• President Donald Trump will meet today with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine to discuss options for dealing with Iran.
• Today’s meeting comes as the president weighs potential military action in Iran in response to the deadly crackdowns on protesters around the country. Iran had over the weekend communicated to the White House that it was willing to engage in talks over its nuclear program, for which Trump said “a meeting is being set up,” but potential U.S. strikes could come regardless of that meeting.
• Meanwhile, Iran is continuing to jam Elon Musk’s Starlink, which was activated to restore internet service following a decision by Tehran to cut off internet as well as international phone services.
• In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul will deliver her annual State of the State address at 1:30 p.m. ET. Among the issues she plans to cover, Hochul is expected to announce a proposal to create a 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship and health care facilities.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

The mass protests across Iran erupted just over two weeks ago — the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Palm Beach, Fla., to meet with President Donald Trump.

The big question as Netanyahu and Trump met was whether the president would give Israel a green light to strike Iran as it reconstituted its ballistic missile program at a pace that raised major concerns in Jerusalem. Trump’s response was a resounding yes, adding that if Iran would start rebuilding its nuclear program, the answer would be yes and “fast.” 

But as the demonstrations in Iran grew and the regime’s response grew more and more violent – Iran International reported 12,000 protesters have been killed as of Tuesday morning, while an Iranian official put the death toll at 2,000 – international talk about Israeli airstrikes subsided to near-silence. 

Asked how Israel’s calculation about striking Iranian missile or nuclear sites may have changed in the last two weeks, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on the “Misgav Mideast Horizons Podcast”: “With the United States threatening to intervene, what would we have to gain from this? Other than providing a pretext for the Iranians to strike back at us. I think we’re operating responsibly, prudently.”

Still, Israelis remain jittery about a second round of war with Iran, to the extent that the IDF’s spokesperson, Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin, released a statement on Monday evening warning that “in recent days, many rumors have circulated in light of the situation in Iran. …The IDF is prepared defensively and remains on alert for surprise scenarios if required. The protests in Iran are a domestic matter. …We will provide updates if there are any changes. I emphasize: Do not lend a hand to rumors.” 

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

The Saudi Reversal, Explained: In an essay titled “The Saudi Pivot,” Hussein Aboubakr Mansour details Saudi Arabia’s shifting alliances. “After a decade of costly and inconclusive ventures, Saudi policymakers appear to have reached a different conclusion about what is the best path they have to accumulate regional power in current conditions. A consolidating relationship with Turkey, renewed investment in Islamist and anti-Zionist legitimation, a deliberate freeze of normalization with Israel, and public confrontation with the UAE across multiple theaters are all clear signs of such a major strategic pivot. And behind it all, a strategic wager: the American-led conditions that made Gulf alignment rational are thinning, and Saudi Arabia intends to lead the region in whatever post-liberal world comes next.” [TheAbrahamicMetacritique]

A Passage to India: In Ynet, Jonathan Adiri argues that Israel’s strategic anchor should not be in Saudi Arabia but in New Delhi. “The [Saudi] crown prince is once again confronting reality and recognizing the magnitude of the challenge. Along the way, he will need to recalculate again and again in order to survive the revolution he himself unleashed… [Israel’s] thinking must shift eastward, toward a partner where interests are more stable and the economy is not subject to the whims of a prince trying to rewrite history in real time.” [Ynet]

Influence Peddling: The Wall Street Journal’s Maggie Severns, Natalie Andrews, Josh Dawsey and Eliza Collins do a deep dive into how foreign governments, including Israel and Qatar, are increasingly funding initiatives to reach out to social media influencers in addition to traditional lobbying efforts. “Israel made plans over the past year to spend $900,000 on an influencer campaign with a U.S. audience, according to disclosure documents, as Israel fights negative sentiment on the right. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with conservative social-media stars on at least two of his visits. … One of the largest historic spenders on Washington lobbying, Qatar, is pursuing an influencer strategy that appears to be paying dividends. In November, it sponsored trips to Doha for several pro-Trump social-media personalities, promising interactions with members of Congress who were also there and celebrities — and VIP Formula One tickets with paddock access that regularly go for more than $10,000 apiece.” [WSJ]

Bondi and Beyond: In The Washington Times, Sheina Gutnick, whose father, Reuven Morrison, was killed in the Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, Australia, reflects on Jewish safety and security down under. “Since Oct. 7, 2023, I — like many other Jews in Australia and around the world — have watched with growing fear as antisemitism moved from the margins into the open. Fear almost feels too small a word for what unfolded. I watched protesters stand on the steps of the Sydney Opera House chanting, ‘F—- the Jews’ and ‘Where’s the Jews?’ What shocked me most was not only the hatred but also the absence of consequence. I watched news of Jews being murdered outside Jewish events overseas. I watched protesters in my own city calling to ‘Globalize the intifada.’ I felt the slow, sickening recognition that governments, including my own, were once again choosing to react too late. My father taught me that antisemitism is never an isolated incident. It’s never just words. History shows us the pattern clearly. Words become chants, chants become threats, and threats become violence. Eventually, Jews are murdered.” [WashTimes]

President Donald Trump announced an immediate 25% tariff on countries that continue “doing business” with Iran; the tariff’s impact will likely have serious ramifications on trade between the U.S. and China, a major trading partner of Iran…

The State Department announced it had revoked 100,000 visas since its immigration crackdown began last year; of those, some 8,000 were student visas…

Former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) announced Monday that she’s entering the Senate race against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in Alaska, giving Democrats an outside chance of picking up the red-state Senate seat, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) introduced legislation to block U.S. funding for any U.N. agency that expels Israel; similar language was included in a State Department reform package the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed last year…

Former Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell McCormick is joining Meta as president and vice chairman; Powell McCormick, who served on Meta’s board from April-December 2025, was most recently at BDT & MSD Partners…

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) is joining House Democratic leadership as parliamentarian of the steering and policy committee…

Police in Los Angeles are investigating an incident of anti-Israel vandalism at the site of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, which was destroyed in last year’s wildfires…

The executive council of the American Historical Association vetoed two anti-Israel resolutions, including one that accused the Jewish state of scholasticide in Gaza, saying that the resolutions “fall outside the scope” of the association and approving them “would present institutional risk and have long-term implications for the discipline and the organization”…

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters that Iran’s government is in its “last days and weeks”…

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, former hostage David Cunio shared details about his time in captivity, including a visit in the tunnels by former Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar…

Jay Greene is joining the Defense of Freedom Institute as a senior fellow with a focus on antisemitism in education…

Jay Haberman was tapped at the American Jewish Committee’s vice president for strategic philanthropy and major gifts; he was previously the chief development officer at ELNET-US… 

Israeli archeologist and educator Gabriel Barkay, the co-founder and director of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, died at 81…

AIPAC CEO Elliot Brandt (right) met with Honduran President-elect Nasry Asfura earlier this week during Asfura’s first trip to the U.S. following his election last month. Asfura, who is of Palestinian descent, also met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, and plans to travel to Israel in the coming days.

Actress and producer, winner of 11 Emmy Awards, she is best known for “Saturday Night Live,” “Seinfeld” and “Veep,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus turns 65…

Argentine writer, he has authored 14 novels, 17 essay collections, four short story collections and two biographies, Marcos Aguinis turns 91… Marriage and family therapist in Bakersfield, Calif., Kathleen Arnold-Chambers… Las Vegas resident, Cathy Nierenberg… Retired teacher, Lucia Meyerson… NYC pediatrician at Carnegie Hill Pediatrics, Barry B. Stein, MD… Lifelong resident of Greenwich Village, a two-time Emmy Award winner as a television producer, she worked for NBC Nightly News, Susanna Beth Aaron… President of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Cindy S. Moelis turns 65… Kaileh Lynn Pistol… Founder of the Freelancers Union, she was a MacArthur genius fellow in 1999, Sara Horowitz turns 63… Retired member of the Senate of Canada for 12 years, she is a past chair of the UJA of Greater Toronto, Linda Frum turns 63… Partner at Baker McKenzie, he served as deputy attorney general of the U.S. following 12 years as U.S. attorney for Maryland, Rod J. Rosenstein turns 61… Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel from 2013 until July 2024, Rabbi David Baruch Lau turns 60… Executive assistant to the president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits after 15 years at JFNA, Bruce Maclver… Vice president for policy at the Middle East Institute, Kenneth M. Pollack turns 60… President and CEO of Amazon, Andrew R. Jassy turns 58… Longtime activist for Israel, Heidi Krizer Daroff… French screenwriter and director, Alice Winocour turns 50… Statistician and writer who analyzes sports and elections, he was the editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight until 2023, Nate Silver turns 48… Former VP of donor relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, now a marriage and family therapist, Shira Berenson Feinstein… Israeli singer and rapper, known by his stage name Nechi Nech, Ravid Plotnik turns 38… Communications consultant based in Denver, Carly Freedman Schlafer… Rebecca Seider… Sandra Shapiro…

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio lands in Israel today for a two-day trip that will include meetings with senior officials. Rubio’s visit comes days as Vice President JD Vance wraps up his trip to the country. The vice president, who is still in the country, is meeting today with Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. More below.
• In Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding its confirmation hearing for Hamtramck, Mich., Mayor Amer Ghalib to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. More below.
• The Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East is hosting a one-day conference focused on the U.S. role in the South Caucasus. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) is slated to give the keynote address.
• In New York, Dan Senor is hosting a live taping of the “Call Me Back” podcast with Israeli journalists and CMB contributors Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center.
• Elsewhere in New York, the 92NY is hosting the second installment of the Sapir Debates. Former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), Yehuda Kurtzer, Batya Ungar-Sargon and Jamie Kirchick, in conversation with The New York Times’ Bret Stephens, will debate “Does Zionism Have a Future on the American Left?”
• The Jewish National Fund’s annual Global Conference for Israel begins today in Hollywood, Fla.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

Ireland is set to elect a new president tomorrow. Like in Israel, the role of president is largely ceremonial, but unlike in Israel, where the Knesset elects the president and the choice is mostly the result of backroom political deals, the Irish president is directly elected by the people.

