• President Donald Trump is meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this morning, followed by a lunch between the president and Vice President JD Vance. Trump will meet in the afternoon with oil and gas executives to discuss the situation in Venezuela.
• Jacob Helberg, the undersecretary of state for economic affairs, is traveling to the Middle East through next weekend. He’s slated to meet with senior officials in Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the UAE, he’ll lead the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-UAE Economic Policy Dialogue.
• We’re continuing to monitor the situation in Iran, where protests escalated last night as the regime cut off internet and international phone calls, limiting the amount of information that could leave the Islamic Republic. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a video address that Trump’s hands were “stained with the blood of Iranians” for having voiced support for the protesters.
• Ongoing current events coincide with the long-delayed release of the third season of the Israeli series “Tehran,” which drops today on Apple TV in the U.S.
• Tomorrow, Rabbi David Wolpe will sit in conversation with the Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt at Los Angeles’ Sinai Temple, where Wolpe is the Max Webb Rabbi Emeritus.
• Awards season kicks off on Sunday night with the Golden Globes. Up for Best Motion Picture and Best Screenplay is “Marty Supreme,” based on the life of table tennis player Martin Reisman (with star Timothée Chalamet nominated for Best Actor). “It Was Just An Accident,” a thriller by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (who also received nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay), and “The Voice Of Hind Rajab,” about a young Palestinian girl who died during the Israel-Hamas war, are both nominated for Best Film in a non-English language. Adam Brody was nominated for Best Actor for his starring role in the TV show “Nobody Wants This,” and Jason Isaacs was nominated for his “White Lotus” performance in the Best Supporting Actor category. Comics Sarah Silverman and Brett Goldstein are both nominated for their stand-up specials.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW SHEA

The United States, Israel and their regional allies are watching closely as sustained unrest in Iran puts renewed pressure on the regime at a moment of economic strain, international isolation and lingering fallout from the 12-day war with Israel last June.

Recent demonstrations have spread across all 31 of Iran’s provinces, fueled by public anger over a collapsing economy, inflation exceeding 40% and aggressive crackdowns by security forces. Economic pressure — intensified by costly proxy wars and United Nations sanctions — have sent Iran’s currency into a sharp decline.

Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said the regime’s “unwillingness to be responsive to its people’s basic demands and rights,” is also a factor. Adding that Tehran has a “clear preference to spend the country’s resources on military projects like its proxies, missiles and nuclear program instead of its citizens’ well-being.”

More than 400 demonstrations took place this week alone, with at least 743 recorded over the past month, according to a tracker from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The death toll has reached at least 38, with more than 2,200 arrests reported. The demonstrations are the largest since April 2025 and among the most sustained since late 2022 as videos continue to circulate online of Iranians flooding the streets, burning regime flags and lighting fire to statues of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ruhe said that uprisings by the Iranian people against the regime are not uncommon. “In 2009 it was political corruption, when the regime clearly stole the presidential election to get [former President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad reelected,” he said. “In 2017-18 it was economic and foreign policy issues, for instance Iranians being killed in the Syrian civil war and the regime’s lavish spending on its proxies instead of at home. In 2022 it was social and cultural issues, namely hijab enforcement.”

But experts say what is unfolding now could be more significant than protests of the past, expressing to Jewish Insider that recent developments could pose an unprecedented challenge to a regime already under strain. 

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

Softer Touch on Protesters: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh posit that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are taking a less hard-line approach to the protests sweeping the country. “The government hopes a softer touch will cause the marchers to be satisfied with making their point. If not, the emollients favored by [Parliament Speaker Mohammad] Qalibaf and Pezeshkian will likely give way to the severity favored by the supreme leader and encouraged by Mr. Trump’s provocative challenge. For at least a century, the Iranian public has sought meaningful political participation while central governments resisted. With the exception of the 1979 revolution, the regimes prevailed. But Iranians have never remained satisfied with national bargains in which they forfeit political rights for economic dividends or social emancipation.” [WSJ]

Clash in the Gulf: In Foreign Policy, Marc Lynch looks at the dynamics between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as the countries clash in a number of theaters, including Yemen and Somalia. “[After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks,] the UAE maintained its relations with Israel, positioning itself as the key Arab interlocutor for a post-Hamas Gaza and hoping to claim vindication for its strategy of tight alignment with Israel and Washington. Saudi Arabia, with a much more challenging domestic environment and its own ambitions for regional leadership, reverted to its traditional position of conditioning normalization with Israel on a credible path toward a Palestinian state. Unstated, but well understood, was that Riyadh never had any intention of joining an Abu Dhabi-led initiative. The crystallization of a divide between Saudi Arabia and the Emirati-Israeli alliance would force everyone in the region to take sides — something smaller states usually prefer to avoid. Most of the other Gulf states, such as Egypt, seem to be falling in line with Saudi Arabia. The competition could inflame civil wars, just as it did a decade earlier.” [FP]

Five Senate Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Susan Collins (R-ME), Todd Young (R-IN) and Rand Paul (R-KY) — voted with Democrats in favor of a war powers resolution limiting further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval… 

Bloomberg reports on the White House’s exclusion of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard from the planning of the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month due to Gabbard’s past opposition to U.S. military action in Venezuela…

Massad Boulos, the Trump administration’s senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, said that the U.S. will make an announcement about the Muslim Brotherhood in the coming days…

Politico looks at the wave of far-left Democrats critical of Israel who are who are mounting congressional bids, deepening divisions within the party and raising concerns that far-left candidates focused on Israel will drain campaign resources and damage eventual candidates’ efforts to win in the general election…

The Cooper Union settled a lawsuit brought forth by 10 Jewish students at the school who had been trapped in the New York university’s library for 20 minutes while anti-Israel students protested outside in an October 2023 incident …

Four former University of Rochester students pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging university property for their roles in posting “Wanted” posters accusing faculty and staff members of committing war crimes in Gaza; the students were expelled weeks after they were arrested…

New Jersey State Police are investigating an incident that took place on the New Jersey Turnpike on Wednesday in which a rock was thrown through a school bus window, fracturing the skull of an 8-year-old girl…

Approximately 30% of the workforce across the six locations of New York City eatery Breads Bakery is unionizing and making demands of the shop’s Israeli owners — including “a redistribution of profits, safer working conditions, more respect and an end to this company’s support of the genocide happening in Palestine”…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a royal commission investigating antisemitism, following the terror attack targeting a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach last month…

The board of the Adelaide Writers’ Week festival in Australia disinvited anti-Israel activist and writer Randa Abdel-Fattah, saying her participation in the event would “not be culturally sensitive” during what the board described as an “unprecedented time so soon after Bondi”; Abdel-Fattah’s disinvitation prompted the withdrawal of several participants who had been slated to speak at the festival…

Politico breaks down the significance of the U.S.-brokered meeting between senior Israeli and Syrian officials in Paris this week, during which the parties agreed to create communications channels to more effectively coordinate on security, diplomatic and commercial issues…

The United Arab Emirates ceased funding scholarships for citizens who plan to study in the U.K.; the cut comes amid frustration from Emirati officials over London’s refusal to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization…

A new report from TRM Labs found that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used two U.K.-based cryptocurrency exchanges to move approximately $1 billion over the last three years…

The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into a shadow fleet with ties to Russia, Iran, China and Venezuela that moves oil around the world in violation of international sanctions…

Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Syrian-born man who tackled and disarmed one of the two gunmen in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in Sydney that killed 15 people, visited Capitol Hill on Thursday, his arm still in a sling after being shot twice.

“What I want to say for the whole world around everywhere, in America, Australia, England, everywhere in the world, we must stand by each other and stay united, and peace for everyone. That’s my message,” al-Ahmed told Jewish Insider in between meetings with officials including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Al-Ahmed was accompanied by Rabbi Yehoram Ulman (second from left), a Chabad leader in Sydney whose son-in-law was killed in the attack, and Rabbi Levi Shemtov (far left), the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch. Al-Ahmed and Ulman also met jointly with Sens. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA).

Actor with a recurring role in “Sex and the City” and author of two books on his recovery from acute myeloid leukemia, Evan Handler turns 65 on Saturday… 

FRIDAY: Law professor at Georgetown University, Peter Edelman turns 88… Former member of the Swiss Federal Council and president of the Swiss Confederation in 1999, she is the first woman to ever hold this position, Ruth Dreifuss turns 86… Rabbi emeritus of Kehilath Israel Synagogue in Overland Park, Kan., Herbert Jay Mandl turns 81… Vice chairman of Gilbert Global Equity Partners, Steven Kotler… Pulitzer Prize-winning Supreme Court reporter for The New York Times for 40 years, she is now a lecturer and senior research scholar at Yale Law School Linda Greenhouse turns 79… Retired MLB umpire, he worked in 3,392 major league games in his 26-year career, his family name was Sklarz, Al Clark turns 78… Presidential historian, spokesman for the 9/11 Commission, and university lecturer, Alvin S. Felzenberg turns 77… Composer, singer, radio show host, and author, he has released seven albums under the name “Country Yossi,” Yossi Toiv turns 77… Actress, singer and songwriter, she is the half-sister of Barbra Streisand, Roslyn Kind turns 75… Australian author of more than 40 books of children’s and young adult fiction, including a five-book series about a 10-year-old Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Poland, Morris Gleitzman turns 73… Former governor of the Bank of Israel from 2013 to 2018, Karnit Flug turns 71… International president of the Rabbinical Assembly, he is the rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor, N.J., Rabbi Jay M. Kornsgold turns 61… Dean of the Bar-Ilan University law school, Michal Alberstein turns 57… Investment banker, Joel Darren Plasco turns 55… Justice of the High Court of Australia, James Joshua Edelman turns 52… Russian-born American novelist, journalist and literary translator, Keith A. Gessen turns 51… Filmmaker, she is the second lady of New York State, Lacey Schwartz Delgado turns 49… NFL insider and reporter for the NFL Network, Ian Rapoport turns 46… Chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance and founder of Skydance Media, David Ellison turns 43… Israeli actress and model, best known for her role as Nurit in “Fauda,” Rona-Lee Shimon turns 43… Director of development and community relations at Manhattan Day School, Allison Liebman Rubin… Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer at The New Yorker, Ben Taub turns 35… Enterprise account executive at Built, Madeline Peterson… Television and film actress, Nicola Anne Peltz Beckham turns 31…

