Plus, Biden and Obama officials resist Iran rethink
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) speaks to reporters as he arrives for a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on February 25, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight Kentucky state Sen. Aaron Reed, who is considering a primary challenge to Rep. Thomas Massie, and report on interim Columbia President Claire Shipman’s apology to Jewish communal leaders over past comments calling for the removal of a Jewish trustee over her pro-Israel advocacy. We look at the race taking shape in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, where Adelita Grijalva is polling above Daniel Hernandez ahead of the July 15 special election primary, and report on bipartisan legislation led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mike Lawler that call for the U.S. to provide Israel with bunker-buster bombs and the planes to use them. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Ritchie Torres, Phil Rosenthal, Bar Winkler and Roey Lalazar.
Ed. note: The next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Monday, July 7. Enjoy the long holiday weekend!
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington on Sunday, ahead of his planned Monday meeting with President Donald Trump.
- We’ll be reporting on the details around the meeting and what’s at stake as the two leaders discuss Gaza, Iran, Syria and normalization efforts — sign up for Jewish Insider’s email and WhatsApp alerts to stay up to date with the latest developments over the long weekend.
- Former Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander is slated to meet Trump at the White House at 12:45 p.m. ET.
- The Nova Music Festival exhibition and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are hosting an event this afternoon with DJ and Nova festival survivor Noa Beer and Holocaust survivor Nat Shaffir.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
After Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, the U.S. is now demanding that Tehran return to the negotiating table.
“Told you so,” many prominent Democrats — including architects of Iran policy in both the Obama and Biden administrations — are saying in response, arguing they were right all along about the power of negotiations. But in doing so, they are also overlooking the impact of President Donald Trump’s military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities on the regime’s negotiating calculus.
The Pentagon is now saying the strikes set back the Iran nuclear program by two years. Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, said that Iran is no longer a nuclear threshold state as a result of the U.S. and Israeli attacks.
But those assessments, among other similar analyses, have done little to change the minds of some of the leading Democratic foreign policy hands who have long argued for diplomacy above all else.
KENTUCKY CONTEST
Potential Massie challenger Aaron Reed a supporter of Israel, Iran strikes
Local and national Republicans are eyeing Kentucky state Sen. Aaron Reed as a potential primary challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), as President Donald Trump and his political allies mount an aggressive effort to unseat the incumbent lawmaker, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Dividing line: Middle East policy is emerging as a key divide between the first-term Reed and Massie: asked by the Louisville Courier Journal about any ideological differences between him and Massie, Reed offered a one-word answer: “Israel.” Reed’s Kentucky state Senate biography page lists him as a member of the Kentucky-Israel Caucus. While Massie was the most vocal Republican critic in Congress of the Trump administration’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, introducing a war powers resolution that aimed to stop U.S. military action against the Iranian regime, Reed has been openly supportive of the strikes.
TUCSON TUSSLE
Adelita Grijalva emerging as the favorite to succeed her late father in Congress
The latest Democratic primary battle between the left and center where Israel has emerged as a point of division is playing out in a special House election in Tucson, Ariz., later this month, as five candidates vie to replace former longtime Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who died in March. The July 15 primary in Arizona’s dependably blue 7th Congressional District has kept a relatively low profile, even as it features ideological tensions over Middle East policy that could hold implications for the party’s increasingly fractious approach to Israel in the lead-up to next year’s midterm elections. Adelita Grijalva, 54, a former Pima County supervisor, is viewed as the favorite to win the seat in what is expected to be a low-turnout race, owing in part to her significant name recognition in the area represented by her late father for over two decades, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
She has also consolidated endorsements from top establishment Democrats, including Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), while securing the backing of progressive leaders such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), among other high-profile critics of Israel in Congress. But her limited record of commentary on Israel has raised questions among pro-Israel activists rallying behind one of Grijalva’s chief primary rivals, Daniel Hernandez, a former state lawmaker who identifies as a pro-Israel progressive and claims support from Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and the political arm of Democratic Majority for Israel.
BOWING OUT
Ritchie Torres says he’s likely passing on New York gubernatorial run
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), in a surprise reversal, said Wednesday that he’s unlikely to mount a primary challenge against New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, after months of circling a potential run for that office, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “I’m unlikely to run for governor. The assault that we’ve seen on the social safety in the Bronx is so unprecedented, so overwhelming that I’m going to keep my focus on Washington, D.C.,” Torres, a favorite of the Jewish community, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “So, my heart lies in Washington, D.C. I feel like now, more than ever, we have to fight the catastrophe that is the Trump presidency.”
SCOOP
Columbia’s Claire Shipman apologizes for leaked messages calling for removal of Jewish trustee
Claire Shipman, acting president of Columbia University, issued an apology to several members of the campus community for leaked text messages where she suggested that a Jewish trustee should be removed from the university’s board over her pro-Israel advocacy. “The things I said in a moment of frustration and stress were wrong. They do not reflect how I feel,” Shipman wrote on Wednesday in a private email obtained by Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen, noting that she was addressing “some trusted groups of friends and colleagues, with whom I’ve talked regularly over the last few months.”
Individual and group apologies: “I have apologized directly to the person named in my texts, and I am apologizing now to you,” Shipman wrote in Wednesday’s email. “I have tremendous respect and appreciation for that board member, whose voice on behalf of Columbia’s Jewish community is critically important. I should not have written those things, and I am sorry. It was a moment of immense pressure, over a year and a half ago, as we navigated some deeply turbulent times. But that doesn’t change the fact that I made a mistake. I promise to do better.”
Hill weighs in: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) called on Shipman to resign, following JI’s report on Shipman’s apology.
HELPING HAND
Gottheimer, Lawler push to provide Israel with bunker busters after U.S. strikes
A bipartisan group of House members reintroduced a bill on Wednesday to allow the president to provide Israel with bunker-buster bombs — the heavy ordnance used by the U.S. against Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities — and the planes needed to drop them, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Independent action: The bill is part of a long-standing effort led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), one of its lead sponsors, to give the administration the option to provide Israel the capabilities to act independently against Iran’s most highly fortified nuclear facilities. The legislation’s sponsors argue that it remains relevant even in the aftermath of the U.S. strikes in the event Iran attempts to reconstitute its nuclear program. Transferring the systems — which are unique to the U.S. — to Israel has been seen by some experts as a way to ensure Israel has the ability to destroy underground nuclear sites in Iran while avoiding direct U.S. involvement in the conflict.
Damage assessment: The Pentagon’s chief spokesman said on Wednesday that the U.S. strikes against the Iranian nuclear program had set the program back by two years. His estimate appears to be the most specific information the Trump administration has shared on the extent of the damage caused by the strikes, Jewish Insider’s Jake Schlanger reports.
