Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that Israel “prefer[s] that Turkey not receive F-35s from the U.S.,” breaking with Washington over the move that President Donald Trump indicated he was open to during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September. 

But Leiter dismissed concerns around Saudi Arabia potentially acquiring F-35s, which is currently under negotiation ahead of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the White House next week. “There’s no indication that Israel’s qualitative edge will be compromised,” he said. Leiter has recently become Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main conduit in Washington after the resignation of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer…

Israel is seeking a new 20-year memorandum of understanding with the U.S. when the current one expires in 2028, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios, double the length of past agreements.

New Israeli propositions, including redirecting some of the funds towards joint U.S.-Israeli R&D rather than direct military aid, are reportedly designed to make the lengthy deal more attractive to Trump as well as the GOP, which has grown weary of foreign aid…

Trump told MBS in a phone call last month that he expects to see progress made on Israel-Saudi normalization now that the ceasefire in Gaza is in force, U.S. officials also told Axios, which MBS said he was “willing to work on”…

Israel and White House advisor Jared Kushner are preparing contingency plans in case Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan doesn’t come to fruition, Israeli media reports. The IDF’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, told Israeli Security Cabinet officials that the IDF will soon present its alternative…

Meanwhile in the U.S., the Democratic primary for the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in New York’s 12th Congressional District, which has one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country, gets more crowded by the day. 

Shortly after the entry of JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, into the race, Erik Bottcher, a Democratic city councilman and LGBTQ activist, told The New York Times he’s jumping in (and that he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state). There are rumors that Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway is eyeing a bid, as well. 

Among the many other candidates are longtime Nadler aide Micah Lasher, who today got the endorsement of Comptroller-elect Mark Levine; state Assemblyman Alex Bores; and gun control activist Cameron Kasky, who posted yesterday on social media, “If you are a Democrat running in 2026 and do not fully support an arms embargo to the State of Israel … Stop wasting everybody’s time”…

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell conceded to his opponent, socialist Katie Wilson, today after last night’s ballot drop made it mathematically impossible for him to prevail.

Though the moderate Harrell led in the polls for the week following Election Day, Wilson eventually gained ground and now leads him by a 0.7% margin — just shy of 2,000 votes. With only several hundred votes left to be counted, The Seattle Times said the race is “on pace to be the closest in modern Seattle politics.”

Wilson joins New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, as well as progressive challengers who prevailed in several Seattle City Council races, as evidence of the far left’s growing popularity in major U.S. cities. However, their small (or razor thin, in Wilson’s case) margins of victory and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s win over his DSA-aligned opponent are proof the fringe still lacks a mandate in the Democratic Party…

Former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) announced raising more than $500,000 in the first 24 hours after the launch of her comeback bid for her seat in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.

The Jewish, pro-Israel Navy veteran sent out a fundraising email this afternoon with the subject line “Chutzpah,” saying the “Yiddish term that means guts or courage … runs in my family” and she’s “not afraid of a little mishigas”…

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was hospitalized today after suffering a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up” and subsequent fall and face injuries, but is doing well, his spokesperson reported. His scheduled discussion this evening with UJA-Federation of New York about his new book has been cancelled…

The New York Times profiles Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and his path from leading a small Catholic college to helming the prominent think tank and sparking controversy among conservatives over his embrace of Tucker Carlson. 

Roberts claimed as part of his defense over releasing the controversial video during a staff meeting last week, “I actually don’t have time to consume a lot of news. I consume a lot of sports,” and “I didn’t know much about this [Nick] Fuentes guy. I still don’t.” 

“‘Who could believe that the head of a think tank doesn’t think?’ said Charles Jacobs, the president of the Jewish Leadership Project, which resigned from a Heritage Foundation task force meant to fight antisemitism after Mr. Roberts’ video was released”…

Joining the list of Heritage resignations, Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason’s Scalia Law School and a prominent pro-Israel advocate, announced he is resigning as a Heritage visiting fellow today “based on [his] considered judgment” of Roberts’ video and “subsequent commentary”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for a preview of President Donald Trump’s meeting next week with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is traveling to Israel tomorrow for a five-day trip where he plans to meet with government officials and economic development and high-tech leaders.

The Texas Tribune Festival, taking place this week in Austin, continues tomorrow with speakers including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Democratic Texas Senate candidates James Talarico and Rep. Colin Allred, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), comedian John Mulaney, former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. On Saturday, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are slated to speak.

