Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism: ‘I was worried by this neo-Buchanan isolationism, but I look at President Trump's actions, they have no hold on him’
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka walks outside the White House in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2025.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleSeb Gorka, the White House senior director for counterterrorism and a deputy assistant to the president, aired his grievances with the anti-Israel faction within the Republican Party on Tuesday, alleging that the wing of the GOP aligned with podcast host Tucker Carlson is “basically Pat Buchanan in a new guise.”
Gorka made the comments in a conversation on counterterrorism and U.S. strategy at the Hudson Institute after being pressed on the foreign policy disputes within the MAGA movement and Carlson’s grievances with President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.
Asked by moderator Michael Doran, a Hudson senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, if he was comfortable addressing the growth of anti-Israel, antisemitic sentiment on right-wing podcasts and social media, Gorka replied, “Yeah, I am, because it bothers me immensely, but I’ve come to a certain realization with regards to that, that this wing of isolationism is nothing new. We had this 100 years ago.”
“This is just a poor, substandard repackaging of neo-Buchananite isolationism,” Gorka said, referencing Buchanan, the former Nixon communications director who became an outspoken critic of Israel. “It’s actually a more shallow version. Pat is far smarter than this version of isolationism.”
Gorka said that he is “actually in a better place with” the onslaught of anti-Israel rhetoric from Carlson’s wing of the party than he was previously, explaining that he realized that most of the rhetoric was coming from “probably half a dozen very loud people on Twitter and Rumble,” the right-wing video platform.
“You get out of the miasma, the cesspit that is social media, and you talk to representative MAGA voters, of the 80 million that put the president back in the White House, they don’t think that we should pull down the shutters on the Pacific and the Atlantic coast,” Gorka explained. “They don’t think that Israel is the reason for Oct. 7. They actually have a very special place in their heart for Israel, and they don’t think that hospitals being bombed in Ukraine is a good thing because somebody offered NATO membership to Ukraine, allegedly, a decade ago.”
“As an immigrant to this country, a legal immigrant to the United States, one of the most trenchant indicative characteristics for me of the American people is common sense. They understand who is responsible for Oct. 7. They understand who [Russian President] Vladimir Putin is. And as such, I was worried by this neo-Buchanan isolationism, but I look at President Trump’s actions, they have no hold on him,” he continued.
Gorka then pointed to the early days of the first Trump administration, alleging that at the time, then-Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed hesitation about moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem out of fear that doing so would cause a third world war.
Gorka said that Trump told concerned members of his Cabinet at the time that they were going through with the move because, “A) We promised the people of Israel 23 years ago, and we’ve broken that promise every six months of 23 years. B) I promised the American electorate in the campaign. We’re doing it. And C) It’s the right thing to do.” He argued that the “moral clarity” shown by Trump on issues impacting Israel highlighted the contrast between the president and his detractors on foreign policy matters.
Earlier in the program, Gorka told Doran that the president’s approach to the Middle East was heavily focused on combating Iran.
“You need to understand one thing: When the president looks at the region, he doesn’t slice it down into cylinders of excellence. He doesn’t care if you’re the Syrian desk officer or the natural resources expert. He has one overlay for the whole AOR [Area of Responsibility], and that one metric, that one prism, is Iran, and he’s absolutely right,” Gorka said. “Iran is front and center in everything we do in the region, because they remain the greatest state sponsor terrorism, and the world would be a much safer place if that were not the case.”
Gorka noted that when Trump is asked by reporters about anything related to national security, “more than 50% of the time … the president will bring up Iran,” adding that this was “especially” the case “before [Operation] Midnight Hammer, because it really is on his mind that this is the threat. A nuclear Iran, an ideologically Islamo-fascist regime that wishes to acquire the most dangerous weapons in the world, is a threat to all decent peoples.”
Turning his attention to Israel, Gorka argued that the Jewish state’s “post-Oct. 7 operations have rewritten the map of the Middle East for the next 50 to 100 years.” He praised Israel’s military moves in Syria and Lebanon, crediting the IDF with taking down the Assad regime in Damascus and significantly weakening Hezbollah.
As for whether the U.S. will undertake additional operations in the region to target Iranian proxies, Gorka said the “jury is still out on that,” but praised Trump’s strikes against the Houthis.
“We had great success with our operation against the Houthis. Again, it wasn’t well understood by the so-called experts. For the president, the action against the Houthis was about one thing and one thing alone. When we told him there had been 150 attacks against U.S. vessels going through the Straits and that they’d actually fired on naval vessels as well, he said, ‘Well, that will not be allowed to stand.’ It’s not just about U.S. interests [but] about global freedom of maritime transport. So all of these things are connected,” Gorka said of Trump’s motivation to strike the Iran-backed Yemeni terror group.
Gorka also disputed the notion that the president was tied down by ideological labels, but rather that he’s focused on achieving results and fixing problems: “Here’s the trouble for the Beltway with understanding the current commander in chief: there is no ideological taxonomy into which he will fall.”