That means the choice reflects the mood of the Irish public — and after the news coming out of the Emerald Isle over the past two years, it may come as no surprise that the country appears to be on the verge of choosing a candidate with anti-Israel, antisemitic and even anti-Western views.

The current president, Michael D. Higgins, is no friend of Israel or the Jews, having called antisemitism accusations an Israeli “PR exercise.” When the Jewish community asked him not to attend a Holocaust remembrance ceremony out of a concern that he would politicize it, he went anyway and gave a speech comparing Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza to the Holocaust.

The country’s former justice minister, Alan Shatter, told Jewish Insider that the leading candidate for the presidency, Catherine Connolly, “if elected, will present as Michael D. Higgins on steroids.”

Connolly, a legislator representing Galway West since 2016, is a hard-left candidate running as an independent, and led a recent Irish Times poll by 18 points. 

The front-runner’s anti-Israel history goes back to before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, and includes remarks that crossed the line into antisemitism. In 2021, Connolly wrote in a parliamentary question that Israel is “attempt[ing] to accomplish Jewish supremacy,” using language associated with centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories.

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

Problematic Poster Boy: The Free Press’ Eli Lake examines the mainstreaming of far-right conspiracy theorist Nick Fuentes, who had previously faced ostracization over a litany of antisemitic, racist and misogynist comments. “Fuentes became the avatar of the canceled during his time in the wilderness. For his superfans, or Groypers, he is the Sex Pistols in 1977, reveling in broken shibboleths. And these anonymous low-follower accounts repost short clips from his livestreams on YouTube, X, Facebook, and TikTok. Fuentes is not just an influencer; he leads a dedicated movement of obsessive shitposters. … Part of the Fuentes appeal is that he presents himself as the ultimate martyr in a movement built on the social martyrdom of right-wingers. He is also willing to turn his sights on beloved MAGA influencers and politicians — to his fans, that makes him seem authentic.” [FreePress]

Alarm Bell: In his “Clarity” Substack, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren raises concerns about New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy weeks before the election. “Yes, the candidate is young, charismatic, and brimming with new ideas. So, too, are many of the Jew-hating influencers followed by millions. There can be no obscuring the fact that the candidate wants to see my state, my family, and the home of the world’s largest Jewish community erased from the map. And clearly the candidate would not care if that erasure were accomplished with violence. The candidate’s vicious positions on Israel come after the two years in which the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has virtually disappeared. In that time, New York Jews have been threatened almost daily by the haters of both the Jewish people and the Jewish state. For them, the candidate’s constant condemnations of Israel are not merely dog whistles but clarion calls to action.” [Clarity]

United Arab Emirates National Security Advisor Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan met on Wednesday with Jared Kushner and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, following their trip to Israel earlier this week…

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, under fire for a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol, said he’d covered up the tattoo, which he got in 2007, shortly after its existence was made public earlier this week; on Wednesday, the Advocate reported that the Maine Democrat, who is also facing criticism for past racist and misogynist Reddit posts, authored a series of newly uncovered homophobic posts between 2016-2021…

The State Department rejected a ruling from the International Court of Justice earlier this week that determined Israel must facilitate aid into Gaza and that the Israeli government had not proven that members of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency were members of Hamas…

The Justice Department will pause several investigations into the University of Virginia, following the school’s confirmation that it will comply with a Trump administration directive prohibiting “unlawful racial discrimination in its university programming, admissions, hiring, or other activities”…

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs; Rayburn had faced what Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the committee’s ranking member, described over the summer as a “very difficult” confirmation path, owing to a lack of Democratic support and Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) refusal to back the nomination…

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke out against the rise of right-wing antisemitism in his speech at Christians United for Israel’s “Night to Honor Israel” event on Sunday: “In the last six months, we have seen antisemitism rising on the right in a way I have never seen it in my entire life,” Cruz said; he also noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to downplay right-wing antisemitism as the result of “astroturfed” Qatari and Iranian bots. “I am telling you, it is real, it is organic and it is spreading,” Cruz said he told Netanyahu…

The New York Times covers the multiple efforts by Paramount — all rebuffed — to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, following Warner Bros.’ announcement earlier this week that it was considering a number of deals…

The California Faculty Association, which opposed a recent effort to to combat antisemitism in California schools, is distributing a questionnaire to political candidates in the state asking them if they had ever accepted money from AIPAC or the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, the latter of which is a coalition of nonprofits and progressive associations and does not make political contributions…

Rabbi Louis Scheiner was spotted speaking with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) at a wedding in Los Angeles…

The New York Times’ culture critic reports from a recent event at New York’s Beacon Theater with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld” creator Larry David, who has largely avoided the spotlight since “Curb” ended a year and a half ago…

The International Olympic Committee recommended that global sporting events no longer be held in Indonesia, following Jakarta’s decision to refuse visas to Israeli athletes who qualified for this week’s World Artistic Gymnastics Championships… 

Tehran announced the conditional release of Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari in France; the countries had previously discussed the potential release of Esfandiari in exchange for a French couple jailed for more than two years in Iran on espionage charges…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor, the country’s highest civilian award, to nine individuals in a ceremony last night in Jerusalem.

Spotted at the ceremony: honorees Dr. Miriam Adelson, Mathias Döpfner, Avi Ohry, Justice (ret.) George Karra, Galila Ron-Feder Amit, Dina Porat, Yossi Vardi, Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif and Moti Malka, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert, Friede Springer, Jan Bayer, Haim Saban, Shimon Axel Wahnish, Eli Beer, Amitai Raziel, Matan Adelson, Shirin Herzog, Natan Sharansky and former hostages Matan Angrest and Segev Kalfon.

Filmmaker, actor and producer famous for creating the cult horror “Evil Dead” series, as well as directing the original “Spider-Man” trilogy, Sam Raimi turns 66…

Chairman emeritus of the shopping mall developer Simon Property Group and the principal owner of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, Herbert “Herb” Simon turns 91… Distinguished university professor of American and Jewish studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz, Gerald Sorin turns 85… Israeli journalist who has written for Davar and Yedioth Ahronoth, he won the Israel Prize in 2007, Nahum Barnea turns 81… Attorney best known for his role as special master for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and for similar roles in a number of mass torts, Kenneth Feinberg turns 80… Neuro-ophthalmologist, academic, author and researcher, he is vice-chair of ophthalmology at UCLA, Alfredo Arrigo Sadun, M.D. turns 75… Screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on “Star Trek,” Ira Steven Behr turns 72… Founder and CEO of global outsourcing company TeleTech (now TTEC) with over 50,000 employees on six continents, Kenneth D. Tuchman turns 66… Founder of the New Democrat Network in 1996, he closed it down in 2024, Simon Rosenberg turns 62… Author of 100 children’s and young adult fiction books that have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide, Gordon Korman turns 62… Former editor-in-chief of The New York Observer, Kenneth Kurson turns 57… Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until her surprise retirement this past August, she is a tenured professor of public policy at Georgetown, Adriana Debora Kugler turns 56… President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine and VP of the World Jewish Congress, Boris Lozhkin turns 54… Film director, producer and talent agent, best known for his two-year marriage to Meghan Markle starting in 2011, Trevor Engelson turns 49… Senior director of strategic operations at SRE Network, following eight years at J Street, Shaina Wasserman… President of Renco Group, a family-owned private holding company founded by his father, Ira Rennert, Ari Rennert turns 47… Communications consultant, she was a senior advisor to Rohit Chopra, the former director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Allison Preiss… Minister delegate for European Affairs in the French government, Benjamin Haddad turns 40… Cartoonist for The New Yorker, Amy Kurzweil turns 39… Director of development at Mabua Israeli Beit Midrash, Ayelet Kahane… Senior associate in the Washington office of Hogan Lovells, Annika Lichtenbaum… Former speechwriter and special assistant at the U.S. Department of Labor, now a sales manager at Orangetheory Fitness, Rachel Shabad… VP of content marketing and partnerships at SiriusXM, Allison Rachesky… Richard Rubenstein…

• 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…

• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is in Washington this week for meetings with senior U.S. officials. Sa’ar will meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials, as well as Jewish communal leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
  
• World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain is in Israel this week. More below.
  
• We’re keeping an eye on diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and France following a Wall Street Journal op-ed by U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner in which Kushner wrote that, “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized” in the country. France’s Foreign Ministry summoned Kushner following the op-ed’s publication yesterday. More below.
  
• The U.N. Security Council is set to vote today on a French proposal to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which has operated for decades in the border region between Israel and Lebanon and long faced criticism over its inability to prevent Hezbollah from amassing significant weapons stockpiles in the area. At his confirmation hearing last month, Michel Issa, the Trump administration’s nominee to be ambassador to Lebanon, dodged a question on whether the mandate should be extended, saying that the force’s role was likely to change as Beirut pushes Hezbollah to disarm.
  