FIRST AID
Israeli mental health experts warn of impending ‘tsunami of war-related psychiatric illness’ after 20 months of conflict
“Resilience” has long been the goal of Israeli mental health practitioners, an emotional ruggedness allowing Israeli society to bounce back quickly after tragedy. This has been particularly true since the Oct. 7 terror attacks and the resulting wars that continue to claim the lives of soldiers and civilians, including the recent 12-day conflict with Iran, which killed 28 Israeli civilians and displaced thousands. The night after a ceasefire was declared, Israelis were seen back at the beach, and the following morning, schools reopened. However, mental health professionals warn that beneath this celebrated toughness lie deeper, troubling emotions — fear, guilt, shame, vulnerability, anger and anxiety — affecting all layers of society, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky reports.
Busy lines: Mental health hotlines and clinics run by three of Israel’s top providers — ERAN, NATAL and ELEM, the latter of which supports at-risk youth — have reported sharp increases in demand since Oct. 7, 2023. Calls to ELEM’s digital programs have tripled; NATAL now treats over 3,000 people weekly, up from 350 before the war; and ERAN volunteers have handled over 500,000 calls since the outbreak of the war, averaging 1,200 to 1,500 a day. This surge reflects the complex emotional and psychological issues people are facing now, professor Rivka Tuval-Mashiach, steering committee chair of NATAL, told eJP, with call volumes related to anxiety issues significantly increasing to both of NATAL’s two dedicated hotlines — one for the general public and one for soldiers and veterans.
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
Just the Beginning on Iran: In The New York Times, former National Security Advisor John Bolton suggests that the U.S.’ strikes on Iran last month are not the end of Washington’s efforts to degrade the threats posed by Iran. “Satisfying America’s legitimate demands requires Iran to do a full Libya, meaning real performance in denuclearizing, not just acquiescing to treaty verbiage. It requires that Iran surrender all of its weapons-related assets, meaning any enriched uranium and all remaining physical assets, including dual-use capabilities. However, absent a change of government in Tehran, which Washington should support, a full Libya is impossible. Unlike Muammar el-Qaddafi, the mullahs, already badly humiliated, realize that further humiliation would fatally weaken their rule. They will never voluntarily accept that fate. Instead, they will resume their earlier tactic of using negotiations to string the West along until memories dim and, as the old saying goes, ‘zeal for a deal’ takes over, as it did for Barack Obama, producing the fatally flawed 2015 Iran agreement.” [NYTimes]
Mideast Magical Thinking: In The Wall Street Journal, presidential historian and former White House aide Tevi Troy examines the history of Middle East regimes falsely claiming victory over Israel, following claims by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Israel had been “practically knocked out and crushed” by Iran’s military. “These false statements by Middle Eastern autocracies show the weaknesses of systems that can’t acknowledge reality. An inability to turn a critical eye on oneself and admit a mistake represents a fundamental flaw in authoritarian regimes. … As long as autocratic nations like Iran continue to act like Monty Python’s Black Knight, they’ll never develop the capacity to fight effectively against nations that can critique themselves. But that isn’t all that truth telling can bring. If Iran ever does develop the capacity for honesty, then its leaders would realize — like the Egyptians did — that peace with Israel is a much more effective strategy than fighting with it.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Wednesday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud…
In The Wall Street Journal, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who last week withheld his support from New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, suggests that the Queens assemblyman’s victory should be a “wake-up call” to Democrats and posits that Mamdani won the primary “because too many voters think the rest of the Democratic Party no longer stands for them”…
In the New York Daily News, political strategist Bradley Tusk posits that Mamdani is likely to win the general election in November, owing to the “ceiling” facing any Republican candidate and Mayor Eric Adams’ own unfavorability ratings in the city as he mounts an independent bid…
Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman called on former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to withdraw from the mayoral race following his primary loss to Mamdani, assessing that Cuomo’s “body language, his subdued energy and his proposals to beat Mamdani” indicated he was “not up for the fight” and suggested Cuomo’s departure from the race would be necessary “to maximize Adams’ probability of success”…
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into George Mason University’s handling of antisemitism issues, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports; the Virginia university had faced scrutiny over its response to a series of incidents involving students, including the discovery of pro-terrorism materials in the home of two of GMU students and federal charges brought against a third student accused of plotting a mass causality attack…
eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Judah Ari Gross interviews Mike and Shelly Pitman, respectively the president and executive director of the Brooklyn-based La’Aretz Foundation, which has raised $1 million to provide $2,500 directly to 500 Bat Yam families affected by Iran’s ballistic missile strike on the city…
Bar Winkler and Roey Lalazar’s Israel-based AI startup Wonderful raised $34 million in its latest round of funding…
The New York Times spotlights “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal, following the release of the eighth season of his travel food show “Somebody Feed Phil”…
Smithsonian Magazine looks at the resurgence in popularity of Jewish food in Poland…
Iran charged two French nationals who have been imprisoned in the country for three years with spying for Israel and conspiring to overthrow the Iranian government…
Australia confirmed it canceled the visa of artist Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, following the May release of a song titled “Heil Hitler”…
Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan was removed from the lineups of upcoming music festivals in France and the U.K. following an uproar over an incident at the Glastonbury music festival last month in which the group led attendees in a chant calling for “death to the IDF”…
U.K. Parliament members voted overwhelmingly in favor of banning the activist group Palestine Action, after two members of the group broke into a British air base and vandalized military aircraft…
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian approved a law passed days ago by the country’s parliament to suspend coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency and ordered Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Supreme National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin implementation of the new law…
The New York Times looks at Iran’s history of recruiting common criminals and cartel members to carry out attacks on American soil…
Hamas called on the leader of a Bedouin clan that has challenged Hamas’ leadership in the enclave to surrender, as Israel bolsters its support for groups operating on the Palestinian Authority’s payroll against Hamas…
Adam Szubin is joining Covington as of counsel in the firm’s national security practice (h/t Playbook)…
Pic of the Day
Former hostages Omer Shem Tov (second from left); Noa Argamani (third from right) and Iair Horn (second from right); and Tzur Goldin (far left), brother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, met on Wednesday in Washington with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Birthdays
Movie, television and stage actress, director and writer, Shoshannah Stern turns 45…
Civil rights attorney known for many high-profile cases, born Gloria Rachel Bloom, Gloria Allred turns 84… Winner of the Israel Prize in 1998, professor emeritus of mathematics at both Hebrew U and Rutgers, Saharon Shelah turns 80… Founder of an eponymous charitable foundation and a political office, Barbara Fish Lee turns 80… Retired director of the March of the Living in Miami-Dade and in Boca Raton, Leon Weissberg… Psychologist and board member of many non-profit organizations, Dr. Gail (Giti) Bendheim… Israeli celebrity chef, author of 32 cookbooks and culinary columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, Yisrael Aharoni turns 75… Head of pediatric oncology and associate professor of pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York, Dr. Carolyn Fein Levy turns 57… Musician, best known as a harmonicist, Annie Raines turns 56… Actor who has appeared in film and television in the U.S., U.K. and Israel, Yair “Jonah” Lotan turns 52… Development professional Suzanne Greene… Pini Herman…
Plus, Bibi plans a Beltway blitz
Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Fair Share America
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy speaks at the rally to Say NO to Tax Breaks for Billionaires & Corporations at Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at Sen. Chris Murphy’s leftward shift on Israel, and spotlight Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s congressional votes and relations with Illinois’ Jewish community as he mounts a bid for Senate. We cover Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming trip to Washington, and report on a new lawsuit alleging the Nysmith School in Northern Virginia discriminated against Jewish students. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Doron Spielman, Karen Diamond and Susan Rice.