MSNBC is launching its rebrand on Saturday as MS NOW, part of its separation from NBCUniversal, with dozens of veteran journalists recruited as part of its expanded newsroom.

On Sunday, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present its fourth annual New York Jewish Book Festival. 

Sunday evening, the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly kicks off in Washington, with an opening plenary including former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, authors Sarah Hurwitz and Micah Goodman, CNN contributor Scott Jennings and Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York City.

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

• President Donald Trump is in The Hague, Netherlands, today for the NATO Summit. He’ll return to the U.S. tonight, following a press conference at 3 p.m. local time, 9 a.m. ET. More below on Trump’s comments at the gathering earlier today.
• This morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi is testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Justice Department’s FY2026 budget, while U.S. Agency for Global Media Senior Advisor Kari Lake is slated to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
• Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America are holding a two-day leadership mission to Washington, with conversations with lawmakers expected to focus on domestic antisemitism and the Israel-Iran war.
• Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will deliver a speech at the Institute of Politics in New Hampshire today on the U.S. and Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and “rebuilding American strength and deterrence in a dangerous world.”
• The Jewish Democratic Council of America is hosting an event this afternoon looking at the U.S. role during wartime in Israel. Dana Stroul, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East during the Biden administration, and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro are slated to speak.
• The Aspen Ideas Festival kicks off this evening in Colorado. Walter Isaacson and Fareed Zakaria are set to take the stage in tonight’s opening session for a conversation about global current events.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

Zohran Mamdani’s presumed victory over Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic primary for mayor on Tuesday evening marks an extraordinary upset that until recently seemed all but unthinkable for the far-left state assemblyman from Queens who entered the race last October with virtually no name recognition. 

The stunning rise of the 33-year-old democratic socialist with a long history of anti-Israel activism sent shockwaves through New York City’s political establishment and is already reverberating beyond the Big Apple, raising questions over the ideological direction of the Democratic Party as it has struggled to land on a cohesive messaging strategy to counter President Donald Trump. 

With the midterms looming, Trump’s allies are already reportedly preparing to link Mamdani’s radical politics to the broader Democratic brand.

Meanwhile, in a place home to the largest Jewish population of any city in the world, Mamdani’s path to the nomination is also contributing to a growing sense of political homelessness among Jewish Democrats who voiced discomfort with his strident criticism of Israel and refusal to condemn extreme rhetoric such as “globalize the intifada,” a slogan that critics interpret as fueling antisemitism.

Mamdani’s insurgent victory five months into Trump’s second term was reminiscent of then-upstart Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s  (D-NY) upset primary victory over then-Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in the spring of 2018, one of the seminal moments that year of the political backlash to Trump. It was an early signal that the party, even as it elected a number of moderate lawmakers in that year’s Democratic wave, was moving inexorably leftward in reaction to a Trump White House.

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

Remember Beirut: In The Free Press, Albert Eisenberg, whose grandfather was killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, reflects on the recent assassinations of senior Iranian officials, including the July 2024 targeted strike against mastermind of the embassy bombing. “My grandfather was not an invading conqueror. He was a civilian employee of the U.S. government whose desire was to help build up other countries. He was murdered in 1983 by a regime that considers anyone they don’t like an enemy to be enslaved, tortured, or killed. This is not a regime that should ever be trusted with nuclear weapons, and our country’s involvement this weekend in preventing that from happening is justified. In any conflict, if there is one side deliberately targeting civilians — as Iran has done to its own people and to countless Americans since the ayatollahs came to power in 1979 — we should know that this is the side to oppose.” [FreePress]

Military Die is Cast: In The New York Times, former Secretary of State Tony Blinken suggests that, despite his opposition to the Trump administration’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, he hopes they were successful. The Biden administration’s “deployments, deterrence and active defense of Israel when Iran directly attacked it for the first time allowed Israel to degrade Iran’s proxies and its air defenses without a wider war. In so doing, we set the table for Mr. Trump to negotiate the new nuclear deal he pledged years ago to work toward — or to strike. I wish that he had played out the diplomatic hand we left him. Now that the military die has been cast, I can only hope that we inflicted maximum damage — damage that gives the president the leverage he needs to finally deliver the deal he has so far failed to achieve.” [NYTimes]

