Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The International Atomic Energy Agency has observed construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear site, IAEA head Rafael Grossi told Bloomberg Television. President Donald Trump said similarly yesterday, “We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe,” and warned Iran “not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard”…

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Iran has also resumed producing ballistic missiles, officials told The Wall Street Journal, working in underground facilities with components it had stockpiled before the war began…

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Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), the GOP nominee for Senate in Michigan, plans to take aim at his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, in his remarks at the GOP midterm convention today, calling out in particular El-Sayed’s relationship with streamer Hasan Piker.

Rogers will highlight Piker’s comments that America “deserved 9/11,” according to Axios, as other Republican candidates also campaign around the 25th anniversary of the attacks…

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attended a ceremony today at the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in Jerusalem, the only memorial outside of the U.S. to list the name of each victim killed in the terror attacks…

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The next round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will be held over two days next week in Rome, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel…

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Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod last week that he’s likely to support the administration’s proposed nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, which would reportedly allow for joint U.S.-Saudi nuclear enrichment efforts inside the Gulf country.

Mast’s support, as the chair of a committee that will be responsible for reviewing the deal during a mandatory congressional oversight period, is a strong sign that many congressional Republicans will coalesce behind the administration in support of the agreement…

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The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law wrote to Qatari Ambassador to the U.S. Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday amid a back-and-forth online, urging the Qatari Embassy to release a full public accounting of its funding to U.S. colleges and universities, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

“There is a straightforward way for the Government of Qatar to demonstrate that public accounts of its activities are inaccurate or misleading: full disclosure,” Brandeis Center CEO Ken Marcus said in a letter to Al-Thani, after the ambassador claimed that critics of Qatar are engaged in a “coordinated disinformation campaign” to manipulate data on foreign funding in U.S. higher education…

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” today that the U.S. should take a “very tough position” if Israeli voters reelect the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s upcoming elections, but said a new Israeli government could provide opportunities for more constructive progress…

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The Honey Deuce — the U.S. Open’s iconic signature cocktail — is facing fierce competition for the tennis tournament’s most popular menu item this year. Surrounded by greasy fried foods, the unexpected breakout star is a green bean bowl from Eyal Shani‘s Tel Aviv-born eatery Miznon, whose head of operations spoke with JI’s Haley Cohen about the craze…

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Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel announced that his interview with Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico will not air on his show tonight, and will instead be posted online, after the Trump administration threatened the show, host network ABC and local stations.

The move comes months after former “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert said his show was also prevented from airing an interview with Talarico due to threats from the Federal Communications Commission…

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The J50, a forum of Diaspora Jewish organizations, issued a declaration signed by 59 organizations representing 40 countries that states anti-Zionism, “as manifested today through efforts to deny the Jewish people their right to self-determination, or demand that Jews renounce Zionism as the price of acceptance in political, academic, professional, or cultural life,” is antisemitic, and reaffirms the principles of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism…

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Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon launched a Task Force on Combating Antisemitism at the global body yesterday. Its first meeting was attended by representatives from several countries including the U.K., Australia, Argentina and Slovakia…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the NYPD are preparing for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming visit for the U.N. General Assembly.

President Donald Trump will attend the Pentagon memorial ceremony for the 9/11 anniversary tomorrow, while Vice President JD Vance will attend the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations will host its annual policy conference and gala in Washington over the weekend, with speakers including New York City Democratic congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier; New Jersey Democratic congressional nominee Adam Hamawy; Virginia state Del. Sam Rasoul; anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour; Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin; Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim; and commentator Cenk Uygur.

The annual All-In Summit — the influential tech-and-politics gathering run by the “All-In Podcast” — kicks off in Los Angeles on Sunday with speakers including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman; SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell; California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton; and former L.A. mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt.

We’ll be back with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shana tovah u’metukah!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Asked about the U.K., France and Canada enacting sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, President Donald Trump told reporters this afternoon on his way to Dallas for the GOP midterm convention that he’ll be “speaking to Israel” about the issue. “I understand exactly what’s going on, but I want to find out why all of a sudden does that happen,” he added…

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Trump also predicted the Iran war “will end immediately after” the midterm elections because the Iranian regime is “desperate to affect the election”…

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White House officials and GOP elected officials told Axios that they’ve stopped trying to persuade Trump on anything and find it futile to push back on his decisions, with one longtime advisor telling the outlet, “Why bother? He’s the boss”…

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A new poll of American Jewish voters commissioned by the nonpartisan Jewish Voters Resource Center found that Vice President JD Vance is viewed negatively by 82% of Jewish voters, including 39% of Jewish Republicans, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Vance’s approval numbers are markedly lower than those of Trump — who is viewed positively by 89% of Jewish Republicans — and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at 93%…

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A new CNN poll of the Senate races in Michigan and Maine found the Democratic candidates leading, though both were within the margin of error, indicating the races remain neck-and-neck in the lead-up to November. In Michigan, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed led former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) 47%-44%, while in Maine, Democratic nominee Troy Jackson led Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) 48%-45%…

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Trump has begun tapping his super PAC’s $400 million war chest through a new group, No Going Back PAC — financially backed by his main super PAC, MAGA Inc. — which has reserved at least $47 million in ads across six contested Senate races and one House race, The New York Times reports. The PAC’s top investments include nearly $15 million in Michigan, $11 million in Ohio and $9.6 million in New Hampshire…

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Pakistan transmitted a warning from Saudi Arabia to Iran to rein in its Houthi proxies in Yemen amid an escalation in hostilities between the terror group and Riyadh, Reuters reports. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif also sounded a cautionary note in an interview reminding global actors that attacks on Saudi Arabia could now trigger its mutual defense pact with Pakistan and Turkey…

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The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors voted today for the first time in two decades to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for violating its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, diplomats told Reuters. The move marks an escalation that opens Iran to possible U.N. sanctions, though Russia and China’s vetoes on the UNSC make actual punitive action unlikely…

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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar inaugurated the first Israeli Embassy in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana…

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Israel and the Palestinian technocratic committee governing Gaza have successfully vetted roughly 16,500 Palestinians to serve in the Board of Peace’s new police force, though Jerusalem has not yet given its approval for the recruits to leave the Gaza Strip for training, two Board of Peace officials told The Times of Israel…

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Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) urged Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to take steps to ensure Hamas cannot “exploit” economic instability in the West Bank, raising concerns about Israel’s decision to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority…

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Former Secretary of State Tony Blinken rejected as “complete fiction” a Haaretz report that he delayed an offer by Hamas immediately after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks to release some of the hostages it had captured…

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White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff earned more than $100 million — including nearly $69 million in cash and $38 million in crypto — from the trust that owns his stake in World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture he co-founded with Trump and his family in 2024, according to a new financial disclosure…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for reactions from Texas officials and Jewish leaders to the decision by the University of Texas’ Democratic student group to host far-left streamer Hasan Piker on campus later this month.

The GOP midterm convention, which offers a test of whether President Donald Trump can boost the prospects of Republicans in competitive general election races, concludes tomorrow with closing remarks from the president and a keynote address from Vice President JD Vance.

Also speaking at the summit tomorrow are Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Michigan GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Donald Trump Jr.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a sweeping new sanctions regime today targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, marking a major escalation in Britain’s diplomatic stance toward Israel, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

Addressing the House of Commons, Miliband unveiled an import ban on goods produced in settlements alongside targeted sanctions against individuals and corporations involved in constructing, advertising or financing settlement expansion. Miliband went further than any previous British official in accusing Israeli settlers of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in the West Bank and calling them “terrorists” with the tacit backing of the Israeli government…

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Denouncing what he described as a “hostile sanctions package,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel would be taking swift retaliatory measures, including closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem, expelling British representatives from the U.S.-backed International Gaza Support Center, terminating the British Support Team in Ramallah tasked with training members of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces and barring 12 British officials, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who are “involved in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity”…

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters about Miliband’s announcement, “Obviously, we’re not going to do what the U.K. did,” but declined to comment further. He said Washington and London “share the goal of stability” and “don’t want to see some uptick in violence” in the West Bank…

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All the while, Israel Space Agency head Shimrit Maman met today in Brussels with Ekaterina Zaharieva, the European commissioner for startups, research and innovation, as more European countries turn to Israel for their defense technology needs and as the EU looks to increase its presence in space. The moves mark a shift from 2024, when a plan for an EU air-defense shield was reportedly scrapped as officials realized they would need to rely on Israeli technology to construct it…

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CENTCOM carried out strikes near Iran’s Kharg Island this afternoon, including on Iranian oil tankers, a U.S. official told Fox News. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to retaliate against U.S. forces in the region…

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The Treasury Department announced sanctions today against 27 Iranian airlines as well as several front companies, foreign intermediaries and other aviation-related actors for supporting the regime’s illicit activities…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denied reports that he was warned by the UAE ahead of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks: “If there was any relevant information, it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries,” the PMO said.