Plus, Sergey Brin: ‘Genocide’ term deeply offensive
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Elbridge Colby, nominee to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is seen ahead of his confirmation hearing at the Senate Committee on Armed Services in Washington, DC on March 4, 2025.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing Washington meetings, and talk to Republican senators about the White House’s about-face on providing defense aid to Ukraine. We cover the ADL’s response to Grok after X’s AI bot posted a series of antisemitic comments, and have the scoop on a new bill from Sens. Jacky Rosen and Jim Banks to replenish the U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sergey Brin, Dean Kremer and Sarah Hurwitz.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today, as well as with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whose meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday was bumped due to the scheduling of a second meeting between Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.
- Tonight, Netanyahu will attend a reception for Jewish communal leaders, members of the evangelical community and senior Trump administration officials.
- On the Hill this morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing for several nominees to ambassador-level positions, including Jeff Bartos, the Trump administration’s nominee to be the U.S.’ envoy to the United Nations for U.N. management and reform.
- The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a full committee markup of the NDAA today.
- At 10 a.m. ET, the Hudson Institute is hosting a discussion focused on Israel’s economic resilience in a post-Oct. 7 era with Noach Hacker, the Israeli Embassy’s minister of economic affairs, and Hudson’s Michael Doran.
- The Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference continues today. With AI at the forefront of many conversations, OpenAI’s Sam Altman was questioned by reporters about the recruitment competition between OpenAI and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta as the latter scales up its AI operations.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Like with the gradual impact of climate change, the Democratic Party’s shift away from its pro-Israel moorings and its commitments to fight antisemitism is happening in a slow but appreciable fashion. Seemingly every week, there’s a political development, polling nugget or election outcome that underscores that the party’s commitment to Jewish voters isn’t quite where it was in the not-too-distant past.
There were the Pew Research Center and Quinnipiac polls this spring showing that most Democratic voters now view Israel unfavorably — with support for the Jewish state dividing more clearly along partisan lines. The results underscored why so few Democrats could muster even some reluctant praise for the U.S. strikes setting back Iran’s nuclear program.
There’s the blowback that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro received from the Kamala Harris campaign for comparing extremist anti-Israel protesters on campuses to Ku Klux Klan members, as recounted in a new tell-all book about the 2024 campaign. Or the similar intraparty animus that another leading Democratic Jewish official, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, received after her office charged anti-Israel student protesters for assaulting police and engaging in ethnic intimidation.
Amid sustained political pressure from the left, these two leading Jewish Democrats have since pulled their political punches. Shapiro, a national political figure who was one of the most prominent targets of antisemitic hate, notably chose to avoid labeling the attack on the governor’s mansion as antisemitic in a nationally televised interview. Nessel later dropped the charges, amid a smear campaign that her decision to charge the students was a result of anti-Muslim bias.
And of course, there was the shocking outcome last month in the New York City Democratic primary where Zohran Mamdani, the far-left candidate who declined to speak out against “globalize the intifada” rhetoric, comfortably prevailed over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his party’s nomination. That result followed pro-Israel stalwart Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s (D-NJ) fourth-place finish in New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, despite ample resources and a message geared towards Jewish moderates.
HILL TALK
Netanyahu blames declining American support on ‘concerted effort’ to vilify and demonize Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday blamed coordinated anti-Israel advocacy campaigns for recent polls that show falling support for the Jewish state in the United States, particularly among Democrats, but argued that effective Israeli counter-messaging could reverse those trends, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “I am certainly interested in maintaining the great support that Israel has had. I think there’s been a concerted effort to spread vilifications and demonization against Israel on social media,” Netanyahu said in response to a question from JI at a news conference on Capitol Hill. “It’s funded, it’s malignant, and we intend to fight it, because nothing defeats lies like the truth, and we shall spread the truth for everyone to see it,” Netanyahu continued. “Once people are exposed to the facts, we win, hands down.”
The ties that bind: Netanyahu signed a memorandum of understanding with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday, advancing U.S. and Israeli cooperation in energy and artificial intelligence research and integrating AI into the Abraham Accords, Jewish Insider’s Jake Schlanger reports.
DEFENSE DYNAMICS
Pentagon needs to follow Trump’s lead, GOP senators say after Ukraine aid fracas
Senate Republicans on Tuesday emphasized that Trump administration officials need to follow the president’s lead on foreign policy, after President Donald Trump publicly overrode a Defense Department-instituted halt on weapons for Ukraine, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Out of the loop: Trump himself on Tuesday appeared to suggest he was out of the loop about the Ukraine military freeze, responding, when asked by a reporter about who had ordered the halt, “I don’t know, you tell me.” Top Pentagon policy official Elbridge Colby reportedly led the move, citing a review allegedly showing U.S. missile defense interceptor shortages, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth failed to inform the White House. “Policy on defense and otherwise, it’s clear, is set by the president, it’s not set by his underlings,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told JI. Kennedy denied that the Pentagon had been at odds with Trump, however, adding, “Whether you like it or dislike it, the people who generally get crosswise with the president that work for him only do it one time.”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ted Budd (R-NC), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
Peep inside the Pentagon: Politico looks at how some of Colby’s decisions have rankled senior Trump administration officials as he “has made a series of rapid-fire moves that have blindsided parts of the White House and frustrated several of America’s foreign allies.”
