Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Washington is preparing for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit tomorrow, where he’ll meet President Donald Trump at the White House and be hosted for dinner with administration officials, members of Congress and business leaders. On Wednesday, MBS is expected to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Punchbowl News reports, and the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum will take place at the Kennedy Center.

Trump confirmed to reporters in the Oval Office this afternoon that the U.S. will sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, without offering details of the deal… 

In a blurring of the lines between the political and the personal, the president may have more than just defense deals on his mind: The Trump Organization is in talks to bring a Trump property to one of Saudi Arabia’s largest government-owned real estate developments, The New York Times reports…

The U.N. Security Council just adopted the U.S.-sponsored resolution backing Trump’s 20-point peace plan, including the creation of an international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip, with 13 votes in favor and Russia and China abstaining. The resolution contains language on “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”…

The Journal also reports on Hamas’ rising popularity inside Gaza since the start of the ceasefire with Israel, as Gazans see the terror group as capable of restoring order and preventing lawlessness, which may pose an issue to the implementation of the ceasefire that requires Hamas to disarm…

In the latest fallout at the Heritage Foundation over its president’s defense of Tucker Carlson after his friendly interview with neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, Robert George, a prominent board member, resigned today, citing the lack of a “full retraction” by Heritage President Kevin Roberts of the video defending Carlson, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

George’s decision to step down indicates that Roberts is likely safe in his role, for now, as its board remains split about his future, according to a former Heritage staffer familiar with internal discussions…

Trump weighed in on the Carlson controversy over the weekend, saying when asked by reporters what role Carlson should play in the conservative movement after his interview with Fuentes, “I found [Carlson] to be good. I mean, he said good things about me over the years. I think he’s good. We’ve had some good interviews.”

“You can’t tell him who to interview. I mean, if he wants to interview Nick Fuentes, I don’t know much about him, but if he wants to do it, get the word out. People have to decide. Ultimately, people have to decide. … Meeting people, talking to people for somebody like Tucker, that’s what they do. You know, people are controversial. Some are, some aren’t. I’m not controversial, so I like it that way”…

Also evoking backlash, a producer for former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) weeknight show on the right-wing One America News Network has reportedly been fired after he shared a vehemently antisemitic social media post depicting Jews as cockroaches, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Vish Burra, who was a booker and script writer for Gaetz, had drawn widespread backlash for posting an AI-generated animated video last week showing him entering a “scheming room” with Stars of David on the door to find a group of cockroaches counting money, who scurry away upon his arrival. The post has since been deleted.

Burra also defended Roberts in a separate post, writing, “I will expose the vermin in the venomous coalition and their transgression against MAGA, America First, and Kevin Roberts at The Heritage Foundation. It all starts with Susan Lebovitz-Edelman,” referring to a Jewish trustee at the conservative Manhattan Institute who is married to hedge fund manager Joseph Edelman…

Political alliances are developing in the Democratic primary to replace New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill in a special election for the state’s 11th Congressional District: Gov. Phil Murphy announced he’s backing Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, his former campaign manager and a front-runner in the race, while Tahesha Way, his lieutenant governor, is expected to launch a campaign shortly.

The field of nine other Democrats also includes former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who represented the neighboring district until 2023 and today received the endorsement of Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), in an apparent act of reciprocity — Malinowski supported Kim in his bid for Senate in 2024 against the governor’s wife, Tammy Murphy. The primary is expected to take place in late January-early February…

In nearby New York, pro-Israel Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) drew a primary challenger today: Chuck Park, who served as a foreign service officer until 2019 and as chief of staff to New York City Councilman Shekar Krishnan, an ally of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, announced an anti-establishment bid for the Queens district…

Now that he is about to assume leadership of the largest city in the U.S., Mamdani will need to receive top-level security clearance from the Trump administration, marking the first test of the new mayor’s relationship with Washington, Politico reports. Trump told reporters on Sunday that Mamdani “would like to come to Washington and meet and we’ll work something out” and “we want to see everything work out well for New York”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for a deep dive into the shifting anti-Israel dynamics on the far right. 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s White House visit will begin tomorrow with an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn and a greeting on the South Portico, before an Oval Office bilateral meeting and signing and lunch in the Cabinet Room. A formal dinner, hosted by First Lady Melania Trump, will take place in the evening in the East Room.

