Plus, Israel prepares for Edan Alexander's release
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
President Donald Trump gestures as he departs Air Force One at Miami International Airport on February 19, 2025 in Miami, Florida.
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the state of relations between Washington and Jerusalem ahead of President Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week, and report on how Capitol Hill is reacting to Qatar’s plans to gift a $400 million luxury jet to Trump. We also do a deep dive into the ‘123 Agreement’ being pushed by GOP senators wary of nuclear negotiations with Iran, and report on the University of Washington’s handling of recent anti-Israel campus protests. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Iris Haim, Natalie Portman and Nafea Bshara.
What We’re Watching
- Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is in Israel today following the announcement that Hamas will release Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander today. Adam Boehler, the administration’s hostage affairs envoy, arrived in Israel earlier today along with Alexander’s mother, Yael. More below.
- President Donald Trump is departing later today for his three-country visit to the Middle East. More below.
- An Israeli delegation will reportedly travel to Cairo today to renew negotiations with Hamas.
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog is in Germany today, where he is marking 60 years of German-Israeli relations.
- This afternoon in Tel Aviv, hostage families will march from Hostage Square to the U.S. Embassy Branch Office to call for a “comprehensive” agreement to free the remaining 59 hostages.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH Melissa Weiss
“Donald, Bring Them Home” reads a sign in the window of a clothing boutique on Tel Aviv’s busy Dizengoff Street. It’s been in the store window since January, when a temporary ceasefire freed dozens of Israeli hostages, including two Americans, who had been held in captivity in Gaza for over a year. It’s a smaller sign than the billboard that read “Thank you, Mr. President” and for weeks was visible to the thousands of motorists driving on the busy thoroughfare next to the beach.
Returned hostages and hostage families have appealed to the Trump administration for assistance in securing their loved ones’ releases, expressing sentiments conspicuously absent in meetings between former hostages and Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s a situation that underscores how the American efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages have at times been done not only without Israeli buy-in, but with Israel finding out only after the negotiations concluded.
Such was the case yesterday, when Trump announced that Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, would be released.
The negotiations over the release of Alexander underscore the Trump administration’s “America First” approach to the region that has sidelined Israeli priorities on a range of issues, from the Houthis to Iran to the war in Gaza. It’s a splash of cold water in the face of a nation that largely celebrated Trump’s election six months ago.
The announcement of Alexander’s expected release came after a firehose of news in the days leading up to Trump’s visit to the Middle East, which begins tomorrow. First, the move toward allowing Saudi Arabia to have a civilian nuclear program. Then, the news, confirmed on Sunday by Trump, that Qatar is gifting the president a luxury plane to add to the Air Force One fleet, amid yearslong Boeing manufacturing delays. (More below.)
The Qatari gift alarmed Washington Democrats, with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) writing to Trump administration officials to express “alarm,” saying Qatar has a “deeply troubling history of financing a barbaric terrorist organization that has the blood of Americans on its hands. In the cruelest irony, Air Force One will have something in common with Hamas: paid for by Qatar.”
Only hours after the news of the gifted jet broke, Trump announced that the U.S., along with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, had reached an agreement to secure Alexander’s release, which he referred to as “the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict.” Israel was not mentioned a single time in the announcement.
Netanyahu himself conceded that the Americans had reached the deal absent Israeli involvement. “The U.S. has informed Israel of Hamas’s intention to release soldier Edan Alexander as a gesture to the Americans, without conditions or anything in exchange,” Netanyahu said on Sunday evening.
The news stunned observers and offered a measure of renewed hope to the families of remaining hostages, including the four Americans whose bodies remain in Gaza, but opened a deluge of questions about the diplomatic dance that led to an agreement over Alexander’s release.
The timing of the announcement – shortly after news of the gifted Qatari jet broke — raised questions about the potentially transactional nature of the discussions, and deepened concerns that the Trump administration could reach agreements that run counter to Israeli security priorities while the president travels the region (a trip that does not include a stop in Israel, despite Netanyahu’s two visits to the White House since Trump returned to office).
As Trump travels to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week, the world will be watching closely. But perhaps nobody will be watching as closely — from more than 1,000 miles away — as Netanyahu.
FIRM FRIENDS?
Trump, Netanyahu administrations downplay rift despite disagreements on Iran, Saudi Arabia
The headlines in the Hebrew media, on the eve of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week, played up what some see as an emerging rift between Israel and the U.S. “Concerns in Israel: The deals will hurt the qualitative [military] edge,” read one. The Trump administration has already made a truce with the Houthis and cut a deal with Hamas to release Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander — without Israel — and the concern in Jerusalem is that more surprises — good and bad — may be on the way. Yet insiders in both the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government speaking to Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov in recent days on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters took a more sanguine view of the delicate diplomacy, saying that there is no rift, even if there are disagreements.