• Nuclear talks between Iran and the U.K., Germany and France are expected to take place this week, ahead of next week’s deadline for the imposition of snapback sanctions on Iran.
  
• Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency officials are in Washington this week for talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
  
• In Minneapolis, the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting kicks off today. The DNC delegates will be considering two Israel-related resolutions — an anti-Israel measure that calls for an arms embargo and a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel and a more balanced resolution calling for a ceasefire and the immediate return of hostages, which has the backing of DNC Chair Ken Martin.
  
• The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition is hosting a seminar today for rabbis navigating topics around Israel and antisemitism in High Holiday sermons.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

After a tumultuous decade in American politics, both major parties are undergoing ideological and generational shifts that are likely to redefine America’s standing in the world — and its relationship with Israel.

On the left, a new generation of lawmakers from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, many with more critical views of Israel than those who came before them, is making gains in major cities, state capitals and on Capitol Hill. On the right, the ascendance of the isolationist MAGA movement and the decline in support for Israel among younger evangelical Christians, traditionally a bastion of support for the Jewish state, is challenging what has long been traditional, strident GOP support for Israel.

Longtime observers of the U.S.-Israel relationship with whom JI spoke over the weekend expressed concern that Jerusalem has not developed a strategic long-term approach to deal with the emerging political realities in the U.S.

When asked if he believed there’s a serious effort in Jerusalem to address the longterm political challenges in the U.S., former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren was succinct: “I do not.”

The U.S.-Israel relationship, Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, told JI on Sunday, “has never been in bigger trouble.” What’s so significant about this moment, he said, is that “the erosion is happening in both parties.”

In the past, Halevi explained, “we could always rely on one party or the other to bail us out. And of course, in the past, it was usually the Democrats, and the fact that the erosion is now beginning in the Republican Party should be sending major, major alarms in Jerusalem, but I don’t see any indication of that.” 

Former Knesset member Einat Wilf told JI that the warning signs had been evident for years, and that she had pushed for conversations on the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) began to criticize Israel. “I remember at the time I started talking with people,” Wilf recalled, “And I told them, ‘Look, if I’m Israel, then I’m putting a team now. Doesn’t have to be overt, but I’m putting a team now that begins to plan for a world where we don’t have such strong support.’”

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

Statehood Trap: The Washington Post’s editorial board pushes back against recent efforts by Paris, Ottawa, London and Canberra to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, arguing that the eradication of Hamas must be a prerequisite for statehood. “At the core, the future Palestinian state must recognize Israel’s right to exist and renounce violence and terrorism. That means removing from any government role groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, whose calling cards are the elimination of the Jewish state. It means erasing from the education of young Palestinians in schools and mosques that insidious hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. And it means standing up a reformed Palestinian Authority with the credibility and resources to govern the new entity. The rush to recognize a Palestinian state by some of Israel’s staunchest allies such as France, Britain, Canada and Australia is born of an understandable frustration: mainly their inability to sway Netanyahu’s government to cease its destructive war on Gaza and alleviate the human suffering. Recognizing a Palestinian state is a diplomatic way of kicking over the table to try to restart peace talks from scratch.” [WashPost]

Journalists or Terrorists?: In The Wall Street Journal, Jamie Kirchick reflects on the decision by activist groups to classify Palestinians working for terror-aligned and Qatari-financed media outlets as journalists. “What these men did wasn’t journalism, and claiming otherwise dishonors the real journalists who risk and sometimes lose their lives endeavoring to bring us the truth. To put people who celebrated or participated in the Oct. 7 attacks in the same category as journalists Daniel Pearl, Marie Colvin and James Foley is a disgrace. What’s being hyped as an unprecedented attack on journalists is actually a cynical salvo in an information war. By claiming that Israeli brutality is responsible for the deaths of a ‘record’ number of ‘journalists’ in Gaza, international press-freedom groups have committed a category error. The figure is high because the world has never seen a conflict in which so many people working on behalf of terrorist organizations have been disingenuously characterized as journalists by once-respected watchdog groups. The cause of international press freedom is undermined when its leading institutions launder jihadist martyrdom into journalistic sacrifice.” [WSJ]

Beauty Marks: Puck’s Rachel Strugatz looks at the fallout following beauty influencer Huda Kattan’s posting of a video blaming Israel for both world wars and the 9/11 attacks; Sephora dropped Kattan from its upcoming campaign in response, but didn’t sever all ties. “Kattan’s video and posts were so disturbing, and her apology so insufficient, that Sephora had a moral imperative — and given the current political environment, a fiduciary obligation — to respond. (In Kattan’s apology video, she said her post was ‘misinterpreted and completely misused,’ and denied any allegations of antisemitism.) But Sephora’s business will be impacted, and sales will probably suffer, whether the retailer continues its partnership with Kattan or decides to cut ties with the brand. (Cue the social media boycott on both sides.) Surprisingly, Sephora hasn’t faced this level of backlash and criticism regarding one of its important partners before, and how it handles Huda Beauty will reveal a lot about its priorities and reliance on top brands with bright futures.” [Puck]On the Fringes: In the Jerusalem Journal, Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks argues that both major parties should distance themselves from their fringe elements that call for decreased U.S.-Israel ties. “We know that there is a vast difference between criticizing an Israeli policy or politician and calling for the destruction of the one Jewish state in the world, the one democracy in the Middle East. That is a distinction that we must keep making, clearly and loudly. Likewise, we must hold accountable the people who educate, inform, and influence Americans — from universities to news outlets to social media influencers — and not let lies go unrefuted. … It is possible to push extreme ideas and their advocates back to the fringes. The GOP and the conservative movement have done it before. It is possible to hold people accountable and call out anti-Israel and antisemitic words and actions when we see them. It is possible to use every means at our disposal to fight the information war being waged against Israel. It is possible, and it is imperative.” [JerusalemJournal]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, weeks after a leaked preliminary DIA report on the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June that suggested that the military action did not fully incapacitate Iran’s nuclear program…

FBI agents raided the home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton as part of a federal security probe…

The Department of Homeland Security, citing “terrorist ties,” canceled dozens of grants issued to Muslim organizations primarily through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program…

The New York Times spotlights the business pursuits of Michael Boulos, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, following his 2021 engagement to Trump’s daughter Tiffany, as Boulos sought to benefit from his in-laws’ professional connections; in one such deal, Boulos, while working for his cousin’s yacht brokerage, overcharged his future brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, for a stake in a superyacht…

Kent Fuchs, the interim president of the University of Florida, said that the school’s search for a new president had become “more challenging” following the UF Board of Governors’ rejection of former University of Michigan President Santa Ono, who had been the only finalist in the previous search; Fuchs is leading the school until the end of the month, when a new interim leader will rotate into the position…

A Georgia man was fired after he and his wife were filmed shouting antisemitic insults at a neighbor whose daughter, an Israeli police officer, was killed in a terror attack in 2023…

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, who had previously served as The Netherlands’ ambassador to Israel, resigned after he was unable to bring sanctions against Israel; members of Veldkamp’s New Social Contract party followed his exit, throwing the existing caretaker government into disarray ahead of October elections…

Israel struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday; the strikes followed the Houthis’ firing on Friday of a ballistic missile with a cluster bomb attached, the first such warhead that has been fired by the Iran-backed terror group…

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first public address since the 12-day war with Israel in June, effectively ruled out nuclear talks with the U.S., accusing President Donald Trump of wanting Tehran to “surrender”…

Iran’s defense minister said the country was planning to manufacture weapons outside of Iran, with factories being built in several countries…

Hundreds of inmates have been returned to refurbished areas of Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, which was damaged in the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June… 

NPR’s Ari Shapiro is departing the public broadcaster, where he has co-hosted “All Things Considered” for a decade, next month; the departure by Shapiro, who joined NPR 25 years ago, comes amid a number of exits by other high-profile NPR staffers…

The New York Times’ “Vows” section spotlights the nuptials of Camp Social founder Liv Schreiber and Kyle Sidi Shaub…

Anne Neuberger, who served as deputy national security advisor for cybersecurity and emerging tech in the Biden administration, is joining Andreessen Horowitz as senior advisor focused on AI and cyber…

JI senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod and Olivia Truesdale, a program manager at FMC (Former Members of Congress), got engaged while vacationing in Venice, Italy. Marc proposed during a private breakfast at their hotel. They met in 2018 while they were editors for the Claremont Colleges’ student newspaper, and began dating shortly after…

Television and theater actor Jerry Adler, whose credits included “The Sopranos” and “The Good Wife,” died at 96…

Shelly Zegart, a founder of the Kentucky Quilt Project who sought to connect the craft to the American experience, died at 84…

Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration from 2009 until 2016, she now serves on the board of directors of Stewart Title Co., Deborah “Debbie” Matz turns 75… 

