Now that shifting American politics is pushing the president to distance himself from Israel’s preferred policies, Netanyahu is stuck without his trump card
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleDomestic politics isn’t always the best lens through which to evaluate foreign policy decisions.
But in assessing why President Donald Trump has gone to significant lengths to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from striking back against Iran’s attacks, and why Netanyahu went ahead with the first wave of military strikes before standing down, it’s instructive to understand how the domestic politics in the U.S. and Israel are diverging.
The joint U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran, which began on Feb. 28 and has evolved into a very tenuous ceasefire since April 8, has not achieved many of the military goals outlined by both sides. Iran’s extremist leadership is still in place, it still maintains its nuclear ambitions and retains its nuclear material, and its ballistic missile stockpiles, while damaged, still remain.
On the Lebanese front, Hezbollah continues to threaten Israel’s north and not abide by any of the diplomatic agreements recently negotiated between Israel and the Lebanese government.
As a result of the limited achievements so far, public support for renewing military action against Iran has been low among the American public, and the overall operation is receiving lukewarm backing from Republicans.
Over two-thirds of voters in a recent Economist/YouGov poll said the U.S. “should make a deal to end the war in Iran as quickly as possible,” with just 11% disagreeing. Over half of Republicans shared the same sentiment of ending the war, with just 21% opposing.
Support for the war itself was much higher among Republicans than Democrats or independents, but still less than typical partisan support for Trump’s actions, with 67% of GOP voters backing the war in Iran and 20% opposing. (Among all voters, just 28% said they supported the war against Iran, with 60% opposing.)
These polling numbers explain why Trump, ever cognizant of public opinion especially in the run-up to a consequential midterm election, is trying to avoid reengaging with Iran militarily — even as he desperately seeks for some diplomatic off-ramp that Iran isn’t giving him.
In fact, it’s Trump’s very transparent desperation for a deal with Iran — and apparent unwillingness to go back to war —that’s emboldening Iran to continue its rejectionism to the point where it launched ballistic missiles at Israel over the weekend, feeling confident Trump would constrain Israel from any sustained response (which he did).
Only in Trump’s mind is a ceasefire with active fighting still a ceasefire. But he’s hoping he can maintain that illusion long enough to prevent him from losing more ground politically. Gas prices and reopening the Strait of Hormuz are bigger priorities at the moment to him than Israel’s national security.
Meanwhile, in Israel, the public is pushing Netanyahu to continue taking the fight to Hezbollah, whose drones and rockets have made the northern part of the country virtually uninhabitable. And Israelis are increasingly frustrated, despite Trump’s popularity in the country, over how Netanyahu is being restrained from responding against Iran because of American political pressure.
A clear majority of Israelis (59%) in a May poll from the Institute of National Security Studies believed Israel should intensify its fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The pollster also found, a month earlier, that 61% of Israelis opposed the initial American-led ceasefire.
Netanyahu, in an election year, is in a no-win situation where he’s tasked with maintaining solid support from Trump, given their perceived strong relationship has been at the center of his reelection messaging. But now that shifting American politics is pushing the president to distance himself from Israel’s preferred policies, Netanyahu is stuck without his trump card.
This is where Netanyahu’s bet on Trump — and trust in the personal relationship he’s built with him — is looking a bit shaky right now. Support for Israel runs widely in Republican circles (and deeply among Jewish Republicans and evangelicals), but some of the backing is a partisan reflection of the president’s own stalwart support of the Jewish state.
If Trump, for his own political self-interest, decided to change course in his Middle East policy, it’s likely many of his voters would follow to the beat of his drum. And that would leave Israel without much backing within the Democratic Party, and support within the GOP subject to Trump’s own personal whims.
That’s a pretty precarious place for Netanyahu to be in — just several months before his own big election.
Hamawy, despite his past ties to a convicted terrorist, faced minimal scrutiny from outside groups — including many of his primary rivals
Islam Dogru/Anadolu via Getty Images
Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon, is seen during an exclusive interview at in New York, United States on April 24, 2024.
Adam Hamawy’s victory on Tuesday in a closely watched congressional primary in New Jersey, which elevated an outspoken critic of Israel whose past ties to a convicted terrorist had drawn scrutiny during the campaign, is raising questions over why the far-left Democrat did not face outside opposition from the pro-Israel group AIPAC or its well-funded super PAC.
Hamawy, who won 28% of the vote in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, prevailed with a modest plurality over the multi-candidate primary field competing to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ). With 93% of the vote counted on Wednesday, Brad Cohen, the mayor of East Brunswick and a Jewish Democrat who touted his support for Israel while identifying as an AIPAC member, placed second with 15%. Hamawy is all but assured a seat in Congress next year as the district heavily favors Democrats.
Despite a double-digit deficit, Cohen’s performance exceeded many expectations, indicating that he likely could have finished in a stronger position with help from AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, some local Jewish leaders suggested in interviews on Wednesday.
While Cohen posted relatively robust fundraising figures, pulling in $700,000 over the course of the race, he struggled to keep up with Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army veteran who claimed just over $1 million. Notably, Hamawy also drew support from a newly created super PAC, American Priorities, launched as a left-wing counterweight to AIPAC, which spent more than $1.5 million in the primary to bolster his ascendant campaign.
UDP’s conspicuous absence as American Priorities aggressively promoted Hamawy during the final days of the primary allowed the new group to shape the narrative as he drew skepticism over his efforts to downplay a decades-old association with a radical Muslim cleric convicted of inspiring the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as well as his work for a now-shuttered al-Qaida-linked front group in Bosnia.
Such vulnerabilities were the sort that UDP would presumably have been eager to exploit to thwart an extreme detractor of Israel who had argued against the country’s Iron Dome missile-defense system that protects civilians from attacks.
UDP, which looked at all of the candidates in the crowded field, had considered backing Cohen but ultimately determined he did not have a credible chance of winning, according to a source familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address a confidential matter.
Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for UDP, defended the group’s choice not to engage. “We play in races where we have a reasonable opportunity to win,” he explained in a brief interview with JI on Wednesday. “This was a multi-candidate field with obviously the anti-Hamawy vote very split.”
“We didn’t see a path to victory,” Dorton said broadly of the primary. “We did a careful analysis of the race, including polling, and came to the conclusion not to get involved.”
Steve Klinghoffer, a Jewish community leader and philanthropist and a former AIPAC board member, strongly disagreed with UDP’s assessment. He said he had “numerous conversations” with AIPAC to try to convince the group to get involved in the primary but declined to share what he had been told in response.
“If they stay out there’s a good reason,” noted Jason Shames, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, who said he spoke with AIPAC about the primary and got the sense that the group did not “see much upside” in being directly involved. “I give them the benefit of the doubt,” he told JI, calling the group “very careful” and “more strategic” than critics might think.
“In my assessment, this was a missed opportunity, and it’s greatly disturbing,” Klinghoffer told JI, calling the primary “highly winnable” and citing “private polling that showed it would be closer” if AIPAC had devoted its resources to the contest.
Still, Jewish and pro-Israel leaders in New Jersey were largely divided about AIPAC’s decision, with some saying they trusted UDP’s calculus and others expressing more skepticism about its motivations.
“If they stay out there’s a good reason,” noted Jason Shames, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, who said he spoke with AIPAC about the primary and got the sense that the group did not “see much upside” in being directly involved. “I give them the benefit of the doubt,” he told JI, calling the group “very careful” and “more strategic” than critics might think.
Ben Chouake, the president of NORPAC, a pro-Israel advocacy group in New Jersey that endorsed Cohen, said there were more complex challenges at play that had influenced the result beyond AIPAC’s decision to hold its powder.
“We supported Brad Cohen and raised a fair amount of money for him and tried to put together a ground game within the Jewish community,” he told JI. “But I don’t think our community, as a whole, is as unified as it needs to be.”
But he believed AIPAC’s involvement “absolutely” could have made a difference in the race, saying the vote tally was not insurmountable. “I think it was a worthwhile effort for us,” he stressed. “I’m not upset that we did it.”
Cohen, who sought to draw attention to Hamawy’s controversial past ties in the closing stretch of the race, did not respond to messages from JI seeking comment.
Even as UDP now sits on a nearly $95 million war chest to use in the midterms, it also has reason to stay on the sidelines, as the AIPAC brand has become increasingly toxic among Democrats who have vowed to reject its support.
The super PAC had also endured an embarrassing setback in March in a nearby northern New Jersey Democratic special election, where it spent heavily to block Tom Malinowski, a moderate former congressman who had expressed interest in conditioning U.S. aid to Israel. The foray backfired, however — propelling a progressive activist with far more antagonistic positions on Israel to the House.
The reputational damage stemming from that effort still lingers in New Jersey, according to some Jewish leaders. One pro-Israel leader speculated that AIPAC simply “got gun-shy,” after its handling of the March election. Outside the state, UDP has otherwise shown a penchant for caution — most recently investing in a Democratic congressional race in a Maryland district home to a more moderate constituency.
“My guess is they probably were afraid this time that by coming in to support Brad, it might have harmed a very good candidate,” a Jewish Democrat told JI, noting it “raises a question of what AIPAC’s strategy” is going forward. “I think they need to also look in the mirror” and “assess this terrain very carefully” in weighing “what they’re going to do in the future.”
“Unfortunately, it’s a tougher climate for AIPAC and other pro-Israel PACs, especially on the Democratic side,” Mark Levenson, a Jewish community leader in New Jersey, told JI. “The environment has changed.”
Amid a national political landscape now favoring anti-establishment, left-wing sentiment of the sort espoused by Hamawy and his progressive allies in other key races, AIPAC likely “understood its brand had taken a hit, particularly in New Jersey,” said one Jewish Democrat who viewed Hamawy’s election as a troubling sign of the party’s direction. “AIPAC called it wrong previously.”
“My guess is they probably were afraid this time that by coming in to support Brad, it might have harmed a very good candidate,” the activist said on Wednesday, noting it “raises a question of what AIPAC’s strategy” is going forward. “I think they need to also look in the mirror” and “assess this terrain very carefully” in weighing “what they’re going to do in the future.”
Dan Cassino, a political scientist and pollster at Fairleigh Dickinson University, said it was “hard to imagine that there were a lot of Hamawy supporters who would have turned against him because AIPAC was opposed to him,” given their already jaundiced view of the group.
“If AIPAC had gotten involved very early, and thrown around enough money to dissuade some candidates from running, they could have made a difference,” he told JI. “But once that field was set, I don’t think they could have changed the result,” he said, pointing out the “risk that getting involved in a race that led to another win for a disfavored candidate would hurt AIPAC’s credibility even more.”
Micah Rasmussen, the director of Rider University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, argued it “would be foolish to blame AIPAC for the results of the election,” saying the “single thing that could have changed the outcome is for the field of candidates to have consolidated behind one candidate as a viable alternative to Adam Hamawy.”
“Whatever else might be said about AIPAC, they are not political novices,” he told JI. “No one can believe they sat on their hands because they couldn’t think of anything else to do.”
“You’re really left to wonder,” Rasmussen mused, “whether they view Adam Hamawy as a foil or a lightning rod for Jewish voters across the country.”
Plus, AIPAC boosts Boafo
DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images
Dr. Adam Hamawy speaks during an AFP interview after meetings on Capitol Hill, in Washington DC, on June 14, 2024.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we break down the results of yesterday’s primaries, and report on AIPAC’s backing of Adrian Boafo as the Maryland Democrat and party favorite runs to succeed Rep. Steny Hoyer. We talk to Senate Republicans about their skepticism over the White House’s decision to name Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief, and report on the decision by leading Senate Democrats to back Graham Platner as the Maine Senate candidate faces new controversy. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Makan Delrahim, Harmeet Dhillon and David Baerwald.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik, Matt Shea and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- We’re keeping an eye on primary night returns in California, where most races have yet to be called. Those include the race for Los Angeles mayor, where Mayor Karen Bass has already advanced to the November election and will face either reality star Spencer Pratt or Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, and the governor’s race, where Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra lead Tom Steyer, with some three million ballots yet to be counted. More below.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to appear on CNBC at 10 a.m. ET for an interview with the network’s Sara Eisen.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio will testify before the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Appropriations Committees today, while the House Homeland Security Committee will hear from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is on Capitol Hill today, amid a push from progressives to regulate AI.
- Elsewhere in Washington, Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s antisemitism envoy, will hold a memorial event with the Argentine Embassy at the U.S. Institute of Peace ahead of the 32nd anniversary next month of the bombing at the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
- The Jewish Democratic Council of America is hosting a forum for candidates in the NY-12 Democratic primary tonight at Manhattan’s Streicker Center.
- Iran continued overnight to escalate its attacks on Kuwait, which said this morning that an Iranian drone struck its airport, causing multiple injuries and suspending flights into and out of the Gulf nation. The passenger terminal at the airport, which reopened on Monday after closing due to the war with Iran, was struck in the attack, which a senior Kuwaiti defense official said involved “a number of hostile drones.” Hours earlier, the U.S. struck an Iranian facility in retaliation for attacks by Iran on both Kuwait and Bahrain that failed to hit their targets.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Democrats nominated a mix of pro-Israel moderates and anti-Israel ideologues in Tuesday’s primaries across the country, but the biggest red flag for the party is the emergence of a New Jersey nominee with past terror ties prevailing in a closely watched congressional contest.
Plastic surgeon Adam Hamawy prevailed with 28% of the vote in a crowded Democratic primary field in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).
Hamawy was a former associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, also known as the Blind Sheikh, who was convicted of inspiring the terrorists who engineered the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Hamawy later served as a defense witness during Abdel Rahman’s 1995 trial, and volunteered around the same time in Bosnia with a group later shuttered as a front for al-Qaida.
Hamawy, with the support of left-wing groups, some progressive lawmakers and the anti-Israel American Priorities super PAC, defeated his opponents with regional bases but limited support outside their local communities. No pro-Israel groups or other moderate-minded outside PACs decided to spend money on anti-Hamawy attack ads, allowing him to consolidate enough backing from his base to prevail with a relatively small plurality.
Despite his baggage, Hamawy is expected to win election to Congress in November, given the central New Jersey district’s heavily Democratic electorate.
In more favorable news for pro-Israel moderate voters, Democrats nominated former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett, who flew missions over the Straits of Hormuz, to run against Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) in a major battleground district.
“I just feel very strongly that Israel has a right to defend itself and has a right to exist, and that the United States needs to be able to support Israel, and it shouldn’t be partisan,” Bennett told Jewish Insider last August. “I think we should be supporting Israel as an ally, regardless of political party.” She also told JI she supports continuing U.S. aid to Israel without restrictions or conditions.
Kean, who has represented the 7th Congressional District since 2022, has been missing from Congress for the last several months with an undisclosed illness. His uncertain personal circumstances have made Democrats bullish about their prospects in the swing district, which Kean only won by five points in 2024.
PAC PLAY
In one of its largest independent expenditures of the campaign cycle, the super PAC affiliated with AIPAC spent nearly $1.2 million this weekend to help boost Adrian Boafo, a Maryland state delegate running in a packed Democratic primary to succeed longtime Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
What this means: While the super PAC, United Democracy Project, has invested heavily in several House primaries this year, its latest salvo is particularly notable because AIPAC has frequently avoided engaging openly in contested races as a growing number of Democratic candidates have disavowed accepting funds from the pro-Israel group. In Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, which spans southward from the eastern Washington suburbs of Prince George’s County, UDP’s aggressive play suggests that it is comfortable openly courting a more moderate constituency that Hoyer has represented as a prominent supporter of Israel and close AIPAC ally.
UNCONVENTIONAL PICK
Senate Republicans on Tuesday expressed skepticism about President Donald Trump’s decision to name Bill Pulte, a lawyer and Trump ally who has been working on housing policy issues and has no known intelligence or national security background, as acting director of national intelligence, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Throwing cold water: “I don’t see any evidence of qualifications for that job, but as you know the Senate doesn’t have a role to play in acting [appointments],” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said. Cornyn would be a crucial swing vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee if Pulte is nominated for the permanent role, and was recently defeated in his primary by a Trump-backed challenger. “He doesn’t seem very qualified,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), also recently defeated by a Trump-backed primary challenger, agreed.
Bonus: The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into Pulte’s effort to be named acting DNI, reporting that in conversation with Trump, “Pulte made the case that he would be an unyielding advocate for the president’s foreign policy agenda and he signaled support for the war in Iran.”
PLATNER POSITIONS
Senate Democrats sounded wary of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner after the latest revelations that he had engaged in sexual conversations with numerous women while married, but most aren’t yet calling for him to leave the race, or throwing their support behind Gov. Janet Mills, who still remains on the primary ballot even after suspending her campaign, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Schumer sidestep: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who recruited Mills to run for the seat to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) but got behind Platner after Mills dropped out, met with Platner in Washington on Tuesday and repeatedly offered a terse response when asked about Platner at a press conference, offering neither effusive support for nor criticism of the presumptive Democratic nominee. “I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,” Schumer said.
Big break: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) declined to fully back Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) on Tuesday, when asked at a press conference about her run in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, which has historically been represented by a Black lawmaker. Given that she is a member of House leadership, a longtime Democratic congresswoman and an incumbent, it’s highly unusual for Jeffries not to offer his full support to Wasserman Schultz, as he traditionally has done for incumbents of all stripes and affiliations.
ROCKY RESPONSE
Colorado’s elected officials remained largely silent after the CU Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine chapter posted a statement supporting the perpetrator of a deadly antisemitic firebombing on the attack’s one-year anniversary, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. “Today, Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine publishes this statement in support of Mohamed’s decisive act of resistance against a genocidal global order,” Boulder SJP — which is an unsanctioned campus group — wrote Monday in a since-deleted Instagram post. “We stand with him.”
Muted response: Only Rep. Gabe Evans directly condemned the statement, telling JI it was “utterly deplorable.” Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Jeff Crank (R-CO) both condemned the attack in statements to JI on Tuesday, but neither addressed the SJP statement directly. Other members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, including Democrats Diana DeGette, Brittany Pettersen and Joe Neguse and Republicans Jeff Hurd and Lauren Boebert, did not respond to requests for comments from JI. Neguse represents the area where the attack occurred.
IRAN TALK
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that the U.S. is not offering Iran any sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and that sanctions relief would only be on the table if the Islamic Republic made concessions related to its nuclear program, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Step by step: The secretary of state described the diplomatic talks as two-phased: The current phase is focused on getting Iran to agree to reopen the strait and to commit to enter further negotiations on disposing its highly enriched uranium and on “severe and long-term limitations and/or cancelation of enrichment.” In exchange, the U.S. would lift its blockade of Iranian ports. The second phase would entail technical discussions on Iran’s nuclear program and fissile material, in exchange for potential U.S. sanctions relief, and could take months to work through, and would be conditions-based.
MOU-ving forward: In separate testimony in the House Appropriations Committee, Rubio confirmed that, as part of negotiations over the next U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding covering military aid, the U.S. and Israel have been discussing an Israeli proposal to wind down U.S. military aid to Israel.
ROUTING OUT HATE
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said on Tuesday that the Trump administration will continue its legal battles against Harvard University and UCLA, accusing both institutions of continuing to neglect the civil rights of Jewish students and faculty, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
What she said: Dhillon made the comments while appearing at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum in Washington, where she condemned what she described as “egregious examples of antisemitism that have transpired here at home on American soil” since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel as “devastating and antithetical to our values as a nation.” The assistant attorney general highlighted the department’s most recent lawsuit against Harvard in March, saying that the Ivy League university had been “tolerating race and national origin discrimination against both Jewish and Israeli students.”
View from abroad: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) revealed on Tuesday that senior Emirati leaders expressed concern to him about rising antisemitism in the United States during his trip to the United Arab Emirates last week.
Worthy Reads
The Politics of Virtue and Vice: The New York Times’ Ross Douthat considers the impact of the “amoral center” on the upcoming midterms, where candidates such as Maine Democrat Graham Platner and Texas Republican Ken Paxton have already found success in spite of moral shortcomings. “In this environment, the upright moralist becomes an inherently untrustworthy figure — not because he might be secretly a hypocrite but because he might be entirely sincere, and in his sincerity end up imposing a stringent morality that’s alien to your own. Whereas the sinner, the disreputable character, seems more reassuring because his vices double as a promise that he won’t be too fanatical.” [NYTimes]
Pulse on Pulte: The Atlantic’s Shane Harris considers President Donald Trump’s motivations in naming Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. “The president has shown no sign that he wants a DNI who can coordinate the work of 18 intelligence agencies and harness the power of a multibillion-dollar global-espionage network to provide senior government leaders the best up-to-the-minute information about threats to U.S. national security. No, what Trump has made very clear is that he wants a DNI who will selectively declassify government documents that help fuel conspiracy theories, use the authorities of the state to enact political retribution against his enemies, and try to persuade Americans that Venezuela and maybe the Democratic Party are rigging elections by fiddling with voting machines.” [TheAtlantic]
Time Lapse: The Free Press’ Aaron MacLean explains the stalled negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, which have now gone on for longer than the active conflict between the countries. “Perhaps the president’s apparently urgent need to keep negotiations going has to do with his need to keep the financial markets calm … The first (and, in retrospect, defining) example of this trend was Trump’s original ceasefire announcement on April 7, when he claimed that the Iranian side had agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz in return for the pausing of hostilities. But Iran did not open the strait, and the president allowed the ceasefire to proceed anyway. On numerous occasions since, Trump has threatened military action if the Iranians don’t open the strait or otherwise comply with his demands regarding their nuclear program. But for nearly two months full of threats like this, he has not followed through at all.” [FreePress]
Infantino’s Impact: The New Yorker‘s Sam Knight looks at the extent to which FIFA head Gianni Infantino has influenced the trajectory of the league. “The governments that Infantino has worked most closely with as FIFA president have been Putin’s, the Emir of Qatar’s, the Trump Administration, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On the one hand, it is a self-selecting group. FIFA has to deal with rulers who have the wealth, and the disposition, to put on the largest events. ‘A lot of the sucking up is exactly as a multinational corporation will do,’ a former FIFA committee member told me. ‘It’s the behavior of Coca-Cola, of Siemens, of Mercedes.’ In 2024, Aramco, the Saudi state-owned oil company, became an official FIFA sponsor. On the other hand, Infantino’s fascination with autocracy seems to be more than just a matter of the people whom he does business with. In 2021, he and his family lived in Qatar, which hosted the following year’s World Cup.” [NewYorker]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social site that the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which in April ended in a failed assassination attempt, would be rescheduled for July 24 at Washington’s Waldorf Astoria; Trump added that he planned to attend the rescheduled event at the hotel, which he used to own…
Elias Irizarry, a convicted Jan. 6 Capitol rioter, was tapped by the Trump administration for a role in the irregular warfare and counterterrorism section of the Pentagon’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office…
The White House sent a fresh slate of diplomatic nominations to the Senate for approval, with few nominations to fill critical vacancies across the Middle East and North Africa, even as the Iran conflict has increased the need for coordination and dialogue in the region, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports…
The Wall Street Journal looks at Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s divergent opinions over how to wind down the war with Iran, with the White House preferring diplomacy and Israel pushing for intensified military action against Iran and its regional proxies…
Trump confirmed an Axios report that he had called Netanyahu “f***ing crazy” during a phone call earlier this week, telling the New York Post he was “a little bit perturbed at [Netanyahu’s] constantly fighting with Lebanon,” but insisted the two have “worked very well together” and that he liked the prime minister “a lot,” calling himself a “wartime president” and Netanyahu a “wartime prime minister”…
The United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is planning to build a multi-fuel pipeline that will allow gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to bypass the Strait of Hormuz…
In a rare moment of bipartisanship at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin agreed to work together to get delayed Nonprofit Security Grant Program FY 2025 grants “out the door as quickly as possible”; Murphy called the issue an area of “deep agreement,” with both pledging to get the number of funded applications “as high as we can”…
The leadership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, whose members constitute nearly 45% of House Democrats, is encouraging members to vote for a war powers resolution led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) that aims to prevent any U.S. cooperation with or assistance for the Israeli operations in Lebanon, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
In an address at the gala of liberal organizing group T’ruah in New York City on Tuesday night, which was bookended by standing ovations, Mayor Zohran Mamdani repeatedly shouted out his candidate for Congress in the audience, former city Comptroller Brad Lander, and touted his proposal to pump an additional $26 million in city funds into his Office to Prevent Hate Crimes…
Jewish leaders and elected officials in New York are condemning the participation of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other far-right Israeli officials in Sunday’s Israel on Fifth parade, saying they did not have advance notice regarding the country’s delegation to the parade; Mark Treyger, the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, which organized the parade, told The New York Times that “there was a complete lack of transparency” with regards to the Israeli delegation, and that the Israeli consulate in New York refused to provide names of delegation members to the JCRC ahead of the parade…
Makan Delrahim, the chief legal officer of Paramount, told the Los Angeles Times that “some of these people” who oppose Paramount’s effort to acquire Warner Bros. Discover “are trying to inflict harm on this transaction, really because of their own antisemitic views”…
Longtime “60 Minutes” reporter Scott Pelley was fired by CBS after clashing with network executives, as well as the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton, at a staff meeting earlier this week…
A federal judge issued a temporary order blocking NOTUS from rebranding as The Star, following a lawsuit filed last week by Washington Star Publisher Dovid Efune after Efune acquired the outlet, which last published four decades ago, and relaunched it as a Substack…
The New York Times reviews The Fire Agent, David Baerwald’s semi-fictional account of his grandfather’s years as a spy for the U.S.…
U.K. Green Party leader Zack Polanski signed onto a petition calling on the government to investigate British-Israeli citizens who served in the IDF…
Israir said that a flight set to land in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was forced to reroute to Croatia mid-flight after being denied landing permissions by Slovenian authorities in a move the airline said was politically motivated…
The family of a British couple who was arrested last year in Iran and sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of espionage said that the two had lost an appeal to overturn their convictions…
Indonesia and Qatar are deepening defense ties, with plans to sign a defense cooperation agreement in the near future; earlier this week, Qatari Defense Minister Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with his Indonesia counterpart in Jakarta…
Career foreign service officer and diplomat Donald Bruce Cofman, who served as spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Israel from 1987 to 1991 and remained in his posting through the duration of the Gulf War, died at 87…
Pic of the Day
Birthdays
Chairperson and co-founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Hilde Schwab, pictured with Sir Elton John, turns 80…
Longtime San Fernando Valley, Calif., resident, Richard J. Munitz turns 88… Attorney, author and 2024 candidate for Congress, she was awarded both a Ph.D. in political science and a J.D. from Yale, Jan Schneider turns 79… Tel Aviv-based attorney who served as an overseas representative to the French parliament, Daphna Poznanski-Benhamou turns 76… Former first lady of the United States, Jill Biden turns 75… Retired director for legislative strategy, policy and government affairs at AIPAC, Ester Kurz… Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he heads its program in Judezmo (or Ladino) studies, David Monson Bunis turns 74… President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston from 2007 to 2021, Eric S. Rosengren turns 69… Chief cantor of Vienna’s Israelitische Kultusgemeinde since 1992, Shmuel Barzilai turns 69… Rabbi emeritus of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, Steve Leder turns 66… Racquetball player, he won two World Championships and 10 Canadian Championships, now an advertising account executive in Winnipeg, Sherman Greenfeld turns 64… Former White House national security communications advisor in the Biden administration, now serving as director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, John F. Kirby turns 63… Founding member of the rock band Phish, Michael Eliot Gordon turns 61… Member of the British Parliament for the Conservative Party from 2001 to 2024, Jonathan Djanogly turns 61… CEO of Azrieli Group, one of the largest real estate development firms in Israel, she serves on the boards of both the Weizmann Institute and Tel Aviv University, Danna Azrieli Hakim turns 59… U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, Judge Ronnie Abrams turns 58… CEO of Ridgeback Communications, Andrew Samuel Weinstein… Executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys (Calif.), Jason Moss… Actor and model best known for her role as Nicole Walker on the daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” Arianne Zucker turns 52… Los Angeles-based PR consultant at Winning Progressive, Eric M. Schmeltzer… Major gifts officer at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, Lauren Becker… Senior director of experiential marketing at the International Rescue Committee, Sophie Oreck… Chief of staff and special advisor to the president of the Baltimore Ravens, Adam Neuman turns 36… Chief political officer at Israel on Campus Coalition, Brandon Beigler… D.C.-based reporter at The Wall Street Journal covering immigration policy, Michelle Hackman… Gold Glove-winning center fielder for the San Francisco Giants, Harrison Bader turns 32…
The New Jersey Democrat returned from visiting the United Arab Emirates last week
AJC
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) speak at the American Jewish Committee's Global Forum on June 2, 2026.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) revealed on Tuesday that senior Emirati leaders expressed concern to him about rising antisemitism in the United States during his trip to the United Arab Emirates last week.
Gottheimer made the comments while appearing alongside Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum in Washington, where the two delivered remarks to the crowd about their work combating antisemitism.
“I returned from the UAE a couple days ago, and one of the most shocking parts of my meeting with some of their senior leadership was when they said to me in the middle of the meeting, ‘What is going on with antisemitism in your country?’” said Gottheimer, who visited the Gulf nation in his capacity as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
“Think about that: You have a leader of a Gulf nation saying to us, ‘What is going on with antisemitism in your country?’” he continued. “This is not who we are as a country, it’s not our values, it’s not what we’re based on, but it is the reality right now. We can beat this back, I know we can, and we must.”
The duo warned in their remarks that antisemitism has been normalized in U.S. politics, with both lawmakers referencing a recent incident involving Lawler being verbally accosted by William Paul, the adult son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), at a bar on Capitol Hill last month.
“When you look at the challenges we are facing today politically in an ever-divided country, it is the Jewish Americans who are under attack — whether you talk about antisemitism, the fact that people are under attack simply for going to shul, going to Yeshiva, being physically violated. Hate crimes are on the rise when it comes to Jewish Americans,” Lawler said. “Sadly, this has been normalized in the halls of Congress. People are being elected to public office on both sides of the aisle that think it is okay to traffic in antisemitic tropes.”
Gottheimer noted that, “The good news about this moment in history is we can see the field clearly. We know who’s with us and who’s against us. We see the challenges, whether they’re in the halls of Congress or online, the massive disinformation being put out there, whether it’s by our foreign adversaries or people in the United States. We see what they’re doing and what their intentions are and what their tactics are.”
About the incident with Paul, Lawler told the crowd that he is “no stranger to experiencing antisemitism firsthand.”
Gottheimer also took a dig at the younger Paul while discussing “how shocking it is, of how blatantly naked it is, to be an antisemite right now in this country.”
“When you see the numbers — and it’s not just in a bar when Rand Paul’s son is accusing Mike of being a Jew, it’s in every corner of our country — those numbers are astounding,” Gottheimer said. “As we saw, antisemitic incidents are up 75% since the 7th [of October 2023]. There’s not a single Jew in America who can avoid this right now.”
His critics once saw him as an ally, but fear he’s pandered to extremists as he raises his national profile ahead of the 2028 presidential election
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) leaves the U.S. Capitol on March 13, 2024 in Washington.
Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) emergence as a leading Democratic party critic of Israel — while affiliating with and embracing individuals and groups that have been accused of antisemitism and support for terrorism — is creating divisions within the local Jewish community in his Silicon Valley-centered district.
While Khanna maintains unified support from Jewish elected officials in the district, other Jewish community leaders say they feel abandoned, ignored and even attacked by their congressman, whom they once saw as an ally, as he faces what could be his most credible primary challenge in years.
For some in the district, ties with the congressman have been strained for years, and were further inflamed by the March attack on two Israeli Americans in San Jose’s Santana Row shopping district.
Khanna strongly condemned the attack but some in the community said his words rang hollow after months of escalating anti-Israel rhetoric. Some Jewish leaders in the district say that they saw a direct connection between Khanna’s incendiary language condemning the Jewish state and attacks such as the one their community experienced.
Two days after the attack, Khanna posted about how he is “proud to stand” with Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as well as to join far-left streamer Hasan Piker’s show, all of whom have faced criticism from the Jewish community — comments that prompted condemnation by Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
Jewish leaders in the district who are now critical of the congressman said the community’s relationship with Khanna started out strong when he was first elected in 2016, but has significantly deteriorated over time, particularly in the past few years. Khanna’s Silicon Valley district includes substantial, concentrated Jewish and Israeli-American communities.
Tali Klima, a spokesperson for Bay Area Jewish Coalition Action, a local grassroots advocacy group, said that Khanna was “warmly welcomed” by the Jewish community when he was first elected and that many in the community had supported him.
Khanna traveled to Israel three times while in office, and has expressed support for the Abraham Accords, voted in 2019 to condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, condemned calls to “globalize the intifada,” voted in early 2024 to condemn the slogan “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” and introduced a Holocaust education resolution in 2024. Amid rising antisemitism in recent years, he has touted appointing a point of contact for addressing antisemitism in the district on his congressional team.
But, Klima and other critics said, they’ve seen the congressman’s posture change over time.
“He’s become more and more divisive and more extremist in his views, that we never heard when he was first elected, especially since Oct. 7. It’s been a massive shift in the way that he communicates about things that we care about,” Klima continued.
“At this point, the community has really lost trust in him,” Klima said. “Much of the community is afraid of him, and much of the community is also very angry and feels betrayed by him.”
“Having participated in local town halls with Representative Khanna and spoken with him about various community concerns, I am thankful for his commitment to open dialogue and remaining accessible even when we disagree,” Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens said. “His dedication to peace and justice for all people and support for a two-state solution is laudable. He has been a leader for accountability and transparency with the Trump Administration, particularly with the bipartisan push for the release of the Epstein files.”
Khanna has frequently and repeatedly accused Israel of genocide, was among the first lawmakers to endorse calls for cutting off U.S. support for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system and led an effort for U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, among a range of other stances and votes, and has repeatedly faced scrutiny for his affiliations with groups and individuals condemned by the Jewish community.
Later this week, he’s set to offer an amendment to strip a provision advancing U.S.-Israel cooperative programs out of the 2027 defense bill. Though one former Biden administration called the provision “quite unremarkable” and in keeping with existing programs, Khanna called it a “fusion” of the U.S. and Israeli militaries to prevent scrutiny and accountability for U.S. aid to Israel.
Jewish elected officials supporting Khanna, in statements shared with Jewish Insider, praised the congressman for his support for a two-state solution and for engaging with local Jewish communities.
“Having participated in local town halls with Representative Khanna and spoken with him about various community concerns, I am thankful for his commitment to open dialogue and remaining accessible even when we disagree,” Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens said. “His dedication to peace and justice for all people and support for a two-state solution is laudable. He has been a leader for accountability and transparency with the Trump Administration, particularly with the bipartisan push for the release of the Epstein files.”
State Sen. Josh Becker added, “While Congressman Khanna gets a lot of ink for his criticism of Israel he gets less for his vocal support of a two state solution and Israel as a safe democratic Jewish state.”
Others, such as San Jose City Councilmember David Cohen, more broadly praised him for his work on local issues.
“The fact that an elected official like Khanna defends [people like Hasan Piker and Zohran Mamdani] and their dangerous antisemitic views is not only shameful — but it also actively endangers the lives of Jewish people both in his district and around the country,” Oleg Ivanov, executive director of StandWithUs Northern California, said.
“Times are very difficult these days in Washington D.C., and Congressmember Khanna remains a steady advocate for our region and economy. We need people who understand the tech industry and also who bring money back to our community from the federal budget,” Cohen said. “He has shown courage and has been willing to face his constituents at monthly town hall meetings ever since he was elected. While I don’t agree with every position he takes, I admire his thoughtfulness and transparency.”
Cohen declined to speak further on Khanna’s foreign policy work or his relationship with the local Jewish community.
But others in the community feel that their concerns aren’t being heard or listened to by the congressman. Daniel Klein, CEO of Jewish Silicon Valley, a Jewish nonprofit which runs a local JCC and other community programs and resources, said he’s communicated to Khanna directly that he thinks the legislator is out of step with his constituents.
“The fact that an elected official like Khanna defends [people like Hasan Piker and Zohran Mamdani] and their dangerous antisemitic views is not only shameful — but it also actively endangers the lives of Jewish people both in his district and around the country,” Oleg Ivanov, executive director of StandWithUs Northern California, said.
Ivanov also accused Khanna of spreading a “blood libel” in accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Oded Shekel, executive director of Bay Area Jewish Coalition Action, emphasized that members of the Jewish and Israeli community in Khanna’s district feel afraid, isolated and that they have to hide who they are, and don’t feel they’re getting the support they expect from their congressman.
Shekel said that he doesn’t necessarily think Khanna is personally or openly antisemitic, but that he is supporting and rationalizing extreme voices, to the point that has made many Jews like him feel that Khanna is the “strongest voice [that] hurts Jews in his district.”
Khanna joined a town hall in 2024 hosted by the Bay Area Jewish Coalition — a separate entity from Bay Area Jewish Coalition Action led by the same individuals — but the relationship has soured since then.
Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein, a Khanna supporter, said he’d attended the BAJC town hall, and met with Jewish community members alongside Khanna to discuss the challenges that Jewish high schoolers were facing from antisemitism in the district, and how the congressman could address them.
“Good to hear directly from High School Students and their parents on the district issues,” Mayor Klein said in a statement. “It was valuable to hear firsthand about the harassment that Jewish Students had endured.
Mayor Klein also praised Khanna’s “bipartisan approach to leadership” on issues including “working to halt reckless foreign intervention” and the release of the Epstein Files, saying that Khanna, “consistently puts principles over politics.” He also praised Khanna’s engagement with constituents more broadly and work on securing federal funding for the district.
Daniel Klein of Jewish Silicon Valley described Khanna’s stances and statements as hostile to the Jewish community. He said that the violent attack in Santana Row, and other similar incidents, are the “natural maturation” of the rhetoric Khanna has used and elevated.