What We’re Watching
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting in Washington today with his counterparts from Japan, China and Australia.
- The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Aaron David Miller is hosting a web event this morning with former CIA Director David Petraeus and analyst Karim Sadjadpour focused on Israel, Iran and the U.S.
- Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro is speaking this morning at a Center for International & Strategic Studies event on ties between North Korea and Iran.
- The Christians United For Israel summit continues today in Washington. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, the Brandeis Center’s Ken Marcus and Israel Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon are slated to speak today.
- The Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado wraps up today.
- New York City is slated to release the first round of ranked-choice voting results from last week’s primaries
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
The political developments over the last week couldn’t send a more dispiriting message about the viability of the political center — in both parties.
Last Tuesday, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on a far-left agenda on issues ranging from the economy, crime and antisemitism, emerged as the Democratic standard-bearer for mayor of New York City.
Over the weekend, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), one of the most pragmatic Republicans in the upper chamber, announced he wouldn’t be running for reelection after signaling he’d be one of two GOP votes against President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill. His decision to retire came after Trump, in a Truth Social post, threatened to support a primary challenger.
Tillis, notably, was the deciding Republican vote scuttling the nomination of interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin for, among other issues, his associations with a Nazi sympathizer.
And on Monday, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), one of only three House Republicans who represents a district that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024, formally announced his retirement, making it all the more likely a more-partisan Democratic lawmaker will succeed him in the seat.
These are just the latest developments that underscore that moderation, pragmatism and bipartisanship are becoming endangered principles in a polarized political environment that rewards extremism and hot takes over thoughtful policymaking.
SOLIDARITY SNUB
Connecticut’s Jewish community wonders: What happened to Chris Murphy?
Two days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) spoke emotionally at the “Rally for Israel” in West Hartford, Conn. “This is a moment where we are going to have to stand as a nation with greater force, with greater purpose than ever, to make sure that Israel has what it needs,” Murphy said. But members of Connecticut’s Jewish community say Murphy strayed from that promise just weeks later. In late November 2023, Murphy said on CNN that he was open to placing conditions on U.S. aid to Israel, a position that astounded many of the people who had stood with him in West Hartford not long before. Since then, he has emerged as a vocal critic of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, and more than 18 months after the attack, the Connecticut Jewish community’s frustration with him has only grown, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Veering off: Murphy voted twice in support of resolutions put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would block certain arms sales to Israel. Following Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Murphy slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for sending the Middle East into a “new, deadly conflict.” His shift to the party’s left flank on Israel comes as Murphy positions himself as a leading voice in the Democratic Party in opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies and builds a stronger public profile for himself. He’s a regular on cable news shows and recently created a new political action committee to encourage protests against Trump, with plans to spend $2 million in the 2026 midterms, sparking rumors that he could mount a presidential bid in 2028. It’s not just Murphy’s foreign policy views that are concerning his Jewish constituents. Recently, the senator has emerged as one of the most prominent boosters of presumptive New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, even as some of his Democratic colleagues have raised concerns about Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Communal concerns: Rabbi Tuvia Brander, the spiritual leader of Young Israel of West Hartford, told JI that Murphy’s praise of Mamdani is “so beyond the pale of what is just in the basic interests of many of his constituents.”
PRAIRIE STATE OF PLAY
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi hopes to win the Jewish vote in Illinois Senate contest
As he competes for Illinois’ open Senate seat, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) is hoping that the state’s sizable Jewish community, concentrated in the Chicago area, will help him chart a path to victory in the Democratic primary, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Making his pitch: “I do think that [Jewish voters] have a desire for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship,” Krishnamoorthi said, “and I don’t think there’s anybody else with the track record in this race that I possess, showing strong support for that relationship, but also knowing why that relationship needs to continue to be strong on a bipartisan basis, and we need to take this out of politics.” Krishnamoorthi spoke to JI about his approach to antisemitism, Iran and the U.S.-Israel relationship.
WAR OF WORDS
Responding to Mamdani, Senate Democrats say ‘globalize the intifada’ slogan must be condemned
Several Senate Democrats told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod on Monday that calls to “globalize the intifada” are unacceptable and must be condemned, amid concerns from Jewish leaders and organizations over presumptive New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the slogan.
Mamdani musings: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has thus far not endorsed Mamdani, told JI he plans to meet with Mamdani in a few weeks, when asked about Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan. “Sen. Schumer condemns the phrase ‘Globalize the Intifada’ and believes it should not be used because it has such dangerous implications. As Senator Schumer said after the death of Karen Diamond, the attack in Boulder continues to serve as a grave reminder of the deadly consequences of the rise in antisemitism,” a spokesperson for Schumer told JI. “I don’t know what [Mamdani’s] position is on it, but I certainly think that the call to spread the intifada is the kind of incitement that can lead to extremist violence,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told JI.
Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY).
TRIP TALK
Netanyahu heading to D.C. next week to ‘take advantage of the victory’ in Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit next week is a chance to “take advantage of the victory” in Iran, he said at the start of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday,Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
On the agenda: The trip to Washington “comes as a continuation of the great victory we achieved in Operation Rising Lion,” Netanyahu said, referring to Israel’s 12-day operation against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, which the U.S. joined. “Taking advantage of the victory is no less important than achieving the victory.” An Israeli official told JI on Tuesday that “everything” is on the agenda, including U.S.-Israel cooperation to stop Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program, next steps in Gaza and the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with Syria and other Arab and Muslim countries.
Meanwhile at Aspen: Susan Rice, who served as national security advisor during the Obama administration’s inking of the nuclear deal with Iran, sharply criticized Trump’s decision to strike Tehran’s nuclear program while defending the 2015 agreement during a panel discussion at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival on Monday,Jewish Insider’s Jake Schlanger reports. 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.