British novelist, he is known for writing comic novels that revolve around the dilemmas of Jewish characters, Howard Jacobson turns 83… Bass guitarist and co-lead singer of Kiss, his birth name is Chaim Witz, known professionally as “The Demon” and Gene Simmons, he turns 76… Chairman of the board emeritus at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Lorin M. Fife… CEO of The Joel Paul Group, a division of Merraine Group, specializing in executive recruitment for the nonprofit sector, William Seth Hochman turns 70… Former member of the Knesset for the Blue and White party, he is a retired major general in the IDF, Elazar Stern turns 69… Former program director at the St. Paul, Minn., JCC, Manfred “Fred” Haeusler… Former Trump fixer, he was the key prosecution witness in the 2024 Trump criminal trial brought by the Manhattan DA, Michael D. Cohen turns 59… Professor of mathematics at Harvard University (tenured at age 26, the youngest ever), pianist and chess national master, Noam David Elkies turns 59… U.S. senator (R-Ohio), appointed in January to fill the seat of VPOTUS JD Vance, Jon Husted turns 58… Musician, singer songwriter, author and record producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco, Jeffrey Scot Tweedy turns 58… Former Canadian MP, now VP for external affairs and general counsel at Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Richard Marceau turns 55… Regional marketing director at UJA-Federation of New York, Suzanne Schneider… Executive director at the Religious Zionists of America, Alicia Post… Actress and musician best known for playing Melanie “MelRose” Rosen on the Netflix series “Glow,” Jaclyn Tohn turns 45… Director of development for South Florida’s JVAC – Jewish Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Sarah Schreiber… Founder and managing partner at Commonweal Ventures, Nathaniel Loewentheil… Director of state and local government relations at multinational conglomerate Philips, Evan Hoffman… Managing director in the D.C. office of SKDK, Daniel Barash… Canadian actress, Stacey Farber turns 38… Director of product marketing at LinkedIn, Sam Michelman… Founder and CEO of DLP Labs, Ryan Kuhel… Founder and CEO at the Center for Intimacy Justice, Jackie Rotman… Senior director of editorial strategy and operations at Axios, Neal Rothschild… Jane Wasserman… Investigative counsel for the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Jenna Lifhits Berger… Operations and accounting specialist at HealthSource Distributors, Adam Aryeh Friedman… Israeli singer-songwriter, Eden Hason turns 31… Carina Grossmann… Robert Cohen…

• Following meetings in Israel yesterday, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee traveled to Gaza today to visit humanitarian aid sites and “meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in a briefing yesterday. After their visit, President Donald Trump will approve a “final plan” for food and aid distribution in Gaza. 
• Israel and the U.S. have agreed that it is necessary to reach a comprehensive framework, rather than another partial deal, that releases all the hostages at once and ends the war in Gaza with the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the enclave, a senior Israeli official told reporters.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

This week, the Trump administration demonstrated its endgame in its fight against campus antisemitism: hefty financial settlements. 

Columbia University agreed to pay $221 million to the federal government to settle the administration’s civil rights investigation, and Brown University will pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development agencies to put a federal civil rights investigation to rest. Harvard is reportedly willing to spend up to $500 million on a settlement that is in the works. In return, frozen research grants to the tune of billions of dollars from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services will be reinstated.  

What these early settlements have made clear is that antisemitism is only one small part of President Donald Trump’s fight against elite universities. The agreements offer a window into the other right-wing culture war issues driving his administration’s hard-charging negotiations with America’s top academic institutions. The lengthy documents also have the universities ceding to White House demands on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, race-based hiring standards, transgender issues and international students. 

In its agreement with the White House, Columbia pledged to hire an administrator to “serve as a liaison to students concerning antisemitism issues,” and promised other sought-after changes, such as the hiring of new faculty members in the Israel and Jewish studies department and additional oversight of the school’s Middle East studies program. 

But the propositions agreed to by Columbia go much further. The school pledged not to use racial preferences in admissions and promised to share admissions and hiring data with the federal government. The university also said it will allow any women who want it to have access to “single-sex housing” and “all-female sports, locker rooms and showering facilities,” a reference to Trump’s opposition to the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports. 

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

End of a Bromance: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire and Isaac Stanley-Becker write that President Donald Trump has broken rhetorically with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days over the issue of starvation in Gaza because of his frustration with the seemingly endless war and “gruesome photos” he sees on TV. “During the 2024 campaign, Trump frequently boasted that he had kept the world free of conflict during his first term, and he returned to the Oval Office this year pledging to bring the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to a quick close. Instead, both have escalated, to Trump’s humiliation. … Netanyahu’s recent strikes in Syria and his rejection of claims about the Gaza famine have angered Trump. The president is eager to stabilize the Middle East — and expand the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Gulf states in his first term — in order to foster business and trade relationships in the region. … Netanyahu’s defiance has caused an additional rupture in Trump’s base—and frustrated the president by creating yet another news cycle he can’t control. ‘He just really wants these stories to stop being on TV,’ the outside adviser told us.” [TheAtlantic]

Flood Gaza With Food: Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian from Gaza now heading the Atlantic Council’s Realign for Palestine project, argues in The Atlantic that “Hamas wants Gaza to starve” and therefore Israel should ensure the enclave receives ample food and aid. “Hamas actually wants a famine in Gaza. Producing mass death from hunger is the group’s final play, its last hope for ending the war in a way that advances its goals. Hamas has benefited from Israel’s decision to use food as a lever against the terror group, because the catastrophic conditions for civilians have generated an international outcry, which is worsening Israel’s global standing and forcing it to reverse course. … If Hamas believes that the suffering of Gazans bolsters its cause, Israeli decision makers should take that to heart. They should abandon their misguided and inhumane policies and cease their efforts to pressure the population as a means of pressuring the terror group. The best way to undermine Hamas’s position is to instead flood Gaza with food, and to alleviate the suffering of its people.” [TheAtlantic]

Faith in Dark Times: In his Substack column, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren reflects on hope during the period of mourning before Tisha B’Av. “Finally, there is the most fundamental source of my hope, its bedrock. Faith. No greater leap of it is required of any religion more than atheism. To deny the existence of an Almighty means insisting that the countless trillions-to-one chance that a certain planet in a specific orbit around an ideally-situated sun would generate an atmosphere, produce water and life forms that would evolve into sentient human beings — that all of that was a mere coincidence, necessitates incalculable faith. So, too, must an atheist view the ideas of monotheism, universal morality, and the relentless pursuit of justice introduced by a small, desert people as an historical accident. An atheist must look at Israel today and conclude that its existence, to say nothing of its achievements, is merely a fluke, and Jews are — as Toynbee once infamously called us — a fossil people.” [Substack]

Losing the PR War: Haviv Rettig Gur argues in The Free Press that while Israel is succeeding in its ground war in Gaza, it has “utterly failed in the humanitarian war,” and “the only place it has fared worse is in the information war. In that arena, it has failed so miserably that Hamas has been propped up at every turn, its resilience assured, and all Israel’s gains in the battlefield jeopardized. … Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu literally does not have a clearly identified English language spokesperson. No one in the Israeli state apparatus tracks claims about the country or the war and responds, handles damage control, or manages the narrative and coordinates the message—the sorts of activities that every political campaign understands is the bread and butter of a winning strategy. … [Israel] tried to play a game of chicken with humanitarian aid. It blinked first. Obviously. How could it have been otherwise? Which Israeli strategist was dumb enough ever to think that Israel’s threshold of tolerance for Gazan suffering was higher than Hamas’s? And finally, we failed to understand that when Israel does not speak to the world while people die, Hamas is strengthened.” [FreePress]

The State Department announced sanctions that will deny visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and officials from the Palestinian Authority on Thursday, over the PLO and PA’s continued “pay-for-slay” policy, glorification of violence “especially in textbooks” and initiation of or support for proceedings against Israel at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice… 

The Trump administration notified Congress that it has determined the U.N. Relief and Works Agency “is irredeemably compromised and now seeks its full dismantlement” on July 29, the Free Beacon scooped…

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group released a video yesterday of Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, which the group said it filmed before it lost contact with its members who are holding Braslavski captive in Gaza. Braslavski appears pale and thin…

The Washington Post published a list of names and ages of 18,500 children whom the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says were killed during the war in Gaza…

The U.S. must compensate Iran for losses incurred from the June war between Israel and Iran, which the U.S. participated in, before it will return to nuclear talks, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister and chief negotiator, told the Financial Times on Thursday…

Michael Whatley, chair of the Republican National Committee, launched his bid for North Carolina’s open Senate seat on Thursday, days after former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced he’s seeking the Democratic nomination. An Emerson College poll, released this morning by Politico, found Cooper holding a six-point lead…

Israel’s National Security Council issued a warning to its citizens in the United Arab Emirates and is reportedly evacuating its diplomats due to increased terror threats from Iran targeting Israeli nationals there…

Harvard may face a new lawsuit from the Trump administration after the Department of Health and Human Services, which had been investigating the university for antisemitism, found the school in violation of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and that it would not “voluntarily comply with its obligations.” HHS referred the case to the Department of Justice, which will decide how to proceed, according to the Free Press…

President Donald Trump unveiled his new reciprocal tariff rates Thursday night in anticipation of his Aug. 1 trade deal deadline. The new rates include a 15% tariff on imports from Israel, down from the initial 17% rate imposed in April…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio postponed a meeting with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in Washington on Wednesday, Bloomberg reports, intended to help broker peace talks in Sudan. The delay reportedly comes as Egypt disagreed with the intended joint statement stating neither of the North African country’s warring parties — the Sudanese Armed Forces nor the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — could lead the transitional government…

Sens. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA) wrote to U.S. companies providing security for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, saying, “We were horrified by reporting this week on your companies’ deadly security operations in Gaza. Your operations have exposed hundreds of brave American veterans to future criminal and civil liability under U.S. laws criminalizing war crimes, torture, and forced deportation”…

Former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” her first interview since losing the 2024 presidential election… 

The Wall Street Journal ran an ad campaign called “Eye on Qatar,” featuring a “Custom Content” series of articles extolling the Gulf state, as Doha continues to invest in American institutions and media…

The Middle East Institute released its 2025 second-quarter assessment of the Trump administration’s policy in the Middle East, finding that the president “is still struggling to produce a major positive outcome from its frenetic activity trying to end kinetic wars while prosecuting an unprecedented economic war with much of the rest of the world”…

Sunset Lane Media bought the rights to adapt The Missing Peace, a nonfiction retelling by Dennis Ross — a former State Department official and negotiator for the U.S. under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton — of the 2000 Camp David Summit between Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat…

Shell CEO Wael Sawan told the Financial Times that the oil giant didn’t trade oil price spikes during the Israel-Iran war in June. “We just don’t play in that space,” Sawan said… 

Washington Jewish Week interviewed a close advisor to Lebanese banker and philanthropist Antoun Sehnaoui on how he came to co-found and help fund the U.S.-Israel Opera Initiative and why he identifies as a Zionist… 

Tal Shalev, chief political correspondent for Walla! News, is leaving the Israeli outlet after almost 12 years…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met yesterday with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in his office in Jerusalem. 