“I appreciate the congressman being outraged” about the Santana Row attack, “but statements and what he normalizes and who he platforms before these incidents, and then who he chooses to stand with and platform and normalize after these incidents, makes the community feel unseen and unsupported by the congressman,” Klein said he told Khanna’s office in the wake of the attack.
Yet, Klein said, Khanna’s rhetoric does not appear to have shifted substantially since the March attack.
“I’m a big fan of Congressman Khanna,” Ben Linder, a J Street board member who lives just outside Khanna’s district, told JI. “The majority of the Jewish community is squarely behind him and very aligned with him,” Linder continued, emphasizing that he has seen Khanna speak on multiple occasions to busy synagogue audiences.
Klima echoed that, expressing frustration that Khanna’s condemnation of the attack was quickly followed by a return to his usual rhetoric and activity.
In addition to Jewish elected officials backing him, Khanna maintains support among segments of the local Jewish community. Ben Linder, a J Street board member who lives just outside Khanna’s district, told JI he continues to strongly support the congressman. J Street has endorsed Khanna, but Linder spoke to JI in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the progressive Israel advocacy group.
“I’m a big fan of Congressman Khanna,” Linder, who was born in Israel and moved to the U.S. in high school, said. “The majority of the Jewish community is squarely behind him and very aligned with him,” Linder continued, emphasizing that he has seen Khanna speak on multiple occasions to busy synagogue audiences.
He called critics “out of touch with the view of the majority of Jews right now” both in Khanna’s district and nationally, pointing to a Washington Post poll last year that found a majority of Jews are critical of the way the war in Gaza has been conducted.
He asserted that discontent with Khanna traces to a “vocal minority in the district, mainly led by right-wing Israeli expats that dislike Congressman Khanna” and are “out of touch with where our community is.”
“I consider Ro Khanna very pro-Israel. He is clearly anti-Netanyahu and anti- the policies of Israel’s right wing government, but so am I, and, I think, so are the majority of Jews in this district,” Linder said.
Critics of Khanna said that the congressman’s activity following the Santana Row attack matches a pattern they’ve observed repeatedly when Khanna is called out for conduct or statements they find offensive — Khanna will apologize, or offer targeted condemnations, but won’t substantially change his behavior, and ultimately continues doubling down.
They said this pattern ignores the way that Khanna’s own rhetoric is fueling antisemitism.
Klima emphasized that Khanna’s constituents have come to him on numerous occasions asking him to dial down his rhetoric. At this point, she said, his “symbolic condemnations” of antisemitism “ring very hollow.”
“He’s speaking out of both sides of his mouth, basically,” she said, adding that, as a longtime congressman, his comments “[legitimize] this rhetoric,” driving similar activity from other local officials as well.
Ivanov said it’s easy for Khanna to denounce antisemitic attacks or vandalism, “but as soon as he does that, he continues to spread the antisemitic conspiracy theories, to defend antisemitic speakers that are out there every day, fueling the antisemitism that leads to these actions.”
“We will not accept Khanna’s pro-forma denunciation of antisemitic incidents while he himself continues to fuel antisemitism and defend antisemites,” Ivanov said.
Linder, the Khanna supporter, argued that Khanna has made clear that he “will speak with anyone” and “dialogues with people he disagrees with, and I respect that.” Khanna has expressed similar sentiments to JI in the past.
Linder said he strongly disagreed with the notion that Khanna’s rhetoric is fueling violence, and emphasized that the Santana Row attack was not charged as a hate crime.
“I don’t believe there was sufficient evidence to show that it was hate-motivated,” Linder said. “The congressman came out very quickly and denounced that attack, denounced the violence, and I fundamentally am not a subscriber to the notion that criticizing Israel fuels antisemitism. I see a clear delineation between criticism of Israel and Jew hatred. I don’t believe the two are connected. As a matter of fact, I think some of the actions of Netanyahu and the Israeli government, the extreme right Israeli government foment antisemitism.”
Shekel, a Khanna critic, said that, during conversations with Khanna about antisemitism that community members are facing, Khanna has expressed sympathy while pivoting to emphasize his disputes with various Israeli government policies.
“We feel that he is fixated, obsessed with Israel,” Klima added.
“The organized Jewish community is telling you exactly where the majority of the Jewish community stands, and if you choose not to listen, it is not due to lack of knowing where your constituents are. It’s a choice,” Daniel Klein, CEO of Jewish Silicon Valley, said. “It’s a choice at that point, and then that begs the question of why the member of Congress is choosing to ignore the Jewish community while also at the same time saying he’s being responsive to the Jewish community. That’s a contradiction I don’t have the answer to.”
Klein said that some in the community see Khanna as not only ignoring their concerns but attacking the Jewish community for elevating those issues in the first place. He pointed to an incident in which Khanna shared on his X account a clip of Holocaust denying social media influencer Ian Carroll as one such instance.
Klein said he and representatives of the local Jewish Community Relations Council sat down in person with Khanna’s staff about the video — “not only the fact that this person was platformed, the person wasn’t taken down immediately, and instead of listening to the Jewish community’s concerns, at least publicly, he seemed to attack the Jewish community instead.”
Klein also characterized Khanna as deflecting the concerns of the local Jewish community in conversations, offering a variety of excuses, including pointing to national polling on Israel policy issues.
“The organized Jewish community is telling you exactly where the majority of the Jewish community stands, and if you choose not to listen, it is not due to lack of knowing where your constituents are. It’s a choice,” Klein said. “It’s a choice at that point, and then that begs the question of why the member of Congress is choosing to ignore the Jewish community while also at the same time saying he’s being responsive to the Jewish community. That’s a contradiction I don’t have the answer to.”
Critics in the district see a political motivation behind Khanna’s rhetoric and positioning.
Ivanov said that he first met Khanna several years ago, when Ivanov was working for the American Jewish Committee. The congressman at the time emphasized “the importance of maintaining progressive support for Israel in American society. That has obviously changed over the past few years, where he has embraced this tide of vilification of Israel as a way to appeal to the rising popularity of bashing Israel among certain voters,” Ivanov said.
Klima said that the “general sentiment” among members of the Jewish community is that Khanna’s stance is “opportunistic” and that he’s following anti-Israel trends for the sake of popularity, rather than any “deeply held view.”
“We feel like he’s throwing us, his constituents, under the bus for his political game, because he feels like this is a win for progressives,” she said.
The congressman is widely seen as preparing for a presidential campaign in 2028.
Khanna’s frequent commentary about the “Epstein Class” — he was one of the leading advocates in the House for releasing files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — has also set off alarm bells for Khanna’s critics.
Klima said that many in the Jewish community read those references as code for the Jewish community writ large, “because of our history with him, our recent history with him.” She said that Khanna’s pattern of rhetoric and actions has sowed distrust of him and his motives.
Khanna has dismissed the notion that the phrase is antisemitic, pointing to Jewish elected officials who have also spoken about the “Epstein Class.”
Critics in the district say that Khanna has a lot of work to do to repair his relationships with the Jewish community — and that it will take more than the pro forma condemnations of antisemitism that they feel he’s been offering over the past few years.
Klein encouraged Khanna to “stop feeding the extreme left and the alt-right” on social media and called on him to apologize for “ignoring the Jewish community,” and “actually start listening to the organized Jewish community,” rather than the “fringes.”
Klima said that she is fed up with what she sees as “symbolic gestures” by the congressman.
“We feel like we’re just pawns in his political game, because the very next day, he’s back to the ‘genocide’ and his political obsession,” she said. “[He] is clearly hurting us and it needs to be something much deeper than just a statement.”
Plus, Theo Baker schools Stanford
Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Spencer Pratt, from left, Karen Bass and Nithya Raman take part in the Los Angeles Mayoral debate at Skirball Cultural Center on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA.
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight the Los Angeles mayoral race, where Mayor Karen Bass is locked in a close three-way race against Republican Spencer Pratt and DSA-affiliated Democrat Nithya Raman ahead of tomorrow’s primary, and cover yesterday’s Israel Day on Fifth parade in New York City. We report on Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s trip to the United Arab Emirates last week, where he met with UAE National Security Advisor Tahnoun bin Zayed and Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, and talk to Theo Baker about his new book about power structures at Stanford, where he’s a student. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Shmuel Ben Ezra, Ilan Shchori and Andy Baker.
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 keeping an eye on the escalation in Israel’s north and in southern Lebanon as the IDF and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire. Efforts to reach a ceasefire over the weekend following an hours-long meeting on Friday between Israeli and Lebanese security officials fell short, with Hezbollah rejecting a proposal from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the Iran-backed group end its missile and drone attacks against Israel in exchange for Israel agreeing not to resume attacks on Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut. The escalation comes amid a deeper Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon, and the IDF’s capture of the Crusader-era Beaufort Castle.
- On Capitol Hill, the House is expected to vote on war powers resolutions on both Iran and Lebanon later this week, while the Senate is likely to vote on final passage of an Iran war powers resolution that cleared a procedural vote before the Memorial Day recess.
- The American Jewish Committee’s annual Global Forum continues today in Washington. Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, author Dara Horn and historian Jonathan Sarna are slated to speak at this morning’s plenary, while JI Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar will address attendees this afternoon alongside Axios’ Barak Ravid and Kan’s Gili Cohen for a panel about the upcoming U.S. midterms and Israeli elections.
- The Israeli Embassy in Washington is holding a memorial this morning for slain staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were killed in a terror attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum last May.
- This afternoon, the Israeli Embassy in Washington will host an event with Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on the Isaac Accords Fund.
- In Israel, the Knesset is holding its first reading of a bill to dissolve the body and trigger elections. The Michigan Democratic Party’s Jewish, Black, senior and faith caucuses are jointly holding a debate this evening for the state’s open Senate seat. Democrats Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and physician Abdul El-Sayed are all expected to participate.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
The latest revelations that Graham Platner, the Democrats’ anti-establishment, far-left standard-bearer in the Maine Senate race, was sending sexually explicit texts to as many as a dozen women while he was married — an issue his wife raised to campaign staff as a potential liability — is another sign that the candidate’s extensive baggage may be too much for the party to handle. (As commentator Haviv Rettig Gur posted on X: “I’m starting to think that SS tattoo might have been a red flag.”)
Meanwhile, a New York Times interview, published over the weekend, with leading New Jersey Democratic congressional candidate Adam Hamawy about his past affiliations with Islamist extremists is going to raise more red flags for Democrats.
Asked about his travels with Omar Abdel Rahman, known as the “Blind Sheikh,” who was connected to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Hamawy downplayed the spiritual leader’s jihadist sermons. “He wasn’t preaching death and destruction all the time,” Hamawy said. “He had certain views that he spoke in certain forums, but that’s not what he did every single day.”
With the calendar now turned to June, it’s yet another reminder that Democrats are on the verge of nominating some truly radical and damaged candidates for congressional office as a critical mass of primaries take place this month.
Many of the races are taking place in safely blue seats, so Democrats haven’t raised that much concern over candidates such as Hamawy, whose terror ties (including volunteer work for what was later revealed as an al-Qaida front group) at the very least, raise questions about suitability for public office.
But others, such as Platner, are running in battleground Senate seats where the stakes couldn’t be higher. In California and Montana, candidates are running in swing districts where the battle for the House majority will be fought.
If May was the month that tested President Donald Trump’s power over the Republican Party (lesson: he’s still firmly in control of GOP voters), June will be the month that determines whether the Democratic Party is going to abandon its moderate moorings and nominate a roster of radicals.
The stakes couldn’t be higher — especially for Jewish Democrats, who have been among the leading voices alarmed by the rise of these candidates, who, not surprisingly, often hold virulently anti-Israel views and don’t have a problem mainlining antisemitic rhetoric.
ANGELENO AFFAIRS
In the closing weeks of the Los Angeles mayoral primary, the two candidates challenging incumbent Mayor Karen Bass — from both the left and the right — had a lot to say on areas of interest to Jewish Angelenos, which was particularly notable in a race in which those issues have, for much of the campaign cycle, not been front and center. The race features an embattled Mayor Karen Bass facing a spirited challenge from her right in reality TV star Spencer Pratt, and from her left in City Councilmember Nithya Raman, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Community issues: In a race that appears to have the three leading candidates bunched together in a three-way tie, the winning votes could come from anywhere, and recent outreach by Pratt to the Jewish community suggests he knows that winning over Jewish Democrats could help him make it to the general election. The Los Angeles metro area is home to roughly 560,000 Jews, although not all of them live in the city of L.A. That means that a pressing question facing moderate Jewish voters who have supported Bass, a liberal Democrat and former member of Congress, is whether taking a chance on Pratt is worthwhile.
PRIDE AND PROTECTION
As an estimated 50,000 New Yorkers stretched along Fifth Avenue waving Israeli and American flags and Hebrew music echoed through the streets, this year’s annual “Israel Day on Fifth” parade carried a palpable sense of relief. For the first time since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, attendees could swap out their hostage pins and “Bring Them Home Now” signs for simple flags — marking the first parade since the attacks in which all hostages held by Hamas have been released and Israel’s war in Gaza has ended, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Pulse check on Fifth: For the first time in more than six decades, the city’s mayor was notably absent from the bipartisan tradition. While Zohran Mamdani’s boycott was intended to make a strong statement, attendees appeared largely unfazed. Instead, attendees seemed focused on the notable figures marching — from politicians from both parties to social media influencers and the largest-ever delegation from the Knesset, including Speaker Amir Ohana and members of both the governing and opposition parties.
In the crowd: Spotted on the Jewish Agency’s float were Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of Omer Neutra, an Israeli American IDF officer killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. State Assemblymember Alex Bores, who is running in the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District, was in attendance, as were Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and former New York City Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Eric Adams. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), flanked by city and Jewish communal leaders — including New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein — addressed attendees.
BOOKSHELF
In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen, 21-year-old author Theo Baker discussed his new book, How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University, in which he reflects on his turbulent college years and lays bare an elite university corrupted by Silicon Valley’s pursuit of power. Weeks away from graduation, Baker spoke with JI about his past four years on campus, the role that technology plays in rising antisemitism — and what the future might hold for universities.
Turning point: “In fall 2022, I went home for Thanksgiving and said, ‘There’s so much antisemitism at Stanford.’ I was shocked by that … As soon as I arrived at Stanford — even in the first week — someone asked me, ‘Why are all Jews so rich?’ By the end of that year — and this is before Oct. 7 —- someone in my dorm, a kid who was Jewish, talked about being Jewish for the first time and someone put a bunch of swastikas and an image of Hitler on his door later that day. So Jewishness is an identity and not one I would have placed much investment in prior to coming to college … Certainly, I, like many college students in the last few years, have been made to feel more Jewish just by the circumstances around us.”
FOLLOW THE MONEY
A recently launched super PAC positioning itself as a progressive counterweight to AIPAC’s involvement in Democratic primary elections has accepted financial contributions from a number of individuals who have also donated to Republicans, campaign filings show. The financial support for American Priorities PAC, created in February, has come even as AIPAC and its super PAC have faced backlash from critics on the left who accuse it of meddling in Democratic primaries as a sort of front group for GOP-funded attacks against anti-Israel candidates in safely blue districts, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
PAC picks: American Priorities is investing significantly in New Jersey’s 12th District race on Tuesday on behalf of Adam Hamawy. The super PAC, in another race in California, is boosting Randy Villegas, a progressive critic of Israel running for a red-leaning seat held by Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), who is endorsed by AIPAC. Those investments have been fueled, most notably, by at least $525,000 from Hussein Mahrouq, a Texas businessman who has backed far-right Republicans including the recently ousted Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), both of whom have been accused of using antisemitic tropes about Jews and Israel.
TRIP TALK
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, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Readout: “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.”
Worthy Reads
The Ties That Fray: Matthew Schmitz, the religion editor of The Washington Post’s opinions page, warns that “Democrats’ traditional Jewish alliance is fraying as never before” as anti-Zionist activism has crossed boundaries into antisemitism. “Antisemitism is rising on the left and the right, but its presence in the Democratic Party is particularly jarring. Jewish support for the Democratic Party was sealed during the New Deal era, when Jews rallied to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Jonah Goldstein, a leader in New York’s Jewish community who made the mistake of running for mayor as a Republican in 1945, joked in Yiddish that Jews had three veltn, or worlds: di velt (this world), yene velt (the other world) and Roosevelt.” [WashPost]
Calling on Congress: In Fox News, Ruby Chen, whose son, Itay, was killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and his body held in captivity, calls on Congress to create a bipartisan committee to investigate the attacks, in which dozens of Americans were killed. “We are seeking justice, but not only for those who carried out the murders. Also for those who financed, enabled and armed them as well. … When Americans are killed in a war zone, Congress has a duty to determine what happened, why it happened and who bears responsibility. That duty does not disappear because geopolitics are complicated. It does not pause because allies may be implicated. American lives cannot be subject to selective accountability. For decades, the United States has operated on a clear standard: kidnapping and killing Americans must carry consequences.” [FoxNews]
MBS’ Brotherhood Two-Step: In Alhurra, Abdulaziz Alkhamis observes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s opposition to Muslim Brotherhood elements inside Saudi Arabia while backing Muslim Brotherhood offshoots in conflicts in the region and in Africa. “When the state wages war on the Brotherhood’s discourse at home while aligning with its affiliates abroad, it hands critics a potent argument: Why is political Islam considered a threat in Riyadh but a necessary partner in Yemen or Sudan? That question alone is enough to complicate Saudi Arabia’s new national narrative, weaken the rhetoric of the modern state, and create an opening for advocates of ‘reconciliation,’ ‘accommodation,’ and political reintegration.” [AlHurra]
Syria As the New Strait: In Foreign Policy, the Middle East Institute’s Charles Lister looks at Syria’s efforts to position itself as a “transformational corridor” and logistics hub in the region amid the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz. “Syria could become one alternative overland artery in a network of new ones, spanning from the Gulf, to Egypt, to Jordan. This would be of enormous global significance — to regional states and Gulf energy producers, to customers in Europe, and, of course, for Syria itself. Iran’s shuttering of the Strait of Hormuz has also surged maritime shipping insurance rates, which, even if peace returns, are not expected to return to pre-conflict levels, thereby making overland transit structurally competitive.” [FP]
Word on the Street
The U.S. struck several sites in Iran over the weekend after Iran downed an American MQ-1 drone, while Kuwait said early Monday that it was being targeted by missiles and drones that triggered sirens across the Gulf nation…
U.S. officials told The New York Times that American forces had helped some 70 vessels transit through the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks as the key waterway remains largely closed amid stalled talks between Tehran and Washington…
The report comes days after President Donald Trump reportedly asked senior officials to make some changes to a draft ceasefire proposal with Iran, prompting a new back-and-forth with Tehran over the reworked items, which largely focus on Iran’s nuclear program…
The Financial Times spotlights Operation Jailbreak, a recent hackathon convened by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll during which defense firms and startups worked to build inter-operative weapons systems; FT reports that Driscoll wants to send some of the solutions from the hackathon to CENTCOM’s areas of operations in the Middle East within the next month to assist in countering Iranian drone threats…
The office of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said that the Syrian leader spoke by phone to Trump on Sunday about regional developments and the Syrian economy…
Reps. Jefferson Shreve (R-IN) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) introduced legislation to prohibit funding for UNIFIL, which has faced criticism for its inability to deter Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south, after Oct. 1, 2027…
Reps. Danny Davis (D-IL), Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Jim Clyburn (D-SC) introduced legislation to establish a National Park honoring Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and the network of schools for Black students that he founded…
Politico reports that the New York chapter of the Working Families Party declined to endorse Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) in his reelection bid over his failure to support the Block the Bombs Act as the New York Democrat faces a primary challenge from democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier…
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, signed an executive order requiring the state’s public schools and universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in investigating complaints and directing the state’s Board of Education to provide educational materials about antisemitism, Israel and American Jewish history…
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul formally signed the state’s buffer zone bill, which enacts a 50-foot security perimeter around religious institutions, into law on Sunday at the Met Council’s annual legislative breakfast…
PBS interviews the father of slain Israeli Embassy staffer Yaron Lischinsky on the anniversary of the Capital Jewish Museum shooting in which Lischinsky and his partner were killed, about how he plans to honor his son’s legacy…
The Washington Post spotlights the “enduring mystery” of the post-World War II lives of Louis “Speedy” Weber and his wife, Frances, whose letters to each other while Louis was stationed in Europe during the war were recently digitized by the USO…
In The Wall Street Journal, Gil Troy reflects on the origins of anti-Zionism on the 81st anniversary of Iraq’s Farhud, the pogrom that marked a turning point for Iraqi Jews and initiated the mass exodus of the country’s Jewish community…
Far-left streamer Hasan Piker and Young Turks co-founder Cenk Uygur said they were both banned from the U.K. ahead of their scheduled upcoming appearances at London’s SXSW convening; Piker accused London of acting at “the behest of Israel,” while Uygur, who is Piker’s uncle, said the U.K.’s Home Office called him a “serious risk to the public order”…
Italian authorities canceled a Kanye West show scheduled for July in Emilia-Reggiano — as well as a concert by rapper Travis Scott slated for the following day — amid concerns from the country’s Jewish community over West’s past antisemitic rhetoric; West was previously slated to perform in the U.K., France, Switzerland and Poland at concerts that have since been canceled, with some countries revoking his entry visa…
Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal 4-3 in the UEFA Champions League match on Saturday night in Budapest, Hungary, the second year in a row the Qatar-owned team has won the league’s championship…
Australia’s royal commission investigating antisemitism in the country rejected an effort by the government to keep confidential official minutes from Cabinet meetings between 2020-2025 that pertain to the government’s budget for counterterrorism enforcement…
Far-right attorney Abelardo de la Espriella will face off against far-left activist Ivan Cepeda in Colombia’s presidential runoff next month after Sunday’s election in which no candidate reached the requisite 50%…
The Financial Times profiles Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, the son of UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed who is being groomed to lead the Gulf nation…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the appointment of Shmuel Ben Ezra to serve as national security advisor and head of the country’s National Security Council; Ben Ezra, who oversaw the development of Israel’s Arrow 3 missile-defense system, will replace Gil Reich, who had been in the role in an acting capacity since October 2024 after Netanyahu fired Tzachi Hanegbi from the position…
Historian Ilan Shchori was named the senior vice president of B’nai B’rith International; Shchori, who is based in Tel Aviv, will also serve as the organization’s lead historian…
Longtime Newsday journalist Cara Trager died at 71…
Marion Miliband, a Holocaust survivor whose sons, David and Ed, went on to become leading figures in U.K. politics, died at 91…
Pic of the Day
Rabbi Andrew Baker, who is retiring as the American Jewish Committee’s director of international Jewish affairs after 47 years with the organization, was honored by AJC Board of Governors Chair Melanie Nelkin at last night’s plenary session at the AJC Global Forum in Washington.
Birthdays
Comedian, writer, actor, director and producer, Amy Schumer turns 45…
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, pianist and conductor, he has taught at Yale, SUNY Purchase, Cornell, Brandeis and Harvard, Yehudi Wyner turns 97… Holocaust survivor as a child, he served as the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel for 10 years and twice as chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau turns 89… NYC-based attorney, author of two books regarding the history and operations of El Al, owner of 40,000-plus pieces of memorabilia related to El Al, Marvin G. Goldman turns 87… Grammy Award-winning classical pianist, Richard Goode turns 83… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Shimon Ohayon turns 81… Retired attorney in Berkeley, Calif., Thomas Andrew Seaton… Pediatrician in the San Francisco Bay area, longtime AIPAC activist, Elliot Charles Lepler, MD… Former member of the Knesset for the Shinui and the Hilonit Tzionit parties, Eti Livni turns 78… Founding editor of The American Interest, a bimonthly public policy magazine that is on hiatus since 2020, Adam M. Garfinkle turns 75… Former editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News and co-author with Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg by Bloomberg, Matthew Winkler turns 71… Senior business editor at NPR for 25 years until his scathing review of liberal bias at the network in 2024, now a contributing editor at The Free Press, Uri Paul Berliner… Founding rabbi of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, N.Y., Rabbi Moshe Weinberger turns 69… Former IDF officer and now a London based political scientist and journalist, Ahron “Ronnie” Bregman turns 68… Member of the Knesset for the Shas party for 16 years ending in 2015, Amnon Cohen turns 66… Owner of MLB’s Athletics, his parents were the co-founders of Gap, Inc., he is a board member of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Foundation, John J. Fisher turns 65… Poet, performance artist and essayist, Adeena Karasick turns 61… Founding editor and publisher of the Dayton Jewish Observer, Marshall J. Weiss… Television personality and matchmaker, Sigalit “Siggy” Flicker turns 59… Actor, voice actor and film director, Danielle Harris turns 49… Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and writer, Spencer J. Ackerman turns 46… Partner in Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting firm, Daniel Tannebaum… President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Yael Eckstein turns 42… Musician, songwriter, author, actor and blogger, Ari Seth Herstand turns 41… Former CEO of The Good Food Institute, Ilya Sheyman turns 40… Political reporter for NBC News until last year, now a newspaper editor in Maine, Alex Seitz-Wald… Senior writer at Barron’s covering the Federal Reserve, Nicole Goodkind… Head of responsible AI policy at Palantir, Naomi S. Kadish… Executive business partner at Lyft, Isabel Keller… NYC-born Israeli pair skater, she competed for Israel at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Hailey Esther Kops turns 24…
A top donor to American Priorities PAC, which has backed far-left Democratic candidates, has donated to Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Greg Abbott
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) departs a closed-door GOP caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol January 10, 2023 in Washington, DC.
A recently launched super PAC positioning itself as a progressive counterweight to AIPAC’s involvement in Democratic primary elections has accepted financial contributions from a number of individuals who have also donated to Republicans, campaign filings show.
The financial support for American Priorities PAC, created in February, has come even as AIPAC and its super PAC have faced backlash from critics on the left who accuse it of meddling in Democratic primaries as a sort of front group for GOP-funded attacks against anti-Israel candidates in safely blue districts.
AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has taken far more from GOP-linked donors than its new rival, American Priorities — now funded largely by a handful of deep-pocketed contributors. UDP supports both Democrats and Republicans.
But American Priorities, which has thus far only supported Democrats and pledged to spend at least $10 million during the midterms, has not acknowledged that the source of some of its funding is from donors who have at the same time given to GOP candidates and groups — and more extensively than previously reported.
A spokesperson for American Priorities did not respond to a request for comment about whether the group is comfortable with such financial support and how it views the donations in relation to AIPAC’s own pro-Israel fundraising.
American Priorities, which has raised $5.4 million thus far, has sought to mimic AIPAC’s playbook of spending aggressively in progressive congressional districts to elect its preferred primary candidates. The new group is investing significantly in New Jersey’s 12th District race on Tuesday on behalf of Adam Hamawy — a plastic surgeon who opposes all U.S. aid to Israel and whose past ties to a convicted terrorist mastermind as well as a now-shuttered al-Qaida-linked group in Bosnia have drawn scrutiny in the final weeks of the election.
The super PAC has vowed to spend around $2 million by the end of the crowded primary — where Hamawy has been surging — and it recently reached $500,000 in another race in California boosting Randy Villegas, a progressive critic of Israel running for a red-leaning seat held by Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), who is endorsed by AIPAC.
Those investments have been fueled, most notably, by at least $525,000 from Hussein Mahrouq, a Texas businessman who has backed far-right Republicans including the recently ousted Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), both of whom have been accused of using antisemitic tropes about Jews and Israel.
In 2024, Mahrouq, one of the top contributors to American Priorities, also gave $100,000 to boost Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and donated $25,000 to Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state filings show.
Meanwhile, American Priorities accepted a $5,000 contribution from Omar Khawaja, a personal injury lawyer in Houston, who in March donated to a super PAC supporting hard-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who won last week’s GOP primary run-off in the state’s closely watched Senate race. Khawaja has also contributed to a Republican House candidate in Texas as well as Massie, who is among the most vocal critics of Israel in the GOP congressional caucus, according to filings.
Moiz Ali, an entrepreneur and investor in Texas who gave $150,000 to American Priorities in March, also donated to Massie last fall — shortly before he drew a challenger, Ed Gallrein, who defeated the libertarian congressman earlier this month with the backing of President Donald Trump. AIPAC also spent heavily against Massie, a top target of the group this cycle.
Another American Priorities donor, Nadeem Baig, a gastroenterologist in New Jersey who gave $50,000, has previously contributed to former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), former Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), all of whom have been known as staunch supporters of Israel. LaHood is backed by AIPAC, while Lance served as a co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus before he was unseated in 2018.
In a statement shared with Jewish Insider by a spokesperson for Mahrouq, he called himself “an independent businessman, not affiliated with any political party,” and said that his “support has always been guided by what I believe is in the best interest of the United States, its economic strength, security and long-term prosperity.”
“I have supported individuals and organizations across the political spectrum when their positions align with those priorities,” he continued. “My focus is not partisan politics, but rather promoting policies that strengthen America, encourage opportunity, and serve the interests of American citizens. I believe decisions affecting our country should be made based on what is best for the United States, independent of pressure from any foreign government, foreign interest group or partisan agenda.”
Mahrouq was the only American Priorities donor reached for comment by JI who shared a response.
The contributions to Massie and Greene in particular suggest anti-Israel sentiment can transcend partisan boundaries, in the way pro-Israel advocacy has been seen as a bipartisan effort connecting Democrats and Republicans.
Still, American Priorities has only backed Democrats, while AIPAC has championed bipartisan advocacy — even as it has stirred controversy over its engagement in Democratic races that show the group is navigating mounting hostility toward Israel from candidates and elected officials.
American Priorities is led by Hannah Fertig, a strategist with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the far-left group Justice Democrats, which also gave to the super PAC and is likewise backing Hamawy in his primary on Tuesday. “We want our foreign policy views to reflect where the Democratic base has moved, particularly on Gaza, and on unconditional U.S. military to Israel,” Fertig told Semafor in March following the group’s launch. “We’re seeing this as a generational inflection point, and we launched because there’s a huge gap in the progressive spending ecosystem.”
‘What is astounding to me is the cavalier way in which so many public voices so freely spread dangerous lies about Israel and the Jewish people,’ the AJC CEO told JI
Aryeh Schwartz/AJC
Ted Deutch
Ahead of the American Jewish Committee’s annual Global Forum conference, which begins in Washington on Sunday, the group’s CEO, Ted Deutch, is reflecting on a significantly transformed landscape — in which, he said, antisemitism has become mainstream in politics and circles of power in alarming ways that seemed to leave the longtime former congressman stunned.
But he also said that AJC has been working on a comprehensive new plan to address the changing manifestations of antisemitism in the current social environment, which it plans to unveil at next week’s conference.
“Antisemitism is unfortunately no longer just on the fringes, but it’s become instrumentalized, it’s become institutionalized in so many ways and amplified in mainstream politics and media and online and at international institutions,” Deutch said during an interview with Jewish Insider in AJC’s Washington offices on Thursday. “The threat of antisemitism has evolved, and I think our response has to evolve as well.”
The former Democratic congressman expressed a sense of frustration and astonishment with the spread and proliferation of antisemitism in recent years, particularly its mainstreaming in political circles and discourse.
“What is astounding to me is the cavalier way in which so many public voices so freely spread dangerous lies about Israel and the Jewish people,” Deutch said.
Deutch said he’s been reflecting on a speech he made on the House floor in 2019 condemning then-newly elected Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for employing antisemitic tropes.
He said it was “frustrating” at the time to have to explain to colleagues the history of antisemitism “and why the Jewish community gets to define what they feel threatened by, why others don’t get to impose that on us, and why the use of those tropes over millennia have led to the Jews being attacked and chased out of countries and put in ghettos and the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people.”
Seven years later, Deutch said, “serious political figures” across multiple states in both parties are employing those same antisemitic tropes and worse — spreading conspiracy theories about antisemitic attacks, employing dual loyalty tropes, calling support for a Jewish state inconsistent with American values, sporting a Nazi tattoo, justifying an attack on a synagogue preschool or openly espousing antisemitism — and have constructed a narrative that these are all simply criticism of Israel.
He said that the discourse in mainstream circles has gone well beyond critique of the Israeli government, crossing over into “opposition to the very existence of Israel.”
Deutch said that social media algorithms have played a significant role in mainstreaming hatred, but elected officials are responsible for their own rhetoric and decisions, and have a responsibility to reject antisemitic tropes, rather than playing into them. He pointed to the killings of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside an AJC event in Washington, D.C., a year ago as a consequence of such rhetoric.
“People in public life have a responsibility to understand that the language that they use has real world implications,” Deutch said. “When everyone defaults to accusations of genocide against Israel, that becomes just a political talking point to them. But to people who hear this over and over, and then decide that they’re going to go shoot at and … kill people at Jewish events — they need to think about it in those terms.”
Political leaders, he continued, have a responsibility to create and enforce guardrails for their coalitions as well. He said leaders tolerating antisemitism in the interest of a political “big tent” is unacceptable.
“Whoever is creating the big tent has to be clear about views that are acceptable within the tent, and those that are outside the tent,” Deutch said. “This is not about policy differences. … For thousands of years, we’ve seen what happens when you allow antisemitic tropes to just become part of accepted conversation. We need leaders to speak out against that.”
Those who are only willing to call out antisemitism among their political enemies are “trying to use Jewish fear for political gain,” he added.
Jewish members of Congress, he added, now face legitimate threats to their lives far more frequently than they did when he was in office. “That doesn’t come in the form of some criticism of Israel. These are violent threats against Jews.”
In recent months, calls to end U.S. financial aid to Israel for missile-defense systems have rapidly become mainstream, particularly among Democrats. Deutch argued that that stance reflects a fundamental “hatred of Israel for, sadly, a growing number of elected officials,” emphasizing that the Iron Dome system saves the lives of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians.
He also highlighted the “litmus tests” that political leaders are facing, offering as an example the attacks this week on Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and calls to exile him from the Democratic Party over Auchincloss’ criticism of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s now-covered tattoo of a Nazi Totenkopf.
“We need a strong democracy where no one is shunned because they have the belief that they should be able to live their lives freely, safely, that they can support the State of Israel without being shunned by others in politics,” Deutch said.
Deutch noted that this year’s Global Forum coincides with both the 120th anniversary of AJC but also the 250th anniversary of the United States. AJC, he said, was founded to pressure the U.S. government to address attacks on Jews in the Eastern European pogroms, and these landmark anniversaries come at a new time of crisis for the Jewish people.
He teased plans for an announcement at the AJC conference of a “significant new initiative” to combat antisemitism that “recognizes the moment we’re in and how antisemitism has evolved,” which has come about as a result of meetings with leaders across various sectors of society in the past year to understand and address antisemitism.
“It’s going to talk about all of the ways that antisemitism manifests itself today, and the institutions that are providing cover for it, the way that politics and politicians have in some cases not only referred to it, utilized it, but leaned into it in ways that are extremely dangerous,” Deutch explained. “More than anything, we’re going to be making the point that security alone isn’t enough, that we have to address the culture and the ideology that are driving antisemitism today.”
Deutch praised legislation by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) condemning antisemitic social media influencers on the fringes of both parties as simple and common sense — and lamented that the resolution hasn’t received stronger support. He also praised Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) for their new wide-reaching legislation to help protect the Jewish community.
Looking toward the war in Iran, Deutch said that there should be several key red-lines for U.S. negotiators, who are reportedly close to finalizing a deal with Tehran: no enrichment of uranium, no nuclear weapons, an end to Iranian support for regional terrorism, human rights for the Iranian people and no sanctions relief as long as Iran continues its ballistic missile program.
He said that the administration should not accede to an “agreement by Iran to enter into negotiations” that the regime can then drag on for months and years. Until the next steps are clear, he said, it’s too early to render a verdict on the war and its results.
“Just because there has been this sharp partisan divide over this war doesn’t mean that we should then let Iran off the hook for all of the ways that it has destabilized the region and put so many people, millions of people, at risk,” Deutch continued. “There’s no one who could think that a good outcome here is to simply accept the fact that they’re going to advance their ballistic missile program without any repercussions.”
He said that discussions of congressional war powers were appropriate, but “what’s been missing” from conversations about the war “has been the longstanding bipartisan acknowledgement that we have to stand together” against Iran’s destabilizing activities and violations of its own citizens’ human rights.
In addition to the new plan for addressing antisemitism, Deutch said the Global Forum will focus on education and what the higher education system in the United States should look like, emphasizing that the treatment and silencing of Jewish Americans on campus undermines “the very essence of education in America,” and creates dangerous downstream effects in the next generation of leaders.
He said that, in recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary, the forum will also highlight the role and contributions of Jewish Americans across the country’s history, and reflect on the future of America and the Jewish people’s place in it.
The Global Forum is set to include representatives from more than 70 countries, a sign that the Jewish community “is not going to withdraw, that the Jewish community is going to stand up and proudly be who we are,” Deutch said.
Anticipated speakers include Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA), Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, the parents of murdered Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, former Israeli hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel, ambassadors from the European Union and Argentina and Jewish leaders and experts from around the country and around the world.
In addition to the new plan for combating antisemitism, AJC will announce a program to provide more opportunities for leaders to visit both Israel and the UAE together, to understand the promise of a more integrated region, Deutch said.
Deutch also emphasized that the Jewish community can’t allow itself to be defined by antisemitism, highlighting plans for new leadership development programs to build and bring together the next generation of Jewish leaders from around the world.
And the group will announce plans to help build upon the relationships between Latin American countries and Israel, ahead of a summit that is set to bring Jewish leaders from across the region together in Costa Rica later in the year.
Two of the four Democrats in the race have also faced scrutiny over antisemitic activity online
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
In the contentious Democratic primary in Montana’s 1st Congressional District, Israel and antisemitism have become flashpoints in ways that members of the local Jewish community say they find concerning and potentially dangerous.
Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), who currently represents the seat, is retiring at the end of his current term, and Democrats view it as a potential pickup opportunity in a favorable midterm climate. Former Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) narrowly won the district in 2024, despite losing statewide. However, the Cook Political Report rates the district as “Likely Republican,” and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hasn’t put the district on its target list at this point.