What’s in a Slogan?: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait acknowledges concerns over New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the “globalize the intifada” slogan, understood by many, including Jewish voters, to be a call for violence against Jews around the world. “The ambiguity of the slogan is not a point in its defense but a point against it. The dual meanings allow the movement to contain both peaceful and militant wings, without the former having to take responsibility for the latter. If activists refused to employ slogans that double as a form of violent incitement, it would insulate them from any association with the harassment and violence that has tainted their protests. Their failure to do so reveals an unwillingness to draw lines, as does Mamdani’s reluctance to allow any daylight between him and their rhetoric.” [TheAtlantic]

The White House is restaffing its National Security Council, weeks after mass purges following the removal of Mike Waltz as national security advisor that significantly downsized the office; Bloomberg reports that some of the ousted staffers have been asked to return to the NSC… 

The FBI is returning counterterrorism staffers who had been reassigned to immigration cases amid concerns about potential domestic terror threats from Iran…

Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) sent a letter to European Union officials raising concerns about proposals to downgrade or suspend the EU’s Association Agreement with Israel…

Congressional Democrats reacted with outrage to the postponement of scheduled classified briefings on the U.S. strikes on Iran, accusing the administration of attempting to hide the truth from lawmakers…

A majority of House Democrats — 128 — voted with Republicans to kill an effort led by Rep. Al Green (D-TX) to impeach President Donald Trump for striking Iran without congressional authorization; 79 members voted to move the effort forward…

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) suggested in an X post that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated over his opposition to Israel’s nuclear program…

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine defeated NYC Councilmember Justin Brannan in the city’s comptroller race; in Brooklyn, Maya Kornberg failed to oust Councilmember Shahana Hanif in the Park Slope district; former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) fell short in his city council bid, coming in fourth in a five-person race to represent parts of lower Manhattan…

A prominent member of Qatar’s royal family boosted Zohran Mamdani, a far-left Queens state assemblyman, in his campaign for mayor of New York City, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports…

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to announce his bid for a third term on Thursday…

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed suit in federal court in Massachusetts on Wednesday on behalf of two Jewish students, alleging that the university and a tenured professor violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including harassment on social media and in mass emails, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports… 

Oliver Darcy reports in his Substack that Skydance Media CEO David Ellison met with Bari Weiss last year in an effort to recruit the Free Press founder to CBS’ news division…

The Washington Post profiles NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, the son of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and self-described “new breed of sports journalist,” who has leveraged personal ties and relationships to break news…

U.S. immigration authorities arrested 11 Iranian nationals, including one believed to be a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member with ties to Hezbollah…

The Board of Deputies of British Jews suspended five of the 36 members who signed on to an open letter earlier this year criticizing the Israeli government for its actions in Gaza…

Seven IDF soldiers were killed when a bomb planted on their armored vehicle exploded in the southern Gaza Strip…

Chinese officials are reportedly reconsidering a plan to build an oil pipeline between China and Russia as Beijing looks to alternatives to Middle East oil and gas in the wake of the Israel-Iran war…

Iran executed three prisoners in its Urmia Prison who were accused of spying for Israel and bringing “assassination equipment” into the country…

Photographer Marcia Resnick died at 74…

Former hostage Iair Horn (right) met in Washington on Tuesday with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) as part of a delegation of former hostages and hostage families to lobby for the release of the remaining 50 hostages.

Founder and CEO of The Agency, Mauricio Umansky turns 55… 

Music publicist in the 1970s and 1980s for Prince, Billy Joel and Styx, later an author on human behavior, Howard Bloom turns 82… Founder and CEO of Bel Air Partners, a financial advisory firm for automotive retailers, Sheldon J. Sandler turns 81… Real estate developer in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Las Vegas and Miami and founder of The Continuum Company, Ian Bruce Eichner turns 80… Florida resident, Joseph C. Goldberg… Southern California-based mentor, coach and consultant for business executives through Vistage International, Gary Brennglass… Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Sonia Sotomayor turns 71… Former member of the Knesset for the Meretz party, Michal Rozin turns 56… Managing director of A-Street, an investment fund focused on seeding and scaling innovative K-12 student learning, Mora Segal… Senior media and PR specialist at Hadassah, Helen Chernikoff… Israeli philosopher, writer and publicist, he teaches at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Midreshet Lindenbaum, Rabbi Chaim Navon turns 52… Founder and director of The Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh, known as the “Zoo Rabbi,” Natan Slifkin turns 50… Former fashion model and television presenter, Michele Merkin turns 50… Deputy director of government relations at Bread for the World, Zachary Silberman… President of Gratz College in Melrose Park, Pa., Zev Eleff turns 40… One-half of the husband-and-wife duo known for their YouTube channel h3h3Productions with more than 1.3 billion views, Ethan Edward Klein… Manager of strategic content at Leidos until a few months ago, Isaac Snyder… VP of strategy at Saint Paul Commodities and co-founder of Veriflux, Daniel “Dani” Charles turns 38… Medical resident at Temple University School of Medicine, Avital Mintz-Morgenthau, MD… Senior producer covering the White House for CNN, Betsy Klein… Center fielder in the San Francisco Giants organization, he was the 10th overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, Hunter David Bishop turns 27…

• Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad Director David Barnea are in Washington this week for meetings on Iran with senior Trump administration officials.
• Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and senior Justice Department officials are slated to speak at a Jewish solidarity event this evening in Washington.
• In New York, the American Jewish Committee, the Consulate General of Israel in New York and Israel’s diplomatic mission at the U.N. are hosting a memorial event this afternoon for the two Israeli Embassy staffers killed outside an AJC event in Washington last week. AJC CEO Ted Deutch, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon and John Kelley, the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. mission to the U.N., are among the event’s speakers.
• Elsewhere in New York, a Jewish American Heritage Month reception slated to be hosted tonight at Gracie Mansion by New York City Mayor Eric Adams was postponed to July.
• The IHRA International Conference on Combating Antisemitism at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs concludes today. Earlier today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered remarks via video in which he said he prayed “for the day when the entire world will recognize the futility of antisemitism — when leaders will abandon self-destructive hatred and forge a new future in partnership with Israel. By building on the Abraham Accords. Under President Trump’s leadership, there are signs that the future may be closer than we dare dream.”
• Today marks 600 days since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. Communities in Israel and around the world are marking the day with ceremonies and events. Earlier today, released hostages, including Arbel Yehoud, Luis Har and Yocheved Lifshitz, held a press conference in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square calling for the release of the remaining 58 hostages in Gaza.

A QUICK WORD WITH JOSH KRAUSHAAR

The next month will give political observers an important read on which faction of the Democratic Party — the grassroots left or the pragmatic middle — is ascendant in the early months of the Trump administration. These battles, not coincidentally, are also proxy fights between those serious about fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel against those representing a more radical anti-Israel element.

The first big contest, Pittsburgh’s mayoral primary this month, marked a big win for mainstream Democrats. Challenger Corey O’Connor, the Allegheny County controller, defeated Mayor Ed Gainey, dealing a major blow to the activist left in a city where it had recently been on the rise. O’Connor won, in part, by building a strong relationship with the sizable Jewish community in the city that was turned off by Gainey’s record on antisemitism and frequent anti-Israel commentary.

There are four more big clashes coming up next month in New York and New Jersey. The biggest clash is between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and other challengers in the New York City mayoral race. Cuomo, running as a stalwart champion of the Jewish community, currently holds a comfortable lead, but faces elevated unfavorable ratings from his time as governor. Mamdani is polling in second place as a far-left candidate who doesn’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and supports the BDS movement. 

A Cuomo victory would underscore that maintaining close ties to the city’s Jewish community — the largest in the Diaspora — is still the time-tested formula for success in Gotham politics. Recent polling suggests the Jewish electorate in New York City is unusually divided, with Cuomo holding a plurality of support.

Two other downballot contests in New York City are also worthy of attention: a City Council primary clash in Brooklyn between anti-Israel Councilwoman Shahana Hanif and Maya Kornberg, the latter of whom is running as a pro-Israel progressive; and a comptroller battle between Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Councilman Justin Brannan, who has been courting support from anti-Israel activists on the campaign trail.

Two weeks before New York’s June 24 primaries, New Jersey will hold its gubernatorial primaries — with the Democratic side of the field featuring a stalwart of Jewish interests in Congress (Rep. Josh Gottheimer), a center-left candidate with a generally supportive but less reliable record on Israel and antisemitism (Rep. Mikie Sherrill), a progressive-minded Jewish candidate (Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop) and a pair of left-wing candidates with close ties to the activist base (Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and New Jersey Education Association head Sean Spiller).

While the New Jersey governor’s race is less binary than the New York City contests, Gottheimer’s showing will be a useful indicator of the clout of the organized Jewish community in the state, while the performance of the left-wing candidates would indicate whether there’s much of a market for undiluted activism. 