Retired head coach of both the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, the oldest-ever living member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Marv Levy turns 100 on Sunday… 

FRIDAY: Culver City, Calif., resident, Allene Prince… Formerly CEO of Cendant Corporation, then CEO of 54 Madison Partners, Henry R. Silverman turns 85… Israeli film director and screenwriter, winner of the Israel Prize and professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University, Ram Loevy turns 85… Founder and chairman of NYC-based Midtown Equities, Joseph Cayre turns 84… U.S. district court judge for the Southern District of New York, now on senior status, Judge Jed S. Rakoff turns 82… Former president of Brandeis University, now president of the Cleveland-based Mandel Foundation, Jehuda Reinharz turns 81… British businessman, he has been described as “the father of British venture capital,” Sir Ronald Mourad Cohen turns 80… Israeli-born businessman and film producer, later CEO of Marvel Studios, Avi Arad turns 77… Second-generation owner of a Los Angeles flooring business, Eric Kalman Biren… Immediate past president of Hadassah, Rhoda Smolow… Founder and president of Greystone Hotels, the IHA Group and Markev Realty Corporation, Eric Horodas 72… Media analyst and host of “MediaBuzz” at Fox News, Howard Kurtz turns 72… Director of New York government relations at Agudath Israel of America, Yeruchim Silber… U.S. career diplomat who served as ambassador to South Korea during the Biden administration, Philip Seth Goldberg turns 69… United States secretary of the interior, Douglas James Burgum turns 69… Attorney, political strategist and former president of the American Jewish Congress, Richard Scott Gordon… CEO of Atlanta’s Jewish Family & Career Services since 2019, she served for 12 years in the Minnesota Senate, Terri E. Bonoff turns 68… Professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Rachel Yehuda, Ph.D. turns 66… Policy director in the D.C. office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Andrew C. (“Drew”) Littman… Former senior rabbi of the British movement for Reform Judaism, now a rabbi at London’s Bromley Reform Synagogue, Laura Naomi Janner-Klausner turns 62… U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration, now a principal at WestExec Advisors, Daniel B. “Dan” Shapiro turns 56… Producer for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Shachar Bar-On… Professor of mathematics at Princeton and Hebrew U, he was the winner of the 2010 Fields Medal, Elon Lindenstrauss turns 55… CEO of Goliath Records and former president of Def Jam Recordings, best known as the agent of Eminem, Paul D. Rosenberg turns 54… CEO of NYC’s Quantum Media Group, Ari Zoldan… Israeli film director, writer and producer, Asaf Epstein turns 47… Venture partner in Leap Forward Ventures, she is also chief growth and marketing officer at Blue Flame, Jessica Alter… Founder and CEO of Moishe House (now known as Mem Global), David Cygielman… CEO of National Council of Jewish Women, Sheila Katz… COO at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Noam Gilboord… SVP of public relations at Burford Capital, David Helfenbein… Board certified family physician, Mor Toledano Shapiro, M.D…. Deputy director of North America Israel Strategy at JFNA, Roey Kruvi… Cross-country skier who competed for the U.S. at the Winter Olympics in 2014 (Sochi) and 2018 (Pyeongchang), Noah Hoffman turns 36… Client relations specialist at Pacific Libra Insurance Agency, Yael Rabin… Investment director at Bayit Capital Ventures, Asher Perez… Television, stage and film actor, Benjamin “Ben” Rosenfield turns 33…

SATURDAY: Co-founder and chairman of NYC-based real estate development firm, Rockrose Development Corporation, Henry Elghanayan turns 85… Professor emeritus of Bible at London’s Leo Baeck College, Jonathan David Magonet turns 83… Former member of Knesset for 28 years, he then served as chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems until 2023, Uzi Landau turns 82… Retired colonel in the U.S. Army and a recipient of the Medal of Honor and seven other medals, he serves as a military analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, Jack H. Jacobs turns 80… Longtime librarian, Irene Seff… Nationally syndicated radio talk show host, author and public speaker, Dennis Prager turns 77… Ambassador and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations, Robert Keith Rae turns 77… Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, Roger Cohen turns 70… U.S. senator from Nevada, Jacklyn Sheryl “Jacky” Rosen turns 68… Psychoanalyst, psychiatrist and brain researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Yoram Yovell turns 67… Growth consultant at the National Council of Jewish Women, Amy Aronoff Blumkin… Mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., for eight years until 2022, now of counsel at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, Richard David “Rick” Kriseman turns 63… Owner of Newton, Massachusetts-based MPG Promotions, Elliot Mael… VP and general counsel of Yeshiva University, Andrew J. “Avi” Lauer… Professional tennis player, once ranked sixth best in the world, now the director of tennis at St. Andrews country club in Boca Raton, Fla., Aaron Krickstein turns 58… Former member of the Knesset, first for the Labor party and then the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Leon Litinetsky turns 58… Senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Steven A. Cook turns 57… EVP for Hearst Television and past chair of the NBC Television Affiliate Board, Eric J. Meyrowitz… Professional golfer, he won a PGA tournament in both 2003 and 2004, Jonathan Andrew Kaye turns 55… Senior director for global trade and public affairs at confectionery, food, and pet care firm, Mars Inc., Jay Eizenstat… National security reporter for The New York Times for 14 years until 2024, now doing investment research, Matthew Rosenberg turns 51… Senior executive communications lead at Adobe, Stephen L. Rabin… Labor law attorney in the Nashville, Tenn., office of Holland & Knight, he served on the national board of JFNA, Aron Zwi Karabel… Regional manager of the Jewish Fertility Foundation, Tamar Poupko Smith… CEO of Make It Real, he is also the co-founder and chair of The Jewish Entrepreneur (a mentoring program), Isaac William “Zevy” Wolman… Julia Nayfeld Schulman… Vice president of the United States, James David (JD) Vance turns 41… Actress best known for her 1999 “Pepsi Girl” role as a 7-year-old, and later for subsequent teen roles, Hallie Kate Eisenberg turns 33… Baseball pitcher, he played for Team Israel in 2017 and now manages a baseball training facility for young players in Philadelphia, Kenny Koplove turns 32… British media personality, Eyal Adi Booker turns 30…

SUNDAY: English actor, author, playwright and theater director, known for his roles as the villain in both James Bond and Rambo films, Steven Berkoff turns 88… EVP emeritus of the UJA-Federation of New York, John S. Ruskay turns 79… Retired regional director in the Cleveland office of the ADL, she serves on the board of trustees of the Cleveland Federation, Anita Gray… Former chairman and CEO of the NYC office of commercial real estate brokerage firm Savills, Mitchell S. Steir turns 70… Voice actor in dozens of Disney films, video games and television programs, known professionally as Corey Burton, Corey Gregg Weinberg turns 70… Chair of the board of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and board member of JFNA, Orna Amir Wolens… President of DC-based Freedman Consulting, LLC, Thomas Z. Freedman turns 62… CEO and co-founder of Pushkin Industries, a podcast company, Jacob Weisberg… Israeli filmmaker, producer and director, Ilan Moskovitch turns 59… Canadian entrepreneur and former commodities trader, Alexander Shnaider turns 57… Executive director of public affairs at the Jewish Federation of Broward County (Fla.), Evan Goldman… Emmy Award-winning sportscaster, she sometimes serves as a fill-in for her husband Rich Eisen, Suzy Shuster turns 53… Managing editor of Vital City, Josh Greenman… U.S. senator (D-CT), Chris Murphy turns 52… Chief advancement and communications officer at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Joshua Cherwin… Head of public policy at Riot Platforms, a bitcoin-driven digital infrastructure company, Brian Morgenstern… Managing editor at The Jewish State, Seth A. Mandel turns 43… Managing partner and head of global government affairs at SoftBank Group International, Jeffrey A. Dressler turns 41… Director of strategic partnerships and senior development officer at JDC (the “Joint”), Erica Greenblatt… journalist, until recently a Tel Aviv-based reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Caroline “Carrie” Keller-Lynn… Director of member engagement at Christians United For Israel, she was born in Lutsk, Ukraine, and raised in Sacramento, Calif., Liliya Maskovcevs… Executive director of The Natan Fund, Adina Poupko … Executive director of the Reducetarian Foundation, Brian Kateman… Fashion model, Karlie Kloss turns 33… U.S. news editor at the Financial Times, Emily Goldberg… First-round pick of MLB’s Atlanta Braves in the 2020 draft, he made his MLB debut in 2023, now in the Chicago White Sox organization, Jared Shuster turns 27… Ariana Kaufman… Leigh Bonner Levine…

• Fox will air an hour-long interview tomorrow night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recorded with Mark Levin during the Israeli leader’s trip to the U.S. this week.
• On Sunday, former Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY) and Peter King (R-NY) will sit with author Daniel Silva at Long Island’s Sid Jacobson JCC to discuss Silva’s latest novel, An Inside Job.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Since Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, there’s been a fascinating disconnect between the polls showing Mamdani still vulnerable in the general election and the sclerosis among political leaders unable to make the tough decisions on whether to rally behind an alternative in a bid to stop the socialist candidate from becoming the next mayor.

