Plus, Platner's promoters face pushback
Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images
US President Donald Trump speaks about the conflict in Iran in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 6, 2026, in Washington, DC.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleIn today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on questions that Democratic officials supporting Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner are facing following new allegations surrounding his past romantic relationships, and spotlight Cliff Sims, who last month was tapped to serve as Vice President JD Vance’s national security advisor. We report on the launch of talks between Israel and the U.S. to discuss a new partnership framework that will succeed the expiring 10-year memorandum of understanding between the countries, and talk to the Israeli startup founders who attended last week’s New York Tech Week. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Steven Spielberg, Sen. Rick Scott and Ron Klain.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- We’re closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East following last night’s escalation between Israel and Iran. Earlier this morning, Iran and its Houthi proxy fired several barrages at Israel, and Israel struck an Iranian petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran as well as additional targets that the IDF described as “strategic defense systems” belonging to the Iranian regime. Early this afternoon local time, Iran reportedly said it was halting its fire against Israel. More below.
- President Donald Trump said that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting,’” in a post on Truth Social early Monday morning. For the latest developments delivered throughout the day, premium subscribers can stay updated with JI’s What We’re Watching live briefing.
- The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding its markup of the 2027 NDAA.
- Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin will be the keynote speakers at tonight’s annual Rabin lecture hosted by Washington Hebrew Congregation and the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School.
- Elsewhere in Washington, the American Council on Education is convening faith-based higher education leaders today for a daylong summit.
- Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are both expected to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight in New York, where the Knicks will take on the San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks lead 2-0 in the best-of-seven championship series.
- The Seminar Annual Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz., kicked off yesterday and runs through tomorrow. Among those slated to speak is Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
Millions of people across northern Israel heard a familiar sound from their phones late Sunday night: an alert from Israel’s Homefront Command, notifying them for the first time in two months, of an incoming ballistic missile attack from Iran.
Just after sunrise, residents of Israel’s center — from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — received the same notification, and groggily huddled in shelters as Iran, joined by its Houthi proxy in Yemen, launched fresh salvos at Israel. Shortly after, Israel struck a petrochemical plant in southwest Iran.
Last night’s initial Iranian attack came in response to Israeli strikes in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold that had in recent weeks been off-limits to the IDF in accordance with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Lebanon that limited Israeli action to southern Lebanon, another Hezbollah stronghold.
What matters more than how the latest round of fighting started is what will happen next. Israeli media reported that its overnight strikes on Iran had been coordinated with the U.S., even as President Donald Trump spent Sunday afternoon on the phone with reporters trying to publicly de-escalate the situation. But early this afternoon local time, Iran reportedly said it was halting its fire against Israel.
Shortly after Iran’s initial missile attack on Sunday, Trump told Fox News that the incident was “certainly not going to help” the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. He continued, “What I would suggest to Iran: You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough, get back to the table and make a deal.”
Trump’s comments could be taken at face value — or viewed with some skepticism in light of the Israeli media reports that the strikes were coordinated with Washington. It would not, after all, be the first time in which the U.S. and Israel publicly emphasized their differences while privately remaining aligned — even amid alleged fissures in the relationship. That includes leaks to NBC News and The New York Times over the weekend that the Defense Department’s Defense Intelligence Agency had raised its counterintelligence threat level for Israel to the highest level. The Times named three U.S. officials that were allegedly being tracked for information on the Iran negotiations: White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, the Pentagon’s Elbridge Colby and Colby’s deputy, Michael DiMino.
But things move fast in the Middle East. Recall that last June, after 12 days of intensive strikes between Israel and Iran, joined by the U.S., a ceasefire was announced mere hours after Iran launched missiles at a U.S. airbase in Qatar. Addressing the overnight escalation between Israel and Iran — and Iran’s continued intransigence in the region — is likely to be the White House’s top order of business today. Indeed, Trump issued his first comments of the day shortly before 6 a.m. ET, posting on his Truth Social site that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’”
DAMAGE CONTROL
Democrats grilled over Graham Platner’s baggage
Top Democrats faced questions on Sunday over Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s scandals, days after The New York Times shared details of abusive behavior alleged by past romantic partners, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Reactions: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who has endorsed Platner, said he continues to support him even as he criticized Platner’s past behavior and said his campaign should not attack his accusers, while Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) declined to offer any support for Platner and said that Platner and Maine voters will need to address the scandal.
Progressive-pilled: Ron Klain, who served as chief of staff in the Biden administration, is reportedly advising Khanna as the California Democrat and Israel critic weighs a 2028 presidential bid. Klain, Politico reports, had also signed on to prepare Platner for a Democratic primary debate with Gov. Janet Mills, which did not materialize after the governor dropped her Senate bid.
SIMS SELECTION
Pro-Israel voices offer reassurance about Vance’s new national security advisor
Vice President JD Vance tapped Cliff Sims last month as his national security advisor, picking a longtime GOP operative with close relationships across the party’s ideological spectrum on foreign policy. The hire bolsters Vance’s foreign policy operation at a time when intraparty fissures are widening over the lack of diplomatic or military progress in the war with Iran and the broader question of American engagement abroad, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Ratcliffe’s reference: In addition to being a Vance confidante, Sims, 42, has advised or worked with President Donald Trump, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, most recently serving as chairman of the CIA’s external advisory board. “Cliff served as one of my deputies when I was DNI and I saw firsthand his exceptional judgment and command of the most sensitive national security matters,” Ratcliffe told JI. Vance’s appointment of Sims also received praise from Jeff Miller, a leading Republican lobbyist and the board chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Dan Conston, former president of the Congressional Leadership Fund. Both worked alongside him at Watchtower Strategy, the consulting firm they cofounded last year.
REIMAGINING THE RELATIONSHIP
Israel, U.S. formally launch talks on ‘new security cooperation framework’
The Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Trump administration have launched formal talks on a “new security cooperation framework” to replace the current U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding on military aid upon its expiration in 2028, the ministry said in a statement on Friday, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
Details: The Israeli team will be led by Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, while the U.S. team will be led by State Department counselor Daniel Holler and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. The two sides held a formal inaugural meeting this week and have further discussions planned in both countries in the coming weeks, the ministry said, without specifying a timeline for when the talks might conclude.
Regional rebuilding: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is examining pathways to repurpose Iranian assets to compensate the U.S.’ Gulf allies for damage inflicted by Iranian attacks during the war, and potential future damages, a source familiar with Bessent’s thinking told JI’s Marc Rod.
EXTREMISM WATCH
Mamdani endorsee defends attending anti-Israel rally one day after Oct. 7 attacks
Darializa Avila Chevalier, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidate to unseat Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), on Friday defended her attendance at an anti-Israel rally one day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, denied knowledge regarding her own history of posting anti-U.S. and pro-Russian sentiments online and maintained she owed nothing to the Texas tycoon underwriting a PAC backing her campaign, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
What she said: The Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed congressional contender faced questions from reporters following a press conference, including over her decision to participate in an anti-Israel protest organized by pro-China, pro-Iran groups on Oct. 8, 2023. “I was at this rally because I have always, as someone who has followed the issues that happened in the region, I have seen a pattern in which whenever there is an incident, the State of Israel engages in a response that is often disproportionate and creates a greater loss of life,” she said. “And that is what I was there to stand against.”
DEMS DEBATE
Jewish concerns at the forefront of closely contested race to succeed Nadler
The four leading Democrats running in a closely contested Manhattan primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) all declined to describe Israel’s military conduct in Gaza as genocide during their first televised debate on Thursday evening, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Micah Lasher, an assemblyman who is backed by Nadler and other Democratic leaders in New York, called the number of Palestinian casualties “horrific” but characterized the question as “one of a set of definitional debates that does more to divide people of good faith than it does to find common ground.”
Choice of words: Alex Bores, a fellow assemblyman who has gained left-wing endorsements even as a defender of Israel, said he was “not comfortable” using the word, while Jack Schlossberg, a Kennedy scion and social media influencer, told the PIX11 debate moderator that he was “less interested in what we call it than what we do about it.” George Conway, a former Republican who is now an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, said he did not think Israel’s war “meets the threshold” for genocide.
FOUNDER NATION
Israeli startup founders receive warm reception at New York Tech Week
There’s a mantra in the Israeli startup world that its founders are months behind their American counterparts. New York Tech Week gave them a chance to close that gap, according to investors who descended on Manhattan last week. Michael Morgenstern, head of startups at financial technology platform Airwallex, which teamed up with Andreessen Horowitz — one of the world’s leading venture capital firms — to bring a delegation of Israeli founders to tech week for the first time, told Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen that VCs are looking to see more AI products come out of Israel, which historically has been security focused.