Though the district leans Republican, that hasn’t stopped a majority of Democrats in the field from racing to the left on Israel policy, a dynamic that was on clear display at a recent debate.
Ryan Busse, a businessman and author who is the top fundraiser among the Democratic candidates, declared that the U.S. has been “forced into a war by another country,” alleging that Israel dragged the U.S. in its military campaign against Iran.
“This war that we’re fighting, that you’re funding, that your tax dollars are funding, is largely a war propagated by Israel,” Busse said. “I’m not taking any AIPAC dollars, wouldn’t dream of it. I think we should be really wide-eyed about the degree to which Israel has too much influence over our foreign policy. “
He also declared that Israel is not a “functioning democracy” and said that Israel is committing war crimes with American tax dollars and that he would fight to stop that aid in Congress.
Russell Cleveland, a Navy veteran and entrepreneur, said that Israel “has a right to exist without fear, but that doesn’t mean that those rights can infringe on other countries’ rights or other people’s rights to exist without fear as well” and said that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
He asserted that Israel is being held to a different standard than other countries and is effectively controlling U.S. policy.
“We have hitched our wagon so hard to Israel in turning a blind eye to their actions on a national stage that we’re willing to disregard what we would hold to account any other country for the same exact violence and war crimes and violations of international law,” Cleveland said. “We cannot allow another country to have that type of control on not only what we’re doing in terms of sending armaments and money, but also that’s an ally to the United States, so everything that they do, we too are responsible for.”
Sam Forstag, a wildland firefighter and union leader with the backing of prominent national progressives and D.C.-based groups, said that he agreed with Busse and Cleveland, also disavowing AIPAC support while blaming U.S. support for Israel for a lack of services and government assistance at home.
“We need to have strict enforced humanitarian requirements on any aid that we are providing countries overseas,” Forstag said. “That needs to apply to Israel, that needs to apply to any country, because if we cannot afford to feed our hunger, if we cannot afford to make sure that the elderly in this country are not living on the streets, we sure as hell cannot afford to rain cruelty in chaos overseas, Israel or Iran.”
Matt Rains, an Army veteran, rancher and photographer, was the only one of the four Democratic candidates to stake out an opposing view and offer a defense of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
He emphasized that he has spent time in the region, and that he understands “we need to value our alliance with Israel, and I am in support of that because I am against hatred, I’m against racism, I’m against antisemitism, I’m against terrorism.”
Rains said that actually working toward a two-state solution requires people who have firsthand experience and understand the situation on the ground, arguing that many draw incorrect conclusions from news reports.
Busse has been the top fundraiser in the field, pulling in $529,000, followed by Forstag with $448,000, Cleveland with $325,000 and Rains with $125,000. Cleveland, however, trails the rest of the field in cash-on-hand.
Antisemitic activity online has also cast a cloud over two of the candidates in the race.
Cleveland liked an antisemitic Instagram comment that read, “I wouldn’t vote for anybody who takes money from those stinking Jews,” on a post endorsing him.
Cleveland denied any knowledge of the post and disavowed it. He told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that his campaign “incidentally liked [this] comment” and that “My team and I do not condone these types of antisemitic comments, nor support them. … This is antisemitic. I don’t approve of that comment. I wouldn’t have liked it intentionally.”
Busse’s son Lander has also landed in hot water over a series of controversial social media posts which included a spat with a local rabbi.
The younger Busse responded to a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that “Free Palestine is today’s version of Heil Hitler” with a gif of a “Breaking Bad” character saying, “Well, Heil Hitler b****.”
He also demanded that a local Chabad rabbi, Chaim Bruk, acknowledge that Israel is an apartheid state and conducting a genocide. When Bruk declined to do so, the younger Busse responded “aight then f*** you.”
He also said in another post “F*** ISRAEL.”
The elder Busse told the New York Post, “I don’t condone any language or actions that minimize the very real tragedy of the Holocaust, and I don’t condone any antisemitic behavior or language.”
He said he opposes antisemitism and that his son is “definitely not antisemitic in any way shape or form,” but denied having seen his son’s social media posts, which were subsequently deleted.
Bruk, the longest-serving rabbi in Montana, told Jewish Insider that he felt it was necessary to engage with Lander Busse as the son of a person running for office, when the younger Busse was spreading comments that could prompt hate against the Jewish community.
Bruk said that he also wanted to give the elder Busse “an opportunity to reach out and see if he has a very different opinion than his son — which he has not done as of today.”
Bruk argued that he’s seen little evidence that Busse’s own opinions differ from those of his son, noting that, while they haven’t engaged in the same sort of vulgarity, Busse, Cleveland and Forstag had all made concerning comments about Israel and Jews.
“I have always strongly opposed antisemitism and will continue to do so unequivocally. I am deeply troubled by the rise in antisemitic activity and rhetoric across our country, and I stand firmly with Jewish communities,” Busse said in a statement to JI. “At the same time, I am troubled by the current Israeli government’s policies and leadership. In my view, criticism of a government’s actions and policies should not be conflated with prejudice against an entire people or faith. We should be able to reject antisemitism in all forms while also engaging in honest and thoughtful discussion about the actions of governments, including Israel’s.”
But Bruk said he takes Cleveland at his word that he did not personally or intentionally like the antisemitic Instagram post.
Cora Neumann, a Jewish state senator who was a previous Democratic nominee for the 1st District seat, said she feels that many of the candidates for the seat are “getting pulled into national issues that don’t impact us, just to posture and play political games,” particularly when it comes to Israel.
She said she has found the attacks on AIPAC, which come despite the fact it hasn’t been involved in the race, “very problematic,” and has been concerned by candidates blaming Israel for the war in Iran. She said she has reached out to several of the candidates to share her perspective.
But she said she hasn’t seen many of the candidates in the race “take pause and think twice about the way you speak” about Israel, even after being warned that their rhetoric might fuel antisemitism, “which shows a disregard for a vulnerable population in the U.S. and around the world.”
“I think this is a poison that has taken hold in our party and it has made my family less safe, and there has been little to no action taken to combat it, locally or nationally,” Neumann told JI. “Democrats need to reflect on our values and who we are and if we really feel that this is acceptable. … Democrats need to seriously reflect on why they’ve let it get so out of hand.”
Asked about concerns from members of the local Jewish community about the way Israel and AIPAC have been invoked in the race, Cleveland said in a statement to JI that, “Being critical of the actions of Israel with regard to its military aggression and violation of international law is not antisemitic.”
“We cannot simply label criticism of any one country as prejudice just because many of us oppose more war, death and destruction. The best possible outcome in the region is one where all people, no matter whether they are from Israel, Palestine, or Lebanon, are treated equally and without prejudice,” Cleveland said. “I want peace for the people of Israel, just as I do for those in any other country or territory. I believe this can be achieved through application of freedom of religion, coexistence, and seeking strength through diversity. This, however, can only be achieved through strict adherence to international law and practice of equal rights of all people.”
In an interview with JI, Rains, an Army captain who served in Iraq and traveled throughout the world in that role and a subsequent one as a photojournalist, said that he has a “vital perspective” of understanding the dynamics in the region firsthand, rather than being “told by other people how to think and believe” on the internet.
His travels took him throughout Israel and the West Bank, and he said that he found many of the media narratives that people in the United States hear about Israel and the conflict to be exaggerated.
He said he feels that the other candidates in the race are “jumping on [the anti-Israel] bandwagon” without a proper understanding of the situation. “You just want to scream because it’s truly a lack of understanding and knowing what is reality and what you’re just being fed through the internet and buying into.”
He said that growing animosity toward Israel and calls to cut off aid are jeopardizing a critical alliance, which will ultimately make the United States less safe and lead to more regional instability and more wars.
He said that he’s also been stunned by what he has seen as an embrace of antisemitism in the United States, pointing significant blame toward the Trump administration for spreading and normalizing “comments that are there to rile up people.” He said that he would be vocal as a member of Congress in emphasizing that antisemitism is not acceptable.
He called the spread of antisemitic rhetoric in the primary race “one of the most shocking things of this campaign.” He said he didn’t anticipate that the issue would be one that he would campaign on, but said he felt a responsibility to not “let hatred creep in” in his own party.
Rains’ photojournalism work also brought him to Myanmar, where he said he was the first photojournalist on the ground documenting the Rohingya genocide in the early 2010s. Having seen such atrocities firsthand — and encountering fierce police resistance to documenting them — he called the accusations of genocide against Israel “absolutely frustrating,” and criticized those in his party who have spread that narrative.
Having worked on strategic planning matters in Iraq, Rains said that he’s been frustrated by what he saw as a failure of proper planning in the U.S. operations in Iran. “The threat of the regime [was] horrific,” Rains said, but he doesn’t have faith in the Trump administration to ensure that Iran is more stable and has better governance at the end of war.
“My biggest frustration is there’s a risk — kind of what happened in Afghanistan when we left there — for a worse government to backfill and make it more hostile than it was,” Rains said.
Bruk and Neumann both spoke positively of Rains’ stance on issues of concern to and of his engagement with the Jewish community.
Bruk said Rains is the only one of the four Democratic candidates who has visited the local synagogue and Chabad center and “made it clear that he stands with the Jewish people and he stands with the people of Israel and their right to their own nation.” He said Rains and his campaign had reached out to visit the synagogue of his own initiative.
Bruk said it’s important to him that the growing Montana Jewish community has a representative who cares about them and who “isn’t ready to throw them locally under the bus because of some international issue with which they agree or disagree” — regardless of potential policy differences on Israel.
Neumann said that she’s also been impressed by the “moral clarity” Rains has shown on the issue and others.
“I think to be able to stand up against the intense headwinds and national pressure to speak on Israel, even if it’s not relevant to your constituents, to be able to stand up against that pressure shows incredible moral character, and that’s what I look for in candidates,” Neumann said.
Bruk said he’d also had a conversation with Forstag and was optimistic that his rhetoric would change going forward. “I think he genuinely didn’t realize that it’s not just about some lobbying PAC that gives, you know, very little money to Montana at all, but it ends up creating an environment in which Jews become fair game,” Bruk said.
He said that he felt from their conversation that Forstag didn’t realize that AIPAC had had little to no involvement in politics in the state. Bruk said he emphasized to Forstag that invoking AIPAC on the campaign trail can increase the dangers to the Jewish community.
“I don’t think he realized the practical ramifications,” Bruk said, and said he was comforted to see Forstag’s rhetoric seemingly shift since then.
Neumann said she also found Forstag to be “receptive and sensitive to feedback on how problematic this disproportionate focus on Israel is.”
Plus, Green going, going, gone
DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images
Dr. Adam Hamawy speaks during an AFP interview after meetings on Capitol Hill, in Washington DC, on June 14, 2024.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the scoop on the ties between New Jersey congressional candidate Adam Hamawy and a Bosnian organization with which he volunteered that was later shuttered for providing support to Al-Qaida, and report on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s comment that he struggles with whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state. We report on the just-released text of the final version of New York State’s “buffer zone” legislation, and have the exclusive on a new report that documents a $65 million Qatari campaign to influence U.S. education. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mike Needham, Bezhalel Machlis and James Tisch.
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 awaiting the final results of yesterday’s runoffs in Texas, which saw Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton trounce Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and antisemitic sex therapist Maureen Galindo defeated in the Democratic primary in the state’s 35th Congressional District. More below.
- We’re monitoring the situation in Iran as the Islamic Republic begins to lift its monthslong internet blackout across the country. Reuters reported on Tuesday that the Pentagon clashed with Elon Musk’s Starlink after the satellite internet company raised the price of deploying direct-to-cell services as well as the cost of its satellite Wi-Fi network used by the Defense Department for its kamikaze drones.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan railed against Israel earlier today while making remarks on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al Adha, suggesting that “the tyrant known as [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu will learn the necessary lesson at the hands of the world’s Muslims.”
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
In last night’s Texas primary runoffs, Democrats successfully prevented a virulent antisemite from becoming the party’s nominee in a battleground House race, while voters also ousted one of the party’s longtime anti-Israel lawmakers for a younger, more pragmatic replacement.
On the Republican side, President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was the decisive factor in Paxton’s sweeping victory over Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a widely respected pragmatic conservative who served for years in party leadership.
The results painted a picture of a volatile electorate in both parties. A late push by the Democrats’ House campaign arm and the pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel helped prevent sex therapist Maureen Galindo, who advocated putting pro-Israel Jews in internment camps as part of her campaign message, from winning a valued nomination in Texas’ swing 35th Congressional District.
Johnny Garcia, a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy long touted by national Democrats as a top recruit, won the Democratic nomination by 28 points (64-36%) despite finishing in second place in the primary. He will face Republican Air Force veteran Carlos de la Cruz in the general election.
DMFI’s political action committee touted its role as an early endorser of Garcia’s campaign, and for being one of the first and few groups to raise the red flag on Galindo’s extreme views. In its victory statement, DMFI also condemned the efforts from a secretive GOP group to spend nearly $1 million on Galindo’s behalf, in hopes of elevating a more vulnerable Democratic candidate to the general election.
On the positive side, an extremist was defeated thanks to leading Democratic Party organizations and officials rushing to condemn her candidacy. It’s a sign of how institutions can use their power to unify in speaking out against hate. On the other hand, she still won over one-third of the runoff vote despite the full-court press from Democrats to oppose her, a sign that it may take aggressive measures simply to stop a crank from prevailing.
Pro-Israel leaders also cheered the resounding defeat of Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who has alienated the Houston Jewish community with his anti-Israel votes in Congress in recent years and lackluster constituent services. Green lost by nearly 40 points to Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX), who was just elected to Congress in a neighboring district and was forced to run against his colleague as a result of redistricting.
SCOOP
Adam Hamawy’s past relationship with terrorist mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman has loomed over his rapid rise in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ). Just one year before Hamawy took the witness stand on the sheikh’s behalf at his 1995 trial, the congressional candidate traveled to Bosnia with a group subsequently shut down for providing “logistical support” to Al-Qaida, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
Trip talk: In a 1996 interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, according to a copy JI recovered through an archive of print publications, Hamawy described volunteering in Bosnia during the summer of 1994 with a Chicago-based nonprofit called the Benevolence International Foundation. “I worked in Sarajevo for 10 days and then the rest in Zenica, a large regional center in central Bosnia,” Hamawy, who had just graduated from medical school, told the paper about the five weeks he spent with the organization. Sarajevo and Zenica were the exact cities where Benevolence International maintained its offices — offices that Bosnian authorities raided in 2002, part of a joint effort with U.S. authorities to dismantle the group, which they had identified as a front for Al-Qaida.
SCOOP
Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left Democratic candidate for Michigan’s Senate seat, said at an event with Jewish supporters last week that he struggles to answer questions about whether he believes Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: El-Sayed, in response to a question from an audience member about him sidestepping inquiries about Israel’s right to exist, said, “I often struggle with the question that people ask in this particular scenario, because what they now ask is, ‘Do you believe in the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state,’ which, to me, forces the question of a definition of what a Jewish state means.” El-Sayed continued: “I need folks who want to ask me that question [to explain] what it is that they mean by that, and how that is consistent with any form of liberal values that we say we believe in here in the United States.”
ALL BUFFED OUT
The final version of the New York state “buffer zone” legislation passed by the state Legislature on Tuesday makes it a Class B misdemeanor — one of the lowest levels of criminal offense — to “knowingly” infringe on the right of access or egress to a religious institution, or to cause those entering or exiting to fear for their safety from a distance of less than 50 feet, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
Where it landed: The language is less punitive than the legislation that Gov. Kathy Hochul initially endorsed, which would have made it a low-level felony for demonstrators to obstruct doorways and driveways at houses of worship. But the 50-foot enforcement zone in the final draft is twice as large as the one described in the earlier versions of the bill, and would apply to sidewalks as well as private parking lots and other entry points.
EXCLUSIVE
Qatar has spent more than $65 million to influence U.S. education over the past 17 years through Qatar Foundation International, with efforts targeting all levels of education including K-12, universities, teacher training programs and national education networks, according to a new report from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. ISGAP, in its report, called for a federal investigation of Qatar’s influence efforts targeting American education — and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill appear eager to join those inquiries, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Beyond its purview: The report alleges that QFI has gone significantly further than supporting Arab-language education, as QFI now claims is its goal, and has instead undertaken efforts to exercise influence over social studies, science, technology, art and mathematics curricula, activism and educational professional development programs — and deliberately engaged in efforts to shield its work and influence, using the credibility of host organizations to which it provided funding.
RED FLAGS
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro warned of the dangers of efforts within the Democratic Party to single out AIPAC, telling Politico in a new interview that painting the pro-Israel group as “toxic” could be seen as silencing Jewish voices in the American political system, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What he said: “I think it’s been used cynically by some to try and silence certain voices, to try and say that certain people participating in politics shouldn’t count, or should be viewed in a toxic way,” Shapiro said in the interview, which was released on Tuesday. Where some Democrats have recently distanced themselves from AIPAC, Shapiro declined to do so. “Do I agree with every political decision they’ve made, every endorsement they made? Of course not,” said Shapiro. “I think what we have seen is a weaponization of that. And I think that is a danger for our system.”
Taking aim: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent interview with Politico, arguing that the Israeli premier has committed war crimes and that his actions make American Jews less safe.
CONTROLLER CONTEST
Kenneth Mejia, the incumbent controller of Los Angeles who is running for reelection in next week’s primary, bolted from the Democratic Party in early 2024 to protest American support for Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza. The L.A. controller has no jurisdiction over anything Israel-related but Mejia said he “could no longer be part of a party that pays for bombs to be dropped overseas while people here in America and in L.A. are struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their head.” That’s provided an opening for his opponent, real estate executive Zach Sokoloff, to go after Mejia, painting him as insufficiently Democratic, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What he’s saying: “From my standpoint, Los Angeles is still a staunchly Democratic town,” Sokoloff told JI in a recent interview. “I think that it’s healthy for parties to evolve as the world evolves, and I guess remaining loyal to the Democratic Party for me means being involved in that conversation, not abandoning it.”
Scene in Sacramento: California’s state Assembly on Tuesday advanced the Safe Worship Zone Act, which if signed into law would establish 100-foot no-protest zones around the entrances of houses of worship; the effort comes on the heels of similar efforts in New York City and at the federal level.
Worthy Reads
Blow to Beijing: In The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Michael Singh posits that the war with Iran has revealed the limits of Beijing’s global influence. “[China] hasn’t come to the aid of its key economic partners like the U.A.E. Meanwhile, China’s relations with Iran, its supposed strategic partner, have been tenuous. Beijing has cautiously aided Tehran — buying oil and reportedly providing limited military support. Iran repaid the favor by seizing a Chinese vessel the same day President Trump and Mr. Xi met in Beijing. (Iran also fired on a Chinese vessel days before.) The moves indicated to both leaders exactly what Tehran thought of suggestions that China could force Iran to open the strait.” [WSJ]
Georgia on My Mind: The Washington Post’s editorial board raises concerns about the Republic of Georgia’s pivot to authoritarianism as the country increasingly aligns itself with American adversaries. “The United States’ once-stalwart ally in the region, Georgia, is increasingly turning anti-American. Its government, headed by the Georgian Dream party, has for years openly played footsie with Russia at the expense of its Western ties. Less well-known is that it has also been cultivating ties with Iran.” [WashPost]
Ceasefire in Name Only: In The New York Times, Lebanese writer Rana Hanna reflects on decades of failed ceasefires as a result of Hezbollah’s continued entrenchment in the country. “The state binds itself to agreements on behalf of an actor it can neither compel nor control. A Lebanese cease-fire is a document about the cessation of violence that leaves intact every internal mechanism that produced it. … Having lived all my life with war as the backdrop, I am hesitant to believe that things could change. But I need to. A cease-fire in Lebanon that ends the need for future cease-fires would have to happen on two planes. We would have to sign a peace treaty with our neighbors, and we would have to sign another with ourselves.” [NYTimes]
Word on the Street
Secretary of State Marco Rubio tapped longtime advisor Mike Needham to serve as assistant to President Donald Trump and deputy national security advisor…
The Justice Department filed a third lawsuit against UCLA, alleging that the school violated Jewish students’ civil rights by being “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitism in the months after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, including the creation in spring 2024 of an anti-Israel encampment on the campus…
Republicans in both chambers of Congress are urging the Trump administration to move to permanently dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, with a new letter from House Republicans calling for a reworking of Palestinian refugee programs in the region, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
An appellate court granted Mahmoud Khalil a stay of a previous order that denied the former Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader a rehearing of his case as the Trump administration seeks to deport him…
CUNY School of Law once again featured anti-Israel activity at its commencement ceremony on Thursday, allowing antagonistic student activity during its graduation events for the fourth straight year, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
Brooklyn’s Park Slope Coop voted by a 2-to-1 margin in favor of boycotting Israeli products, capping off a yearslong endeavor by activists to end the institution’s sales of Israeli-made items including olive oil, hair products and some brands of tahini…
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced it was filing a hate crime charge against a California man who was captured on security footage attacking a visibly Jewish man as he was walking home from synagogue; the victim said that the alleged assailant shouted “Free Palestine!” in the aftermath of the attack…
“CBS Evening News,” hosted by Tony Dokoupil, reached 4 million viewers last week as the Bari Weiss-led network newscast makes inroads against rivals ABC and NBC…
British authorities in Bath are conducting a new probe into social media posts from the former mayor of the city, who resigned after coming under fire for sharing content suggesting that the recent arson attack on Hatzola ambulances in the heavily Jewish London suburb of Golders Green was an “Israeli false flag operation”…
Jordanian-American tech entrepreneur Amjad Masad, who has frequently criticized Israel, was honored by Jordanian King Abdullah II…
The Financial Times reports on the challenges facing the Trump administration’s Board of Peace, which has not received much of the $17 billion in pledged funds for operations; the group received $3 million from Morocco and $20 million from the United Arab Emirates to support the office of Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov, while another $100 million was given by the UAE to fund a currently stalled police-training program…
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the death of Hamas military head Mohammed Odeh in an IDF strike in Gaza City, 11 days after Odeh was tapped to succeed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was also killed in an Israeli strike…
The IDF formally dismissed Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the former military advocate-general, who last year admitted to leaking footage from the Sde Teiman detention center that allegedly showed the abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli forces…
Israeli carrier Israir is planning to launch a direct route between Israel and New York City this summer, joining Arkia and El Al, which currently operate regular long-haul flights from Ben Gurion Airport to New York; Israir’s entry into the market comes as U.S. carriers Delta and United continue to delay a resumption of flights to Israel following the outbreak of war with Iran…
The U.S. and Thailand are accelerating talks for the Southeast Asian country’s state-controlled energy company PTT PCL to purchase some $5.4 billion in U.S. energy products per year; the talks, which began last year, ramped up following the onset of the Iran war, as Qatar, which is second only to the U.S. in liquefied natural gas exports, faced extensive damage to its energy infrastructure…
Elbit CEO Bezhalel Machlis told Reuters that the defense contractor is in the process of developing hardware to thwart Hezbollah’s fiber-optic drones, which have evaded Israeli defensive systems and targeted both IDF soldiers and civilians in recent weeks…
Indian authorities said that Iran released 10 Indian sailors who had been imprisoned in the Islamic Republic since the Palau-flagged oil tanker they were on was seized by Iranian forces last July…
Loews Corp Chairman James Tisch was elected as the new co-chair of the Council for a Secure America…
Newspaper mogul Donald Newhouse, who headed Advance Publications’ newspaper division, died at 96…
Pic of the Day
World War II veteran and Holocaust survivor Ralph Brunn, 101, joined by U.S. Navy veteran Barry Steelman, threw out last night’s ceremonial first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles’ home game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards for Jewish Heritage Night.
Birthdays
Stage, film and television actor and producer, Ben Feldman turns 46…
Professor emeritus at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, he is the author of over 80 books, Philip Kotler turns 95… Founder of Val d’Or Apparel and Cannon County Knitting Mills, Martin “Marty” Granoff turns 90… CEO of British real estate firm Heron International, he was knighted in 2024, Sir Gerald Ronson turns 87… Senior U.S. district judge for the Central District of California, Christina A. Snyder turns 79… Retired in 2014 as school rabbi and director of Jewish studies at The Rashi School, a K-8 Reform Jewish school in Dedham, Mass., Ellen Weinstein Pildis… Partner in the D.C. office of ArentFox Schiff, he wrote a book about the struggle for Jewish civil rights during the French Revolution, Gerard Leval turns 76… Analytical psychotherapist, author, and Jewish Renewal rabbi, Tirzah Firestone turns 72… Former MLB pitcher who played for the White Sox and Pirates, he is now a financial advisor at RBC Wealth Management, Ross Baumgarten turns 71… Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian and director, Richard Schiff turns 71… Owner of a 900-acre plant nursery in Kansas, he is a former MLB pitcher and was an MLB All Star in 1979 and 1982, Mark Clear turns 70… Marriage counselor, therapist and author, Sherry Amatenstein… U.S. ambassador to Argentina during the Biden administration, he served for six years as chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Marc R. Stanley turns 69… Beverly Hills-based immigration attorney, founder and chairman of the Los Angeles Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, Neil J. Sheff… EVP of talent and technology at Phibro Animal Health, Jonathan Bendheim… Chicago-based reporter at The New York Times, he was a Rhodes Scholar and then a longtime senior editor for The New Republic, Noam Scheiber… Director of development at the Livingston, N.J.-based Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy, Grant Silverstein… Science of Success columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Benjamin Zachary Cohen… Director of legislative affairs and policy at General Atomics, Katherina “Katya” Dimenstein… Assistant district attorney for Dallas County, Joshua A. Fitterman… Reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer since 2012, Andrew Seidman… Emily Cohen…
Shapiro, to Politico: ‘When you have people who are advocating for issues that they feel strongly about and they are having their voices silenced, I think that's a problem in our system’
Peter W. Stevenson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sits for an interview at the Pennsylvania State Capitol on June 11, 2025.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro warned of the dangers of efforts within the Democratic Party to single out AIPAC, telling Politico in a new interview that painting the pro-Israel group as “toxic” could be seen as silencing Jewish voices in the American political system.
“I think it’s been used cynically by some to try and silence certain voices, to try and say that certain people participating in politics shouldn’t count, or should be viewed in a toxic way,” Shapiro said in the interview, which was released on Tuesday.
Where some Democrats have recently distanced themselves from AIPAC, Shapiro declined to do so.
“Do I agree with every political decision they’ve made, every endorsement they made? Of course not,” said Shapiro. “I think what we have seen is a weaponization of that. And I think that is a danger for our system. When you have people who are advocating for issues that they feel strongly about and they are having their voices silenced, I think that’s a problem in our system.”
Shapiro, a potential 2028 presidential contender, declined to say whether he would accept support from AIPAC, which does not get involved in state or presidential races, nor did he address AIPAC’s tactics or its involvement in any particular race.
He cautioned that efforts to vilify the group have sometimes crossed a line into targeting American Jews’ political advocacy, noting that sometimes Jewish donors who currently or have in the past supported AIPAC are tarred just for being part of the political process.
“I think it does get blurred because now what you are seeing is not ‘AIPAC money,’” said Shapiro, “but you’re getting the Jews who give to that candidate who also support AIPAC. I think it’s very dangerous in our system, if you are trying to silence certain voices based on their race, based on their faith, based on their particular ideology.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is warning about the dangers of efforts within the Democratic Party to single out AIPAC.
— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) May 26, 2026
“I think it’s been used cynically by some to try and silence certain voices, to try and say that certain people participating in politics shouldn’t count, or… pic.twitter.com/uighmwoMgu
Shapiro, who is one of the most prominent Jewish politicians in the U.S., described a “dramatic spike in antisemitism across this country.” He condemned the Islamophobic attack on a mosque in San Diego last week in which three people were killed while also pointing out that, overall, antisemitism is a much larger problem than other forms of hate.
“There is rising hatred and bigotry targeting people across the board, but it is also undeniable, and no one’s pain is greater or more important than others, but from a data perspective, there has been a dramatic spike in antisemitism that is unmatched elsewhere, and that’s a problem,” said Shapiro.
Asked whether he plans to run for president, Shapiro declined to answer. But he said his family had to consider whether he should run for reelection this year in Pennsylvania after an arson attack on the governor’s mansion last year on the first night of Passover.
“My family and I spent a bunch of time thinking about running for reelection. It is hard for me as a dad to know that doing this job I love, this job I find great purpose in where I get to help people, puts my kids’ lives at risk,” said Shapiro. “I’m not going to cower. I’m not going to be fearful.”
Plus, Track AIPAC retracts
U.S. House of Representatives
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the diverging opinions in Jerusalem and Washington on restarting the war with Iran, and report on how the Obama Presidential Library is framing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. We report on the criticism faced by Track AIPAC over its since-revoked endorsement of a Democratic congressional candidate in Texas who suggested imprisoning “American Zionists” in ICE facilities, and cover yesterday’s Capitol Hill hearing on antisemitism in the healthcare field. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sarah Rogers, Michael Bay and Shay Shwartz.
Ed note: In observance of Shavuot and Memorial Day, the next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Tuesday, May 26. Check out JewishInsider.com for breaking news over the long weekend. Chag sameach!
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
- Today is the one-year anniversary of the terror attack at the Capital Jewish Museum in which two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed outside of an American Jewish Committee event taking place inside the venue. In marking the day, the museum announced that it will be open to the public today “as a space of reflection and remembrance.”
- The House of Representatives is expected to hold a vote on an Iran war powers resolution today, after House GOP leadership postponed the vote, which was to take place yesterday, over Republican attendance issues.
- The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is holding candidate forums today with D.C. mayoral candidates Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Netanya and Beersheva, the conversations are the same: When will the war with Iran resume? What contingency plans are in place? Do we need to temporarily rent an apartment with a shelter?
All over Israel, there is a looming feeling that the next round of fighting is just around the corner. The Israel Democracy Institute’s latest polling, conducted earlier this month, found that 62% of Israelis think that the war’s renewal is likely.
But in the U.S., a resumption of war appears increasingly unlikely. With gas prices rising and the midterms approaching, the White House has little appetite for prolonged conflict. A New York Times/Siena poll released earlier this week found that nearly two-thirds of Americans think that going to war against Iran in the first place was a bad idea. Though fresh off a series of primary and state-level wins, President Donald Trump appears cognizant of the uphill battle that comes with resuming an unpopular war, even as he told reporters earlier this week he didn’t factor “Americans’ financial situation” in his approach to the war.
There is also a question of funding. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said this week that the Pentagon would “probably” be out of money to fund the Iran war by August.
Those are key factors that have not penetrated the discourse in Israel. Across the U.S., gas prices are sky high. The midterms are less than six months away. And on Capitol Hill, even some of the president’s staunchest backers are signaling opposition to a resumption of the war.
“Generally speaking, Israelis are not really attuned to internal politics in the U.S. that could be affecting President Trump’s decisions,” Tamar Hermann, director of IDI’s Viterbi Center for Public Opinion, told Jewish Insider this morning. “Recent coverage in the Israeli media has tended to obscure the domestic political constraints Trump faces, creating the impression that he is operating without meaningful checks and is effectively able to do as he pleases.”
LIBRARY LOOK
The Barack Obama Presidential Center, slated to open in Chicago in mid-June, will feature an exhibit highlighting the former president’s “patient and principled diplomacy” and “strategic engagement with adversaries” in the lead-up to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, asserting that he prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
What it says: “Through diplomacy, the US forged a new treaty with Russia to reduce both countries’ nuclear stockpiles,” the exhibit reads, according to images obtained during the museum’s soft launch reviewed by JI. “The Obama administration prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.” A dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center is scheduled for June 18 followed by its opening to the public the next day.
Bonus: The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into “how Iran got to the nuclear threshold on the watch of three U.S. presidents,” noting that the Obama administration’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “delayed but didn’t shut the door on Iran’s potential pathway to a bomb.”
FACING THE HEAT
Track AIPAC, the social media account that has gained a growing audience among anti-Israel activists in recent years, found itself in an embarrassing position this week when a candidate it had championed for Congress faced bipartisan backlash over extreme antisemitic comments calling to imprison and castrate “American Zionists,” whom she accused of pedophilia, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. The account said on Tuesday it was “immediately revoking” its endorsement of Maureen Galindo, a San Antonio activist competing for an open swing seat in Texas next week.
Yes, but: The point at which Track AIPAC finally chose to draw a line over Galindo’s rhetoric underscored how the account’s ostensibly narrow focus on opposition to what it calls the “Israel lobby” has often obscured an indulgence of extreme views and positions. Brian Romick, the president of DMFI PAC, which is backing Galindo’s runoff opponent, Johnny Garcia, argued that “Track AIPAC embodies the very-online activist fringe: large social-media following, minimal real-world influence, and a political strategy based on vibes.”
Read the full story here.Dems denounce: Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said on Wednesday that they would seek to expel Galindo if she is elected — forcing daily votes if necessary. Their comments mark an escalation among Democrats condemning Galindo since her comment gained widespread attention, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
SPLITSCREEN
The Jewish Democratic Council of America announced a dual endorsement on Wednesday of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in Michigan’s three-way Senate Democratic primary, saying “there are two candidates who stand with our community on issues of importance to Jewish voters, and there is one who does not,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Reasoning: “It is because of this stark contrast of the views and values of Haley Stevens and Mallory McMorrow, compared to those of Abdul El-Sayed,” a vocal critic of Israel who has captured the enthusiasm of the far left, “that we are taking the distinct opportunity to endorse two candidates,” Halie Soifer, JDCA’s CEO, said in a statement.
Michigan matchup: In Michigan’s statewide election for two seats on the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Republican nominees Lena Epstein and Michael Schostak, who both identify as Jewish, told JI’s Gabby Deutch they’re campaigning on fighting antisemitism at the school.
ON THE HILL
Speaking at a House Education & Workforce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, a doctor accused his union of engaging in systemic discrimination against Jewish and Israeli health providers, supporting terrorist sympathizers and making “its obsession with a single geopolitical conflict a defining future of its identity” — all while he’ll be forced by federal law to fund it, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Healthcare havoc: Jacob Agronin, a cardiology fellow at a major medical institution in Philadelphia, testified alongside several other experts on antisemitism at a hearing focused on anti-Jewish hate in the medical field — which both Jewish medical providers and patients report as a growing problem since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The hearing focused in particular on the role of healthcare worker unions, like the Committee of Interns and Residents, of which Agronin is set to be a member, in spreading antisemitism and their failures to stand up for Jewish union members.
Parents’ night: A group of Jewish parents from across Pennsylvania arrived at a virtual meeting with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) with a plea: take note of antisemitism happening not just on college campuses but also in K-12 schools, and do something about it, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.
BUFFER BATTLE
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin will back fresh legislation to compel the NYPD to establish formal protocols for deploying buffer zones around schools during protests — a push Menin said will sail through the council with more than enough votes to beat any effort from Mayor Zohran Mamdani to block it, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
Bridging the gap: The move comes a month after Mamdani exercised his veto power in order to stop a similar bill from becoming law, citing concerns from unions that the blocked measure could interfere with their demonstrations around college facilities, even though the proposal contained an explicit labor carveout. In a press conference on Wednesday, Menin characterized this as a misunderstanding — one the new legislation will rectify by applying exclusively to early childhood education facilities and “most K-12 schools.”
Moreno moves: Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said Wednesday that he plans to call on the Senate to pass the SACRED Act, legislation imposing restrictions on protests around synagogues and other religious institutions, by unanimous consent, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
IN MEMORIAM
Known as a liberal firebrand, Frank’s most high-profile act in politics was drafting the legislation that tightened financial regulations in response to the 2008 financial crisis, a bill known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Paving the way: Frank was widely considered a pioneer for the LGBTQ community after coming out publicly as gay in 1987. Frank grew up in a working-class Jewish family in Bayonne, N.J. His sister, Ann Lewis, also worked in politics, holding senior roles in the Clinton administration and later on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Frank said he was drawn to public service early, feeling in some way that he was an outsider who could challenge how things were done. “I’m a left-handed gay Jew,” Frank said. “I’ve never felt, automatically, a member of any majority.”