Meanwhile, an Emirati source confirmed to The Times of Israel that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed personally transmitted the warning in a phone call to Netanyahu days ahead of the attacks…

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A coalition of Michigan rabbis and Jewish leaders launched a petition laying out their five “nonnegotiables” for candidates to receive their backing, an effort ostensibly aimed at Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

The list includes a candidate’s support for Jewish safety, including for Zionist Jews; for Jews to be able to define their own identities, including a connection to the State of Israel; for Israel’s existence as a Jewish state; for full Jewish participation in American political life; and for an affirmative vision for the Middle East moving forward…

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In a letter obtained by JI’s Emily Jacobs, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) urged President Donald Trump to establish an expedited legal pathway for Jewish Canadians to obtain refugee status in the United States amid rising antisemitism in their home country…

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced today the release of $70 million in state hate crimes funding to “fortify” religious facilities across the state — as well as a “surge” in police presence — as the High Holy Days begin this weekend, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.

Nearly 300 schools, houses of worship and civic groups — not exclusively Jewish ones — will receive grants of up to $250,000 each for cameras, alarms, security training and cybersecurity enhancements…

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Spotted at the “Freedom 250” celebration hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem today to celebrate the American semiquincentennial were U.S. Ambassdor to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet; former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana; Miriam Adelson; Museum of Tolerance chair and co-founder Larry Mizel; former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren; National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir; Argentine Ambassador to Israel Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish; Meta’s Jordana Cutler; United Hatzalah President Eli Beer; venture capitalist Eric Reiner; businessman Simon Falic; and singer Ishay Ribo, who performed for the guests…

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The 59th season premiere of CBS News’ “60 Minutes” this Sunday will feature an interview with one of the officers who was shot down in his F-15 fighter jet over Iran in April. The officer, known as “Dude 44,” will be interviewed by correspondent Norah O’Donnell in his first on-camera sitdown…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for an interview with Elliot Kaufman and Yonah Jeremy Bob on their new book, In the War Room: The Inside Story of Israel’s Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis.

The Republican National Committee will kick off its first-ever midterm convention tomorrow afternoon in Dallas, with dozens of candidates and elected officials scheduled to speak over the two days of programming.

President Donald Trump will deliver the keynote address tomorrow night (as well as closing remarks on Thursday), with additional remarks throughout the convention by Vice President JD Vance; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Attorney General Todd Blanche; House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA); Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jon Husted (R-OH) and Dave McCormick (R-PA); Texas attorney general and Senate candidate Ken Paxton; Georgia Senate nominee Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA); Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers; and North Carolina Senate nominee Michael Whatley.

Some GOP candidates in tight races, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), former Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), will not be attending the convention, in what appears to be a pointed effort to keep their distance from Trump.

The MEAD conference, a summit of government officials, policymakers and leaders in Middle East policy, will conclude in Washington tomorrow. Representatives from 24 countries, including several that have no diplomatic relations with Israel, are reportedly in attendance.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington will host its Rosh Hashanah celebration tomorrow evening.

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Comptroller Mark Levine will walk the runway at the Metropolitan Opera House during Style Across the Aisle, where they will be dressed by Jewish designers Elie Tahari and Yosel Tiefenbrun.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Vice President JD Vance defended his friendship with far-right commentator Tucker Carlson at a White House press briefing this afternoon, saying that he would not “play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them,” Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

“Everybody knows that Tucker Carlson and I are friends. And I think it’s very obvious that Tucker has said some things that I disagree with,” Vance said. He criticized Carlson’s attacks on President Donald Trump and his recent comments expressing support for Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed over former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race, though he did not mention Carlson’s extreme antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric…

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On the other side of the spectrum, asked by Stephen A. Smith if there was anything antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker could say that could cause El-Sayed to publicly disavow him, El-Sayed responded, “I mean, sure,” but said the “idea that you just categorically disavow an individual, that to me doesn’t make sense.” He added that Piker has 3 million listeners, to whom he wants to “offer … a pathway into an electoral movement”…

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Many of the liberal Jewish and civil rights organizations and lawmakers who protested federal efforts to deport Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi are so far silent on new revelations about Mahdawi’s lengthy history of antisemitic and pro-terrorist social media posts, JI’s Haley Cohen and Marc Rod report.

Mahdawi, a 35-year-old Green Card holder and West Bank native, pledged in a 2010 Facebook post, “soon, very soon, we will annihilate the Jews.” He also praised Hamas and honored deceased terrorists in several posts on Instagram and Facebook, declaring that Palestinians have the capacity and conviction “to kill and to wound”…

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Iran fired missiles and drones at Kuwait and Bahrain early today local time, according to the Kuwaiti Defense Ministry and Bahraini Foreign Ministry…

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Trump disputed reports that the U.S. is running low on munitions, writing on Truth Social that the U.S. has “virtually unlimited amounts of Mid to High Grade Ammunition” and is “stockpiling” more but that “sales to Allies will soon again, begin”…

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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said at an event for Defense Ministry employees today that Jerusalem is “seeing signs” that the pressure campaign on the Iranian regime “could push them to desperate measures,” and warned that if Iran is to attack Israel, “we will strike all infrastructure — including energy infrastructure — and return Iran to the Stone Age”…

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Israel is releasing five Lebanese civilians who had been detained in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said today, in exchange for Beirut’s assistance in locating the remains of Lebanese Jewish community figures. The PMO said the individuals being released were determined through questioning not to be involved in terror activities…

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A new study by the Jewish Federations of North America found that Jewish institutions’ security spending has surpassed $1 billion per year, a 33% increase from 2024. The total breaks down to about $225,000 per institution, including community centers, synagogues, schools, summer camps and nonprofits, with the largest share of the cost allocated to security personnel…

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As a group of leading Hasidic rabbis exited their Oval Office meeting with Trump this afternoon, communal leader Yossi Gestetner told reporters that the gathering was “an opportunity for the first time in over 50 years for the president of the United States to meet with the grand rabbis of the largest Hasidic sects … We had the opportunity to thank the president for all that he does for the United States.”

Among the attendees were Vance; Jared Kushner; Satmar leaders Rav Aharon Teitelbaum and Rav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum; Rav Malkiel Kotler, rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J.; New Square Mayor Israel Spitzer; Rav Aron Mendel Twersky; and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who represents large Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish communities in Rockland County, including Monsey and New Square…

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House Democrats overwhelmingly voted against the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act, a bill that would strip federal funding from colleges and universities engaged in boycotts of Israel, with just 33 Democrats supporting the measure, JI’s Marc Rod reports. The bill ultimately passed 237-169, with two Republicans voting against the measure along with the majority of Democrats…

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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told JI’s Marc Rod that he’s hoping to take action in the committee on several bills regarding antisemitism in the remaining months of the congressional term, and also previewed plans for a hearing on the International Criminal Court.

“We’ve been supportive of all of those [antisemitism bills] in the past, so we’ll see what we can get done here in the last few weeks of September, or maybe even in the lame-duck session” after the midterm elections, Jordan said…

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The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights issued a “Dear Colleague” letter today to all healthcare providers that receive HHS funding, explaining how antisemitic conduct can violate federal civil rights law in patient care, medical education, provider training and other settings.

It’s the first such letter from the federal government to incorporate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, according to the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for an interview with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) about his views on the Democratic Socialists of America, being pro-Israel in the Democratic Party and more.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed will speak on a panel at the Islamic Society of North America‘s annual convention in Detroit on Saturday alongside outspoken Israel critics Cenk Uygur and Zaid Shakir.

Meanwhile, former Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner will no longer speak at a Labor Day rally hosted by the progressive group Hancock County Activists, in what was supposed to be his first public appearance following the suspension of his campaign after a former romantic partner accused him of rape. The group said he was dropped as a speaker because “the media frenzy got just too insane,” and he will instead lead a march for veterans after the rally.

In observance of Labor Day, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Tuesday. Shabbat shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

In a phone interview with Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, President Donald Trump said Israel “should not worry” amid renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran. “You know why? Because I’m the president and I will take care of Israel,” he added.