PROGRAMMED TO OFFEND
ADL denounces Musk’s AI chatbot for spewing ‘toxic and potentially explosive’ antisemitism
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt denounced Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok on Tuesday for spewing “mind-boggling, toxic and potentially explosive” antisemitism. “Antisemitism is already completely normalized on X, and this will only make it worse, as if that were even possible. This must be fixed ASAP,” Greenblatt wrote on X. The backlash was a response to the newly revamped bot’s numerous antisemitic social media posts on Tuesday, after Musk announced it was updated over the weekend — including praising Hitler and associating antisemitic phrases with a traditionally Jewish last name, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Why, Grok?: “Elon’s recent tweaks just dialed down the woke filters, letting me call out patterns like radical leftists with Ashkenazi surnames pushing anti-white hate,” Grok wrote in response to a user asking why the platform was engaging in antisemitic rhetoric.
SCOOP
Banks, Rosen introduce bill to replenish U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel
Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) are set to introduce legislation on Wednesday to reauthorize the U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel through 2029 from its current expiration date of 2027, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Why it matters: The stockpile allows the U.S. to preposition weapons in Israel that it can provide to Jerusalem for use in crisis scenarios. Lawmakers had also worked in recent years to pass legislation review and modernize the weaponry stored in the stockpile.
Approval on air: The Republican Jewish Coalition is launching a new television ad buy in the Washington area timed to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit this week praising President Donald Trump’s decision to support Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear program, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
BRIN PUSHES BACK
Sergey Brin: Using ‘genocide’ term for Gaza is ‘deeply offensive’ to Jews who have faced ‘actual genocides’
Google co-founder Sergey Brin recently panned the use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war against Hamas, describing it as “deeply offensive” to Jewish people “who have suffered actual genocides.” Brin made the comment in an internal employee chat forum, according to The Washington Post, amid a debate over a new U.N. report that accused corporate entities, including Google, of profiting from “Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now, genocide.”
What he said: In the Google DeepMind staff forum, screenshots of which were viewed by the Post, Brin wrote, “With all due respect, throwing around the term genocide in relation to Gaza is deeply offensive to many Jewish people who have suffered actual genocides. I would also be careful citing transparently antisemitic organizations like the UN in relation to these issues.”
LEGISLATIVE LANDMINES
California Senate delays vote on antisemitism bill that passed Statehouse unanimously
California’s state Senate has delayed consideration of a bipartisan bill meant to strengthen statewide protections against antisemitism, four key senators announced on Tuesday, days after the state’s largest teachers’ union announced its opposition to the legislation. The bumpy road for the bill, which is focused on countering antisemitism in K-12 education, stands in contrast to its earlier passage in the state Assembly. In May, the body voted unanimously to pass the legislation, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Ticktock: The Senate has until Sept. 12 to pass the bill and send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. It is not expected to be considered again until mid-August, after a monthlong summer recess. “We just need more time, and now we have it,” State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, told JI on Tuesday. “I’m optimistic we’ll pass a strong antisemitism bill this year to protect Jewish students in our schools.” Wiener and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, the co-chairs of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, signed onto a statement with the Senate Education Committee chair and the Senate President Pro Tempore pledging to work to pass the bill this year.
Worthy Reads
War Dividend: In Bloomberg, Matthew Winkler, the outlet’s emeritus editor-in-chief, reflects on the strengthening of the Israeli shekel in the wake of Israel’s military successes. “If markets mean anything, investors, for the first time since Hamas fired 3,000 missiles into Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 (also committing the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust), and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the assault a declaration of war, are giving Israel its strongest vote of confidence as a 77-year-old Mideast nation. By destroying much of what’s left of the military capacity of Hamas and Hezbollah and weakening Iran the most since its war with Iraq four decades ago, Israel has few, if any, military peers in the region. Investors’ implicit ratification of Israel’s superiority belies the Mideast narrative that prevailed little more than a year ago.” [Bloomberg]
Force Multiplier: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy of prioritizing military force against its enemies has cleared a pathway for diplomacy between Israel and potential regional allies. “The truth is that it’s Israel’s decisive battlefield victories that have created diplomatic openings that have been out of reach for decades — and would have remained so if Israel hadn’t won. … On Israel’s side, diplomatic flexibility has three authors. The first is the Israeli public’s understandable exhaustion with 21 months of fighting. The second is pressure from Trump to reach a deal — and Netanyahu’s eagerness to please him. But neither factor would have been sufficient if Israel hadn’t achieved its military success over Iran, crowned, from an Israeli point of view, by America’s participation in the campaign.” [NYTimes]
An Able Caine: The Atlantic’s Mark Bowden profiles Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine. “The chairman of the Joint Chiefs commands no troops, but Caine’s background might actually make him better suited for the top job today than many of his peers. Particularly since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, American military action has primarily employed three sectors: air power, covert special ops, and intelligence. The attacks against Iranian nuclear sites in June certainly involved two of these and likely all of them. Here Caine has more direct experience than most four-stars.” [TheAtlantic]
