most important, a wealth fund could transform both our psychology and our posture — from supplicants seeking protection into partners offering opportunity. Despite its corporate veneer, a wealth fund would not merely reproduce institutionalism. If shtadlanut sought seats at the institutional table, a wealth fund would build its own table and invite others in.” [SAPIR] 

President Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog calling on him to “fully pardon” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the corruption case against him as “a political, unjustified prosecution.” Herzog’s office put out a statement saying that while he “holds President Trump in the highest regard … anyone seeking a Presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures”…

Following a joint meeting in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the creation of a joint committee “for the consolidation of the state of Palestine,” which will work towards drafting a “constitution” for such a state…

Iran has smuggled advanced armaments to terror groups in the West Bank over several months, the Washington Free Beacon reports, including rockets, explosive drones, anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, hoping to use it as another launch pad in addition to Gaza to attack Israel…

Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Capitol on Tuesday. A person familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider that Van Hollen had “reiterated his support for the lifting of the Caesar sanctions while also stressing his long-held position that the U.S. must ensure that the Government of Syria complies with the six conditions included in the amendment he and Senator Graham added to the NDAA”…

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) urged the State Department to take action to ensure the release of Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian-American dual citizen and Suozzi constituent imprisoned in Iran. “This is about more than one man. It’s about defending the basic rights of American citizens abroad and standing up to regimes that traffic in hostage diplomacy,” Suozzi said…

Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) led 125 House Democrats in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking “clarity on your plan to ensure desperately needed humanitarian aid reaches Palestinian civilians in Gaza” and urging that aid be distributed through “reputable international institutions”…

Saudi Arabia is set to host a U.S.-Saudi investment summit at the Kennedy Center in Washington next Wednesday, a day after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman‘s visit to the White House…

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) met with Malcolm Jallow, an anti-Israel left-wing member of the Swedish parliament who has espoused antisemitic views and has associations with pro-Hamas individuals…

The New York Times speaks to Iranians deported back to Iran by the Trump administration in the first U.S.-chartered deportation flight to the country in September…

The New York Times profiles Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, who is preparing to run for Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District…

After receiving backlash for canceling planned shows in Israel as a result of pressure by the BDS movement, British comedian John Cleese said he was only postponing the shows “following advice about safety.” The “Monty Python” actor, who has a history of anti-Israel commentary on social media, claimed he is “hugely fond of Israeli audiences”…

Argentine President Javier Milei met with Rabbi David Yosef, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel; Isaac Sacca, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Argentina; and Eyal Sela, the Israeli ambassador to Argentina… 

Israeli authorities arrested four suspects after dozens of settlers launched an arson attack in the Palestinian villages of Bei Lid and Deir Sharaf in the West Bank….

Israeli actress Gal Gadot won Israel’s Genesis Prize, sometimes called the “Jewish Nobel,” for her outspoken support of Israel in Hollywood since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Gadot said she will donate the $1 million award to organizations “that will help Israel heal”… 

Israeli pop star Noa Kirel and soccer player Daniel Peretz tied the knot on Tuesday in an A-lister affair in Jaffa: spotted at the nuptials were Israeli celebrities Eden Daniel Gabay, Idan Raichel, Eran Zahavi, Reef Neeman, Ron Bitton, Ron Aluf and Mor Hamami…

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts recently toured a site in Saudi Arabia for a possible Universal theme park location, raising speculation that he might bring in Saudi funds for a potential Comcast bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery…

Wonderful, an Israeli AI startup, has secured $100 million in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, with backing from Insight Partners, IVP, Bessemer and Vine Ventures…

Shulem Lemmer shared on social media “The March Medley” he performed together in June with the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, featuring Gur’s “Shir Hamaalos” and Modzitz’s “Ein Kitzvah,” at the 2025 MDA Chassidut B’Class concert in the Caesarea amphitheater.

Rabbi of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary, Róbert Frölich turns 60… 

Co-founder and dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky turns 101… Professor emerita of history at Columbia University and expert on Japan, Carol Gluck turns 84… Author and senior fellow at USC’s Annenberg School, Morley Winograd turns 83… Accountant and former PwC partner in Phoenix, Steven M. Scheiner, CPA… Former New York state senator, he is a descendant of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the former Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Stephen M. Saland turns 82… Sportscaster for “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video, after more than 50 years at NBC and ABC, Al Michaels turns 81… U.S. senator (D-RI), Jack Reed turns 76… Attorney in Brooklyn, Bernard C. Wachsman… Member of the New York state Assembly since 2006, her district includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Linda B. Rosenthal turns 68… Author of young-adult fiction and winner of the 2015 National Book Award for Challenger Deep, Neal Shusterman turns 63… Author, journalist and former political advisor to Al Gore and Bill Clinton, Naomi Rebekah Wolf turns 63… University of Chicago professor, he won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, Michael Kremer turns 61… Mayor of Oakland, Calif., until 2023, Elizabeth Beckman “Libby” Schaaf turns 60… Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, Sanford E. “Sandy” Perl turns 60… White House chief of staff for the last two years of the Biden administration, Jeffrey Zients turns 59… British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, Joanne “Jo” Coburn turns 58… Hasidic lecturer with many thousands of followers, Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Biderman turns 58… SVP and general manager of MLB’s Minnesota Twins from 2016 until 2024, Thad Levine turns 54… Member of the Knesset until 2019 for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Robert Ilatov turns 54… Restaurant critic and food writer for the Boston Globe, Devra First turns 53… Israeli fashion model and actress, Nina Brosh turns 50… Former member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, Eliyahu Hasid turns 49… Campus support director at Hillel International, Aviva Zucker Snyder… Actress best known for her roles on “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Kelly Kruger turns 44… Co-founder of Purple Acorn, Dave Weinberg… Assistant professor of Jewish studies at Oberlin College, Matthew D. Berkman turns 41… Director of strategic talent initiatives at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Spencer F. Lucker… New Jersey-based primary care physician known as Doctor Mike, he is an internet celebrity on YouTube and Instagram, Mikhail Varshavski turns 36… Activist in the fight against antisemitism throughout the U.S., Adela Cojab turns 29… Catcher in the Washington Nationals organization, Cameron J. Stubbs turns 29…