Asked separately by reporters today how long the military action will last, Trump said, “I don’t think too long”…

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An Oakland, Calif., coffee shop that drew national scrutiny for promoting Hamas and forcibly removing Jewish patrons announced it has indefinitely suspended operations amid lawsuits brought by the Justice Department, Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law over its alleged harassment of the Jewish customers, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

About its decision to close down, the cafe wrote on Substack, “These lawsuits represent the ongoing efforts of zionist organizations and the federal government to use the courts as a tool to repress free speech and public political commitments to Palestine”…

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Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, the sister of Qatar’s emir, promoted a divisive exhibition at the Venice Biennale called “Gaza — No Words — See the Exhibit,” which highlights allegations that Israel deliberately targeted children in Gaza among other actions that the exhibit portrays as constituting genocide, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.

The Qatari royal, who chairs several of the Gulf state’s leading cultural organizations, hailed the display — which features a textile collection of 100 hand-stitched panels made by Palestinian women called the “Gaza Genocide Tapestry” — as “a powerful exhibition, one not to miss”…

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Actor Mark Ruffalo reportedly tried to enlist Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt — with the assistance of Greenblatt’s former Obama administration colleague Norm Eisen — to help Ruffalo make amends after remarks he made opposing the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery were characterized by critics as antisemitic, an offer which Greenblatt refused.

Eisen then worked to gather support from over 180 Jewish figures in entertainment who signed an open letter supporting Ruffalo amid what they allege is a “smear campaign” against him…

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani today visited Borough Park in Brooklyn, home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the city and the world, a week and a half before the Jewish New Year, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.

Footage released by Mamdani’s office of his visit to Eichler’s Judaica — a purveyor of Jewish books and religious items that has been in business for nearly 40 years — showed the mayor discussing garbage pickup and curriculum at yeshivas with local leaders, who gifted him honey for Rosh Hashanah…

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met yesterday with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss progress made in the U.S.-mediated negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut, which Huckabee called a “historic process, only impeded by Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah”…

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Around 30 Jews remain unaccounted for among the thousands of people missing after last week’s devastating flash floods near the Nepal-Tibet border, according to Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz, who leads the Chabad House of Kathmandu. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has also confirmed that at least two Israelis are missing…

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Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, wrote on X today that the “Israelization of our societies is a fact,” claiming Israel is “a model of containment/repression dressed as democracy” and that pro-Israel advocacy groups “sell that image abroad”…

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In an interview with Rolling Stone, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said it “makes sense” that Jews are sensitive to criticism of Israel crossing into antisemitism, highlighting recent FBI statistics showing anti-Jewish hate crimes make up the majority of religiously motivated hate crimes in the country. “You’ve heard the joke, but it’s serious: Paranoid people have enemies too,” he said.

About his potential decision to run for president in 2028, he said, “I’m more yes than no. I haven’t made a full decision because I want to make sure that we get through this successfully, meaning winning the midterms, and then I’m going to make a final decision”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the continued concern within the GOP to Vice President JD Vance’s ongoing failure to distance himself from far-right commentator Tucker Carlson, a dynamic highlighted in Vance’s remarks at the Republican Jewish Coalition summit on Monday.

President Donald Trump will host several Hasidic rabbis in the Oval Office tomorrow to convey his Rosh Hashanah greetings, a meeting the White House claimed is the first of its kind since 1979. The gathering will reportedly include members of the Satmar community, an anti-Zionist Hasidic sect.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The U.S. struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran today, CENTCOM announced, following Iranian attacks on U.S. forces in the region over the weekend as well as strikes on two tankers carrying Saudi oil in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday.

Iranian officials told The New York Times that the strikes hit several targets in southern Iran including a military base and the perimeter of a commercial airport. Tehran retaliated by firing missiles once again at U.S. bases in Jordan, according to Jordanian state media…

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President Donald Trump had warned on Truth Social that if Iran retaliates for “this very justified attack,” the U.S. will strike Iran again “at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all,” which he said “is waiting in the wings.” He told Fox News that the U.S. was targeting Iranian radar capabilities as it attempted to rebuild and said an agreement with the regime “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”…

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Even so, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on the sidelines of a gathering of G20 finance ministers in Asheville, N.C., today that the Strait of Hormuz “will be bypassed in two years” as “a worthless piece of water.”

Bessent also said his department is likely to announce sanctions on other banks this week and next after targeting Egyptian Banque Misr for its connections to the Iranian regime…

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Russia has been helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles, according to a Financial Times investigation of leaked Russian communications. The highly sophisticated weapons technology, which can travel at several times the speed of sound, could assist Tehran in targeting U.S. aircraft carriers and other assets in the region…

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Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said at a press conference today that Israel and Syria are engaged in negotiations mediated by the U.S. and that Damascus is “still committed” to reaching a diplomatic agreement, despite what he described as dozens of ongoing IDF incursions into Syrian territory…

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The Justice Department announced today that the FBI seized $560,000 in cryptocurrency donations intended for Hamas as well as fundraising and recruitment communication infrastructure belonging to the terror group.

John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said the seizures “deprive Hamas of resources it relies on to recruit and radicalize individuals online and finance barbaric attacks like the one on Oct. 7, 2023”…

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Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would go on Hasan Piker’s Twitch show to give the antisemitic streamer “a lesson in what he is perpetuating and the advocacy and the rhetoric of what he’s doing,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. “I can give him a two-by-four upside his head because of what he said,” Emanuel said in a CNN interview yesterday, referring to recent comments in which Piker had claimed that Jews who support Israel are inviting violence against themselves.

Piker criticized what he called the “violent death threats from rahm israel emanuel” in a post on X responding to JI’s story, a day after he said on his Twitch stream that he had deleted the social media app…

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Ahead of his address at the Republican Jewish Coalition summit last night in Las Vegas, Vice President JD Vance’s team reached out to several prominent Jewish GOP donors to test the waters of how he might be received, The New York Times reports, in a reflection of how the vice president hoped to use the appearance to assuage concerns among the key constituency for his potential 2028 presidential run…

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California’s state Legislature passed a bill yesterday adding Jewish as an ethnicity option on state forms that collect demographic data. The bill, which now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature or veto, has raised some historical concerns around government records of Jews, while its proponents say the state’s privacy protections should prevent improper use of the data…

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FBI Director Kash Patel hosted Shin Bet head David Zini in Washington today where they discussed counterterrorism efforts including breaking terrorist financing networks, intelligence sharing and counter-drone technologies, according to Patel…

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul held a joint press conference this morning ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks calling on the Trump administration to release what they said is $87 million in frozen counter-terror funding owed to the state.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin held a dueling presser elsewhere in the city accusing the two leaders of failing to address crime and highlighting the administration’s work to detain thousands of illegal immigrants across New York…

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A trade union issued a strike notice to Brussels Airlines as workers said they are being forced to staff flights to Israel, a breach of the union’s contract that says employees may volunteer but may not be compelled to fly to Tel Aviv. The workers have “serious concerns about both their physical safety and the mental and ethical impact of these flights,” a union spokesperson told The Brussels Times…

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Jewish leaders from 59 communal organizations from around the world convened in Jerusalem this week for a meeting of the J50 Forum, a body established by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and currently chaired by William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Meeting with the group today, Sa’ar said they discussed “our shared and deepening concern over the global rise in antisemitism, and the clear connection between the obsessive anti-Israel rhetoric of many governments and the growing attacks against Jewish communities”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for perspectives from lawmakers on whether the U.S. or Iran has the upper hand as the war currently stands.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump told Fox News this morning that the U.S. will respond to Iran’s attacks yesterday on U.S. forces in Jordan: “We’re going to hit them hard. There will be a response,” he said…

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CENTCOM and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have proposed to Trump a campaign of limited strikes around the Strait of Hormuz to prevent Iran from rebuilding its radar and missile capacities, U.S. officials told Axios, a plan that may draw the president’s approval following the renewed hostilities over the weekend…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, encouraged Jewish voters on Sunday to put aside concerns about their safety “in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity,” regarding Michigan’s closely contested Senate election this November, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

“We have a moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest and, yes, even our own survival,” Nessel told attendees in her remarks at the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus’ annual “Summer Simcha” gathering…

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Vice President JD Vance, appearing at a GOP rally in Michigan, attacked the state’s Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, as a terror sympathizer, targeting him for his comments following the violent attack on Temple Israel earlier this year where he said “hurt people hurt people.” Vance spotlighted a rabbi and security guards from the synagogue who were in the audience…

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El-Sayed’s campaign is working to hire a Jewish community liaison, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports, as he seeks to make inroads with the Jewish community after apologizing over the weekend for his remarks regarding the Temple Israel attack…

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Politico speaks with Detroit-area Arab Americanleaders who helped rally their community to support Trump in his 2024 campaign, many of whom are now souring on the GOP amid the war in Iran and the president’s attacks on El-Sayed — a potentially meaningful shift for the swing constituency that could have an impact in the Senate race…