AI aspirations: “It would be interesting to see an AI lab out of Israel,” Morgenstern said. “Why haven’t we seen an OpenAI or Claude, something of that status, coming out of the Israeli ecosystem? It makes me wonder if we are stagnating as an ecosystem. So exposing the Israeli market to what’s going on on the ground gives Israeli entrepreneurs the chance to get months ahead.”
Worthy Reads
No Room for Debate: In his Substack, commentator and “Making Sense” podcast host Sam Harris explains why he refuses to debate critics of Israel. “What do the Jews and Muslims in the region really yearn to accomplish? What are they willing to sacrifice for? What are they willing to die for? And what are they willing to let their children die for? When we focus on the present this way, if we’re being honest, we must concede that there are two very different realities on either side of this conflict: culturally, psychologically, ethically, spiritually — in every way that matters. Yes, Israel has its religious fanatics too. But they aren’t the same sort of fanatics we find in Hamas or Hezbollah, and they’re far less representative of the surrounding culture.” [Substack]
The Platner Paradox: The Washington Post’s Ramesh Ponnuru reacts to efforts by some supporters of embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who last week was the subject of a lengthy New York Times piece in which former girlfriends raised concerns about his behavior, to defend Platner in spite of the latest reporting. “Progressives, who went all in on ‘believe women’ just a few years ago, have in many cases decided that certain exceptions apply. Conservative women whose testimony is inconvenient for Democratic hopes of running the Senate apparently are on that list. … Maine voters are free to support Platner, of course, as are progressive political commentators — notwithstanding the tattoo, the lying about it, the lying about his home loan, the extramarital sexting and everything else. But it’s a strange race to jettison moral standards for.” [WashPost]
Word on the Street
Axios spotlights growing concerns among Jewish Democratic officials and political staffers over growing antisemitism — and its acceptance — within the party…
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) is calling on the Tampa Sports Authority to reconsider the city’s plans to host two upcoming Kanye West concerts, citing concerns that taxpayer funds will go to support performances by West, who has made numerous antisemitic remarks in recent years…
The Boulder, Colo., Jewish community unveiled a plaque during the Boulder Jewish Film Festival paying tribute to the victims of last year’s antisemitic firebombing targeting a hostage-awareness rally, in which one woman was killed…
The New York Times Magazine profiles director Steven Spielberg ahead of the release of his 35th film, “Disclosure Day,” this weekend…
Actor John Lithgow won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play for his portrayal of antisemitic author Roald Dahl in “Giant”…
Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein married Caryn Zucker on Friday; the couple first exchanged vows in a ceremony officiated by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, followed by a religious ceremony at Washington’s Sixth and I synagogue officiated by Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt…
Police in Canada arrested a man in connection with last week’s arson attack at Montreal’s Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, one of the city’s oldest synagogues…
The Bank of Israel purchased approximately $800 million in May in an effort to stem the growing strength of the shekel; the move came as some Israel-based companies and NGOs were forced to downsize as a result of the currency’s appreciating value against a weakening dollar…
Ireland will issue travel bans prohibiting far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entering the country…
One person was killed and five injured in what is believed to be a terror attack in central Israel; the alleged assailant, an Arab Israeli man from the town of Tayibe, was killed by police soon after the spree…
Heedo Abu Laban is joining The New York Times as a reporter and researcher in the outlet’s Jerusalem bureau; Abu Laban previously worked at Israel’s Kan broadcaster and i24News…
Israeli singer Yishai Levi, known for his contributions over the decades to Mizrahi music, died at 63…
Pic of the Day
William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, respectively the CEO and chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem on Sunday. Daroff told JI it was a “warm meeting that discussed a wide range of issues of concern to American Jewry and to the diaspora, generally.”
Birthdays
Winner of many Emmy and SAG awards, star of the long-running TV series “The Good Wife,” Julianna Margulies turns 60…
Hebrew University mathematics professor emeritus and 2005 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, Robert Aumann turns 96… Guru of alternative, holistic and integrative medicine, Dr. Andrew Weil turns 84… Hedge fund founder and manager, founder of the Paloma Funds, Selwyn Donald Sussman turns 80… Detective novelist, best known for creating the character of V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky turns 79… Founder and CEO of Sitrick and Company, one of the most prominent crisis management firms in the U.S., Michael Sitrick… Classical pianist, teacher and performer at the Juilliard School and winner of several Grammy Awards, he is the child of Holocaust survivors, Emanuel Ax turns 77… Former member of Knesset from the Zionist Union and Labor parties, now a professor emeritus at Ben-Gurion University, Yosef “Yossi” Yona turns 73… Barbara Jaffe Panken… Senior advisor at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based O2 Investment Partners, Robert Harris “Rob” Orley… Journalist, stand-up comedian, author, cartoonist and blogger, Aaron Freeman turns 70… CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Stacy Ritter turns 66… AVP for campaign at the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Patti Frazin… Moscow-born, living in the U.S. since 1976, he is a major figure in the Russian energy sector and co-founder and chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation, Stan Polovets turns 63… Israel’s state comptroller and ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman turns 60… Actor, screenwriter and producer, Dan Futterman turns 59… Former congresswoman (D-AZ), she is a survivor of an assassination attempt near Tucson in 2011, Gabrielle Giffords turns 56… Actor who starred in USA Network’s “Royal Pains,” he also co-wrote and created the CBS series “9JKL,” Mark Feuerstein turns 55… Former executive director at Consulate Health Care in New Port Richey, Fla., Daniel Frenden… Inaugural executive director of American Friends of IDF Widows and Orphans, Daniel Elbaum… Former deputy chief of staff for Charlie Baker when he was governor of Massachusetts, Michael Emanuel Vallarelli… Lead organizer at LA Voice, a multiracial multifaith community organization, Suzy Stone… Businesswoman, art collector and editor, founder of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Dasha Zhukova turns 45… Fourth-generation supermarket executive at Klein’s ShopRite of Maryland, Marshall Klein… Corporate litigation partner in the Wilmington office of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, Daniel Kirshenbaum… Three-time Tony Award-winning theatrical producer, he is the co-founder at Folk Media Group, Eric J. Kuhn turns 39… CEO of BZ Media and the Bnai Zion Foundation, Rabbi Ari Lamm… Offensive tackle in the NFL for nine seasons until he retired in 2022, his Hebrew name is “Mendel,” Mitchell Schwartz turns 37…
Cliff Sims is known inside the White House as a China hawk, but his record on the Middle East is less established
RW/Mediapunch /IPX
Cliff Sims at Good Morning America promotes his new book T'eam of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House' in New York City on January 28, 2019.
Vice President JD Vance tapped Cliff Sims last month as his national security advisor last month, picking a longtime GOP operative with close relationships across the party’s ideological spectrum on foreign policy.
The hire bolsters Vance’s foreign policy operation at a time when intraparty fissures are widening over the lack of diplomatic or military progress in the war with Iran and the broader question of American engagement abroad.
Sims will be leading Vance’s foreign policy team alongside Andy Baker, one of the vice president’s closest aides and a deputy national security advisor.
Sims is a longtime political ally of President Donald Trump, a friend of several members of the Trump family — including Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. — and has longstanding personal and professional relationships throughout the president’s orbit and in Republican politics.
In addition to being a Vance confidante, Sims, 42, has advised or worked with Trump, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, most recently serving as chairman of the CIA’s external advisory board.
Sims is known in Republican foreign policy circles as a China hawk. He led several China-related efforts during his tenure as director of message strategy for the White House and deputy director of national intelligence for strategy and communications at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Sims and Ratcliffe co-authored numerous op-eds from late 2021 to early 2022 where the two claimed the Chinese Communist Party poses the greatest threat to U.S. national security.
After serving as deputy director of national intelligence under Ratcliffe in the first Trump administration, Sims was appointed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as a commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in 2024, serving a two-year term. Later that year, he took over as executive director of the Trump 2024 presidential transition, also leading the CIA’s transition process from the Biden administration to the current one.
“Cliff served as one of my deputies when I was DNI and I saw firsthand his exceptional judgment and command of the most sensitive national security matters,” Ratcliffe told JI. “He has been a fearless advocate for President Trump’s foreign policy, and one of my most trusted advisors. Vice President Vance made an outstanding choice in selecting Cliff as a national security advisor.”
Unlike with China, Sims’ views on Middle East policy are not as clear.
Two sources with direct knowledge of his ideology in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Jewish Insider that Sims believes that some issues can be solved through U.S. military action without engaging in extended military intervention, which he opposes.
Both sources said that Sims and Vance are closely aligned on foreign policy, especially regarding China.