• Israeli negotiators, led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, are meeting with representatives of Hamas today in Cairo for discussions centered around President Donald Trump’s peace proposal. More below.
  
• We’re keeping an eye on the situation in the U.K., following a deadly terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur in which two members of the city’s Jewish community were killed.
  
• We’re also tracking developments in Paris, where French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his government resigned weeks into his role and less than a day after the Cabinet was appointed.
  
• Around the world, events marking the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks are being held this week. In Washington this morning, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is convening a conversation marking the anniversary and the impact of the attacks and ensuing war on Israel, the Middle East and U.S. policy. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul, former White House official Dennis Ross, counter-terror expert Dr. Ali al-Nuaimi and author Yossi Klein Halevi are slated to speak.
  
• In New York tomorrow night, former hostage Eli Sharabi will speak at Manhattan’s Temple Emanu-El. The English-language version of Sharabi’s new autobiography, Hostage, will be released tomorrow.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

When the world woke up two years ago to news of a vicious, wide-scale terror attack taking place across southern Israel, it was immediately clear that this was different from previous bursts of violence near the Gaza Strip. But we could not yet fathom the massive changes that would soon reverberate around the world. 

As negotiators now appear close to a deal to release the hostages and end the war, it’s clear the Middle East will not return to the pre-Oct. 7 status quo. Nor will American society. The changes wrought by the events of that day will linger long after the last bullet is fired. 

On Oct. 7, 2023, terrorists killed 1,200 people, took more than 250 hostages and launched a war that has upended the Middle East, fundamentally altered global politics and culture and reshaped the Jewish community. 

Anti-Israel activists descended into the streets of Manhattan one day after the attacks, celebrating with chants of “resistance is justified when people are occupied.” Students at America’s top universities signed onto letters blaming Israel for the bloodshed. Jews looked on with alarm: At our moment of greatest need, this is the response? 

Two years later, Jewish Insider is reflecting on all that has changed since the Oct. 7 attacks. 

Iran has been weakened and Hezbollah decapitated, while a degraded Hamas, not yet defeated, fights on in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed and a humanitarian crisis persists. The U.S.-Israel alliance has come under strain from growing forces on the far left and right who wish to see an end to American military support for Israel. A vast anti-Israel protest movement swept across college campuses, presenting university leaders with a test — how to balance freedom of expression with protecting Jewish students — that many failed. 

Yet despite the myriad challenges that have emerged from this war, Jews around the world were instilled with a new sense of pride in defense of Jewish peoplehood. More people are going to synagogue and celebrating Jewish holidays now than before Oct. 7. Judaica sales spiked as people yearned to represent their faith proudly, even as antisemitism surged around the world.

To mark the second anniversary of that solemn day, we are publishing a special project examining five key areas that have been utterly transformed by Oct. 7 and its aftermath: American politics, the U.S.-Israel relationship, higher education, Jewish advocacy and Israel’s relations with the world. We asked dozens of leading thinkers and practitioners to offer their thoughts on the biggest changes that have taken place in Jewish life over the last two years. 

You’ll hear from Democratic and Republican lawmakers; officials who served under Presidents Trump, Biden, Obama and Bush; rabbis and writers; Europeans, Americans and Israelis; and activists and philanthropists. You’ll find optimism, frustration and everything in between. We are all still experiencing the ripple effects left in the wake of that indescribable day, even as an end to the war may yet be in sight. We hope these insights help you reflect on the world in which we now live.