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San Francisco congressional nominee Connie Chan endorsed the “Oakland People’s Arms Embargo,” an activist movement seeking to halt what it claims are arms shipments out of Oakland Airport heading to Israel, as she seeks to best state Sen. Scott Wiener in the Democrat-on-Democrat race with the backing of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)…

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New York City congressional nominee Brad Lander addressed an incident over the weekend where he was accosted by individuals who accused him of being a Zionist while participating in a protest against a Hindu nationalist leader at Madison Square Garden: Lander in response claimed once again that Israel is carrying out genocide, occupation and apartheid against Palestinians and said he was “glad to participate” in the protest, despite the blowback from “a couple of fringe a**holes with drums and bullhorns”…

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Former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told attendees at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit to give Vance a “warm welcome” when he speaks at the summit this evening, JI’s Marc Rod reports from Las Vegas. Dermer praised the vice president for playing a “critical role” in the 12-day war against Iran in June 2025, “and particularly the first day, where that element of surprise was so critical to our success”…

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In his remarks at the RJC summit, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood for their spending to influence U.S. education with anti-Israel sentiment, JI’s Marc Rod reports — a notable comment from a representative of the Trump administration, which has largely embraced Doha…

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Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP nominee for governor of Ohio, told the RJC audience that they “represent the most successful demographic group in America” and therefore antisemitism “is an attack on the idea of success. It is an attack on the idea of meritocracy. It is an attack on the idea of capitalism. It is an attack on the very idea of America itself”…

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British designer John Galliano and the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that a planned exhibit honoring Galliano’s work would not move forward after the project faced backlash due to Galliano’s history of being convicted of an antisemitic hate crime, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

“I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past … I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one’s conduct over time,” Galliano said in a statement…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at where Israel’s elections stand with less than two months until voters head to the polls.

Massachusetts will hold its primary elections, where Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) hopes to fend off a generational primary challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).

With the House back from its August recess, the Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the threat posed by the Houthi terror group to U.S. interests in the Red Sea.

The leaders of China, Russia, India, Iran and several other countries gathered in Kyrgyzstan today for a two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization focused on political and security issues.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent kicked off a two-day meeting of the G20 finance ministers in Asheville, N.C., today, where he is expected to push U.S. allies to cooperate in the Trump administration’s economic isolation campaign against Iran. Also in attendance are several Fortune 500 executives, including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) joined the growing list of Democrats condemning far-left streamer Hasan Piker’s recent comments suggesting American Jews incite antisemitic attacks due to their support for Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports: An Ossoff spokesperson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Georgia senator “unreservedly rejects reckless and dangerous rhetoric suggesting that policy advocacy invites violence against the Jewish community or any community.”

Piker had in March named Ossoff as his “dark-horse pick” for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, alongside a series of further-left candidates. Ossoff, at the time, did not respond to questions from JI about Piker…

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Meanwhile, Ossoff’s opponent, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), is again facing criticism over the extremist activity of an associate, following a Washington Post report that a former staffer shared images of a swastika and of himself in a KKK robe…

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The State Department sent a cable to U.S. embassies around the world urging them to work with local governments to shore up security for global Jewish communities ahead of the High Holy Days and the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks…

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The Turkish government has retained Ballard Partners — a lobbying firm with deep ties to President Donald Trump — to represent Ankara’s Ministry of National Defense in Washington, as Turkey and the U.S. continue to improve ties under the Trump administration.

The firm’s team on the contract includes former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), a pro-Turkey and pro-Israel voice on Capitol Hill who co-founded the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations in 2001. Speaking with JI’s Matthew Shea, Wexler framed the partnership as aiming to strengthen U.S.-Turkish ties while also attempting to mend severely strained relations between Ankara and Jerusalem…

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Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met today in Tehran with Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, where he discussed with them “efforts being made to reduce escalation and create appropriate conditions for dialogue,” according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said during his meeting with Al Thani that Iran “[does] not trust the Americans” and threatened that “if America starts evil against the Islamic Republic, we will bring disaster on their military and economic interests”…

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, this morning — weeks after Waltz denounced the mayor’s suggestion that he might arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and weeks before the leader of the Jewish state is set to arrive in the city for the U.N. General Assembly, JI’s Will Bredderman reports…

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More than 70% of Jewish educators in teachers’ unions fear that speaking up about antisemitism in their union could harm their careers or reputations, according to a study published today by the Anti-Defamation League.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) said they feel compelled to self-censor in teachers’ union spaces, and almost half (47%) reported reducing their participation in union activities because of harmful rhetoric or behavior targeting Jews, Zionists or Israel, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

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A dozen countries issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s move this week to dismantle a vocational training center run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in east Jerusalem, which came following the passage of a 2024 law banning the organization from operating in Israel after several of its employees were found to have participated in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom called for Israel to immediately “halt all disruptions to UNRWA’s activities.” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebutted the statement, claiming UNRWA has never had land rights to the area, which Jerusalem claims is owned by the Jewish National Fund…

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Trump highlighted on Truth Social today a statement by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of the Inspector General that it had referred for suspension or debarment 101 current or former UNRWA staff for participating in the Oct. 7 attacks or for affiliation with Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades. Among those referred were “UNRWA school principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals,” USAID OIG said…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how the civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia sent to Congress by the Trump administration may unfold.

Tomorrow marks the six-month anniversary of the outbreak of the Iran war, with the conflict now largely stalled. The Trump administration has reportedly conveyed to mediators that it has no interest in returning to the terms of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding reached in June that quickly fell apart, while the White House maintains that there are “no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled” with Tehran.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, will be one of the keynote speakers at tomorrow’s March on Washington commemoration at the Lincoln Memorial, marking the 63rd anniversary of the historic march co-led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Other speakers at the event include Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and civil rights leaders.

On Saturday, Sanders will join Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) at a rally for Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) ahead of his primary next week against Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).

The Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus will hold its Summer Simcha on Sunday honoring Attorney General Dana Nessel, where Michigan Democrats including Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and congressional nominee Jeremy Moss are slated to speak.

The Jewish American Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday, with speakers including Jay Sures, vice chairman of United Talent Agency; U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee; Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter; educator and activist Yossi Farro; GOP California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton; and Jewish communal professionals and leaders.

The Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Leadership Summit will kick off Sunday evening in Las Vegas with a welcome reception. Vice President JD Vance is expected to address the gathering. If you’ll be in attendance, be on the lookout for JI’s Marc Rod!

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

analysis

Unpacking the tactical dispute between Mike Rogers’ campaign and AIPAC

By Josh Kraushaar

The debate over AIPAC’s involvement in the high-stakes Michigan Senate race is drawing renewed attention after an Axios report outlined a request from allies of former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) for the pro-Israel group’s super PAC to lay low for the general election. The Rogers campaign advisors suggested instead that the group transfer money for the race to a separate pro-Rogers entity so as not to make its outside spending a major issue in the contest. 

The episode has touched a lot of raw nerves in both the pro-Israel world and the Republican political landscape. Rogers, a longtime supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship, is highlighting his relationships with Michigan’s Jewish community, and has made attacking Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s anti-Israel virulence and his relationship with antisemitic figures like Hasan Piker a central element of his campaign message. 

AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent about $32 million in the Democratic primary to try to defeat El-Sayed, and there’s little doubt its money — in the absence of any moderate group willing to spend similar resources to stop a far-left candidate like El-Sayed from winning  — made the race more competitive than it otherwise would have been. But it also gave El-Sayed a talking point in attacking outside money in the race that diluted the impact of the aggressive advertising campaign, especially at a time when support for Israel itself is diminishing within the Democratic Party.