One source argued that Sims’ experience in political communications and speechwriting will be an asset for Vance with messaging on the war in Iran amid the ongoing negotiations to pursue a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
Vance’s decision to tap Sims has been a source of reassurance to some in the pro-Israel community who have been concerned about Vance’s foreign policy worldview and relationships with antisemitic podcasters like Tucker Carlson.
Sims’ hiring won praise from two of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s board members who worked with Sims at the conservative public affairs firm, Watchtower Strategy, that they cofounded last year.
Jeff Miller, a leading Republican lobbyist and the board chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, told JI that Sims “knows the president’s and vice president’s foreign policy inside and out.”
“I’ve seen firsthand his talent and competence and he’s going to be a great asset to the White House, and not just on U.S.-Israel issues, but across the whole national security landscape,” Miller said of Sims.
Dan Conston, former president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the House GOP super PAC, similarly celebrated Sims joining Vance’s team.
“Cliff has talked often about his support for Israel’s unconditional right to destroy Hamas, particularly after the Oct. 7 attacks, and his belief that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Conston told JI. “Like the president, Cliff’s always going to put America’s interests first, and where Israel’s interests and U.S. interests align, Israel couldn’t ask for a better friend.”
Before joining the second Trump administration, Sims also ran a strategic advisory firm and served on the board of POLARIS National Security, a nonprofit that supports political candidates who prioritize defense concerns. The group was founded by Morgan Ortagus, who briefly served on White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s team last year before joining U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz’s staff in New York. Ortagus is a close ally of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other hawkish Republicans.
An Alabama native, Sims is also a lifelong Baptist who participated in Christian missionary work in Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America. He wrote a book, released in May 2024, using stories about his time in the West Wing and his personal upbringing to offer reflections on how Christian Americans should use their faith as a compass to navigate the current hyper-partisan nature of U.S. politics.
He also is the author of a 2019 tell-all that led to a temporary falling out with the president, in which he detailed how several of Trump’s foreign policy decisions framed parts of his worldview. The book initially sparked the president’s ire despite its positive portrayal of him for exposing the chaotic nature of the first Trump administration, one source told JI.
Sims wrote in the memoir, Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House, that Trump’s unemotional reaction to Palestinian protests in response to his decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was a significant life lesson, while praising the president’s move.
“The president had done nothing wrong. He had taken a stand and made good on a promise that [former presidents] Clinton, Bush, and Obama had all bailed on. I was proud of what he had done — we all were,” Sims wrote. “But I could not help but feel uncomfortable as he calmly watched a mob carry a stuffed Trump through the streets hanging on a cross.”
“I find it difficult to explain what it feels like to watch that level of hatred being displayed on TV screens all over the world while standing right next to the person at whom the hatred is being directed. And yet the president was the calm in the eye of the storm,” he continued. “I learned something important from the president that day — something that I have tried to make a core operating principle in my life: you have to make peace with being misunderstood.”
Sims came back into the fold and mended his relationship with the president in early 2020, just prior to joining Ratcliffe’s team at ODNI, a source with direct knowledge told JI. Trump agreed to the rapprochement after Kushner and Trump Jr. urged him to consider resolving their dispute and defended Sims’ 2019 tell-all for portraying the president positively.
The New Jersey Democrat met last week with Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and National Security Advisor Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Courtesy
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) meets with UAE National Security Advisor Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the UAE, May 28, 2026
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) visited the United Arab Emirates in his capacity as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last week, meeting with National Security Advisor Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The trip included discussions on the war in Iran, regional security, artificial intelligence, energy security and rising antisemitism.
“The United States and the UAE are close partners, and I am grateful for the warmth our hosts extended throughout this trip,” Gottheimer said in a statement to JI. “The UAE has stood firm throughout Iran’s relentless missile and drone attacks on Emirati cities and demonstrated the enduring strength of the Abraham Accords by engaging in a deeper partnership with Israel than ever before. We are completely aligned that Iran cannot continue threatening its neighbors.”
Gottheimer said that he also had “productive discussions” on AI and energy cooperation, highlighting possibilities for “a partnership that will define the future of AI and energy innovation.”
Tahnoun said on X last week that the pair “reviewed the distinguished strategic relations between the UAE and the USA, and ways to strengthen cooperation in various fields of mutual interest. We also discussed regional and international issues, and affirmed the commitment of both friendly nations to deepening the strategic partnership in support of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.”
Gottheimer’s trip also included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, where he discussed Indo-Pacific security issues including China, North Korea and Iran.
His confirmation vote, by a 47-43 vote, comes days before the start of the U.N. General Assembly
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.
The Senate confirmed former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Friday to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, capping off a monthslong confirmation process that was marred by delays just days before the start of the U.N. General Assembly next week.
Waltz, a former congressman from Florida and a Green Beret, was confirmed by a 47-43 vote in the Senate on Friday afternoon, with three Democrats and one Republican crossing party lines. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Fetterman (D-PA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) voted in favor of Waltz’s nomination, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican to oppose.
Waltz’s journey to his current role began when President Donald Trump removed him from his post as White House national security advisor in late April and selected him to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as his pick for U.N. ambassador. The White House pulled Stefanik’s nomination in late March, more than two months after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had advanced her nomination, amid concerns that her absence in the House could hurt Republicans’ ability to govern with their slim majority.
The former national security advisor was facing heavy scrutiny at the time over the Signal chat incident in which Waltz inadvertently added Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat of top national security officials discussing imminent strikes on the Houthis on the non-secure messaging app. Prior to the “Signalgate” incident, Waltz had already been viewed as a vulnerable target for ideological rivals and personal foes in the administration because of his hawkish approach on foreign policy.
While Trump initially stood by Waltz, he eventually relented and in early May announced his intention to move the former congressman to the U.N. post. Waltz had already faced a setback after Trump fired six National Security Council officials whose views were aligned with Waltz. Their ouster was driven by an intervention by far-right activist Laura Loomer.
Waltz, a staunch supporter of Israel and an outspoken critic of Iran, faced delays of his own during his Senate confirmation process this summer, with Paul siding with all Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee to block his nomination from advancing to the full Senate over concerns with Waltz’s national security and foreign policy positions.
Shaheen eventually broke the stalemate in July, voting for Waltz because of his public and private support for continued U.S. global engagement than other figures in the administration, as well as potential alternatives Trump could nominate.
Multiple outlets reported at the time that Shaheen, who is retiring next year, conditioned her support for Waltz on the Trump administration committing to providing $75 million in aid to Haiti and Nigeria, which had just been approved. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chairman of the committee, told Jewish Insider that the aid package was not directly tied to Shaheen’s support for Waltz.
During his confirmation hearing that month, Waltz said he would serve as a blockade to “anti-Israel resolutions” in the U.N. General Assembly and vowed to push for the dismantlement of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency over some of its employees’ involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. He also said he supported U.S. sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Israel and the Palestinian territories, amid widespread accusations she has espoused antisemitic rhetoric in her commentary on Israel.
Waltz will take over for Dorothy Shea, the career diplomat who filled the role in an acting capacity as chargé d’affaires during the nine-month vacancy. His first full week on the job will coincide with the General Assembly, bringing world leaders together in New York City for high-level discussions on issues ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine to European countries’ push for Palestinian statehood.
In an interview with ‘The Bulwark,’ the former national security advisor argued that the argument in favor of restricting military aid is ‘much stronger’ than it was a year ago
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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on January 13, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that the “case for withholding weapons from Israel today is much stronger than it was one year ago,” adding that he now backs such efforts.
“The thing that we were grappling with throughout all of 2024, which is not the case today, is that Israel was under attack from multiple fronts,” Sullivan, who served under President Joe Biden, told The Bulwark’s Tim Miller. “It was under attack from Hezbollah, from the Houthis, from Syria, from Iraq, obviously from Hamas and from Iran itself. So the idea of saying, ‘Israel, we’re not going to give you a whole set of military tools’ in that context was challenging.”
“The case for withholding weapons from Israel today is much stronger than it was one year ago,” Sullivan added. “One, they don’t face the same regional threats. Two, there was a ceasefire hostage deal in place and the ability to have negotiations, and it was Israel who just walked away from it without negotiating seriously. Three, there is a full-blown famine in Gaza. And four, there are no more serious military objectives to achieve. It’s just bombing the rubble into rubble.”
Sullivan, who was tapped as the inaugural Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order at the Harvard Kennedy School, suggested that the political makeup of the Israeli government could affect the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“If nothing changes in their government — if it continues to be a far-right government that pursues the same policies — then it won’t be the Israel we’ve known,” Sullivan said. “I think a lot of Israelis would say they wouldn’t recognize that Israel. And obviously, that should have an impact on the relationship.”