The Democratic nominee is expected to face former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, the front-runner for the GOP nomination. In a surprise, Ciattarelli came within three points of defeating Gov. Phil Murphy in the 2021 governor’s race. 

These four contests will be a valuable bellwether of the Democratic Party’s ideological vibe at a time when it is still trying to calibrate its message after a rough defeat in the 2024 elections. A strong showing by pro-Israel moderates would send a powerful corrective to the common assumption that the AOC wing of the party holds the upper hand.

Anton’s Tone: The Free Press’ Eli Lake spotlights Michael Anton, the White House’s director of policy planning, who played a key role in the administration’s transition phase. “His name is not known to most people outside of Washington, but inside the Trump administration Anton has emerged as one of the most important intellectuals behind the president’s foreign policy revolution. In an administration beset with, at times, bitter ideological divides and an often chaotic style that has shocked both allies and foes, Anton has risen to the top by playing his cards close to his chest and deftly navigating the right’s warring foreign policy camps. … With a mix of provocative broadsides in the media and unglamorous behind-the-scenes work in government, Anton has charted an improbable path, from the heart of the neoconservative establishment to the core of the new MAGA foreign policy establishment. Over a decade in which the American right has been defined by bad-tempered, friendship-ending fights, Anton, a Machiavelli scholar, hasn’t just survived the America First revolution, he has helped to shape it.” [FreePress]

Counting on a Trump Retreat: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh consider the factors at play for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the U.S. and Tehran negotiate a new nuclear agreement. “Five months into Mr. Trump’s second term, the mullahs are no longer afraid of the unpredictable American president who killed Qasem Soleimani in 2020. ‘In matters such as the purchase of Gaza and Greenland, the imposition of new tariffs, and even negotiations related to the Ukraine War, Trump first applied maximum pressure, but ultimately left room for retreat,’ is the assessment of Nournews, the mouthpiece for Iran’s national security council. The Trump administration has convinced many in Tehran that the president doesn’t want another conflict in the region. His threats of fire and fury are becoming more recognizably Middle Eastern — words substitute for actions. Given all the advanced centrifuges and the ever-deeper bomb-proof underground enrichment sites, the military option is becoming less credible. For Israel, it’s now or never. The U.S. has patience with threats that are existential only to its allies.” [WSJ]

Bibi Digging In: The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reflects on his recent trip to Israel, where he said he saw “signals flashing” that Israelis increasingly back an end to the war, even as the government and Hamas choose to prolong the fighting. “As a result of Netanyahu’s military operations, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah — not to mention Saudi Arabia — are all now much freer to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel to a degree they never were when Iran’s regional mercenary network was so powerful. Yes, Netanyahu made that happen! But he also never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity for peace. Netanyahu today staunchly refuses to harvest what Netanyahu has sown. He will not do the one thing that would unlock the politics of the whole region: open a road, no matter how long, to a two-state solution with a reformed Palestinian Authority. … The more I would argue to Israelis that Netanyahu is making a historic mistake — trading peace with Saudi Arabia for peace with the far-right extremists who keep him in power — the more they would ask me: ‘Do you think Trump can save us?’ That question is the ultimate sign that your democracy is in trouble.” [NYTimes]

Keep Hope Alive: In the Jewish Telegraph Agency, Claire Sufrin juxtaposes the tragedy of the Capital Jewish Museum terror attack with her own relationship with her husband, whose girlfriend prior to Sufrin had been killed in the 2002 Hebrew University bombing. “My story — my family’s story — is a very small piece of a much larger whole, the whole of the Jewish people, and the whole of all humanity, not just existing but persevering. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anyone as something to replicate, were such a thing possible. And yet, at a time like this, I am standing up to say: let’s not give up, not now or not ever. We must still believe, always believe, that there is potential for something better, even in the wake of the most difficult, most painful loss and even in the hardest moments when all we want is to crawl into a tiny hole and pretend that none of this exists, not evil, not despair, not any of it. We must continue taking chances, risking our hearts and our lives, and we must nurture whatever little glimmer of potential growth we may spot, not because we know what will be — we can’t — but because we need, in a way we can’t explain, to see how it might flower.” [JTA]

President Donald Trump reportedly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week against making any moves that could jeopardize Washington’s nuclear talks with Iran…

The State Department has paused student visa interviews as it prepares to implement a more rigid vetting process for prospective international students that includes screening social media accounts…