SATURDAY: Physician and medical researcher, Bernard Salomon Lewinsky turns 83… Editor and publisher of Denver’s Intermountain Jewish News, historian and teacher of the Mussar movement, Rabbi Hillel Goldberg turns 80… President of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston for 30 years, now a professor at Brandeis, Barry Shrage turns 79… Former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Baron David Edmond Neuberger turns 78… Musician, singer-songwriter and co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Steely Dan, Donald Fagen turns 78… World-renowned Israeli cellist, he has over 50 recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon label with many top orchestras, Mischa Maisky turns 78… U.S. senator (R-MO) from 2011-2023, Roy Blunt turns 76… Long-time editor at Bantam Books, Simon & Schuster and Crown Publishers, Sydny Weinberg Miner… Retired executive director at Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor society for accounting students, Hadassah (Dassie) Baum… Founder and CEO at Los Angeles-based Quantifiable Media and Tel Aviv-based Accords Consulting, Rose Kemps… Fellow for Religious Freedom at the Forum, Richard Thomas Foltin… Professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, he taught his last class in December 2024, Jonathan D. Sarna turns 71… President and CEO of the Nellis Management Company and past president of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Mark A. Levitt turns 70… Majority owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob turns 70… Member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, Uri Maklev turns 69… U.S. senator (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen turns 67… Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords and advisor to the government on antisemitism, Baron John Mann turns 66… Theatrical producer, playwright and director, Ari Roth turns 65… Vice chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, Beth Ellen Wolff… Author and journalist best known for his novels Gangster Nation, Gangsterland and Living Dead Girl, Tod Goldberg turns 55… Member of the Knesset for Likud, Galit Distel-Atbaryan turns 55… Film director and screenwriter, Joe Nussbaum turns 53… Caryn Beth Lazaroff Gold… Private equity executive and unofficial troubleshooter for the Trump administration, Jared Kushner turns 45… Communications manager for Ford Motor Company, Adam David Weissmann… Former spokesperson on terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, Morgan Aubrey Finkelstein… Israeli rapper, singer and songwriter, Michael Swissa turns 30… Andrew Tobin… Debbie Seiden…

SUNDAY: Psychologist and the author of 27 books, he lectures at NYU, Michael Eigen turns 90… Retired judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, author of 40 books on jurisprudence and economics, Richard Posner turns 87… Violinist and music teacher, Shmuel Ashkenasi turns 85… Film, television and theater director, best known for his TV series “Full House” and “Family Matters” and his films “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Fat Albert,” Joel Zwick turns 84… Las Vegas resident, Stephen Norman Needleman… Economist and professor of banking at Columbia University, he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Frederic Stanley “Rick” Mishkin turns 75… Noted gardener and florist, Lynn Blitzer… Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of experimental medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, he is the author of five books, Dr. Jerome E. Groopman turns 74… Former member of the Canadian House of Commons, Susan Kadis turns 73… Former director general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Avi Gil turns 71… CEO of Sense Education, an AI company, Seth Haberman turns 66… Attorney, author, speaker and activist, Brian Cuban turns 65… Partner at Magnolia Marketing LLC, Alan Franco… Rabbi at Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT), Rabbi Daniel Korobkin turns 62… Former National Hockey League player for 12 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks, Ronald “Ronnie” Stern turns 59… Actress, socialite and reality television personality, Kyle Richards Umansky turns 57… Defensive tackle in the Canadian Football League for 12 seasons, he is a co-owner at Vera’s Burger Shack based in Vancouver, B.C., Noah Cantor turns 55… Film, stage and television actress, Amanda Peet turns 54… Hockey coach, he is a former goaltender with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, he also played in six other leagues, Josh Tordjman turns 41… Member of the Knesset for the Democrats party, Naama Lazimi turns 40… Executive chef and restaurateur, Yehuda Sichel… VP and head of strategic partnerships at Penzer Family Office, Michal (Mickey) Penzer… French-American actress, Flora Cross turns 33… Director of football strategy and assistant quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens, Daniel Stern turns 32… Founder when she was just 12 years old of Nannies by Noa, Noa Mintz turns 25…

• We’re keeping an eye on Lebanon following an Israeli strike on Sunday that targeted Hezbollah’s chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, amid indications that the Iran-backed terror group, which suffered significant setbacks amid a wave of Israeli attacks last year, was rearming. Israeli intelligence sources said that the strike could prompt Hezbollah to retaliate against Jewish and Israeli targets abroad. More below.
• We’re also monitoring the situation in the Gaza Strip, following Israeli strikes on Hamas targets that were prompted by Hamas gunfire directed at IDF troops.
• In New York, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is slated to make an announcement alongside Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) today in Rockland County.
• Former hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel are scheduled to speak tonight about their time in captivity and the fight for Keith’s release at Potomac’s Congregation Beth Sholom.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

In the wake of Mark Mellman’s death last week, the longtime Democratic pollster is being remembered for his leadership of Democratic Majority for Israel, an advocacy group he helped launch in 2019 to counter a growing hostility toward Israel on the left, a value proposition that proved prescient. 

But his role leading the group, in what turned out to be the capstone to his decades-long career, was serendipitous — and almost didn’t happen. 

The group’s founding board members “reached out to Mark for advice on who we should hire,” one of the board members, speaking anonymously to discuss the details of the group’s founding, told Jewish Insider. “And Mark said, ‘I’ll do it.’ We went, ‘OK.’ We weren’t expecting that.”

San Francisco Democratic fundraiser Sam Lauter, a former AIPAC activist who has been involved with DMFI from the beginning, said Mellman’s role atop DMFI gave the group “instant credibility.” Weeks later, Mellman was weighing in on a series of tweets from then-freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) that trafficked in antisemitic tropes. 

As political activists reflect on Mellman’s life, several Jewish Democrats told JI that his clear-eyed support for Israel — and his ability to articulate its strategic importance to Democrats — will leave a lasting impact on the party.

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

X Marks the Spot: In her Substack “Agents of Influence,” Renee DiResta looks at how X’s new “location” feature has revealed the real, and often foreign, origins of accounts claiming to be supporters of the MAGA movement. “I used to work with [X’s disinformation] team as an outside academic analyzing the data sets they would make public; it was a constant cat-and-mouse game, because there is very little penalty for a manipulator beyond losing an account and having to start over. So when X’s ‘About this account’ panel suddenly reveals that one of those big ‘patriot’ culture war accounts is registered in India or Nigeria, that’s not a shocking twist. That is exactly what you’d predict when you understand how this market works. … I saw Pirate Wires had already posted digging into the Israel/Palestine accounts that fight online, highlighting similar inauthenticity — this problem happens outside of the U.S., too.” [AgentsofInfluence]

Dell the Younger:The Information’s Steve LeVine profiles Zach Dell, the son of businessman and philanthropist Michael Dell who launched his startup Base Power two years ago. “Dell concedes that he has basically been tutored since boyhood on exactly this sort of capture-an-industry play. ‘I got to see front row how this is done,’ he said. ‘And I feel very blessed to have had that perspective.’ Watching his father do that in computers, Dell obsessed over building his own ‘great company,’ and not just any great company. ‘I’d been looking for paradigm shifts,’ he said of his early 20s. ‘I was looking for a wave to surf.’ … In 2021, Dell went to work for Thrive Capital, the venture firm founded by Josh Kushner. He was part of an eight-member team that invested in SpaceX and Anduril Industries, both formative experiences. Dell looked up to the billionaire founders of those two companies — Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey — as role models. They went after big traditional Industries — Musk with space, Luckey with weapons — and won.” [TheInformation]

In a surprisingly chummy press conference, President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani spoke about their “productive” Oval Office meeting on Friday, yet mostly dodged questions on Israel and antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports…

The 21 members of the House Jewish Caucus — every Jewish Democrat in the chamber — wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to express “extreme alarm and concern” about recent reporting that the Coast Guard would no longer classify the swastika as a hate symbol, and demanded answers about the policy, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the co-chairs of the Senate antisemitism task force, wrote to Adm. Kevin Lunday, the acting commandant of the Coast Guard, raising additional questions about policy changes regarding displays of swastikas, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The Justice Department’s Harmeet Dhillon said that the department is investigating the protest outside a Nefesh B’Nefesh event at the Park East Synagogue last week in which demonstrators chanted “Globalize the intifada” and “Death to the IDF”…

Meanwhile in the U.K., anti-Israel activists projected the text “Stolen lands sold here” on the outer wall of a North London synagogue…

Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger accused the Trump administration and outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin of political interference in their efforts to be involved in the hiring of senior administrators and implementation of policies at state’s public colleges and universities; Spanberger had previously requested that the University of Virginia pause its presidential search until she takes office in early 2026…

The Financial Times looks at the relationship between President Donald Trump and Indonesian businessman Hary Tanoesoedibjo as the White House works to encourage Jakarta to join the Abraham Accords and contribute troops to an international peacekeeping force in Gaza…

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) introduced a bill to require schools to treat antisemitic discrimination in the same manner that they treat racial discrimination…

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who is among the most vocal Democratic supporters of Israel in the House, will serve as the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East and North Africa subcommittee, replacing Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) following her indictment last week, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Craig Goldman (R-TX) introduced a resolution to recognize Nov. 30 as “Yom Haplitim,” Jewish Refugee Day…

A GOP operative in Georgia serving as a special advisor to the head of the state party was discovered to have shared — and deleted — xenophobic and antisemitic social media posts, including one mocking Claudia Sheinbaum, the Jewish president of Mexico… 

A pocket watch that had been worn by Macy’s co-owner Isidor Straus the night he died in the sinking of the Titanic, and rescued two weeks later when his body was found, fetched $2.3 million at auction; a letter penned by Straus’ wife, Ida, on the ship’s stationery was sold for $131,000…

The U.K.’s Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns the Daily Mail, is in advanced talks with Jeff Zucker’s RedBird IMI to acquire theDaily Telegraph in a deal worth $655 million…

An annual report issued by the Federation of the Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic found that antisemitic activity in the Central European country had increased by 8.5% from 2023 to 2024…

A judge in Australia ruled that a homeless man who set fire to a Melbourne synagogue earlier this year was experiencing a mental health episodestemming from his failure to take medication to regulate schizophrenia, and not acting out of antisemitic malice…

The IDF is taking action — including censures and dismissals — against roughly a dozen senior officials related to security and military failures during and in the run-up to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

Israel’s Cabinet approved a plan to bring the remaining 7,000 members of the Bnei Menashe community in India to Israel by 2030 as the group faces security threats and ethnic violence…

The Bank of Israel is expected to lower interest limits for the first time since January 2024, amid hopes that the ceasefire brokered last month will stabilize markets…

Israel’s Cabinet approved diplomats to be sent to posts in the U.S. next summer, doing so in a unanimous vote in its weekly meeting on Sunday. Adi Farjon is set to be Israel’s consul-general to Houston and the Southwest, while Ron Gerstenfeld was appointed consul-general in San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest. The Cabinet also authorized new ambassadors to Ukraine, Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica and Uruguay, as well as consuls-general in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Sami Abu Janeb, previously deputy ambassador to Jordan, was appointed consul-general to Dubai, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…

Rabbi Saul Kassin, a leader in the Syrian American Jewish community, wrote a letter to the Helsinki Commission, which is evaluating the repeal of Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, distancing the community from Rabbi Yosef Hamra; Kassin said that Hamra “is not a representative of the American Syrian Jewish community” and “has never held any authority, mandate, or permission to speak or act on our behalf in any religious, political, or communal matter” as Hamra advocates for a repeal of the sanctions…

Saudi Arabia is quietly expanding the ability to purchase alcohol in the country, allowing non-Muslims with a special residency status permit to shop at a store that had previously only sold its products to diplomats…

Iran, with assistance from Turkey, is battling wildfires at the ancient Hyrcanian Forests, a UNESCO World Heritage site, resulting from the drought that swept through portions of the country and record high temperatures…

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Eli Zeira, who led the IDF’s intelligence unit during the Yom Kippur War and whose legacy was shaped by his dismissal of warnings of the impending Syrian and Egyptian attack on Israel in 1973, died at 97…

Former hostages Segev Kalfon, Matan Angrest (pictured, with his father), Nimrod Cohen and Bar Kuperstein visited the Ohel, the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s gravesite in Queens, N.Y., over the weekend after meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday in Washington.