How the War Was Won: In his “Clarity” Substack, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren posits that the conclusion of the Israel-Hamas war is likely to be decided in the diplomatic arena, rather than on the battlefield. “The terrorists want to negotiate an arrangement in which, in return for freeing the hostages, they can remain in Gaza and keep their guns. Achieving those goals means, in essence, Hamas will win the war. In response, the president ordered the IDF to halt its Gaza City offensive and instructed his diplomatic team to enter into talks — albeit indirectly, through Qatar — with Hamas. Rather than strengthening the twenty points, these negotiations could result in watering them down. Hamas could conclude that Trump wants the Nobel Prize and will make serious concessions to secure it. But Trump, the master dealmaker, may be counting on Hamas to overplay its hand and provide him — and Israel — the justification for delivering it the coup de grâce.” [Clarity]

London’s Lapse: The Jewish News’ Daniel Sugarman suggests that the Yom Kippur terror attack on a Manchester synagogue was inevitable given U.K. leaders’ approach to antisemitism, the country’s Jewish community and Israel. “​​What do you think is going to be the end result when people receive absolutely no censure or comeuppance for openly ranting about how ‘Jewish supremacists’ control this country and stating that there are no anti-Zionist synagogues or schools in the UK? What do you think is going to be the end result when a band which called for ‘death to the IDF’ at the U.K.’s most celebrated music festival this summer follows that up at a performance two weeks ago by saying ‘F**k the Zionists! Get out there and fight them! Get out there and meet them in the street. Get out there and let them know that you do not stand by them’? … What do you think is going to be the end result? We all knew. Jews have two thousand years of experience of what such words and sentiments inevitably lead to.” [JewishNews]

Lessons from History: In the Washington Jewish Week, Karen Paikin Barall, the chief policy officer at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law,, considers the lessons that can be learned from the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank as “Parade,” which sets Frank’s story to music, closes at the Kennedy Center in Washington. “When university presidents claim ‘neutrality’ as students chant for the destruction of Israel, they abdicate their responsibility. Courage is calling out that hate, ensuring Jewish students are safe and making it clear that intimidation has no place on campus. When CEOs dismiss antisemitic remarks in the boardroom or excuse bias in the workplace, they signal tolerance for hate. Courage is setting a zero-tolerance standard and backing it up with action.  And when health-care leaders allow Jewish doctors, nurses or patients to be singled out or harassed because of their faith, they betray their mission of care. Courage is making sure that hospitals and medical institutions remain safe places for everyone, and where bigotry has no place. Leo Frank’s story shows what happens when hatred and silence prevail.” [WJW]

FBI Director Kash Patel called the Anti-Defamation League “an extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization,” saying in an announcement hours before Yom Kippur that the FBI had cut all formal ties with the anti-hate group, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…

The Information reports on speculation that TikTok’s Adam Presser, who was recently named the head of the company’s U.S. Data Security unit, will be tapped to head the new joint venture, established by a recent executive order, that would oversee TikTok’s U.S. operations…

David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is expected to name Bari Weiss the editor-in-chief of CBS News this week as part of the acquisition of Weiss’ Free Press for $150 million…

Leaders at a Brookline, Mass., synagogue said an incident last week in which a Harvard Law School visiting professor shot a pellet gun near the synagogue was not fueled by antisemitism; the professor said he was shooting at rats near his home, which he was unaware was in close proximity to a synagogue…

The Maryland Legislative Jewish Caucus slammed the decision by student government officials at the University of Maryland to hold a vote on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel on Yom Kippur…

In The Wall Street Journal, Yeshiva University’s Stuart Halpern reviews Michael Hoberman’s Imagining Early American Jews, which dives into the Jewish American experience in the first decades following the establishment of the United States…

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the country would withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is banned from the competition; France, Austria and Australia have voiced opposition to the effort to ban Israel from participating, which participating countries will vote on next month…

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli clashed with the U.K.’s Board of Deputies of British Jews over the Diaspora Ministry’s hosting of far-right U.K. activist Tommy Robinson in Israel this week…

The Daily Mail interviewed former Israeli hostages Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev about their experiences during the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks and ensuing 15 months in captivity…

The Washington Post talks to Israeli reservists and mental health professionals about the rise in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the Oct. 7 attacks and ensuing war in Gaza…

Israel is deporting dozens of activists, including Greta Thunberg who attempted to illegally enter Gaza by sea on a 45-vessel flotilla last week…

Israeli journalist Amit Segal reports from his Channel 12 colleague Ehud Yaari that Qatar reached an understanding with the United States to “reduce the amount of incitement” that state-owned Al Jazeera spreads in its coverage; one Israeli intelligence official told Segal that “if this is a real shift, it’s a huge game changer”…

The Wall Street Journal reports on efforts by China to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran through a series of conduits that allow Beijing to receive oil from Tehran in exchange for the building of Chinese infrastructure in the Islamic Republic…

Iran executed six prisoners accused of spying on behalf of Israel, part of a broader effort in the country to crackdown on alleged spies following the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June…

Iran’s parliament approved a measure that would deduct several zeros from the country’s currency as it faces rising inflation and days after the Iranian rial hit a record low…

Time does a deep dive into the water-scarcity issues facing Iran amid record-breaking temperatures and economic instability…

Czech writer Ivan Klima, whose writings recounted his childhood experiences in the Treblinka death camp, died at 94…

Players from Manchester City and Brentford FC observed a moment of silence on Sunday in memory of the two Jewish men killed in a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur ahead of the teams’ Premier League match in Brentford, U.K.