Paul told JI he’s refusing to vote to move Waltz out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a favorable recommendation, as is standard practice, but would vote for a neutral recommendation
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is delaying efforts to confirm former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations over Waltz’s previous support for a continued U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan.
Paul told Jewish Insider on Wednesday he would not vote to support moving Waltz out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a favorable recommendation, as is generally a standard part of the confirmation process. Paul’s concerns forced the committee to delay a vote, scheduled for Wednesday, to advance Waltz’s nomination.
Paul said he would vote to advance the nomination with a neutral recommendation, which would allow Waltz to move forward for consideration from the full Senate but would be an unusual black mark on Waltz’s nomination. Unless Waltz picks up Democratic support, the committee vote would be tied — preventing the nomination from moving forward — without Paul’s backing.
He explained to JI that his concerns about Waltz revolve around the former national security advisor’s previous support for an amendment in the House, led by former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), that would have forced the first Trump administration to maintain a troop presence in Afghanistan unless Congress approved a full withdrawal.
“I think that has constitutional problems and really goes against a lot of things that people believe, that on initiation of war, I think the president should be limited and [Congress] initiate[s] war,” Paul said. “Once a war is executed, I don’t think Congress has any business telling President [Donald] Trump … ‘You can’t have less than 8,000 troops in Afghanistan.’”
“This was led by Liz Cheney. It was a terrible thing and very anti-Trump and so I didn’t like that,” Paul said.
He also made reference to other comments he said Waltz had made about a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq or Afghanistan, which Paul said he found unacceptable.
The Kentucky senator questioned Waltz about his support for the Cheney amendment during his confirmation hearing last week.
Senate Republicans could attempt to discharge Waltz’s nomination from the committee by a full vote of the Senate, but such a process would be time-consuming and has rarely succeeded.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said during the committee’s meeting on Wednesday morning that a senator had requested the vote on Waltz be delayed until the committee’s next meeting, and placed the committee’s business meeting into recess “until further notice, as we consider Mr. Waltz further.”
The Senate has one week left in session before its monthlong August recess, though Trump has urged Senate leadership to cancel the break to continue processing nominations.
Obama’s former national security advisor disagreed with David Petraeus, John Bolton over the effectiveness of the strikes
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice speaks at the J Street 2018 National Conference April 16, 2018 in Washington, D.C.
Susan Rice, who served as national security advisor during the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Tehran’s nuclear program while defending the 2015 agreement during a panel discussion on Monday at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival.
Rice, who was on stage with former Trump administration National Security Advisor John Bolton and former CIA director David Petraeus, disagreed with her two colleagues that Trump’s Iran strikes were largely a success.
“I think the resort to military action when diplomacy had not been exhausted was a strategic mistake,” Rice said. “And the reality is, and we’re back to this point today, only diplomacy and a negotiated settlement can ensure the sustainable and verifiable dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program. You need inspectors on the ground. You need verifiable constraints that are very significant, and you don’t achieve that by ripping up the 2015 nuclear agreement and replacing it with nothing.”
Rice joins a chorus of former Obama and Biden administration officials who have criticized Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, despite many experts concluding the damage to the program was significant. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, for instance, said that “based on the assessments of senior officers in IDF Intelligence, the damage to [Iran’s] nuclear program is … systemic … severe, broad and deep, and pushed back by years.”
Last week, former Secretary of State Tony Blinken wrote an op-ed in The New York Times: “The strike on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the United States was unwise and unnecessary. Now that it’s done, I very much hope it succeeded.”
At the Aspen Ideas Festival last week, former Biden administration National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told moderator Fareed Zakaria: “We still need a deal because Iran still has, it appears, stockpiles of enriched uranium, still has centrifuge capacity, even if the installed centrifuge capacity has been destroyed or damaged or who knows what, and still has know-how and therefore still has the possibility of reconstituting its program.”
Bolton, on the same panel as Rice, argued that the time was ripe for military action against Iran.
“I think the regime is weaker than at any point since the 1979 revolution,” Bolton said. “But I think we will never have an opportunity this good to remove not just the nuclear program but the Iranian support for terrorism, which dates back to 1979 when they seized our embassy employees and it went downhill from there.”
Bolton outlined several ways in which Iranians are dissatisfied with the regime, including economic stagnation and state of women’s rights in the country.
“The answer is regime change. But in the meantime, we want to make sure that there aren’t any even possible successful efforts by Iran to do something with what they have,” Bolton said.
Turning to Israel’s war in Gaza, all members of the panel argued that Israel needed to shift its strategy to successfully eliminate Hamas. Bolton said that, despite successfully degrading the terror group’s organizational structure, Israel had not successfully fulfilled all of its war goals, which include eliminating Hamas and securing the release of all the hostages.
Bolton argued that an additional objective of the war should be to “provide a better future for the Palestinians without Hamas in their lives. The only way you can achieve all four of these is … by going in and conducting a comprehensive civil military counterinsurgency campaign. You clear every building floor room and block all the tunnel entrances, let the people that belong there back in with biometric ID cards, and then you have an entry control point to the rest of Gaza. With security, anything is possible.”
Israel has not asked U.S. to join offensive against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Hanegbi says
Knesset
National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi and Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Yuli Edelstein on November 13, 2023.
Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site is a key target in the current operation against the Islamic Republic, Israel’s national security advisor, Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Tuesday.
“This operation will not conclude without a strike on the Fordow nuclear facility,” Hanegbi told Israel’s Channel 12 News.
The Fordow facility is home to thousands of centrifuges, crucial to Iran’s weapons-grade uranium enrichment program, and is located 295 feet underground beneath a mountain. Israel is thought to have neither the munitions nor the aircraft to destroy it from the air, while the U.S. does.
Washington, however, has yet to make clear if it will take part in the offensive on Iran, though it has shot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel in the last few days. Hanegbi said that he does not believe the Trump administration has made a decision on the matter yet.
Hanegbi denied that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked the U.S. to join Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear sites: “We didn’t ask and we won’t ask. We will leave it to the Americans to make such dramatic decisions about their own security. We think only they can decide.”
“We are very careful and the prime minister is very careful not to ask for anything the Americans do not think is in their interest,” he said.
When the IDF presented its plan to the Israeli Security Cabinet a year ago, Hanegbi said, it was for the operation against Iran to be carried out by Israel alone. He called the plan “totally blue and white.”
However, Israel did ask the U.S. for help with its defense, because it has the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system, he said.
Hanegbi said that the U.S. is not only committed to protecting Israeli lives, but to the hundreds of thousands of American citizens living in Israel.
As to reports that President Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Hanegbi said they are “fake from the land of fake.”
“We don’t ask for permission from the U.S., and the U.S. doesn’t expect us to share [our plans] with them,” Hanegbi said.
Regime change is not Israel’s goal, the national security advisor said.
“I think every sane person, not only in Israel, would be happy to see this loathsome, murderous, cruel regime fall and be replaced by peace-loving people. Can we set that as a goal for ourselves? No,” Hanegbi said.
While Hanegbi acknowledged that “the best way to remove the nuclear threat is for there to be a regime that does not want a nuclear weapon,” he said “that is not something we can attain kinetically right now.”
In addition, Hanegbi said the mullahs’ regime could fall as a result of “the process in which Iran lost its grip on the Shiite axis that was crazed in wanting to harm Israel,” but added that “it is not reasonable to think it will happen in the coming days.”
Hanegbi also expressed doubts that Iran would negotiate its surrender soon and said Israel did not receive any messages that Iran wants to hold talks to end the war.
“The Iranians are a proud people,” he said. “I don’t think they will wave the white flag at the beginning of the campaign.”
As such, he added, “we will continue with our plan. It will take time. We have many varied targets.”
Hanegbi said that Iranian gas fields and its energy sector “do not have immunity,” and that Israel struck an oil refinery used by the military within the last day.
Iran has “a strategic goal to strike our energy facilities,” he said. “They want to cause chaos in Israel. When they hit refineries in Haifa, they know what they’re doing.”
Biden’s former national security advisor said, ‘on this, unlike on many other issues, on foreign policy, I seem to be on the same page as Donald Trump’
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan praised President Donald Trump for his strategy of engagement with Iran on their nuclear weapons program and predicted that the Trump administration would reach a deal that “is going to look and feel pretty similar to the” 2015 nuclear deal reached by former President Barack Obama.
Sullivan made the comments on the Unholy Podcast, hosted by Channel 12 anchor Yonit Levi and The Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, when asked how he views Trump’s embrace of diplomacy with Iran after withdrawing from the Obama-era deal in his first term. Sullivan, who helped negotiate the 2015 agreement before serving as former President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, noted that Trump referred to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as “the worst deal in human history.”