Worthy Reads
American Jews Under Siege: In The Atlantic, Israel Policy Forum co-founder Michael Sonnenfeldt considers the “untenable position” that many American Jews find themselves in amid rising domestic antisemitism alongside decreasing support among Americans for Israel. “Anti-Semitism is rising sharply in the United States at the same time that traditional alliances with progressive organizations are weakening, political identities are being reshuffled, and emotional ties to Israel are strained by policies that clash with deeply held democratic and ethical commitments. The simultaneity of these pressures — political, moral, and psychological — is what makes the present moment feel so destabilizing.” [TheAtlantic]
Middle Man: In The Wall Street Journal, Sadanand Dhume questions Pakistan’s ability to operate as a fair intermediary as it seeks to play a central role in U.S.-Iran talks. “Pakistan has attributes that make it a useful intermediary, but America shouldn’t forget that when it comes to Iran, Pakistan’s interests aren’t the same as those of the U.S. On the face of it, Pakistan might seem like an odd choice for mediator. During the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan was widely castigated for playing a ‘double game,’ accepting U.S. aid to fight terrorism while at the same time secretly aiding and abetting the Afghan Taliban.” [WSJ]
A Convert’s Burden: In Moment Magazine, JoJo Kalin, a convert to Judaism who organized the event at the Capital Jewish Museum in which two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed, reflects on her faith as she considers her interaction with the suspected assailant, to whom she offered water after the attack. “There is a version of the future in which my future children would not have to carry this particular kind of fear. I am aware of that. And I am choosing this one anyway. I choose it because what they would inherit is not only fear. It is also peoplehood, memory and a stubborn, enduring joy. … I still think about that glass of water, about the instinct to give it, about the fact that I did not hesitate. I don’t know what it means, fully. I’m not sure it resolves into something clean or instructive. But I know this: That moment belongs to my humanity, not to his violence.” [Moment]
Word on the Street
Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs talks to Leo Terrell, the senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights and chair of the Department of Justice’s antisemitism task force, about the creation of the DOJ’s Antisemitism Advisory Committee, which Terrell will oversee…
The Justice Department announced its indictment against a New Jersey man charged with making interstate threats to a Jewish institution in New York…
Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, refuted accusations that the Trump administration has been ineffective in combating the spread of misinformation and hateful content on social media, arguing that free speech protections and efforts to combat disinformation are not mutually exclusive, in comments at the Hudson Institute on Tuesday, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports…
Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced a resolution honoring the 130th anniversary of the Jewish War Veterans organization…
During a House hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) engaged in a heated back-and-forth with a witness, Carol Swain, an author and commentator, as Swain repeatedly dodged his question about whether neo-Nazis are a supremacist group. Two other witnesses answered the question with a simple “yes”…
Director Michael Bay is working with Universal Pictures to develop a feature-length film about the rescue of two American pilots who were shot down in Iran last month; the film will be based off an upcoming book on the event by Mitchell Zuckoff…
TechCrunch profiles Ocean founder Shay Shwartz, whose email security platform protects against AI-powered attacks and recently exited stealth mode with $28 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners that included an investment from Wiz’s Assaf Rappaport…
eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher looks at how Jewish groups are approaching the use of AI for Torah study…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with other Israeli officials, issued a sharp condemnation of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after he released a video showing himself taunting detained flotilla activists, JI’s Matthew Shea reports…
Israeli prosecutors filed charges against a Jewish man accused of taking part in at least three attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank since February, including an April attack in which a poultry farm employee was hospitalized and remains in a coma…
The Wall Street Journal looks at Israeli efforts to track down all terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…
The U.S. is pressuring Palestinian officials to drop an effort by the Palestinian Authority’s representative at the U.N. to seek the vice presidency of the U.N. General Assembly, warning that the State Department could revoke the visas of the Palestinian delegation should the bid proceed…
The Associated Press profiles Iranian Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, describing the senior military official as a “longtime veteran of the ruling system” involved with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina, who is believed to be one of few Iranian officials in contact with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei…
The New York Times spotlights the “intelligence fraternity” of former and current IRGC officials, including many with links to the country’s new supreme leader, positing that the group’s “shared backgrounds, careers and ideological outlook” are “one reason the war has neither collapsed the government nor paralyzed it”…
Wine of the Week
JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Warneke Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the Gen VIII 2019 Cabernet:
After a 250th National Shabbat celebration at the White House, where candles were lit in the Indian Treaty Room, we walked over to nearby Decatur House, the historic 1818 mansion on Lafayette Square, for a meaningful and memorable Shabbat dinner. Kiddush was made over a cup recovered from one of the communities destroyed on Oct. 7, and each guest was given a challah cover embroidered with the presidential seal. For such a special and historic moment, my dear friend Pauly treated me to two of the finest and most important kosher wines from the Herzog family: The Warneke Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the Gen VIII 2019 Cabernet. These wines perfectly matched the severity and grandeur of the dinner.
The 2023 Warneke Valley is a cab of remarkable poise, carrying a subtle maturity that belies its youth. The opening is pure silk, the mid-palate carries the traditional Herzog vanilla and the finish lingers with notes of parve dark chocolate. The Gen VIII, by contrast, is bold and brash, fruit-forward, with rough-and-tumble tannins that would not let me sleep at night. It has long been one of my favorites, but this vintage will surely overtake its predecessors as one of the greatest ever made. To drink them side by side was a true privilege. Not an inexpensive luxury, but one I would gladly forgo most other pleasures to repeat. Enjoy both alongside a juicy steak, and lay a few bottles down for a future milestone worth celebrating.
Pic of the Day
Birthdays
Actor, artist and playwright, Lisa Edelstein turns 60…
Former U.S. senator from Minnesota, he was previously a comedian, actor and writer, Al Franken turns 75… VP of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, Ralph Lewin turns 73… Guitarist and composer, Marc Ribot turns 72… EVP of American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, Ron Solomon… Chief rabbi of Mitzpe Yericho (a yishuv located in the Judean desert) and dean of Hara’ayon Hayehudi yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer turns 71… CEO of the Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group, he is co-founder of Times of Israel, Seth Klarman turns 69… Northern California-based comedian, he celebrated his bar mitzvah at 52 in Israel, Josh Kornbluth turns 67… New York Times contributing Opinion writer, Jeffrey Toobin turns 66… Founder and publisher of City & State NY, Thomas Allon turns 64… Director of antisemitism education and associate director of the Israel Action Program, both at Hillel International, Tina Malka… Former head of Dewey Square’s sports business practice, now a freelance writer, Frederic J. Frommer… Author and journalist, she was a reporter with The New York Times for eight years, Amy Waldman turns 57… U.S. cyclist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she is now the executive director of the New England Mountain Bike Association, Nicole Freedman turns 54… President and CEO of the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Darin McKeever… University chaplain for NYU and executive director of NYU’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Life, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna turns 48… Founder of Agora Global Advisory, Brandon Pollak… EVP and chief legal officer at Sinclair Inc., David Gibber… Professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, Scott Joel Aaronson turns 45… President of Mo Digital, Mosheh Oinounou… Los Angeles-born, raised in Israel, international fashion model for Versace, Sharon Ganish turns 43… CEO of CreoStrat, Steve Miller… Windsurfer who represented Israel in the Olympics, she is now an energy management program manager at SolarEdge, Maayan Davidovich turns 38… Player on the USC team that won the 2016 NCAA National Soccer Championship, she is now an associate in the L.A. office of Foley & Lardner, Savannah Levin turns 31… Comedian, actor and writer, known for starring in the HBO Max series “Hacks,” Hannah Marie Einbinder turns 31… COO at the Yael Foundation, Naomi Kovitz…
Plus, TX Dem gets the preemptive boot
Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council and Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, arrive for an announcement in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 (Photographer: John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a heated phone call on Tuesday where they discussed a potential peace deal with Iran that was drafted by Qatar, Pakistan and other mediators, Axios reports, with Netanyahu pushing for a return to war.
Responding to reports that Netanyahu favors continuing strikes, Trump said on Wednesday that the Israeli leader “will do whatever I want him to do”…
Trump said the U.S. and Iran are “right on the borderline” of either securing a deal or resuming the war, telling reporters the process “could go very quickly, or could be a few days.” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, meanwhile, threatened to strike “beyond the region” should military operations continue…
The Jewish Democratic Council of America announced a dual endorsement today of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in Michigan’s three-way Senate Democratic primary, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports, saying, “There are two candidates who stand with our community on issues of importance to Jewish voters, and there is one who does not.”
While JDCA CEO Halie Soifer acknowledged concerns that Stevens and McMorrow could end up splitting the more-moderate vote and inadvertently propelling the far-left Abdul El-Sayed to the nomination, she told JI the dual endorsement was meant to reflect JDCA’s broader assessment of the stakes of the race…
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin is backing a new buffer zone bill for schools that aims to avoid another veto from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, JI’s Will Bredderman reports; the revised legislation narrows the language to early childhood facilities and K-12 schools and carves out other educational facilities, addressing concerns from the mayor and other councilmembers…
A new poll from the independent Pan Atlantic Research firm found presumptive Maine Senate Democratic nominee Graham Platner leading incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) 48-41% among likely voters. There was a stark educational divide: Platner led Collins by 20 points among those with a four-year college degree or higher, while the candidates were neck-and-neck among those without…
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) vowed that if Maureen Galindo, the antisemitic conspiracy theorist running in the Democratic primary for Texas’ 35th District, is elected to Congress, “we will force a vote to expel her every single day we are here.”
All Jewish Democratic members of Congress also joined to condemn Galindo’s “vile, bigoted, and antisemitic views,” calling her “desperate and unhinged”…
Yesterday’s primary elections saw Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) secure the GOP nomination for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Senate seat, while in Georgia, former Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) and former football coach Derek Dooley will head to a runoff next month after neither received 50% in the race to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)…
Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who represented the Boston area in Congress for more than three decades and was the first openly gay member of Congress, died on Tuesday, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports. He was 86.
In the final weeks of his life, Frank did a series of interviews to promote his forthcoming book, even as he anticipated not making it to the release date. In a May 8 interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Frank said he believed Democrats should reject far-left litmus tests, but said Israel policy is “180 degrees” different and that Democrats need to make clear their opposition to Netanyahu…
Netanyahu, along with other Israeli officials, issued a sharp condemnation of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after he released a video showing himself taunting detained flotilla activists, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.
In the video, Ben-Gvir waves a large Israeli flag over blindfolded activists kneeling on the ground and shouts, “Welcome to Israel, we are the masters.” Netanyahu said the way his Cabinet minister “dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel’s values and norms”…
James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is purchasing, through his media holding company Lupa Systems, New York magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network and Vox.com from Vox Media. Murdoch’s other business ventures include an investment firm, Bodhi Tree, founded in 2022 with $1.5 billion from the Qatar Investment Authority. His expanded holdings in American media mark a homecoming of sorts — his father owned New York magazine from 1977-1991…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with the two Republican candidates running for the University of Michigan Board of Regents, as they see an opening to pitch themselves to voters over Amir Makled, an anti-Israel Democratic nominee.
The Capital Jewish Museum in Washington will open to the public to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting that killed Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will hold candidate forums with D.C. mayoral hopefuls Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie.
Stories You May Have Missed
DEM DISCUSSIONS
The Center for American Progress hosted leading Democratic officials and featured several panels on foreign policy. Israel was barely discussed
FLOURISHING FRIENDSHIPS
The emerging partnership is being sharpened by a rival alliance between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
Plus, bipartisan push for Jewish American Security Act
Jeffrey Dean/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks during a campaign event ahead of a primary election at Veterans Memorial Park in Vanceburg, Kentucky, US, on Monday, May 18, 2026.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we break down the results of yesterday’s critical primaries, including Rep. Thomas Massie’s loss in Kentucky and Chris Rabb’s win in PA-03, and report on the introduction by Sens. Jacky Rosen and James Lankford of the Jewish American Security Act. We look at how Democratic officials speaking at the Center for American Progress’ convening on Tuesday sidestepped discussions about Israel even as it held multiple sessions on the Middle East, and cover a new report from Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies warning about the effects of the erosion of American Jewish support for Israel on the relationship between Washington and Jerusalem. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nick Valensi and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
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
- The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on the Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The vote comes a day after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who last week fell short in his reelection bid after President Donald Trump endorsed an opponent, flipped his vote to advance a similar Democratic-led measure in the Senate. More below.
- The House Education Committee’s subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions is holding a hearing this morning on antisemitism in the healthcare field, with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s Deena Margolies, Dr. Jacob Agronin, Bend the Arc CEO Jamie Beran and American Jewish Medical Association CEO Eveline Shekhman set to testify. Read more here.
- Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) is among those slated to speak at a hearing being convened this morning by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the State Department’s budget request for its adjacent entities.
- The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the Southern Poverty Law Center in a session titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate.”
- Elsewhere in Washington this morning, the Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Combat Antisemitism Movement and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History are hosting a congressional breakfast to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month. Sam Salz, who in 2022 became one of the only Orthodox Jews to play Division I college football when he walked on to Texas A&M’s team, will give the breakfast’s keynote address.
- Down Pennsylvania Ave., the Hudson Institute is holding an event with Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, on modernizing public diplomacy to address global challenges. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is slated to give introductory remarks at the event.
- The Federalist Society is hosting its inaugural Legislative Branch Summit today in Washington.
- In Israel, the Knesset unanimously advanced a bill to dissolve the body, which if passed would automatically trigger elections, which are slated to take place no later than October 27. The bill will still need to go through several more readings and votes before it is passed.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Pro-Israel and Republican Jewish groups helped oust one of their leading GOP antagonists on Tuesday night, aligning with President Donald Trump to defeat Rep.Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the most expensive House primary in recent memory.
Ed Gallrein, a military veteran and farmer recruited by the Trump White House to challenge Massie, decisively defeated the congressman by 10 points, 55-45%. Massie, a libertarian lawmaker who long cast lonely Republican votes against Israel funding and resolutions condemning antisemitism, increasingly trafficked in bigoted rhetoric in the closing weeks of the campaign.
In his concession speech, Massie continued his antisemitic vitriol against his opponent, telling the crowd: “I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.” Even though Trump’s outspoken opposition was the leading factor behind his demise, he routinely blamed Jewish and pro-Israel donors like Miriam Adelson for costing him his seat and insinuated that Israel was buying seats in Congress.
Massie first drew the ire of Trump for voting against his “big beautiful” reconciliation bill last year, and the anger was exacerbated by his work with Democrats to force the Department of Justice to release all of the files involving Jeffrey Epstein.
Outside groups, including a Trump-aligned super PAC (MAGA KY) and those affiliated with the Republican Jewish Coalition, AIPAC and Christians United for Israel, spent aggressively with ads and billboards attacking Massie over his record, with several pointing out his opposition to Israel and Trump’s foreign policy.
Massie’s defeat also underscores Trump’s strong and continued support within the party, with his endorsements in primaries almost always translating into his candidate’s victory. His opposition to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) led to his defeat last week, and he successfully ousted most of the Indiana GOP state senators who opposed his redistricting efforts.
POLICY PRIORITIES
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) on Tuesday introduced the Jewish American Security Act, a broad new effort by the lawmakers, who co-chair the Senate antisemitism task force, to address antisemitism across multiple sectors of American society, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Similar legislation is also expected to be introduced in the House.
About the bill: The bill contains various provisions aimed at increasing security for Jewish communities through additional funding and federal resources. Key provisions include: additional security assistance and improvements to security grant programs for Jewish communities; addressing antisemitism on college campuses through new federal oversight measures including a federal official to handle campus antisemitism; and addressing the spread of antisemitism online by requiring new transparency reports from social media companies, among a range of related steps in each category.
EIGHTH TIME’S THE CHARM
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) joined with Democrats to vote for a procedural motion advancing legislation that would end U.S. military operations against Iran, allowing the war powers resolution to move forward on Democrats’ eighth such attempt since the war began, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
State of play: Cassidy, who last week fell short in his reelection primary effort against a Trump-backed challenger, joined three other Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) — in voting for the procedural motion, which was approved by a 50-47 vote. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted against the motion. The passage of the motion will now tee up further debate on and an additional vote on the resolution itself, at a time to be determined.
Money messages: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on U.S. allies on Tuesday to “step up” and join Washington in taking aggressive economic action against Iran and its broader terrorism financing networks, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.
LEAVING FINGERPRINTS
A newly launched super PAC with ties to Republicans has spent nearly half a million dollars to help boost a Democrat running for a competitive open House seat in Texas who is facing growing bipartisan furor over a series of virulently antisemitic social media remarks, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Boosting Galindo: Lead Left PAC, the GOP-linked group, has been aggressively promoting Maureen Galindo, a fringe San Antonio activist who finished first in the primary and has said that Jews “own Hollywood” and “worship the synagogue of Satan.” Last week, she said that, if elected, she would turn a local immigration detention center “into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking,” while adding, “It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles which will probably be most of the Zionists.”
Bonus: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed Galindo’s comments, saying that “bigoted garbage and antisemitism should be nowhere near our politics” and suggesting that the “donors behind the Republican super PAC funding her should be exposed.”
MENDING FENCES
A new study from the Tel Aviv University-affiliated Institute of National Security Studies warns that American Jews’ ties with Israel have weakened in recent years, and Israeli leaders do not seem to care enough about how these shifting attitudes might affect Israel’s national security. If Israel ignores the growing distance with the American Jewish community, the country could face long-term consequences, authors Ted Sasson and Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis argue, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Words of warning: “An American Jewish community that is less supportive of Israel would leave Israel more isolated globally, less capable of extending soft power, and less confident in its role as the nation-state of the Jewish people,” Sasson, a Middlebury College professor and INSS scholar, and Ben Sasson-Gordis, director of the Israel-United States Research Field at INSS, write.
DEM DISCUSSIONS
On Tuesday, more than a dozen Democrats pitched their vision for America to a roomfull of liberal donors, staffers and funders at the Center for American Progress’ IDEAS Conference, a convening that pledged to bring together “the broad center-left’s leading thinkers and doers” to offer ideas on a range of policy topics. American foreign policy was one of those topics. In the two sessions on national security, each of which devoted significant discussion to the Middle East, one topic was notably absent: Israel, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Iran war opposition: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) kicked off the gathering with an address billed as “National Security Ideas for the Future.” He cited his own experiences as a member of the Marine Corps who served in Iraq, arguing that the war in Iran is misguided and harming Americans. ”I’m here today because right now our country is in danger. Will this president continue to drag America into another endless Middle East war?” Gallego said. “This is a war that wasn’t planned, wasn’t authorized and is not making us safer. [Donald] Trump got his war, and working families got stuck with the bill every day.”
FLOURISHING FRIENDSHIPS
While some geopolitical relationships have been tested by the Iran war, others have been strengthened: Emerging alignments between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and India are creating new opportunities for cooperation among three countries increasingly bound by shared defense and economic interests, experts told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
Overlapping interests: On Friday, India and the UAE agreed on the framework for a strategic defense partnership, a step that could deepen ties between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi amid the regional fallout from the war. Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JI that the partnership also extends to Israel, which has remained a key ally of both countries. He said the emerging alignment is rooted in overlapping economic and strategic interests and shared adversaries.
Worthy Reads
Narrative War: Days after The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof published a piece alleging numerous abuses of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli security officials, Kristof’s colleague on the Opinion desk, Bret Stephens, observes the documented history of news outlets publishing falsehoods about Israel without basic fact-checking. “The common thread in these and many other stories is that they all involve strenuous, if ultimately embarrassed, efforts to prove that Israelis deliberately seek to kill the innocent and maim the vulnerable, apparently for no other reason than gratuitous cruelty. This isn’t a matter of reporters’ impartially trying to expose wrongdoing wherever they find it — if that were the case, the errors wouldn’t invariably lean in the same ideological direction. It isn’t speaking truth to power. It’s feeding narratives to the credulous.” [NYTimes]
Drawing Down Aid: In The Wall Street Journal, the American Enterprise Institute’s Daniel Samet argues in favor of winding down U.S. aid to Israel, calling it a “political liability” that could affect the future of the relationship between the countries. “Military aid to Israel, which Washington began supplying in significant amounts during the 1960s, has been a sound investment. The U.S. has financed a reliable ally that fights and wins wars against America’s enemies. Yet Israel no longer commands the affection of the American people as widely as it once did. Ending military assistance is a political imperative in changing times.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
U.S. forces in the Indian Ocean seized an Iran-linked oil tanker that had been under U.S. sanctions since March; the vessel was believed to be carrying upwards of a million barrels of crude oil that was loaded earlier this year from Iran’s Kharg Island…
The New York Times reports on an Israeli-developed plan, backed by the U.S., for former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was under house arrest in Tehran, to be installed as the leader of Iran; the plan reportedly fell apart after the hard-liner was injured on the first day of the war in a strike intended to free him from house arrest and, per the Times, “became disillusioned with the regime change plan”…
Ahmadinejad biographer and Israeli analyst Meir Javedanfar dismissed the report, calling it “a disinformation campaign initiated by those that tried to assassinate him”; Javedanfar said that the “disinformation is being used to create chaos within the ranks of the Islamic Republic of Iran” following what he described as “an assassination attempt gone wrong”…
Iranian state media reported that Tehran had offered a new proposal to the U.S. that would include the withdrawal of U.S. troops from areas near Iran, an end to hostilities targeting both Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon and reparations for damages the regime sustained in the recent war…
The United Arab Emirates said that three drones that targeted the country’s nuclear power plant over the weekend originated from Iraq, deepening speculation that Iran, which backs militias in the country, was behind the attack…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the challenges facing Kuwait following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has halted the Gulf state’s ability to ship crude oil…
President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Tuesday, dealing a significant blow to Cornyn’s bid for a fifth term, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…
Former CIA officer Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, an ally of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, is departing her senior roles at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Management and Budget to return to the private sector…
The Senate passed a resolution honoring Jewish American Heritage Month by unanimous consent…
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), responding to Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) primary defeat, said that Massie “lost because he had the guts to stand up to the Epstein class and against the war”; the California Democrat, who is mulling a 2028 presidential bid, said he welcomed “voters who feel rejected by Trump,” pledging to “build a movement to stand for Team America”…
The South Carolina Statehouse approved a new congressional map that would eliminate the district represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the state’s only Democratic district; the new map will next head to the state Senate for a vote…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has in recent days held a series of meetings and listening sessions with Wall Street executives, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, after Mamdani angered business leaders by filming a video outside the home of Citadel’s Ken Griffin in which the mayor announced a plan to tax second homes in the city…
Police in New York are investigating the death of a Jewish bakery owner and former Hatzolah volunteer whose body was found in the Queens neighborhood of Flushing after he was shot in the neck and back…
The Strokes announced that guitarist Nick Valensi, who is Jewish, won’t be participating in the band’s upcoming summer tour, weeks after Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said on the “SubwayTakes” web series that “American Zionists get the benefits of white privileged people, but talk like they are Black people during slavery”…
Mohamed Hagi, Somaliland‘s newly arrived ambassador to Israel, announced that Hargeisa planned to open its embassy in the country in Jerusalem…
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed that the International Criminal Court was seeking a warrant for his arrest; the ICC would not comment on the claim, saying that requests for warrants are confidential…
In what he said was a response to the ICC’s request for a warrant, Smotrich threatened to evict residents of the West Bank Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar…
Comedy writer Barry Blaustein, a longtime collaborator of comedian Eddie Murphy who worked on the screenplays of “Coming to America” and “The Nutty Professor,” died at 71…
Pic of the Day
Birthdays
Emmy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Rachel Platten turns 45…
CEO at Kings’ Care – A Safe Place, operator of multiple drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment centers, Ilene Leiter… Canadian businesswoman and elected official, she served in the Ontario Assembly and in the Canadian House of Commons, Elinor Caplan turns 82… Former member of the New York State Assembly until 2020, representing the 97th Assembly District in Rockland County, Ellen Jaffee turns 82… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CT) for 20 years, he was born in a DP camp in Germany after WWII, Sam Gejdenson turns 78… Chagrin Falls, Ohio, attorney, Robert Charles Rosenfeld… CEO emeritus of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Michael S. Miller… Seamstress and weaver, Bernice Ann Penn Venable… Retired in 2022 as a federal judge for the Southern District of Texas, she is now a mediator and arbitrator, Judge Nancy Ellen Friedman Atlas turns 77… Five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and writer who has worked on “Saturday Night Live,” PBS’ “Great Performances” and “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” Alan Zweibel turns 76… U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) turns 75… Former director of international affairs, policy and planning at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, following 12 years at the ADL, Michael Alan Salberg… Professor at Tulane, he was president of the Aspen Institute, CEO of CNN and managing editor of Time, Walter Isaacson turns 74… Born in upstate New York as Michael Scott Bornstein, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and then member of the Knesset, Michael Oren turns 71… Actor and singer, known for her work in musical theater, Judy Kuhn turns 68… CEO and founder of Abrams Media, chief legal analyst for ABC News and the founder of Mediaite, Dan Abrams turns 60… NYC location scout and unit production manager for feature films, TV and commercials, David Brotsky… Co-founder and CEO of Breitbart News, Larry Solov turns 58… Senior advisor at Majority Democrats, Ami Copeland… French singer and actor, at 13 she became the youngest singer to ever reach No. 1 in the French charts, Elsa Lunghini turns 53… Co-president of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, Matthew Silverman turns 50… Principal of public policy at Amazon, Philip Justin “PJ” Hoffman… Program officer of Jewish life at the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Vadim Avshalumov… Founder and CEO of Berkeley, California-based Caribou Biosciences, a genome engineering company, Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D…. Senior director of government relations and strategy for the ADL, Lauren D. Wolman… Executive communications leader, Susan Sloan… VP of digital advocacy at McGuireWoods Consulting, Josh Canter… Beauty pageant winner who was awarded the title of Miss Israel 2014, Doron Matalon turns 33… Master of public policy candidate at Oxford University, Aylon Berger turns 26… Conservative political activist, he is a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Kyle Kashuv turns 25…
Plus, Trump's Paxton endorsement puts Texas in play
Noam Galai/Getty Images
Sen. James Lankford speaks during the 'March For Israel' at the National Mall on November 14, 2023 in Washington, DC.
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Jewish American Security Act today, a broad new effort to address antisemitism across multiple sectors of American society, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
The bill — launched at a Jewish Federations of North America press conference on Capitol Hill — aims to combat antisemitism on campus and online, as well as streamline and provide $1 billion in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and has broad support among Jewish community groups and across all major religious denominations.
William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JI it was “deeply encouraging to see this bill come together with bipartisan, bicameral support at a time when that kind of consensus is all too rare”…
President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) ahead of the state’s heated GOP primary runoff next Tuesday, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports. Trump, who has repeatedly praised both candidates, claimed Cornyn “is a good man … but he was not supportive of me when times were tough.”
If Paxton wins the May 26 runoff, Democrats plan to invest millions behind their nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, who is trying to become the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Texas since 1988. General election polling indicates that a matchup between Talarico and Paxton — who carries significant legal and ethical baggage — would be highly competitive…
Activist Maureen Galindo, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Texas’ 35th Congressional District who has continuously trafficked in antisemitic conspiracy theories, pledged in an Instagram post last week to turn an immigrant detention center in south Texas into a “prison for American Zionists.” “It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles which will probably be most of the Zionists,” she continued.
Jewish and Democratic groups, including Democratic Majority for Israel, are backing Galindo’s opponent, Bexar County sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia. In a statement about Galindo’s comments, DMFI accused Republicans of funding her campaign and “deliberately elevating one of the most grotesque antisemites in America”…
Trump blasted Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) for sending a campaign text to voters, as election day is underway in Kentucky, with a statement from Trump endorsing Massie — from 2022. Trump has endorsed Massie’s opponent, Ed Gallrein, in today’s Republican primary.
“Horrible Congressman Thomas Massie put out an old Endorsement, from many years ago, of him by me long before I found out that he was the Worst Congressman in the History of our Country,” Trump wrote on X — his first post on the platform in months…
New polling from the campaign of Navy veteran Rebecca Bennett shows her with a 20-point lead in the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, the seat held by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) — who is drawing increasing scrutiny for his monthslong unexplained absence from Congress. Bennett, who is leading the pack in fundraising, polled at 35% among likely primary voters, while Tina Shah came in second at 15%…
After abruptly scrapping a strike on Iran planned for today, Trump gave a vague timeline for renewed diplomacy, saying Tehran has only “a limited period of time” to return to the negotiating table. “Two or three days. Maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Maybe early next week,” he told reporters today.
Hours after calling off the strike yesterday evening, Trump met with his national security team to discuss military options in Iran, Axios reports, suggesting resumed strikes are still on the table…
Speaking at the No Money for Terror Conference in Paris, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on U.S. allies to “step up” and join Washington in taking aggressive economic action against Iran and its broader terrorism financing networks, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.
Bessent’s comments came as the Treasury Department announced sanctions against four individuals associated with the pro-Hamas flotilla traveling towards Gaza, as well as a suite of sanctions against Iranian shadow banking operations and 19 regime-linked vessels…
The Emirati Defense Ministry said that drone attacks that caused a fire at the UAE’s nuclear power plant over the weekend were launched from Iraqi territory, where several Iran-backed militias are based…
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, told members of the House Armed Services Committee that reports that Iran had managed to reconstitute many of its drone and missile sites struck during U.S. operations were inaccurate…
Twenty-five Republican senators led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote a letter to Trump urging him to “fully dismantle” the U.N. Relief and Works Agency and remove it from the U.N. budget, citing the agency’s “systemic infiltration by Hamas and other U.S.-designated terrorist organizations”…
The Oklahoman, a local daily newspaper, pulled down an opinion article published on Monday comparing the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team to Israel — an “underdog that has become hated.” The article, written by a pro-Israel Jewish Oklahoman, was “mistakenly published,” the paper’s executive editor said, and “did not align with our opinion standards”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a readout from the Center for American Progress’ IDEAS Conference, where more than a dozen Democrats, several with national ambitions, shared their policy visions today in Washington.
The Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Combat Antisemitism Movement and Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History will host a breakfast with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month, with a keynote speech from Sam Salz, believed to be the first and only Orthodox Jew to play Division I college football.
The Senate will begin consideration on the reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement, as well as security for the new White House ballroom, during which Senate Democrats could force votes on a range of issues, including the war in Iran.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a budget hearing on State Department-adjacent entities, with testimony from former lawmaker and diplomat Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), National Endowment for Democracy President Damon Wilson and Inter-American Foundation CEO Sara Aviel.
The House Committee on Education & Workforce will hold a hearing on antisemitism in healthcare settings. Witnesses will include Deena Margolies, an attorney from the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; Jamie Beran, CEO of the progressive Jewish organization Bend the Arc; Eveline Shekhman, CEO of the American Jewish Medical Association; and Dr. Jacob Agronin from Temple University Hospital.
Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, will speak at the Hudson Institute about the U.S.’ public diplomacy strategy abroad, with opening remarks from Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO).
Stories You May Have Missed
PROBLEMATIC PLATFORMING
In August 2025, O’Donnell hosted a popular far-right influencer best known by his online pseudonym ‘Raw Egg Nationalist’ on his podcast for a friendly discussion
MICHIGAN MIDDLE GROUND
In an interview with leftist podcasters Matt Bernstein and Emma Vigeland, the Michigan Senate candidate backed Israel’s access to Iron Dome systems, suggested Palestinians should also have them
In August 2025, O’Donnell hosted a popular far-right influencer best known by his online pseudonym ‘Raw Egg Nationalist’ on his podcast for a friendly discussion
Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
Marty O’Donnell
Marty O’Donnell, a Republican candidate in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District recently endorsed by President Donald Trump, hosted a Nazi supporter on his podcast last year, months after filing to run for Congress.
O’Donnell is an outsider candidate who also ran in the district in 2024, placing fourth in the GOP primary. He was best known before his political career as the music composer for the “Halo” video game series.
But with Trump’s endorsement — as well as backing from the National Republican Congressional Committee’s MAGA Majority program — the unlikely political candidate has become the favorite for the nomination, despite facing a former U.S. ambassador to Iceland, among others.
In August 2025, O’Donnell hosted Charles Cornish-Dale, a popular far-right influencer better known by his online pseudonym “Raw Egg Nationalist,” on his podcast for a friendly discussion. Repeatedly, over the course of multiple years, Cornish-Dale has shared antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on his Raw Egg Nationalist X account.
Those posts include a quote from Mein Kampf alongside a meme featuring a man in a Nazi uniform in front of a swastika flag; a reference to the “zog” — a conspiracy theory claiming Zionist control of the U.S. government and society; the shorthand “HH” — which stands for Heil Hitler; an advertisement for “Blood, Soil and Grass-fed Beef” t-shirts — referencing a Nazi and white nationalist slogan; and various other Nazi-sympathetic posts.
In his introduction to the interview, O’Donnell acknowledged that Cornish-Dale has been “accused of many weird — fascist, nationalist, white nationalist, misogynist, you name it — he’s been accused of everything. And of course I’m being accused of those things too, so I had to talk to him to find out what’s true and what’s not true.” He called the interview “one of those sort of marriages made in heaven.”
“Charles Cornish Dale was booked by Marty’s production team. Marty was unfamiliar with Dale before the interview and was unaware of these posts shared by Jewish Insider until we received the inquiry,” Keith Schipper, a spokesperson for O’Donnell, said in a statement. “Marty’s support of Israel is unequivocal and, as seen in various interviews and online posts, he will not tolerate the rise of anti-semitism in our country. Marty will continue to fight bigotry, misinformation, and hate toward Israel because it is the right and moral thing to do.”
Later in the interview, O’Donnell again dismissed criticisms of Cornish-Dale, including accusations of white nationalism and misogyny, as not credible. Cornish-Dale responded, “Once upon a time you were a Nazi if you held specific political beliefs and worshiped Adolf Hitler and all that, and now you’re just a Nazi if you’re right wing” — glossing over his own past commentary.
O’Donnell’s personal Discord server — The Marty Army — which he has used and promoted for campaign purposes, also contains a number of users who have shared antisemitic, pro-Nazi and anti-Israel sentiments, even as O’Donnell himself has personally debated with and threatened to ban some of those users from the server — and appears to have banned at least one such user.
Some of those comments, including a series of comments deriding the Anti-Defamation League, have been shared in a channel dedicated to O’Donnell’s congressional campaign.
O’Donnell’s friendly interview with Cornish-Dale comes in spite of his own personal history of speaking out against antisemitism and in support of Israel on social media, in the Discord server and in other public forums.
In a recent podcast interview, O’Donnell leaned into the religious and historical connection between Jews and Christians, and emphasized the West’s “Judeo-Christian” heritage.
“These Christian weirdos who are heretics, who say, ‘Oh, well, the Jews killed Jesus.’ Like, no, Jesus said, ‘No one takes my life from me. Amen. I lay down willingly. I’m doing my Father’s will.’ This is the plan for saving humanity, and it’s a Judeo-Christian plan. That’s God’s plan. That’s the people He chose,” O’Donnell said.
He said he believes that politics now is a form of “spiritual warfare,” including against antisemitic figures on the far right.
“How else do you explain Candace Owens? How else do you explain Tucker Carlson? Some evil spirit has clouded their minds, whether they’re just grifting for money or something evil is happening, but it’s spiritual warfare,” he said.
“Antisemitism, or Jew Hatred, is NOT ‘woke right’. Groypers, [Nick] Fuentes, and his followers are as far from the right as any of the godless Marxist progressives are,” he said at another point on X last year.
Plus, Massie's antisemitic closing message
Daniel Torok/The White House via Getty Images
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) sit in the Situation Room as they monitor the mission that took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, at the White House on June 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump announced that, at the request of Qatari, Saudi and Emirati leaders, he was calling off an attack on Iran he said was planned for tomorrow, after the heads of state assured him Iran would agree to a deal that “will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!”
Trump said he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine to “be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached”…
A new New York Times/Siena poll found 35% of respondents said they sympathize more with Israelis, while 37% said they sympathize more with Palestinians. There was a stark partisan divide: Among Republicans, 66% said they sympathize more with Israelis, while just 17% of Democrats said the same.
Meanwhile, the poll found nearly two-thirds of respondents overall said they disapprove of the Iran war, including 91% of Democrats and 23% of Republicans. Eighty-one percent of Democrats said the costs of the Iran war would not be worth the benefits; 50% of Republicans said they thought it would be worth it, but 32% were unsure…
Several New York City Jewish leaders — including JCRC CEO Mark Treyger, the UJA-Federation of New York and Rabbi Joseph Potasanik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis — plan to skip Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Shavuot event taking place this evening at Gracie Mansion, the New York Post reports, after the mayor released a video on Friday for “Nakba Day” that sparked outrage among the Jewish community.
Asked about the backlash, Mamdani claimed his “door is always open” for Jewish leaders “beyond just this evening’s event,” while doubling down on his decision to post the video, saying he was “proud to commemorate Nakba Day” because there are “many Nakba survivors in New York City”…
Two dozen Jewish lawmakers and candidates from both parties shared with Axios a stream of antisemitic voicemails and messages they’ve received, including repeated death threats and praise of Nazis. “It’s no longer a Republican and a Democrat [issue],” said Rep. Max Miller (R-OH). “Both ends of our parties are wackadoos who hate Jews”…
Ahead of tomorrow’s primary elections in Kentucky, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is going out with an antisemitic bang: He accused his opponent, Trump-backed Navy veteran Ed Gallrein, of being the “puppet” of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which has spent nearly $4 million opposing Massie. The congressman further claimed “a coalition of Israel’s lobbyists and donors” is executing a “blatant attempt to buy a KY congressional seat” and that the RJC is “running [Gallrein’s] race.”
Gallrein, meanwhile, got a boost from Hegseth, who appeared today in Hebron, Ky., to urge voters to turn out for the GOP challenger. Hegseth — who claimed he was there in his personal capacity, as his appearance broke a longstanding tradition of defense secretaries who typically avoid engaging in electoral politics — praised Gallrein as a military leader who would remain loyal to Trump…
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) in her runoff for U.S. Senate, after she finished in first place in the Louisiana primary held over the weekend, ousting Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Letlow, who is already endorsed by Trump, is expected to prevail over state Treasurer John Fleming…
A man named Zaid Gitesatani was arrested today on a hate crime charge for assaulting a Jewish man in June 2024 in the heavily Orthodox Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles, as the victim was walking his dog near a synagogue that was hosting an Israeli real estate event.
In the days following the assault, Gitesatani posted screenshots of a video of the incident to his Instagram account with the caption, “The Chosen People sometimes need a good smack to wake up” and claimed he “whopped 2 zios,” among other comments, according to the Justice Department…
The three leading Democratic candidates in the race for executive of Montgomery County, Md., — Councilmembers Andrew Friedson, Evan Glass and Will Jawando — pledged to address the rise of antisemitism within the local school system in a discussion today with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Jawando, the most progressive Democrat in the race, said, “I am disappointed that MCPS has not accepted” the training recommended by the JCRC earlier this month. “I will continue to urge them to do so”…
Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and prospective 2028 presidential candidate, is slated to discuss the future of U.S.-Israel relations at Tel Aviv University on July 8, according to an announcement from the school today, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…
Israeli-founded AI startup Decart raised $300 million at a nearly $4 billion valuation for software that helps AI companies switch more easily between chips from Nvidia, which invested in the company, and its rivals…
Police said they “neutralized” a threat during an active shooter situation today at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the largest mosque in the county. Local news reported two suspects are dead, and the mosque’s chairman said a security guard had been killed…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of tomorrow’s primaries in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper will testify before the House Armed Services Committee.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a budget hearing on the Department of Justice.