Awarded a Ph.D. at UCSD in space science, consultant to NASA and author of many science fiction novels, David Brin turns 75…

Owner of Lancaster, Pa.-based industrial supplier Samuel Miller & Son, she is a past president of Women of Reform Judaism, Rosanne Selfon… Former chairman and CEO of CBS, he is a great-nephew of David Ben-Gurion, Leslie Moonves turns 76… Retired justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, Uzi Vogelman turns 71… Director of philanthropy at Temple Emanu-El of Westfield (N.J.), Elliot B. Karp… Bexley, Ohio-based real estate agent, Jan Kanas… Correspondent on the networks of NBC and author of best-selling books on Presidents Obama, FDR and Jimmy Carter, Jonathan Alter turns 68… Spiritual leader emeritus of Congregation Ner Tamid in the Las Vegas suburbs since 1988, Rabbi Sanford Akselrad… Former member of the New Jersey General Assembly, he is now the managing director of Quest Associates, Joel M. Weingarten turns 66… Mayor of Jerusalem since 2018, Moshe Lion turns 64… Founder and CEO of Coalition Strategy Group and community relations specialist at JFNA, Jeffrey Mendelsohn… Attorney in Lakewood, N.J., where he is active on the boards of many local businesses, civic organizations and charitable institutions, Samuel Zev Brown… Member of the New York City Council representing Yorkville, Lenox Hill and Roosevelt Island, Julie Menin turns 58… Member of the Florida Senate until 2020, now an insurance agent in Boca Raton, Kevin J.G. Rader turns 57… Former member of the Arizona House of Representatives, now founder and CEO of Buzze, Aaron Lieberman turns 54… Director of sales at Convergence Workforce, Sean “Shmop” Weisbord… VP of community relations at JFNA, following a stint as CEO of Community Security Service, Evan R. Bernstein turns 51… Actor and comedian, Brett Gelman turns 49… SVP of community strategy and external relations at UJA-Federation of New York, Hindy Poupko… Senior advisor for Israel Strategies at the William Davidson Foundation, Deena Eisenberg Pulitzer… and her twin sister, global event planner, Elisheva Eisenberg Goldman… Actress best known for her role in “Dredd” and more recently in “Oppenheimer,” Olivia Thirlby turns 39… Legislative director for the governor of Nevada, Madeline S. Burak…

• The House Appropriations Committee will conduct its full committee markup of the 2026 defense and homeland security funding bills.
• The House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the Department of Defense’s 2026 budget request with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
• The Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs will hold a hearing on the nomination of Sean Plankey to be director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
• The Zionist Organization of America is holding its annual legislative lobbying day at the Capitol.
• Argentine President Javier Milei is being presented with the Genesis Prize today at Jerusalem’s Museum of Tolerance.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

Since the Israeli strike on Iran’s air defenses in October, Jerusalem has sought a green light, or something close to it, from Washington to strike the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites. President Donald Trump, however, repeatedly told Israel to hold off as he pursued a diplomatic agreement with Tehran to stop its enrichment program. 

Now, after the Iranian nuclear program has continued apace and Trump has voiced frustration over Tehran’s intransigence, it seems that Jerusalem’s patience for diplomacy is running out.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea will be meeting Trump’s top negotiator Steve Witkoff on Friday ahead of the sixth round of talks with Iran in Oman on Sunday “in an additional attempt to clarify Israel’s stance,” an official in Jerusalem said, amid persistent reports and strong indications that Israel is prepared to strike Iran.

After a call with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu last week, Trump said that if Tehran does not agree to give up uranium enrichment, the situation will get “very, very dire.” On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that “there have been plenty of indications” that Iran is moving towards weaponization of its nuclear program, and Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the chief of CENTCOM, said that he presented Trump and Hegseth with numerous options to attack Iran if nuclear talks break down. 

Hours later, the State Department began to move some personnel out of Iraq and the military suggested that servicemembers’ families depart the Middle East, while the U.K. warned about a potential “escalation of military activity” in the region. Such evacuations are often the first step to reduce risk ahead of a large-scale military operation. 

Trump told reporters that the evacuations are happening because the Middle East “could be a dangerous place, and we’ll see what happens.” More on this from Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod here.

Kurilla postponed his testimony before the Senate planned for Thursday. Staff at U.S. embassies and consulates throughout the Middle East were told to take safety precautions, and those stationed in Israel were told not to leave the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Jerusalem or Beersheva.

Multiple news outlets published reports citing anonymous American officials that Israel is ready to strike Iran without help from the U.S. One possible reason for the timing — moving forward even as Washington and Tehran are set to enter a sixth round of talks on Sunday — is that Iran has reportedly begun to rebuild the air defenses that Israel destroyed last year. Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri reportedly said last month: “We are witnessing a remarkable improvement in the capability and readiness of the country’s air defense.” 