Read full analysis →

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● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) met privately with White House advisor Jared Kushner in recent weeks to discuss policy issues as Democrats look poised to retake control of the House in the midterm elections…

The U.S. canceled an upcoming joint amphibious landing exercise with South Korea, with Washington reportedly citing constraints due to the Iran war…

Mossad Director Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met on Sunday in an effort to lower tensions after Israel struck a Syrian air base last week…

U.K. power companies were put on high alert following a successful effort by hackers with suspected Iran ties to shut down a small British energy plant, weeks after Iran-linked hackers were suspected of targeting water systems in at least seven U.S. states…

Iranian authorities are increasingly cracking down on coffee shops that are serving as gathering spots for young Iranians to socialize, often citing the country’s restrictive modesty laws… 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is planning to introduce legislation amending the Foreign Agents Registration Act that would require influencers to disclose funding from foreign governments to push political messages; the legislation has the backing of Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) and Derrick Van Orden (R-WI)…

The New York Times spotlights Powerus as the Florida-based startup, which makes 3D-printed drone interceptor components, begins production in a newly opened facility in the United Arab Emirates in its first foray into the Middle East; the expansion is part of a broader effort to quintuple production by 2027 to match growing needs from the U.S. and its allies…

Blackwater founder Erik Prince launched Vectus Air Defense Systems, which will provide “layered air-defense networks” in partnership with Ukrainian drone software group Swarmer, for which he serves as non-executive chair…

Paramount condemned Mark Ruffalo’s use of “antisemitic tropes … in purported service of a business dispute” after the actor and activist, who has opposed Paramount’s bid to takeover Warner Bros. Discovery, accused CEO David Ellison and his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world”…

Josh Harris, a minority owner of the Crystal Palace Football Club, told Sportico that the team is “trying to look at whether there are investors that might want to join us” as the owners of the English Premier League club consider a potential sale…

City & State NY looks at the NYPD’s continued relationship with Israeli law enforcement — including a full-time liaison stationed in Israel — despite New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric, finding that “[n]owhere has the gap between Mamdani’s views on Israel and his actual policy been greater than his management of the NYPD”…

Variety interviews Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher about his new film “Our Loves,” inspired by the real-life relationships of survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which is set to premiere next month at the Toronto International Film Festival…

Seven anti-Israel protesters who were convicted last month of shutting down traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge during a 2024 demonstration were sentenced to 30 days in jail and six months probation, with the imposition of jail time on hold until the defendants file appeals…

A Jewish camp in Belgrade, Maine, is seeking a protective order from a neighbor with whom camp officials have clashed for years; the camp alleged that Nathan Hewett has sought to disturb campers and staff, and said that earlier this month he fired nearly two dozen gunshots nearby, sending the camp into lockdown…

The Wall Street Journal looks at the Alternative for Germany’s attacks on the Bauhaus art and design school, as the far-right party seeks to portray the art movement — which was banned by the Nazis — as “inhumane” and anti-German…

AirMail and Politico profile Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot, as the latest poll from Israel’s Kan network shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with 51 seats — short of the 61-seat majority needed to form a coalition…

Military officials from Burundi and Uganda met with officials in Israel last week to discuss the deployment of troops from both countries to join the international security force in Gaza…

Israel announced that it had discovered the wreckage of the Altalena, nearly 80 years after the vessel, which had been carrying arms to the Irgun when those aboard clashed with the IDF after the ship ran aground in Tel Aviv, was sunk on the orders of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in June 1948…

Peter Berkowitz was named the next James R. Schlesinger distinguished professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs…

Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.

What Bernie Wrought: In The Free Press, Joel Rubin, the former Jewish outreach director on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign, argues that Sanders and his political infrastructure have helped bring about the Democratic Party’s turn against Israel and a broader rise in antisemitism. “No longer are there any guardrails within the Sanders team that take the broader Jewish community’s sensitivities into account. … Rather, for the past several years, Sanders has helped build a political infrastructure on the American left in which hostility toward Israel has increasingly become a marker of ideological authenticity.” [FreePress]

That Other King: In The Washington Post, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer reflects on the upcoming High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the context of the “No Kings” protests that have taken place across the U.S. over the last year. “At the emotional center of both holidays is a word that recurs in their liturgies: king. … But 2,000 years before anyone printed a protest sign, the ancient rabbis who composed these words wrestled with the same discomfort we feel today. Indeed, the rabbinic approach to God as King can be summed up simply: Whatever you think a human king is, God is the opposite.” [WashPost]

Base Running: The Financial Times’ Jacob Judah does a deep dive into the debate over how — or whether — to rebuild U.S. military facilities in the Middle East that were damaged by Iranian fire. “As Pentagon planners have reimagined how to fight against advanced adversaries, large and fixed bases have been losing favour as the staging and supply hubs for military operations. The preference in Washington has been to move towards a more dispersed deployment model that makes it harder to target American forces.” [FT]

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Israeli Olympic gold medal gymnast Artem Dolgopyat won his third European Championship title for his floor routine during last week’s competition in Zagreb, Croatia. MARKO LUKUNIC/PIXSELL/MB MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES

Meital Dohan, Israeli actor and musician, turns 50

Meir Stern, rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic, N.J., turns 91

J. David Bleich, professor of Jewish law and ethics at Yeshiva University, he also teaches at Cardozo Law School, turns 90

Lois Tager, author, speaker, geriatric care manager and online counsellor for seniors in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Mel Karmazin, former president of Infinity Broadcasting, he eventually became the CEO of CBS and of Sirius Radio, turns 83

Joe Manchin, former U.S. senator (I-WV), turns 79

Dakota Jackson, celebrity furniture designer known for his eponymous furniture brand, turns 77

Lawrence Bacow, former president of Harvard and Tufts universities, turns 75

Jonathan Romain, rabbi emeritus of the Maidenhead Synagogue in Berkshire, England, turns 72

Ricki Seidman, senior counselor to the secretary of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, turns 71

Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, turns 71

Phil Rosen, retired in 2024 as head of the real estate practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, he is the vice chair of Birthright Israel Foundation and chair of World Jewish Congress-American section

Adam Gopnik, author of nine books, essayist and longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, turns 70

Steve Guttenberg, actor, producer and director, turns 68

Marvin Krislov, president of Pace University, turns 66

Jonathan Aviv, professor of otolaryngology at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC, turns 66

Marc Terrill, president emeritus of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore

Donna Barwald, professional organizer

Marlee Matlin, 1986 winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor for her role in “Children of a Lesser God,” she is the first deaf performer to have won the award, turns 61

Nick Denton, founder and CEO of Gawker Media until it was bankrupted by Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel, turns 60

Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, he is now executive director for Disability Law Colorado, turns 60

Lonnie Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

David Gregory, CNN political analyst, he is the former host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” turns 56

Todd Young, U.S. senator (R-IN), turns 54

Avigail Sperber, Israeli cinematographer and film and television director, turns 53

Miriam Shaviv, content marketing lead at Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, turns 50

Jon Daniels, former GM of MLB’s Texas Rangers, now a senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays, turns 49

Emily Cherniack, Boston-based, founder and executive director of the group New Politics

Michael M. Rosen, counsel at Irell & Manella and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

Jenn Hyman, co-founder and former CEO of Rent the Runway, a company focused on the renting of high-end clothing and accessories, turns 46

Jon Scheyer, head coach of the Duke men’s basketball team after serving as assistant to the legendary Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski), turns 39

David Perelman, CEO of the JCommerce Group, an e-commerce enterprise that services the Jewish community

Galia Slayen, VP of strategic communications at The Lede Company

Samantha Feinstein, owner of Sustayne and co-owner of Peabody Group

Natalie Short, SVP at Edelman Smithfield

Griffin Gluck, film and television actor, turns 26

• We’re monitoring the situation in Israel and Lebanon after Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam slammed “attacks, incursions, demolitions and the systematic destruction of homes” in parts of southern Lebanon.
• Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said the IDF was “destroying all the houses” in the established buffer zone between the countries as it prepares for a “long-term presence” in the area, prompting a rebuke from a State Department official, who said, without naming Katz, that a “permanent military presence in south Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made in the framework or the long-term peace and security of both states.”
• We’re also keeping an eye on developments in the West Bank, as extremist settlers attempt a siege on a home owned by a Palestinian American family in the village of Qusra. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee criticized the “horrific act of terror” targeting the home and its residents, who according to a relative in the U.S. were evacuated by the IDF.
• In Washington, the Hudson Institute is holding an event this morning looking at the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran nearly six months after the launch of Operation Epic Fury. Speakers include the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Behnam Ben Taleblu, the Hudson Institute’s Michael Doran and Zineb Riboua, and former State Department official Ludovic Hood, who recently joined Hudson’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East as a senior fellow.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is openly considering a presidential campaign in 2028, made waves over the weekend when she declared that “Woke 1.0 was crazy” in a nationally televised ABC News interview where she distanced herself from the most unpopular elements of the progressive movement. 

Left unsaid during the conversation is what specific policies in the party’s last activist wave does she think were crazy, and does she still agree with any of them? After all, the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America currently outlines many of the same issues that played a role in Democrats’ defeat in 2024 — from progressive candidates’ support for defunding the police to the Biden administration’s open-ended immigration policy that led to the second Trump administration’s harsh crackdown on refugees and undocumented immigrants. 

Presumably, she’ll be asked to answer more of the specifics in subsequent interviews. But the implication of her comments was that it’s hard for Democrats to publicly embrace the panoply of left-wing issues that became liberal conventional wisdom around the time of the pandemic without suffering a significant political penalty. Democrats aren’t exactly speaking the language of climate change activists or transgender advocates or supporting watering down penalties for criminals anymore, as was commonplace in 2020.  