The Jewish Federations of North America will hold a press conference on the Hill with House and Senate lawmakers and hundreds of community leaders on the need for increased funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
The Center for American Progress will hold its 2026 IDEAS Conference in Washington with speakers including Govs. Gavin Newsom, Wes Moore, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and columnist Ezra Klein.
The Middle East Forum will begin its three-day policy conference in Washington, with keynote speeches from White House official Seb Gorka, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Deputy Special Presidential Envoy Morgan Ortagus.
The Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan will hold its spring benefit where it will honor Amb. Deborah Lipstadt, the former State Department antisemitism envoy, with its Light of Freedom Award, and synagogue lay leader and attorney Ira Bogner with its Shem Tov Award.
Tomorrow is Jewish Community Day at Nationals Park in Washington as the team faces off against the New York Mets.
Stories You May Have Missed
DEM DYNAMICS
If elected mayor of Washington, D.C., Janeese Lewis George’s victory would hand a major win to Washington’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter
CAMPAIGN COMPANY
The far-left congressional candidate also liked a post celebrating Oct. 7 shortly after the attacks
Rep. Julia Letlow is now the favorite to win the Louisiana race; she faces state Treasurer John Fleming in a June runoff
Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) speaks to media on the first day of early voting outside of the Louisiana State Archives on May 02, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Dogged by his vote to impeach President Donald Trump in 2021, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) lost his bid for reelection on Saturday night, finishing in third place in the Louisiana Republican primary behind Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) and state Treasurer John Fleming.
Letlow and Fleming, the top two finishers, will now compete in a runoff, which will be held on June 27. Cassidy only received 25% of the primary vote, lagging well behind Letlow, who received 45% of the vote, and Fleming, who won 28%.
The race offered another strong signal that Trump’s backing is the most important factor in Republican nomination fights. Of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump at his 2021 impeachment trial, only two remain in the Senate. One of them, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), faces her own difficult reelection.
The results also come two weeks after Trump and his political allies successfully ousted five Republican state senators in Indiana primaries, after they opposed the Trump administration’s push to redraw the state’s congressional lines to further favor Republicans.
Cassidy, first elected to the Senate in 2014, had long been one of the more bipartisan members of his caucus, using his experience as a doctor to take the lead on health care issues. He drew close scrutiny for his decision supporting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be confirmed as health and human services secretary in his role as HELP Committee chairman, despite holding serious misgivings over Kennedy’s record opposing vaccine requirements.
In his concession speech, Cassidy told supporters: “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout. You don’t whine. You don’t claim that an election was stolen from you.”
The next big test of Trump’s influence in party politics will come on Tuesday, when Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a virulent opponent of Israel, will face off against Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein, a Navy veteran. Trump allies and outside pro-Israel groups have poured millions into the race to defeat Massie. Polls show the race is competitive, with Gallrein holding late momentum.
If elected mayor of Washington, D.C, Janeese Lewis George’s victory would hand a major win to Washington’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter
Craig Hudson for The Washington Post via Getty Images
D.C. councilmember and mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George is seen on Capitol Hill for a press conference in Washington, DC on March 10, 2025.
The open race for mayor of Washington, D.C., has been largely uneventful ahead of next month’s primary — so much so that the first TV ads run by the leading candidates, Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George, sound nearly identical. Both candidates tout affordability and safety on the campaign trail, with promises to build more housing and stand up against President Donald Trump.
But if elected, Lewis George’s victory would mark a significant shift away from the centrist brand of politics espoused by outgoing Mayor Muriel Bowser over the last 12 years, and would instead hand a major win to Washington’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, of which Lewis George has been a member for years.
Lewis George has faced criticism throughout the campaign from some in the Jewish community for comments she made on a DSA endorsement questionnaire pledging to boycott events that “promote Zionism” and criticizing Jewish activists’ approach to combating antisemitism. Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, on Tuesday called DSA an “evil” organization that seeks “to make being Jewish unacceptable in polite society.”
DSA has activated its small but growing membership to knock on doors for Lewis George, a member of the D.C. Council, tapping into a grassroots energy that they hope translates into success at the ballot box. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of two DSA members currently serving in Congress, attended a recent DC DSA rally alongside Lewis George.
DSA’s Metro DC chapter is relatively small. Yet its current roster of roughly 3,400 members represents a massive increase from its pre-2016 nadir of just 200 members — and mirrors DSA’s growing clout nationally.
“For most of the ‘80s and ‘90s and 2000s, DSA was a small organization with maybe 5,000 or 8,000 people at the most. I would say the average age was probably over 60, maybe higher than that,” said Peter Dreier, an emeritus professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles. “Then Bernie [Sanders] ran for president in 2016 and started talking about democratic socialism in a way that made sense to, particularly, a lot of young people, and he kind of opened the door to people to be in DSA.”
Overall, DSA is still a small organization on the fringes of Democratic politics. Even the highest membership counts — adding up DSA’s local chapters — don’t top 100,000. But the unexpected popularity of Sanders’ 2016 presidential run sparked a resurgence of interest in democratic socialism not seen in generations, and that has continued well past his two campaigns. A 2025 Gallup poll found that 42% of Democrats have a positive image of capitalism, down from 54% a decade ago, while 66% have a positive view of socialism.
“If [young people] don’t remember the Cold War, then what do they think when they hear the word socialism? There’s still a battle over that, but they’re more likely to think, ‘Oh, countries that have more equality, or students that get free or almost free higher education, everybody has access to healthcare,’” said Dreier.
“We are going to raise money and develop a plan over the course of the next few months to try to make them toxic, to make it unacceptable for major figures in the party or anybody actually running for office to be affiliated with the DSA, the way it should be unacceptable to be affiliated with [neo-Nazi influencer] Nick Fuentes if you’re running as Republican,” Third Way’s senior vice president for public affairs, Matt Bennett, said.
The key question now facing capital-D Democrats — one they sound unsure of how to answer, or perhaps unwilling — is how to handle an insurgent faction that has galvanized people over its straightforward messaging on corporations (bad), taxing the rich (good) and Medicare for All (necessary), while at the same time promoting far-left positions like prison and police abolition that are nowhere near the Democratic mainstream. The group has long promoted the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, as well as calling for an arms embargo on Israel, and its members passed a resolution last year affirming their commitment to anti-Zionism. On Oct. 7, 2023, DSA released a statement holding Israel accountable for the Hamas attacks and calling on members to take to the streets to protest U.S. support for Israel.
The centrist Democratic group Third Way plans to launch a major PR campaign against DSA in the coming months, one of the group’s executives told JI, arguing that its far-left positions and incendiary brand of politics will be harmful for the party’s electoral prospects.
“We are going to raise money and develop a plan over the course of the next few months to try to make them toxic, to make it unacceptable for major figures in the party or anybody actually running for office to be affiliated with the DSA, the way it should be unacceptable to be affiliated with [neo-Nazi influencer] Nick Fuentes if you’re running as Republican,” Third Way’s senior vice president for public affairs, Matt Bennett, said.
In the decade since Sanders’ 2016 campaign, DSA has had an outsized impact on national politics. The 2018 congressional victory of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a DSA member, raised the group’s profile. A steady stream of more than 200 DSA-aligned candidates have been elected to state and local offices since, culminating with the election of DSA member Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City last year.
“To the degree that people need to pay attention to DSA, it’s because they built this kind of political machine,” said Micah Sifry, a journalist focused on left-wing political organizing. “In a time when people are, for the most part, not very organized, the ability of any small group, relatively speaking, to punch above its weight grows.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, New York has the largest bench of DSA-affiliated state lawmakers. The group has slowly but steadily been gaining electoral power in state and local offices in some unexpected places, too, like Minnesota, Colorado, Delaware and Wisconsin. The group’s largest foothold is in city council races, where a small but committed cadre of volunteers can swing elections in low-turnout races.
National Democratic leaders are divided about how to treat the small but vocal socialist minority in the party.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) declined to support Mamdani in the primary election but ultimately endorsed him ahead of the general election last year. Weeks later, Jeffries voted in favor of a Republican-led resolution condemning socialism. He has been skeptical of the left-wing ideology throughout his political career: “There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism,” he said in 2021. A spokesperson for Jeffries declined to comment this week when asked if he believes Democrats should be welcoming socialists into the party.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin has been more open-minded about socialists. Asked by Fox News last year whether progressives like Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez make his job harder, he said no.
“The party is a big tent. But just like we have to believe it’s a big tent, the DSA also has to believe it’s a big tent, and I’m not sure they do,” Brian Romick, CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, said. “Democratic leaders want to win elections, and that means a big tent, and that means that Democratic base voters and pro-Israel voters and moderate people who maybe voted for [Donald] Trump sometimes because they’re concerned about prices have to be in the tent.”
“I don’t think they make it difficult at all,” Martin said in August 2025. “The difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party is that we’re a big tent. We have lots of people in that tent from all of the different ideological wings, from conservative Democrats, to centrists, to progressives, to these new leftists.” A DNC spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment this week.
Brian Romick, CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, told Jewish Insider this week that he is concerned about the inroads DSA is making in the party. He agreed with Martin that the Democratic Party should be a big tent, but noted that DSA members — who are at times intent on putting litmus tests even on would-be allies — don’t extend the same understanding to more moderate members of the party.
“The party is a big tent. But just like we have to believe it’s a big tent, the DSA also has to believe it’s a big tent, and I’m not sure they do,” Romick said. “Democratic leaders want to win elections, and that means a big tent, and that means that Democratic base voters and pro-Israel voters and moderate people who maybe voted for [Donald] Trump sometimes because they’re concerned about prices have to be in the tent.”
The questionnaire Lewis George filled out in Washington to earn DSA’s endorsement reveals how important hard-line opposition to Israel is to the organization, which requires even candidates for local offices with no connection to foreign policy to all but disavow the Jewish state. Most voters who support DSA-aligned candidates likely are not drawn to them because of their views on the Middle East; Mamdani’s message was first and foremost about affordability. But DSA’s growing reach among Democrats gave a foothold to anti-Israel views that may have once been rare, though global attention on the war in Gaza also contributed to shifting Democratic orthodoxy on the conflict. (Other far-left groups like Justice Democrats have played a role, too.)
Zach Shartiag, a Jewish Democratic campaign operative from Chicago, told JI that Democrats he has talked to who support DSA candidates generally do not do so because of DSA’s stance on Israel, even if the activists are themselves critical of Israel.
“People might be very anti-Israel now, but at the same time, it’s like, what does that have to do with local politics?” said Shartiag, who is currently working on a congressional campaign in Hawaii. “I’ve talked to a lot of people, just in general, normal humans, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I might be against what Israel’s doing, but what does that have to do with the local and the city and the state?’”
The full picture of DSA’s influence in the party will not be known until all the votes are tallied at the end of this year’s midterm elections. A number of DSA-affiliated candidates are gaining ground in congressional primaries, such as Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, who has garnered progressive endorsements in a Philadelphia-area open seat, and New York state Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who has Mamdani’s backing for her congressional campaign.
Still, the election outcomes in states across the country this year will present only a partial picture of where the Democratic Party is moving. In the same year that Mamdani won in New York City, for instance, Democratic moderates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively.
The only certainty, then, is that the battle between centrists and socialists will continue into 2028.
“I think you’re going to have a real mixed verdict, with us yelling about our side and the left yelling about their side,” Third Way’s Bennett acknowledged. “So what that means is, unsurprisingly, we’re going to go into the presidential primary season with the two camps demanding that they are right.”
ADL’s Lauren Wolman: ‘The fact that a Member of Congress was subjected to this kind of abuse so openly is outrageous and a sign of how far too normalized antisemitism has become’
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) speaks during a press conference outside of Columbia University on April 22, 2024 in New York City.
William Paul, the adult son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), verbally accosted Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) at a popular bar in Capitol Hill on Tuesday evening in a lengthy, public antisemitic tirade, Lawler confirmed to Jewish Insider on Wednesday afternoon.
NOTUS, whose reporter witnessed the confrontation, was the first to report the situation.
The tirade occurred less than a week before the congressional election in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, where anti-Israel Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has repeatedly faced accusations of antisemitism, is facing a primary challenger, Ed Gallrein, backed by President Donald Trump and a range of Jewish and pro-Israel groups.
Lawler said that William Paul was visibly intoxicated when he entered the restaurant, the Tune Inn. He said that Paul had confronted him when he first entered the restaurant, and introduced himself as the senator’s son, later sitting next to Lawler at the bar and ultimately interjecting into Lawler’s conversation with the NOTUS reporter.
“He goes on a drunken tirade about Thomas Massie, and if he loses, it’s because of my people. I said, ‘My people, who’s that?’ He goes, ‘Jews,’” Lawler, who is Catholic, told JI.
Lawler said that he told Paul he was not Jewish, and that Paul had apologized for “accusing you of that,” to which Lawler responded, “‘Even if I was Jewish, what’s the problem?’ And he just went on a tirade about it. Totally insane.”
He said that Paul went on to rant, “I hate Jews and I hate gay people, and I don’t care if they die,” which Lawler called “pretty vile” and “f****** disgusting.” He described Paul as engaging in a “roughly 10-minute diatribe about Israel, accusing Jews of being responsible for so many things, playing right into the typical antisemitic tropes that so many people rely on.”
Paul ended the conversation by giving Lawler the middle finger, and tripped on his way out of the bar, according to Lawler.
Lawler said that he was “honestly flabbergasted that somebody would engage in that type of rhetoric, let alone directly to a member of Congress.” He called it “arguably the most shocking thing” he’d experienced in his four years in Washington.
Paul apologized for the comments on Wednesday.
“Last night, I had too much to drink and said some things that don’t represent who I really am. I’m sorry and today I am seeking help for my drinking problem,” Paul wrote on X.
Asked what he wanted to hear from the elder Paul in response to the incident, Lawler said he would be “mortified” if it was his own child who had engaged in such behavior, but said he would leave it to the senator how he wants to respond. He said he hasn’t spoken to Sen. Paul or Massie about the incident.
He said that there is “no question when you look at some of the polling that the issue of Israel among young people and support for Israel is waning, and it’s a concern. … I think a lot of the anti-Israel sentiment is rooted in Jew-hatred, and driven by antisemitic tropes that are published on social media and online, and it’s something that we as a society and certainly Congress needs to combat.”
He said the incident “speaks to a larger issue, obviously in society, and what we’re seeing among young people and what we see online,” a “level of hatred and vitriol” that his Jewish colleagues and Jewish constituents have experienced firsthand.
The Kentucky senator’s office did not respond to JI’s request for comment on the incident.
Multiple House lawmakers condemned Paul’s son.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) told JI, “his grandfather,” former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) “was an antisemite. So why should we be surprised that it didn’t fall from the tree? And his father’s supporting the biggest antisemite in the house, Thomas Massie. So I don’t find it surprising. I would be curious where he works, because I wouldn’t suspect he’ll work there for long.”
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) wrote on X, “If you are wondering how things are going up on Capit[o]l Hill. We have elected family members screaming ‘you are a Jew’ at catholics.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) called it, “Repugnant behavior that we don’t want in the GOP.”
Melanie Pell, chief engagement officer for the American Jewish Committee, who lives in Kentucky, told JI, “What’s most disturbing here is how casually ‘Jew”’ was weaponized as a slur in a face-to-face exchange. This isn’t about politics or personal relationships — this is textbook antisemitic bigotry, and its normalization should alarm everyone.”
Pell said she “would hope that Senator Paul would be quick to condemn any use of ‘Jew’ as a slur irrespective of the source.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition responded to the original NOTUS report saying simply, “gross.” Jeff Miller, a Republican lobbyist and board chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, responded, “WTF.”
Rabbi Shlomo Litvin, the chairman of the Kentucky Jewish Council, said that his organization was “deeply disturbed both by the antisemitic conspiracy theories posited by Mr. Paul and with his comfort in harassing someone he thought was Jewish in a public place.”
“The antisemitic conspiracy of Jews controlling the government, supported by extremist bigots like Thomas Massie and Tucker Carlson are not only false, stupid, and a refutation of American values, they are also dangerous, as we can see how they go from online bots to public confrontations, and can potentially turn to violence,” he said in a statement.
Litvin reiterated his concern over the younger Paul’s actions in an interview with JI later Wednesday, questioning if the encounter with Lawler would have ended differently if Paul had confronted “a kid in a yarmulke.”
“My initial reaction is hurt, but not shock. What Congressman Lawler went through last night is an experience that nearly every Jewish American understands,” Litvin said. “I’m relieved this was a U.S. congressman who he thought was Jewish. It could have just been a kid in a yarmulke, and I don’t know how the night would have ended in that case.”
Litvin linked the Tuesday night incident with Massie’s appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, accusing the Kentucky congressman of spreading “Nazi propaganda of Jewish control of the government” as he claimed Jews were responsible for his primary challenge.
Massie, according to Litvin, “said, ‘I’m the only one who didn’t support the leader of my party in my body, Speaker Johnson, and I voted against Trump. Now they’re coming after me and it’s because of the Jews.’ Perhaps, if you’ve made enemies out of all the leaders of your party, the Jews are not responsible when people are upset with you, but that’s his claim, that it’s the Jews, it’s the Zionists.”
“That’s exactly what this young man said to Mike Lawler: ‘You need to watch more Tucker Carlson because this is what they’re talking about,’” he said.
Still, Litvin repeatedly emphasized in his statement and to JI that he has “never seen a hint of antisemitism” from Sen. Paul “who has been a friend to Jewish Kentuckians, condemning antisemitism, supporting Jewish students, standing for the return of stolen Holocaust art and valuables, rejecting the hateful extremism at international organizations, and celebrating the Jewish community’s contributions to our country.”
Litvin called on statewide officials to condemn the younger Paul’s comments, while defending the Kentucky senator.
“I think everyone should speak out at this point. I think we have a growing problem we’ve been ignoring in America. Of Candace Owens, of Tucker Carlson, of Hasan Piker,” he continued. “They’re not on some big news station who’s held responsible. They are given a limitless platform and a microphone, and far too many times we have seen those direct comments lead to violence.”
Lauren Wolman, the senior director of government relations and strategy for the Anti-Defamation League, called the comments “disgusting and dangerous.”
“We’re thankful to Rep. Lawler for standing up in the face of this hate, but the fact that a Member of Congress was subjected to this kind of abuse so openly is outrageous and a sign of how far too normalized antisemitism has become,” Wolman said. “Every leader and public official, in every party, must condemn it clearly and unequivocally and make clear this hate will not be tolerated.”
The incident comes just days after another antisemitic incident in Massie’s race drew widespread national condemnation. An outside group backing Massie and opposing Gallrein published a vitriolic attack ad against Gallrein donor and Jewish billionaire Paul Singer, which placed Singer alongside a large star of David.
Paul has made headlines in the past for alcohol-related issues, including a 2015 collision with a parked vehicle while intoxicated and a 2013 arrest for assaulting a flight attendant, underage drinking and disorderly conduct.
Paul’s LinkedIn page lists him as a digital communications manager in the House, and a former staffer for two conservative groups. But a recent post from four days ago suggested he no longer works on the Hill.
Jewish Insider’s Washington reporter Matthew Shea contributed to this report.
Plus, the race to replace Pelosi
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump waves to the media after walking off of Air Force One at Miami International Airport on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we do a deep dive into the race to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi, in what has become something of a proxy battle in the war for the identity of the Democratic Party, and report on an effort by Democratic Majority for Israel to boost a Texas congressional candidate whose far-left opponent has trafficked in antisemitic tropes. We talk to Senate Republicans about the possibility of resuming military operations against Iran, and have the scoop on Gerald Steinberg’s decision to step down from the helm of NGO Monitor early next year, and the first interview with his successor, Olga Deutsch. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Daniel Septimus, Rom Braslavski and Ben Shapiro.
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
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are both slated to testify this morning at back-to-back House and Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearings. In the afternoon, FBI Director Kash Patel will testify before Senate Appropriations.
- The Anti-Defamation League is holding a Jewish American Heritage Month reception this evening on Capitol Hill.
- Elsewhere in Washington, the Jewish Democratic Council of America is kicking off its annual summit tonight with a reception at the Watergate Hotel. The group will honor Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and will hear from Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Jason Crow (D-CO), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA).
- The funeral for former Anti-Defamation League head Abe Foxman, who died on Sunday, will take place this morning at Park Avenue Synagogue.
- In New York City tonight, three of the top candidates in the open congressional race in NY-12 — George Conway and Assemblymembers Alex Bores and Micah Lasher — will participate in a forum at the West Side Institutional Synagogue moderated by Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar.
- Elsewhere in New York, the American Jewish Committee will present Cardinal Timothy Dolan with the group’s Nostra Aetate at Sixty Award, honoring Dolan’s interfaith efforts on the 60th anniversary of the groundbreaking Vatican declaration.
- Across the Hudson, the New Jersey Globe is hosting a primary debate for the Democrats running in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. ER physician and former government official Tina Shah, former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett and businessmen Brian Varela and Michael Roth will participate in tonight’s debate, which starts at 7 p.m. ET.
- Israeli Eurovision entrant Noam Battan will perform tonight when the contest’s semifinals kick off in Vienna.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
Over the last two years, the second semester of the academic year at American universities coincided with crisis and chaos. In 2024, it was anti-Israel encampments overtaking campus quads across the country; last year, it was threats from the Trump administration to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and ban foreign students.
By comparison, the spring of 2026 has been relatively smooth sailing for research universities, even with a bit of hubbub over graduation speakers scrutinized for their stance on Israel and Gaza at a few schools, including the University of Michigan and Georgetown Law.
But it’s not that things have gone back to the pre-Oct. 7, pre-Donald Trump normal. University administrators have just gotten better at managing an ambient sense of friction: Conflict between university leaders and activist faculty and students is still bubbling under the surface, and the threat of funding cuts at the federal level lingers.
According to several university presidents who gathered last week at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, the task before universities is to win back the trust of skeptical Americans.
“The world of higher education, I think, is still in turmoil,” Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier told Jewish Insider in an interview at the Milken confab. “I think the time when a university does say that’s all overblown and everything is great, that’s over. At least the vast majority of university presidents know that there are challenges, and they want to take them on.”
democratic fault lines
The race to fill the seat of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in California’s 11th Congressional District has become somewhat of a proxy battle in the war for the identity of the Democratic Party, where describing Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocide, supporting arms embargoes to Israel and attacking Zionism as a racist ideology have become much more common since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza, Gabe Stutman reports for Jewish Insider. The outcome of the race will help answer an important question: Can a progressive candidate still win in a deep-blue district like San Francisco without fully embracing the politics of the anti-Zionist left?
State of play: The race is by most accounts a three-way contest between state Sen. Scott Wiener, Connie Chan, a progressive member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who has the backing of major labor organizations but has struggled to compete in fundraising, and Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy tech entrepreneur who entered progressive politics working for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during his 2016 presidential bid and later served as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) chief of staff.
EXCLUSIVE
Democratic Majority for Israel’s political arm is kicking off an ad campaign on Tuesday to boost Johnny Garcia, a sheriff’s deputy in Bexar County, Texas, in his Democratic runoff election later this month against Maureen Galindo, a San Antonio activist who has faced scrutiny for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Getting behind Garcia: “Democrats need candidates who can build broad coalitions and win in November,” Brian Romick, the chair of DMFI PAC, told JI. “Johnny Garcia is a coalition builder who supports a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and has been clear in standing against antisemitism. His opponent, on the other hand, proudly embraces vile, antisemitic conspiracies and if she advances could put a Democratic House majority at risk.”
TEHRAN TALKS
With President Donald Trump publicly mulling the resumption of military action against Iran, fault lines are opening up among Senate Republicans over the prospect of a renewed military effort, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
State of play: Some Senate Republicans are publicly calling for the U.S. to resume military operations. Others are leaving the prospect of military action on the table without fully ruling out a diplomatic path, while offering varying degrees of skepticism about how realistic a deal actually would be. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) urged Trump to ignore calls from some of his more hawkish colleagues to restart military operations.
Pakistan problems: Senators on both sides of the aisle, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Ted Budd (R-NC), on Monday expressed concerns about a report by CBS News that Pakistan had sheltered multiple Iranian military aircraft at an air force base in the country since shortly after the U.S.-Iran ceasefire in April, raising questions about the country’s neutrality as a mediator, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
PARTY SWITCH
The Israeli financiers, investors and entrepreneurs who attended last week’s Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills brought an upbeat attitude about Israel’s economy, even two-and-a-half years into near-constant war that began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Exceeded expectations: “When the war began, I think none of us — none of the regulators in Israel, and almost none of the players or the investors in Israel — thought or believed that after two-and-a-half years of war, Israel would show such growth, such resilience,” Seffy Zinger, chair of the Israel Securities Authority, told JI in an interview. “I’m not an investment advisor, but you can see that if you were not in Israel in the past two years, you probably missed out, if Israel was not part of your portfolio.”
SPEAKING OUT
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht, a former vice-chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, announced Monday he has left the party, citing “anti-Jewish” actions and “acquiescence to Jew-hatred” within the party, including from elected officials, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
What he said: “Acquiescence to Jew-hatred is now disturbingly common among activists, leaders and even many elected officials in the Democratic Party. I can no longer abide this,” wrote Wecht, who was elected as a Democrat in 2015. He added that he is no longer affiliated with any political party. “That terror came from the right,” he wrote. “Jew-hatred has always festered on the fringe of that sector.” But, Wecht continued, “in the quarter century that has passed” since his leadership position, “the Democratic Party has changed.”
scoop
NGO Monitor President Gerald Steinberg is set to step down in January, 25 years after founding the Jerusalem-based watchdog group focused on scrutinizing nonprofit organizations critical of Israel and their funding sources, Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve reports. Olga Deutsch, 47, currently NGO Monitor’s vice president, will succeed Steinberg following a months-long transition process at the organization, which since its inception has been closely associated with its founder.
Passing the baton: Steinberg, 74, who resigned from his position as a professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University seven years ago, told JI, “There is a point in one’s life where one has to decide the different priorities. And I’ve done this long enough, and other people can have more energy and can take over.” Deutsch told JI that she hopes to “open the next exciting chapter,” while preserving the “character of the organization that Gerald created, which is serving as pioneers and continuing to flag the new fronts through which the Jewish state and the Jewish people are being attacked or put in danger.”
Worthy Reads
Abe as Mentor: In eJewishPhilanthropy, William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, eulogizes former Anti-Defamation League head Abe Foxman, who died on Sunday. “He combined toughness and warmth in a way few leaders can. He expected seriousness. He spoke with moral clarity. He pushed younger Jewish leaders to think bigger about our responsibility to the Jewish people and the broader democratic society in which we live. He also challenged me, usually in private, though occasionally in the public pages of newspapers. Abe Foxman knew exactly when to make a point, and exactly how to make it land.” [eJP]
Miller Lite: The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer and Nick Miroff spotlight the waning influence of Stephen Miller in the second Trump administration. “White House insiders said that Miller remains a top adviser to the president, that he has a singular relationship to Trump built over the past decade, and that his job is not in jeopardy. Immigration enforcement remains a central theme of the administration and is expected to feature prominently in Trump’s midterm-election messaging. … But Trump, who has previously joked that Miller’s ‘truest feelings’ are so extreme that they should not be aired publicly, has also told others in recent weeks that he understands Miller sometimes goes too far, advisers told us.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump said that the ceasefire with Iran was on “life support” following Washington’s rejection of Tehran’s latest response to the U.S. proposal to end the war, Jewish Insider‘s Emily Jacobs reports…
CNN looks at efforts by Iran to recruit operatives in Europe to carry out attacks on Jewish targets…
The United Arab Emirates reportedly carried out strikes on Iran during the active military campaign launched by the U.S. and Israel, targeting among other things an oil refinery on the Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf…
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, speaking at the Tel Aviv Conference today,confirmed that Israel sent missile-defense batteries and operating personnel to the UAE during the war with Iran…
The Financial Times spotlights Iran’s “mosquito fleet” of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fast-attack boats that are engaging commercial and military vessels in the Strait of Hormuz…
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) and 17 other Democrats introduced a bill to ban further funding for military operations against Iran…
Trump nominated Cameron Hamilton to head FEMA, a year after Hamilton, who mounted a failed 2024 bid for Congress, was fired as the interim head of the agency…
Kevin Warsh is expected to be confirmed as the next head of the Federal Reserve as early as tomorrow…
Trump invited several business leaders to join him on his trip later this week to China, including Elon Musk, outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon, Citi’s Jane Fraser and Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, among others…
Trump announced the nominations of Kari Lake, the former head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, and Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano to be, respectively, the ambassadors to Jamaica and Slovakia…
Former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), who has been nominated to be U.S. ambassador to Iceland, shared a three-minute clip of a speech by neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes on X on Sunday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
The New York Times spotlights the work of Fuentes’ acolytes to build on the antisemitic conspiracy theorist’s political movement, an effort that coalesced around a conference of influencers and fringe candidates from both parties in a sparsely attended summit; the low turnout was attributed in part to the absence of Fuentes, who distanced himself from the gathering…
Puck News does a deep dive into the recent layoffs at Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire, finding that the recent decision to cut approximately 20% of the company’s staff was fueled by a combination of internal business disagreements and the “‘vibe shift’ among the MAGA base” that has divided conservatives in recent years…
A judge in Santa Clara County, Calif., ordered a Jewish prosecutor to recuse himself from a case against anti-Israel student protesters at Stanford University after the prosecutor described the incident as antisemitic in campaign literature, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
The Wall Street Journal’s Shira Kaplan reflects on the sanctity of Shabbat following President Donald Trump’s call for the American Jewish community to observe a “national Sabbath” this weekend…
Daniel Septimus is departing Sefaria after 13 years atop the organization, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
Australian Jewish musicians testifying on Tuesday before the country’s royal commission into antisemitism in the country detailed the yearslong ostracization they experienced from the arts community for their support for Israel…
Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur breaks down the “obvious propaganda” in a recent New York Times opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof about alleged Israeli abuses of Palestinian prisoners…
Former Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, who was one of the last hostages to be freed after spending more than 700 days in Hamas captivity, called for the resignation of all members of the current Israeli government, whom he called “miserable cowards”…
Israel’s Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children released its comprehensive report on sexual violence during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and during hostages’ time in captivity…
The Knesset passed, with the support of 93 of the body’s 120 lawmakers, a law establishing a military tribunal to try terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks…
E.U. member states unanimously voted to sanction Hamas leaders as well as Israeli settlers in a bid to target extremism; the vote came after Hungary, no longer under the leadership of Viktor Orbán, removed its longstanding opposition to the measure…
Israel denied entry to YouTuber Tyler Oliveira, who in recent months has posted videos suggesting that Jews were “invading” communities in New York and New Jersey…
The Israeli soldier photographed desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in a southern Lebanese village was sentenced to three weeks in a military prison, while the soldier who took the photo received a sentence of two weeks…
Iran executed a graduate student convicted of spying on behalf of the CIA and Mossad; Erfan Shakourzadeh, who attended the prestigious Iran University of Science and Technology, denied the charges in a letter written before his execution…
Pic of the Day
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) met in Kyiv earlier today with Palantir CEO Alex Karp.
Birthdays
Acclaimed architect and master planner for the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, he also designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Daniel Libeskind turns 80…
Israeli agribusiness entrepreneur and real estate investor, he was chairman and owner of Carmel Agrexco, Gideon Bickel turns 82… Former member of the California state Senate for eight years, following six years as a member of the state Assembly, Lois Wolk turns 80… Chairman of the Israel Paralympic Committee, he served for four years as a member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Moshe “Mutz” Matalon turns 73… Former Washington correspondent for McClatchy and then the Miami Herald covering the Pentagon, James Martin Rosen turns 71… SVP and deputy general counsel at Delta Air Lines until 2024, now chief legal officer at private aviation firm Wheels Up, Matthew Knopf turns 70… Professor at Emory University School of Law, he has published over 200 articles on law, religion and Jewish law, Michael Jay Broyde turns 62… Actress known for her role as Lexi Sterling on “Melrose Place,” she also had the lead role in many Lifetime movies, Jamie Michelle Luner turns 55… Founder of strategic communications and consulting firm Hiltzik Strategies, Matthew Hiltzik turns 54… Communications officer in the D.C. office of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations until last year, Jonathan E. Kaplan… First-ever Jewish governor of Colorado, he was a successful serial entrepreneur before entering politics, Jared Polis turns 51… Professor of mathematics at Bar-Ilan University and a scientific advisor at the Y-Data school of data science in Israel, Elena Bunina turns 50… Italian politician, she is the first-ever Jewish mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro turns 50… Israeli pastry chef and parenting counselor, she is married to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Gilat Ethel Bennett turns 49… Author, blogger and public speaker, Michael Ellsberg turns 49… Senior advisor at Accelerator for America Action, Joshua Cohen… Technology and social media reporter at Bloomberg, Alexandra Sophie Levine… Executive director of government affairs at BridgeBio, Amanda Schechter Malakoff… A government affairs and public policy manager for YouTube, Erica Arbetter… Haifa-born actress and model, she is known for her lead roles in seven films since 2014, Odeya Rush turns 29…
‘I’m not an investment advisor, but you can see that if you were not in Israel in the past two years, you probably missed out, if Israel was not part of your portfolio,’ Seffy Zinger, chair of the Israel Securities Authority, told JI
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
Laurence D. Fink (R), co-founder, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, speaks next to Milken Institute chairman Michael Milken during the 29th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 5, 2026.
LOS ANGELES — The Israeli financiers, investors and entrepreneurs who attended last week’s Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills almost couldn’t make it. Just weeks earlier, after all, the country’s airspace had been largely closed as war raged with Iran.
But aside from their slight fear that the fragile ceasefire would fall apart and leave them stranded in the United States, the Israelis who participated in the marquee conference of global finance brought an upbeat attitude about Israel’s economy, even two-and-a-half years into near-constant war that began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
“When the war began, I think none of us — none of the regulators in Israel, and almost none of the players or the investors in Israel — thought or believed that after two-and-a-half years of war, Israel would show such growth, such resilience,” Seffy Zinger, chair of the Israel Securities Authority, told Jewish Insider in an interview. (The ISA is Israel’s equivalent of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.)
Zinger was at Milken to spread the message that global financiers should consider investing in the Israeli economy, and in particular the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, despite the doom-and-gloom headlines about the Middle East.
“I’m not an investment advisor, but you can see that if you were not in Israel in the past two years, you probably missed out, if Israel was not part of your portfolio. So I think Israel is becoming a very interesting place economically,” he said.
The shift away from Israel in American politics did not appear to be reflected at this gathering of global business elites: Natti Ginor, a managing director at Jefferies and the bank’s head of Israel investment banking, pitched Israel at the conference as a financial capital in the Middle East. Blackstone’s Tel Aviv-based senior managing director, Yifat Oron, was also there talking about her work leading the firm’s investments in Israel.
“When we are talking to investors and the big players, what I see is a lot of interest in Israel, and I think the economy and the numbers speak for themselves,” said Zinger.
Dror Barak traveled to Los Angeles from Israel to meet developers and investors from across the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian territories. He is the founder of Align Capital, an infrastructure-focused private equity firm that is working on projects related to IMEC, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — a planned project meant to further economic cooperation across wide swathes of the world. Its development has stalled since the Oct. 7 terror attacks and the ensuing war, but behind the scenes, progress is being made.
“The war, I don’t like to say it, but with all the bad things it also pushed us toward a new era of cooperation,” Barak told JI last week. “The war made us on the same side. It’s the first time in history that we, the UAE [and] Saudi are on the same side. We are all against, publicly or less publicly, Iran. With the United States, of course. So this is a very, very, very dramatic thing, and it’s changed dramatically the nature of our relationship.” IMEC has been floated as an alternative for global shipping amid turbulence in the Strait of Hormuz.
Barak acknowledges that Israel’s reputation has suffered: “Yes, it’s an issue,” he said. But he argued that the work of investing in cross-regional infrastructure must happen, even if the geopolitical situation remains unresolved.
“I’m not waiting for the American public to dedicate my direction, and I’m not waiting for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] or [President Donald Trump] to do some peace,” said Barak. “We promote Arabs and Jews working together. So everywhere that you are looking, I think that we are doing the right thing — the right thing for Israel, the right thing for the region and the right thing for the global politics that want to support the right forces.”
Last year was a banner one for Israeli startups, and the country’s GDP rebounded last year after slowing in 2023 and 2024. But challenges remain. Bentzion Levinson, founder and CEO of Heven AeroTech, an American company with a large Israeli workforce, said there were times that more than one-third of his employees were out of the office doing reserve duty in the Israeli military.
“To this day, we have an average of 10 to 20% of our employees in reserves, around the clock. So I think it’s a challenge. But challenges build strength,” Levinson told JI in Los Angeles. His company’s creation of pioneering long-range stealth drones has driven contracts with the U.S. military and earned a unicorn valuation.
“A lot of things are taking a toll on families [and the] personal, but I think people are strong and they realize that there’s no other choice,” said Levinson. “I think it’s gonna be a decade of significant growth in Israel, especially in the defense tech world … it’s a challenge, but I think the Israeli people can overcome it.”
Zinger, the ISA chair, was attending Milken with his chief of staff, who spent nearly 400 days serving in the reserves after Oct. 7. Responsibilities got juggled; some days the staffer would work three days and do reserve duty for two days. There was no choice but to adapt. And that flexibility, Zinger argued, is part of why Israel’s economy has performed better than anyone expected during the war.
“I think this is part of the strength of the Israeli community and society, exactly these kinds of things, and of course, without that strength, the performance that we see could not have happened,” said Zinger. “It’s something that I think we learn how to live with.”
Starmer on Friday morning called the results 'really tough,' adding that the outcome 'hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility'
Chris Radburn / AFP via Getty Images
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage poses to show off his socks as he visits a polling station in Walton-on-the-Naze, eastern England on May 7, 2026, to cast his vote in the local elections.