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

A Socialist in Gracie Mansion?: The Free Press’ Olivia Reingold considers Zohran Mamdani’s chances of beating former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to become mayor of New York City. “To a rising number of New Yorkers, particularly the young and college-educated, Mamdani is a welcome alternative to a 67-year-old member of the Democratic establishment. As canvassers broke off to start knocking on doors, 33-year-old bar owner Roberto Beltre told me he supported Mamdani because ‘the ideas that we hear at these protests are never said by any of these other politicians.’ His girlfriend, 31-year-old Mercy, chimed in: ‘He’s saying everything that I want to hear. It seems unlikely, but I hope that he can win.’ The thing is—he can. In only a few months, he’s managed to surge from polling at 1 percent, to second place in the race with the endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. A new poll commissioned by a pro-Mamdani PAC shows him just two points behind Cuomo in a head-to-head race. Other recent polls show Cuomo winning—but only in the eighth or 10th round under New York City’s ranked choice voting system.” [FP]

What’s Next in Gaza?: The Times of Israel’s founding editor, David Horovitz, writes about the continued lack of clarity over Israel’s next steps in Gaza, exacerbated by a growing disconnect between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump as well as the IDF. “Some military sources speculate that the IDF may eventually be asked to oversee a controlled return of the Gaza populace to their largely ruined home areas, under a process that would necessitate screening the returnees to ensure that Hamas forces do not simply come back with them. However nice in theory, the idea is impractical. The IDF is not capable of controlling, much less screening, large masses of civilians. … At the same time, domestic and global criticism of the war is growing — especially since the government chose in March not to move ahead with the second and third phases of the January deal it had unanimously endorsed, which was intended to secure the release of all hostages and end the war, and instead resumed the military campaign. Growing, too, is US presidential impatience, in part reflecting deepening dismay from within Republican ranks, and Trump has vast weapon-supply and diplomatic leverage to exert over Netanyahu should he so choose.” [TOI]

Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh threatened on Wednesday to attack U.S. bases in the region if conflict arises, saying, “Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don’t come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us … all U.S. bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries”…

Iran announced plans today to expand its uranium enrichment and install advanced centrifuges after a U.N. atomic energy agency resolution declared it in violation of nuclear obligations…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine declined to definitively say on Wednesday whether they believed Iran would use a nuclear weapon if it acquired one, as they testified before the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…

The Knesset on Thursday struck down a bill that would have called an election later this year, with Haredi parties agreeing to another week of negotiations on penalties for yeshiva students who avoid the IDF draft, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…

Israeli Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of the United Torah Judaism party, resigned today and will join the opposition, but the rest of the Haredi bloc remains part of the coalition… 

Ezzedin al-Haddad, known as the Ghost of al-Qassam, has been named as the new leader of Hamas in Gaza following Israel’s assassination of his predecessor Mohammed Sinwar, and before that Yahya Sinwar…

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S. and Israel-backed aid distribution mechanism, reported that a bus carrying more than two dozen members of its team were “brutally attacked” by Hamas on Wednesday night, resulting in at least five fatalities, multiple injuries and concerns of some team members taken hostage…

The IDF recovered the bodies of two deceased hostages from Gaza on Wednesday, that of Yair Yaakov and another whose name has not yet been approved for publication…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told U.S. envoy Tom Barrack that he is interested in the U.S. acting as a mediator in an updated security deal ultimately leading to a full peace agreement between Israel and Syria, Axios scooped…

Rev. Johnnie Moore, an evangelical Christian pastor and former Trump advisor, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa this week. On potential Israel-Syria normalization, Moore told Reuters, “I think peace is very possible, if not probable”…

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday stating that the Trump administration cannot detain nor deport Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil. The ruling does not take effect until Friday, leaving time for the government to appeal…

At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on antisemitism, Democrats repeatedly highlighted Trump administration delays in disbursing already allocated Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), the subcommittee chair, argued that policy changes, aggressive prosecutions and condemnations of antisemitic ideology are equally or more important than funding…

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers wrote to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, again demanding that Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, be dismissed from her position, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The DETERRENCE Act, bipartisan legislation which increases penalties on individuals who commit crimes on behalf of the Iranian regime or other foreign adversaries, passed the Senate by unanimous consent on Tuesday…

Asif Rahman, a former CIA analyst, was sentenced to just over three years in prison on Wednesday for unlawfully retaining and sharing top secret records about Israeli plans for a strike on Iran on social media…

Ira Stoll writes in the Wall Street Journal about Harvard Memorial Church, owned and operated by Harvard University, where the minister has repeatedly bashed Israel from the pulpit, calling the war in Gaza “increasingly genocidal,” saying “We know what hell looks like … it looks like Gaza today” and arguing that the anti-Israel encampment on campus was “right to lament and decry the death of so many innocent people in Gaza”…

Nathan Diament, the executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, argued in an op-ed titled “Congress must act against the American intifada” that “Congress is failing to meet the urgent demands of the moment” and must open application for the National Security Grant Program, increase its funding to $500 million for 2026 and allocate $200 million of the Department of Justice’s existing grants to local police specifically for increased patrols and police presence at faith institutions…