But they aren’t confronting the far-left forces that drove these issues to the forefront of the conversation for much of the last decade, either. The scandal surrounding Francesca Hong’s view of Thanksgiving as a “colonizer holiday” and Abdul El-Sayed’s comments bashing football, July 4 fireworks and Mackinac Island only underscore the impression that their deeply-held views are at odds with a majority of Americans. 

And meanwhile, the DSA faction is as influential as ever in Democratic Party politics. How did that happen, even as a prominent progressive like AOC now acknowledges the excesses of the far left? It’s because the activists have refocused their attention away from their (still deeply held) unpopular social and cultural positions, and are now singularly focused on demanding candidates label Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as a genocide. That’s the biggest litmus test right now. And their efforts are aided by the overall decline in support for Israel within the Democratic Party that’s accelerated in the last year.

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

• Voters in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin head to the polls today for party primaries. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the Senate and gubernatorial Democratic primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota as the far left makes gains in the party. More below on the races we’re watching.
• In addition, South Carolina and Alabama are holding special elections. In the Palmetto State, Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) is running for a full term, which she announced after being tapped to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term following his death last month.
• In Washington, Ken Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, is slated to testify before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a hearing about rules requiring employers to provide yearly reports breaking down their workforce by race, sex and ethnicity.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Today’s Democratic primaries in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin won’t have the same shock value as previous contests that underscored the strength of the anti-establishment, anti-Israel forces within the party. 

But the possibility of Minnesota Democrats nominating a true-blue progressive over a battle-tested moderate lawmaker as their Senate standard-bearer, along with the growing likelihood suburban voters will reject a pragmatist for a left-wing candidate, may well demonstrate just how far left the party has swung in the past year.  

Add to that the likelihood that Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidate Francesca Hong will emerge as the party’s gubernatorial nominee in Wisconsin — providing a spotlight for the socialist group’s governing philosophy in the biggest of battleground states — and the stakes remain awfully high for the Democratic Party tonight.

There’s also a fascinating contest in Connecticut, where Rep. John Larson (D-CT), a former member of House leadership, is facing a real threat from former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. The primary isn’t as neatly driven by ideological differences as it is along generational lines (Larson is 78, Bronin 47), but Larson has been a reliable supporter of Israel during his congressional career, while Bronin has tacked to his left on the issue during the campaign. 

It’s very possible that the left wing of the party ends up with a clean, four-race sweep in these contests. 

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

Reality Bites: The New York Times’ Anton Troianovski looks at the challenges facing President Donald Trump as he tries to wind down the wars in both Iran and Gaza. “The two Middle East conflicts have underscored Mr. Trump’s eagerness to declare success and his inability to impose his will on them, despite the enormous military firepower that he has been able to deploy. Mr. Trump is ‘clearly trying to find a pathway as the midterms approach to downgrade all of this,’ said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank. Instead, Mr. Katulis went on, ‘reality is slapping him in the face.’” [NYTimes]

August Recess: In The Wall Street Journal, presidential historian Tevi Troy explores the history of presidents seeking refuge from the humid August weather in Washington. “These and other instances remind us that even though August is a time to relax, it can also be a time of peril, for presidents and their staff alike. In his memoir of his time in Jimmy Carter’s White House, aide Stuart Eizenstat grumbled on multiple occasions about people being off in August during important events. …On another occasion, U.S. Ambassador to Iran William Sullivan took a long summer vacation in 1978, when Iran was on the path to a revolution against the shah, an important American ally.” [WSJ]

Brothers in Arms: In The Washington Post, singer John Ondrasik, known as Five for Fighting, expresses solidarity with Boy George after the artist received backlash over his new song supporting Israel. “What makes Boy George so enraging to the haters is that he, like me, is not Jewish. That fact sends a signal: This is not a religious battle but a moral one. One of good versus evil, without relativity or equivocation. To the haters, that means Boy George must be ridiculed, marginalized or intimidated, lest he give license to others who might have been cowed into not voicing their support for the Jewish people. In 1982, Boy George, with Culture Club, released the hit song ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.’ In this battle for civilization, the answer is, indisputably, yes.” [WashPost]

Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.

The Washington Post reports that President Donald Trump was clandestinely flown out of Turkey on a small military jet following last month’s NATO summit in Ankara; the president had previously been filmed entering an older Air Force One plane — moving to the smaller plane via catering truck after photos were taken — after the recently gifted Qatari luxury jet he flew on to Turkey was not deemed to have the requisite security features…

The International Atomic Energy Agency will remove nuclear material stored at a secret site in Syria tied to the fallen Assad regime per an agreement reached between the U.S., Jerusalem and Damascus…

The Wall Street Journal reports that Gulf states are resigned to the idea that Iran will have permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz as part of a deal with the U.S., preferring that outcome to war…

Responding to a recent demand from Iran that the U.S. fully compensate it for its war costs in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump issued his own demand on Monday that Tehran compensate the U.S. “for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts,” as well as pay reparations to the “families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years”…

The Defense Department renamed a South Carolina military base in honor of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who died last month; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the ceremony at the Charleston base to honor Graham, who served in the Air Force JAG Corps before retiring as a colonel…

The Cook Political Report switched its rating of the congressional race in Ohio’s 7th District to a “toss-up” from “likely Republican” after Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), who is facing allegations of domestic violence, passed the deadline to withdraw from the race; Miller denies the accusations from his ex-wife, whose father, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), has called for Miller to resign…

Politico reports that White House officials, convinced Miller would not drop his reelection bid, dissuaded Ohio Republican leaders from launching a public campaign against Miller; the report comes as national Democrats step up support for Miller’s general election challenger, Brian Poindexter…

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed should “tone down his rhetoric” about Israel and AIPAC in order to help combat antisemitism within the party…

Two hundred Jewish community activists, rabbis, professionals and academics have signed a petition to the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, urging him to take security measures to protect Jewish delegates at the upcoming party convention; Nessel said last month that antisemitism in the state — and in the statewide Democratic Party — had gotten so bad that she will not attend the convention this month… 

A national co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America said last week that she would have attended an anti-Israel rally in Times Square one day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks had she been in New York City at the time, describing the terror group’s slaughter of more than 1,200 people across southern Israel as “inevitable,” JI’s Gabby Deutch reports…

A group of rabbis from several denominations urged New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday to dial down his rhetoric on Israel, warning him about the impact it is having on the safety of the city’s Jews, during a private meeting at City Hall…

The family of journalist Cara Trager, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Queens by a driver who weeks earlier had vandalized a Jewish-owned bagel shop, is calling on elected officials to make greater efforts to address hate crimes…

Apple reached a $150,000 settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over a complaint filed on behalf of a Jewish employee who said his request to take time off for Jewish holidays was denied and he was fired shortly after making the ask…

Former Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, said he was not called to testify before the country’s royal commission into antisemitism, despite being a leader of the country’s Jewish community and a major advocate of the commission’s creation…

A Syrian court sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity; both men are living in Russia, where they fled as the Assad regime fell in late 2024…

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry announced Bogota’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, days after conservative President Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in; the announcement came shortly after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake shook the western part of the country, killing more than 100 people and prompting messages of condolences from Israeli officials…

On Sunday night, mental health nonprofit Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services, Inc. agreed to hand its winning bid for Camp Lavi in Lakewood, Pa., to the second-place bidder, ensuring that the Modern Orthodox camp would continue operating in its current format. But just before the tentative agreement was to be legally recognized on Monday morning, the second-place bidder said he would not offer his original bid, scuttling the deal and throwing the fate of the camp into limbo, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher has learned… 

Miriam Belsky has been appointed executive vice president of the TruBob Fund, a new national initiative supporting Jewish day schools established by philanthropists Trudy Elbaum Gottesman and Robert W. Gottesman…

Find on-demand Live Briefing updates throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.