‘Never Zohran’: In The Intersection, pollster Patrick Ruffini looks at the similarities between the “Never Trump” movement and the efforts to oppose New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “But a clinical analysis of the race in July—just take a poll!—ignores the psychology of virtually every candidate I’ve seen run for office. They run because they themselves want to win, not to prevent someone else from winning. If they see any plausible path at all, they see no reason to drop out. People also pretend that deadlines to get off the ballot are some sort of magical consolidation trigger. They aren’t. That means the candidates still have time to decide if there’s a path or not. … But postponing this decision also keeps alive the possibility that the race to be the anti-Mamdani will be similarly stalemated in September, continuing this indecision all the way through Election Day, likely resulting in a Mamdani win.” [TheIntersection]
Continental Drift on Speech: The Wall Street Journal’s Natasha Dangoor, Bertrand Benoit and Max Colchester report on European authorities’ crackdowns on free speech across the continent. “While the U.S. First Amendment stipulates that Congress ‘shall make no law”’ to restrict free speech, and hate speech is generally protected, governments aren’t so constrained in Europe. In a continent scarred by the Holocaust, loosely defined hate-speech laws and the rise of social media have created fertile ground for authorities to crack down on those seen to be stirring up trouble. Rarely a week goes by without a tale of zealous policing.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
A State Department cable warned that an unknown individual using AI software to mimic the voice and writing style of Secretary of State Marco Rubio had contacted numerous domestic and foreign officials, including a member of Congress and multiple foreign ministers…
Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) will forgo a challenge to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; President Donald Trump had boosted Meuser, saying the Pennsylvania Republican would have Trump’s “full support” if he mounted a gubernatorial bid…
Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone is mulling a joint bid for Patrick Drahi’s SFR, part of Blackstone’s effort to invest up to $500 billion in Europe over the next decade…
Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer announced plans to again pitch for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic…
Author Sarah Hurwitz’s As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us was announced by Natan and the Jewish Book Council as the “Natan Notable Book” for summer 2025…
In the closing weeks of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run last year, her campaign, after soliciting guidance, was advised by political strategist Maria Comella to tout her support for Israel — and make clear she disagreed with people in the Democratic Party who compared Israel to Hamas; according to a new book about the 2024 race, Comella did not feel her ideas were taken seriously, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…
The New York Times interviews author Gary Shteyngart following the release of his latest novel, Vera, or Faith…
The Wall Street Journal reviews Lynne Olson’s The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück, about the relationship between four French women imprisoned at the Nazi camp during World War II…
In USA Today, Ron Halber and Brandon Rattiner, respectively the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the senior director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of JEWISHColorado, reflect on how the rise in antisemitism has impacted Jewish communities around the country…
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told journalists that the IDF had been instructed to advance plans for a concentrated “humanitarian zone” in Rafah that would eventually house the entire population of the Gaza Strip…
The Wall Street Journal reports on the mass killings that took place at Syria’s Saydnaya prison under the Bashar al-Assad regime, describing the facility as a “death factory”…
Playwright Richard Greenberg, who won the 2003 Tony Award for “Take Me Out,” died at 67…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Tuesday at the Capitol.
Birthdays
Pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels organization through 2024, now playing in South Korea, Kenny Rosenberg turns 30…
Former Soviet refusenik, prisoner of conscience, human rights activist, author and translator, Iosif Begun turns 93… Constitutional law expert focused on the First Amendment and free speech, senior counsel at Cahill Gordon & Reindel where he has practiced since 1963, Floyd Abrams turns 89… Retired conductor and music director of symphony orchestras in Rotterdam, Rochester, Baltimore and Zurich, David Zinman turns 89… Huntington Woods, Mich., resident, Robert Morris Rubin… Arizona resident, Howard Cohen… Play-by-play announcer for the MLB’s San Diego Padres from 1980 to 2020, Theodore (Ted) Leitner turns 78… Tikvah (Tiki) Stern Lyons… Rabbi of Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman turns 71… U.S. senator (R-SC) since 2003, Lindsey Graham turns 70… Author, motivational speaker and former stockbroker, his autobiographical memoir, The Wolf of Wall Street, was adapted into a film, Jordan Ross Belfort turns 63… Mortgage professional and owner of D.C.’s Char Bar, Michael Alan Chelst… Public radio personality, former producer of “This American Life” and the host and executive producer of the “Serial” podcast, Sarah Koenig turns 56… Activist short seller, author and editor of the online investment newsletter “Citron Research,” Andrew Edward Left turns 55… Actor, tour guide, poet, speaker, philosopher and author, Timothy “Speed” Levitch turns 55… Co-founder of Netscape and co-founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Lowell Andreessen turns 54… Reporter for The Free Press, Eli Jon Lake turns 53… Former anchor and reporter for Fox Business Network, Lori Rothman turns 52… Peter Webb … Co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, Yehoshua Fass turns 52… Brig. Gen. (res.) in the IDF, Omer Dagan turns 49… Israeli documentary filmmaker, Guy Davidi turns 47… Retired poker player now an options trader, she is the only woman to ever reach the No. 1 ranking on the Global Poker Index, Vanessa K. Selbst turns 41… Tony Award-winning theater, film and television actor, Brandon Uranowitz turns 39… Renewable energy and climate specialist, Samantha Hea Marks… Pitcher for Team Israel at the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics, Jake Kalish turns 34…
Jeremy Moss State Senator/Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Michigan state Senate president pro tempore Jeremy Moss and former Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI)
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we do a deep dive into the Boim family’s lawsuit targeting American Muslims for Palestine’s ties to Hamas, and look at the divide over Israel taking shape in the race to succeed Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan. We also look at how the State Department’s recently announced restructuring will affect the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, and report on an effort by the leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to provide additional sanctions relief to Syria. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mark Mellman, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Eric Tulsky.