All politics is local, as the saying goes. And if true, that could be very bad news for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer following yesterday’s local elections across the country that saw significant losses for his Labour Party — a showing that could prompt party officials to reassess the party’s direction.
With partial results in shortly after polls closed, Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform U.K. party appeared to have made significant gains in working-class areas of the country, while Labour lost hundreds of local seats. Farage, who has faced multiple allegations of antisemitism — including bullying Jewish classmates as a teenager and promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, as well as his multiple appearances on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show — was the night’s clear victor.
All told, Labour did not lose as badly as some polls had predicted, but the significant losses it did suffer, compared to Reform’s gains, portend future challenges for Starmer as he works to hold onto the premiership, less than two years into his term.
Starmer on Friday morning called the results “really tough,” adding that the outcome “hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.” He insisted he had no intention of leaving 10 Downing St., telling BBC News repeatedly, “I’m not going to walk away.”
The other big loser in the day’s elections was Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party, which, aside from reclaiming London’s Wandsworth and Westminster districts (both of which it lost to Labour in the 2022 elections), made few significant gains, while the Green Party fared better than Labour and the Tories,pulling out modest wins and gaining at least a dozen seats.
The Greens’ rise comes as the party investigates more than two dozen members for antisemitism, and as its leader, Zack Polanski, draws heavy criticism for making inaccurate claims about police actions during last week’s terror attack targeting two Jewish men in the London suburb of Golders Green, for which he ultimately apologized.
That the two parties claiming the best outcomes fall on opposite — and extreme — ends of the political spectrum is deepening concerns among British Jews, who are already on edge amid spiking antisemitism and a wave of violent attacks targeting Jewish communities around the country. The country’s Jewish leaders have not come out in force against Farage, who is broadly supportive of Israel, and his Reform Party in the same way they’ve raised concerns about antisemitism in Labour and the Greens.
“Many British Jews have looked on with horror as the traditional domination of two political parties has been disrupted by the rise in support for populist parties on the extremes — both right with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and left with Zack Polanski’s Greens,” Justin Cohen, the editor-in-chief of the U.K.’s Jewish News, told JI. “Both parties have had to remove candidates during this election campaign over antisemitic rhetoric, although the issue does appear more pronounced within the latter.”
“That’s not to dismiss the meteoric rise of Reform,” he added, “which was formed just four years ago and has now for the first time won considerable support at the ballot box. And it would be wrong to claim that the party’s positions on Israel — and claims of easy solutions to the extremism that threatens our community — haven’t attracted support in large sections of the community at a time of unprecedented attacks and fears for the future.”
Ultimately, Cohen said, “Just as there other Jews consider the party’s rhetoric to be utterly abhorrent. Where’s some of the community are happy to dismiss claims of Farage’s own antisemitic comments as a teen, others refuse to do so. Many of them will be hoping that the extra scrutiny that comes with this week’s electoral success, combined with the pressures of power they now hold at local level, will be their undoing before the next general election scheduled for three years time.”
Plus, Pelosi's Al Green light
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
Laurence D. Fink (R), co-founder, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, speaks next to Milken Institute chairman Michael Milken during the 29th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 5, 2026.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover the White House’s new counterterrorism strategy targeting the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and Islamic State elements in Africa, and report on Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s backing of an anti-Israel congressional candidate in Houston who is at odds with the city’s Jewish community. We cover Georgetown University Law School’s decision to replace a Jewish commencement speaker with a critic of Congress’ antisemitism hearings, and talk to CNBC’s Sara Eisen on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Adeena Sussman, Ken Griffin and Eyal Waldman.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump is hosting Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this morning at the White House. The sit-down comes amid continued uncertainty over the state of U.S. negotiations with Iran. Fox News reported that Trump said the parties had a week to reach an agreement — establishing a deadline set to expire at the president heads to Beijing for his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Rome this morning, and met withPope Leo XIV at the Vatican amid tensions between the Holy See and the White House over the war in Iran. Earlier this week, Trump told Hugh Hewitt that the pontiff’s criticism of the war was “endangering a lot of Catholics.”
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is holding its annual policy dinner tonight.
- Magnum Ice Cream Company is holding a stakeholder meeting today, where it will face pressure from NorthStar Asset Management, which is working with Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, over steps taken in recent months by Magnum, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, to tamp down on the ice cream company’s social activism.
- Voters in the U.K. are casting ballots in local elections around the country, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his ruling Labour party expected to face significant losses.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
The country’s consummate insiders gathered at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills this week. But far away from the five-star hotels where attendees closed business deals and mingled over salmon bento boxes, there is concern over an anti-elite sentiment that is dominating American politics.
The executives, philanthropists and politicians who attended the gathering took note of this increasingly populist moment while discussing how to remedy some of the legitimate concerns of Americans.
There were sessions focused on protecting the workforce in the face of disruption from AI, and on retirement planning for gig economy workers who cannot contribute to a typical 401(k). Behind the scenes, Trump Accounts — tax-advantaged savings accounts for American children, with $1,000 kicked in from Uncle Sam — were a big topic of conversation.
As some of America’s most important decision-makers discussed the turbulent downstream impacts of the AI boom, and the sense that many people are feeling left behind, a related topic that animated the many Jewish executives and investors who attended the conference.
They worry that the intermingling of populism and antisemitism, already heightened following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel two and a half years ago, represents a dangerous combination.
“Antisemitism is a manifestation of extremism and populism,” TD Bank Vice Chair Jeffrey Solomon told Jewish Insider. “Extremism on the left and extremism on the right, neither one of those is good for us as Jews, but it’s not good for a lot of people.”
SPEAKER SELECTION
After a Jewish university leader withdrew as Georgetown University Law Center’s commencement speaker following backlash from anti-Israel student activists, the school replaced him with a professor who criticized congressional hearings on campus antisemitism as a form of “McCarthyism” aimed at chilling free speech, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Chain of events: In an email to law school students on Wednesday, Joshua Teitelbaum, the interim dean of Georgetown Law, wrote that “in the past week, a number of law students raised concerns” about the speaker selection of Morton Schapiro, an economist and the former president of Northwestern University for over 10 years. Teitelbaum said those concerns were “due primarily to opinion essays [Schapiro] published on Israel and Palestine in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023.” Schapiro withdrew after learning of the students’ concerns, Teitelbaum said, and announced that Georgetown Law professor David Cole would replace him.
PROTEST POLITICS
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reiterated on Wednesday his criticism of the “Great Israel Real Estate Event” held at Park East Synagogue the night prior, even as fellow Democrats condemned the extremist speech and actions of protesters who sought to break the police cordon outside, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. The event included, among other offerings, advertisements for settlements in the West Bank.
Reiterating his position: Pressed on Tuesday about plans for protests at the Manhattan shul, Mamdani released a statement strictly criticizing the event with no mention of the previous disturbance the same pro-Hamas activist group caused outside Park East last November. Jen Goodman, spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul meanwhile, said, “No one should be intimidated when entering their house of worship.”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Attorney General Letitia James and Council Speaker Julie Menin.
Washington weighs in: Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, said the department was investigating an incident in which a Jewish couple appeared to be harassed by protesters near the Wednesday event at the Park East Synagogue.
DOHA DYNAMICS
Iranian attacks on Qatar could prompt Doha to reassess its regional alignment and relationship with Tehran, experts said, though they expressed skepticism that the strikes would change Qatar’s antagonistic posture toward Israel, its funding of anti-Israel media or its harboring of Muslim Brotherhood-aligned groups, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
Turning point: “Iran’s strikes have created real fissures,” said Natalie Ecanow, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “For example, Qatar expelled Iran’s military and security attachés and cracked down on IRGC cells within its borders. Notably, Qatar’s prime minister called Iran’s strikes ‘a big sense of betrayal,’ which is language typically reserved for friends or partners, not foes. That tells you something about Qatar’s mindset before the war.”
TERROR TARGETS
Seb Gorka, the National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, announced while unveiling President Donald Trump’s U.S. counterterrorism strategy on Wednesday that U.S. officials will meet with representatives from several foreign governments this week to ask for assistance in combating terrorism emanating from Iran and elsewhere, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
What it entails: Gorka, who also serves as a deputy assistant to the president and oversaw the drafting of the strategy, told reporters that as part of the strategy, the U.S. intends to seek more support on the counterterrorism front from allies who want to be “measured as a serious nation” by the Trump administration. The strategy covers how the administration will respond to threats from Islamic terrorist organizations at home and abroad, drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere and domestic political groups accused of inciting violence.
PELOSI’S PICK
Rep. Al Green (D-TX), a vocal critic of Israel competing in a closely contested runoff against a fellow House Democrat later this month, announced in social media posts on Monday that he had received a coveted endorsement from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the powerful former House speaker, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Community reactions: Jewish community leaders in the Houston area were surprised to see Pelosi’s endorsement, especially as it appeared to break with her precedent of declining to engage in member-on-member races. It also fueled ongoing frustrations with Green’s alleged lack of outreach to Houston’s sizable Jewish community — a potentially critical constituency in what is expected to be a close election.
MAKING NEWS
CNBC anchor Sara Eisen is a fixture at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, where she moderates marquee events, such as a one-on-one interview on Tuesday with Ken Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund Citadel. But the real reason that Eisen comes to Beverly Hills for the exclusive annual gathering is for the conversations happening far from the main stages. And much of the conversation Eisen is hearing this week, she told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch, has to do with the dramatic rise in antisemitism in recent years.
Sideline conversation: “To a large extent, I reflect a lot of what the sources that I speak to [say]. That’s investors, and it’s business leaders, and it’s private equity leaders,” Eisen told JI. “A lot of these people, Jewish and non-Jewish, talk to me about it. They know about my background. They know my perspective. They see what’s happening in the political world. They see what’s happening in geopolitics,” she continued. “This is the sideline conversation.”
Worthy Reads
Tehran Talks: In Foreign Policy, Menahem Merhavy observes a shift in the rhetoric of senior Iranian officials that he attributes to a “deeper contraction in the regime’s horizon of action” as it struggles in the wake of the war with the U.S. and Israel. “The United States now appears in Iranian discourse less as a fading empire than as a force capable of demanding surrender, while Israel is treated not as a collapsing anomaly but as a resilient and operationally effective adversary. The shift is striking: The same regime that once denied the durability of its enemies now implicitly affirms it. The greater the acknowledged strength of these adversaries, the more meaningful survival can be presented as victory.” [ForeignPolicy]
Lurie’s Lure: In The Washington Post, Max Raskin, a self-identified “Republican who has been investing in San Francisco real estate for the past two years,” praises Mayor Daniel Lurie’s efforts to turn the city around following years of high crime and economic malaise. “Like Nixon in China, Lurie’s disarming charm and Democrat bona fides gave him the political cover necessary to establish these initiatives and make these changes. This is why the country’s most liberal city can experiment with a conservative idea — that if you get crime right, everything else will follow. Foot traffic picks up, which leads to more retail activity, which leads to more investment, resulting in a boom loop.” [WashPost]
Intifada in the Digital Age: In The Free Press, Warren Kinsella looks at Hamas’ use of digital technology to garner support for its cause and antipathy for Israel. “[Counterterrorism expert Khaled] Hassan said that no one should be under any illusion: For Hamas, the main weapon of the war — online and otherwise — is now a smartphone, which provides vital insights into the way Westerners live and how to capture their support. If someone is in the business of fomenting anger, he said, the internet is the best recruitment and radicalization tool in the history of the world.” [FreePress]
Word on the Street
The U.S. Air Force is planning for the Qatari luxury jet being gifted to the Trump administration to be delivered on July 4, to coincide with the U.S.’ Semiquincentennial…
Bloomberg looks at U.S. efforts to pressure the governments of Lebanon and Iraq to crack down on Iran-backed groups in the countries that are threatening the stability of the current ceasefire…
The effort comes amid ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; on Wednesday, Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut for the first time since the ceasefire went into effect, saying on Thursday that Radwan Force commander Ahmed Ghaleb Balout was killed in the strike…
The U.S. halted its short-lived “Project Freedom” effort to help stranded ships leave the Strait of Hormuz after Saudi Arabia denied the U.S. the use of its bases and airspace, NBC reported…
A Washington Post assessment found that Iran had damaged more than 220 installations at U.S. military sites across the Middle East during the recent war…
The Financial Times reports that Iran has increased its rate of executions in recent weeks, using a new legal framework to target Iranians who participated in anti-government protests earlier this year as well as those accused of colluding with the Islamic Republic’s enemies…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the efforts of Mohamed Arrachedi, the Middle East regional coordinator for the International Transport Workers’ Federation, who with his team serves as a lifeline to the approximately 20,000 sailors in the region and has responded to some 2,000 requests seeking assistance…
The New York Times looks at clashes between German officials and members of the country’s intelligence community over public warnings about the domestic threat posed by Iran, with regional intelligence officials raising concerns that the threat is more severe than Berlin is acknowledging…
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would cut federal R&D funding to universities that operate campuses in Iran, China, Qatar, Turkey, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela or North Korea…
Rutgers withdrew an invitation for Arcellx CEO Rami Elghandour to deliver a speech at the school’s upcoming commencement ceremony for its engineering school after some students indicated they would not attend the event over Elghandour’s past anti-Israel commentary on social media…
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s reelection campaign said the governor raised $3.6 million in the last five weeks, bringing Shapiro’s war chest to $37 million…
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin praised Rahm Emanuel’s tenure as former mayor of Chicago while attacking Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for his handling of crime and education issues during a panel at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference this week, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…
A senior official at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington said that the JCRC is receiving “significantly higher” reports of antisemitism from Montgomery County Public Schools, located just outside of Washington, than others in the region, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
Oaktree’s Howard Marks listed his home in Malibu, Calif., for $38.5 million, five years after purchasing the beachfront property for $31 million…
Adeena Sussman’s newest cookbook, Zariz, was named to The New York Times’ best-seller list in the Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous category; read our interview with Sussman about Zariz here…
An Israeli court ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to provide medical records detailing his diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer as part of a libel case against Israeli journalists and an anti-Netanyahu activist who said in 2024 that the prime minister was seriously ill…
Mellanox co-founder Eyal Waldman, whose daughter Danielle was killed at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, was heckled by a demonstrator at the Venice Biennale who discovered Waldman was Israeli…
Hamutal Meridor’s defense-tech startup Kela is raising $200 million at a $1 billion valuation in a funding round led by Stripe and D1 Capital Partners that also includes Bill Ackman and Eric Schmidt…
Israel will send jet fuel to Germany following a request from Berlin, amid shortages resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz…
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever criticized U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White for weighing in on an Antwerp prosecutor’s decision to levy charges against three mohels after Belgium barred nonmedical practitioners from conducting circumcisions, in a move that was heavily criticized by the country’s Jewish community…
Pic of the Day
Israeli President Isaac Herzog (left) met on Wednesday with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino in Panama City, becoming the first sitting Israeli president to visit the Central American country. From Panama, Herzog will travel on to Costa Rica for the inauguration of President-elect Laura Fernández Delgado.
Birthdays
CEO of the American Jewish Committee, he was previously a member of Congress for 12 years, Ted Deutch turns 60…
Member of the New York state Assembly from 1993 to 2022, Sandra R. “Sandy” Galef turns 86… Senior member of the Mobile, Ala., law firm of Silver Voit Garrett & Watkins, Irving Silver turns 86… Napa, Calif.-based media executive and podcast host, Jeffrey Schechtman… Theatrical producer at Press the Button Productions in Monterey, Calif., Jane J. Press… Former member of the Knesset for the Shas party, Rabbi Meshulam Nahari turns 75… Former deputy secretary of state and deputy national security advisor, currently the dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS, James Braidy “Jim” Steinberg turns 73… Director of many commercially successful films including “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “National Lampoon’s European Vacation,” “Look Who’s Talking” and “Clueless,” Amy Heckerling turns 72… President of Harvard University, Alan Michael Garber turns 71… Mayor of El Paso, Texas, from 2013 to 2017 and again from 2021 to 2025, Oscar Leeser turns 68… Professional poker player and hedge fund manager, Daniel Shak turns 67… CEO of Rationalwave Capital Partners, a venture capital firm investing in technology companies, Mark Rosenblatt… Emmy Award-winning film, television and music video director, Adam Bernstein turns 66… Mexican actor best known for his work in telenovelas and the stage, Ari Telch turns 64… Co-founder of JewBelong, Archie Gottesman… Chairman and CEO of Hertz from 2022 to 2024, following 28 years at Goldman Sachs, Stephen Scherr turns 62… Former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Mark H. Levine turns 60… Principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs, Keith Stern… Chief judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, Matthew Hillel Solomson turns 52… Senior advisor at Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz turns 50… Head of congressional affairs at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, Eyal Naor turns 50… Former member of the Knesset who served as interior minister and justice minister, she now chairs Kardan Real Estate Group, Ayelet Shaked turns 50… AIPAC activist, Yana J. Lukeman… VP of sales at Harvey, Robert Warren Saliterman… Head of school at Manhattan Day School, Pesha C. Kletenik… Social entrepreneur, winemaker and CEO of Napa Valley’s OneHope, Jake Kloberdanz turns 43… Director of government affairs for the Port of Los Angeles, Arthur L. Mandel turns 41… CEO of Harris Media, he has worked on several presidential campaigns, Vincent Robert Harris turns 38… Adventurer, dogsled racer, advice columnist and writer, she raced in and completed the 2019 dog sled Iditarod, Blair Braverman turns 38… Las Vegas-based fashion blogger, model, DJ and writer, known as Bebe Zeva, Rebeccah Zeva Hershkovitz turns 33… Film and television actress, Dylan Nicole Gelula turns 32… Actor and singer, Andrew Barth Feldman turns 24… Director of advocacy and public affairs for the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Ben Suarato… Mayor of Providence, R.I., Brett Smiley…
In an interview with Jewish Insider, Emanuel outlines his views amid changing winds in a Democratic Party increasingly antagonistic to the pro-Israel perspective that had long been central to his identity
Jewish Federations of North America
Rahm Emanuel speaks at the Jewish Federations of North America's 2025 General Assembly opening plenary on Nov. 16, 2025.
Last November, Rahm Emanuel, the tough-talking Democratic operative and prospective presidential candidate, took the stage of the Jewish Federations of North America’s annual conference in Washington to deliver a blunt word of warning about Israel’s declining reputation in the United States and around the globe.
“I don’t mean to be the party pooper, but look, this is not going to be helpful if we’re not going to be honest with each other,” he said on an opening panel, urging the crowd to reckon with a marked downturn in support for the Jewish state over its war in Gaza, particularly among younger voters. “Israel is extremely unpopular.”
Emanuel, a veteran Jewish politician and party official who had recently concluded a tour as U.S. ambassador to Japan in the Biden administration, acknowledged his message might not ingratiate him to the thousands of Jewish communal leaders in the audience who were no doubt deeply familiar with the issue he was highlighting.
“This may be the last time I’m asked to speak to you. I get it,” he said with a hint of indifference. “But we have to be honest about the task we have” for those “who believe that there is something special” to the U.S.-Israel relationship. “We have our work cut out, and it’s not here to get applause,” he told the crowd.
In hindsight, Emanuel’s frankly worded comments marked something of a turning point in his approach to Israel and the Jewish community, foreshadowing more recent remarks in which he has voiced harsh criticism of the country’s military tactics in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks and championed new policy proposals against American military aid to Israel.
Yet even as he builds a profile as a potential candidate willing to tell the Democratic Party hard truths and challenge orthodoxy on a range of issues from trans rights to child social media bans to age limits for politicians, Emanuel, 66, was reticent in exploring his views on Israel in more depth during an interview with Jewish Insider, which he had resisted for nearly a month.
“What I said couldn’t have been clearer,” he told JI last Thursday, referring to his recent comments on “Real Time With Bill Maher” calling for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel that raised eyebrows in the Jewish community. “There will no longer be U.S. taxpayer subsidies for the purchase of U.S. military equipment. Israel will be like every other ally. They can buy what they want, and they have to live within the restrictions.”
“You can decide to slice it, dice it, but that’s what it is,” he said.
While U.S. military funding to Israel has increasingly faced pushback in the Democratic Party, particularly on the far left, Emanuel’s argument that Israel no longer needs the sort of special treatment that he helped promote in the Obama White House has been striking to watch precisely because he has long been a staunch defender of the Jewish state and its founding ideals.
Emanuel, whose middle name is Israel and who speaks fluent Hebrew, holds a uniquely personal connection to the Jewish state. His late father, an Israeli immigrant born in Jerusalem, served in the Irgun, the Zionist paramilitary force that fought for Israeli independence. As a child, he spent summers in Israel and later volunteered as a civilian assistant to the Israel Defense Forces during the Gulf War. His son celebrated his bar mitzvah in Israel.
Emanuel, a moderate former congressman and mayor of Chicago, pointed out in the interview that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had himself proposed winding down U.S. military aid over the next 10 years, saying in January that the country had “come of age” and “developed incredible capacity” to continue on its own.
Emanuel, however, said that he would instead suspend the assistance “immediately,” characterizing his position as “part of an overall policy” tied to Israel’s strategically secure position in the region as well as its political isolation on the world stage — both of which he argued have never been greater than now.
“If you or anybody thinks you’re going to continue the American taxpayers paying for this, good luck passing that in the U.S. Congress. You’re asking a president of the United States to spend X amount of political capital to do something that even Israel’s own prime minister acknowledged isn’t going to happen,” he said, referring to continued U.S. military aid.
The Jewish state “has made a decision to only lean on its defense and not lean on its diplomatic front,” he told JI, adding that Netanyahu had chosen to “walk away” from pursuing a two-state solution, support for which has declined in Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks and ensuing war in Gaza.
In his view, the U.S. should continue to stand with Israel only if its efforts in the region help contribute to peace. “Every risk you will take, the State of Israel takes, for peace, then America will stand by you,” he said. “We understand there’s risks. We have stood by Israel through thick and thin.”
“But,” he said, “when one friend in that relationship abandoned something that’s contrary to our interests and contrary, in my view, also to Israel’s interests,” it is reasonable, he suggested, to rethink that alliance.
“There will no longer be U.S. taxpayer subsidies for the purchase of U.S. military equipment. Israel will be like every other ally. They can buy what they want, and they have to live within the restrictions,” Emanuel said of his vision of the future of military aid to Israel.
His comments indicate that he is now embracing a fundamental reassessment of the U.S.-Israel alliance, abandoning even the pretense of tough love that once characterized his approach, among other moderate voices in the Democratic Party.
For example, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a centrist Jewish Democrat who is also weighing a presidential campaign in 2028, recently reiterated his support for continued U.S. aid to Israel but said that it should be seen as “leverage” to exert pressure over the country’s use of American-made weapons.
“Rahm’s move tells you a lot about the politics of the Democratic Party on Israel now. And that is a sign of how Israel’s image has changed in the country,” said Dennis Ross, a former U.S. diplomat and Middle East negotiator who overlapped with Emanuel in the Obama administration.
Despite his strong attachment to Israel, Emanuel is reckoning with a changing party no longer broadly sympathetic to the pro-Israel perspective that had long been central to his political identity, even as he has tussled with Israeli leadership during his time as a public figure.
Last Friday, for example, Emanuel signaled he would back Graham Platner, the far-left Senate candidate in Maine now poised to become the Democratic nominee, even as the Marine veteran has called to block U.S. military aid to Israel while facing controversy over a Nazi tattoo he recently covered up.
“Whether it’s people chanting ‘Jews will not replace us’” in Charlottesville, “or somebody bombing Gov. Shapiro’s home, or somebody painting Nazi insignia on my fence, or the candidate saying ‘I did not know that was a Nazi’” insignia on his chest, “we’re going to have to confront this,” Emanuel told JI the day before announcing his support for Platner, while touting his record of fighting antisemitism.
“I’ve dealt with it when I ran for Congress,” he said on the phone from Chicago, noting that he was outside an Anne Frank exhibition opening in his home city. “And I’ve also been upfront when I think a decision is going to lead to the strategic and diplomatic isolation of, not only the State of Israel, but, more importantly, the Jewish people.”
Still, Emanuel seemed reluctant and even somewhat frustrated to answer further questions seeking clarity on the implications of his new approach to Israel and how he arrived at his position. He refused to confirm explicitly, for example, if he would back defensive aid for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, which has recently emerged as a subject of intense debate in some corners of the Democratic Party.
It is a significant contrast with where Emanuel stood during his time as Obama’s chief of staff. In the White House from 2009-2010, Emanuel was one of Obama’s top consiglieres on policies relating to Israel. He was involved in initial funding to boost Israel’s Iron Dome system, an effort that culminated in a 10-year memorandum of understanding between the two countries that provides $3.8 billion in annual aid through 2028, which the White House touted, at the time, as “the largest single pledge of military assistance in U.S. history.”
In 2009, Emanuel shared more reassuring words in his address to the JFNA’s annual gathering, praising Netanyahu while citing his own familial ties to Israel as well as what he had called the “privileged point of view” from understanding the Jewish state’s “value as a homeland.”
“Those who have questioned” whether the Obama administration’s opposition to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and outreach to the Arab world “implies diminished support for Israel, that is not the intent,” he said, filling in for his boss. “It is not the case and it never will be. The truth is the opposite. Only through dialogue will Israel achieve the peace it seeks.”
Emanuel now takes a more jaundiced view of Israeli diplomacy, fueling his calls for an end to U.S. aid. “Under Prime Minister Netanyahu, in the last three years, you’ve lost Europe, you’ve lost the American public, and you picked up Somaliland,” he scoffed to JI, referring to Israel’s decision to formally recognize the secessionist region in the Horn of Africa last year. “As my grandmother would say, ‘Such a deal.’ That is your only diplomatic achievement.”
Julie Fishman Rayman, senior vice president of policy and political affairs at the American Jewish Committee, called Emanuel’s views “disappointing and worrying,” arguing that U.S. security assistance to Israel “is not just vital to deterring further attacks and ensuring the survival of the state of Israel, but is integrally tied to safeguarding American interests in the region.”
Emanuel argued that his position on U.S. aid is a logical extension of sentiments he had conveyed in 2009 while in the Obama administration, when he repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu over settlement expansion in the West Bank, which the White House cautioned would jeopardize prospects for achieving a two-state solution.
“I went straight to the prime minister to his face and said, ‘What you’re doing is going to lead to the great isolation of Israel,’” Emanuel recalled, noting, as he often does, that Netanyahu called him a “self-hating Jew,” underscoring the highly personal tenor of their long-testy relationship. “Look, I have a longstanding relationship,” he explained. “I’m honest about it.”
But even as he argues that Israel is today “a different country from a sense of wealth and capacity,” he has strained to harmonize the motives now animating his current approach. He has dismissed speculation over the sincerity of his stance and whether it is rooted in a good-faith view of Israel’s economic standing or if it is instead a more cynical political calculation tailored to a rising anti-Israel faction in the Democratic Party.
Though in contrast with high-profile voices on the far left, Emanuel has shied away from charged rhetoric about genocide in Gaza, saying it is a legal question, as well accusations that Israel had tricked President Donald Trump into war with Iran, which he says ignores U.S. agency in the conflict. He has said it is a “mistake” to restrict arms sales to Israel, suggesting that he is not aligned with related resolutions that were introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) last month and notably drew backing from most Senate Democrats.
Emanuel’s allies said in recent interviews that they were not surprised with his approach, saying that he has been building to this moment for some time. “Do I agree with him? Not necessarily,” former Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), who served with Emanuel in Congress, told JI. “But this is not a breakthrough position. He’s expressed those concerns for years.”
David Axelrod, a former chief strategist to Obama, likewise agreed in a text message to JI that “Rahm’s basic concerns about where Bibi is leading are not new,” using Netanyahu’s nickname. “Rahm, like a lot of us, has always believed a two-state solution was the only road to peace and Bibi has been deeply, irretrievably opposed and actively hostile to the notion.”
“You ask these questions like somehow I’ve changed. The prime minister used to articulate a two-state solution. He was for it. He’s the one that’s changed,” Emanuel said of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
One prominent Jewish Democrat, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss a charged issue, called Emanuel’s stance a practical response that “takes the wind out of the sails of the far left and the far right,” which have politicized funding for Israel. “As long as we’re giving aid to Israel, Americans will feel like they have a say in Israeli policy and how that investment is managed.”
But if that is Emanuel’s aim, he has not made it clear. In conversation with JI, he was hesitant to clarify his own positions when pressed. Asked if he would back Iron Dome funding, he said he had been “part of the financing” for a “joint project” that he called “key for Israel’s security” when it was first developed with the United States.
He declined to elaborate further about such aid. “U.S. taxpayers should not be in the position of subsidizing a country,” he reiterated. “You know my history with the Iron Dome,” he said. “I’m done. I’ve answered it.”
Though some allies of Emanuel are willing to indulge his views more favorably than other 2028 prospects with thinner resumes related to Middle East policy, a range of Jewish and pro-Israel organizations are now pushing back on his recent turn against U.S. military aid.
“It’s in America’s interests to keep our word and help a democratic partner shield innocent civilians from missiles,” Deryn Sousa, a spokesperson for AIPAC, told JI, referring to the Iron Dome. “Reneging on the Obama administration’s signed agreement with our closest ally in the Middle East would send a devastating message to our allies, empower our enemies and do nothing to advance peace.”
Brian Romick, president of Democratic Majority for Israel, said that “Israel’s situation is not comparable to our other close allies.”
“Unlike Japan, South Korea and Germany, Israel does not have permanent U.S. troops on the ground,” he told JI recently. “It’s also surrounded by enemies who actively want to wipe it off the face of the earth. U.S. security assistance reflects that reality and the significant strategic benefits the aid provides.”
Michael Makovsky, president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told JI in a recent interview that he disagreed with Emanuel, even as he acknowledged the sentiment as a “legitimate view.” Still, he added that it is “in the U.S. interest” to continue providing military aid to Israel, “which anyway all goes to buying U.S. weaponry.”
Even some pro-Israel Democrats sympathetic to Emanuel and his perspective said his comments on military aid raise more questions than they answer. One influential Jewish Democrat who has long been acquainted with Emanuel, speaking on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive topic, expressed concerns that ending aid to Israel could stoke further calls from the far left to condition military funding or block future weapons sales outright.
For his part, Emanuel avoided commenting on the question of Israel’s qualitative military edge, which the U.S. is legally obligated to ensure but allies say could suffer without military aid. “I feel like we’re taking the same question from 50 angles,” Emanuel told JI. “I want Israel to fight for peace the way it’s proven that it’s fought in the last three years. That’s what’s missing,” he said last week.
“You ask these questions like somehow I’ve changed,” Emanuel said earlier in the call. “The prime minister used to articulate a two-state solution. He was for it. He’s the one that’s changed.”
Plus, What to watch for during WHCD weekend
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump walks toward reporters before answering questions prior to boarding Air Force One on April 10, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview the events around this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, and report on new FEC filings indicating that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed accepted donations from an antisemitic conspiracy theorist whose son was paid tens of thousands of dollars by the campaign for consulting services. We report on new legislation from Reps. Tom Suozzi and Max Miller that aims to create buffer zones around religious institutions, and cover efforts by NY-17 Democratic candidates Cait Conley and Beth Davidson to distance themselves from Senate Democrats’ legislation to block certain military sales to Israel. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: George Deek, Bob Iger and Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
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
- The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that was set to expire this weekend was extended for three weeks following yesterday’s White House meeting, facilitated by President Donald Trump, between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Trump expressed hope that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would meet at the White House during the ongoing ceasefire. Read more here.
- It’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend in Washington. Trump is slated to make his first appearance as president at the annual dinner, which will take place tomorrow night at the Washington Hilton. Around Washington, the parties on the sidelines of tomorrow night’s so-called Nerd Prom have already begun. Last night, Trump attended a dinner hosted by Skydance Paramount CEO David Ellison honoring the president and CBS News correspondents at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Read more here.
- On Long Island today, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) will hold a press conference with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to announce the introduction of a federal version of the buffer zone bills that have been put forward in a handful of cities and states. Read our interview with Suozzi below.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S EMILY JACOBS AND MARC ROD
A who’s who of the leading names in media, tech and global and domestic politics are flocking to the nation’s capital for the scores of exclusive parties surrounding the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner this Saturday — where President Donald Trump will make his first-ever appearance as president and deliver a roast of the political press corps.
The correspondents’ dinner, and the parties thrown in its honor, have always generated enough fanfare to maintain its status as the biggest weekend of the social calendar in Washington. This year, however, is being treated inside the Beltway as the most high-profile WHCD weekend in at least a decade, the result of Trump’s decision to participate in this year’s dinner after boycotting it for his entire presidency.
In addition to Trump’s roast, guests will be entertained by Oz Pearlman, a famed mentalist known for his mind-reading tricks. Pearlman, who is Jewish and was born in Israel, marks a shift from the traditional entertainment choice at the dinner, which is usually a monologue delivered by a comedian. Those comedians’ jokes about Trump were a factor in why the president has skipped previous dinners, and the White House Correspondents’ Association canceled its planned entertainer last year over backlash to her past comments.
The dinner could make for some awkward moments: one of the WHCA’s award winners this year is a team from The Wall Street Journal, for reporting on Trump’s ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — an article that led Trump to sue the Journal. And that’s not to mention Trump’s routine hostility toward and criticisms of the media more broadly. It is unclear if the president will be present for the award ceremony.
Celebrities have historically flocked to Washington for WHCD weekend, though the number of famous names willing to appear for the dinner or other events dwindled during the first Trump administration. That trend began to reverse during the Biden administration, though it picked up again last year when Trump returned to office.
Nicki Minaj, the rap superstar who has become an advocate for the Trump administration, will be attending the dinner as a guest of the Washington Times. No other media organizations have announced celebrity guests for their respective tables at the dinner.
Regardless of a diminished turnout of famous faces, this weekend will be jam-packed with nonstop events, and it has already begun.
JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod will be out and about in the district this weekend, as well as at Saturday’s dinner. If you spot them at any of the events, take this as your invitation to say hello.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has taken donations from a deep-pocketed activist whose group spearheaded the pro-Hamas protests that targeted a Queens synagogue in January — while the far-left candidate has at the same time paid tens of thousands in campaign funds to her son, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman and Marc Rod report.
Paper trail: The latest Federal Election Commission filings show El-Sayed has received a total of $7,000 from Amani Barakat, the chair of Al-Awda-Palestinian Right of Return Coalition and a promoter of antisemitic conspiracy theories linking Jewish people to the Illuminati. It’s part of $33,550 that El-Sayed has taken in total from the Barakat family, a Palestinian-American real estate dynasty based in Southern California.
Slotkin says: Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) joined other Michigan Democrats in condemning Amir Makled, a Democratic nominee for regent of the University of Michigan, over Makled’s past comments on social media expressing antisemitic sentiments and support for terrorism, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
SACRED SPACES
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), joined by Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), introduced the SACRED Act this week, a new bill aimed at protecting attendees at religious institutions from harassment and threats by demonstrators — a phenomenon seen repeatedly outside synagogues that has spurred “buffer zone” legislation in New York and elsewhere, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Details: The bill, which applies within 100 feet of a religious institution, would create criminal and civil penalties for individuals who attempt to intimidate or obstruct someone in a manner that causes reasonable fear for physical safety to prevent them from entering or exiting a place of worship. It also applies — within that 100-foot zone — to individuals who intentionally approach within eight feet of a person seeking to exercise their freedom to worship, for the purpose of intimidating or harassing them.
AID ARGUMENTS
Conley, Davidson distance themselves from Senate votes to block Israel aid in Jewish community forum
Cait Conley and Beth Davidson, two of the leading candidates in the Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District — among the most Jewish districts in the country — distanced themselves in a Thursday candidate forum from efforts by 40 Senate Democrats last week to block U.S. aid to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they said: Conley, a veteran who has worked in a variety of national security roles, said that she doesn’t believe that lawmakers should be trying to determine which specific systems should be provided to allies, but she also argued that the U.S. must continue to enforce global standards to ensure that all aid recipients are meeting U.S. standards. Davidson, a Rockland County legislator, said that she wants to see the U.S. use diplomatic tools and oversight to help bring about peace, rather than threatening aid to Israel. But she added that, “before voting for more funding, I would want to see a plan of how we bring this [Iran] conflict to a close, especially with a second conflict going on right next door.”
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
Young American adults increasingly view Israel as a burden to the United States, according to a new Harvard Youth Poll of 18- to 29-year-olds. The survey found that 46% of young Americans consider Israel to be mostly a burden to the U.S., compared to just 16% who say Israel is mostly a benefit to the U.S., Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Additional findings: Ukraine, which has also received U.S. support in its lengthy war with Russia, was also determined to be more of a burden by young Americans, though the numbers were less striking. Thirty-one percent of young Americans said Ukraine is mostly a burden, while 21% said it is mostly a benefit. Meanwhile, Washington’s relationships with Canada, Mexico and the European Union were mostly viewed as positive.
TERROR THWARTED
A young woman was charged Thursday in a conspiracy to “kill as many Jews as possible” by driving through a Houston synagogue. Angelina Han Hicks, 18, a resident of North Carolina, was arrested Wednesday and charged, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, with felony conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon and felony conspiracy to commit murder for her plotted attack on Congregation Beth Israel, the oldest synagogue in Texas, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Details: The FBI’s Charlotte Field Office received information on Tuesday that Hicks “was believed to be targeting members of the Jewish Community for a potential act of violence,” according to the sheriff’s office. Law enforcement found evidence in Hicks’ home that she and co-conspirators were planning a mass-casualty event, according to the Houston Chronicle.
School scrutiny: A new complaint filed with the Department of Education accuses a Florida Panhandle school district of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by ignoring years of antisemitic harassment against a Jewish student, including Nazi salutes performed in the classroom.