Leo Terrell, the head of the Justice Department’s antisemitism task force, said that the University of California system should expect “massive lawsuits” as the White House expands its crackdown on colleges and universities…

The University of Florida Board of Trustees unanimously selected former University of Michigan President Santa Ono to be the school’s next president; Ono had previously been announced as the board’s only finalist for the position, which opened following the resignation of former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)…

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) starts out with an early lead the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan, according to a new poll commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber; Stevens leads with 34% of the Democratic vote, with former Wayne County Health Director Dr. Abdul el-Sayed winning 22% and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in third with 14%. Nearly one-third (30%) of Democrats said they’re undecided…

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan was moving forward with an effort to procure arrest warrants for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir before he went on leave amid an investigation into allegations that he had sexually assaulted subordinates…

Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker was reinstated on the platform after briefly being banned over comments in which Piker posited that the killings of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington was a “false flag” operation…

The Overland Park, Kan., Jewish community held the funeral for slain Israeli Embassy staffer Sarah Lynn Milgrim on Tuesday under heavy security; Milgrim’s casket was draped with an Israeli flag…

In The Wall Street Journal, Nathan Lewin calls on Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute violators of a 1968 law banning violence against individuals using or benefiting from federally financed programs…

Reuters spotlights the potential effects of the Trump administration’s tariffs on a Spanish hatmaker that sells approximately 30,000 hats each year to Orthodox customers in the U.S….

The New York Times looks at how residents of a Berlin housing development that had originally been built for SS officials and their families during WWII reckon with their neighborhood’s past…

Germany is considering freezing its weapons exports to Israel, amid concerns in Berlin over Israel’s recent actions in Gaza; earlier this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Israeli actions “in recent days can no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas terrorism”… 

The IDF carried out airstrikes on Houthi targets at the airport in Sana’a, Yemen, in response to a series of Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Israel in recent days…

Israel and Syria have in recent weeks reportedly engaged in direct talks focused on security issues…

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said that Jakarta was open to establishing diplomatic ties with Israel on the condition that Israel recognizes a Palestinian state…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (center) met on Tuesday in Jerusalem with Jewish leaders, including William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (left), and U.K. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (second from left).

Author of 14 novels and a children’s book, Millions of Maxes, Meg Wolitzer turns 66…

Founding rabbi of both Lincoln Square Synagogue in NYC and then later the city of Efrat in the Judean Hills, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin turns 85… Director of UCSF’s Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, he won the 1997 Nobel Prize in medicine, Stanley Benjamin Prusiner M.D. turns 83… Executive director of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Jerome H. Kadden… Former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani turns 81… Former mayor of Toronto, John Howard Tory turns 71… Winnipeg-born attorney, previous campaign chair for Winnipeg’s Combined Jewish Appeal and governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Gail Sheryl Asper turns 65… British comedian, screenwriter and singer, he is the author of a 2021 book on antisemitism titled Jews Don’t Count, David Lionel Baddiel turns 61… Secretary of state of the United States, he is also serving as national security advisor, Marco Rubio turns 54… Four-time U.S. national fencing champion and a two-time Olympian, then an attorney who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Eric Oliver “Nick” Bravin turns 54… Longtime member of the Knesset on behalf of the Likud party, now serving as Israel’s consul general to New York, Ofir Akunis turns 52… Guitarist, composer and leader of the bands Rashanim and Zion80, Jon Madof turns 51… Rabbi of Boston’s South Shore Congregation Sha’aray Shalom, Eric M. Berk… Dancer and choreographer, Brian L. Friedman turns 48… Senior manager in the executive office at The Pew Charitable Trusts since 2015, Lauren Mandelker… Singer-songwriter, artist and filmmaker, Adam Green turns 44… Entrepreneur Matthew Pritzker turns 43… Managing principal of Asher Strategies, David A. Lobl… Founder in 2015 of At The Well, a women’s wellness organization rooted in Jewish spirituality and women’s health, Sarah Michal Waxman… Founder and CEO at Vista Nexum, Adelle Malka Nazarian… Freelance journalist writing about culture, Thea Glassman… Fashion designer and the founder of WeWoreWhat, Danielle Bernstein turns 33… Harry Weinstein… Named for his father, a WSJ bureau chief who was kidnapped and murdered by Pakistani terrorists a few months before he was born, Adam Daniel Pearl turns 23… Israeli swimmer, she competed in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Aviv Barzelay turns 23… Irwin Weiss…