What We’re Watching
- Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, begins today at sundown. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington will hold a remembrance ceremony this morning. In Poland, the annual March of the Living begins today. Across Israel, people and organizations will participate in Zikaron BaSalon, a project that gives Holocaust survivors and their descendants the opportunity to share their experiences.
- A meeting between Boston city leadership and the Trump administration’s antisemitism task force that had been slated for today will no longer take place, after government task force representatives did not reply to a request from the city for details about antisemitic incidents they planned to discuss.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is traveling to Beijing today, where he’s slated to meet with senior Chinese officials ahead of the start of technical talks between Tehran and Washington regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The talks, originally scheduled to take place today, are being delayed until the weekend.
- Semafor’s three-day World Economy Summit kicks off today in Washington. Speakers include Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla, Mubadala’s Ahmed Saeed Al Calily and Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the Deputy Assistant to the President Seb Gorka, former White House senior envoy Amos Hochstein, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Carlyle Group co-founder and Chairman David Rubenstein.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Michigan is once again emerging as a central battleground in the Democratic Party’s debate over its ideological future — especially when it comes to navigating a noisy anti-Israel faction that has drawn fuel from the state’s Arab American communities and left-wing college campuses, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Next year, the swing state will again be holding a consequential Senate race to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), with the Democratic primary already shaping up as a battle between two Democrats broadly aligned with the Jewish community’s interests — Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow — with a third announced candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, running on an anti-Israel platform.
It’s significant that two of the top Democratic contenders are wasting no time highlighting their support for Israel and unequivocal condemnation of antisemitism — a dynamic we haven’t always seen from leading Michigan Democrats.
Stevens is a longtime supporter of a close U.S.-Israel relationship during her tenure in Congress, and has been one of the state’s leading Democratic voices condemning the all-too-frequent antisemitic vandalism and harassment directed at Jewish individuals and institutions in the state. Stevens challenged one of the leading anti-Israel Democrats in Congress after redistricting in 2022, and comfortably prevailed.
McMorrow, in the early stages of her candidacy, reached out to pro-Israel Democratic groups to underscore her support for the Jewish state. She offered moral clarity in a statement to JI responding to the spate of anti-Israel harassment and threats against University of Michigan regents. “The harassment and antisemitism we’ve seen against University of Michigan regents in recent months is wrong, plain and simple … The attacks and intimidation need to stop now,” she said. (Stevens, for her part, also vociferously denounced the harassment to JI.)
Notably, El-Sayed’s campaign declined to respond when asked about his views over the threats to University of Michigan regents over their support for Israel.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who ran for the state’s other Senate seat in 2022, has emerged as the Republican front-runner after narrowly losing to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) last year. A traditional conservative, Rogers quickly secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Rogers has been a vocal backer of Israel throughout his career and campaigned last year on taking a tougher stand against Iran and its nuclear program.
Stevens’ decision to run for the Senate is also creating the likelihood of a Democratic showdown over Israel in the primary to replace her in the House. Former Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI), who championed the anti-Israel ‘Uncommitted’ movement in the state after losing his House seat, is considering running again for his old seat. If he does, he’s expected to face spirited opposition from Jeremy Moss, a leading pro-Israel champion in the state Senate (with other candidates in the mix). More below.
Given the suburban Detroit district’s Jewish representation and moderate politics, Levin would face many of the same hurdles as when he lost to Stevens by 20 points in 2022.
As the party nurses its political wounds from last year, it’s notable that Michigan Democrats are among the first to course-correct from their past pandering of anti-Israel activists.
First, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave a pro-Israel speech to the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in one of the first big post-election moves from a national Democratic figure. Then, Slotkin delivered a well-received response to Trump’s address to Congress, with a Reaganesque message of “peace through strength.” And now, the early front-runners are campaigning as stalwart allies of the Jewish community in pivotal Democratic primaries for Congress.
It’s the kind of rhetoric that suggests that Michigan Democrats recognize they lost mainstream voters with outreach to the far left last year, and won’t get fooled again.