“The irony is not lost on me that now they are negotiating something that, in its broad elements, is going to look and feel pretty similar to the JCPOA. I’m not talking to anyone in the Trump administration about this. I don’t know of them engaging with other of the architects or negotiators from the Obama era, in part because, while they’re following some of the blueprint of the JCPOA, I think from a marketing perspective, they want to distance themselves and say [that] whatever the Trump deal is is going to be so much better than the Obama deal. I will find it very interesting to watch them make that case,” Sullivan said.
The former national security adviser said he was monitoring public developments with regard to how the uranium enrichment issue was addressed in the ongoing negotiations. Sullivan noted that the issue “has both hung up the negotiations and created this big fight, frankly, within the Republican party.”
Citing the risk of the “potential for retaliation by Iran against both Israel and the United States in the region,” Sullivan said that, “I’ve always thought that a diplomatic resolution that puts Iran’s nuclear program in a box is the right way to proceed. And on this, unlike on many other issues, on foreign policy, I seem to be on the same page as Donald Trump.”
Asked about Trump’s decision to not stop in Israel during his recent Middle East visit and if his overall approach to extracting concessions from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu served as evidence that the Biden administration should have taken a firmer stance with the Israelis, Sullivan argued there were commonalities between Trump and Biden’s approach to the Gulf states.
“Donald Trump likes peace and he likes deals. That’s his basic approach to the region. And he looks at Bibi and he says, ‘Is Bibi going to give me peace or deals? No. Is MBS [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman]? Yes. Is MBZ [UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan]? Yes. Even, are the Iranians? Maybe. So are the Houthis, maybe they’ll give me a deal.’ So really I think what he’s doing is saying, ‘Can Bibi be a partner in the things I’m trying to accomplish here, deescalation and deals?’ And since he’s kind of concluded the answer is no, he’s just going to go off and largely do that himself,” Sullivan explained.
“That means cutting a deal with the Houthis that essentially still leaves the Houthis in a position where they’re attacking Israel and saying they’re going to hold Israeli link shipping at risk. It has him potentially doing a deal with Iran, despite misgivings from Israel. And of course, it has him pursuing these massive economic deals with Saudi and the UAE,” he continued.
Sullivan argued that the Biden administration “worked to pave the way for a lot of the strengthened relations with countries in the Gulf,” pointing to partnerships they made with the Saudis and Emiratis.
“We had a different approach on some of this AI and tech stuff, particularly limitations around numbers of chips that would go there. But in substance, the idea that there would be a technology partnership between the UAE and the United States, between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, that was a hallmark of the Biden approach as well. And so I don’t see a huge divergence there,” he said.
Asked about the ramifications of Israel potentially striking Iran’s nuclear program without Trump’s approval, Sullivan dismissed the notion that Netanyahu would defy the current president.
“I’m pretty skeptical that Prime Minister Netanyahu would act contrary to Trump’s wishes on this front. I think it is highly unlikely that you would see an Israeli prime minister order an attack against the express urging of an American president, particularly this American president in this time, particularly given that the U.S. is engaged in diplomacy with Iran to try to get to some kind of deal,” Sullivan said.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
National Security Advisor Michael Waltz speaks on a panel at the Hill and Valley Forum at the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we detail Mike Waltz’s ouster yesterday as national security advisor and his nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N., and scoop the hiring of Martin Marks to be the Trump administration’s Jewish liaison. We also report on Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin’s comments at the Jewish Democratic Council of America’s summit yesterday, and report on a call from Sen. Richard Blumenthal for the Trump administration to reverse its recent dismissals of members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Zach Witkoff, Josh Radnor and Netta Barzilai.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Bill Cassidy leans in to fight antisemitism as chair of key Senate committee; Songs of the fallen set the tone for Yom HaZikaron in Israel; and ‘The Surge’ continues: JFNA survey finds a third of Jews more engaged now than pre-Oct. 7. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- Nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. that had been expected to take place this weekend in Rome have been postponed. The State Department said the talks had not been confirmed, while Iran said that Tehran and Washington, along with Oman, which is facilitating the talks, had decided to postpone the fourth round of negotiations over “logistical and technical reasons.”
- The McCain Institute’s two-day Sedona Forum kicks off today in Arizona.
- The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition National Conference begins on Sunday in Washington.
- And on the West Coast, the Milken Institute Global Conference kicks off on Sunday in Los Angeles.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Call it the horseshoe theory in action: The senatorial tag team of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rand Paul (R-KY), representing the far left and far right of their caucuses, joined forces this week to scuttle bipartisan legislation designed to crack down on campus antisemitism by codifying the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Jewish discrimination into law.
Sanders proposed several “poison pill” amendments to the Antisemitism Awareness Act during a committee meeting — condemnation of the destruction in Gaza, protection for college students’ free speech rights and rights for universities — that received unanimous Democratic support in the committee vote, as well as backing from Paul. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) also voted for two of the Sanders-sponsored amendments. A fourth amendment by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) opposing deportation and revocation of foreign students’ visas also passed with Paul’s support.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act has long been a major priority for Jewish leaders, especially with discrimination against Jews on the rise, but is facing continued hurdles for passage because of growing antagonism from both parties’ extreme flanks.
The legislation, which passed the House with a substantial 320-vote majority last year, was opposed by only 21 House Republicans and 70 House Democrats, though opposition has grown since then.
Last year, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) didn’t bring the legislation to the Senate floor for a vote out of concern it would expose divisions over the issue in the party. A number of progressive Democrats oppose the mainstream IHRA definition of antisemitism, arguing the definition is too broad because it considers certain criticisms of Israel to be antisemitic.
On the far right, there was growing discomfort over free speech concerns. Most prominently, a smattering of right-wing Republicans, including Paul, and prominent influencers such as Tucker Carlson raised objections because the IHRA definition tags the claim that Jews killed Jesus as antisemitic. In cooperation with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who shared similar concerns, the committee added language explicitly specifying that First Amendment protected speech, religion, press, assembly and petition rights are protected under the legislation.
The retreat on what, on paper, should have been an easy political win for both parties is just one small example of the growing influence of the populist, anti-establishment grassroots — fueled by voters increasingly turning to unconventional and unreliable sources for information.
As a result, on issues ranging from hostility to mainstream foreign policy views to distrust of traditional medicine to anger at Wall Street, the far left and far right of both parties are forming alliances of convenience.
Just scan the daily headlines for examples of an upside-down politics: Within the Trump administration, the reassignment of national security adviser Mike Waltz to Turtle Bay and the recent purge of experienced officials on the National Security Council at the recommendation of a far-right conspiracy theorist is backed by an isolationist faction that wants to upend the bipartisan foreign policy consensus. Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks, in a notable warning this week, said anti-Israel views are beginning to seep into the Republican party as part of a “woke right” whose worldview often overlaps with the far left.
Meanwhile, Democratic grassroots’ enthusiasm and excitement for Sanders’ rallies with left-wing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), as moderates struggle to put forward an alternative vision for the party, is a cautionary sign that progressive party activists are still empowered despite the political hole they dug for their party. The fact that Sanders-championed resolutions to block arm sales to Israel received 15 (of 47) Democratic votes in the Senate last month is a sign of how much the party has changed in recent years.
As Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), a 36-year-old progressive House Democrat, said on CNN Thursday: “There is a new generation of Republicans and Democrats who want to think about some of the things that we have been taking for granted as core tenets of our foreign policy.”
It’s no coincidence that antisemitic views are on the rise within both parties, as a result of this collapse of institutional authority. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, it’s becoming difficult to pass bipartisan legislation to fight the oldest hatred.
RELOCATING
Trump nominates Mike Waltz as U.N. ambassador
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was nominating Mike Waltz, his national security advisor, as ambassador to the United Nations, and removing him from his current role. In the interim, Trump added in a Truth Social post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as national security advisor while holding his diplomatic role, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Surprise shuffle: The announcement came amid multiple reports that Waltz was expected to be ousted from his role, in the first major shakeup of the administration. His deputy advisor, Alex Wong, a fellow traditional conservative, was also expected to leave the National Security Council, sources told JI. Waltz, a former Florida congressman and Green Beret, has been on precarious footing since he accidentally added a journalist to a non-secure messaging app in which top administration officials discussed sensitive plans for a military operation in Yemen.
Bonus: The Atlantic does a deep dive into Waltz’s brief tenure in the Trump administration, citing the “dysfunction” within the National Security Council that predated the “Signalgate” incident.
scoop
Trump campaign staffer Martin Marks serving as White House Jewish liaison
Martin Marks, who oversaw President Donald Trump’s efforts to win over Jewish voters in the 2024 election, has recently begun serving as the White House liaison to the Jewish community, a White House spokesperson confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch on Thursday. Marks’ appointment to the role is a shift for Trump, who did not appoint a Jewish liaison in his first term, instead opting for son-in-law Jared Kushner to informally serve in that role, alongside former antisemitism special envoy Elan Carr.