The U.K.’s Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council met on Monday with Ed Miliband, who was appointed last month as foreign secretary under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Co-founder and CEO of Israeli interactive video firm Eko, Yoni Bloch turns 45… 

Longtime Democratic Party activist in N.Y.’s Orange and Rockland counties, Doris Feder turns 94… Architect best known for the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Peter David Eisenman turns 94… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, she also served as Brooklyn DA and NYC comptroller, Elizabeth Holtzman turns 85… Principal of Investors Research Group based in Los Angeles, Jacob S. Segal… Former SVP for international affairs at the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Lois Weinsaft… Co-founder of The Carlyle Group, in 2024 he became the principal owner of MLB’s Baltimore Orioles, David Rubenstein turns 77… U.S. trade representative during the Clinton administration, she is chair of Parkside Global Advisors, Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky turns 76… Senior counsel for benefits and employment at the Wagner Law Group, Linda E. Rosenzweig… Lenore Solomon… Artistic director and choreographer of an eponymous dance company based in Union, N.J., Carolyn Dorfman… CEO, chairman and major shareholder of the Russian gas company Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson turns 71… Board member emeritus of AIPAC, Jeffrey Snyder… Former member of the Massachusetts Senate, he is the founder of Cape Air, Daniel A. “Dan” Wolf turns 69… Publisher of Yated Ne’eman, a weekly English-language Haredi newspaper and magazine based in New Jersey, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz turns 68… Israeli minister of regional cooperation, David “Dudi” Amsalem turns 66… Co-founder and partner of MizMaa Ventures and wine columnist for Jewish Insider, Isaac “Yitz” Applbaum… Chairman at Duty Free Americas, his family owns Israel’s Psagot Winery, Simon Falic… Former chief of the Shin Bet/Shabak, Nadav Argaman turns 66… Staff writer at The Atlantic, David Brooks turns 65… Host of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Joe Rogan turns 59… Senior advisor at The Aspen Institute, Ilana Marcus Drimmer… Clarinetist who performs internationally as a soloist, Sharon Kam turns 55… MLB pitcher for seven teams, he has also been the pitching coach for Team Israel, Andrew Lorraine turns 54… NFL offensive lineman for four seasons, he is now the managing partner of Oakland, Calif.-based North Venture Partners, Alex Bernstein turns 51… Chief investment officer and CEO of Toronto-based investment firm Murchinson, Marc Bistricer… NFL punter for seven seasons with the Jaguars and Bears, he was then a financial advisor in the Jacksonville office of Merrill Lynch, Adam Podlesh turns 43… Reporter for Mishpacha Magazine, known as Turx, Avraham Yaakov Tarkieltaub turns 40… Ukrainian-born and San Francisco-raised journalist and copywriter, Yelena Shuster… Complex general surgical oncology fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Sara Ginzberg, M.D…. Daniel Weitz…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

A woman who dated Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner alleged in a series of interviews with Politico that the Democrat sexually assaulted her in 2021, an account the outlet backed up with her correspondence and other interviews.The woman, Jenny Racicot, said Platner came into her home uninvited while intoxicated and forced himself on her despite her repeated objections.

In a video statement, Platner denied the accusation outright but said he’s “mindful of the political reality it will inflict” and would be “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love,” a different tone than Platner has struck in the aftermath of his previous controversies. The Maine Democratic Party can only choose a replacement nominee for the general election ballot if Platner voluntarily withdraws by July 13…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced opposition today to the Trump administration’s sale of jet engines and potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, hours before President Donald Trump was set to depart for the NATO summit in Ankara, Jewish Insider’s Christina Sher reports.

Netanyahu suggested on “Fox & Friends” that such moves “will upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority” and U.S. posture in the region. Axios reports that Netanyahu relayed the same message directly to Trump in a phone call last week and asked him to help address Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s escalating anti-Israel rhetoric…

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The percentage of Jewish Israelis who believe Israel’s security is a central consideration for Trump has reached a record low of 26%, according to a new survey from the Israel Democracy Institute, JI’s Matthew Shea reports. The figure marks a 15-point decrease from a month ago, during which time the Trump administration signed its memorandum of understanding with Iran…

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Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem announced at a press conference in Gaza today that the terror group’s Emergency Committee — the administrative body that has governed the enclave for more than two decades — is dissolving and that its civil servants, who will remain in their roles, stand ready to work under the new technocratic government established by the Board of Peace.

The BoP expressed skepticism about the announcement, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Matthew Shea report, saying its “assessment will be guided by actions, not promises” and calling for a “genuine transfer of authority” and for Hamas to disarm. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dismissed the move outright, calling it a “trick … designed to prevent [Hamas’] own disarmament”…

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Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said both Israel and Lebanon see the agreement signed between Jerusalem, Beirut and Washington earlier this month as “superseding” the first clause of the U.S.-Iran MOU, which calls for the end of hostilities on all fronts. “Whether or not the United States does, you’ll have to ask an administration spokesman,” Leiter said at an event with the Council on Foreign Relations.

Leiter also said he “can’t imagine that any ultimate agreement with Iran would be absent a clause limiting the development of ballistic missiles,” though the MOU did not mention Iran’s ballistic missile program…

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In a preview obtained by Politico of the speech former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel is set to deliver at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, the prospective 2028 presidential candidate is set to say that the U.S. has spent too long “averting its eyes” from what he views as Israel’s misadventures, calling for “significant changes and a new direction” in the bilateral relationship.

“Going forward, Emanuel plans to say, Israelis should regard U.S. support as expressly contingent: On reviving a serious commitment to Palestinian sovereignty; On rejecting dreams of asserting dominion beyond official borders in pursuit of ‘Greater Israel’; On abandoning a security strategy that emphasizes brutally effective military force with scant attention to diplomacy or credible what-next plans in Gaza and Iran,” the outlet reported…

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French President Emmanuel Macron became the first major Western head of state to visit Syria since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2024, landing in Damascus today for meetings with Syrian leaders. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is also expected to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey this week…

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

The two-day NATO summit begins in Turkey tomorrow with leaders of all 32 NATO countries expected to attend, as well as a congressional delegation comprised of Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH). At the top of the agenda are increasing defense investments, as Trump continues to press NATO allies to shoulder a greater share of the alliance’s defense burden and threatens to draw down U.S. troops from Europe, and continuing to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Abdul El-Sayed, now the only remaining candidates in Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, will participate in a televised debate on local news tomorrow night, their first head-to-head matchup since state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign yesterday.

The annual Contemporary Antisemitism conference, which bills itself as the largest annual academic conference on contemporary antisemitism, will kick off tomorrow at the University of Haifa. The three-day summit will feature hundreds of academics and experts, with a keynote speech tomorrow from former State Department antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt and a lifetime achievement award presented to Tel Aviv University professor emerita Dina Porat.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

In their indirect talks in Doha this week, the U.S. offered Iran access to some of its$100 billion in frozen funds in exchange for Tehran not instituting a toll on the Strait of Hormuz, but Iranian officials have continued to signal they plan to proceed with the move. Continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon also caused tension during the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reports…

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U.S. officials told The New York Times that Washington believed Israel was plotting to assassinate Iran’s top negotiators — Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — as they were engaged in recent talks with the U.S. over the memorandum of understanding…

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Arizona Jewish and pro-Israel leaders told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel that they feel misled by Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), whom they supported in her contested 2024 primary but who has since turned away from the pro-Israel views she espoused during the campaign — including now rejecting support from Democratic Majority for Israel, which backed her with a surge of spending in 2024…

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The AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC is up with its first negative ad against far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, JI’s Marc Rod reports, hitting the Democrat in the initial $2 million ad buy for his “long history of disrespecting women.” Meanwhile, El-Sayed picked up a high-profile endorsement today from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), her first in a contested Senate race this cycle.

UDP also made $400,000 in advertising reservations to support Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) as he faces a comeback primary challenge from former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), whom UDP helped Bell defeat in 2024…

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Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, the Democratic nominee for governor, criticized his party’s socialist congressional nominee, Melat Kiros, for her refusal to describe the deadly firebombing of a Boulder, Colo., hostage awareness march last year as an act of antisemitism, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

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New York City congressional nominee Brad Lander published a response to Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove’s letter earlier this week in which Cosgrove predicted that Lander’s hostility to Israel would not be enough to protect him from being targeted by the far left. Lander argued in his response that criticism of Israel — including describing its war in Gaza as a genocide — is consistent with Jewish values and that excluding anti-Zionist Jews weakens the Jewish community…

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New polling data shows that a sizable majority of Jewish voters disapprove of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s job performance and fear he is pushing the Democratic Party too far to the left, in contrast with non-Jewish voters who hold a largely favorable view of the democratic socialist, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…

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A bipartisan group of House lawmakers, led by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), wrote to President Donald Trump today to “express deep concern about any effort” to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, JI’s Marc Rod reports, after Trump and Vice President JD Vance indicated they were looking into it last week…

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Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), the founder of the Republican Israel Caucus and a reliable ally of the Jewish state, called Israel’s “continuing aggressive operations” in Syria “deeply disturbing,” “counterproductive” and “irresponsible.” Wilson accused Israel of “taking Syrian land and attacking Syrian cities,” saying the operations “need to end immediately”…

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Wilson, along with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), also sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the administration to remove Syriafrom the State Sponsor of Terrorism list…

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Israel marked 1,000 days today since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, with memorials and protests taking place around the country…

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Far-right commentator Tucker Carlson told the Columbia Journalism Review that he plans to help start a new political party — after saying last month he was renouncing the Republican Party — but does not plan to run as a candidate. He repeatedly railed against Israel in the interview and accused it of “taking over my political system and destroying my country”…

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Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin hosted his annual White Party at his Hamptons estate yesterday featuring a host of high-profile attendees, including Ivanka Trump, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, former quarterback Tom Brady, actor Leonardo di Caprio and more…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-FL) contentious primary race in Florida’s 20th Congressional District.