There hasn’t been much good polling since the primary, but the most recent general election surveys all paint a picture of Mamdani leading the race with a plurality, but far below what a typical Democratic nominee should be receiving after a stunning, come-from-behind defeat of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

One poll, conducted by the Democratic firm Slingshot Strategies between July 2-6, found Mamdani winning 35% of registered voters, Cuomo at 25%, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa tallying 14%, Mayor Eric Adams at 11% and attorney Jim Walden at 1%. Thirteen percent said they were undecided.

A late-June poll by the GOP firm American Pulse found Mamdani at 35%, Cuomo at 29%, Sliwa winning 16% and Adams with 14%. Asked whether they were leaning towards voting for Mamdani or anyone but Mamdani, it was close to an even split, with 48% leaning towards Mamdani and 46% preferring anyone else.

Of note, both polls found the combined Cuomo and Adams vote — which roughly encompasses the lion’s share of the moderate Democratic electorate — narrowly outpacing Mamdani’s share of support. In other words, the Mamdani alternative wouldn’t necessarily need a large portion of the Republican vote to prevail. 

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

On the Nobel Watch: In his “Clarity” Substack, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren reflects on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week. “As Netanyahu knows well, the president deserves a Nobel Prize for making peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but the Saudis won’t negotiate as long as the IDF is fighting in Gaza. So Trump wants a ceasefire that’s acceptable not only to the U.S. and Israel but also to Hamas. … But beyond a Gaza ceasefire, the key to the regional transformation remains America’s continued commitment to deter Iranian aggression. Though badly battered by Israel and the United States, Iran will certainly try to recover from Operation Rising Lion and Operation Midnight Hammer — first by sending armed bands across our northern border and soon by trying to rebuild Fordow.” [Clarity]Anxious in Iran: In The Atlantic, Roya Hakakian considers the impact of last month’s war between Israel and Iran on the Islamic Republic’s small Jewish community. “The signs in Iran are ominous — and the pleas from Iranian Jewish elders may now go unheard. The community’s old talisman may no longer hold its charm. An overlooked victim of the 12-day military operation against Iran is Iranian civil society, especially its minorities, particularly Jewish Iranians, who were already at risk. Since the war, their conditions have infinitely worsened — a fact that should lead the Trump administration to reconsider its refugee ban. The United States took on a moral responsibility for Iran’s persecuted citizens when it became a combatant against their oppressive regime.” [TheAtlantic]

State officials are pressuring the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to post the agency’s long-overdue guidelines for applicants for security grants, warning that the continued failure to do so is imperiling security and counterterror efforts across the country…

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced bipartisan legislation on Thursday that would expedite arms sales to U.S. partners that normalize relations with Israel and work with the U.S. in its efforts to counter Iran and its terrorist proxies, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report…

The Hill talks to Jewish House Democrats, including Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), concerned over New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada” and refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher looks at how pulpit rabbis are responding to the IRS’ recent decision that will allow clergymembers to endorse political candidates while retaining their congregations’ tax-exempt status…

Former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was held in an immigration detention center for months as the government sought to deport him over his anti-Israel campus organizing, filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Trump administration…

Unilever tapped executive Jochanan Senf to be the next CEO of subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s, amid a yearslong dispute with the ice cream company’s board over its social justice initiatives; Senf had previously served as the managing director of Ben & Jerry’s in Europe…

The New York Times reports on Bill Ackman’s foray this week into professional tennis, where he played a doubles match alongside former professional tennis player Jack Sock, losing in straight sets…

Larry David is set to write and star in a new sketch comedy series about U.S. history for HBO, working with former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground company, following the end of his long-running “Curb Your Enthusiasm” series on the network…

The Forward spotlights White Oak, Pa., a mill town that once boasted a large Jewish community, as it struggles to draw in new Jewish families…

A new report from a U.K. parliamentary committee found that the threats posed by Iran to the country — including targeted assassinations and attacks on dissidents — are similar to those posed by Russia… 

An Israeli security guard was killed in a terror attack at a West Bank shopping complex; the assailants, who were killed at the scene, were reportedly police officers in the Palestinian Authority’s force who had recently completed their training…

Israel will allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza utilizing additional access routes and distribution points, following meetings between Israeli and EU officials…

A senior Israeli official said that at least some of the enriched uranium stored at the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran survived the U.S.’ bunker-buster strikes on the facility last month, and could feasibly be accessed by Iranian nuclear engineers…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel could conduct future strikes on Iranian targets if it feels threatened, saying that “Israel’s long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel”…

The U.S. re-upped its travel warning urging American citizens against traveling to Iran, as Tehran confirmed the arrest last month of an 18-year-old French-German cyclist who had been traveling through the country…

Alan Hassenfeld, a former executive of Hasbro Games and major Jewish philanthropist who was a mainstay of the Rhode Island Jewish community, died at 76…

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his wife, Dana Blumberg, are among the attendees at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, this week.

The annual invite-only retreat kicked off earlier this week, once again drawing a who’s who of media moguls, tech titans, political heavyweights and dealmakers. A-listers and boardroom titans traded suits for the fleece vests commonly associated with Sun Valley and jeans and polo shirts as they huddled for panels, private chats and leisurely walks in the Idaho sun.

This year’s attendees include Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Bloomberg, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Joshua Kushner, Yousef Al Otaiba, Mathias Döpfner, Diane von Furstenberg, Barry Diller, Brian Roberts, Adam Silver, Gary Bettman, Mitch Rales, Bob Iger, Alex Karp and more. 

See more photos of this year’s Sun Valley attendees here.

Founder and CEO of Wisconsin-based Good Karma Brands, Craig Karmazin turns 50… 

FRIDAY: Entrepreneur, investment banker, civil servant and political advisor, Stephen Berger turns 86… Developmental psychologist at Harvard, he was selected in the 1981 inaugural class of MacArthur genius fellows, Howard Gardner turns 82… Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, he was PM Tony Blair’s special envoy to the Middle East for nine years, Baron Michael Abraham Levy turns 81… U.S. senator (D-MA), Ed Markey turns 79… EVP of the Milken Family Foundation and past chair of the board of trustees of JFNA, Richard V. Sandler turns 77… Journalist covering classical music, he is the author of Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947, Norman Lebrecht turns 77… Founder of Schnur Associates, she spent 12 years as executive director of the Greater New York Coalition for Soviet Jewry, Zeesy Schnur… West Orange, N.J., resident, Jeffrey Maas… Actress, she portrayed Frau Farbissina in the Austin Powers film series, Mindy Lee Sterling turns 72… Singer-songwriter, known by his stage name “RebbeSoul,” Bruce Burger turns 68… Founder and retired CEO of Sidewalk Labs (an Alphabet company), he was previously CEO of Bloomberg L.P., Daniel L. Doctoroff turns 67… Group EVP of public relations for Discovery Channel and Science Channel from 2007 until 2023, Laurie Goldberg… Executive chairman of Aston Martin and the owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team, Lawrence Stroll turns 66… Radiation oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvey Jay Mamon, MD, Ph.D…. Managing member at Samuel Capital Management, Barry Mannis… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Yaron Mazuz turns 63… Former commander of the IDF’s Southern Command, now in the IDF Reserves, Maj. Gen. Shlomo “Sami” Turgeman turns 61… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit since 2014, Judge Robin Stacie Rosenbaum turns 59… Retired tax attorney, she now bakes challahs on Manhattan’s UWS to benefit the UJA, Adina Tamar Spiro Wagman… Executive editor of The City, Alyssa A. Katz… Founder of Koz and Effect LLC, Lindsey Caren Kozberg… Consultant focused upon social impact strategies, Joshua D. Wachs… Actor, podcaster and lead singer of the band Sun Spin, Michael Owen Rosenbaum turns 53… Ukrainian-born computer scientist and internet entrepreneur, Max Levchin turns 50… Principal at Civitas Public Affairs Group, Celine Mizrahi… Chabad rabbi at Washington University in St. Louis, Rabbi Hershey Novack… Comedian, podcaster and political commentator, Katherine Rose “Katie” Halper turns 44… Screenwriter and executive producer, Theodore Beren Bressman… Retired ice hockey forward, he played for 19 seasons in the U.S., Canada and Europe, now a businessman in Destin, Fla., Jacob Micflikier turns 41… Executive director of the New Democrat Coalition, Anne Sokolov… and her twin sister, a co-founder at Social Goods, Kate Sokolov… Offensive guard in the NFL for eight seasons until 2015, his Hebrew name is Gedalia Yitzhak, Geoff Schwartz turns 39… Senior deputy associate counsel in the White House Counsel’s office during the Biden administration, Matthew J. Rosenbaum… Bryan Stone…