On the CV: Prior to joining the Trump campaign last year, Marks’ political experience included a brief congressional bid in 2022, when he entered the Republican primary to unseat Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL), though he dropped out before voting began. His mother, handbag designer Lana Marks, served as U.S. ambassador to South Africa in Trump’s first term, and Marks was her “senior advisor and chief strategist” during her confirmation hearings, according to a biography on his campaign website. He moved with her to Pretoria to continue serving as an informal advisor.
SELF REFLECTION
Dan Goldman: Dems shouldn’t make antisemitic visa holders into ‘martyrs’
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) warned that some on the left are focusing too heavily on individuals who have espoused antisemitic views and are being targeted by the Trump administration for deportation, and that Democrats should be directing more attention towards the Americans still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: “We are seeing, because of Donald Trump’s overreach, that people who have espoused antisemitism are becoming martyrs, and that scares me,” Goldman said at a Jewish Democratic Council of America conference in Washington on Thursday. “Because we should be talking about the five American hostages in Gaza who have been there for a year and a half, who were abducted by a terrorist group and are deceased in four of the cases, unfortunately, but one, Edan Alexander, remains alive.”
IN CONVERSATION
Ossoff highlights hostages and antisemitism, but says Trump is exploiting Jewish fears
As he works to repair his standing with some members of Georgia’s Jewish community, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on Thursday highlighted the plight of the remaining hostages in Gaza and the rise of antisemitism at home, while also condemning what he described as the Trump administration’s use of antisemitism as a weapon to attack civil liberties, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “I know for those of us, myself included, who have family in Israel, for those of us who every single day feel the intense pain of recognition that there remain hostages rotting and facing abuse in tunnels under Gaza, for those of who have feared for Israel’s future and its security, for those of us who have witnessed the gut-wrenching violence and devastation in the Middle East, it has been and remains incredibly painful,” Ossoff said, speaking at a Jewish Democratic Council of America summit in Washington. He also highlighted the struggles of Jewish parents whose children have felt threatened on campus and business owners whose businesses have been vandalized. But, he continued, “this issue is being very cynically exploited as the administration seeks to erode civil liberties in the United States.”
DEM DIRECTION
Ken Martin: Democratic Party needs to stand with Jewish community, Israel
Ken Martin, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said on Thursday that the Democratic Party needs to stand up for the Jewish community and for Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Stand strong: “It is so important right now for our party to stand up with the Jewish community, to continue to stand up for Israel, to continue to stand up for humanity and to not forget who we are as Americans,” Martin said in remarks to a Jewish Democratic Council of America conference in Washington, calling the Jewish community “really, really an important part of our coalition.”
Messaging and tactics: Also speaking at the conference, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) laid out a vision for the Democratic Party’s path out of the political wilderness, outlining what they see as the party’s weaknesses and missteps, and the ways that Democrats can most effectively stake out and message positions in the second Trump era.
scoop
Blumenthal calls on Trump to reverse U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council dismissals
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Thursday urging him to reverse course on his decision to remove multiple members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council appointed by former President Joe Biden. Blumenthal wrote in the letter, first obtained by Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs, that the move “reveals a stunning contempt for the apolitical nature of Holocaust remembrance and a disturbing willingness to exploit even the memory of genocide for partisan gain.”
What he wrote: Blumenthal argued that the action “makes a mockery of the very mission the museum was created to pursue,” accusing the president of “politicizing an institution created to guard against the political abuses that led to the Holocaust in the first place.” He added, “These dismissals are not merely symbolic. They tell the country, and the world, that even the sacred memory of six million murdered Jews is not off-limits to your culture of retribution. That you would desecrate the museum’s independence to settle political scores is a deep insult to the survivors and their families, to the entire Jewish community, and to all communities who look to the museum as a beacon of truth and accountability.”
Worthy Reads
Political Parallels: Puck’s Julia Ioffe looks at the similarities in the Trump administration and Obama administration’s approaches to foreign policy. “Both came to power contemptuous of the Washington foreign policy establishment, which Obama lambasted as an ‘elite that largely boarded the bandwagon for war,’ clinging to the ‘Washington playbook’ and stuck in ‘groupthink.’ Trump reviles the ‘deep state’ and dinged Hillary Clinton, once the secretary of state, for having ‘bad experience.’ Both came to Washington wanting to end wars, but quickly found that not only was doing so harder than they thought, but existing wars also had a way of expanding under their watch. … ‘I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran,’ Trump said in his 100-days interview with Time. ‘Nobody else could do that.’ Nobody other than Obama, who negotiated a deal with Iran in 2015. Trump would obviously know that because, following [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s] lead in cursing the deal for years as empowering Iran over the objections of American allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, Trump unilaterally pulled out of the J.C.P.O.A. in 2018… only to now come back and try to strike a deal with Iran once again, after reportedly talking Israel out of striking Iranian nuclear sites.” [Puck]
Doha Dealings: In Commentary, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Jonathan Schanzer considers Qatar’s yearslong quest to become a key global player in media, diplomacy, academia and politics. “It’s fair to ask whether the Qataris are making a play for ‘state capture.’ Law firms, lobby groups, public relations shops, and other levers of influence are all on generous Qatari retainers. Hedge funds, mutual funds, joint ventures, and other generators of American wealth are similarly beholden to Qatari cash. Large parcels of real estate in one city after the next have been gobbled up by Qatari-backed developers. And that’s just what we know. Money is no object for Qatar. This is a country that controls more than 10 percent of the world’s energy. And the needs of the country’s tiny population make it such that the regime can spend money on soft power and influence without limit.” [Commentary]
Mandate-era Mode: In Tablet, Karen Burshtein spotlights ATA, a clothing company that provided workwear for recently arrived immigrants to pre-state Israel that has been revived in the last decade. “ATA now has minimalist chic boutiques in Tel Aviv and a just-opened store in Haifa, from which it sells its thick cotton jackets, quality T-shirts and sweaters, jumpsuits and, yes, the kibbutz hat. Most items have some reference to the workers’ uniforms at the heart of their history. Each is given a name that evokes kibbutz or Jewish history: Boker (morning) trousers, Po’elet (workers) dress, Hechrachi (Gematria) jacket, and Shabbat (Sabbath) shirts. The reborn brand often references ‘worker’s blue’ color tones. … Their first collection was directly inspired by what used to be called Havileh Oleh (Oleh packages). Upon arriving in Palestine/Israel, every oleh got a ‘Havileh Oleh,’ which contained work pants, a work shirt, a white shirt for Shabbat, a tembel hat, and a towel. “It was about how to identify yourself as an Israeli after you came from another place,” [creative director Yael] Shenberger continues. ‘When we started, what I wanted to do was exactly the same clothes. The white shirt in our first collection was the same white shirt Ben-Gurion wore.’” [Tablet]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on entities and individuals involved with the purchase of oil and petrochemicals from Iran…
The Trump administration commissioned L3Harris to refurbish a Boeing 747 previously owned by Qatar for use as a presidential plane, amid delays in Boeing’s production of two Air Force One replacement jets…
Zach Witkoff, the son of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, on Thursday announced a deal between the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial, Emirati investment firm MGX and Binance at the Token2049 cryptocurrency conference in Dubai…
The Pentagon’s inspector general is expanding an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging platform following reports that Hegseth shared plans to strike the Houthis in Yemen in a second group chat that included his brother and wife…
The New York Times looks at Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) return to the House of Representatives — and GOP leadership — following the Trump administration’s rescinding of her nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. over Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House…
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is set to headline South Carolina’s Blue Palmetto Dinner, Politico reports, amid speculation about the 2028 presidential race, in which Moore insists he is not running…
A new poll from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) narrowly trailing GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, 49-46%, in a potential Georgia Senate matchup next year…
Counterterrorism authorities in the U.K. are investigating the Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap over its members’ alleged support for violence against government officials and support for Hamas and Hezbollah; the group recently faced criticism for broadcasting anti-Israel messages during their set at Coachella…
Police in Victoria, Australia, are investigating after flyers promoting a neo-Nazi group were distributed to homes in a Melbourne suburb…
The Jewish Life Foundation is producing a 12-episode TV series and podcast hosted by “How I Met Your Mother” actor Josh Radnor, spotlighting Jewish writers at a time when others boycott them, Jay Deitcher reports for eJewishPhilanthropy…
Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited the Embassy of the Vatican in Jaffa and the Papal Nuncio this morning and signed the book of condolences for Pope Francis…
In a speech at Israel’s annual Bible Contest, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the country’s war aims, saying “There are another up to 24 alive, 59 total, and we want to return the living and the dead. It’s a very important goal. War has a supreme goal. The supreme goal is victory over our enemies, and this we will achieve”…
Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Cyprus and Romania sent planes and other aerial assistance to Israel to help combat the wildfires that spread through parts of the country this week…
Israeli fighter jets struck overnight close to the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus. In a joint statement, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community”…
A ship said to be carrying aid and activists to Gaza was struck by drones in international waters off Malta this morning, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition NGO that organized the ship…
Pic of the Day
To mark Israel’s Independence Day, Israeli singer Netta Barzilai partnered with the Jewish Agency to create a new cover of “Chai,” in a music video which features new immigrants to Israel, Israeli youth, volunteers from the diaspora, shlichim from around the world, victims of terror and released hostage Dafna Elyakim.