NEW GIG
Israel’s first Christian ambassador, George Deek, has a new job after his return to Israel from his most recent posting as Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan: special envoy to the Christian world. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar named Deek to the role on Thursday, with the ministry saying that the move was “intended to deepen Israel’s ties with Christian communities around the world,” Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Background: Deek, who joined the Foreign Ministry in 2008 and has been posted to Norway and Nigeria, received the Foreign Ministry Director General’s Award for Excellence in 2021. He is part of the Arab Orthodox Christian community in Jaffa, and his father, Youssef Deek, was chairman of the community for many years.
Worthy Reads
Calling the Shots in Tehran: The New York Times’ Farnaz Fassihi does a deep dive into Iran’s new power structure following the deaths of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of top regime officials, finding that key decisions are now being made by senior generals affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “It was the Guards who came up with the strategy for Iran’s attacks on Israel and the Persian Gulf states, along with the closing of the strait to maritime traffic. They were the ones who agreed to a temporary cease-fire with the United States and approved back-channel diplomacy and direct negotiations with the United States. They tapped [Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher] Ghalibaf from among their own ranks to lead the talks with Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad.” [NYTimes]
Chronicle of a Kidnapping: In The Atlantic, American journalist Shelly Kittleson recounts her kidnapping — believed to have been conducted by the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah — and subsequent week in captivity. “I was well aware of the risks inherent in being a journalist with the ‘wrong’ passport in places where the default assumption is that anyone asking questions is a ‘spy.’ I was also keenly aware of the creativity employed by those who write ‘intelligence’ reports, having been the victim of fabricated reports of that sort in the past.” [TheAtlantic]
The Jew-ish Paradox: In The Wall Street Journal, Joseph Epstein considers the cultural and religious distinctions among Jews while noting that the differences are unimportant to those who are antisemites. “Jew, Jewish, Jewish, Jew: The two sometimes seem to have little in common. But now, with the re-emergence and spread of antisemitism, not only in the U.S., but globally, they have the hatred aimed against them in common. Will the two join together to fight this menace? They damned well better.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had instructed the military to “shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be … putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” as Iran was reported this week to have been laying additional mines in the waterway…
The Wall Street Journal reports on concerns over the proliferation of Chinese satellite imagery that may be used to assist Iran and other American adversaries seeking to target U.S. installations and allies…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that members of Iran’s national soccer team will be let into the U.S. to play in this summer’s World Cup, but that Iranians with ties to the country’s military would not be allowed entry…
Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi rejected the suggestion by Paolo Zampolli, the Trump administration’s special envoy for global partnerships, that Italy’s team replace Iran in the World Cup, saying that such a move was “firstly, not possible and secondly, not appropriate”…
The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into the New York City Department of Education, alleging that teachers associated with the group N.Y.C. Educators for Palestine had instructed students to support Hamas and referred to Zionists as “genocidal white supremacists”…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give advance notice to senior Republican senators before announcing on Wednesday that he was firing Navy Secretary John Phelan and had already tapped his replacement, causing surprise and confusion on Capitol Hill, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report…
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into Phelan’s efforts to convince Trump, a friend and neighbor, to buck Hegseth’s demand that Phelan resign from the Navy’s top job…
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) added $1 million to his campaign coffers and said he would match any donation received ahead of his June primary against former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander; private polling for both camps indicates that Lander has a sizeable lead over Goldman, who first won his seat in 2022…
In a new ad, Goldman addresses the Iran war, saying, “Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu should have never started this war in Iran, and they must end it now,” adding, “I won’t vote for one more cent for this illegal and immoral war”…
Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, in their draft 2027 funding bill for the State Department, are again aiming to leverage U.S. funding to the United Nations and other foreign programs to seek accountability for involvement by U.N. employees and others in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose book When We See You Again, about her life before and after the kidnapping and murder of her son, was released this week, was a featured speaker at the Time 100 Summit on Wednesday in New York…
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is returning to Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital — where he briefly worked in 2022 before returning to Disney after his successor, Bob Chapek, was ousted by the board — in an advisory role…
The Wall Street Journal interviewed folk-pop singer Noah Kahan ahead of the release of his new album, “The Great Divide,” out today…
Saudi Arabia, facing financial challenges associated with the Iran war, pulled out of an arrangement to give up to $200 million over the next eight years to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, itself under financial strain after years of decreased sales from the COVID-19 pandemic; the Met now faces a $30 million shortfall it must make up before the end of its fiscal year this summer…
The department within the U.K.’s Foreign Office tasked with tracking Israel’s potential breaches of law was closed due to budget cuts…
U.K. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis met on Thursday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at London’s Kenton United Synagogue, days after the synagogue was targeted in an arson attack…
An annual health report released today by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that Benjamin Netanyahu was treated for early stage prostate cancer in late 2024…
Israir plans to launch daily flights this summer between Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport…
Police in the Israeli city of Modiin detained Hebrew University professor Alex Sinclair for wearing a yarmulke with the Israeli and Palestinian flags; when returned to Sinclair upon his release, the Palestinian flag had been cut from the yarmulke…
In response to rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Shtula in northern Israel on Thursday, the IDF said it struck Hezbollah military structures used to plan and carry out terror attacks in the areas of Kherbet Selem and Touline in southern Lebanon…
Retinal surgeon Kurt Gitter, an avid collector of art from Japan and the American South, died at 89…
Marquette University professor David Fantle, who helped bring the “Bronze Fonz” — a statue of the beloved “Happy Days” character Arthur Fonzarelli to Milwaukee’s downtown, died at 66…
Wine of the Week
JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the 2025 Flam Blanc:
“I could not have orchestrated a more perfect evening if I had planned for a year. Last night, at Rendezvous, that impossibly charming jewel tucked away in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv, with a dear friend who happens to be a French-speaking cyber luminary, I was graced by a bottle of Flam Blanc, whose brilliantly beautiful semillon grape held the entire evening in its thrall.
“The 2025 Flam Blanc is an exquisite assemblage of sauvignon blanc, semillon, and the merest suggestion of chardonnay. The wine unveils itself with a disarming sweetness that lulls the uninitiated before delivering a magnificently brazen one-two punch of grapefruit peel zestiness across the mid-palate. The chardonnay finish, poised and unhurried, ushers one back to the noble terroir of the Judean Hills, lingering just long enough to leave you reaching for the bottle again. Pair this with handmade gnocchi and do acquire several cases. It is the kind of bottle that reminds even the most seasoned drinker why the Judean Hills deserve a permanent place in the conversation.”
Pic of the Day
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed a bill on Thursday adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into law.
Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham, the board chair of the Missouri Alliance Network, which advocated for the bill, told JI, “Thanks to [this bill], our Jewish students will now be given the same protections of other minorities to combat the extreme rise in antisemitism we have seen the last few years. There is more work ahead to ensure school districts implement the IHRA definition and protect our Jewish students moving forward.”
Birthdays
Israeli designer, architect and artist, Ron Arad turns 75…
FRIDAY: Rabbi emeritus at Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation, he is a former president of the Rabbinic Assembly, Rabbi Jeffrey A. Wohlberg turns 85… Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony and Peabody Award-winning singer and actress, Barbra Streisand turns 84… Delray Beach, Fla., resident, Phyllis Dupret… Distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park, Jeffrey C. Herf turns 79… Former president and publisher of USA Today, then chairman of theStreet, Lawrence S. Kramer turns 76… Chairman and CEO of Cincinnati-based Standard Textile, Gary Heiman… Former president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards for 16 seasons, himself an NBA player for nine seasons, Ernest “Ernie” Grunfeld turns 71… Israeli singer descended from the Jewish diaspora in Kurdistan, Ilana Eliya turns 71… Columnist for Foreign Policy, Michael Hirsh turns 69…Author of books for children and teens, Deborah Heiligman turns 68… Founding partner and CEO of KSX Communications, Andrew Kirtzman turns 65… CEO and President of Wells Fargo since 2019, he was previously the CEO of Visa, Charles Scharf turns 61… Chief executive director of the Jewish Caring Network, Rabbi Carl S. “Chaim” Schwartz turns 56… Deputy chief of staff for Montgomery County, Md., Councilmember Sidney Katz, Laurie Mintzer Edberg… Emmy Award-winning television writer, producer and film screenwriter, known as the co-creator and showrunner of the television series “Lost,” Damon Lindelof turns 53… EVP of political operations at AIPAC, Mark H. Waldman… Israeli model, actress, entrepreneur, lecturer and activist, Maayan Keret turns 50… Film and television actor, Eric Salter Balfour turns 49… Brandon Hersh… Partner at Apollo Global Management, Reed Rayman… Special assistant to POTUS and senior speechwriter in the Biden administration, Aviva Feuerstein turns 39… Tech and innovation reporter at Automotive News, Molly Boigon…
SATURDAY: Retired attorney, he is a brother-in-law of former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Myron “Mike” Sponder… Social worker and former health spokesman of the Green Party of the U.K., he is the older brother of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Larry Sanders turns 91… Co-founder of Lender Bagels Bakery, he was the national chair of UJA, Marvin K. Lender turns 85… Hedge fund manager and founder of Omega Advisors, Leon G. “Lee” Cooperman turns 83… Former CEO of baker supply manufacturing companies, Joseph “Joe” Weber turns 81… Hedge fund manager and founder of CAM Capital, Bruce Stanley Kovner turns 80… Rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University since 1973, rabbi of the Young Israel of Riverdale Synagogue since 1974, Rabbi Mordechai Willig turns 79… Former French finance minister and later managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn turns 77… David Handleman… Longtime chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures, now president of Through The Lens Entertainment, Bruce Berman turns 74… Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations from 2018 to 2021, he was previously president of Bed, Bath and Beyond, Arthur Stark turns 71… Administrative law judge at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Beth A. Fox… Commissioner of the National Basketball Association since 2014, Adam Silver turns 64… Senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, focused on security issues in the Middle East, Michael Scott Doran turns 64… Partner at Quinn Emanuel, he served as U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Obama administration, Andrew H. Schapiro turns 63… Emmy Award-winning actor, voice actor, comedian and producer, he is descended from a Sephardic family rooted in Thessaloniki, Hank Azaria turns 62… Infomercial pitchman, better known as Vince Offer, Vince Shlomi or “The ShamWow Guy,” Offer Shlomi turns 62… Deputy director general at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Benjamin Krasna turns 61… CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, Meredith Dragon… New York Times-bestselling author and adjunct professor of neuroscience at Stanford University, David Eagleman turns 55… Deputy director of community health at the Utah Department of Human Services, David E. Litvack turns 54… Former professional baseball outfielder, Micah Franklin turns 54… Democratic Party strategist, she is a co-founder of Lift Our Voices, Julie Roginsky turns 53… President of the Alliance for Downtown New York, the nation’s largest business improvement district, Jessica S. Lappin turns 51… Opinion editor at the California Post, previously senior-editor-at-large for Breitbart News, Joel Barry Pollak turns 49… Attorney turned grocer and now professor, Danielle Brody Rosengarten Vogel… Co-founder of WeWork and now Flow, Adam Neumann turns 47… Executive director at Yaffed, Adina Mermelstein Konikoff… Managing director, head of social, content and influencer at Deloitte Digital, Kenneth R. Gold… Director of public affairs at FEMA during the Biden administration, now SVP at Avoq, Jaclyn Rothenberg… Film and television actress, model and singer, Sara Paxton turns 38… Staff writer at Daily Kos, Emily Cahn Singer… Former NHL ice hockey defenseman, now a color analyst for Westwood One and ESPN, Colby Shane Cohen turns 37… TikTok star, he runs the culinary website CookWithChefEitan, Eitan Bernath turns 24…
SUNDAY: Owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for 33 years until its forced sale in 2014, Donald Sterling (born Donald Tokowitz) turns 92… Retired Federation executive in Los Angeles, Oakland and Sacramento, Loren Basch… Investment banker best known as the chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers through its bankruptcy filing in 2008, Richard S. Fuld Jr. turns 80… Professor of computer science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hal Abelson turns 79… Immediate past chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, now a board member at Democratic Majority for Israel, Harriet P. Schleifer turns 73… President of Brandeis University from 2016-2024, Ronald D. Liebowitz turns 69… Moscow-born, conservative journalist and political activist in Israel, Avigdor Eskin turns 66… Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributing writer at The Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch turns 66… London-based interfaith social activist, she founded and chaired Mitzvah Day International, Laura Marks turns 66… Journalist, biographer and the author of six books, Jonathan Eig turns 62… Former member of the Maryland House of Delegates and state Senate, Roger Manno turns 60… Former member of the California state Assembly where he served as chairman of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, Marc Levine turns 52… Member of the NYC Council for six years and now a recently elected member of the NY State Assembly, Kalman Yeger turns 52… General partner of Coatue Management, Benjamin Schwerin… Senior global news editor at The New York Times, Russell Goldman turns 46… Senior director of federal government affairs at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Karas Pattison Gross… Media relations manager at NPR, Benjamin Fishel… London-based reporter for The Wall Street Journal covering finance, he is the co-author of a book on WeWork, Eliot Brown… Male fashion model and actor, Brett Novek turns 42… Head coach of the UC Irvine Anteaters baseball program, he played for Team Israel in the 2012 World Baseball Classic, Ben Orloff turns 39… Communications director at the University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance, Alisha Katz… AI product manager at Apple, Kenneth Zauderer… Washington correspondent for The Epoch Times, Jackson Richman… Board liaison at American Jewish World Service, he is also a part-time matchmaker at Tribe 12, Ross Beroff… Ahron Singer…
This year is being treated inside the Beltway as the most high-profile WHCD weekend in at least a decade, the result of Trump’s decision to participate in this year’s dinner after boycotting it for his entire presidency
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump waves to the media after walking off of Air Force One at Miami International Airport on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida.
A who’s who of the leading names in media, tech and global and domestic politics are flocking to the nation’s capital for the scores of exclusive parties surrounding the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner this Saturday — where President Donald Trump will make his first-ever appearance as president and deliver a roast of the political press corps.
The correspondents’ dinner, and the parties thrown in its honor, have always generated enough fanfare to maintain its status as the biggest weekend of the social calendar in Washington. This year, however, is being treated inside the Beltway as the most high-profile WHCD weekend in at least a decade, the result of Trump’s decision to participate in this year’s dinner after boycotting it for his entire presidency.
In addition to Trump’s roast, guests will be entertained by Oz Pearlman, a famed mentalist known for his mind-reading tricks. Pearlman, who is Jewish and was born in Israel, marks a shift from the traditional entertainment choice at the dinner, which is usually a monologue delivered by a comedian. Those comedians’ jokes about Trump were a factor in why the president has skipped previous dinners, and the White House Correspondents’ Association canceled its planned entertainer last year over backlash to her past comments.
The dinner could make for some awkward moments: one of the WHCA’s award winners this year is a team from The Wall Street Journal, for reporting on Trump’s ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — an article that led Trump to sue the Journal. And that’s not to mention Trump’s routine hostility toward and criticisms of the media more broadly. It is unclear if the president will be present for the award ceremony.
Celebrities have historically flocked to Washington for WHCD weekend, though the number of famous names willing to appear for the dinner or other events dwindled during the first Trump administration. That trend began to reverse during the Biden administration, though it picked up again last year when Trump returned to office.
Nicki Minaj, the rap superstar who has become an advocate for the Trump administration, will be attending the dinner as a guest of the Washington Times. No other media organizations have announced celebrity guests for their respective tables at the dinner.
Regardless of a diminished turnout of famous faces, this weekend will be jam-packed with nonstop events, and it has already begun.
Trump’s announcement in early March that he would attend Saturday’s dinner — leading many senior administration officials to also make plans to attend the festivities and Donald Trump Jr. to organize an ultra-exclusive event at his Executive Branch Club in Georgetown on Friday night — prompted an avalanche of interest from major companies, U.S. officials, foreign diplomats and dignitaries, top corporate powerbrokers and domestic political firms.
Boeing, Meta and Amazon swiftly organized intimate, invite-only gatherings for this weekend or became lead sponsors for events being hosted by D.C.-area embassies, media outlets, political operatives and high-profile consulting groups. Foreign ambassadors stationed in the U.S. and others looking to connect with the president’s circle or the broader Washington political orbit began calling in favors to get on the guest lists for all of the weekend’s events, making invitations all-the-more difficult to secure for those who have attended in the last decade.
The parties start early on Friday with Axios Live’s annual WHCD weekend kickoff brunch at 9:00 a.m., followed by MS NOW’s brunch at 11:00 a.m. and Punchbowl News’ WHCD weekend kickoff gathering the publication’s townhouse in Capitol Hill at noon.
Meghan McCain’s “Renegade Women’s Cocktail Party” at The Graham in Georgetown starts at 4 p.m. while YouTube’s official WHCD party at Floreria Atlantico in Georgetown and the Motion Picture Association’s reception at the Downtown headquarters begin at 5:30.
Later that night, Semafor is hosting a “house party” at the private residence of its founder, Justin B. Smith, starting at 8 p.m.; Creative Artists Agency’s annual Friday evening party, sponsored by Vanity Fair, will take place this year at 7:30 p.m. at the Belgian ambassador’s residence near Georgetown; and United Talent Agency will host their annual “Celebration of American Journalists” at 9:00 p.m. at Osteria Mozza in Georgetown.
The Qataris are once again hosting a Friday evening correspondents bash with Washingtonian magazine, which starts at 8 p.m. at the Georgetown Four Seasons, which Qatari Ambassador Meshal Al Thani is slated to attend. At 7 p.m., doors will open for the Daily Mail’s party with Brunswick Review Business Magazine at the British ambassador’s residence.
Saturday’s festivities start at 11 a.m. with the annual White House Correspondents’ garden brunch, hosted by Tammy Haddad at the Beall-Washington House in Georgetown. Ahead of the dinner, Puck is hosting a “penthouse pre-party” on the rooftop of The Hepburn, located next to the Washington Hilton. At the Hilton, where the dinner is taking place, The Wall Street Journal and ABC News have their respective annual pre-dinner receptions at 5:30 p.m. The Washington Post has a cocktail reception at the Hilton starting at 6 p.m., the same time that Politico’s pre-dinner event with CBS News — featuring new CBS News honcho Bari Weiss — takes place just down the hall.
Alongside the dinner, Substack is hosting its “New Media Party” at 8 p.m. at the Renwick Gallery, located blocks from the White House; afterward, MS NOW and NBC News have dueling parties starting at 11:30 p.m., with the former hosting theirs at Dupont Underground in Dupont Circle and the latter hosting theirs at the French ambassador’s residence in Kalorama. Time’s WHCD afterparty at the Swiss ambassador’s residence in Woodley Park begins at 11 p.m.
On Sunday, NOTUS and Politico are hosting a brunch at the home of Robert Allbritton starting at 11:00 a.m., and CNN’s “WHCD Weekend Finale” brunch reception starts at 12:30 p.m.
Trump’s former top diplomat sat down with JI to discuss the U.S. war in Iran, backsliding support for Israel among young Americans, and how he’s looking at the midterms
Siavosh Hosseini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking at a conference titled "Iran: Organized Resistance, Key to Overthrow" held at the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) headquarters in January 2025.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is keeping the door open to a possible 2028 presidential run, saying “only the good Lord knows” what comes next as he continues to reestablish himself in the private sector and policy world after serving in the first Trump administration.
In a wide-ranging interview with Jewish Insider, Pompeo emphasized that there will be a “donnybrook” of competing visions for both parties in the next election cycle, and urged candidates to focus on “important issues” rather than online theatrics. He also praised Columbia University, where he now teaches at the School of International and Public Affairs, for “beg[inning] to get back the correct leadership … in a way where more voices can be heard.”
The conversation came one day after Pompeo made a brief visit to the State Department for a private ceremony unveiling his official portrait. The gathering included an appearance by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who delivered remarks to the crowd on his predecessor’s tenure as the chief U.S. diplomat.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Jewish Insider: What’s your message to the current Iranian leadership if you were traveling to Islamabad, Pakistan, on behalf of President Trump to negotiate an end to the war in Iran?
Mike Pompeo: My message would be that you’ve lost. You’ve lost the people of your country, who no longer want you to lead. You’ve lost the capacity to project terror around the world. You’re about to lose any capability to use nuclear weapons to continue to blackmail the world. The Strait [of Hormuz] is going to be reopened. You’re going to miss payroll in just a few weeks, because you’re not going to be able to ship product and receive currency that is usable in foreign exchange, and people will stop doing their jobs.
You miss payroll enough times and all of a sudden, Hezbollah decides it’s not as great a fighting force, or the Shia militias, or the knuckleheads in Yemen, the Houthis. They’ve all become hooked on Iranian money.
There is a solution that is different to that. It’ll mean you’re not in power. It will mean that you lose. It will mean that you personally lose power, but the other alternative is that you will be killed.
JI: Do you think that the president made the right decision by reentering negotiations with the Iranians when he did, or do you think there are targets he should have hit beforehand, for military or diplomatic leverage?
Pompeo: I think the blockade is sufficient to merit another try. Look, I’m deeply skeptical. I’m not sure there is a decision maker in Iran today. I think there are multiple fractured decision making processes and lots of confusion.
I don’t know that he needed to go after additional targets. The denial of their capacity to move product through the strait is a very significant impact on them, but I do think it’s the case if, in fact, the Iranian regime cannot coherently present a resolution that will look and feel to them like surrender … — because they’re going to give up the entirety of their nuclear program, they’re going to have to stop funding their proxy forces, their ballistic missile program is gone, their industrial base will have to be shut down and redirected towards commercial activity, not terror; that will feel like surrender to them — then I think the president will have to begin to go back at some of those industrial targets that continue to pose risk to Israeli and American servicemembers that are in the region, and more broadly, to commercial activity that needs to move through the region as well.
JI: We’re seeing a lot of reporting about various terms that the Trump administration has purportedly offered Iran in these talks, specifically when it comes to the enrichment of uranium. There have been reports suggesting the U.S. proposed a 20-year moratorium on Iran’s enrichment program, while others allege a 10-year pause is being discussed. What do you make of these reported offers and, more broadly speaking, what would a good deal look like to you?
Pompeo: Color me cynical, but having lived as a secretary of state for two and a half years, when I see that reporting — and I don’t have first hand knowledge — I suspect that is someone playing games.
I put no credit in anything that I read in The New York Times or The Washington Post, only in the sense that they don’t know or they heard from a single individual that wasn’t actually representing the holistic view of the U.S. government. I spend no time thinking about those. I do spend a lot of time thinking about what “good” looks like. Good is infinity.
I’m also practical as someone who was a practitioner. I get it. You don’t ever get forever, but you don’t put external constraints on duration when it comes to something as serious as a regime that is in power with the capacity to inflict enormous harm on the world, with a conventional force that is serious and a nuclear capability that is real.
There’s two things. One, you can’t pay them. That’s what President Obama, then President Biden tried to do, send pallets of cash to buy your way out of this solution. The regime is not for sale. Second, I think it’s also the case that you can’t falsely give them hope that says, ‘You’re going to be able to return to status quo in five years, 10 years, 20 years from now. I think it’s the case that we’ve reached the moment where now this is a durational change in the nature of the regime.
Maybe some of the names will be the same, maybe the good spirit will move them and they will become a normal nation again. These are the things we hope and pray for as Jews and Christians, but we also do it with the knowledge that it is unlikely, and that means we have to change the leaders that are actually directing activities inside of the country.
JI: Do you think NATO has handled this moment and responded to President Trump deciding to take action in Iran well? The president is vocally frustrated with them and thinks they’ve been a thorn in the administration’s side.
Pompeo: We all know that you figure out exactly who’s with you in times of stress. This is true in our personal lives. It’s true in our professional lives. It’s certainly true in sovereign interactions.
Putting aside NATO for the moment, the way some of the European nations have behaved is absolutely abhorrent. I get that they weren’t brought in at the beginning and how that makes it complicated and it creates hurt feelings, but this isn’t about feelings. This is about national sovereignty and the safety of their own citizens.
Whether it was Spain or another nation that wouldn’t do so much as to be quiet and allow our aircraft to fly through their space, for someone who has been a staunch defender of NATO, because I believe deeply it has been important to the United States of America and to global security, to watch a leader of a country cozy up to China while the United States is doing its level best to save the very security for his own citizens is deeply indecent.
I hope there will come to be an understanding that America is indeed the good guy in this all throughout Europe and many nations in Europe, that’s why I hesitate to broad brush NATO. Many nations in Europe have actually been great and have done their best with the tools that they have available. Others have chosen a path that is very different from that. I think that will be something that takes a long time to rebuild — the trust with those countries — and they’ll have to demonstrate that they are worthy of partnership with Israel or the United States or the West.
JI: Are you still facing death threats from Iran or has your standing with Tehran changed as a result of the war?
Pompeo: As far as I know, they have not lifted the fatwa on me, so yes. We still do our level best to have adequate security to keep me from being killed by the Iranians, who have repeatedly said that they would like to see me go away.
JI: How would you grade Israel as an ally, both historically and in the last few years in the post-Oct. 7, 2023, landscape?
Pompeo: First, the United States and Israel have sovereignty, they’re independent of each other, and a different set of priorities and a different set of understandings on particular matters, very full stop. Second, they are the most fundamentally important ally and a great partner and enormous friends and important to the United States in so many deep ways.
As a Christian, this matters to me, but more importantly as a security matter, I had no better partner than the Israeli intelligence services when I was CIA director and Prime Minister Netanyahu and the foreign policy and security team inside of Israel when I was secretary of state. They did so many things to help America, often when it was difficult and much more in our interest than theirs.
That doesn’t mean we’re not going to have knock down, drag out fights over certain things. I’m sure that’s going to be true. We’ll have different target priorities, and that’s normal. It would be odd if you didn’t find that, but boy, I don’t know that the United States has ever had a closer military and security relationship than today between the United States and Israel, and I think the Iranians found that out the hard way.
They saw us flying together. They saw us intelligence sharing together. They saw the hard work that is the logistical tail that sits behind all of this. It doesn’t get much glory, but you’ve got to move a lot of ammo, a lot of fuel, a lot of people, a lot of stuff. We did that alongside Israel, and it would have been very difficult for either of us to have achieved what’s been achieved today without the other.
JI: With that in mind, we’re seeing a real shift in attitude, especially with young people, both in the Democratic and Republican parties on supporting Israel. What’s your reaction to this and what do you think was the catalyst for this change? Do you attribute it to negative feelings about the war on terror in the 2000s? What role do you think antisemitic figures in the podcast space play?
Pompeo: The causation is so difficult to identify. I think probably each of those has some element of impact and shaping. Israel has always been a flashpoint because of the conflict between Israel and the terrorists, but it’s been framed as a Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with Israel pitched to most of the world as the bad guy in that. My judgment is nothing could be further from the truth.
Israel has simply wanted to live as a sovereign, independent nation. It’s made many offers. The Palestinian Authority rejected them for decades. I think that has worn on a certain piece of the intelligentsia, the American left and some pockets on the right for sure. Some of it’s rooted in antisemitism, almost certainly. Some of it’s rooted in that it’s popular. It’s cool on a campus because the faculty is all talking about the genocidal horrors inflicted by Israel, which, I mean, it’s just patently false. I think each of those things contribute to it.
My prayer and my hope is, and I think this will prove to be true, that in the end, decent people who are part of Western civilization can identify evil from good, and will see the difference between the two. They may not like a particular strike that the United States takes somewhere where innocent civilians are killed — it’s true, as collateral [damage], it happens — but they will be able to see the difference between genocidal intent, that is driven by the Iranian regime around the world, and a desire for peace, which is driven by nations like the United States and Israel.
That means those of us who see it that way have a duty to try and articulate it, to explain it, to be relentless in articulating why that’s true, not to call people names, not to mock them, but rather to make the arguments, to use reason to convince them of reality and of the truth about what’s really taking place there. I pray one day that the bad guys will lay down their weapons, because the moment they do, the reality will be before us all. There will be peace.
JI: Staying on politics, there’s a lot of trepidation from Republicans on Capitol Hill about how the November midterms are going to play out. Do you share that concern?
Pompeo: Having served in Congress, having been elected four times, I’m always mindful that this conversation isn’t that important. What’s really important is that you work your tail off, and you, the candidates, have the first responsibility, and the rest of us try our best to help them.
It is the case, I think, that there’s a lot of energy in the progressive movement on the left today. I think that energy is there that sometimes has been more on our side. When I got elected in 2010, we had 74 brand new Republicans in districts we hadn’t won in years and years, so there was more energy. I think the next six months require us to go build that energy. If we build that energy, I think we’ll do better than the mean.
These midterms are always tough for the party that’s in control. No reason to think that historical change will take place, but if you work hard and tell a story properly, which is that these conservative ideas will deliver better outcomes for America, then we’ll do better than I think some of the fearmongers are predicting.
JI: Do you worry about the situation in the Middle East hurting Republicans in November?
Pompeo: You’ve seen that already. You’ve seen Sen. [Chris] Murphy (D-CT) do this. You’ve seen Sen. [Bernie] Sanders (I-VT) do this. They’re already trying to say: ‘This was a war of choice. President Trump failed. This is a disaster. Look how expensive gasoline is.’ So yes, this will be part of the political conversation, but that just means you have to go and articulate the why of this.
I know how people are struggling, and I feel bad when I see gas prices high for everybody too, especially the least amongst us, but I’d remind them we just have lived in this false state for so long where we thought we could just ignore this problem when it had to be solved. If the price of that, of solving that and keeping Americans for decades to come from Iran with a nuclear weapon, then to pay a little bit more at the gas pump for a little while is an acceptable cost, in my view.
I think most Americans actually get that, and they just need to understand the why and the how. When explained, I think they’ll come to the same conclusion I do, that this was a noble and important decision that President Trump made, and that it is, in the long run, better for them and their children and their grandchildren. We [Republicans] shouldn’t play politics with it either, because this is about national security, but we should articulate the rationale for why this is the best outcome for every American, Democrat and Republican alike.
JI: How are you looking at the 2028 Republican presidential bench? Do you see yourself being a part of that race?
Pompeo: It’s gonna be a donnybrook on both sides. I think there will be lots of candidates who present themselves, and I love that. As for what comes for the Pompeo family next, only the good Lord knows. We’ll see. I have a brand new grandson, I’m loving life, but we’ll see.
But I will say something that I do think is really important about the 2028 election. I hope it’s fought over important issues in a rational way. I hope the progressives show up and make their best arguments to the American people, and that the center-left and center-right do the same, and the MAGA folks and the right wing, just everybody don’t do memes, don’t tell fibs, don’t think, ‘Gosh, I was really good. I owned a lib on X.’ That might bring a sugar high, but what it doesn’t do is really deliver for the American people. I hope the campaign will turn out to be about things that really matter and be discussed in a serious way, and if so, I always have confidence the American people will get it right.
JI: What are the next steps for you in your career?
Pompeo: I’m back in the business world. It’s what I did for most of my life, before I ran for Congress. I’m involved with a private equity firm. I’m helping a couple other businesses as a board member, back in the capitalist mode, and that’s great because there’s lots of risk but lots of joy. … I’m keeping my hand in the policy space too. I teach at Columbia University and at Liberty University, two very different institutions, and I love them both, each in their own way. Then I’m trying to help some candidates be successful in these midterm elections as well.
JI: We’ve covered Columbia closely at JI since Oct. 7, and it’s notable for them to have a voice like yours join their faculty. On that front, what’s your take on the lack of campus protests or encampments against the Iranian regime? We’re not seeing the same type of protests we saw against Israel taking place against Iran.
Pompeo: It’s a great question. It got out of control because of failed leadership. The institution’s leaders failed those students. They didn’t keep the students safe. They didn’t set the correct boundaries.
We all want to protect First Amendment freedoms. That’s what college is about. Knock yourself out. You can say crazy stuff, but you can’t threaten and you can’t put other students at risk, and you can’t blockade classrooms so the students can’t enter. That’s just functionally terrible leadership.
I think what you’re seeing is some of these institutions have begun to get back the correct leadership, and I think they’ve actually done it in a way where more voices can be heard.
I was at another liberal campus a few weeks back, and some of the conservative students were still saying to me that they felt like it was still difficult to speak up in class, and that the faculty was, they didn’t use the word oppressive, but they felt the faculty was difficult. I hope that veil will be lifted, and I hope those students and all students that have different views will all feel comfortable saying, ‘Here’s what I think, and here’s why I think that.’ Then somebody will challenge them and say, ‘Well, have you thought about X or Y,’ or ‘I see it differently.’ That’s what these institutions are all about. It’s what Columbia was when it was at its finest. That’s what Harvard and Dartmouth and Liberty all should aspire to.
Plus, inside J Street's turn against Iron Dome
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on September 19, 2023, in Washington, DC.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the scoop on United Democracy Project’s $790,000 ad buy targeting GOP Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky, and report on Sen. Chris Murphy‘s praise for dozens of Iranian ships that bypassed the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. We interview Rachel Goldberg-Polin about the release of her new book, out today, and report on Jack Schlossberg’s plans to skip upcoming Jewish candidate forums in the Manhattan congressional district where he is mounting a bid. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sue Altman, Idan Ofer and Jessica Chastain.
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
- Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, will conclude later today as the country moves directly into Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. A prerecorded official torchlighting ceremony meant to mark the transition between the holidays will air this evening at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.
- Argentine President Javier Milei will be among those to participate in the torchlighting ceremony in Jerusalem, which traditionally honors supporters of Israel and designees from across Israeli society who are honored for their contributions to the country.
- EU foreign ministers are meeting today in Luxembourg, where Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares is leading an effort for the bloc to suspend its cooperation agreement with Israel.
- Talks between the U.S. and Iran, which were slated to begin today, remain unclear as both sides send mixed signals over the status of the negotiations. Iran has reportedly informed regional mediators that it plans to send a delegation today even as it publicly distances itself from the talks, while unnamed U.S. officials said Vice President JD Vance will travel to Islamabad today ahead of the expiration of the two-week ceasefire.
- The Senate is set to vote for a fifth time on a war powers resolution limiting U.S. actions in Iran.
- This afternoon, the Helsinki Commission is holding a hearing on Capitol Hill on Iranian support for Russia.
- Also this afternoon, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is convening senior State Department officials for a hearing on U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Africa.
- The House Ethics Committee is holding a sanctions hearing for Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), as the Florida Democrat faces allegations that she illegally misdirected FEMA funds.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S josh kraushaar
Amid the downbeat assessment of Israel’s political standing in the U.S., two new polls that came out last week suggest that the Jewish state still can rely on a sizable, if largely Republican, base of support.
The biggest takeaway from these two new polls — one commissioned by NBC News and one conducted by the respected GOP firm Echelon Insights — is that Israel has become a partisan issue, with Democrats turning decidedly against the Jewish state while Republicans have become strongly supportive.
All told, the polls show the public evenly divided over Israel, with the splits largely along party, ideological and generational lines. The results indicate President Donald Trump’s embrace of the Jewish state has caused Democrats to take an instinctively more negative view — in a continuation of how politics has generally operated in the Trump era.
Echelon Insights, which surveyed 1,022 respondents from March 12-16, found 44% of respondents held a favorable view of Israel, while 38% held an unfavorable view. While Israel’s plus-6 net favorability score is nothing to write home about, the results are noticeably better than a recent Pew Research Center poll that drew outsized attention for finding Israel’s net favorability rating at a dismal minus-23 (37/60%).
SCOOP
United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-linked super PAC, is taking aim again at Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) with a significant buy for a television ad targeting the anti-Israel congressman, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
About the ad: The buy totals $790,000 for a week of broadcast and cable ads in the Cincinnati, Louisville and Charleston media markets. The ad, which features a graphic of Massie’s face on a flipping coin, accuses Massie of changing his policy positions from when he was first elected, saying he “started out as a conservative Republican but now votes with liberal Democrats” on issues including border security and Israel.
Exclusive: The Republican Jewish Coalition announced Tuesday that it is endorsing four Republican Senate candidates for open seats: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme in Montana and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley in North Carolina, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
on whose side?
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Monday appeared to cheer on the reported evasion by more than two dozen Iranian ships of the U.S. maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports.
Comment card: The Connecticut Democrat, one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the Senate, responded on X with a one-word comment — “awesome” — to an unconfirmed report that at least 26 vessels belonging to the shadow fleet, which is overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had bypassed the blockade.
IRON DOME DECISIONS
In recent years, as the progressive Israel advocacy group J Street joined left-wing calls to place restrictions on U.S. military aid to Israel, support for funding Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system remained a sacred cow for the group. That consensus has shattered in recent weeks. Instead of steering the conversation among Democrats, where J Street maintains a solid base of support, the organization found itself playing catch-up to the progressive lawmakers it supports after several of them announced in early April that they think the U.S. should no longer fund Iron Dome batteries, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Change in position: J Street released a statement on April 13 calling for the U.S. to cease funding Iron Dome batteries, arguing that Israel — a wealthy nation with a substantial defense budget — should pay for its own missile-defense systems. In conversation with JI on Monday, J Street’s chief policy officer, Ilan Goldenberg, acknowledged that progressives’ rapid shift on the issue factored into J Street’s announcement, even as the group insists it was moving in that direction anyway. “It stirred up the conversation a little more, but that memo was already written,” Goldenberg said.
ABSENCES AND ANSWERS
As Jack Schlossberg gains a foothold in his primary campaign for a coveted open House seat in the heart of Manhattan, his views on Israel policy are drawing closer scrutiny, as he begins to stake out a stance on the increasingly heated subject of Democratic debate. His decision to skip at least two upcoming Jewish community candidate forums occurring next month, meanwhile, is also raising some eyebrows in the district, which has a large Jewish constituency, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Not attending: On Middle East policy, the 33-year-old Kennedy scion has embraced positions that place him to the left in the crowded field on Israel issues. Some Jewish leaders say that they are interested in hearing more from Schlossberg as he emerges as a leading candidate in the race. He attended Shabbat services in March at the Conservative Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side, a day after the terrorist attack against Temple Israel in suburban Detroit.