Calm but critical: Sources in Jerusalem pointed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s two visits to the White House in Trump’s first 100 days in office, as well as Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer’s meeting with the president last week. A Trump administration source said the relationship remains positive and close, but also criticized Israel for not adapting to the president’s transactional approach to foreign policy. Gulf states are likely to announce major investments in the U.S. during Trump’s visit, while Israel has largely been asking the administration for help. Jerusalem could be putting a greater emphasis on jobs created by U.S.-Israel cooperation in the defense and technological sectors when they speak with Trump, the source suggested.
Signs of stress: The apparent divisions are especially notable in the context of the Iran talks — Israel largely opposes diplomacy with the regime and favors a military option to address Iran’s nuclear program, on which the Trump administration has not yet been willing to cooperate, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
GIFT OR GRIFT?
Congressional Democrats outraged by reports of Qatari Air Force One gift
Congressional Democrats are expressing outrage over reports that the Qatari government plans to give to President Donald Trump a luxury jet for use as Air Force One, which would reportedly continue to be available for Trump’s use after his presidency, and transferred to his presidential library, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they’re saying: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that accepting the jet would be “not just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom.” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote to Trump administration officials to express “alarm,” calling the reported gift a “flying grift.” Torres condemned Attorney General Pam Bondi — who previously served as a lobbyist for Qatar — for approving the reported transfer, which Torres said “flagrantly violates both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause.” Some conservatives, including far-right influencer Laura Loomer, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and commentator Mark Levin, are also expressing concern.
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
The ABCs of 123s
U.S., Iran are talking about a ‘123 Agreement.’ What does that mean?
Last week, a group of Senate Republicans introduced a resolution laying down stringent expectations for a nuclear deal with Iran. One of those conditions is a so-called “123 Agreement” with the United States, after “the complete dismantlement and destruction of [Iran’s] entire nuclear program,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What it means: A source familiar with the state of the talks confirmed to JI that a 123 Agreement is a key part of the ongoing U.S.-Iran talks currently being led by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, though a Witkoff spokesperson said “The sources don’t know what they’re talking about.” Those agreements refer to Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which lays out conditions for peaceful nuclear cooperation between the United States and other countries. Twenty-five such agreements are currently in place — but in most cases they pertain to U.S. allies and partners. A 123 Agreement was not part of the original 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — they are only required in cases in which the U.S. is going to be sharing nuclear material or technology with a foreign country, directly or indirectly. The prospect of inking such a deal with Iran is meeting with surprise and heavy skepticism from experts.
DEM DIVIDE
Over half of Senate Democrats blast Israel’s Gaza operations plan
A group of 25 Senate Democrats, comprising more than half of the caucus and led by several senior leaders, wrote to President Donald Trump on Friday condemning new plans for expanded Israeli military operations in the Gaza strip and accusing the Trump administration of failing to push for peace, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Signatories include top lawmakers on some key Senate committees and senior members of the Democratic caucus.
What they said: “This is a dangerous inflection point for Israel and the region, and while we support ongoing efforts to eliminate Hamas, a full-scale reoccupation of Gaza would be a critical strategic mistake,” the lawmakers said, of Israel’s plan to expand military operations in Gaza. They also rejected a new plan for aid distribution in Gaza, which they described as an Israeli plan but which U.S. officials have described as American-led.
Hostage hopes: A bipartisan group of 50 House members wrote to President Donald Trump on Friday urging him to “prioritize the release of the five Americans” who remain hostage in Gaza.
Q&A
Mother of hostage killed in friendly fire: ‘I choose not to blame anyone’
Most of the best-known hostage relatives in Israel are those who have led demonstrations and called to topple the government. But Iris Haim became renowned in Israel for taking a radically different approach. Haim’s son, Yotam, was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. He and fellow hostages Samar Talalka and Alon Shimriz managed to escape captivity, only to be mistakenly killed by the IDF on Dec. 15, 2023. Yet days after Yotam was killed, rather than express anger or even anguish, Haim chose to send a message of forgiveness and encouragement to the troops. Since then, Haim has been lauded by many Israelis, even granted the honor of lighting a torch at Israel’s official Independence Day ceremony last year. Jewish Insider’s Lahav interviewed Haim at the Global Network for Jewish Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders’ 2025 Global Leadership Conference last week.