Worth noting: The New York Times’ David Brooks, writing in a piece headlined “I Detest Netanyahu, but on Some Things He’s Actually Right,” adds context to consider when evaluating the strikes. “We may know in time what the bombings accomplished. In the meantime, we do know that Israel and the United States have the will and capacity to attack Iran anytime and anyplace. We do know that if Iran reconstitutes its nuclear program, Israel and America have the capacity to deliver a much more devastating and regime-threatening blow. We also know that Iran and its proxies have made some insanely self-destructive miscalculations since Oct. 7, 2023, and they must know that, too. These are ominous omens for the theocrats in Tehran.”
HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT
Brandeis Center files complaint alleging antisemitism at Virginia private school
The parents of an 11-year-old Jewish student at a private school in Northern Virginia say their daughter faced months of antisemitic harassment that went unaddressed by school officials, who also cancelled an annual event featuring a Holocaust survivor due to concerns that the event might exacerbate tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war. Days after the parents addressed the campus environment with school leadership, all three of their children were expelled, according to a complaint filed on Tuesday with the Office for Civil Rights in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen has learned.
The allegations: According to the complaint, Kenneth Nysmith, headmaster and owner of The Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, Va., canceled the event with the Holocaust survivor and expressed concern that it might inflame tensions within the school community in light of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. The complaint, filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law and Washington-based firm Dillon PLLC, alleges several antisemitic incidents that the parents of the 11-year-old Jewish student say she faced in the months leading up to the cancellation of the Holocaust survivor event. The complaint recounts that in October 2024, their daughter’s history teacher asked students to work together on an art project to create a large drawing featuring the attributes of “strong historical leaders.” The students collaborated on a large artistic rendering of a strong leader, featuring Adolf Hitler’s face.
Elsewhere: The Brandeis Center, working with the Anti-Defamation League and Mayer Brown, filed a brief on Monday with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging that officials in a Massachusetts school district did not adequately protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
BOOK REVIEW
‘When the Stones Speak’: Doron Spielman connects Jewish history to present-day Israel
After Israel waged war against an Iranian regime that has vowed to destroy the Jewish state and diaspora Jews face a heightened atmosphere of antisemitism stemming from the Israel-Gaza war, a new book aims to equip Israel supporters with “a foundation” to refute claims that Jews do not have ancient roots in the land of Israel. When the Stones Speak: The Remarkable Discovery of the City of David and What Israel’s Enemies Don’t Want You to Know, written by former IDF spokesperson Doron Spielman, does so by recounting discoveries made in Israel’s largest excavation site, the City of David, where Spielman has worked closely with archaeologists for two decades to uncover and promote the site’s historical significance. The book, Spielman suggested in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen, is aimed at what he calls “the middle group of people” — “logical, reasonable people” who don’t know whether they’re pro-Israel or anti-Israel.
Lay of the land: “When they understand that ‘when the stones speak,’ they tell the story of the truth of the Jewish people’s connection to the land,” that could help sway the conversation on college campuses. This middle group will come to understand, he said, that “at the very least [the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] is a fight between two people who think they’re indigenous, and at the very best they understand the Jews are people who have only one land, they’ve been there for 3,800 years and therefore they have a right to defend it.”
New York state of mind: Spielman hopes the book’s impact will also reach supporters of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive winner of the Democratic primary last week amid his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” and denial that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. “He’s denying the Jewish people their right to live as a nation in the one place they ever called home,” Spielman told JI. “When the Stones Speak cuts through the lies with facts on the ground — literally.”
Worthy Reads
Knockout Blow, But Not the End: The Times of Israel’s David Horovitz reflects on the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. “There is, however, absolutely no room or reason for hubris. Israel allowed itself to slip into existential peril, and the astounding success of the 12-day war is a temporary accomplishment. Iran is not going anywhere. And so long as the ayatollahs retain power, they can be relied upon to recommit to their efforts to wipe out Israel. … Along with delight and profound relief at the achievements of the war, the military and security top brass are resolved not to underestimate the regime and its single-minded determination to destroy Israel. This was a knockout blow in a life-or-death fight. But it is not the end of the existential struggle.” [TOI]
Not Science Fiction: In The Free Press, Matti Friedman considers the impact of Iran’s ballistic missile attack on the Weizmann Institute of Science. “When [neurobiologist Oren Schuldiner] heard that his lab was hit, he said, he had trouble grasping what this meant, and kept texting colleagues to ask what could be salvaged — there were two microscopes in the lab, for example, each worth nearly $1 million, and thousands of fruit fly specimens that he uses to map neural changes that may one day help us better understand diseases like schizophrenia and autism. Finally, a colleague who’d lost her own lab sent him a link to the Wikipedia page detailing the five stages of grief. ‘I understood that I was in denial,’ he said. Only when he made it back did he understand that the lab wasn’t damaged — it was gone, along with most of his work of the past 17 years.” [FreePress]
Lula’s Lurch:The Economist spotlights Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose declining domestic popularity has coincided with his country’s deepening ties with Iran, Russia and China. “On June 22nd, hours after the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites with huge bunker-buster bombs, Brazil’s foreign ministry put out a statement. It said that Brazil’s government ‘strongly condemns’ the American attack, and that the strikes were a ‘violation of Iran’s sovereignty and international law.’ This strength of language put Brazil at odds with all other Western democracies, which either supported the strikes or merely expressed concern. Brazil’s friendliness with Iran is set to continue on July 6th and 7th when the BRICS, a group of 11 emerging-market economies including Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa, holds its annual summit in Rio de Janeiro. Iran, which became a member of the BRICS in 2024, is expected to send a delegation. The club is currently chaired by Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula. Originally, being a member had offered Brazil a platform from which to exert global influence. Now it makes Brazil look increasingly hostile to the West.” [TheEconomist]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump signed an executive order lifting the majority of sanctions imposed on Syria over the last 50 years; the executive order includes steps to lift the Foreign Terrorist Organization status of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa previously led, as well as a review of Damascus’ role as a state sponsor of terror…
An Iran-linked hacking group that had previously accessed email accounts associated with Trump’s 2024 campaign threatened to release a new tranche of emails sent from Trump aides…
Satellite images obtained by CNN over the weekend indicate “ongoing activity at and near the ventilation shafts and holes caused by last week’s airstrikes” on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility…
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights issued a 57-page report accusing Harvard of having acted with “deliberate indifference” toward antisemitism and anti-Israel discrimination on the Cambridge campus…
Elon Musk said he planned to support Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who is facing an effort by the White House to recruit a primary challenger over Massie’s refusal to back the administration’s budget reconciliation bill; Musk was prompted by a social media post from former Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) calling on the X owner to back Massie, but is already facing pushback from some in the Kentucky Jewish community…
Former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), who fell short in his bid to unseat Sen. Tex Cruz (R-TX) last year, announced his entry into Texas’ Senate race; Allred is seeking to challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is already facing a tough primary battle…
Karen Diamond, one of the more than two dozen people injured in last month’s antisemitic firebombing attack targeting a Boulder, Colo., march in support of the remaining Israeli hostages, died from her injuries, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…
Unilever cut off financial support for the charitable arm of its Ben & Jerry’s subsidiary, alleging that the ice cream company foundation’s trustees “have continued to resist basic oversight” and refused to provide audit documents…
A British court rejected a legal challenge by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq that sought to stop the government’s exports to Israel of components of F-35 fighter jets; the court determined it lacked jurisdiction over the U.K.’s defense sector…
British musical group Bob Vylan is facing a criminal investigation over chants the duo led at the weekend Glastonbury music festival calling for “death to the IDF”; U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also denounced the chants, which resulted in the State Department’s canceling of group members’ visas ahead of a planned U.S. tour…
An Australian court ordered a Sydney imam to remove from the internet past speeches that the court said were “fundamentally racist and antisemitic”; the cleric was also instructed to refrain from making similar speeches in the future…
The newly created Kinetica VC fund, founded by Yoav Knoll, Aaron Applbaum, Yitz Applbaum and Frederic Landau, is raising $150 million for investments focused on Israel’s tech industry; the firm has also recruited former U.S. Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite, Joe Lonsdale and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) to join its advisory board…
Former Israeli hostages Liri Elbag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Danielle Gilboa and Agam Berger visited the set of “Fauda” as the series films its fifth season…
Pic of the Day
Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl spoke on Monday at the Christians United For Israel conference in Washington.