SATURDAY: Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Rita E. Hauser turns 91… Former congressman (R-OK) for 16 years, Marvin Henry “Mickey” Edwards turns 88… Former executive director of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, Dan Botnick… Canadian journalist, social activist and author of three bestselling books, Michele Landsberg turns 86… Former member of the Florida House of Representatives for eight years, Franklin Sands turns 85… Best-selling author, screenwriter, and playwright, sister of the late Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron turns 81… Professor of religion at the University of Vermont, he was an advisor to Bernie Sanders on his 2016 presidential campaign, as an undergraduate at Yale his roommate was Joe Lieberman, Richard Sugarman turns 81… Co-founder of Imagine Entertainment, his films and TV series have been nominated for 47 Academy Awards and 217 Emmys, Brian Grazer turns 74… Obstetrical nurse and board-certified lactation consultant in NYC, Rhona Yolkut… Founding executive director (now retired) of Newton, Mass.-based Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, focused on children with special educational needs, Arlene Remz… Businessman born in Ukraine, living in London, co-owner of the Midland Group with holdings in steel, shipping, real estate, agriculture and sports, Eduard Shifrin turns 65… Former member of the Knesset for the Blue and White party, he grew up in Raleigh, N.C., as Albert Rosenthal, Alon Tal turns 65… Chief television critic for The New York Times, James “Jim” Poniewozik turns 57… Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission until this past January, Jessica Rosenworcel turns 54… Israeli journalist and former member of Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Anastassia Michaeli turns 50… Founder of Innovation Policy Solutions, a D.C.-based health care consulting and advocacy firm, Jennifer Leib… U.S. senator (I-AZ) until January 2025, Kyrsten Sinema turns 49… Israeli news anchor, television presenter and journalist, Yonit Levi turns 48… Winner of an Olympic gold medal (Athens, 2004) and a silver medal (Sydney, 2000) as a freestyle swimmer, now in the product development software business, Scott Daniel Goldblatt turns 46… Senior reporter at CNN, Edward-Isaac Dovere… Partner in the Des Moines-based public relations firm AdelmanDean Group, Liz Rodgers Adelman… Israeli media personality, sociologist and fashion and jewelry designer, Ortal Ben Dayan turns 44… U.S. senator (D-NJ), Andrew Kim turns 43… President of executive communications firm A.H. Levy & Co based in NYC, Alex Halpern Levy… Intensive care nurse now living in Jerusalem, Rena Meira Rotter… Benjamin Birnbaum… Actress, she is well known for playing a Jewish character on television (the title character in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), though she herself is not of Jewish descent, Rachel Brosnahan turns 35… National director of Teach Coalition, Sydney Altfield… Board member of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and the Israel Policy Forum, Steven Koppel…

SUNDAY: Scottsdale, Ariz., resident, retired teacher, Howie K. Kipnes… Actor whose films have grossed more than $10 billion, his maternal grandmother was Anna Lifschutz, a Jewish immigrant from Minsk, he is best known as the title character in the “Indiana Jones” film series, Harrison Ford turns 83… Fellow at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Michael W. Cohen, MD… Ridgefield, Conn., resident, Louis Panzer… Lecturer on the federal budget process following 37 years at various federal agencies, Johnny Cahn… Co-host of “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN since 2001, Anthony Irwin “Tony” Kornheiser turns 77… Actress, best known for her role as Frenchy in “Grease,” Edith “Didi” Conn turns 74… Author of crime and suspense novels, he is also a conservative commentator, Andrew Klavan turns 71… Guide and educator at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Rabbi Dr. Eric Marshall Lankin… Senior manager of regulatory and legislative affairs at PJM Interconnection, Stuart Widom… Country music artist, Victoria Lynn Shaw turns 63… Television executive and producer, she was the president of HBO’s entertainment division until 2008 and was responsible for commissioning “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and other hit shows, Carolyn Strauss turns 62… Film director and screenwriter, Shari Springer Berman turns 62… Television writer, David X. Cohen turns 59… Author and journalist, Katie Roiphe turns 57… Chief legal officer and chief policy officer at HackerOne, Ilona Cohen… Owner of the D.C. area franchises of SafeSplash Swim Schools, Jennifer Rebecca Goodman Lilintahl… Founder of Omanut Collective, Sarah Persitz… Director of major gifts at American Friends of Magen David Adom, Yishai Mizrahi… Creator, writer and producer of the TV show “Casual” which ran from 2015 to 2018, Alexander “Zander” Sutton Lehmann turns 38… Aspen, Colo.-based neuro-linguistic programming coach, she is also the CEO and founder of entertainment agency Art of Air, Ariana Gradow… Managing director at BDT & MSD Partners, Nicholas Avery Newburger… Managing partner at Surround Ventures, Jared Kash… Television and film actor, Wyatt Jess Oleff (family name was Olefsky) turns 22… Technology investor and executive, Eric A. Kohlmann… Reporter at Punchbowl News, Max Cohen…

• NORPAC’s annual mission to Washington is bringing 1,000 allies to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Fetterman (D-PA) will be speaking to attendees as part of the morning session.
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the State Department’s 2026 budget request. Rubio will also attend a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs subcommittee on the president’s 2026 budget request for the State Department.
• The Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs will hold a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security’s 2026 budget request with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
• Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) will co-chair a congressional hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission to conduct a global review of antisemitism. Speakers will include Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Marina Rosenberg, senior vice president for international affairs at the Anti-Defamation League; Eric Fusfield, director of legislative affairs at B’nai B’rith International; and Stacy Burdett, a consultant on antisemitism response and prevention.
• Tonight, the ADL will host its reception in Washington celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month. The National Museum of American Jewish Military History, along with AJC and Jewish War Veterans of the USA, will host a discussion in Washington, moderated by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, with three Jewish-American WWII veterans.
• The Qatar Economic Forum, sponsored by Bloomberg, kicked off in Doha today with an opening address delivered by Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Other speakers today include Elon Musk; former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus; Morgan Ortagus, the U.S. deputy special envoy to the Middle East; Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi, the CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority; and Marc Nachmann, global head of asset and wealth management at Goldman Sachs. 
• The Middle East Forum 2025 Policy Conference continues today in Washington. 
• The World Jewish Congress 17th Plenary Assembly concludes today in Jerusalem. 

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’s Matthew Kassel

As Pittsburgh’s bitterly contested mayoral primary concludes on Tuesday, the election represents the first major front in a broader proxy battle between moderate and progressive Democrats clashing over Israel and antisemitism, which could shape a range of developing contests at the state and federal levels.

The primary pits Mayor Ed Gainey, the progressive first-term incumbent whose record of commentary on Israel’s war in Gaza and handling of antisemitic activity have sparked backlash from Jewish leaders, against Corey O’Connor, a centrist challenger who is touting his long-standing ties to Pittsburgh’s sizable Jewish community and highlighting his support for Israel.

In recent weeks, the race has grown increasingly nasty, turning in part on escalating tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas that have coincided with a glaring uptick in antisemitic incidents. Pittsburgh police said on Monday, for instance, that they were investigating the distribution of antisemitic flyers in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill — following high-profile acts of vandalism last year at several Jewish buildings in the city.

While Gainey has condemned antisemitism, he has otherwise drawn criticism for declining to challenge efforts by far-left activists to bring an Israel boycott and divestment referendum to Pittsburgh voters. He has also stirred controversy for signing a joint statement addressing the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that made no mention of Hamas and used insensitive language that alienated even some of his closest Jewish allies on the far left.

During a candidate forum hosted last month by Pittsburgh’s Jewish Federation, which has publicly expressed disappointment with Gainey’s record on such issues, the mayor defended his approach to the failed ballot measures while acknowledging that his statement had caused offense. “I apologize for those mistakes,” he said, noting that if given the chance to redo the letter, he would first seek input “to discover exactly what’s wrong with the wording.”

Despite his contrition, many Jewish community members remain skeptical of the mayor, whose allies have spread false accusations that national pro-Israel groups such as AIPAC are spending to boost O’Connor, the Allegheny County controller. Last week, meanwhile, supporters of Gainey also circulated a letter in Squirrel Hill alleging that the Israel-Hamas war has been imported into the race as a pretext for “fake accusations of antisemitism” now being “used as a political tool to try to pry Mayor Gainey out of office.”

Jeremy Kazzaz, executive director of the Beacon Coalition, a local Jewish advocacy group whose political arm has donated to O’Connor’s campaign, said that even as most voters have been “focused on the basics” of city governance, “we can’t ignore that antisemitism has cast a shadow over this election.”

“The Jewish community isn’t imagining things,” he told Jewish Insider on Monday. “We’re responding to real, overt bigotry from voices elevated at the center of Mayor Gainey’s campaign.”

For his part, O’Connor, who grew up in Squirrel Hill and whose late father served as mayor, has said his relationship with the local Jewish community instilled in him a commitment to defending Israel and speaking out against antisemitism. In his discussion with the Jewish federation, he drew contrasts with Gainey on key issues, noting, for example, that he “absolutely” would have opposed the Israel divestment proposal. 

“You need a mayor,” he argued, “who is going to be vocal to support and fight against antisemitism.”

While earlier polling had shown O’Connor with a wide lead over Gainey, who has struggled to assert himself in his race for reelection, some more recent surveys indicate the embattled mayor has narrowed the gap in the final stretch of the primary. Still, local political observers who spoke with JI predicted that O’Connor — who has outraised Gainey while locking up key endorsements — would ultimately prevail on Tuesday.