Haim’s philosophy: “I’m not avoiding life, but I’m choosing how to deal with it … I don’t blame anybody, because I don’t believe in that way … I have my philosophy of life. Life can be good for me. It all depends on me. I can find so much good, and I need to choose to see it. It depends on where we put our focus,” Haim told JI. “There is also a lot of bad. Yesterday we heard about two more soldiers who were killed … I cannot control this. What I cannot control, I’m not dealing with. I can’t change what [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi [Netanyahu] thinks or what this government is doing. I can only vote differently next time, and that’s the way to keep myself normal and not go crazy.”
NEW DIRECTION
UW changes tack on anti-Israel activity, suspends students involved in destructive protest
The University of Washington suspended 21 students who were arrested during anti-Israel protests at the Seattle campus earlier this week, according to the university, a marked shift from the school’s reaction to previous anti-Israel activity, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen and Haley Cohen report. The suspended students, who are also now banned from all UW campuses, were among more than 30 demonstrators, including non-students, arrested for occupying the university’s engineering building on Monday night — causing more than $1 million worth of damage. Masked demonstrators blocked entrances and exits to the building and ignited fires in two dumpsters on a street outside. Police moved into the building around 11 p.m.
University response: After Monday’s events, the university’s president, Ana Mari Cauce, quickly denounced the “dangerous, violent and illegal building occupation and related vandalism” and condemned “in the strongest terms the group’s statement celebrating the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.” Miriam Weingarten, co-director of Chabad UW with her husband Rabbi Mendel Weingarten, expressed gratitude to the school for its swift response to the latest incident, which she called “appalling and horrific.”
On the East Coast: Columbia University suspended more than five dozen students in connection with last week’s protest at the school’s main library; 33 other individuals were barred from the New York City campus over the incident.
Worthy Reads
Show of Force: Former Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House suggests that the U.S. and Israel mount a joint strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. “The only honorable option is to dismantle it. This can be done through diplomacy, which is highly unlikely, or with force. Any other outcome endangers both Israel and Saudi Arabia, key U.S. partners in the Middle East, and destroys Mr. Trump’s credibility with the world. The president adamantly — and repeatedly — has insisted he will accept nothing less than ‘total dismantlement’ of Iran’s nuclear program. The mullahs in Tehran will never agree to that. They saw what happened to Ukraine and Libya after giving up their nuclear ambitions. They think that enriching uranium for their nuclear reactors is a national right. Their real goal isn’t electricity generation but the ability to produce material for a bomb. … Destroying Iran’s nuclear capability involves risks, and Mr. Trump wants to avoid war. But if he believes Iran can be trusted to execute a new pact, he hasn’t done his homework.” [WSJ]
Altman’s Ascent: The Financial Times’ Roula Khalaf interviews OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in his California home about his rise in the tech industry and future plans for the AI company. “As we talk, I search for clues in his upbringing that hint at his future stardom. He says there are none. ‘I was like a kind of nerdy Jewish kid in the Midwest . . . So technology was just not a thing. Like being into computers was sort of, like, unusual. And I certainly never could have imagined that I would have ended up working on this technology in such a way. I still feel sort of surreal that that happened.’ The eldest of the four children of a dermatologist mother and a father who worked in real estate, Altman read a lot of science-fiction books, watched Star Trek and liked computers. In 2005, he dropped out of Stanford University before graduating to launch a social networking start-up. In those days, AI was still in its infancy: ‘We could show a system a thousand images of cats, and a thousand images of dogs, and then it [the AI] could correctly classify them, and that was, like, you were living the high life.’” [FT]
Word on the Street
A senior U.S. official said that American negotiators were “encouraged” by the fourth round of nuclear talks with Iran, held yesterday in Oman…
Members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum board clashed over the decision by the Trump administration to remove several board members appointed by former President Joe Biden, including former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain…
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) ruled out a Senate bid to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), further narrowing the GOP field days after Gov. Brian Kemp announced he would not enter the Senate race; Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) became the first Republican to enter the race last week…
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced legislation to specifically ban religious discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, a prospect that has been discussed on the Hill for several years to combat antisemitism on college campuses…
Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) introduced a resolution condemning Iran’s failure to fulfill its Nonproliferation Treaty obligations and comply with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, and supporting military force against Iran if it withdraws from the NPT or crosses the nuclear threshold…
Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Adam Smith (D-WA) and Jim Himes (D-CT) introduced legislation providing for sanctions on individuals involved in enabling violence or destabilizing activity in the West Bank, including government officials. The legislation echoes sanctions in place under the Biden administration…