Leland Lehrman was named as the executive director of the MAHA Institute, a policy center that previously operated as a super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign. Lehrman has repeatedly espoused his belief in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and, speaking on a far-right radio show, argued that Jews communicate with the devil and discussed “high-level Jewish Illuminists, or Lucifer worshipers”…

Columnist and writer Miranda Devine described her experience interviewing President Donald Trump for her new podcast “Pod Force One,” calling him “a bountiful host” who will “quite literally offer you the food off his plate”…

Apollo Global Management announced that it will not interview or extend offers to the class of 2027 this year, breaking with its tradition of extending future-dated offers. CEO Marc Rowan said he agreed with criticism of hiring young recruits too early…

The trial of three teenagers accused of raping a 12-year-old Jewish girl, calling her a “dirty Jewess,” began yesterday in Paris…

Some 100 LGBTQ+ leaders from North America met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem yesterday, as part of the Jewish Federations of North America’s LGBTQ+ mission to Israel. 

Founder and managing partner of the investment firm Thrive Capital and the co-founder of Oscar Health, Joshua Kushner turns 40…

Senior of counsel at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Martin Edelman turns 84… Retired sportscaster for NBA games on TNT, has also been the play-by-play announcer of multiple Super Bowls, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals and the World Series, Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig) turns 84… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit since 1991, now on senior status, Judge Andrew Jay Kleinfeld turns 80… Former solicitor of labor in the Nixon and Ford administrations, then a senior partner at Gibson Dunn, William J. Kilberg turns 79… Social psychologist, he is the director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, Leonard Saxe turns 78… Israeli statesman and scholar who has served in multiple ministerial and leadership positions in the Israeli government including 20 years as a member of the Knesset, Yosef “Yossi” Beilin turns 77… Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Santa Cruz County, Calif., for 40 years, now emeritus, known as Rabbi Rick, Richard Litvak… British Conservative Party member of Parliament from 1992 until last year, his father was a rabbi, Sir Michael Fabricant turns 75… Professor at the University of Florida’s Hamilton Center, his 2022 book is The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People, Walter Russell Mead turns 73… Dental consultant and recruiter, Kenneth Nussen… Peruvian banker and politician, José Chlimper Ackerman turns 70… Senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and professor at Georgetown’s Center for Jewish Civilization, Danielle Pletka turns 62… Television producer and executive, he was the CEO of Showtime Networks until 2022, David Nevins turns 59… EVP of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) in Washington, D.C., Rabbi Levi Shemtov… Film and television actor, known for his role as Louis Litt in the legal drama series “Suits,” Rick Hoffman turns 55… SVP for politics at NBC, Carrie Budoff Brown… Founder of Singularity Communications, Eliezer O. (“Eli”) Zupnick… Canadian tech entrepreneur, television personality and venture capitalist, Michele Romanow turns 40… Partner at Enso Collaborative, Hanna Siegel… Co-creator of the Mozilla Firefox internet browser, he was the director of product at Facebook and then worked at Uber, Blake Aaron Ross turns 40… Associate director of health policy and the law initiative at Georgetown Law School, Zachary Louis Baron… VP at MediaLink, Alexis Rose Levinson… Multimodal transportation coordinator in the planning department of Montgomery County (Md.), Eli Glazier… Photographer and Instagram influencer, Tessa Nesis… Israeli windsurfer, he won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Tom Reuveny turns 25… Lead consultant at AutoNate, Joel Bond…

• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Washington today, where he’ll meet with President Donald Trump at the White House.
• The House Appropriations Committee is holding simultaneous oversight hearings this morning with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
• This afternoon, the House Foreign Affairs Middle East subcommittee is holding a public hearing on “Maximum Impact: Assessing the Effectiveness of the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and Charting the Path Forward.”
• The Israel Allies Foundation, in conjunction with Eagles’ Wings, the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition, American Christian Leaders for Israel and the Combat Antisemitism Movement, is hosting its Israel Advocacy Day and Independence Day Reception today in Washington. The groups will host a reception tonight with the co-chairs and members of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus.
• The Orthodox Union is convening its annual Washington mission today and tomorrow. Tonight, they’ll host a kickoff dinner reception honoring Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
• At the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Los Angeles, IKAR’s Rabbi Sharon Brous will speak on a panel titled “What Faith Means to Me,” while Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman and Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Ari Berman will speak at back-to-back sessions on higher education. Also slated to address the gathering today: pollster Frank Luntz, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Relativity Space CEO Eric Schmidt.
• The Future Summit continues today in Israel.
• We’re also keeping an eye on Berlin, where earlier today conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure the number of parliamentary votes necessary to become the country’s next chancellor. Merz had allied his Christian Democratic Union party and associated Christian Social Union party with the more liberal Social Democrats. The Bundestag could hold a second round of voting as soon as today, but must elect a new chancellor in the next two weeks.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Even as deep ideological divisions within the Democratic Party persist, pro-Israel Democrats are growing bullish about their recruiting class of congressional candidates in key Senate and House races — as groups anticipate contested primaries against their favored frontrunners, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. 

In three key Senate battleground races, the emergence of mainstream Democratic members of Congress with lengthy records supporting Israel — Reps. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Angie Craig (D-MN) and Chris Pappas (D-NH) — is a sign that for all the energy of the progressive left, traditional Democrats are still more reflective of their party’s overall electorate. 