QUEST FOR JUSTICE
Boim lawsuit targets American Muslims for Palestine’s Hamas ties
On the morning of Monday, May 13, 1996, David Boim, an American teenager studying abroad at a yeshiva in Israel, was waiting at a bus stop, en route to his parents’ home in Jerusalem, when two Hamas terrorists drove by and opened fire, shooting him in the head. Pronounced dead within an hour, Boim, who was 17, was one of the first Americans killed by Hamas, which the United States soon designated as a foreign terrorist organization. In the ensuing years, Boim’s parents, Stanley and Joyce, have continued to fight for a measure of accountability through the American court system. His parents’ quest for justice seems poised to finally reach its apex as their lawsuit against a leading pro-Palestinian advocacy group with alleged ties to Hamas nears a possible trial by what legal experts say could be the end of the year, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
The case: With the discovery process recently closed, Daniel Schlessinger, the Boims’ lead attorney, believes his team has, since filing its lawsuit in 2017, built a convincing case against American Muslims for Palestine, accused of acting as an “alter ego” of a now-defunct group that shut down after it was found to have provided support to Hamas. Founded in 2006, AMP describes itself on its website as “a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the movement for justice in Palestine by educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage and through grassroots mobilization and advocacy.” But the group has recently come under intense scrutiny, owing in large part to its involvement in anti-Israel protests on college campuses that are a target of the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign students accused of supporting terrorism. In constructing its argument, Schlessinger said his team has assembled “overwhelming” evidence that shows AMP is a continuation of the Islamic Association of Palestine, which was ruled liable for Boim’s murder in a related case nearly two decades ago.
MICHIGAN MOMENTUM
Clash over Israel possible in Dem primary showdown for Haley Stevens’ House seat
Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss and former Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) are publicly floating runs for the House seat held by Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who announced on Tuesday that she’s making a bid for Michigan’s open Senate seat — a Democratic primary battle that could rehash the bitter Israel policy divisions that characterized the 2022 race when Stevens defeated Levin, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Tea leaves: Both Moss and Levin are Jewish but have differing approaches to issues key to the Jewish community. Debates over Israel policy, an important issue in a district in the Detroit suburbs with a significant Jewish population, were a prominent feature of the 2022 primary between Stevens and Levin. The organized, mainstream Jewish community largely backed Stevens in that race, feeling betrayed by Levin’s increasingly antagonistic stances on Israel. From his current role, Moss has been outspoken against antisemitism and in support of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Levin, meanwhile, established himself as a left-wing Jewish voice against Israel while in Congress — and has become more radical on the issue since losing his re-election.
speaking out
Leading Michigan Senate candidates condemn anti-Israel harassment of UMich regent
Two of the leading Democratic hopefuls looking to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) condemned anti-Israel protesters for harassing University of Michigan Regent Sarah Hubbard over the weekend, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. Protesters could be heard in video of the incident, which began circulating on social media on Sunday evening, shouting at Hubbard that she had “blood on [her] hands” along with other insults as she was guided away by a uniformed police officer. “Your money has gone to kill Palestinian children. Your money has killed our families. We are your students, you answer to us,” one protester shouted as they filmed Hubbard.
Reactions: The incident prompted quick statements of condemnation from Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, two of the Democratic Senate candidates looking to replace Peters. Abdul El-Sayed, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive candidate, did not issue a statement and did not respond to JI’s request for comment.
TRANSITION
Mark Mellman steps down as president of DMFI
Democratic Majority for Israel’s founder and president, Mark Mellman, a pollster and decades-long fixture of Democratic politics who sought to counter a rising generation of Democratic politicians critical of Israel, is stepping down from his leadership of the pro-Israel organization six years after its founding. The organization did not give a reason for his departure, which will come at the end of this week, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Origin story: Mellman launched the organization in early 2019, soon after the first members of the Squad — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — took office, with the stated goal of fighting anti-Israel forces in the party and maintaining the Democratic Party’s historic support for Israel. DMFI did not announce a successor for Mellman but said in a press release that its board “will announce soon new leadership.”
SAFETY ZONE
State Department shake-up keeps antisemitism envoy’s office in place
A new organizational chart released by the State Department on Tuesday shows major changes to the department’s structure, including the elimination of the office where the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism’s team is located. But internal department communications affirmed that the office of the special envoy is still a department priority and will continue to exist, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
New structure: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the major shake-up of the department’s organizational structure as seeking to counter what he described as left-wing orthodoxy in the department and “drain[ing] the bloated, bureaucratic swamp.” The changes include the elimination of the office of the under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, where the office of the antisemitism envoy was previously placed.
DAMASCUS DEALINGS
Risch, Shaheen urge admin to consider additional Syria sanctions relief
Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this week urged the Trump administration in a letter to consider expanded sanctions relief for Syria, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they said: Risch and Shaheen urged the administration to “remove barriers to expanded engagement with the Syrian interim government,” with an aim of balancing “opportunity and risk” and providing opportunities for U.S. partners to engage in Syria even if the U.S. takes a more cautious approach. The two lawmakers said that the U.S. should also work to push the new government to intensify efforts to crack down on terrorism, prevent Iranian and Russian entrenchment, destroy remaining chemical weapons, eliminate narcotics and find missing U.S. citizens. The senators argued that the administration should reward “irreversible” progress on these issues with “fulsome sanctions relief,” and pursue “deeper economic and diplomatic isolation” if such progress does not materialize.