Former co-CEO of global shopping center company Westfield Corporation, he is also chairman of the World Board of Trustees of Keren-Hayesod United Israel Appeal, Steven Lowy turns 63… 

Former member of Congress from Kansas, secretary of Agriculture and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Dan Glickman turns 81… Retired English teacher, Adele Einhorn Sandberg turns 81… Chairman of Lyons Global Insurance Services, he is a senior advisor to the Ashcroft Group, Simcha G. Lyons turns 79… Professor emeritus of chemistry at Bar Ilan University, he is also an ordained rabbi, Aryeh Abraham Frimer turns 79… Coordinator for the International Association of Jewish Free Loans, Tina Sheinbein turns 75… President of Gesher Galicia, Dr. Steven S. Turner turns 74… Actress, best known for her role as Gaby in the film “Gaby: A True Story,” Rachel Chagall turns 73… Senior consultant at Marks Paneth (now CBIZ), he is an honorary VP of the Orthodox Union and a trustee of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, Avery E. Neumark… Partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm of Gordon & Rees, Ronald K. Alberts… Past president of the University of Michigan, Mark Steven Schlissel turns 68… Former coordinator of clinical oncology trials at Englewood Health, Audrey E. Ades… Born to a Jewish family in Havana, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas turns 66… Media executive, lobbyist, and political consultant, Jeff Ballabon turns 63… Author and founder of Nashuva, a Los Angeles-area Jewish outreach community, Rabbi Naomi Levy turns 63… Member of the Knesset for the Democrats (the merger of Labor and Meretz), she is a granddaughter of Rudolf Kastner, Merav Michaeli turns 59… EVP and COO of the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Dr. Joshua M. Joseph… Israeli actor and screenwriter, he is best known for portraying Doron Kabilio in the political thriller television series “Fauda,” Lior Raz turns 54… Professional poker player, his tournament winnings exceed $9.5 million, Robert Mizrachi turns 47… President of global affairs and co-head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, he is an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Jared Cohen turns 44… Olami Texas rabbi at the Austin campus of the University of Texas, Rabbi Moshe Trepp turns 44… Assistant director of the electric unit at the Georgia Public Service Commission, Benjamin Deitchman… Director at Green Strategies, Rachel Kriegsman… Senior director of strategic marketing at Phreesia, Madeline Bloch… Actress best known for her lead role in the Netflix series “Bonding,” Zoe Levin turns 32… Chief of staff for Douglas Murray, Kennedy Lee… Michael Davis… Co-chair of the Bergen AIPAC Network and board member of the New Jersey Jewish Business Alliance, Philip Goldschmiedt…

• All eyes are on Washington today for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the nation’s capital and meeting with President Donald Trump, followed by a formal dinner in honor of the crown prince’s visit. More below.
• The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism is holding a daylong conference on “Exposing and Countering Extremism and Antisemitism on the Political Right.”
• Elsewhere in Washington, the Aspen Cyber Summit is taking place at the Kennedy Center.
• The Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly wraps up today. Speakers at this morning’s closing plenary, which features a musical performance by The Tamari Project, include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and “Call Me Back” host Dan Senor. JI’s Lahav Harkov will be moderating a session this morning on the future of the Middle East.
• The One Israel Fund is holding its annual gala tonight in New York. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is keynoting this year’s event.
• In Turtle Bay today, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz will be joined by rapper Nicki Minaj as the two deliver remarks on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
• Outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams concludes his trip to Israel today. Following a trip to Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel’s south, Adams will depart Israel for Uzbekistan.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Matthew Shea

President Donald Trump is hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman today at the White House, marking the first time MBS has visited Washington since 2018. 

Trump plans to roll out the red carpet for the visit, which includes a welcome ceremony, bilateral meeting in the Oval Office and a black-tie dinner in the evening. Tiger Woods and Elon Musk are expected to be in attendance at the dinner, among other high-profile attendees. “We’re more than meeting,” Trump said late Friday. “We’re honoring Saudi Arabia, the crown prince.” 

The visit is not an official state visit, as MBS is not Saudi Arabia’s head of state; however, the crown prince holds almost all responsibility in ruling the kingdom. 

The bilateral meeting will feature high-stakes discussions on several key issues, including the sale of F-35 fighter jets, Saudi-Israel normalization and a possible U.S.-Saudi defense pact. Experts told Jewish Insider such an agreement is likely to be modeled after the assurances Trump gave Qatar in September, in the wake of an Israeli strike on Hamas in the Gulf state, when he issued an executive order stating that the U.S. will regard “any armed attack” on Qatar “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.” 

Trump announced on Monday he would approve the sale of the F-35s to Riyadh, helping the Saudis secure a long-coveted deal and making them the first country in the Middle East other than Israel to obtain the advanced fighter jets. “They want to buy. They are a great ally. We will be doing that. We will be selling them F-35s,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 

Concerns remain within the foreign policy community over the impact that the sale of F-35s will have on the military balance in the region and Israel’s qualitative military edge, which the U.S. is bound by law to uphold. Experts also cautioned the risks of transferring sensitive technology to Riyadh after Saudi naval forces conducted a joint military exercise with China last month. Israel has requested that such a sale be conditioned on the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords, however Trump made no mention of such a provision.

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

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

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• We’re closely tracking the ongoing talks to secure the release of the remaining 48 living and dead hostages and reach an end to the war, following last night’s breakthrough in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Jerusalem tonight for the continuation of talks. More below.
  
• We expect to hear more about the agreement over the course of the day, first in a televised White House Cabinet meeting scheduled for 11 a.m. ET, followed hours later by a press conference at 3 p.m. ET with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Become a premium subscriber and sign up for the Daily Overtime to get our afternoon update on the latest in the talks.
  
• Negotiations between the Trump administration and Harvard aimed at releasing billions of dollars in frozen grant funding are set to resume today, with Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who chaired the Strategic and Policy Forum during the first Trump administration, is playing a central role in the talks.
  
• In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to name a new prime minister by the end of the week, following the resignation earlier this week of Sébastien Lecornu, who held the position for less than a month.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

It’s a “morning of historic and momentous news,” as Israeli President Isaac Herzog put it on Thursday, when Israelis woke up to learn that a deal had been reached to free the remaining hostages in the coming days and halt the fighting in Gaza.

The sides are expected to officially sign the deal in Egypt today, and Israel’s Cabinet is set to vote at 11 a.m. ET on the exchange of the 48 hostages, 20 of whom are thought to be alive, for close to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The IDF said it began preparing to withdraw from parts of Gaza as part of the deal.

Hamas is expected to release the Israeli hostages first. Only when Israel is satisfied that the terrorist group has freed everyone it can find — including the remains of about 28 Israelis who were killed — will Palestinian prisoners be released. The swap comes with caveats: Hamas says it is unable to locate some of the bodies, and about 250 of the Palestinian prisoners set to be released are serving life sentences for terrorist offenses, though Israel insisted that high-profile detainees — such as Second Intifada mastermind Marwan Barghouti — will not be part of the deal. 

The deal is expected to pass easily in the Cabinet, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party holding the majority of the seats. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who expressed opposition earlier this week to President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war, was unusually quiet on Thursday morning, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would not vote in favor.

Trump said in an interview with Fox News that all of the hostages “will be coming back on Monday. … As we speak, so much is happening to get the hostages freed.”

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

Bearing Witness: In Politico, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner reflects on the rise of antisemitism globally following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and his meeting with Nova music festival cofounder and producer Ofir Amir. “Since this conversation about the events of Oct. 7, I keep asking myself how Ofir Amir can bear what happened after Oct. 7. How he can bear that victims are turned into perpetrators and perpetrators into victims. That more and more often, it is concealed who started this war, what is action and what is reaction. How he can bear it that justified criticism of decisions made by an Israeli government is mixed with deep-rooted hatred of Jews and that, as a result, instead of an obvious global wave of compassion and solidarity, a global wave of cold-heartedness and increasingly aggressive anti-Semitism has emerged. How he can bear what I can hardly bear, even though I am neither a victim nor a relative of victims.” [Politico]

A Family’s Torment: The Financial Times’ Mehul Srivastava interviews Ilay David, whose brother, Evyatar, has appeared in multiple Hamas hostage videos in a continuous state of decline since his capture two years ago. “But in this litany of broadcast suffering, few have suffered more than the family of Evyatar David, a 24-year-old guitar player who loved AC/DC and Queen and was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival alongside 40 others. … Ilay has watched the video of him waiting many times, his brother breathing fresh air and begging for his freedom. ‘Of course, Hamas terrorists told him to beg for their life,’ he said. ‘But I saw my brother’s eyes. I saw that he really begged for his life — I saw that he wants to cry.’ Ilay says he lies awake wondering why his brother was chosen for this public form of torture — so many other hostages had suffered in private, while others were filmed but their videos never released. ‘Why Evyatar? Why does he have to suffer so much more?’ he said.” [FT]