While the lawmakers start their campaigns with advantages, several face the prospect of competitive primary challenges coming from their left. 

In Michigan, Stevens has emerged as one of the most outspoken backers of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, boasts close connections to Jewish community leaders and already has ousted an Israel critic (former Rep. Andy Levin) in her young political career. She starts out the Senate race with a healthy $1.6 million cash on hand, according to first quarter FEC filings.

Stevens, however, is facing candidates courting the progressive base: State Sen. Mallory McMorrow became nationally known for her abortion rights activism, and launched her campaign by calling for a younger Senate leader to replace Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). McMorrow, whose husband is Jewish, has also met with Jewish leaders to assure them of her pro-Israel bona fides.

The Michigan candidate courting anti-Israel elements of the electorate is former Michigan health official Abdul El-Sayed, who has run unsuccessfully for statewide office before. Former Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate, a former NFL player, is also seriously considering a run.

Many Jewish Democrats view Stevens as an ally in the same light as pro-Israel stalwarts like Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) or Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) — as someone principled and unafraid to speak out against antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism. Her candidacy will serve as an early bellwether for how much room there is for such moderate voices in today’s Democratic Party.

In Minnesota, Craig is another Israel ally looking as the early favorite in the Democratic primary against the state’s progressive lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan. Craig has been willing to speak out against anti-Israel Democratic colleagues amid Middle East policy disagreements; Flanagan is more closely aligned with J Street.

And in New Hampshire, Pappas is looking like the clear favorite for the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). A swing-district moderate, Pappas has generally held a more pro-Israel record than his Democratic colleagues in the state. 

Outside the battlegrounds, Illinois’ wide-open Senate primary to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) could potentially feature divisions over Middle East policy. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Robin Kelly (D-IL), both potential candidates, are listed on the AIPAC political portal for favored candidates, while Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), another possible contender, is not. 

There are also developing House race skirmishes over Israel. As JI’s Matthew Kassel scooped today, state Sen. Laura Fine announced her candidacy to succeed retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) in a district with a significant Jewish constituency. Fine, who is running on a pro-Israel platform, is expected to face a challenge from Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who drew controversy in 2017 for initially tapping (and later dropping) an anti-Israel, DSA-affiliated running mate for his gubernatorial campaign. 

Levin, the former Michigan congressman who has been critical of Israel, is also exploring a political comeback in two of the open House seats in the Detroit suburbs. If he runs in Stevens’ House seat, he could face state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is one of the strongest allies of the Jewish community in the Michigan state legislature.

Hard Look at Harvard: The Atlantic’s Eliot Cohen weighs in on Harvard’s recently released report documenting antisemitism on the Cambridge campus. “The widespread harassment of Jews reported at Harvard reflects the attitudes of hundreds if not thousands of students, faculty, and staff—that last group is an often underappreciated element in indulging or even encouraging this behavior. It reflects the development of identity-driven politics, for which responsibility lies outside the university as well as within it. It has been fed by witch-hunting for ‘white privilege’ (no matter that there are plenty of Jews of color, as a walk down the streets of Tel Aviv will show you). It flourishes in the bogus specializations that have hived off from more traditional and all-embracing disciplines such as history, literature, and anthropology. It has been nurtured in research centers whose very existence is premised not on the quest for truth but on the pursuit of a political or ideological agenda.” [TheAtlantic]

Life in the Big Apple: In The New Yorker, actress Lena Dunham reflects on her childhood and life in New York before she made a transatlantic move to the U.K. “In the city, by contrast, my mother could pack ten or eleven separate excursions into a single day — or, conversely, spend hours wandering the floors of the discount department store Century 21, striking up endless conversations in the communal dressing room. … My mom and her sisters — Jewish girls at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Margarets, Hazels, and Tesses of the world — lived to move. I distinctly remember my mother repeating that ‘what I love about Manhattan is that if you really want to you can always get from one end to the other in twenty minutes.’ (This is not, strictly speaking, true, and I blame the remark for my lifelong inability to properly judge commute times.) My aunt Susan once said of my mother, ‘Laurie is a ‘from’ girl — the lox is from one place, the bagels from another, the flowers from someplace else.’ Knowing how to get the best out of the city — from discount Manolos to vintage buttons to a ten-dollar blow-dry — gives my mother the satisfaction of a chess grand master stumping her opponent with a series of unexpected moves. But being a ‘from’ girl is about more than the provenance of goods; it’s about living at such high speeds that your inner life can never quite catch up to you.” [NewYorker]

President Donald Trump is pushing Republican lawmakers to support the confirmation of Ed Martin, the administration’s nominee to be U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., who had previously praised a Nazi sympathizer…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo calling for a “minimum” 20% reduction in the number of four-star generals and admirals on active military duty…

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) received the distinguished statesmanship award from the Council of Jewish Organizations Flatbush at the group’s annual legislative breakfast over the weekend. Previous recipients include Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY)…