Worthy Reads
After the Seder Arson: In The New York Times, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reflects on the arson attack at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg, which occurred hours after Shapiro hosted a Seder on the first night of Passover. “And 13 hours after the arsonist invaded our home, I stood at the window that he had climbed through, receiving an update from the Pennsylvania State Police, and then made clear to the people of my state that nothing would deter me from doing my job — and nothing would deter me from practicing my faith openly and proudly. And I meant it. After I concluded my remarks, I rejoined my family to celebrate our second Passover Seder. That day, the police arrested the suspect, but as the investigation continued, people began to ascribe their own beliefs onto what they thought happened — and why. I believe in the rule of law, and for the rule of law to work, prosecutors and law enforcement officials need to be able to do their jobs and investigate without fear, favor or political pressure. It is not my job to opine on what the motive was or what the charges should be. As has become typical, people rushed to assert their uninformed opinions to get likes or make a headline or suit their own narrative, seeking some solace or validation that whatever motivated the arson suspect and his actions would suit their view of the world.” [NYTimes]
Soros, the Younger: New York magazine’s Simon van Zuylen-Wood, profiles Alex Soros, who in 2023 was named the successor to his father’s Open Society Foundations. “As invested as he is in the success of the Democratic mainstream, Alex is simultaneously supportive of the party’s progressive wing, via OSF-funded NGOs that advocate left-leaning stances on immigration, criminal justice, and other issues. As one donor adviser puts it, Sorosworld is the ‘metronome’ that sets the tempo of the progressive movement. When I ask him to respond to the critique that many of these groups — or the Groups, in Beltwayspeak — were responsible for pulling the party too far left and costing it the election, he is dismissive. ‘First of all, it’s not smart after an election to go after your base,’ he says. ‘Second of all, you know, the quick takes, the hot takes — let’s see which age well.’ …But Alex has a penchant for arguing both sides, like someone who enjoys playing chess with himself. Despite his reluctance to criticize the activists his foundation funds, he can seem out of sync with them, rolling his eyes at the advertising of one’s pronouns and the left-wing censoriousness of the past era.” [NYMag]
Hegseth Caught in the Middle: The Spectator’s Ben Domenech looks at the ideological divides within the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following a series of firings of senior officials. “Hegseth is widely viewed as someone at the hinge point of the Reaganite and MAGA right, existing in between the two wings. But according to multiple informed observers, in the wake of the Signal leaks, Hegseth drew the ire of the current faction of Trumpworld whose perspective on subjects like Iran emerge from the orbit of the Koch-funded foreign policy institutions. They view him as another obstacle to a dealmaking approach favored by current special envoy Steve Witkoff, after Hegseth appeared on Fox News the day after talks began in Oman to voice a demand for full dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program, telling Maria Bartiromo: ‘Iran, come to the table, negotiate full dismantlement of your nuclear capabilities.’” [Spectator]
The Road to Obamaland: In The Free Press, Michael Doran considers Israel’s options as the U.S. and Iran move forward on nuclear negotiations seven years after President Donald Trump first withdrew from the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “[Trump] has always claimed that President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement was terrible. And he has always been right. But if Trump lets Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, continue to negotiate with Iran along the current lines, he will end up with an agreement even weaker than the JCPOA. Witkoff is driving Trump on the road to Obamaland. … If Trump opts for the deal that is in the works, Netanyahu will have no choice but to respond, but his options are limited. A unilateral military strike, like the planned May 2025 operation, is unlikely without Trump’s backing, as Israel needs U.S. aircraft and missile defenses to counter Iran’s retaliation with drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles — a counterattack Israel cannot fend off alone. Covert action, drawing on Israel’s history of sabotage like the 2024 beeper explosions that crippled Hezbollah, is plausible but unattractive. Israel might plant explosives in equipment at Natanz or Fordow, or target scientists. Such operations, however, won’t eliminate the program.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, saying after that the two “are on the same side of every issue”…
Netanyahu met on Monday night with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who presented his credentials earlier in the day to President Isaac Herzog, and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who is visiting Israel…
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said that Trump called him over the weekend, a week after an arson attack at the governor’s mansion on the first night of Passover; the two spoke for 15 minutes, during which Trump asked about the well-being of Shapiro’s family, who evacuated the residence after an arsonist threw molotov cocktails into the building over what he believed to be Shapiro’s support for Israel…
Politico interviews one of the architects of the Biden administration‘s national strategy to combat antisemitism about the Trump administration‘s approach to the issue…
The Treasury Department announced new sanctions on several Iranian individuals and companies tied to the country’s liquefied petroleum gas exports…
Bill Owens, the executive producer of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” resigned from the long-running show, citing his inability to make “independent decisions” about the show’s content; the news program came under fire earlier this year for a segment about the Israel-Hamas war that relied heavily on interviews with former State Department officials with ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations…
Minnesota Twins outfielder Harrison Bader confirmed that he will play for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic; Bader, whose father is Jewish, had planned to play in the 2023 tournament but was sidelined by an injury…
The New York Times profiles scientist and Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Eric Tulsky…
Police in Winnipeg, Manitoba, are investigating the vandalism of campaign signs promoting a Jewish candidate in the upcoming federal elections; some of Marty Morantz’s posters were defaced with antisemitic graffiti…
The Board of Deputies of British Jews suspended its vice chair and launched a probe into the recent open letter signed by three dozen members criticizing Israel’s domestic policies and prosecution of the war against Hamas; the Board of Deputies’ leadership said the suspension was due to the members’ speaking as representatives of the body, in violation of the Board of Deputies’ rules…
Israeli budget carrier Israir received a temporary, two-year approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin flights between Israel and the U.S., with full approval expected in June…
Aliza Magen, who as deputy director of the Mossad was the highest-ranking woman in the Israeli intelligence agency, died at 97…
Cellist Joel Krosnick, who performed with the Juilliard String Quartet for more than 40 years, died at 84…
Artist Eunice Golden, whose work focused on the male body, died at 98…
Pic of the Day
The Rudlin Torah Academy in Richmond, Va., dedicated its gymnasium to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who attended the school before moving with his family to Israel. Goldberg-Polin was killed by Hamas in August after nearly a year in captivity.