Problems Across the Pond: Jewish News Editor Richard Ferrer considers the increasing isolation and antisemitism faced by the U.K.’s Jewish community. “Since Hamas’s massacre in Israel, Jews in Britain have been pushed, slowly — and ever so politely — out of public life. Jewish actors have been dropped from shows. Jewish comedians told their Edinburgh Fringe gigs are off under the pretext of ‘staff safety.’ Venues have quietly cancelled Jewish musicians. Holocaust survivor visits to schools have been pulled ‘for security reasons.’ Every time a theatre has cancelled a Jewish performer, every time a company has decided it’s ‘uncomfortable’ working with Jews, the line between silent and savage antisemitism has blurred just a little more. Now that line no longer exists. On Thursday, Britain became a place where a knife-wielding man called Jihad can convince himself that driving a car into Jews outside a synagogue isn’t an atrocity but a statement. Tonight, I’m off to a bat mitzvah party hoping there’s enough security on the door. That’s life for British Jews now. And death.” [JewishNews]

Iran’s Next Move: The Atlantic’s Arash Azizi and Graeme Wood weigh Iran’s military and diplomatic options following its defeat during the 12-day war with Israel in June. “Iran could surrender its nuclear ambitions. Call this the Libya option, after Muammar Qaddafi’s renunciation of his nuclear program in 2003. The limits of the Libyan option’s appeal are evident when one considers Qaddafi’s fate, which was to be deposed, poked in the backside with a piece of steel, and shot in the head. More appealing is the relative calm of North Korea, whose combined nuclear and conventional deterrent shows no sign of weakness. States that go nuclear tend to survive. … Another option would be to go short of nuclear — to go ballistic.” [TheAtlantic]

The Department of Commerce sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for acting as conduits for Iran to purchase American technology…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law legislation taking aim at antisemitism in K-12 schools, which passed last month over the opposition of the state’s largest teachers union…

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) called on the New Jersey Education Association to fire its recently hired magazine editor, citing since-deleted social media posts promoting violent and antisemitic content, including a post that said that the president of Egypt was “filthier than the Jews”…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is expected to announce her entry into the state’s 2026 Senate race in the coming days; Mills will face a crowded primary field that includes Israel critic Graham Platner as she seeks to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) next year…

On the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for Senate in Michigan, sent a fundraising email to supporters that criticized Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza while ignoring the Hamas attack that precipitated it, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Several key Minnesota political leaders across the ideological spectrum, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), condemned the vandalism of a synagogue in Minneapolis on Wednesday as an act of antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The New York Times explores how New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s views on Israel were shaped by his upbringing and college activism; during his time at Bowdoin College, where he founded the campus’ chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, Mamdani refused efforts to collaborate with the campus’ J Street U chapter, citing SJP’s “antinormalization” policy against working with groups that support Israel’s right to exist…

Federal prosecutors in Maryland are expected to charge former National Security Advisor John Bolton in the coming days with mishandling classified documents…

A Pennsylvania couple is pursuing legal action against the previous owner of their home, who hid a tiled swastika and German war eagle, installed in the 1970s, under carpet during the property sale…

A U.K. court began proceedings against two men accused of planning a terror attack against the Jewish community in Manchester in late 2023 and early 2024; the trial is taking place days after two people were killed in an unrelated terror attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur…

The Wall Street Journal looks at how 10 Downing Street under Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the ruling Labour party has struggled to quell daily anti-Israel protests around the country amid concerns that the rallies are fueling antisemitism in the U.K.…

The family of Bipin Joshi, a Nepali citizen taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, released a recently discovered video of Joshi filmed shortly after his abduction to Gaza…

Iran released a 19-year-old French-German cyclist who had been detained since June…

Longtime Zabar’s owner Saul Zabar, who oversaw the appetizing shop’s operations for seven decades, died at 97…

Attorney Bruce Cutler, who secured multiple acquittals for his client, mob boss John Gotti, died at 77…

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion prayed at the Western Wall during the Priestly Blessing on Thursday in Jerusalem. Also in attendance during the Chol Hamoed prayers were the Sephardic and Ashkenazi chief rabbis of Israel and former hostage Sasha Trufanov.

U.S. ambassador to Canada during the Obama administration, then vice chair of BMO until 2024, David Jacobson turns 74… 

Founder, executive chairman and now retired CEO of C-SPAN, known for his unique interview style, Brian Lamb turns 84… Retired federal government manager and analyst, Charles “Chuck” Miller… Associate professor of Jewish history at the University of Maryland, Bernard Dov Cooperman turns 79… Burbank, Calif., resident, Richard Marpet… Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999, Don Garber turns 68… VNOC engineer at Avaya until a few months ago, David Gerstman… Attorney at Wilkes Artis, Eric S. Kassoff turns 65… Retired director of Jewish learning at the Brandeis School of San Francisco, Debby Arzt-Mor… Managing director and financial advisor at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management and chair emeritus of DMFI, Todd Richman… Best-selling author and motivational speaker, Simon Sinek turns 52… Rosh yeshiva at Yeshivas Elimelech following 17 years as rabbi at Ohev Shalom Synagogue in Washington, D.C., Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld turns 51… Musician and singer, Neshama Carlebach turns 51… Member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid, Karin Elharar Hartstein turns 48… SVP for Jewish education, community and culture at Hillel International, Rabbi Benjamin Berger… Partner at Left Hook Strategy, Justin Barasky… CEO at Denver-based energy firm Nexus Energy Partners, he was the national board chair of Moishe House (now known as Mem Global) until 2022, Ben Lusher… Senior director of state and international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, David Meyerson… Stand-up comedian and two-time Emmy Award-winning television writer, Ian Karmel turns 41… VP of portfolio management for LEO Impact Capital, Lily Goldstein… Counsel in O’Melveny’s NYC office, he was an executive assistant and advance associate in the Obama White House, David Cohen… Physical therapist in Montreal, Chaya Notik… VP at L’Oréal, Jason Kaplan turns 35… Senior manager of policy communications at Snap, Julia Schechter… Israel-based senior associate at JP Morgan Payments, Daniel Rubin… Manager of in-stock management at Amazon in NYC, Kayla Levinson Segal… Security coordinator of Kibbutz Nir Am on Oct. 7, 2023, now an Israeli heroine after her team killed 25 terrorists and the kibbutz suffered no casualties, Inbal Rabin-Lieberman turns 27… Foil fencer, he won a team bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics (Tokyo) and an individual bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics (Paris), Nick Itkin turns 26…

• Texas Republicans are expected to move forward today on a mid-decade redistricting effort that would redraw the state’s congressional lines to benefit the GOP. Today’s vote was delayed by several weeks after Democratic legislators left the state to prevent a quorum for the vote to take place.
• Former Boston Red Sox player Kevin Youkilis is speaking about Jewish identity in sports at an Anti-Defamation League web event today kicking off the ADL’s “Game Changers” series.
• Palestinian writer and researcher Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, the director of the Atlantic Council’s Realign for Palestine program, is speaking today at Los Angeles’ Sinai Temple.
• U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner is in Israel today. Last night, he and his wife, Seryl, had dinner in Jerusalem with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet, at the ambassador’s residence.
• Israel is inaugurating its embassy in Zambia today.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

Israel is finalizing plans this week for a ground offensive into Gaza City, with the goal of having fully evacuated the city by the symbolic date of Oct. 7, 2025. Speaking at his weekly Sunday meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would “complete the victory” over Hamas. Tens of thousands of IDF reservists will begin receiving call-up notices today in preparation for the offensive.

The plans come amid a renewed push for Palestinian statehood, led by France and Saudi Arabia, that has seen a surge in support from global heads of state, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. 

Palestinian statehood efforts also have support in Congress, where Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is leading a group of House Democrats in calling on President Donald Trump to recognize a Palestinian state.

But both objectives — “total victory” over Hamas and Palestinian statehood — are at present incompatible with the realities on the ground.

Netanyahu has not wavered from his stated objective of “total victory” — even as he has yet to articulate, in practical terms, what that looks like — or how the Gaza City offensive will achieve it.

Outside of Israel, efforts to unilaterally recognize Palestinian statehood have ignored core challenges facing both Palestinian society and government, the former of which was plagued by antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric long before Oct. 7, 2023, and the latter of which has for decades been mired in corruption and nepotism and lacks the ground support needed for long-term stability.

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

Redstone’s Rationale: In an interview with The New York Times’ James Stewart, Shari Redstone explains the rationale behind her decision to sell Paramount to Skydance Media. “Potential buyers reached out over the years. David Ellison pressed his case several times, including over breakfast at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills in 2023. Ms. Redstone was noncommittal. That all changed on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel. The attack had a profound impact on Ms. Redstone, an ardent supporter of Israel whose ex-husband, Yitzhak Korff, known as Ira, is a rabbi and direct descendant of the founder of the Hasidic movement. (Her son Tyler is also a rabbi.) ‘Once that happened, I wanted out,’ she said. ‘I wanted to support Israel, and address issues around antisemitism and racism.’” [NYTimes]

Bibi’s Bind: In his “Clarity” Substack, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Michael Oren considers Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s options for ending the war in Gaza. “In English, one says that a leader or a government has ‘climbed up a ladder’ while in Israel the expression is ‘climbs up a tree.’ Either way — a ladder or a tree — Israel’s government and its leader have ascended very high. Ever since Prime Minister Netanyahu declared his intent to conquer the remaining one-quarter of Gaza and achieve ‘total victory’ over Hamas, commentators both in Israel and abroad have asked, ‘Now that Bibi has climbed up the highest ladder or tree, how can he get down?’ … Ultimately, there is no cost-free way to bring this war to an end. Every path is filled with obstacles and abysses. Whichever policy the government adopts must be clear, strong, and effectively communicated. Whether Israel climbs up or down the ladder or the tree, it must do so courageously and responsibly all the way.” [Clarity]

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked the security clearances of more than three dozen current and former intelligence officials; Maher Bitar, a Biden administration National Security Council official who faced criticism from Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) over his past ties to Students for Justice in Palestine and anti-Israel organizing activities, was one of the 37 individuals who lost clearance…

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is fending off a primary challenge from Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, announced endorsements from AIPAC and the Republican Jewish Coalition…

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) campaign said it raised $3.6 million in the 24 hours after Brown announced his entry into the state’s 2026 Senate race…

Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu was announced as the incoming head of the trade group Airlines for America…

Philanthropist Elizabeth Simons made a $250,000 donation last week to a super PAC supporting New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani; Simons, the president and chair of the Heising-Simons Foundation, is the daughter of Democratic donor and Renaissance Technologies founder James Simons, who died last year…

The Wall Street Journal reports on the financial challenges facing developer Michael Shvo, as he faces legal challenges and construction delays over properties ranging from Miami to North Carolina…