The House of Representatives passed the Solidify Iran Sanctions Act, extending indefinitely existing energy sanctions on Iran first passed in 1996, by a voice vote…

Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud al-Thani, the chairman of the Qatar Investment Authority and governor of the Qatar Central Bank, met on the sidelines of the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles with senior business executives including Steve Mnuchin, Peter Chernin and Howard Marks…

Speaking at Milken, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan backed the Trump administration’s tariff policy while cautioning that the economy could slow down if “damage” to the U.S. brand isn’t addressed…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company was dropping its plan to pivot to a for-profit structure… 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel withdrew all charges against seven University of Michigan students arrested last year for their role in anti-Israel protests on the campus; Nessel said the decision was made in part due to the “impropriety” of a letter sent by the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor defending her against allegations of bias…

The Trump administration proposed that Columbia University enter into a consent decree by which the government would have oversight over the school’s efforts to ensure viewpoint diversity and not factor race into admissions decisions; the consent decree was suggested as an alternative to a court battle between the government and the Ivy League school…

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy rescinded his offer to fund a trip to Auschwitz for at least one of two men involved in an incident in a Barstool bar in which an antisemitic sign was carried around the premises; Portnoy said one of the individuals, a student at Temple University, “did a 180” and absolved himself of responsibility for the incident…

New York’s City Park’s Foundation dropped singer Kehlani as a performer at an upcoming Pride concert in Central Park, following pushback, including from Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), over Kehlani’s use of antisemitic and anti-Israel imagery and phrases in her performances and music videos…

Gal Gadot and Matthias Schoenaerts will star in the upcoming post-WWII thriller “Ruin,” about a Holocaust survivor and German soldier who partner to exact revenge on a Nazi unit…

If Hamas does not accept a ceasefire and hostage-release deal by the end of next week, Israel will launch “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” escalating the war in Gaza until Jerusalem attains its war aims, a senior Israeli defense source said on Monday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…

The Daily Mail interviews Israeli singer Yuval Raphael, who survived the Oct. 7, 2023, attack at the Nova music festival by hiding under bodies in a bomb shelter, about her journey to the Eurovision Song Contest…

The IDF said that two Hamas commanders, including one who participated in the Oct. 7 attacks and held hostages, surrendered to Israeli troops in Rafah…

Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha received the Pulitzer Prize in commentary for his essays, published in The New Yorker, about life in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war…

Pope Francis, who died last week, had directed for the “popemobile” that transported him during a 2014 trip to the West Bank to be donated to a Catholic charity that operates in the Palestinian territories for use as a mobile children’s aid clinic in Gaza…

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and documentarian Wendy Sachs speak at the Capitol Hill screening of “October 8,” which looks at the rise of antisemitism on campus following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. Laura Gillen (D-NY) and Virginia Foxx (R-NC) were also in attendance.

Conductor, pianist, clarinetist, and composer, he is currently music director of The Louisville Orchestra, Edward “Teddy” Paul Maxwell Abrams turns 38…

U.S. senator (R-AL) from 1987 until 2023, Richard Shelby turns 91… Senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, previously a Columbia law professor, a U.S. District Court judge and the State Department legal advisor, Abraham David Sofaer turns 87… Novelist, playwright and human rights activist, professor emeritus of Latin American studies at Duke University, Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman turns 83… Professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago, she has been awarded 69 honorary degrees from around the world, Martha Nussbaum turns 78… Israeli theoretical physicist and astrophysicist, he is best known for his work on gamma-ray bursts and on numerical relativity, Tsvi Piran turns 76… Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, she was the deputy attorney general of the U.S. in the Clinton administration, Jamie S. Gorelick turns 75… Former prime minister of the United Kingdom, he then served as the special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, Tony Blair turns 72… President emeritus of the Jerusalem College of Technology / Lev Academic Center, Noah Dana-Picard turns 71… Director of the Jewish studies program at Northeastern University, Lori Hope Lefkovitz turns 69… Co-founder of Boston-based HighVista Strategies following 23 years at Goldman Sachs, he is the former board chair of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Daniel Jick turns 68… Member of the Knesset for Likud between 2003 and 2006, Daniel Benlulu turns 67… President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America, he was previously CEO of Hillel and a U.S. congressman, Eric David Fingerhut turns 66… Retired attorney and former member of the board of trustees of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, Sheri Goldberg… Los Angeles-based attorney and real estate entrepreneur, Daniel Todd Gryczman… Israel’s minister of national security since 2025 and leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, Itamar Ben-Gvir turns 49… Member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Shelly Tal Meron turns 46… Los Angeles-based television personality, actress, writer and video blogger, Shira Lazar turns 42… Partner at Amiti, an early-stage deep tech fund, Brachie Sprung… Founder at ALC Hospitality, Alyse Cohen… Senior principal at Alterra climate investment fund, Benjamin Levine… Partner at Courtside Ventures and advisor to the board of directors of the Atlanta Hawks, Oliver Ressler… Head of business development at Seam, she is a conservative commentator across many social media platforms, Arynne Wexler… Actor and singer, Noah Egidi Galvin turns 31…