The American Jewish Committee will hold a webinar, “Unpacking the Saudi White House Visit,” tomorrow afternoon with Jason Isaacson, AJC’s chief policy and political affairs officer; Anne Dreazen, vice president of AJC’s Center for a New Middle East; and Michael Ratney, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, a project that was closely affiliated with the Heritage Foundation until earlier this month when it broke with the conservative think tank over Heritage President Kevin Roberts’ defense of Tucker Carlson, is hosting a summit in Washington tomorrow in response to the recent developments. The gathering, “Exposing and Countering Extremism and Antisemitism on the Political Right,” will feature remarks from task force co-chairs Luke Moon, Pastor Mario Bramnick and Ellie Cohanim; U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee; Ralph Reed, president of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. Discussion topics will include “replacement theology,” the path ahead for Gen Z and “overcoming the Woke Right.”

The Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly wraps up tomorrow in Washington. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is slated to speak and JI’s Lahav Harkov will moderate a panel on the Middle East in a post-Oct. 7 world.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz will deliver remarks with pop diva Nicki Minaj tomorrow on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

We’re watching developments in ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations after President Donald Trump called for Hamas to accept the latest U.S.-sponsored deal over the weekend, which would see all the hostages, living and dead, released on the first day of the ceasefire. 

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and former Trump Mideast advisor Jared Kushner met with Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Miami today to discuss developments in Gaza, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports.

Hamas had claimed it was ready to “immediately sit at the negotiating table” in response to Trump’s statement, but sources for the terror group told a Saudi newspaper today that a complete hostage release would not be possible immediately, claiming a ceasefire would have to go into effect first to reach all the bodies…

In other national security news, The New York Times spotlights the race between defense firms to develop technologies for a future “Golden Dome” missile-defense system.

“Companies chosen for Golden Dome are likely to become the new cornerstones of U.S. defense, military officials involved in the project said,” and firms including Palantir and Anduril as well as innovative startups have been in discussions with the Trump administration, the Times reports. 

Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center for Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, “There are more than 100 companies out there with a sensor, satellite or other devices they want to sell to Golden Dome. This is the Wild West, and this is a massive opportunity for whoever is selected”…

Diplomatic tensions are rising between Israel and Spain after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced today that his country would be formalizing an existing de facto arms embargo against Israel and banning anyone who has participated in “genocide” in Gaza from entering Spain as well as ships carrying fuel for the IDF from Spanish ports. 

“This is not self-defense, it’s not even an attack — it’s the extermination of a defenseless people,” Sanchez said of Israel’s war in Gaza.

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced that Israel had banned two anti-Israel Spanish ministers from entering the country; Spain then summoned its ambassador in Tel Aviv, all shortly after a young Spanish immigrant to Israel was killed in this morning’s terror attack on a bus stop in Jerusalem…

The U.K. has come to a different conclusion about Israel’s actions in Gaza, according to a letter sent last week by former Foreign Secretary David Lammy before he was replaced in a reshuffling of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet. 

Lammy wrote to the chair of the U.K.’s international development committee that the Foreign Office had found in an assessment that Israel was not committing a genocide as it was missing “intent” to do so. It’s the first time the U.K. has said so explicitly, previously holding that the matter of genocide was up to international courts to determine, just weeks before the country is expected to recognize a Palestinian state…

Former Hudson Institute CEO and President Kenneth Weinstein will serve as CBS News’ ombudsman, a new role that oversees editorial concerns from employees and viewers, Paramount announced Monday. Alongside reports that Paramount is expected to purchase Bari Weiss’ Free Press and bring her into an editorial role at CBS, the moves mark a new era for the network that has been accused of systemic anti-Israel bias…

Embracing their anti-Israel bona fides, hundreds of actors, filmmakers and film industry workers recently signed a pledge to boycott Israel, which says it was inspired by filmmakers who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa.

The signatories, including Hollywood stars such as Alyssa Milano, Mark Ruffalo, Anna Shaffer, Ayo Edebiri, Cynthia Nixon, Hannah Einbinder and Ilana Glazer, promised “not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions — including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies — that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”…

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said in comments to Jewish leaders in New York City today that some of her fellow Democratic lawmakers are inadvertently fueling antisemitism through the rhetoric and slogans they use, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

“When they say words like ‘river to the sea,’ whey they say words like ‘globalize the intifada,’ it means end Israel. It means destroy Jews,” Gillibrand said. Intifada, she continued, is “not a social movement. It’s terrorism, it’s destruction, it’s death.”