The Omega Institute banned psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk from teaching at future retreats at the tony Hudson Valley center, after the author and trauma therapist angered attendees with what the institute called “inappropriate and antisemitic comments” about Israel and the Gaza war…

Paris-born chef Olivia Ostrow is opening Maison Ostrow, a kosher Mediterranean-inflected French bistro, in Miami’s North Bay Village…

“Parade,” the 1998 Alfred Uhry musical about the 1913 lynching of Leo Frank in Georgia, opens at Washington’s Kennedy Center this week…

Major League Soccer approved an exception to a ban on the display of Israeli and Palestinian flags at league soccer matches, following Columbus Crew’s $7.5 million acquisition of Danish-born Palestinian player Wessam Abou Ali; MLS said that the team’s official support group could display the Palestinian flag at upcoming matches…

The Israel-based Sipur Studios inked a first-look deal with Yariv Mozer, director of the “We Will Dance Again” documentary about the Nova Music Festival massacre, formalizing what Sipur head Emilio Schenker described as a “longstanding partnership”…

CNN interviews former Israeli hostage Eliya Cohen, who was freed from Hamas captivity earlier this year, about his time in captivity and friendships with Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Alon Ohel, the latter of whom remains in Gaza…

The IDF said it killed one of the terrorists involved in the abduction of Yarden Bibas; in a social media post, Bibas said that the elimination of Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar gave him “a small part” of closure, but that he is still waiting for his friends, David and Ariel Cunio, who were also taken hostage, to return home…

Israel‘s controversial E1 settlement project received final approval to move forward with construction between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank…

The Financial Times looks at Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s efforts to crack down on the country’s drug trade that boomed under former President Bashar al-Assad…

Meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Yerevan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the countries planned to elevate relations “to a strategic level,” following Tehran’s response to a U.S.-brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan; Armenian and Iranian officials also signed a series of agreements regarding trade, infrastructure and economic cooperation…

Danielle Foreman was named chief strategy and impact officer of the Bay Area’s Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund…

Film and podcast producer Elon Dershowitz, the son of attorney Alan Dershowitz, died at 64…

At a memorial in Jerusalem on Tuesday, the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin marked the yahrzeit of the Israeli American’s murder in Hamas captivity alongside Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Or Danino and Alex Lubanov — known in Israel as “the beautiful six.”

Real estate agent, author and television personality as an original cast member on the show “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,” Josh Flagg turns 40..

Laguna Hills, Calif., resident, Phoebe Bryan… News anchor and reporter for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC, she converted to Judaism in 1984, Connie Chung turns 79… Director of the National Economic Council during the Trump 45 administration, now a commentator for Fox Business, Larry Kudlow turns 78… Former secretary of labor for the state of Kansas, Lana Goodman Gordon turns 75… Immediate past chair of the Golda Och Academy in West Orange, N.J., Steven H. Klinghoffer… Mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba, from 2004 until 2014 and the owner of minor league baseball’s Winnipeg Goldeyes, Samuel Michael “Sam” Katz turns 74… Managing director of equity derivatives at Rice Financial Products, Jay A. Knopf… U.S. representative (D-IL), Brad Schneider turns 64… Wilmington, Del. resident and trustee of Jewish Federations of North America, Suzanne Barton Grant… President of the Council on Foreign Relations, he was the U.S. trade representative during the Obama administration, Ambassador Michael Froman turns 63… U.S. senator (R-MT), Steve Daines turns 63… Founder and controlling shareholder of the Altice Group (one of the world’s largest telecoms firms including N.Y.-based Cablevision), he acquired Sotheby’s in 2019, Patrick Drahi turns 62… Israeli writer known for his short stories and graphic novels, Etgar Keret turns 58… Film director and screenwriter, Mark Levin turns 57… British ambassador to Israel from 2010 to 2015, the first Jewish U.K. ambassador to be posted to Tel Aviv, he is now the CEO of the Zoological Society of London, Matthew Gould (family name was Goldkorn) turns 54… Ethiopian-born, former member of the Knesset for Kulanu, Asher Fentahun Seyoum turns 54… Director of communications at the Institute for Law & AI, Ari Goldberg… Executive director of Lisa Stone Pritzker’s LSP Family Foundation, Abigail Michelson Porth… Co-CEO and one of the founders of the Jerusalem Season of Culture, a summer music festival that showcases Jerusalem, Karen Brunwasser… Co-founder of Boundless Israel, Rachel Lea Fish, Ph.D…. Israeli teacher and writer, he is the founder of People of the Book focused on communicating about the Jewish faith with the Arab world, Elhanan Miller turns 44… Partner in the Iowa office of Cornerstone Government Affairs and foundation president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, David Ryan Adelman… Canadian television and film actress, Meghan Ory Reardon turns 43… . Ice skating professional at The Skating Club of Boston, he won a bronze medal in the team pairs event at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Simon Shnapir turns 38… Stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster and internet personality, Gianmarco Vincent Soresi turns 36… Canadian guitarist, YouTuber, producer and music teacher, Roy Ziv turns 34… Triathlete and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Israel 2019, Sella Sharlin turns 29…

• A delegation of freshman House Democrats are in Israel this week with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation while the House is in August recess. Read more on the trip from Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod here.
• Iranian senior security official Ali Larijani is in Lebanon today as part of his first trip abroad since being named head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council earlier this month. Larijani traveled to Beirut after a stop in Iraq. He’s spending three days in Lebanon as the government in Beirut pushes for the disarmament of Iranian proxy Hezbollah.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

Seven months into the second Trump term, it’s clear that many of the country’s top universities are scared of President Donald Trump. 

The schools rely on federal funding to power much of the research that has made them into academic powerhouses, so if that funding dries up — a punishment, the Trump administration says, for universities’ failure to deal with antisemitism — their work will be imperiled.

As a result, some universities have taken proactive steps to address antisemitism in the hopes of fending off the ire of the Trump administration. But the White House does not view these actions as good-faith gestures. Instead, the administration is increasingly taking advantage of schools’ acknowledgments of past failings as an admission of guilt — and it is responding in a correspondingly punitive way. 

The new chancellor of UCLA took office this year with the stated mission of fighting antisemitism and improving the campus climate following the disastrous 2023-2024 school year that saw violent clashes on the campus. Last month, the university agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Jewish students and faculty members who alleged that UCLA permitted antisemitic conduct during the spring 2024 anti-Israel encampment. The chair of the University of California Board of Regents said the settlement was an important step toward fostering “a safe, secure and inclusive environment.” 

Yet on the same day UCLA announced the settlement, the Justice Department found UCLA to be in violation of federal civil rights law, stating the school “failed to adequately respond to complaints of severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment and abuse” by Jewish and Israeli students after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. And last week, the Trump administration reportedly demanded that UCLA pay an eye-popping $1 billion to settle federal investigations into its handling of antisemitism, race-based admissions policies and transgender issues. 

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

A Performer’s Plea: In The Atlantic, singer Bono makes a plea for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in which he criticizes the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks as well as the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. “Yahya Sinwar didn’t mind if he lost the battle or even the war if he could destroy Israel as both a moral and an economic force. Over the months that followed, as Israel’s revenge for the Hamas attack appeared more and more disproportionate and disinterested in the equally innocent civilian lives in Gaza, I felt as nauseous as anyone but reminded myself that Hamas had deliberately positioned itself under civilian targets, having tunneled its way from school to mosque to hospital. When did a just war to defend the country turn into an unjust land grab? I hoped Israel would return to reason. I was making excuses for a people seared and shaped by the experience of Holocaust, who understood the threat of extermination not simply as a fear but as a fact. I reread Hamas’s charter of 1988; it’s an evil read. (Article Seven!)” [TheAtlantic]

Addressing Aid: In The Wall Street Journal, Hebrew University law professor Netta Barak-Corren calls on the U.S. and other global aid donors to commit to condition future humanitarian assistance on recipient countries hitting established benchmarks meant to address aid diversion. “Against the immediate risk of human suffering, donors must consider that allowing aid diversion could extend that risk for years. A cross-country analysis of 621 leaders in 123 countries from 1960 to 1999 showed that large, unconditional aid inflows help autocrats survive. World Bank data show that unconditional aid correlates with higher corruption and weaker rule of law. Nothing obligates donors to bankroll the fighters causing the suffering. Setting conditions on aid to prevent diversion aligns humanitarian spending with humanitarian intent.” [WSJ]

School Strategist: The New York Times’ Michael Bender spotlights May Mailman, who as the Trump administration’s senior adviser for special projects is “the most important, least-known person behind the administration’s relentless pursuit” of the country’s top universities. “She is credited as an animating force behind a strategy that has intimidated independent institutions and undercut years of medical and scientific research. … ‘There are a lot of good ideas floating around this building, but somebody has to capture those ideas, make sure that the right people are involved and that there is a process to put them into action,’ Ms. Mailman said in a recent interview at the White House. ‘So I’m the catcher of floating ideas.’” [NYTimes]

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), one of the most strident critics of the Israeli government in the Senate, is set to deliver the keynote speech next month at an Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser that’s a frequent stop for high-profile Democrats and presidential hopefuls; should Van Hollen make a presidential bid in 2028, such a campaign would give him a larger platform for his views, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

President Donald Trump told Axios that Hamas “can’t stay” in Gaza in the long term, but stopped short of backing Israel’s plans to take over portions of the enclave…

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), responding to Tucker Carlson’s criticism of himself and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee over their positions on Israel, said that the former Fox News host “now routinely attacks Trump, shills for Iran & doesn’t bother to hide his all-consuming hatred for Israel”…

xAI’s Grok chatbot posted that it was temporarily suspended after accusing Israel of genocide, weeks after the feature came under fire for a series of antisemitic and violent postings…

Virginia state Del. Sam Rasoul dismissed recent concerns over his social media posts that referred to Zionism as “evil” as being part of “silly season” politics…

City & State NY put out its annual Manhattan Power 100 list; Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine tops the list, which also includes NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Dan Goldman (D-NY), ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, Sid Davidoff, Steven Rubenstein, James Tisch and Merryl Tisch, Brad Tusk, Nancy Cantor, Seth Pinsky, Eva Moskowitz and Columbia University President Claire Shipman…

The Israeli-American Council said its Los Angeles headquarters were vandalized with swastikas and other Nazi symbols over the weekend…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross interviews IsraAid CEO Yotam Polizer about the humanitarian group’s previously under-the-radar work to assist in Gaza aid distribution efforts…

UJA-Federation of New York pledged $1 million to IsraAid’s Gaza effort; UJA CEO Eric Goldstein said, “We must hold tight to what has always anchored the Jewish people: the belief that all human life is sacred”…

The New York Times looks at how Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison — the second richest person in the world — is working to create a self-funded, profitable research institute to focus on his philanthropist interest areas, including climate change and global health…

Authorities in Montreal arrested a man in connection with a weekend attack on an Orthodox Jewish man in the city’s Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension neighborhood…

The New York Times reviews Giaime Alonge’s novel The Feeling of Iron, about two Holocaust survivors who track down their Nazi tormentor decades after the Holocaust…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “in denial about the consequences that are occurring” as a result of the  humanitarian situation in the enclave; the two spoke on Thursday, when the Australian leader informed Netanyahu of Canberra’s intention to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state…

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is reportedly considering resigning from the Israeli government in the coming months… 

Bloomberg looks at the challenge facing Lebanon’s new government and its president, Joseph Aoun, as Beirut faces American and Gulf pressure to force Hezbollah to disarm, while the Iran-backed terror group refuses to acquiesce to the government’s effort…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Monday at the opening ceremony of the Knesset Museum in Jerusalem.