A federal program that provides funding to help vulnerable nonprofits meet their security needs has again begun reimbursing recipients, after a funding freeze at the Federal Emergency Management Agency left the fate of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in limbo, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Gabby Deutch report…
As University of Michigan President Santa Ono is set to become president at University of Florida, he said on Thursday that “combating antisemitism” will remain a priority, as it has “throughout my career,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
Rümeysa Öztürk, the Turkish student at Tufts University who was arrested in March and held in a detention center as she appealed the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, was released following a federal judge’s order…
The New York Times’ Jodi Rudoren reflects on her experiences saying Kaddish, the mourner’s prayer, after her father’s death…
The Wall Street Journal looks at the relationship between Amazon Web Services and Nafea Bshara’s Annapurna Labs, which “has become essential to the success of the whole company” since AWS purchased the startup, which was founded in Israel, a decade ago in a $350 million deal…
Actress Natalie Portman is slated to star in Tom Hooper’s “Photograph 51,” a biopic about British scientist Rosalind Franklin…
The Washington Post spotlights a WWII battalion comprised of first-generation Japanese American soldiers who played a role in the liberation of Dachau…
The Associated Press looks at a Dutch-led effort to digitize roughly 100,000 records from the Jewish community of Suriname, dating back to the 18th century…
U.K. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned that antisemitism among British youth is experiencing a “horrific surge” and becoming a “national emergency”…
The Wall Street Journal reports on the sexual assault allegations made against Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, shortly before he announced his pursuit of arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials…
The IDF and Mossad recovered the remains of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman, who went missing along with two other soldiers during a battle in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley during the First Lebanon War in 1982; a joint IDF-Mossad statement said that Feldman’s remains were recovered “from the heart of Syria” in a “complex and covert operation” that used “precise intelligence”…
Israel issued an evacuation warning for the Yemeni ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif, days after carrying out strikes at the Sana’a airport targeting the Iran-backed Houthis…’
The Houthis fired a ballistic missile toward Israel on Monday morning; the missile fell short and landed in Saudi Arabia…
In his first Sunday address since being selected as pontiff, Pope Leo XIV called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, the distribution of aid to Gaza and “all hostages be freed”…
Rob Silvers, the under secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, is joining Ropes & Gray as a partner, and will co-chair the firm’s national security practice…
Heavy metal band Disturbed frontman David Draiman is engaged following his proposal to model Sarah Uli at a show in Sacramento over the weekend…
Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, who returned in 2010 to live in Berlin, where she shared her story of survival with German audiences, died at 103…
Pic of the Day
Former hostage Emily Damari, visiting London on Sunday, attended her first Tottenham game since being released. Ahead of the game, Damari and her mother, Mandy Damari, met with supporters and called for the release of her friends Gali and Ziv Berman, twin brothers who were taken, alongside Damari, from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023, and remain in captivity.
Birthdays
Haifa-born actress and model, she is known for her lead roles in seven films since 2014, Odeya Rush turns 28…
Israeli agribusiness entrepreneur and real estate investor, he was chairman and owner of Carmel Agrexco, Gideon Bickel turns 81… World-renowned architect and master planner for the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, he also designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, Daniel Libeskind turns 79… Former member of the California state Senate for eight years, following six years as a member of the California Assembly, Lois Wolk turns 79… Chairman of the Israel Paralympic Committee, he served for four years as a member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Moshe “Mutz” Matalon turns 72… Former Washington correspondent for McClatchy and then the Miami Herald covering the Pentagon, James Martin Rosen turns 70… SVP and deputy general counsel at Delta Air Lines until 2024, now chief legal officer at private aviation firm Wheels Up, Matthew Knopf turns 69… Professor at Emory University School of Law, he has published over 200 articles on law, religion and Jewish law, Michael Jay Broyde turns 61… Actress known for her role as Lexi Sterling on “Melrose Place,” she also had the lead role in many Lifetime movies, Jamie Michelle Luner turns 54… Founder of strategic communications and consulting firm Hiltzik Strategies, Matthew Hiltzik turns 53… Communications officer in the D.C. office of Open Society Foundations until earlier this month, Jonathan E. Kaplan… First-ever Jewish governor of Colorado, he was a successful serial entrepreneur before entering politics, Jared Polis turns 50… Professor of mathematics at Bar-Ilan University and a scientific advisor at the Y-Data school of data science in Israel, Elena Bunina turns 49… Italian politician, she is the first-ever Jewish mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro turns 49… Israeli pastry chef and parenting counselor, she is married to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Gilat Ethel Bennett turns 48… Author, blogger and public speaker, Michael Ellsberg turns 48… Senior advisor at Accelerator for America Action, Joshua Cohen… Technology and social media reporter at Bloomberg, Alexandra Sophie Levine… Senior director of government affairs at BridgeBio, Amanda Schechter Malakoff… Civics outreach manager at Google, Erica Arbetter…