The New York senator had previously offered strong condemnation of NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani for his refusal to condemn the “globalize the intifada” slogan and has not endorsed his bid for mayor…

Mamdani’s opponent, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, officially dropped the ballot line “EndAntiSemitism,” running only on the “Safe & Affordable” line, after the New York City Board of Elections said he couldn’t run on both. Adams’ campaign spokesperson said he intends to pursue legal options over the issue…

Graham Platner, an anti-Israel Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, wrote in a high school op-ed shortly after 9/11, during the Second Intifada in Israel, that the media provides an “incomplete story” of terrorist acts and writes “incomplete coverage” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “where a sometimes-oppressive Israeli state can be, and often is, portrayed as a victim.” 

Platner and his co-authors argued in the article in a local Maine outlet, unearthed by the Free Beacon, that ending terrorist acts would be “best achieved by understanding the circumstances under which they were committed”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an interview with former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz, whose new book As A Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us, comes out Tuesday. 

It’s a busy week in Washington, where the 2025 MEAD Summit will kick off tomorrow. The high-profile but elusive gathering will bring together top American and U.S. security officials, diplomats, lawmakers, philanthropists, CEOs and journalists. If you’re attending, make sure to say hello to JI’s Josh Kraushaar and Gabby Deutch!

The Iran Conference, hosted by the National Union for Democracy in Iran, will also begin in Washington tomorrow for analysts, policymakers and activists to discuss Iran policy, just two months after U.S. and Israeli strikes decimated Tehran’s nuclear and military infrastructure.

On the Hill, the House Education and Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions will hold a hearing on “unmasking union antisemitism.”

Virginia’s 11th Congressional District is holding its special election tomorrow to fill the seat of the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). James Walkinshaw, Connolly’s longtime former aide, is the heavy favorite to win. Read JI’s interview with Walkinshaw here. 

Looking to New York City, The MirYam Institute will hold an international security benefit briefing tomorrow featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett; nearby, the Soufan Center will begin its Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence, meant to honor the memory of 9/11 victims and address emerging global threats.

The Florida Holocaust Museum is reopening tomorrow with a ribbon-cutting ceremony after an extensive period of renovation.

Abroad, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will host its belated July 4 party tomorrow, and the Hili Forum will convene its last day in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, covering trade, tech and governance. DSEI U.K., a large defense trade show, is starting up in London, where protests are expected against the dozens of Israeli firms that are participating.  

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is set to make a comeback bid for the Senate, taking on Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) — who was appointed earlier this year to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat — next year. Brown, who lost his seat to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) in a hotly contested 2024 race, held a solidly progressive voting record during his three terms in the Senate but maintained his support for Israel and relationships with Ohio’s sizable Jewish community. Senate Democrats have encouraged Brown to run again, seeing him as one of the party’s few chances to flip a GOP-held Senate seat back to blue in the midterms…

The Democratic National Committee is set to consider two resolutions on Israel this month — one of which is downright hostile to the Jewish state. The first, introduced by DNC Chairman Ken Martin, calls for a ceasefire, the return of all hostages and a two-state solution. The other, introduced by progressive DNC members, calls for an arms embargo, the suspension of all military aid to Israel and for the Democratic Party to recognize a Palestinian state…

The Atlantic reports on the divide between the “reformist” and “academic resistance” factions of university leaders, exemplified by a heated meeting of the Association of American Universities. The reformists are led by Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor Andrew Martin, who have positioned their schools as safe spaces for Jewish students facing antisemitism on other campuses and advocate for more universities to do the same. The two told Jewish Insider last month, “Here are two institutions that are willing to stand in the public square and say, American higher education has lost its way in some respects. We’re great institutions, and we’re committed to working to ensure that our institutions and higher education writ large will do better in the future.”

The resistance faction, meanwhile, led in part by Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber and encompassing most Ivy League schools, says the reformists are lending legitimacy to the Trump administration’s war on higher education by admitting universities have a problem with liberal bias…

We’re hearing that Harvard, one of those Ivy Leagues battling with the federal government, could reach a settlement with the Trump administration as soon as tomorrow. Harvard may agree to spend $500 million for the restoration of its frozen federal funding, more than double what Columbia paid to the federal government last month. However, reported terms of the deal would see Harvard’s payment going towards vocational and educational programs, similar to the $50 million Brown University agreed to spend on local workforce initiatives, rather than going to the Trump administration…

George Washington University joined the schools under fire from the federal government today as the Department of Justice found it in violation of federal civil rights law. The DOJ said GW “took no meaningful action and instead was deliberately indifferent to the hostile educational environment on its campus” during an anti-Israel encampment and protests, and gave the D.C. school an Aug. 22 deadline to agree to dialogue…