Award-winning writer of fiction and non-fiction and the author of several novels and a novella, Rachel Kadish turns 56…

Hungarian-American investor, currency trader and political activist, born György Schwartz, George Soros turns 95… Retired Beverly Hills attorney, Sheldon Stanford Ellis… Emmy Award-winning television screenwriter, television producer and author, Gail Parent turns 85… Professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of many self-help books, Martin Elias Peter Seligman turns 83… Attorney in Ontario, Canada, who served as president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Lester Scheininger turns 78… Co-founder and chairman of the film and television company Beacon Pictures, Barry “Armyan” Bernstein turns 78… U.S. diplomat, Karyn Allison Posner-Mullen turns 74… Trustee at Houston’s Congregation Emanu El, she worked for more than 40 years at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Fredi Bleeker Franks… Sales manager of Illi Commercial Real Estate in Sherman Oaks, Calif., Stuart Steinberg… Israel’s former ambassador to Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Albania, Noah Gal Gendler turns 68… Former member of Knesset from the Yesh Atid party, Haim Jelin turns 67… Founding editor of The Times of Israel, David Horovitz turns 63… Chairman of Goldman Sachs International, Sir Bradley Fried turns 60… Senior rabbi at Brookline’s Temple Beth Zion, Claudia Kreiman… Chief strategy officer at NYC’s Educational Alliance, Anya Hoerburger… Scottsdale-based real estate Investor, Jay Chernikoff… Co-founder at Understory, David Fine… CEO and co-founder of Forsight, a prop tech AI and machine learning company, Ariel Applbaum…

• Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel today for his first visit in several months, amid rising bipartisan concern about the humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza and a continued stalemate in ceasefire negotiations. 
• The Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up its Defense and Education funding bills tomorrow. We’ll be keeping an eye on allocations for cooperative programs with Israel and for the Department of Education’s office for civil rights.
• The Heritage Foundation and the Conference of Christian Presidents for Israel are hosting an event today called “Peace Through Strength: U.S. Policy on Israel and the Middle East.” Featured speakers include: Rev. Johnnie Moore, head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation; U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee; Ellie Cohanim, former deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; and Aryeh Lightstone, an advisor to Witkoff.
• Moore will also be speaking at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles today for a conversation moderated by Sinai Temple Co-Senior Rabbi Erez Sherman about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s josh kraushaar

A new Gallup poll underscores the degree to which Israel’s security is now dependent on support from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, the Jewish state having drained much of its political capital from both Democrats and independents amid the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis.

The numbers are clear: Support for Israel is now becoming a partisan issue after the Jewish state enjoyed decades of bipartisan support in the United States. Anti-Israel activists on the left, looking to exploit the moment, are working to win over Democratic lawmakers to their side — and are finding some unlikely allies moving in their direction amid the sustained pressure.

The data is sobering: Only about one-third of Americans now support Israel’s military action in Gaza, with 60% disapproving. At the beginning of the war, exactly half of Americans supported Israel’s war against Hamas. The drop-off has come entirely from Democrats (36% supported in November 2023, while 8% do now) and independents (47% supported in November 2023 while 25% support now). 

Among Republicans, however, support for Israel’s military efforts has remained significant. The exact same share of Republicans who backed Israel’s war against Hamas in November 2023 (71%) continue to support Israel’s efforts today. Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities has, if anything, bolstered GOP support for Israel and undermined the isolationist and small anti-Israel faction within the party.

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

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today, as well as with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whose meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday was bumped due to the scheduling of a second meeting between Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.
• Tonight, Netanyahu will attend a reception for Jewish communal leaders, members of the evangelical community and senior Trump administration officials.
• On the Hill this morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing for several nominees to ambassador-level positions, including Jeff Bartos, the Trump administration’s nominee to be the U.S.’ envoy to the United Nations for U.N. management and reform.
• The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a full committee markup of the NDAA today.
• At 10 a.m. ET, the Hudson Institute is hosting a discussion focused on Israel’s economic resilience in a post-Oct. 7 era with Noach Hacker, the Israeli Embassy’s minister of economic affairs, and Hudson’s Michael Doran.
• The Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference continues today. With AI at the forefront of many conversations, OpenAI’s Sam Altman was questioned by reporters about the recruitment competition between OpenAI and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta as the latter scales up its AI operations.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Like with the gradual impact of climate change, the Democratic Party’s shift away from its pro-Israel moorings and its commitments to fight antisemitism is happening in a slow but appreciable fashion. Seemingly every week, there’s a political development, polling nugget or election outcome that underscores that the party’s commitment to Jewish voters isn’t quite where it was in the not-too-distant past.

There were the Pew Research Center and Quinnipiac polls this spring showing that most Democratic voters now view Israel unfavorably — with support for the Jewish state dividing more clearly along partisan lines. The results underscored why so few Democrats could muster even some reluctant praise for the U.S. strikes setting back Iran’s nuclear program. 

There’s the blowback that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro received from the Kamala Harris campaign for comparing extremist anti-Israel protesters on campuses to Ku Klux Klan members, as recounted in a new tell-all book about the 2024 campaign. Or the similar intraparty animus that another leading Democratic Jewish official, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, received after her office charged anti-Israel student protesters for assaulting police and engaging in ethnic intimidation. 

Amid sustained political pressure from the left, these two leading Jewish Democrats have since pulled their political punches. Shapiro, a national political figure who was one of the most prominent targets of antisemitic hate, notably chose to avoid labeling the attack on the governor’s mansion as antisemitic in a nationally televised interview. Nessel later dropped the charges, amid a smear campaign that her decision to charge the students was a result of anti-Muslim bias.

And of course, there was the shocking outcome last month in the New York City Democratic primary where Zohran Mamdani, the far-left candidate who declined to speak out against “globalize the intifada” rhetoric, comfortably prevailed over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his party’s nomination. That result followed pro-Israel stalwart Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s (D-NJ) fourth-place finish in New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, despite ample resources and a message geared towards Jewish moderates.

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

War Dividend: In Bloomberg, Matthew Winkler, the outlet’s emeritus editor-in-chief, reflects on the strengthening of the Israeli shekel in the wake of Israel’s military successes. “If markets mean anything, investors, for the first time since Hamas fired 3,000 missiles into Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 (also committing the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust), and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the assault a declaration of war, are giving Israel its strongest vote of confidence as a 77-year-old Mideast nation. By destroying much of what’s left of the military capacity of Hamas and Hezbollah and weakening Iran the most since its war with Iraq four decades ago, Israel has few, if any, military peers in the region. Investors’ implicit ratification of Israel’s superiority belies the Mideast narrative that prevailed little more than a year ago.” [Bloomberg]

Force Multiplier: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy of prioritizing military force against its enemies has cleared a pathway for diplomacy between Israel and potential regional allies. “The truth is that it’s Israel’s decisive battlefield victories that have created diplomatic openings that have been out of reach for decades — and would have remained so if Israel hadn’t won. … On Israel’s side, diplomatic flexibility has three authors. The first is the Israeli public’s understandable exhaustion with 21 months of fighting. The second is pressure from Trump to reach a deal — and Netanyahu’s eagerness to please him. But neither factor would have been sufficient if Israel hadn’t achieved its military success over Iran, crowned, from an Israeli point of view, by America’s participation in the campaign.” [NYTimes]

An Able Caine: The Atlantic’s Mark Bowden profiles Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine. “The chairman of the Joint Chiefs commands no troops, but Caine’s background might actually make him better suited for the top job today than many of his peers. Particularly since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, American military action has primarily employed three sectors: air power, covert special ops, and intelligence. The attacks against Iranian nuclear sites in June certainly involved two of these and likely all of them. Here Caine has more direct experience than most four-stars.” [TheAtlantic]

‘Never Zohran’: In The Intersection, pollster Patrick Ruffini looks at the similarities between the “Never Trump” movement and the efforts to oppose New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “But a clinical analysis of the race in July—just take a poll!—ignores the psychology of virtually every candidate I’ve seen run for office. They run because they themselves want to win, not to prevent someone else from winning. If they see any plausible path at all, they see no reason to drop out. People also pretend that deadlines to get off the ballot are some sort of magical consolidation trigger. They aren’t. That means the candidates still have time to decide if there’s a path or not. … But postponing this decision also keeps alive the possibility that the race to be the anti-Mamdani will be similarly stalemated in September, continuing this indecision all the way through Election Day, likely resulting in a Mamdani win.” [TheIntersection]

Continental Drift on Speech: The Wall Street Journal’s Natasha Dangoor, Bertrand Benoit and Max Colchester report on European authorities’ crackdowns on free speech across the continent. “While the U.S. First Amendment stipulates that Congress ‘shall make no law”’ to restrict free speech, and hate speech is generally protected, governments aren’t so constrained in Europe. In a continent scarred by the Holocaust, loosely defined hate-speech laws and the rise of social media have created fertile ground for authorities to crack down on those seen to be stirring up trouble. Rarely a week goes by without a tale of zealous policing.” [WSJ]

A State Department cable warned that an unknown individual using AI software to mimic the voice and writing style of Secretary of State Marco Rubio had contacted numerous domestic and foreign officials, including a member of Congress and multiple foreign ministers…

Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) will forgo a challenge to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; President Donald Trump had boosted Meuser, saying the Pennsylvania Republican would have Trump’s “full support” if he mounted a gubernatorial bid…

Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone is mulling a joint bid for Patrick Drahi’s SFR, part of Blackstone’s effort to invest up to $500 billion in Europe over the next decade…

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer announced plans to again pitch for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic…

Author Sarah Hurwitz’s As a Jew: Reclaim­ing Our Sto­ry From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us was announced by Natan and the Jew­ish Book Coun­cil as the “Natan Notable Book” for summer 2025…

In the closing weeks of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run last year, her campaign, after soliciting guidance, was advised by political strategist Maria Comella to tout her support for Israel — and make clear she disagreed with people in the Democratic Party who compared Israel to Hamas; according to a new book about the 2024 race, Comella did not feel her ideas were taken seriously, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports… 

The New York Times interviews author Gary Shteyngart following the release of his latest novel, Vera, or Faith…

The Wall Street Journal reviews Lynne Olson’s The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück, about the relationship between four French women imprisoned at the Nazi camp during World War II…

In USA Today, Ron Halber and Brandon Rattiner, respectively the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the senior director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of JEWISHColorado, reflect on how the rise in antisemitism has impacted Jewish communities around the country…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told journalists that the IDF had been instructed to advance plans for a concentrated “humanitarian zone” in Rafah that would eventually house the entire population of the Gaza Strip…

The Wall Street Journal reports on the mass killings that took place at Syria’s Saydnaya prison under the Bashar al-Assad regime, describing the facility as a “death factory”…

Playwright Richard Greenberg, who won the 2003 Tony Award for “Take Me Out,” died at 67…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Tuesday at the Capitol.

Pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels organization through 2024, now playing in South Korea, Kenny Rosenberg turns 30…

Former Soviet refusenik, prisoner of conscience, human rights activist, author and translator, Iosif Begun turns 93… Constitutional law expert focused on the First Amendment and free speech, senior counsel at Cahill Gordon & Reindel where he has practiced since 1963, Floyd Abrams turns 89… Retired conductor and music director of symphony orchestras in Rotterdam, Rochester, Baltimore and Zurich, David Zinman turns 89… Huntington Woods, Mich., resident, Robert Morris Rubin… Arizona resident, Howard Cohen… Play-by-play announcer for the MLB’s San Diego Padres from 1980 to 2020, Theodore (Ted) Leitner turns 78… Tikvah (Tiki) Stern Lyons… Rabbi of Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman turns 71… U.S. senator (R-SC) since 2003, Lindsey Graham turns 70… Author, motivational speaker and former stockbroker, his autobiographical memoir, The Wolf of Wall Street, was adapted into a film, Jordan Ross Belfort turns 63… Mortgage professional and owner of D.C.’s Char Bar, Michael Alan Chelst… Public radio personality, former producer of “This American Life” and the host and executive producer of the “Serial” podcast, Sarah Koenig turns 56… Activist short seller, author and editor of the online investment newsletter “Citron Research,” Andrew Edward Left turns 55… Actor, tour guide, poet, speaker, philosopher and author, Timothy “Speed” Levitch turns 55… Co-founder of Netscape and co-founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Lowell Andreessen turns 54… Reporter for The Free Press, Eli Jon Lake turns 53… Former anchor and reporter for Fox Business Network, Lori Rothman turns 52… Peter Webb … Co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, Yehoshua Fass turns 52… Brig. Gen. (res.) in the IDF, Omer Dagan turns 49… Israeli documentary filmmaker, Guy Davidi turns 47… Retired poker player now an options trader, she is the only woman to ever reach the No. 1 ranking on the Global Poker Index, Vanessa K. Selbst turns 41… Tony Award-winning theater, film and television actor, Brandon Uranowitz turns 39… Renewable energy and climate specialist, Samantha Hea Marks… Pitcher for Team Israel at the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics, Jake Kalish turns 34… 

• If it’s the week after July 4, all eyes are turning to Sun Valley, Idaho, for the annual Allen & Co. leadership retreat, which is set to kick off tomorrow. Attendees this year include Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy, Sam Altman, Barry Diller, Alex Karp, Evan Spiegel, Ynon Kreiz, Charles Rivkin, David Zaslav, Brian Grazer, Bob Iger, David Ignatius, Bari Weiss, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mike Bloomberg, Govs. Wes Moore and Glenn Youngkin, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Casey Wasserman. 
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Donald Trump this evening at the White House. Earlier in the day, Netanyahu will meet at the Blair House, where he is staying, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to prepare for his sit-down with the president.
• Elsewhere in Washington, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittees will hold markups on the National Defense Authorization Act.
• Leaders from the BRICS alliance wrap up their two-day summit in Rio de Janeiro today. Absent from the gathering of officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely curbed his travel abroad since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, addressed the gathering by video.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS AND LAHAV HARKOV

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits down with President Donald Trump today, one question will be on observers’ minds: What will each walk away with?

Netanyahu appeared to come away empty-handed from his April meeting in Washington, after the U.S. imposed tariffs on Israel, among other countries. Weeks later, Trump skipped Israel on his first trip abroad, while visiting three other countries in the region. 

Few knew at the time about Netanyahu’s plans to take on Iran. Following last month’s joint U.S.-Israel military effort to degrade Iran’s nuclear program and military infrastructure, relations between the two leaders have improved to such a degree that last week Trump called twice for an end to the legal proceedings against Netanyahu. A post-strikes-on-Iran victory lap is top of the public agenda for Netanyahu’s White House visit today, while Trump’s other goals, as they relate to Israel, remain works in progress.

The White House wants to wind down the war in Gaza, as Trump has said many times in recent months. After the American bunker busters dealt Iran the final punch that Israel pushed for, the president has newly gained leverage to push Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza — a move the Netanyahu government has thus far resisted until it has achieved its goal of “total victory” against Hamas. Trump told reporters on Sunday night that “there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week pertaining to quite a few of the hostages.”

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

Tragedy in Tamra: In The Wall Street Journal, Fania Oz-Salzberger reflects on how the death of her student, an Israeli-Arab woman whose home was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile, underscores the ways in which the Israeli government has fallen short in protecting citizens. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Iranian nuclear and military sites to defend the country — rightly, in my view. But the current Israeli government has failed in multiple ways to defend its citizens, both Jewish and Arab. … The Khatib family was killed by Iran, and they represent the exact opposite of the ayatollahs’ regime. They are democrats, moderates — crucial partners in any future Israeli society that might emerge from the current ruins and smoke.” [WSJ]

China First: In The Free Press, Yoram Hazony posits that President Donald Trump is guided by a doctrine that prioritizes alliances with regional powers and stunting China’s global ambitions. “According to the Trump Doctrine, America’s role in such a world is focused on countering China and on rebuilding itself at home. Beyond that, America will be interested in alliances with powerful, independent nation-states that can take care of themselves and their regions, coordinate with each other where beneficial, and look to America to supplement their strategic capabilities where necessary.” [FreePress]

Bibi Still Needs a ‘Day-After’ Plan: In The Washington Post, Dennis Ross suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will need to end the war in Gaza and present a viable plan for the enclave’s future in order to cement his own legacy. “Almost a decade and a half later, Netanyahu has now acted on what he considered to be his primary mission as prime minister. He has done so after the Israeli military, on his watch, transformed the regional balance of power by devastating Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran’s most formidable regional proxies, with the Assad regime in Syria collapsing soon thereafter. But these admittedly breathtaking decisions will not automatically vault Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s founder in the history books. To surpass [founding father David] Ben-Gurion, Netanyahu will need to take these great military achievements and turn them into enduring political outcomes.” [WashPost]

The Wall Street Journal reports on a letter from a group of sheikhs from the West Bank city of Hebron to Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat calling for “cooperation” and “coexistence” with Israel as well as the city’s break from the Palestinian Authority in an effort to bolster ties with the Jewish state…

The Financial Times looks at initial plans for a “Trump Rivera” in Gaza that included the creation of “MBS Ring” and “MBZ Central” highways named after the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as an “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone” for electronic vehicle production along the Israel-Gaza border…

Nvidia is planning to expand its footprint in Israel as it looks to build a high-tech campus in the country with building rights up to 180,000 square meters…

Columbia University is continuing negotiations with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding and grants; recent conversations have not included discussion of a “consent decree” that had previously been considered, under which a federal judge would have oversight of the school’s compliance with the terms of a potential agreement…

The New York Times reports that New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani identified as “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his application to Columbia University; the Queens assemblyman, who was born in Uganda to parents of Indian descent, told the Times last week he “did not consider himself either Black or African American”…

Victoria, Australia, Premier Jacinta Allan announced the creation of a new anti-hate task force following the weekend firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue and the vandalism of an eatery in the city owned by Shahar Segal, a spokesperson for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation; Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to apply the “full force” of the law against “those responsible for these shocking acts”…

Former U.K. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he is in “ongoing” discussions about the creation of a new political party, a day after MP Zarah Sultana announced that she was leaving Labour to form a new party with Corbyn…

The New York Times looks at an ongoing effort to locate and return a Stradivarius violin to the descendants of the Jewish family who had owned the violin until it was looted near the end of World War II…

The Bank of Israel will hold its interest rates at 4.5% for the 12th consecutive time, amid the shekel’s rally following last month’s ceasefire between Israel and Iran…

The Washington Post looks at efforts by members of the Syrian Jewish diaspora to restore sites and rebuild connections inside Syria, whose Jewish population was just six people by the end of the Assad regime…

The Guardian reports on Israeli court documents that detail Iranian efforts to recruit spies inside Israel…

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors left Iran, days after Tehran suspended cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog…

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public appearance since last month’s war between Israel and Iran…

Hezbollah head Naim Kassem, speaking outside Beirut during an event marking the Shiite Muslim holiday of Ashura, doubled down on the terror group’s refusal to cease fighting until Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon…

Israel carried out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen over the weekend, the first attacks on the Iran-backed terror group since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last month…

The crew of a Liberian-flagged commercial vessel transiting through the Red Sea abandoned ship following an attack believed to have come from the Houthis in Yemen…

Broadway executive Paul Libin, who for many years ran Circle in the Square Theater, died at 94…

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier laid a wreath earlier today at the Paneriai Holocaust Memorial in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Cardiologist and former president of CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jews, Richard Prasquier turns 80…