Birthdays
Television, film and theater actor, including early career roles in Yiddish theater, Michael Burstein turns 80…
Applied mathematician, statistician and physicist, professor emeritus at both MIT and Harvard, Herman Chernoff turns 102… Former U.S. assistant aecretary of education and research professor at NYU, Diane Silvers Ravitch turns 87… Nobel laureate in economics for 1997 and co-creator of the Black-Scholes model for valuing options and other derivatives, Myron Scholes turns 84… Noted British art dealer and founder of an eponymous London art gallery, Victoria Marion Miro turns 80… Born in a DP camp to her Holocaust survivor parents, she was the first Jewish woman to serve on the Canadian Supreme Court, Rosalie Silberman Abella turns 79… Israeli-Russian businessman, with holdings in energy and international real estate development, Shalva Chigirinsky turns 76… Partner in the Encino, Calif.-based law firm of Nolan Heimann, Douglas E. Mirell… Hall of Fame player and coach in the Women’s National Basketball Association and now an NBA broadcaster, Nancy Lieberman turns 67… Attorney and longtime Democratic activist in Pittsburgh, he is a regional chair of the ADL, Steven D. Irwin turns 66… Contributing editor at The Forward and CEO of the A-Mark Foundation, Rob Eshman… President emeritus of the Orthodox Union and a retired partner at Ropes & Gray, Mark (Moishe) Bane… Undersecretary of state for political affairs during most of the Biden administration, Victoria Jane Nuland (family name was Nudelman) turns 64… Journalist, filmmaker and educator, he is the co-founder of Aish[dot]com, Shraga Simmons turns 64… Professor of Jewish thought at Hebrew University, Benjamin Brown turns 59… Member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2014, Marcus Bertram Simon turns 55… U.S. senator (R-IA), Joni Ernst turns 55… Screenwriter, producer and film director known for romantic comedy films, Marc Silverstein turns 54… Los Angeles resident, Adam B. Siegel… NASA astronaut, on her 2019 trip to the International Space Station she took novelty socks with Stars of David and menorahs, Jessica Meir turns 48… Co-founder of Edgeline Films, Elyse Steinberg… Hasidic musician mixing elements of dancehall, reggae, hip-hop and R&B, known by his stage name DeScribe, Shneur Hasofer turns 43… Rising senior and president of the school of business and finance at Ocean Township High School in Oakhurst, N.J., Samuel Peretz Fields…
The vice president said the U.S. would welcome direct dialogue with Iran ‘about how we move this thing forward’
(Photo by Andrew Spear/Getty Images)
Vice President JD Vance, shown here at a Fox News town hall with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum in November 2022, appeared with Baier on Monday night.
When Fox News anchor Bret Baier scored a primetime interview with Vice President J.D. Vance for Monday evening, he likely hoped that Vance would have news to share with him. Instead, Baier was the one to break the news to Vance that President Donald Trump had brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran, which Trump announced in a post on Truth Social moments before Vance went on air.
“That’s good news that the president was able to get that across the finish line,” Vance told Baier, noting that he was aware those conversations were happening as he left the White House to head to the Fox News studio.
“I knew that he was working the phones as I was on the way over here, so I knew exactly what we were going to do,” Vance said on “Special Report,” after acknowledging that the statement Trump posted on Truth Social was different from a draft that Vance had viewed hours earlier.
“And look, I love that about this presidency and this administration, because he’s always working. He doesn’t say, you know, ‘The vice president’s going to do an interview, so I’m going to stop doing anything.’ He says, you know, ‘We’re going to do the American people’s business.’”
Trump said on Monday night that Israel and Iran had agreed to bring what he called the “12 day war” to an end, with the promise that both sides “will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL.” He did not say if there would be any binding promises on either side.
Before Iran fired missiles at an American military base in Qatar on Monday, Iran telegraphed to the U.S. that it planned to attack in a symbolic measure. That message was delivered through an intermediary, but Vance said the U.S. would welcome direct dialogue with Iran “about how we move this thing forward.”
Vance has advocated for a more restrained approach to U.S. intervention abroad, including with respect to Iran. But on Fox News, he telegraphed his support for Trump’s actions, which he said “obliterated the Iranian nuclear program.”
“The president has been very clear, and I’ve always agreed with the president, that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” said Vance. “You try to run the diplomatic process as much as you possibly can. When the president decided that wasn’t going to work, he took the action that he had to take. Now we’re in a new phase. That action was successful.”
Vance deflected when asked if he knew where all of Iran’s highly enriched uranium was located, amid reports that the Iranians had removed a large quantity of uranium enriched to 60% from the underground Fordow site ahead of the U.S. strikes on the compound this weekend.
“I think that’s actually not the question before us. The question before us is, Can Iran enrich the uranium to a weapons-grade level, and can they convert that fuel to a nuclear weapon?” Vance responded. “We know that they cannot build a nuclear weapon.”