The Trump administration is busy on the diplomatic front as well, now working towards a deal between Israel and Syria to open a corridor for Israel to deliver humanitarian aid to the Druze community in the southern Syrian city of Suweida, according to Axios. The initiative comes after Israel bombed Syria last month in defense of that community, as the Druze clashed with militias aligned with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s government. Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Syria, is expected to meet with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani to discuss the deal in Paris next week…

The New York Times interviews Zakaria Zubeidi, the former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a U.S.-designated terror group based in the West Bank town of Jenin, who was released from Israeli prison in February as part of a temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The profile framed Zubeidi, who also founded the Freedom Theater in Jenin, as “emblematic of something else: a sense of hopelessness that imbues Palestinian life,” a charitable interpretation for the man who led the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade during the Second Intifada — during which time the militia was designated as a Foreign Terror Organization by the U.S. and over 1,000 Israelis were killed in terror attacks… 

World Central Kitchen confirmed that the individuals struck by the IDF who were operating from a vehicle with a WCK emblem were not affiliated with the aid organization, saying it “strongly condemn[s] anyone posing as WCK or other humanitarians as this endangers civilians and aid workers”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an interview with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who just returned from a trip to Israel, and another with American-Israeli venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg. We’ll also profile American Eagle CEO and philanthropist Jay Schottenstein.

Eric Levine, a top GOP donor and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, is co-hosting a fundraiser tomorrow evening for New York City Mayor Eric Adams as Adams tries to retain his office as an independent against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. Levin is joined by an array of donors from New York’s legal, financial and Jewish communities in hosting the event, advertised as “Democrats, Independents and Republicans coming together to save New York City.”

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump spoke with Axios’ Barak Ravid today about Israel’s move to expand the war in Gaza. While the president didn’t go so far as to say he endorsed the plan, he said that, in his view, Hamas “can’t stay there” and the terror group is “not going to let the hostages out in the current situation.” Trump told Ravid, “I have one thing to say: remember Oct. 7, remember Oct. 7”…

Israel Hayom reported this afternoon that Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is considering leaving the government in the coming months before Israel holds its next elections, which are currently scheduled for October 2026. Sources said Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, began contemplating the move after Israel successfully degraded the Iranian nuclear threat in its June operation. Since February, he’s also led Israel’s hostage-release and ceasefire negotiation efforts…

The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, divested from 11 of the 61 Israeli companies it held shares in and will no longer collaborate with Israeli hedge fund managers to invest in the country, the fund announced today. 

Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management which manages the fund, said about the move, “These measures were taken in response to extraordinary circumstances. The situation in Gaza is a serious humanitarian crisis. We are invested in companies that operate in a country at war, and conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened. In response, we will further strengthen our due diligence”…

A delegation of 14 House Democrats, including 11 freshmen, met in Jerusalem today with Israeli President Isaac Herzog while on a trip organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. The strong showing of first-term members — who account for a third of the total House Democratic freshman class — is a sign of the organization’s continued pull among mainstream pro-Israel Democrats, even as anti-Israel activists within the party have sought to make the group politically toxic…

Virginia state Del. Sam Rasoul, chair of the Education Committee in the House of Delegates, continues to defend his view that Zionism is “evil” amid widespread Democratic criticism, telling local outlet WFIR News earlier this month that the criticisms he’s faced are politically motivated “silly season” attacks in the lead-up to the state’s November elections…

The Israeli-American Council’s Los Angeles headquarters was vandalized over the weekend, the group shared, with graffiti including swastikas, the letters SS as a reference to the Nazis and the phrases “f*** Jews” and “BDS.” IAC CEO Elan Carr said in a statement, “This incident will not intimidate or deter us — on the contrary, it fuels our determination to stand even stronger against antisemitism and to protect and strengthen our community for generations to come”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for the full story on an Orthodox community emerging from the ground up in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains:

“People who buy homes in Mountain View, as the neighborhood will be called, must also buy into the vision of building a tight-knit community from the ground up (literally — the homes won’t be ready for at least a year).

Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Twerski, a rabbi from Monsey, N.Y., is on board to oversee religious matters in the community. Plans are underway to build a mikveh, a kosher supermarket, an Orthodox school system and a yeshiva — a second location of Yeshivas Lev Simcha, a religious school in Boca Raton, Fla. A synagogue has already been constructed.”

Also tomorrow, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is expected to discuss the issue of Haredi conscription in the IDF for the first time since former Chairman Yuli Edelstein was replaced by MK Boaz Bismuth. 

Though Edelstein and Bismuth are both Likud lawmakers, the party hopes the new chairman will be more amenable to the Haredi parties’ demands, which reportedly now include the cancellation of tens of thousands of draft notices sent to Haredi men over the past year.