Birthdays
Former chairman and CEO of American International Group, once the largest insurance company in history, then chairman and CEO of the Starr Companies, Maurice Raymond “Hank” Greenberg turns 100…
FRIDAY: Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, he financed the visitors center at the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I., John Langeloth Loeb turns 95… Former lord chief justice and president of the Courts of England and Wales, Baron Harry Kenneth Woolf turns 92… Retired professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, journalist, international negotiator and private consultant, Dr. Alon Ben-Meir turns 88… Author of 23 books and conservative political activist, Alan Merril Gottlieb turns 78… U.S. senator (D-VT) since 2023, Peter Welch turns 78… Former member of the Texas Senate, she was born in NYC to Holocaust survivor parents, Florence Shapiro turns 77… Former USAID contractor imprisoned by Cuba from 2009 to 2014, Alan Phillip Gross turns 76… Co-founder and president of private equity firm NCH Capital, he has funded the establishment of hundreds of Chabad Houses at universities throughout the world, George Rohr turns 71… Former under secretary of state for public diplomacy in the Obama administration, following a stint as managing editor of Time magazine, Richard Allen “Rick” Stengel turns 70… Member of the New York State Assembly since 2010, he was previously a member of the NYC Council and former deputy superintendent of the NYS Banking Commission, David Weprin turns 69… Former U.S. secretary of commerce in the Obama administration, she is on the board of Microsoft, Penny Sue Pritzker turns 66… Partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, she is active on many non-profit boards including Penn Law School and the Jewish Federations of North America, Jodi J. Schwartz turns 65… Television writer and reality television personality known for his high IQ test scores, Richard G. Rosner turns 65… Admiral in the IDF (res.), he served as the commander of the Israeli Navy, Ram Rothberg turns 61… Director of the Chabad Center in Bratislava, Slovakia, Rabbi Baruch Myers turns 61… Founder and CEO of Shutterstock, Jonathan E. Oringer turns 51… Israeli writer known for his novels, essays and philosophical work, Yaniv Iczkovits turns 50… SVP of Drumfire Public Affairs following four years as deputy chief of staff to then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Stephen Schatz… Founder of MamaDen, a platform that connects and empowers mothers, Julianna Goldman turns 44… Podcast host and founder and president of ETS Advisory, Emily Tisch Sussman… Attorney in the office of New York State’s attorney general, Gabe Cahn… Chief development officer at Cornell Hillel, Susanna K. Cohen… Running back recently signed by the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, A.J. Dillon turns 27…
SATURDAY: Southern California-area writer and activist promoting wellness, she still works three days per week, Deborah Shainman Szekely turns 103… Senior research scholar at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University, Ely Karmon, Ph.D. turns 84… Television journalist, David Marash turns 83… U.S. senator (R-ID), Jim Risch turns 82… Venture capitalist and economist, his original family name was Jacobstein, William H. Janeway turns 82… Francine Holtzman… U.S. senator (D-OR), his original family name was Weidenreich, Ron Wyden turns 76… Six-time Tony Award winning Broadway producer, Stewart F. Lane turns 74… Retired attorney, he represented political parties, campaigns, candidates, governors and members of Congress on election law matters, Benjamin Langer Ginsberg turns 73… Retired in 2017 as chair and CEO of Mondelez International, a multinational food and beverage company (including Oreo, Nabisco and Cadbury), Irene Rosenfeld turns 72… Retired partner from the Chicago office of DLA Piper, now a consultant at Washburn Advisors, Mark D. Yura turns 72… Political reporter and columnist for The Richmond Times-Dispatch, he has covered Virginia elections and the state Capitol for more than 30 years, Jeff E. Schapiro… Retired senior advisor at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Susan Steinmetz… EVP at NBCUniversal News Group, he is on the Board of Visitors at Duke Law Schol, Stephen Labaton turns 64… Former owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center, Mikhail Prokhorov turns 60… Lobbyist since 2010, he was previously deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs in the Bush 43 administration, Scott A. Kamins… Veteran of 13 NHL seasons, in 2005 he sat out a hockey game to observe Yom Kippur, he is now an assistant coach for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, Jeff Halpern turns 49… Israeli singer and actress, winner of multiple Israeli Female Singer of the Year awards, Miri Mesika turns 47… Reporter for Politico New Jersey and author of New Jersey’s Playbook, Matthew R. Friedman… Educated at the Hebrew Academy of San Francisco, he was a defensive lineman in the NFL from 2004 until 2011 (Chargers, Cowboys and Dolphins), Igor Olshansky turns 43… Managing director and co-head of executive communications of SKDKnickerbocker, he is a graduate of CESJDS and was previously a speechwriter for President Obama, Stephen Andrew Krupin… President of Flaxman Strategies, Seth Flaxman… Israeli minister for social equality and women’s advancement, she is a member of the Knesset for the Likud party, May Golan turns 39… Benjamin S. Davis… NBA All Star for the Sacramento Kings, he is studying to convert to Judaism, Domantas Sabonis turns 29… Director of the Judaism and State Policy Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel, Tani Frank… Foreign correspondent for NBC and a former Middle East correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, Raf Sanchez…
SUNDAY: Executive director of the Texas A&M Hillel for 30 years, now a security consultant for the tourism industry, Peter E. Tarlow turns 79… U.S. special envoy for climate change in the Obama administration, now a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Todd D. Stern turns 74… Board chair of the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, Lee Sherman… Partner at NYC-based Mintz & Gold, he was EVP and general counsel for both the Las Vegas Sands and News Corporation, Lawrence “Lon” A. Jacobs… Northern Virginia-based portrait artist, Ilisa G. Calderon… CEO at Gigawatt Global, Yosef Israel Abramowitz turns 61… Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Vermont-1), Rebecca A. “Becca” Balint turns 57… Triathlete, she earned a Ph.D. in 2001 from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is a winner of international ironman competitions, Joanna Sue Zeiger turns 55… Director of congregational education at NYC’s Park Avenue Synagogue, Bradley Solmsen… State attorney for Palm Beach County, Fla., from 2013 until earlier this year, Dave Aronberg turns 54… Chair and director at NYC’s department of city planning, Daniel Garodnick… Mechal Wakslak… President of national expansion at Veterans Community Project, he served as the secretary of state of Missouri, Jason Kander turns 44… Chief impact officer at RSL Management, Jessica Chait… Tech entrepreneur, best known as a co-founder of both Vine and HQ Trivia, Rus Yusupov turns 41… SVP at BerlinRosen, Allison Fran Bormel… Director of development at Americans for Ben-Gurion University, following ten years at AIPAC, Rebecca Leibowitz Wasserstrom… Writer, production coordinator and assistant to the executive producer of ABC’s “General Hospital,” Steven A. Rosenberg… Adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, Shana Mansbach… Manager of public policy and external affairs at Meta/Facebook, Sasha Altschuler… Actor best known for voicing the title character of the animated film “Finding Nemo,” Alexander Gould turns 31… Partner in the client services group at Signum Global Advisors, Elliot Miller… Medalist in the women’s halfpipe event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Arielle Townsend Gold turns 29… Senior business analyst at Shopify, Olivia Breuer…
Addressing the war in Gaza, the outgoing White House national security advisor said, ‘just having Israel say: OK, we accept the cease-fire. We have to just stop — at a time when all of these hostages are being held — that doesn’t wash.’
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in his final days in office, said on Tuesday that China, Russia and Iran are “demonstrably weaker” after President Joe Biden’s time in office, during a wide-ranging conversation on “The Ezra Klein Show” podcast.
Questioned by Klein about whether President-elect Donald Trump is better suited to bring back international order as “a strongman” leader, Sullivan responded, “I believe we are in a plastic moment in the world, a time when our competitors are trying to challenge the system in a profound way. It’s true of China, it’s true of Russia, it’s true of Iran. And they’re doing so trying to push the boundaries of what they can — for lack of a better term — get away with. And I believe that, in a period like this, there is no way to prevent all crises, all turbulence. I don’t think that is a viable endgame for American foreign policy.”