He reiterated that the U.S. “destroyed” their “ability to enrich uranium,” calling it a “mission success” in Trump’s goal to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Vance warned that the U.S. military stands in the way of Iran following through on its goal of building a nuclear weapon.
“If Iran is desperate to build a nuclear weapon in the future, then they’re going to have to deal with a very, very powerful American military,” said Vance.
Vance said that the U.S. military’s mission is not regime change, and that Trump’s Sunday post expressing support for regime change was a message to the Iranian people to make a choice about it, which is “between the Iranian people and the regime.”
“What the president is saying very clearly, Bret, is, if the Iranian people want to do something about their own leadership, that’s up to the Iranian people. What the American national security interest is here is very simple: It’s to destroy the nuclear program. That’s what we’ve done, and now that the 12-day war appears to be effectively over, we have an opportunity, I think, to restart a real peace process,” said Vance.
The ability to try to authenticate a statistic by attributing it to an official government source, while knowing that the source is unreliable, can serve as the basis for an inaccurate narrative with wide-ranging effects
ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images
Smoke billows in the distance from an oil refinery following an Israeli strike on the Iranian capital Tehran on June 17, 2025.
On Thursday, NBC News reported a claim from Iran’s Ministry of Health that “over 2,500 injured people were treated in public and university hospitals, with 1,600 discharged and about 500 still hospitalized.” Earlier this week, CBS News reported 224 Iranians were dead from Israeli airstrikes, also attributed to Iran’s Ministry of Health.
There is no free press in Iran, and journalists have been arrested and imprisoned simply for practicing journalism in the Islamic Republic. There is no real way to verify the Iranian Health Ministry’s numbers, and so many journalists report them, unscrupulously.
In a fast-paced, constantly evolving news environment, accuracy is paramount. The ability to try to authenticate a statistic by attributing it to an official government source, while knowing that the source is unreliable, can serve as the basis for an inaccurate narrative with wide-ranging effects.
Take, for example, the Al-Alhi Hospital incident in October 2023, when the most widely read Western media outlets reported on an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital, later confirmed to have been a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. In the aftermath of the hospital incident — which many outlets, including The New York Times, had to walk back — Jordanian King Abdullah II canceled an in-person summit with President Joe Biden in Amman, potentially altering the course of the conflict.
“Israel strikes Iranian state TV, warns people to evacuate Tehran after accusing Iran of targeting civilians,” was a CBS News headline on Monday evening. Hours prior, an Iranian ballistic missile salvo targeted dozens of locations across the country — with one missile landing in the heart of a residential area of Tel Aviv.
Further missing in reports of fatalities in the region is the identity of those killed. Take, for example, an Israeli attack in December on the port of Hodeidah and Sana’a airport in Yemen, both utilized by the Houthis. “At least four people were killed and 21 others injured in the attack,” according to the New York Times report on the strike, filed by journalists in Israel and the United Arab Emirates who cited Yemeni state-run media and the country’s Ministry of Health.
Why were those people at a Houthi port known for serving as a point of transfer for Iranian weapons? Were those who were killed Houthi officials? Were they engaged in activity that posed an active and immediate threat to Israelis? The reader will never know anything beyond that the numbers provided by the Houthi-run Health Ministry in Yemen “could not be independently verified.”
It’s a regular occurrence in Israel-related reporting, where reports on West Bank clashes fail to mention when those killed are members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad or one of the many armed militant groups operating in the territory.
More than 20 months after Hamas terrorists tore through southern Israel, raping, burning and killing people and destroying obstacles in their way, foreign reporters in the region continue to use casualty figures from the terror group’s Gaza Ministry of Health, noting only that the group doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Concerns over the reliance on the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry were so severe that American legislators passed — on a bipartisan basis — an amendment to last year’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill barring the State Department from using the health ministry’s statistics. Read our report here.
An ABC News report from earlier this week on violence near humanitarian aid distribution sites in Gaza leads with the headline “More than 30 killed at controversial foundation’s aid distribution sites in Gaza: Health officials,” giving an air of legitimacy to the claim — even though a reader would have to move down to the story before learning that those health officials came from the “Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.” And nowhere in the story does ABC News note that the Gaza Health Ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The inclination to publish talking points and statistics from terror groups and regimes incentivizes a playbook for malign actors — from Iran to the Houthis and Hamas — to provide misleading casualty figures for the media to carry that lack the intricacies and nuances necessary in such reporting.
And in this new media reality, misinformation and malign actors — already benefiting from sympathetic media organizations — thrive.
The CIA director’s alleged comments are a functional rebuke of intelligence assessments that Iran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrives to the U.S. Capitol for a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense closed hearing titled "A Review of the President's FY2026 Budget Request for the Intelligence Community," on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe has told colleagues behind closed doors he believes Iran is actively working toward building a nuclear weapon, comparing the claim that Tehran isn’t working on building a nuclear weapon to the idea that football players at the 1-yard line would not attempt to score a touchdown, per CBS News, citing an unnamed U.S. official.
His reported comments function as a rebuke of U.S. intelligence assessments that Iran is not actively developing a nuclear weapon, in spite of its accelerating efforts to amass stockpiles of highly enriched uranium in violation of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty commitments and construction of ballistic missiles with which a nuclear weapon could be launched.
Testimony from the intelligence community to the House and Senate intelligence committees has downplayed the risk of Tehran developing a weapon. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified as recently as March that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not given orders to weaponize Iran’s nuclear technology, and Iranian researchers had yet to restart their research on a delivery system, consistent with assessments from prior administrations.
Ratcliffe’s testimony comes after President Donald Trump publicly disagreed with Gabbard’s testimony. U.S. lawmakers and Israeli officials have similarly disputed Gabbard’s assessment. Ratcliffe’s assessment coincides with reports that Trump has already tentatively approved a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites.
Ratcliffe is reportedly one of a small inner circle of advisers whom Trump is consulting as he mulls U.S. strikes against Iran’s nuclear program, from which Gabbard has been excluded.
Plus, Risch's pessimism on Iran deal
John Lamparski/Getty Images for Concordia Summit
Morgan Ortagus speaks onstage during 2024 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York Times Square on September 25, 2024 in New York City.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the departure of deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus from her role reporting to Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and cover Sen. Jim Risch’s pessimism toward a potential new nuclear deal with Iran. We also report on the Trump administration’s tapping of Defense Priorities alum Justin Overbaugh for a senior Pentagon role, and scoop a major Jewish communal endorsement for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ahead of New York City’s upcoming Democratic mayoral primary. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jason Isaacman, Rep. Elise Stefanik and Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai.
What We’re Watching
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is meeting with President Donald Trump today at the White House.
- Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Randy Fine (R-FL) are speaking at a Sephardic Heritage International DC event this evening on Capitol Hill commemorating the anniversary of the Farhud pogrom that took place in Iraq in 1941.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s MATThEW KASSEL
With just under three weeks until New York City’s mayoral primary on June 24, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is slowly but surely securing commitments from a range of key leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community, a large and politically influential voting base whose widespread support is seen as crucial to his pathway to the Democratic nomination.
In the coming days, Cuomo is expected to garner endorsements from several prominent Orthodox leaders in Brooklyn and Queens, including major Hasidic sects in Borough Park and Williamsburg that can traditionally turn out thousands of votes, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to address private plans.
But as most top Orthodox leaders have not historically taken sides until relatively late in the primary season, some Jewish community activists are voicing anxiety about their continued delay in publicly backing Cuomo — as he increasingly faces competition to his far left from Zohran Mamdani, a Queens state assemblyman whose fierce opposition to Israel has drawn mounting accusations of fueling antisemitism.
“Now that the race has been essentially a two-man race for the past few months, what are they waiting for?” one Jewish leader, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Jewish Insider. “Are they considering Mamdani?”
ORTAGUS OUT
Deputy Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus to leave post under Witkoff
Morgan Ortagus, a key member of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s team, is departing his office, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch and Emily Jacobs have learned. Ortagus, the deputy special envoy, has been removed from her portfolio in the special envoy’s office, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to JI. Ortagus had been overseeing the Trump administration’s Lebanon policy and had wanted to take over the Syria file, but was unsuccessful in doing so.
Context: Ortagus’ departure comes less than two weeks after Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw a widespread purge of officials at the NSC, including those overseeing the Middle East and Israel and Iran portfolios. This followed Trump’s decision to pull former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, another Iran hawk in the administration, from his role and instead nominate him to be his ambassador to the United Nations.
DEFENSE DYNAMICS
Another Koch-funded think tank affiliate on track for top Defense job
Justin Overbaugh is on track to be the latest affiliate of the Koch-backed Defense Priorities think tank to be placed in a top post at the Defense Department, approaching confirmation as the deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
About the nominee: Overbaugh lacks the extensive public record of other Defense Priorities alumni in the administration — who have called for the U.S. to curtail its role in the Middle East — and his nomination has attracted little public attention or controversy. “I believe that we do not have the resources to cover all threats simultaneously, therefore we must be deliberate and discerning about the capabilities we pursue to defend our Nation and deter, or if necessary, defeat, our adversaries,” Overbaugh said in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Nomination reservations: Multiple Senate Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that they plan to scrutinize President Donald Trump’s nomination of Paul Ingrassia, a far-right figure picked last week to lead the Office of Special Counsel, charged with fighting corruption and fighting federal whistleblowers, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Risch’s reservations
Sen. Risch: ‘I’m not particularly optimistic’ about a deal with Iran
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Wednesday in remarks at the Hudson Institute that he is “not particularly optimistic” that a deal with Iran that stops it from enriching uranium can be reached, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Israeli threat: Risch added that if Iran does not agree to a deal, “Israel is going to do something about that.” “I’ve sat across the table from [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, I don’t know how many times, and he has looked me in the eye and said, ‘Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,’” the top Senate Republican said. “And you know what? I believe him, and I think that’s a case for the United States to be in the exact same position.”
ACCREDIATION ESCALATION
Trump admin warns Columbia University at risk of losing accreditation
The Trump administration’s battle with higher education escalated on Wednesday with the announcement that Columbia University is at risk of losing accreditation for violation of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
What is said: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights “determined that Columbia University acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students, thereby violating Title VI,” the Education Department said in a statement, noting that the Ivy League institution “no longer appears to meet the Commission’s [sic] accreditation standards.”
SCOOP
Influential Queens Orthodox coalition backs Cuomo for mayor
An influential coalition of Orthodox Jewish leaders in Far Rockaway, Queens, is endorsing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel has learned, the first official demonstration of support from a major Orthodox group in the race. In a lengthy statement first shared with JI on Wednesday night, leaders of the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance wrote that the “Jewish community in New York — particularly the frum community — faces a political crisis of historic proportions,” and urged voters to move past their lingering resentment over Cuomo’s COVID policies, which community members recall as discriminatory.
Now and then: “We still feel the pain of the unfair red zones imposed by Cuomo in 2020, which targeted our communities and restricted our way of life with heavy-handed measures,” the leaders acknowledged. “That wound lingers, a reminder of how quickly our freedoms can be curtailed. Yet, despite this pain, we must look forward and consider our future as Jews in New York City, where new threats loom larger than past grievances.”
Elsewhere in Gotham: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary.
COALITION CHAOS
Haredi leaders threaten to bring down Israeli government as effort to revive draft exemptions stalls
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition was thrown into disarray on Wednesday night after the spiritual leaders of Haredi factions threatened to bring about an early election if penalties for yeshiva students avoiding military service are not canceled, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
From bad to worse: The leading rabbis of Agudat Yisrael, the Hasidic party of United Torah Judaism, told party leader Yitzchak Goldknopf on Tuesday to move forward with a vote next week on a bill to dissolve the Knesset, prompting an election, because Netanyahu did not keep a promise to pass a bill exempting young Haredi men from military service by Shavuot, a holiday that was observed on Monday in Israel. On Wednesday morning, the other part of United Torah Judaism, Degel Hatorah, received a similar directive from the senior rabbis of the “Litvak” non-Hasidic Haredi community, Dov Lando and New York native Moshe Hillel Hirsch. Still, Netanyahu’s 68-seat coalition would retain a narrow majority in the Knesset even if he lost those Haredi parties’ seven seats. The political threat became more acute on Wednesday evening, when Sephardic Haredi party Shas, which has 11 seats in the Knesset, supported UTJ’s move to call an election. Israeli media reported that Shas’ spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef told the party’s lead negotiator, former minister Ariel Atias, to tell Netanyahu that he will not have a government if agreements are not reached with the Haredi parties.