Fourth of July celebrations in the nation’s capital are kicking off with a bang (literally — the fireworks show on the National Mall could break world records). President Donald Trump is slated to give a speech on the Mall ahead of the fireworks show on Saturday night, followed by a military flyover debuting the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet.

Iran is slated to hold a massive, dayslong funeral procession for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei beginning on Saturday in Tehran and including cities across Iran and Iraq. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a top mediator between the U.S. and Iran, will attend the memorial, alongside officials from dozens of other countries.

Christians United for Israel’s annual summit in Washington will begin on Sunday. Speakers over the three-day confab include State Department antisemitism envoy Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun; former Auburn University basketball coach Bruce Pearl; Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch; and former Israeli hostage Yair Horn.

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom and happy Fourth of July weekend!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Talks in Doha about the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding have concluded, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi announced, with the countries agreeing to create a communication channel “by tomorrow” in order to address MOU violations.

The U.S. and Iran also agreed to “keep things quiet for the coming week,” a U.S. official told Axios, while Washington is reportedly continuing to press Tehran to abandon its plan to charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz and “think bigger” on a nuclear deal. The sums Iran could generate from freely selling oil without sanctions under such a deal “would be 100 times more valuable to them,” the official said…

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New York Times/Siena polls of the six Senate battleground states — Alaska, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas — found that Democrats have a path, albeit an uphill one, to retake the chamber in November. All of the races are within the margin of error except in North Carolina, where former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads Michael Whatley, former chair of the Republican National Committee, with the largest margin of seven points…

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Poetica Coffee, the Brooklyn cafe that banned Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) last week over his support of Israel, claimed in an Instagram post today that Goldman intentionally “smear[ed]” the business in talking about his experience “possibly for election-eve media exposure”…

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Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN yesterday that some democratic socialist candidates have views that are “vastly more radical” than where the “Democratic coalition” stands, saying their support for communism, open borders and defunding the police represents “a fundamental attack on America itself”…

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Asked about Republicans viewing him as easier to beat in a general election than his more-moderate primary opponents, far-left Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told Semafor, “The number of times I’m gonna define and redefine Mike Rogers!” referring to the GOP Senate front-runner and former Michigan representative. “By the time I’m done, his best friends are gonna look at him and think what I think, say what I say. I’m gonna define him into eternity”…

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The National Education Association adopted new policies ahead of its convening this weekend in Denver after its Jewish Affairs Caucus and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs advocated for such changes, JCPA said, in response to last year’s assembly which grew contentious over antisemitism issues. The new changes include stronger conduct enforcement for delegates, electronic voting to reduce shouting on the floor during resolution votes, de-escalation training for NEA staff and repeated public reminders of the rules…

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Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji was sentenced to one year in jail and two years of probation yesterday after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and battery in the death of Paul Kessler, a 69-year-old Jewish man who died after Alnaji struck him with a megaphone at a protest in California shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. The Anti-Defamation League’s California regional offices decried the sentence as “little more than a slap on the wrist” and expressed concern at the judge’s dismissive demeanor during sentencing…

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A New York woman was arrested yesterday by the FBI for allegedly providing material support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including over $30,000 in cryptocurrency. The woman is a leader of an extremist organization called the Direct Action Movement for Palestinian Liberation, according to the FBI, and had communicated with a person claiming to be a PIJ fighter in Gaza, whom she told she “wish[es] every day were October 7th”…

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Speaking at the Herzliya Conference in Israel, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, addressed Israeli public criticism of the U.S.’ foreign policy, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports: “What some in Israel perceive as weakness or folly, an apparent disregard for every warning sign on the ground, is viewed in Washington as cold, calculated and clear-eyed risk management in an era of shifting global attention.”

“For us, Iran is an existential threat; for the United States, it is a chronic regional challenge,” Baram said of the countries’ differing priorities. “We think Tehran, they think Taiwan”…

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar held a ceremony to sign the lease for the permanent new complex of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem; Huckabee handed Sa’ar a $1 bill as symbolic payment for the 99-year lease…

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The New York Times looks at President Donald Trump’s insistence that Syria take over fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon from Israel, an idea that has been shot down by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and raised alarm across the Middle East…

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CENTCOM hosted a regional security dialogue alongside the Bahrain Defense Force with participation from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE and Yemen — “the first time military leaders from Syria and Lebanon participated in a regional defense conference led by the United States,” CENTCOM said…

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The U.S. Navy is searching for a missing aircrew member after a Sea Hawk helicopter made an emergency water landing in the Arabian Sea, with three of the four crew members rescued in stable condition. There’s no indication any hostile action was involved, the Navy’s 5th Fleet said…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how Jewish leaders are approaching America’s 250th birthday — and why many see the milestone, coming at a fraught moment, as a chance to reaffirm both their Jewish identity and their faith in the American experiment.

The Maccabiah Games, which kicked off today in Jerusalem with a grand opening ceremony, begin in earnest tomorrow as about 5,000 athletes — including 900 from the U.S. — compete in more than 30 sports over the next two weeks.

• We’re closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East following last night’s escalation between Israel and Iran. Earlier this morning, Iran and its Houthi proxy fired several barrages at Israel, and Israel struck an Iranian petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran as well as additional targets that the IDF described as “strategic defense systems” belonging to the Iranian regime. Early this afternoon local time, Iran reportedly said it was halting its fire against Israel. More below.
• President Donald Trump said that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting,’” in a post on Truth Social early Monday morning. For the latest developments delivered throughout the day, premium subscribers can stay updated with JI’s What We’re Watching live briefing.
• The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding its markup of the 2027 NDAA.
• Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin will be the keynote speakers at tonight’s annual Rabin lecture hosted by Washington Hebrew Congregation and the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School.
• Elsewhere in Washington, the American Council on Education is convening faith-based higher education leaders today for a daylong summit.
• Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are both expected to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight in New York, where the Knicks will take on the San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks lead 2-0 in the best-of-seven championship series.
• The Seminar Annual Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz., kicked off yesterday and runs through tomorrow. Among those slated to speak is Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

Millions of people across northern Israel heard a familiar sound from their phones late Sunday night: an alert from Israel’s Homefront Command, notifying them for the first time in two months, of an incoming ballistic missile attack from Iran.

Just after sunrise, residents of Israel’s center — from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — received the same notification, and groggily huddled in shelters as Iran, joined by its Houthi proxy in Yemen, launched fresh salvos at Israel. Shortly after, Israel struck a petrochemical plant in southwest Iran.

Last night’s initial Iranian attack came in response to Israeli strikes in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold that had in recent weeks been off-limits to the IDF in accordance with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Lebanon that limited Israeli action to southern Lebanon, another Hezbollah stronghold. 

What matters more than how the latest round of fighting started is what will happen next. Israeli media reported that its overnight strikes on Iran had been coordinated with the U.S., even as President Donald Trump spent Sunday afternoon on the phone with reporters trying to publicly de-escalate the situation. But early this afternoon local time, Iran reportedly said it was halting its fire against Israel.

Shortly after Iran’s initial missile attack on Sunday, Trump told Fox News that the incident was “certainly not going to help” the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. He continued, “What I would suggest to Iran: You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough, get back to the table and make a deal.”

Trump’s comments could be taken at face value — or viewed with some skepticism in light of the Israeli media reports that the strikes were coordinated with Washington. It would not, after all, be the first time in which the U.S. and Israel publicly emphasized their differences while privately remaining aligned — even amid alleged fissures in the relationship. That includes leaks to NBC News and The New York Times over the weekend that the Defense Department’s Defense Intelligence Agency had raised its counterintelligence threat level for Israel to the highest level. The Times named three U.S. officials that were allegedly being tracked for information on the Iran negotiations: White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, the Pentagon’s Elbridge Colby and Colby’s deputy, Michael DiMino.

But things move fast in the Middle East. Recall that last June, after 12 days of intensive strikes between Israel and Iran, joined by the U.S., a ceasefire was announced mere hours after Iran launched missiles at a U.S. airbase in Qatar. Addressing the overnight escalation between Israel and Iran — and Iran’s continued intransigence in the region — is likely to be the White House’s top order of business today. Indeed, Trump issued his first comments of the day shortly before 6 a.m. ET, posting on his Truth Social site that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’”

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