Sullivan continued, “I think the endgame for American foreign policy should be: Can we manage that period without our getting dragged into a major conflict? We have done that. Can we manage that period with our alliances stronger than we found them? I think it is indisputable that we have done that. And can we manage that period where our adversaries are weaker than we found them? In all three cases — China, Russia, Iran — I think the record is clear that they are demonstrably weaker.”
Addressing the Biden administration’s approach to Israel and the Middle East conflict, Sullivan said, “What we have tried to do is adopt a policy that says: We are going to continue to support Israel in its attempt to defeat terrorist enemies and to deter Iran. We are going to do so, including through the provision of military assistance. At the same time, we are also going to be unflinching in our critique of Israel, where we believe they have gone too far. And we are going to push them to a better place on things like humanitarian assistance.”
The war in Gaza, Sullivan said, “continues to be a daily struggle, in part because we are trying to deliver this cease-fire and hostage deal. And just having Israel say: OK, we accept the cease-fire. We have to just stop — at a time when all of these hostages are being held — that doesn’t wash.”
At the end of the interview, Sullivan gave listeners a book recommendation: Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to A.I., by Israeli writer Yuval Noah Harari, which was published in September, 2024. Sullivan said he thinks “everyone should read this book.”
Incoming national security advisor says on Dan Senor’s ‘Call Me Back’ podcast that Hamas ‘cannot have a role’ in governing Gaza
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL).
Incoming White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz addressed the emerging hostage deal being negotiated between Israel and Hamas in Qatar on Dan Senor’s “Call Me Back” podcast Tuesday night.
“Those have been brutally tough negotiations. I hate the fact that we even have to enter them, into them, with a terrorist group like Hamas, but we need to get our people out and then prosecute our objectives in this conflict,” Waltz said.
“This is about imposing consequences for those who would do this type of horrendous act like we saw on Oct. 7, who would take Americans or other allies hostage. He [Trump] made it clear there’ll be nothing but downside. And I’m convinced that’s why you’re seeing this movement,” Waltz added.
The imminent hostage deal, Waltz continued, comes in part due to Hamas’ isolation, “with [Hamas political bureau leader Ismail] Haniyeh gone, with [Yahya] Sinwar gone,” and in part due to “the Trump effect.”
Waltz said that the Trump administration will “make every effort to get everyone out, living or deceased, so that they can have a proper burial.”
On a number of occasions throughout the interview, Waltz referred to getting “our people” out in the first phase of the deal, ostensibly a reference to the seven Israeli-Americans still being held in Gaza. According to information given to the Israeli press on Monday, the first stage of the deal would see the release of 33 hostages, including women, the elderly and the sick.
As Senor noted that the negotiations are “basically a done deal,” Waltz acknowledged that Israel has not yet accomplished all of its stated goals — emphasizing that “Hamas cannot have a role” in governing Gaza moving forward.
“We’ve been clear that Gaza has to be fully demilitarized, Hamas has to be destroyed to the point that it cannot reconstitute, and that Israel has every right to fully protect itself,” Waltz said. “So all of those pieces, all of those objectives are still very much in place. Look, I mean, Oct. 7 was a terrible day. They put everybody in a terrible position, including the Palestinian people of Gaza, whom they regularly hide behind and are willing to sacrifice, and have sacrificed, for their own sick ends and objectives. And so we need to get our people out and then we need to achieve those objectives in this war.”
'Please do not think about us only as a headline,' father pleads
Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Relatives of U.S. citizens that are missing since Saturday's surprise attack by Hamas militants near the Gaza border, in Tel Aviv, Israel attend a news conference on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Seated from left: Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Sagui Dekel-Chen (35) from Nahal Oz; Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, 19, a soldier in the armored corps; Ayala Neta, daughter, and Nahal Neta, son of Adrienne Neta, 66, a nurse living in Kibbitz Be'eri; Rachel Goldberg, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, who was attending the music festival, and Jonathan Polin, Hersh's father.
A nurse and midwife who has delivered more than 1,000 babies. A soldier who swapped weekend shifts so that he could attend his brother’s bar mitzvah. A young man attending an outdoor rave with friends. A father awaiting the birth of his third child.
The families of four American citizens who believe their loved ones are being held by Hamas in Gaza gathered in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon to deliver a public, emotion-laden plea to both the Israeli and American governments, neither of which, relatives say, have provided adequate support or information about their family members.
On Tuesday afternoon, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that 20 or more Americans remain unaccounted for. A National Security Council spokesperson confirmed on Monday that at least 11 American citizens have been killed in the attacks.
On Tuesday afternoon, following a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden said he had “directed my team to share intelligence and deploy experts from across the United States Government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts and hostage recovery efforts. Because as president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world.”
Rachel Goldberg, who grew up in Chicago and now lives in Jerusalem, last heard from her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, on Saturday morning. Goldberghad turned her phone off on Friday evening as the sunset ushered in Shabbat and Simchat Torah. After a siren alerted her to a rocket attack near Jerusalem on Saturday morning, she turned on her phone, concerned about Hersh, who was attending the Tribe of Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im.
“I turned my phone on, I believe, at 8:23 in the morning,” Goldberg said. “And when I turned it on, there were two texts in a row from Hersh at 8:11. The first one said, ‘I love you’ and immediately at 8:11 also it said, ‘I’m sorry.’ And so I knew immediately wherever he was, it was a terrible situation.”
Goldberg identified her son, whom she has not heard from since, in a photo taken inside a bomb shelter. In collecting eyewitness accounts, she said, she learned that Hersh had been injured in a firefight.
“They were fish in a barrel sitting in this bomb shelter,” Goldberg explained. “Terrorists came to the door, they were throwing grenades in, shooting machine guns, and we know that Hirsch’s arm from the elbow down was severed, was blown off, and that he tied a tourniquet around with his shirt.” She has not received any further information about her son’s whereabouts.
Goldberg was joined by the families of Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen (who is not related to Itay) and Adrienne Neta, whose son, Nahar Neta, issued a plea to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinken. The administration, Neta said, is “responsible to bring the U.S. citizens back home safe and sound. We expect nothing less from the U.S. administration and from President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken.”
Adrienne Neta is a California-born nurse and midwife who moved to Israel in 1981. She lived for decades on Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the deadliest sites of Saturday’s attack. When Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz, her children said, she was sitting on her patio on the phone. It was roughly 9:30 a.m. “Both my brother and my sister were on the call with her as the terrorist barged into her home, and we heard a little bit of screaming and that was our last contact with her,” her son Nahar Neta said. “There was no shooting on the call.”
His mother, Neta added, tried to use the limited Arabic she had picked up as a longtime nurse at Soroka Hospital to communicate with her captors.
A half-hour’s drive from Neta’s Kibbutz Be’eri sits Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which is where 35-year-old Sagui Dekel-Chen was taken hostage as he and other men on the kibbutz attempted to overpower the terrorists who had infiltrated the property. Dekel-Chen’s wife is pregnant with the couple’s third daughter.
Of the roughly 400 residents of the kibbutz, Sagui’s father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, said, more than half have been killed or taken hostage. The roughly 160 survivors, the elder Dekel-Chen said, “call this a pogrom.”
“What happened to us, it’s not a war,” he said. “It’s not a fair fight. It is a pogrom. Hundreds of heavily armed, well-organized terrorists walked, rode, ran over the border with one object in mind: and that was to kill, maim, to destroy civilian life along the border.”
“As such,” he continued, “it seems to me that the United States, my original home, and still a very beloved place for me, always wants to be and must be on the side of good.” He called on the “United States government, to the Congress, to do what they can on the side of good here. We’re waiting for Sagui to come home.”
Rubi Chen, whose son Itay was captured while on duty, said he has connected with about 10 other families who are missing a relative with American citizenship following Saturday’s ambush.
Itay Chen had not been scheduled to be on duty the weekend of the attack. His younger brother’s bar mitzvah was the following weekend, when he had been originally scheduled to report for duty. Itay had traded weekend shifts so that he could be a part of his family’s celebrations.
Rubi Chen said the IDF had informed the family that Itay was listed as missing in action.
“You would think it would be a good assumption to say that after 70 hours, if he’s not in the State of Israel, he might be some other place. If that is the case, then he is by definition a POW.” Chen called for his son to be treated as a POW according to international law.
Chen said he had been in contact with the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, but that he has received few answers as to his son’s whereabouts and any plans to rescue the hostages. There has “been no formal or concentrated attempt to talk to us as a group and update us about what they are doing in this matter,” Chen said on Tuesday.
“Please do not think of us only as a headline,” Rubi Chen pleaded. “We are more than that.”
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