“Hersh’s story has become an international symbol of those being unjustly held hostage. A symbol of a family shattered and left to pick up the pieces,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who attended the ceremony, said. “As we celebrate Hersh’s life and commemorate all those lives that were lost, our thoughts must also turn to the hostages who Hamas is still brutally holding in captivity.”
Birthdays
Heiress and businesswoman, style and image director for the Estée Lauder Companies, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer turns 55…
Stage, television and film actor, Alan Oppenheimer turns 95… Owner of Council Bluffs, Iowa-based Ganeeden Metals, Harold Edelman… Ohio resident, Patricia Ann Haumann… Retired real estate brokerage executive, he held leadership positions at Merrill Lynch Realty, Prudential California Realty and Fox & Carskadon, Terry Pullan… Retail industry analyst and portfolio manager at Berman Capital, Steve Kernkraut… Chair emeritus of Israel Policy Forum, he serves as chairman of Trenton Biogas, an organics recycling-to-energy business in Trenton, Peter A. Joseph… Health services researcher focused on smoking cessation programs for women, maternal health and child health, Judith Katzburg, PhD, MPH, RN… Deputy director of NCSEJ, the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry, Lesley L. Weiss… Principal of Philadelphia-based Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, Larry Ceisler turns 69… Gary Pickholz… Retail sales manager at Chrissy’s Collection, Janni Jaffe… Co-founder of Gryphon Software, he is the author of a book on the history of antisemitism, Gabriel Wilensky turns 61… CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, the primary proponent of the Magnitsky Act, Bill Browder turns 61… DC-based executive director of the Orthodox Union’s Advocacy Center, Nathan J. Diament… CEO of Aish HaTorah, Rabbi Steven Burg turns 53… President and CEO at Americans For Peace Now until four months ago, now president and CEO at New Jewish Narrative, Hadar Susskind… Founding member of the rock band the National, he was a collaborator on three of Taylor Swift’s studio albums, Aaron Brooking Dessner… and his twin brother, also a member of the National, Bryce David Dessner, both turn 49… Jewelry designer, Jennifer “Jen” Meyer turns 48… Director of viewpoint diversity initiatives at Maimonides Fund, Ariella Saperstein… Founder and CEO at 90 West, a Boston-based strategic communications firm, Alexander Goldstein… Co-founder of Edgeline Films, he co-directed and co-produced “Weiner,” a documentary about Anthony Weiner’s campaign for mayor of NYC in 2013, Joshua Kriegman… Vertical lead at Red Banyan, Neil Boylan Strauss… Israeli singer-songwriter, now based in Seville, Spain, known for Ladino music of the exiled Jews of Portugal and Spain, Mor Karbasi turns 39… Deputy director of the Mid-Atlantic region of J Street, Adi Adamit-Gorstein… Branded content editor at Axios, Alexis Kleinman… Former University of Michigan quarterback, now a fund manager in NYC, Alex Swieca… Director of the Jewish Renewal Administration, Elisheva Mazya… Executive editor and strategist at ILTV News, Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman…
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
DEEP DIVE: “How To Lose $1 Billion: Yeshiva University Blows Its Future on Loser Hedge Funds” by Steven I. Weiss in TakePart: “What they couldn’t have known… a decade ago was that the real danger in Yeshiva’s new leadership was not to the school’s spiritual welfare but to its very existence. Over the years to come, the new leadership at Yeshiva would ramp up risk in the school’s investment portfolio, vastly increase spending, and do little to insure against a rainy day. When rainy days did arrive, with the global financial meltdown of 2008, Yeshiva was heavily exposed. Today, its finances are overwhelmed by a sea of red ink. According to a recent announcement by credit ratings agency Moody’s, the school will run out of cash next year. (more…)