Worthy Reads
Full-Court Press: In the Baltimore Sun, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan calls for “moral clarity” in the face of rising antisemitism in the U.S. “When innocent people are attacked for their faith or identity, neutrality is not courage. It is cowardice. People are hungry for real leadership. Not performative outrage. Not partisan talking points. Real leadership, rooted in principle and courage. That is what communities expect from their elected officials, civic organizations, media institutions and universities. They want to know that when a synagogue is firebombed or a Jewish student is harassed, someone will speak up. When extremists target a faith community, there should not be silence or spin. There must be action.” [BaltSun]
Choppy Waters: The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Kalin and Shelby Holliday look at how the maritime warfare perpetuated by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has reshaped the U.S. response to threats in the region. “Officials are now dissecting how a scrappy adversary was able to test the world’s most capable surface fleet. The Houthis proved to be a surprisingly difficult foe, engaging the Navy in its fiercest battles since World War II despite fighting from primitive quarters and caves in one of the world’s poorest countries. The Houthis benefited from the proliferation of cheap missile and drone technology from Iran. They fired antiship ballistic missiles, the first-ever combat use of the Cold War-era weapon, and they innovated how they deployed their weaponry. The latest technologies have transformed maritime warfare, much the way they have rewritten the script for land wars in Ukraine — forcing militaries to adapt in real time.” [WSJ]
The Show Must Go On: The Washington Post’s Marc Fisher reflects on his recent visit to a new LGBTQ exhibition at the Capital Jewish Museum, which opened on the same day the museum reopened following an attack the week prior in which two Israeli Embassy officials were killed. “Jewish museums chronicle the centuries-long tension among Jews between insisting on belonging to the culture where they live and accepting the outsider status foisted upon them by dominant forces in their society. … The exhibit confronts contradictions, which are at the heart of Judaism. People like the shooter cannot bear such nuance; to them, it somehow makes sense to take out one’s wrath toward Israel against a Jewish American institution — one that barely mentions Israel. The museum, like all good encounters with history, cherishes clashes between past and present, but the shooter can only see the binary: us and them.” [WashPost]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump announced last night that citizens of 12 countries will be barred entry to the United States, while citizens of seven other countries will face restrictions. The planned executive order was scooped yesterday by Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch…
Jason Isaacman, an ally of Elon Musk who had been the Trump administration’s pick to head NASA until his nomination was pulled last month, reportedly told associates that he believes that Musk’s departure from the White House gave the administration an opportunity to rescind the nomination; White House officials said the nod was pulled over Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats, which Isaacman disputed, saying the White House was aware of the donations…
Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will release a book later this year about her time in the Biden administration and departure from the Democratic Party…
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) launched the Save New York PAC to boost GOP candidates running in local races across the state…
Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Bill Keating (D-MA), Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and Becca Balint (D-VT) are leading more than 90 Democrats on a resolution calling on the administration to “urgently use all diplomatic tools” to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza, as well as release the hostages and end the war in Gaza; Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) is leading similar legislation in the Senate with the support of nearly all Democrats…
A group of lawmakers from more than 30 countries came together on Wednesday to discuss ways that the Abraham Accords can be leveraged to address energy security issues in the Middle East, the Caspian Sea Basin and the Eastern Mediterranean, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod has learned…
Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX) and Randy Fine (R-FL) introduced a resolution condemning the antisemitic attack on a hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., and calling for congressional action “to secure the border and deport migrants who overstay their visas”…
The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war without conditioning a ceasefire on the release of the remaining hostages; the other 14 members of the council voted in favor…
The IDF found and returned the bodies of U.S.-Israeli citizens Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai, who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…
The Wall Street Journal interviews victims and witnesses of the terror attack on marchers at a Boulder, Colo., walk on Sunday to call attention to the plight of the hostages in Gaza…
A federal judge issued an order barring the deportation of the wife and children of the Egyptian national accused of attacking the Boulder hostage march…
Germany’s Federal Research and Information Point for Antisemitism said that antisemitic incidents in the country had nearly doubled between 2023 and 2024, finding 8,627 incidents of violence, vandalism and threats targeting Jews last year…
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suspended operations for a second day, as both the foundation and Israeli officials address safety concerns tied to a series of deadly incidents near distribution sites in recent days…
Israeli officials said the country exported a record $14.8 billion in weapons in 2024, an increase of $1.8 billion from the year prior…
Stu Sandler is joining the office of Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) as chief of staff; Sandler was previously the deputy director of the Republican Jewish Coalition…
Aaron Bandler is joining the Jewish News Syndicate as U.S. national reporter, based out of Los Angeles…
Pic of the Day
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spoke on Wednesday at a vigil held at the site of the weekend terror attack targeting a hostage-awareness march in Boulder, Colo., in which 15 people, including a Holocaust survivor, were injured.
Birthdays
Actor, voice actor, comedian, writer and producer, Nicholas Kroll turns 47…
Lithuanian-born Holocaust survivor, co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Va., known for his ever-present cowboy hat, Jay M. Ipson turns 90… Training director and broker associate of the Santa Monica, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services branch, Saul Bubis… Owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots, Robert Kraft turns 84… The first woman to serve as international president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Judy Yudof turns 81… Senior project manager in the AI field, Dan Yurman… Israeli politician, diplomat and businessperson, he served as consul general of Israel in Philadelphia from 1988 to 1992, Israel Peleg turns 76… VP of new business development at Maresco & Partners, Linda Greenfield… Author of 11 personal finance books, financial advisor, motivational speaker and television host, Susan Lynn “Suze” Orman turns 74… Staff member at Burbank Temple Emanu El, Audrey Freedman-Habush… Portrait photographer and visual anthropologist, she is the author of The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of the Diaspora, Penny Diane Wolin turns 72… Former commissioner on the U.S. International Trade Commission, now a consultant, Dean A. Pinkert turns 69… Best-selling instrumental musician, the saxophonist “Kenny G,” Kenneth Bruce Gorelick turns 69… Columnist for the New York Post, Andrea Peyser turns 66… Senior associate general counsel at Compass real estate, Sam Kraemer… EVP and managing director at DC’s Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), Michael Heimowitz… Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for eight years until 2022, Gila Deborah Martow turns 64… VP of government affairs at Invenergy, Mark S. Weprin turns 64… First-ever Jewish speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, she served from 2020 until 2022, Eileen R. Filler-Corn turns 61… Manager of the Jeff Astor Legacy Fund, Beth Astor Freeman… Member of Congress (D-PA-6), her father is a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Poland, Christina Jampoler Houlahan turns 58… Member of the British House of Commons for 15 years, now a member of the House of Lords, Baron Ed Vaizey turns 57… Entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, he holds more than 100 granted and pending patents, Nova Spivack turns 56… Professor of Israel studies at UCLA, Dov Morris Waxman turns 51… Film and television actress, she has a recurring role in the Fox series “The Cleaning Lady,” Liza Rebecca Weil turns 48… Co-founder of BlueLabs and director of analytics for the campaigns of both Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2012, his father and grandfather were both rabbis, Elan Alter Kriegel… Research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, he was previously a member of the New Hampshire state Legislature, Jason Bedrick turns 42… Humorist, novelist and screenwriter, Simon Rich turns 41… Partner relationship manager at Voyant, Arielle Levy Marschark… Account director on the corporate PR team at M Booth, Maya Bronstein… Clara Moskowitz… Susan Stein…