The heated race is a particularly vivid microcosm of intra-Democratic conflicts over Middle East policy that are poised to inflect House and Senate races in Illinois and Michigan next year. The gubernatorial primary in New Jersey and the mayoral race in New York City next month have also featured prominent divisions over Israel, now emerging as a top issue in the final weeks of the race.

What JD Vance Means: The Atlantic’s George Packer profiles Vice President JD Vance and speculates on the significance of his rapid political ascent. “Vance illuminates the larger subject of contemporary America’s character. In another age, his rise might have been taken as proof that the American dream was alive and mostly well. But our age has no simply inspiring and unifying tales, and each chapter of Vance’s success is part of a national failure: the abandonment of American workers under global neoliberalism; the cultural collapse of the working class; the unwinnable forever war; a dominant elite that combines ruthless competition with a rigid orthodoxy of identity; a reaction of populist authoritarianism. What seems like Vance’s tragic wrong turn, the loss of real promise, was probably inevitable — it’s hard to imagine a more hopeful plot.” [TheAtlantic]

Columbia Unbecoming:New York magazine’s Nick Summers catalogues Columbia University’s collapse amid antisemitism and pressure from the Trump administration. “As recently as October 6, 2023 — the day before Hamas attacked Israel — Columbia seemed a juggernaut. After decades of growth, the endowment was a fat $14 billion and buildings named for a new generation of megadonors were rising across 17 acres of new campus. After a global search, the university had selected a cosmopolitan new president, Minouche Shafik of the London School of Economics, to lead it into the future. But since that golden moment, the turmoil has been almost too much to catalogue. Endless protest and counterprotest. Campus lockdowns. Police raids. A president paraded before Congress. Students dragged before secretive discipline panels. One canceled commencement, two presidential resignations, and countless students wondering if ICE is inside their dorms. The strife is ongoing, and the campus is as miserable as ever. Columbia is a broken place.”[NYMag]

The Cuomo Conundrum:Politico’s New York editor Sally Goldenberg explains why former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is the odds-on favorite to become the next New York City mayor. “Among Cuomo’s rivals, no one has successfully zeroed in on why he’s so unpopular, or how to chip away at his strengths: Executive experience in a time of uncertainty, universal name recognition when few people are dialed into local politics, a trademark toughness that appeals to Democrats desperate to take on President Donald Trump. The candidates’ anti-Cuomo messages have yet to stick, but they are starting to put money behind them in TV ads and ramping them up on the campaign trail. Lander is calling him corrupt — a reference to his nursing home order during Covid and an attorney general’s report finding he sexually harassed women on his gubernatorial staff. Cuomo denies all wrongdoing and is pursuing aggressive legal recourse.” [Politico]

Desperate Diplomacy in Doha: The Wall Street Journal’s Anat Peled reports on a whirlwind effort by hostage families to meet with President Donald Trump and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during Trump’s Middle East tour, as part of a wider global effort to talk to anyone who will listen — and has the power to help. “Tears edged down Idit Ohel’s face as she showed U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and a senior Qatari official the video of her son, Alon, being kidnapped by Hamas into Gaza. An aide to the Qatari official, wearing a traditional Arab thawb, slid a box of tissues toward her. The gesture, at a hastily arranged meeting in Doha, encapsulated the awkward position the families of remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza found themselves in last week: They were dependent on a country that harbors Hamas to secure the freedom of loved ones captured in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. “It was a sensitive human moment between people where we put politics aside and there were only two human beings,” Ohel said of the encounter. “There was a lot of emotion, empathy and respect in it.” [WSJ]

The Senate confirmed yesterday real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to be ambassador to France. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was the only Democrat to vote in favor…

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced a bill on Monday to prevent foreign planes from being used as part of Air Force One’s fleet, Axios reported…

Democratic Majority for Israel is out with a new digital ad titled “Trojan Horse,” hitting President Donald Trump over his plan to accept a $400 million plane from Qatar. The ad will run on digital platforms in the Washington area… 

The Trump administration reportedly first approached Qatar about the possibility of acquiring a Boeing 747 for use as Air Force One, contrary to Trump’s claims of it being offered as a gift…

Speaking at the annual Jerusalem Post conference in New York City on Monday, Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler said about a hostage release deal, “I do think we’re closer than we ever were”….

Chabad social media influencer Yossi Farro wrapped tefillin with Boehler and prayed for the immediate and swift release of the hostages…

Also during the conference, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the formation of a new New York City-Israel Economic Council to boost business ties. Israel’s efforts on the council will be headed by Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat…

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) didn’t attend a committee hearing in 2025 until this month, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis…

Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) will be speaking at Yeshiva University graduation on Thursday… 

Ishan Daya stepped down from the Chicago Fiscal Sustainability Working Group just hours after being appointed and after Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reported on his selection on Friday. Daya sparked backlash after he was filmed ripping down Israeli hostage posters shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks…

Leo Terrell, head of the DOJ Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, and Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun sent a letter yesterday to Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, accusing her of alleging that her “alarming campaign of letters targeting institutions that support or invest in the state of Israel” are “defamatory, dangerous, and a flagrant abuse of your office”…

Bloomberg journalist Jason Kao was one of the individuals arrested after storming Columbia University’s Butler Library earlier this month. An NYPD spokesperson confirmed to The Washington Free Beacon that Kao was charged with a crime, suggesting he was not covering the event in his journalistic capacity…

Eden Yadegar spoke to the Columbia Spectator about her experience becoming the face of pro-Israel activism at Columbia University after the Hamas terror attacks. She said, “It felt like I was experiencing, in many ways, a different university after Oct. 7, but I also felt like I was a different person experiencing that university”….

Britain plans to strengthen its powers to target state-sponsored terrorist threats after several Iranian-backed security incidents in recent weeks, U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said yesterday…

The New York Times spotlights the role of Israel and antisemitism policy in the New York City mayoral race, after candidate Zohran Mamdani rushed to correct reports that he refused to condemn the Holocaust…

A Washington Examiner analysis found that foreign agents working on behalf of Qatar have significantly increased their outreach to right-wing media, from just over 10% of their media engagement between January-November 2024 to more than half since Election Day…

A Haaretz exposé found that a pro-Qatar online influence campaign allegedly crafted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides continued even after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza…

The Times of Israel interviews Orthodox Jewish musician Lenny Solomon, the subject of a new documentary “The King of Shlock,” which will be screened on Thursday at the DocAviv film festival in Tel Aviv…

Former hostage Omer Shem Tov threw the first pitch at the Boston Red Sox game on Monday during the team’s Jewish Heritage Night at Fenway Park…

Israeli-Russian IndyCar driver Robert Shwartzman, 25, on Sunday became the first Indy 500 rookie to win the pole since 1983. He used his win to call for peace in both Israel, where he was born, and Russia, where he was raised. “I just want peace in the world,” Shwartzman said. “I want people to be good, and I don’t want the separation of countries, saying, ‘This is bad country. This is good country.’ There is no bad or good. We’re all human beings, and we just have to support each other.” The Indy 500 will be held on Sunday, Memorial Day weekend.

Born in upstate New York as Michael Scott Bornstein, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and then member of the Knesset, Michael Oren turns 70… 

CEO at Kings’ Care – A Safe Place, operator of multiple drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment centers, Ilene Leiter… Canadian businesswoman and elected official, she served in the Ontario Assembly and in the Canadian House of Commons, Elinor Caplan turns 81… Former member of the New York State Assembly until 2020, representing the 97th Assembly District in Rockland County, Ellen Jaffee turns 81… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CT-2) for 20 years, he was born in a DP camp in Germany after World War II, Sam Gejdenson turns 77… Chagrin Falls, Ohio, attorney, Robert Charles Rosenfeld… CEO emeritus of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Michael S. Miller… Seamstress and weaver, Bernice Ann Penn Venable… Retired in 2022 as a federal judge for the Southern District of Texas, she is now a mediator and arbitrator, Judge Nancy Ellen Friedman Atlas turns 76… Five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and writer who has worked on “Saturday Night Live,” PBS’ “Great Performances” and “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” Alan Zweibel turns 75… U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) turns 74… Former director of international affairs, policy and planning at the Conference of Presidents, Michael Alan Salberg… Professor at Tulane and former president of the Aspen Institute and CEO of CNN, Walter Isaacson turns 73… Actress and singer, known for her work in musical theater, Judy Kuhn turns 67… CEO and founder of Abrams Media, chief legal analyst for ABC News and the founder of Mediaite, Dan Abrams turns 59… NYC location scout and unit production manager for feature films and television commercials, David Brotsky… Co-founder and CEO of Breitbart News, Larry Solov turns 57… Partner and head of public affairs at Gray Space Strategies, Ami Copeland… French singer and actress, at 13 she became the youngest singer to ever reach No. 1 in the French charts, Elsa Lunghini turns 52… Co-president of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, Matthew Silverman turns 49… Emmy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Rachel Platten turns 44… Manager of privacy issues for Amazon’s public policy team, Philip Justin (PJ) Hoffman… Program officer at the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Vadim Avshalumov… Founder and CEO of Berkeley, California-based Caribou Biosciences, a genome engineering company, Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D…. Director of federal policy and strategy for the ADL, Lauren D. Wolman… Executive communications leader, Susan Sloan… VP of digital advocacy at McGuireWoods Consulting, Josh Canter… Beauty pageant winner who was awarded the title of Miss Israel 2014, Doron Matalon turns 32… Political consultant, Aylon Berger turns 25… Political activist, he is a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Kyle Kashuv turns 24…