Retired president of The Seeing Eye, the world’s premier guide dog school for the blind, Kenneth Rosenthal turns 87… Early collaborator on object-oriented computer programming in the 1970s, Adele Goldberg turns 80… Michigan-based real estate developer, he served as U.S. ambassador to Slovakia during the Bush 43 administration, Ronald N. Weiser turns 80… Board member of the Israel Policy Forum, he spent 27 years as a bankruptcy attorney at Cooley LLP, Lawrence C. Gottlieb turns 78… Israeli businessman with vast holdings in energy (Delek Group) and real estate (El-Ad Group), Yitzhak Tshuva turns 77… Former president of Hebrew University and a past member of the Knesset, Menachem Ben-Sasson turns 74… Co-founder and CEO of the biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Leonard Steven Schleifer turns 73… Pioneer of Israeli punk rock, nicknamed “HaMeshuga,” Rami Fortis turns 71… USAID official for 28 years until 2008, he now consults internationally on Rule of Law issues, Richard Gold… President of The Lapin Group, Avrum Lapin… Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion located in Alon Shvut, Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein turns 64… Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer, Akiva Goldsman turns 63… President of the United Synagogue of the U.K., Michael Howard Goldstein turns 62… President and CEO of HIAS since 2013, he first joined HIAS in 1989 as a caseworker in Rome, Mark Hetfield turns 58… Comic book creator and a cappella singer, he published the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, Jordan B. Gorfinkel turns 58… Chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, David Jeremiah Barron turns 58… Television and film actress, Robin Weigert turns 56… Azerbaijani-born businessman, he is a VP of the Russian Jewish Congress and the president of the International Charity Foundation of Mountain Jews, German Zakharyayev turns 54… Communications director for the Democratic Majority for Israel since 2019, Rachel Rosen… Consultant and project manager for nonprofits, Amy Handman… Head coach of the Florida Gators men’s basketball team that won the NCAA national championship last season, Todd Raymond Golden turns 40… WNBA player in her 13th season, she has also played on Israeli teams for six seasons, Alysha Angelica Clark turns 38… Ethiopian-born Israeli actress, Netsanet Mekonnen turns 37… Prime Video analytics expert on “Thursday Night Football,” Sam Schwartzstein turns 36… Olympic sports sailor, she competed for Israel in both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Gil Cohen turns 33… Originally a figure skater and later a pairs skater, now a skating coach, Megan Wessenberg turns 27… Shalom Klein… U.S. editor at Jewish Insider, Danielle Cohen…

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington on Sunday, ahead of his planned Monday meeting with President Donald Trump.
• We’ll be reporting on the details around the meeting and what’s at stake as the two leaders discuss Gaza, Iran, Syria and normalization efforts — sign up for Jewish Insider’s email and WhatsApp alerts to stay up to date with the latest developments over the long weekend.
• Former Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander is slated to meet Trump at the White House at 12:45 p.m. ET.
• The Nova Music Festival exhibition and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are hosting an event this afternoon with DJ and Nova festival survivor Noa Beer and Holocaust survivor Nat Shaffir.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH

After Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, the U.S. is now demanding that Tehran return to the negotiating table. 

“Told you so,” many prominent Democrats — including architects of Iran policy in both the Obama and Biden administrations — are saying in response, arguing they were right all along about the power of negotiations. But in doing so, they are also overlooking the impact of President Donald Trump’s military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities on the regime’s negotiating calculus. 

The Pentagon is now saying the strikes set back the Iran nuclear program by two years. Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, said that Iran is no longer a nuclear threshold state as a result of the U.S. and Israeli attacks.

But those assessments, among other similar analyses, have done little to change the minds of some of the leading Democratic foreign policy hands who have long argued for diplomacy above all else.

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

Just the Beginning on Iran: In The New York Times, former National Security Advisor John Bolton suggests that the U.S.’ strikes on Iran last month are not the end of Washington’s efforts to degrade the threats posed by Iran. “Satisfying America’s legitimate demands requires Iran to do a full Libya, meaning real performance in denuclearizing, not just acquiescing to treaty verbiage. It requires that Iran surrender all of its weapons-related assets, meaning any enriched uranium and all remaining physical assets, including dual-use capabilities. However, absent a change of government in Tehran, which Washington should support, a full Libya is impossible. Unlike Muammar el-Qaddafi, the mullahs, already badly humiliated, realize that further humiliation would fatally weaken their rule. They will never voluntarily accept that fate. Instead, they will resume their earlier tactic of using negotiations to string the West along until memories dim and, as the old saying goes, ‘zeal for a deal’ takes over, as it did for Barack Obama, producing the fatally flawed 2015 Iran agreement.” [NYTimes]

Mideast Magical Thinking: In The Wall Street Journal, presidential historian and former White House aide Tevi Troy examines the history of Middle East regimes falsely claiming victory over Israel, following claims by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Israel had been “practically knocked out and crushed” by Iran’s military. “These false statements by Middle Eastern autocracies show the weaknesses of systems that can’t acknowledge reality. An inability to turn a critical eye on oneself and admit a mistake represents a fundamental flaw in authoritarian regimes. … As long as autocratic nations like Iran continue to act like Monty Python’s Black Knight, they’ll never develop the capacity to fight effectively against nations that can critique themselves. But that isn’t all that truth telling can bring. If Iran ever does develop the capacity for honesty, then its leaders would realize — like the Egyptians did — that peace with Israel is a much more effective strategy than fighting with it.” [WSJ]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Wednesday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud…

In The Wall Street Journal, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who last week withheld his support from New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, suggests that the Queens assemblyman’s victory should be a “wake-up call” to Democrats and posits that Mamdani won the primary “because too many voters think the rest of the Democratic Party no longer stands for them”…

In the New York Daily News, political strategist Bradley Tusk posits that Mamdani is likely to win the general election in November, owing to the “ceiling” facing any Republican candidate and Mayor Eric Adams’ own unfavorability ratings in the city as he mounts an independent bid…

Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman called on former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to withdraw from the mayoral race following his primary loss to Mamdani, assessing that Cuomo’s “body language, his subdued energy and his proposals to beat Mamdani” indicated he was “not up for the fight” and suggested Cuomo’s departure from the race would be necessary “to maximize Adams’ probability of success”…

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into George Mason University’s handling of antisemitism issues, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports; the Virginia university had faced scrutiny over its response to a series of incidents involving students, including the discovery of pro-terrorism materials in the home of two of GMU students and federal charges brought against a third student accused of plotting a mass causality attack… 

eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Judah Ari Gross interviews Mike and Shelly Pitman, respectively the president and executive director of the Brooklyn-based La’Aretz Foundation, which has raised $1 million to provide $2,500 directly to 500 Bat Yam families affected by Iran’s ballistic missile strike on the city…

Bar Winkler and Roey Lalazar’s Israel-based AI startup Wonderful raised $34 million in its latest round of funding…

The New York Times spotlights “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal, following the release of the eighth season of his travel food show “Somebody Feed Phil”…

Smithsonian Magazine looks at the resurgence in popularity of Jewish food in Poland…

Iran charged two French nationals who have been imprisoned in the country for three years with spying for Israel and conspiring to overthrow the Iranian government…

Australia confirmed it canceled the visa of artist Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, following the May release of a song titled “Heil Hitler”…

Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan was removed from the lineups of upcoming music festivals in France and the U.K. following an uproar over an incident at the Glastonbury music festival last month in which the group led attendees in a chant calling for “death to the IDF”…

U.K. Parliament members voted overwhelmingly in favor of banning the activist group Palestine Action, after two members of the group broke into a British air base and vandalized military aircraft… 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian approved a law passed days ago by the country’s parliament to suspend coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency and ordered Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Supreme National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin implementation of the new law…

The New York Times looks at Iran’s history of recruiting common criminals and cartel members to carry out attacks on American soil…

Hamas called on the leader of a Bedouin clan that has challenged Hamas’ leadership in the enclave to surrender, as Israel bolsters its support for groups operating on the Palestinian Authority’s payroll against Hamas…

Adam Szubin is joining Covington as of counsel in the firm’s national security practice (h/t Playbook)…

Former hostages Omer Shem Tov (second from left); Noa Argamani (third from right) and Iair Horn (second from right); and Tzur Goldin (far left), brother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, met on Wednesday in Washington with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Movie, television and stage actress, director and writer, Shoshannah Stern turns 45…

Civil rights attorney known for many high-profile cases, born Gloria Rachel Bloom, Gloria Allred turns 84… Winner of the Israel Prize in 1998, professor emeritus of mathematics at both Hebrew U and Rutgers, Saharon Shelah turns 80… Founder of an eponymous charitable foundation and a political office, Barbara Fish Lee turns 80… Retired director of the March of the Living in Miami-Dade and in Boca Raton, Leon Weissberg… Psychologist and board member of many non-profit organizations, Dr. Gail (Giti) Bendheim… Israeli celebrity chef, author of 32 cookbooks and culinary columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, Yisrael Aharoni turns 75… Head of pediatric oncology and associate professor of pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York, Dr. Carolyn Fein Levy turns 57… Musician, best known as a harmonicist, Annie Raines turns 56… Actor who has appeared in film and television in the U.S., U.K. and Israel, Yair “Jonah” Lotan turns 52… Development professional Suzanne Greene… Pini Herman…

• We’re keeping an eye on both Washington and Jerusalem today, ahead of next week’s planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the leaders and aides provide details of the contours of the talks. Yesterday, Trump said that Israel had agreed to the terms of a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, shortly after Israeli Strategic Minister Ron Dermer and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff wrapped up an hours-long meeting.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

It might be hard to remember now, with all that has happened in recent weeks, but the Knesset seemed very close to calling an early election a day and a half before Israel commenced its airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs last month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a post-Iran victory bump, and is once again leading in the polls – but not by much. A poll published on Tuesday showed his Likud party leading a potential party led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett by only two seats, and tied with Bennett for leading candidate for prime minister. Another pollster showed a similar margin during the Iran operation, but had the two parties tied after the ceasefire. Parties in the current coalition made up less than half of the Knesset in every poll. In a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute published on Wednesday, only 46% of Jewish Israelis said they trust Netanyahu. 

A common accusation heard by Netanyahu’s political opponents at home and abroad is that he is prolonging the war in Gaza to stay in office, because ending the war before his far-right coalition partners deem Hamas fully defeated would likely see the collapse of his government. But the victories under his leadership are seemingly not staunching the Israeli right’s continued collapse in the polls as the war grinds on in its 635th day.

Netanyahu may consider the political advantages of winding down the war as he heads to Washington next week while President Donald Trump is pushing for a broad deal that would encompass a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages, the administration of Gaza by moderate Sunni states, normalization between Israel and Syria and perhaps other countries, plus working to ensure Iran doesn’t rebuild its nuclear program. 

If Netanyahu returns to Israel with a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release agreement, an expanded Abraham Accords and a way to keep Israel’s achievement in Iran intact, then he may get a more significant electoral bump. In that scenario, one option for him could be to ride that wave and call a snap election, rather than wait until the official October 2026 date for the vote.

Or, Netanyahu could see this as his legacy-clinching move, a sign that his work is done. In 2021, the prime minister said that he wants his legacy to be that he was the “protector of Israel, because I devoted much of my adult life to preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”

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