PHILLY FIGHT
Anti-Israel Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb has collected a series of high-profile congressional endorsements in recent days as he seeks the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District against state Sen. Sharif Street and Ala Stanford, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Rabb has made his criticism of Israel and pro-Israel groups a central part of his House campaign, including accusing Israel of committing genocide.
Backing Rabb: Rabb has been endorsed in recent days by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Jared Huffman (D-CA), as well as the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Far-left streamer Hasan Piker has also praised Rabb on his show.
LOVE AND PAIN
In the months after the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin at the hands of his Hamas captors, his parents became the faces of a unique kind of grief — one that they experienced in the public eye. Rachel Goldberg-Polin recounts some of those moments in her new book, When We See You Again, which comes out today, a chronicle of her life before, during and after her son’s captivity and murder, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports.
Writing as therapy: “I don’t think of this book at all as a memoir or a tell-all,” Goldberg-Polin told JI. “It’s like little Tupperware of pieces of a life that was, and then figuring out a life that is, and how do you do this? How do we do this, breathing in a world where we no longer have air?” She had started writing because she found it therapeutic. “I couldn’t bear the intensity of the suffering that I was carrying; [it] was making my knees buckle and my soul buckle,” Goldberg-Polin explained.
Worthy Reads
MBS Scales Back: The New York Times’ Vivian Nereim observes Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pivot away from his grandiose Vision 2030 endeavor to more modest projects and advancement amid financial challenges. “Over the past 10 years, the government has managed to reduce its reliance on oil revenue, finding new sources of funding by introducing taxes and fees. But the prince’s plans and ambitions have grown more rapidly than the state’s financial capacity. … But in recent years, the prince has refashioned himself as a mediator and diplomat, while pulling back on some of the most ostentatious elements of his plans.” [NYTimes]
The New Gulf Doctrine: In Semafor, former senior Qatari defense official Nawaf Al-Thani posits that the recent war with Iran has changed the decades-old doctrines that have guided regional relations for the last half-century. “It won’t happen overnight, because states don’t abandon half a century of accumulated practice in weeks, but change will come because the old formula was too generous and cautious. What follows this war will be narrower, harder, and more demanding. There may still be trust, but it will require verification of a far more definitive kind.” [Semafor]
The Missiles That Bind: In the Jewish New Syndicate, William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, respectively the CEO and chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, argue that “a shared civilian battlefield” is the “new reality” tying Israel to Gulf states in the wake of the war with Iran. “The experience no longer divides along national lines. The same missile that sent a family in Tel Aviv to a shelter sent a family in Abu Dhabi to do the same. The geography differs. The fear does not. The ceasefire quiets the sirens for now, but it does not erase what people across the region now understand.” [JNS]
Word on the Street
The Board of Peace’s Nickolay Mladenov suggested that negotiators working to get Hamas to agree to disarm have “maximum a couple of weeks” to reach a deal with the terror group, which has already blown past its deadline to accept the board’s disarmament proposal…
The Iranian ship seized by the U.S. Navy in the Gulf of Oman was believed to be carrying dual-use items from China that had potential military uses…
Pakistan has reportedly paused plans to move forward on a $1.5 billion deal to supply weapons to Sudan after Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Islamabad, with which it signed a defense pact last year, said it would not finance the sale…
The Wall Street Journal reports on the “hidden war within a war” that took place between Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Gulf states during the broader war with Iran…
CBS News goes to Tehran to meet with members of the country’s 12,000-strong Jewish community to discuss the recent U.S. and Israeli war with Iran…
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that Congress “should not support the [Lebanese Armed Forces] unless it acts to disarm Hezbollah completely — and immediately”…
Sue Altman, a progressive organizer and former top staffer for Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), who is running for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, slammed her anti-Israel primary opponent Adam Hamawy for “cheerleading and wishing for the deaths of Israeli children” with his comments opposing Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
NBC News looks at former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel’s leftward shift on Israel as he mulls a potential White House bid in 2028…
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Alan Dershowitz, a registered Democrat who has long been a vocal critic of his party, announced he was reregistering as a Republican, arguing that the Democratic Party’s “hostility to Israel represents a deeper and more dangerous shift away from the center and toward a radical approach that is bad for America and the free world”…
Mohamed Abdou, a former Columbia University professor terminated for praising Hamas and advocating for jihad following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel, is scheduled to speak on Tuesday at an event organized by New York University students, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
The Real Deal profiles Israeli businessman Idan Ofer as the founder of Quantum Pacific Group looks to break into the New York real estate market by acquiring offices to convert into residential properties…
The Washington Post does a deep dive into the finances of Nick Fuentes, who had made close to $1 million, largely through donations from superfans who pay for extra access to the far-right antisemitic conspiracy theorist…
Apple TV is expected to release the long-delayed thriller series “The Savant,” which stars Jessica Chastain as a researcher who uses the dark web to track down extremists and domestic terror groups; the series, which was delayed following the assassination of Charlie Kirk last September, is largely based on the work of an Anti-Defamation League employee…
Residents of Scarsdale, N.Y., are calling on the president of the school board to resign after his daughter, a student at Scarsdale High School, praised the recent vandalism of posters promoting a student-led Israeli culture club that were ripped down and discarded in a urinal…
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted to having unintentionally misled legislators about the security clearance of Peter Mandelson, who was appointed to be London’s envoy to the U.S. despite having failed vetting over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein; Starmer said that the government itself had been misled by lower-level Foreign Office staffers who greenlit Mandelson…
An Australian man who mimicked the terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach weeks after the deadly shooting and made antisemitic comments was sentenced to a year in jail; the man’s attorney said, “What he did say was antisemitic but he didn’t go out of his way to be an antisemite”…
Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar said that Budapest would comply with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, should the Israeli leader enter Hungary; Netanyahu had earlier this month accepted an invitation to travel to the country later this year to take part in a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising…
The Financial Times profiles Marion Maréchal, the niece of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, as she works to build a broad right-wing alliance modeled on similar efforts by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that would propel Le Pen’s National Rally party to electoral victory next year…
Swiss football club FC Basel, which was set to host Kanye West during his planned European tour this summer, canceled his upcoming show, following similar moves in the U.K., France and Poland, over West’s history of making antisemitic comments…
Israeli computer scientist Michael Rabin, who in 1976 was a co-recipient of the Turing Award, died at 94…
Pic of the Day
Birthdays
Once the top-ranked collegiate female tennis player in the U.S. and currently the head women’s tennis coach at the University of Oklahoma, Audra Marie Cohen turns 40…
Comedian, screenwriter, film director and actress, she returned to Broadway in 2018 after a 60-year hiatus, Elaine May turns 94… Art collector and museum trustee in Chicago, he is a retired attorney, Don Kaul turns 91… President and executive director of the Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Foundation, Howard Rosenbloom turns 87… British chemist and emeritus professor at the University of Cambridge, Sir Alan Roy Fersht turns 83… Award-winning folklorist, author, poet and editor of dozens of books, Howard Schwartz turns 81… Former lieutenant governor of Connecticut, Nancy S. Wyman turns 80… Southern California-based interior designer, Marilyn Weiss… Emergency physician in Panorama City, Calif., Joseph Edward Beezy… Founding director of Microsoft’s long-running research program on quantum physics at UCSB, an early winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship (1984), Michael Hartley Freedman turns 75… Rabbi, psychologist, writer and editor, Susan Schnur turns 75… Professor emeritus at George Mason University Law School (now known as Antonin Scalia Law School), he lectures frequently at Federalist Society chapters across the country, Michael Ian Krauss turns 75… Australian barrister who is a minister for local government following 31 years as mayor of Botany Bay, Ron Hoenig turns 73… Rabbi at Temple Ner Simcha in Westlake Village, Calif., Michael Barclay turns 63… Ukrainian-born industrialist, now also an Israeli citizen, he co-founded the Genesis Prize and the Genesis Philanthropy Group, Mikhail Fridman turns 62… Chicago-based lobbyist and attorney, Scott D. Yonover… Art collector and dealer, who together with his father and brother are reputed to own $1 billion of art including over 1,000 pieces by Andy Warhol, Alberto “Tico” Mugrabi turns 56… International breaking news reporter at The New York Times, Ephrat Livni… Founder of I Was Supposed to Have a Baby (IWSTHAB), an online community geared toward Jewish women experiencing infertility, Aimee Friedman Baron… Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times and best-selling author, Jodi Kantor turns 51… CEO of Unistream, Ifat Bechor… Head of customer success at SnapStream, Eric Weisbrod… Retired actress and voice actress, her career included the voice of Regina “Reggie” Rocket on Nickelodeon’s “Rocket Power,” Shayna Bracha Fox turns 42… Investor relations officer at Gryphon Investors, he is a past president of the Berkeley Hillel, Robert J. Kaufman… Salesforce marketing and cloud consultant at Jackson Family Wines, Joshua Gibbs… Outfielder for MLB’s Texas Rangers, he is a two-time World Series champion and a two-time All-Star, he played for Team Israel in the 2013 and 2023 World Baseball Classics, Joc Pederson turns 34… Writer, magazine editor and actress, she was the founder and editor-in-chief of the since closed online Rookie Magazine, aimed primarily at teenage girls, Tavi Gevinson turns 30…
Two new polls suggest that the Jewish state still can rely on a sizable, if largely Republican, constituency of support
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Donald Trump, right, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, during a news conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025.
Amid the downbeat assessment of Israel’s political standing in the U.S., two new polls that came out last week suggest that the Jewish state still can rely on a sizable, if largely Republican, constituency of support.
The biggest takeaway from these two new polls — one commissioned by NBC News and one conducted by the respected GOP firm Echelon Insights — is that Israel has become a partisan issue, with Democrats turning decidedly against the Jewish state while Republicans have become strongly supportive.
All told, the polls show the public evenly divided over Israel, with the splits largely along party, ideological and generational lines. The results indicate President Donald Trump’s embrace of the Jewish state has caused Democrats to take an instinctively more negative view — in a continuation of how politics has generally operated in the Trump era.
Echelon Insights, which surveyed 1,022 respondents from March 12-16, found 44% of respondents held a favorable view of Israel, while 38% held an unfavorable view. While Israel’s plus-6 net favorability score is nothing to write home about, the results are noticeably better than a recent Pew Research Center poll that drew outsized attention for finding Israel’s net favorability rating at a dismal minus-23 (37/60%).
The Echelon poll found support was highest for Israel among the most conservative voters, with 72% of “very conservative” voters viewing the Jewish state favorably, while 61% of “somewhat conservative” respondents said the same. Moderates broke evenly, with 40% viewing Israel favorably and 39% unfavorably.
But among “somewhat liberal” respondents, support for Israel dropped noticeably, with just 31% viewing the Jewish state favorably and 55% unfavorably. And among the “very liberal” voters, only 14% viewed Israel favorably and 70% unfavorably — a worse favorability rating than Iran and China.
The Echelon survey found the same general splits within both parties: Republicans under 50 were significantly less supportive of Israel than their older counterparts, with 44% viewing it favorably and 33% unfavorably. By contrast, 78% of Republicans over 50 gave Israel positive marks.
Similarly, there was a sizable minority of Democrats over 50 (33%) who viewed Israel favorably, compared to the smaller share of under-50 Democrats (17%) who said the same.
The NBC poll, conducted by SurveyMonkey between March 30-April 13, framed its question about Israel in a different way, asking respondents whether they were more sympathetic to Israelis or Palestinians. The poll found an even 50-50% split on the question.
The groups that were most sympathetic to Palestinians were Democrats (75% viewed Palestinians more favorably, 25% Israelis) and Gen Zers (74%/26%).
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas: ‘At some point, either the government will know information related to individuals’ religion, or we will not be able to enforce the laws on their behalf’
Dillon Meyer Media
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas and Brandeis Center founder Kenneth Marcus speak at the inaugural conference on antisemitism and civil rights law at Harvard University on April 16, 2026.
The Trump administration official leading a controversial probe into antisemitism at the University of Pennsylvania told Jewish leaders and legal experts on Thursday that compiling a list of Jewish faculty with their detailed personal information was necessary to identify and protect victims.
“There is no other way to protect victims of harassment or discrimination unless you collect information about them,” Andrea Lucas, chair of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s inaugural conference on antisemitism and civil rights law, held at Harvard University.
“We never collect information to contact someone on their work system,” she said. “The EEOC’s long-standing practice is to collect personal information because we want to make sure that there is not any clear monitoring of your email systems … that when you speak to a government agency you feel completely not pressured.”
Last month, a federal judge ordered Penn to comply with a subpoena from the Trump administration requesting detailed information about Jewish university affiliates as part of the EEOC’s ongoing investigation into Penn’s handling of antisemitism. The subpoena had requested the school turn over lists of Jewish employees and members of Jewish organizations — including their identifying details and phone numbers — which the school called “extraordinary and unconstitutional.” Critics on campus have likened the move to Nazi-era methods of collecting information about Jews.
During a fireside chat with Kenneth Marcus, founder of the Brandeis Center and former assistant secretary of education for civil rights under the first Trump administration, Lucas noted she was speaking generally and not about the Penn case specifically, as litigation is ongoing.
“At some point, either the government will know information related to individuals’ religion, or we will not be able to enforce the laws on their behalf,” continued Lucas, who is not Jewish but emphasized a personal interest in religious liberty as “a core thing the EEOC needs to be focusing on.”
“I understand the sensitivities around this issue … but fundamentally the Jewish community does have to decide: do you want to have civil rights enforcement in this space? If you do, there is no other way we can get money for victims.”
Experts told Jewish Insider in January that a more typical investigation might involve agency officials interviewing people who issued complaints directly with the agency, then visiting the campus and publicizing their investigation, calling the EEOC’s methods in the Penn case “incredibly unusual, if not completely unprecedented.”
Lucas asserted that the same standard applied for helping members of any race, religion or gender. None of the event’s speakers publicly disagreed with Lucas’ statements.
The daylong conference was born out of last year’s settlement between the Brandeis Center and Harvard over a Title VI lawsuit, and was framed around this year’s U.S. Semiquincentennial.
It opened with an address from Marcus and a benediction from Harvard Chabad’s Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi. Attendees included Harvard community members, Jewish activists, lawyers and scholars.
The plenary session, “Towards a Jewish Civil Rights Movement,” moderated by Marcus, featured William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Elan Carr, CEO of Israeli-American Council and former special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; and Miriam Elman, executive director of the Academic Engagement Network.
Carr called the battle against antisemitism “a war for the soul of America and the soul of civilization,” and advocated for a shift in classroom curriculums and federal funding.
“Jew-hatred is history’s greatest barometer of human ruin and suffering. We are fighting for the future of our country and American values. So we need to get serious about teaching American values … we can’t safeguard this republic unless we teach American kids what this republic is, why it was founded, what our values are and constitutional structures are,” he said. “This is a national crisis with national implications. The federal government needs to say ‘no money goes anywhere to any educational institution unless there’s Western values, American civics, basic principles of the United States as part of the curriculum.’”
After the session, Daroff told JI that “today’s conference brought a united American Jewish community together, aligned in action. We are not standing back. We are organizing, building and acting together with shared purpose and resolve.”
The conference also featured a panel titled “Defining Anti-Semitism at America’s 250th: New Challenges for a New Century.” Speakers debated the importance of pushing states to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, as many mainstream Jewish groups are using resources to do. Critics of IHRA say the definition chills political speech and criticism of Israel.
Nathan Diament, executive director for the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, said that IHRA is not only important for combating campus antisemitism — as several of the speakers emphasized — but also regarding legislation in Washington.
At the same time, “in the political arena, vagueness around questions [of what is antisemitism] is unhelpful. The most important currency in politics is votes. Advocates and voters need to be able to say with clarity to politicians [what they will and will not support]. This is the most important need for the definition of antisemitism, to draw a line as clearly as we can and make clear to politicians that if they cross this line, there will be consequences,” said Diament.
“Even as the OU has, and continues to, support legislation to codify the IHRA definition, I don’t think at this stage in the game that’s the most important way to further the definition and to use our political capital,” he continued. “We don’t need Congress’ approval of how we want to define antisemitism. We don’t need them to codify it and we don’t need them to give us permission to use it to hold members of Congress and other politicians accountable. We can use the IHRA definition because we say that’s the definition.”
Alyza Lewin, president of U.S. affairs for the Combat Antisemitism Movement and former president of the Brandeis Center, pushed back by highlighting how the law enforcement trainings she provides varies based on local adoption of the IHRA definition. She noted a stark difference between training in states where it is codified, such as Georgia, and those where it is not, such as New York.
Law enforcement in Georgia “has a very concrete reason now to understand and use” the training, said Lewin. “In New York, especially after [Mayor Zohran Mamdani] reversed the executive order on IHRA, I can try to explain it to them but it’s just a nice thing I teach them. They are under no obligation to actually engage with it and utilize it. So I do think on a state by state level, it does make a difference whether or not a state has adopted the IHRA definition.”
In a separate panel, moderated by Anat Alon-Beck, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, speakers explored new avenues for litigation against antisemitism.
“Nearly two years after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the Jewish community still lacks unified messaging, coordinated toolkits and a clear strategy. At a time when antisemitic actors are highly organized and aligned, our disunity is a serious vulnerability,” Alon-Beck told JI following her session. “We need to come together — with clarity, courage and coordination — because the stakes could not be higher.”
According to the Brandeis Center, this conference was the first in an annual three-part series.
Charles Dabda, a third-year student at Touro Law Center and law clerk with National Jewish Advocacy Center, told JI he was leaving the conference with a clear sense that “antisemitism is rising in real time with real consequences across campuses, professional spaces and beyond. At the Brandeis Center, and NJAC, our commitment remains resolute and steadfast; we will confront antisemitism wherever it manifests — through advocacy, and, when necessary, the courtroom.”
Plus, when Graham Platner praised Hamas
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 03, 2024 in Washington.
👋 Good Thursday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the scoop on Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s praise for a violent 2014 Hamas attack on an Israeli military base, and report on last night’s failedSenate votes on weapons sales restrictions to Israel, which garnered the support of most Senate Democrats. We cover Meta’s defense of its content moderation policies following an Anti-Defamation League report that found that the platform failed to remove the vast majority of reported extremist and hateful content, and look at how Israel is preparing for a potential future Houthi ground assault. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ken Marcus, Avi Issacharoff and Matt Brooks.
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
- President Donald Trump suggested yesterday that a call between Israeli and Lebanese leaders could take place today, following a State Department summit on Tuesday between the ambassadors from the two countries. Israeli Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel, a member of Israel’s security cabinet, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun were slated to speak, while a Lebanese government official told Reuters earlier today that Beirut was “not aware” of any upcoming contact with Israeli officials.
- Pakistani army chief Asim Munir is in Tehran today for meetings with senior Iranian officials aimed at convening a second round of U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad. Yesterday, Munir met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The meetings come as Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif conducts a multicountry trip through the weekend, traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. In Jeddah yesterday, Sharif met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- Voters in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District are heading to the polls today for the election to succeed now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill. Progressive organizer Analilia Mejia, who since the primary has gotten the backing of top Garden State Democrats, is the favorite to win in the blue district against Republican Joe Hathaway.
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a confirmation hearing for several positions: NTIA Deputy Administrator Adam Cassady to be ambassador at large for cyberspace and digital policy, attorney Todd Steggerda to be U.S. representative to the U.N. in Geneva and the State Department’s Preston Wells Griffith III to be U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
- The House Appropriations Committee is holding a series of budget hearings over the course of the day. Committee members will hear this afternoon from Karen Evans, the acting administrator of FEMA, which administers the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
- Harvard University is hosting a landmark public conference on antisemitism and civil rights today, one of the terms of a legal settlement between the school and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. More below.
- The Shalom Hartman Institute’s Yehuda Kurtzer and The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg will sit in conversation at an event this evening at the Capital Jewish Museum focused on “Jewish America at 250” ahead of the U.S. Semiquincentennial.
- Semafor’s World Economy summit in Washington continues today. Speakers today include Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Mark Warner (D-VA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Todd Young (R-IN) and Susan Collins (R-ME), Steve Bannon, former Biden administration official Amos Hochstein and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
There’s been a lot of debate lately over whether President Donald Trump is losing some of his grip on the Republican Party, amid growing economic concerns and the ongoing military operations in Iran.
While the media coverage has been amplifying any sign of intraparty discontent — to the point that former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is getting strange new respect from some Democrats and mainstream press — polls continue to show Trump with widespread backing from within his own party, and especially within the MAGA faction of the GOP.
Ultimately, election results are the best reality check. And you couldn’t draw up a better test on the degree of Trump’s impact on the Republican Party than examining the results from four states holding highly consequential primaries next month that will be a benchmark of the president’s power.
Key races in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas will speak volumes about the president’s ability to shape the GOP agenda for the remainder of his second term — and most consequentially, whether he will be able to maintain a unified front with his party on continuing to pursue military action against Iran.
The biggest intraparty showdown, especially when it comes to foreign policy, is the May 19 primary between Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and military veteran Ed Gallrein. Massie, one of the few anti-Israel Republicans in Congress, is being opposed by Trump but also has a solid base of grassroots support in the northern Kentucky district, which has thus far supported his anti-establishment brand of politics. But Gallrein has proven to be a credible challenger, raising millions and giving Massie the biggest political test of his career.
Trump has spent some valuable political capital to boost Gallrein, including appearing at a recent rally in Massie’s district to promote his challenger. He’s been joined by the Republican Jewish Coalition, which has poured $3.5 million into the race, airing five ads underscoring Massie’s record of breaking with Trump. (Further drawing Trump’s ire: Massie also joined with Democrats in championing the release of the Epstein files.)
It’s never easy to beat a sitting incumbent, but Trump also has an imposing record of winning primaries in which he chooses to engage. If Massie pulls out a victory despite breaking so flagrantly with Trump on a number of key issues, it will be a sign of the president’s diminished political clout.
SCOOP
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner repeatedly praised the tactics used by Hamas terrorists in comments made about a graphic video of a Hamas raid into Israel in 2014, in which terrorists killed at least five Israeli soldiers, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said: “Looks like an all around well executed and successful small unit raid to me,” Platner wrote in 2014 on the Reddit forum r/CombatFootage, a discussion board for footage and photographs of past and current armed conflicts. “Pragmatically I have little problem with killing an enemy combatant who you attempt to capture but for whatever reason cannot. From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent, I dig it,” he added, in response to another user.
FEELING THE BERN
Most of the Democrats in the Senate — 40 in total, including some traditionally pro-Israel lawmakers — voted on Wednesday evening for a measure led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that aimed to block sales of bulldozers to Israel, with 36 of them also voting to advance a second Sanders-backed resolution to block sales of thousands of 1,000-pound bombs, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Newcomers: After having opposed previous similar efforts, Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) all flipped and voted in favor of Sanders’ latest resolutions. Warner and Peters, along with Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), voted to advance the resolution to block the bulldozer sale but against advancing the one on bombs.
Also on the Hill: An effort by Senate Democrats to force an end to the war in Iran was again blocked by Republicans on Wednesday, the fourth such failed attempt mounted by Senate Democrats since the war began in late February.
META-MORPHISIS
Amid accusations that Meta’s moderation policies enable antisemitic content to circulate on its platforms, a Meta leader on Tuesday highlighted efforts to combat online Jew-hatred, including restrictions on Holocaust denial, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Pushing back: “We remove Holocaust distortion and denial, not because it’s false, which it is, but because it’s antisemitic. It is hate speech against Jewish people, so we’ve drawn a clear line against it,” said Ben Good, director of content policy at Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Good spoke at “Hack the Hate NYC 2026,” an event at the Yeshiva University Museum in Manhattan spotlighting Israeli tech experts and Jewish leaders working to combat digital antisemitism. But even as Meta has made strides in addressing Holocaust denial, the Anti-Defamation League released a new report on Tuesday, just hours before the event, revealing that Instagram failed to remove 93% of reported extremist and hateful content, tying the trend directly to Meta’s efforts to roll back content moderation last year.
CAPITAL CONTEST
As voters in Washington, D.C., get ready to elect their first new mayor in more than a decade, the two leading candidates — former colleagues on the Council of the District of Columbia — are proposing drastically different visions for the city’s future: political moderation or democratic socialism. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutchthis week at his campaign headquarters in Northeast Washington, former Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie drew a direct contrast between his campaign and that of his Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed rival, Janeese Lewis George.
DSA direction: “I didn’t seek, nor would I accept, the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America, or any organization, for that matter, that requires some sort of divisive pledge to exclude people that are a part of the fabric of the community of the District of Columbia,” McDuffie said. He was referring to a DSA endorsement questionnaire that asked candidates not to engage with “the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups.” Lewis George, a longtime DSA member, vowed not to attend events that promote Zionism when she filled out the questionnaire, which earned her the DSA endorsement.
CONTINGENCY PLANS
Like a desperate poker player holding an ace in the hole, Iran has a “strategic reserve” if the ceasefire in the war with Israel and the U.S. collapses and fighting resumes: the Houthis, the Tehran-backed Yemeni terrorist group. How Iran plays the Houthi card has been the subject of concern in Israel, with analysts telling Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov that everything from a ground invasion from the east — with echoes of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, rampage in southern Israel — to making good on the threat to block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to further choke off international shipping remains in play.
Seeking revenge: Yoni Ben-Menachem, a senior Middle East analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told JI that the Houthis planned “to take revenge and bring back their honor” since Israel killed much of their leadership in August 2025. “They see that Israel’s air defenses are strong, and it’s hard for them to reach military achievements with missiles and drones. They want to surprise Israel, so they are looking at ways to do it on the ground,” he said.
Cautious optimism: The first round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon has been received positively by diplomats, pro-Israel lawmakers and experts, who see it as a sign of Hezbollah’s waning influence in Lebanon. But despite the optimism surrounding the discussions, experts caution that disarming the terrorist group remains a daunting obstacle that stands in the way of any meaningful change, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.
CAMPUS CONVERSATION
A Jewish legal group will convene its inaugural conference on antisemitism and civil rights law at Harvard University on Thursday, an event that was born out of last year’s settlement of a Title VI lawsuit against the school and framed around the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
On the agenda: “We’re very excited to have a mix of federal, high-level leadership, prominent scholars, Jewish communal leaders, high-powered litigators and experts in the field,” Ken Marcus, founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the group hosting the conference, told JI. The daylong event is slated to open with an address from Marcus and benediction from Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, who leads Harvard Chabad. Held as America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary this summer, Marcus said the headline session will focus “on how we define antisemitism as lawyers and professionals, and why a proper definition of antisemitism matters for America at this point in time.”
Cambridge chatter: Federal prosecutors filed a 160-page brief calling on a circuit court to reinstate the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar freeze on Harvard’s research funding.
Worthy Reads
The Problem with Piker: The Free Press’ Peter Savodnik looks at Democrats’ continued embrace of Hasan Piker, despite the far-left streamer’s extensive history of praising terrorists and antisemitic and anti-American rhetoric. “The truth is they’re afraid of challenging Piker because they don’t want to alienate his next-gen Bernie Bro audience — a fear that is greatly exacerbated by their hand-wringing about not being on ‘the right side of history,’ down with the kids. … There’s a deeper problem here, one that is more cognitive, even spiritual: Too few Democrats can see that Piker is obviously, deeply wrong, that he lacks imagination, that he’s ignorant, that he camouflages his ignorance with just enough lingo to make his highly unoriginal neo-Marxist riffs and rants sound incisive.” [FreePress]
The Future of Warfare: In The Wall Street Journal, former CIA Director David Petraeus posits that despite the U.S.’ military successes in Iran, the war in Ukraine is more instructive as to the future of warfare. “War is increasingly defined by unmanned systems, artificial intelligence and mass precision. The Gulf offers useful insights, but Ukraine is the more demanding laboratory. There, the true challenges of unmanned systems at scale and the rapid emergence of autonomous capabilities are already on display. … The Gulf conflict demonstrates what American forces can achieve from a position of strength. Ukraine has shown what war looks like from a more vulnerable position, when that strength is contested at scale.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
At Semafor’s World Economy summit in Washington on Wednesday, Chuck Robbins, CEO of the tech giant Cisco, spoke about his decision a decade ago to acquire Leaba Semiconductor, an Israeli company, before it had even developed a product, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…
UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy, speaking at the confab, called for the Strait of Hormuz to be an international passageway that is not under the control of any one country…
Also speaking at the summit yesterday, “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil, speaking to David Rubenstein, talked about documentarian Ken Burns‘ July 4 tradition of reading the Declaration of Independence out loud with his family, calling it “a Seder for America”…
A second U.S.-sanctioned supertanker entered the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the U.S.’ maritime blockade of the waterway…
The Wall Street Journal looks at how growing economic distress in Iran could push Tehran back to negotiations with the U.S. as it seeks much-needed sanctions relief…
Seb Gorka, a deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, is reportedly looking to be named the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, following Joe Kent’s resignation last month…
The Financial Times spotlights Paolo Zampolli, a close personal friend of President Donald Trump and the U.S. special representative for global partnerships, as he conducts multibillion-dollar deals on behalf of the White House…
The Wall Street Journal reports on the hurdles facing Kevin Warsh ahead of his confirmation hearing to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve…
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), appearing on “Pod Save America,” praised former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — once a vocal Omar foe who called for the congresswoman’s deportation while they were both in the House — and far-right influencer Candace Owens over the pair’s break with Trump, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a challenge Wednesday to those seeking to challenge her plan to penalize protesters who get too close to religious institutions — “Bring it on.” Announcing new state programs to provide support and security for organizations deemed “vulnerable to hate crimes,” the governor, a Democrat, took questions regarding her proposal to bar demonstrations of more than two people from occurring within 25 feet of a house of worship, JI’s Will Bredderman reports…
Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, apologized for using racist language in social media posts as a teenager, but fell short of addressing more recent comments in which she suggested that Tel Aviv “shouldn’t exist in the first place,” and celebrated “freedom fighters of Palestine”…
A new report from Yale University’s Committee on Trust in Higher Education found that universities themselves cultivated significant public distrust of higher education, citing soaring tuition costs, unclear admissions processes and the uneven applications of standards and rules…
Kent Syverud, who earlier this year had been tapped as the next chancellor of the University of Michigan, announced that he has been diagnosed with brain cancer and will not assume the position in Ann Arbor; the school’s Board of Regents said it will begin a new search process in the coming days…
Duke University suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on Tuesday, one month after students began submitting complaints about an antisemitic Instagram post from the group, which depicted the U.S. and Israel as pigs frothing at the mouth, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…
Hebrew Union College President Andrew Rehfeld told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher that the school was “deeply disappointed” by a decision by the Ohio Attorney General’s office to file a lawsuit to block the institution’s plans to shutter its Cincinnati rabbinical programs…
Apple TV released the trailer for the upcoming Israeli thriller series “Unconditional,” which stars Liraz Chamami and Talia Lynne Ronn as a mother-daughter pair stranded in Russia and at the mercy of Moscow crime rings following Ronn’s character’s arrest on drug-smuggling charges…
“Fauda” co-creator Avi Issacharoff shared a sneak peek of the show’s upcoming fifth season, which takes place in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…
Police in the U.K. arrested two people following an attempted arson attack at a synagogue in North London…
U.K. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for the deportation of foreigners who engage in antisemitism…
Immanuel College, one of London’s only private Jewish secondary schools, is set to close at the end of this year, citing financial challenges…
Kanye West postponed an upcoming show in Marseille, France, after government officials, as well as the mayor of Marseille, suggested the rapper would not be welcome in the country; the decision comes days after U.K. authorities revoked West’s visa ahead of a summer festival he was set to headline in the country…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law legislation levying criminal penalties — including fines and prison sentences — against individuals convicted of antisemitic offenses…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungary Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar spoke by phone on Wednesday, with a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office saying that the incoming Hungarian leader invited Netanyahu to the country for the 70-year commemoration of the Hungarian Uprising…
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil denied reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was planning to pull its financial support for the league, weeks before its first scheduled U.S. tournament of the season, slated to take place next month at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia…
Front Office Sports reports that a multiyear deal between Michael Rubin‘s Fanatics and Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority is on the verge of collapse…
Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks is joining Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as a senior strategic advisor; Brooks will continue in his position at the RJC, in addition to his role leading the Jewish Policy Center…
Israel Malachi was named the new director general of Israel’s Finance Ministry after serving for nearly four years as the ministry’s deputy director general…
Amy Marks is joining JCC Association of North America as the organization’s chief advancement officer…
Former “All Things Considered” host Ari Shapiro is joining CNN as a contributor, where he’ll co-host a new podcast focused on digital trends with his former NPR colleague Audie Cornish…
Author and TV producer Barbara Gordon, whose memoir about her addiction to Valium and mental health challenges became a bestseller, died at 90…
Pic of the Day
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (center right), cut the ribbon at the official launch on Wednesday of ARC Landing Boston, a joint initiative between Healey’s administration and Israel’s Sheba Medical Center. Joining Healey for the ribbon-cutting were New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Sheba Director General Yitshak Kreiss and ARC Innovation Founder and Director Eyal Zimlichman.
Birthdays
Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actress and movie producer, Ellen Barkin turns 72…
CEO and president of American Express in the 1990s, he now serves on many corporate and charitable boards, Harvey Golub turns 87… Chasidic singer, known by his stage name Mordechai Ben David or MBD, Mordechai Werdyger turns 75… Olympic track-and-field athlete, and survivor of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, Esther Roth-Shachamorov turns 74… Cofounder of Jordan Company LP, a New York private equity firm, David Wayne Zalaznick turns 72… Physician and venture capitalist focused on biotechnology and life-sciences industries, Lindsay Rosenwald turns 71… Professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, Aaron Louis Friedberg, Ph.D. turns 70… Filmmaker, he directed the 2011 documentary “Paul Williams Still Alive” and the 1997 slapstick comedy “Vegas Vacation” starring Chevy Chase, Stephen Kessler turns 66… Former dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf turns 64… Former secretary of state of the United States under the Biden administration, Antony John “Tony” Blinken turns 64… Emmy Award-winning television producer and writer, he co-created and produced “Will & Grace” and “Boston Common,” David Sanford Kohan turns 62… Long Island native, he is a Los Angeles pharmacist, Jeffrey D. Marcus… U.S. ambassador to Egypt during the Trump 45 administration, Jonathan Raphael Cohen turns 62… Former mayor of Hoboken, N.J., Dawn Zimmer turns 58… Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S. and minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer turns 55… Canada’s minister of the environment, climate change and nature, Julie Dabrusin turns 55… Celebrity plastic surgeon, he is active on social media as “Dr. Miami” and has been on reality TV about his practice, Michael Salzhauer, M.D. turns 54… Board member of Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco, Ellen K. Finestone… Founder and president of Glass Ceiling Strategies, she is also a managing director for communications at Climate Power, Alex Glass… Founder of Jewish Fashion Council and journalist at Fabologie, Adi Heyman… Former pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization, he played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Richard Sidney Bleier turns 39… Attorney who has served as a law clerk to three Maryland judges, now a VP at JPMorgan Chase, Geoffrey S. Middleberg… Lead product manager at Anthropic, Uriel Kejsefman… Singer, pianist and composer, he is best known as half of the folk-rock duo the Portnoy Brothers, Mendy Portnoy turns 34… Climate and energy transition investor, he was a White House staffer in 2017, Matthew Saunders… Senior client strategy and success manager at Grow Progress, Adam Gotbaum… First baseman and free agent, he played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Matthew Jared “Mash” Mervis turns 28… Josh Goldstein… Sarah Wolfson…
You couldn’t draw up a better test on the degree of Trump’s impact on the Republican Party than examining the results from four states holding highly consequential primaries next month that will be a benchmark of the president’s power
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump walks toward reporters before answering questions prior to boarding Air Force One on April 10, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
There’s been a lot of debate lately over whether President Donald Trump is losing some of his grip on the Republican Party, amid growing economic concerns and the ongoing military operations in Iran.
While the media coverage has been amplifying any sign of intraparty discontent — to the point that former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is getting strange new respect from some Democrats and mainstream press alike — polls continue to show Trump with widespread backing from within his own party, and especially within the MAGA faction of the GOP.
Ultimately, election results are the best reality check. And you couldn’t draw up a better test on the degree of Trump’s impact on the Republican Party than examining the results from four states holding highly consequential primaries next month that will be a benchmark of the president’s power.
Key races in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas will speak volumes about the president’s ability to shape the GOP agenda for the remainder of his second term — and most consequentially, whether he will be able to maintain a unified front with his party on continuing to pursue military action against Iran.
The biggest intraparty showdown, especially when it comes to foreign policy, is the May 19 primary between Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and military veteran Ed Gallrein. Massie, one of the few anti-Israel Republicans in Congress, is being opposed by Trump but also has a solid base of grassroots support in the northern Kentucky district, which has thus far supported his anti-establishment brand of politics. But Gallrein has proven to be a credible challenger, raising millions and giving Massie the biggest political test of his career.
Trump has spent some valuable political capital to boost Gallrein, including appearing at a recent rally in Massie’s district to promote his challenger. He’s been joined by the Republican Jewish Coalition, which has poured $3.5 million into the race, airing five ads underscoring Massie’s record of breaking with Trump. (Further drawing Trump’s ire: Massie also joined with Democrats in championing the release of the Epstein files.)
It’s never easy to beat a sitting incumbent, but Trump also has an imposing record of winning primaries in which he chooses to engage. If Massie pulls out a victory despite breaking so flagrantly with Trump on a number of key issues, it will be a sign of the president’s diminished political clout.
Another high-profile race where Trump’s engagement in a primary hasn’t yet been definitive: Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) uphill fight to win renomination against Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) and state Treasurer John Fleming. The primary will be held on May 16, with the top two finishers heading to a runoff if no one wins a majority of the vote.
Cassidy, largely because of his vote to impeach Trump in 2021, has long faced challenges with the GOP base. Trump, looking to secure Cassidy’s defeat, backed Letlow earlier this year in hopes she’d consolidate the MAGA vote. But Trump’s endorsement hasn’t translated into a groundswell for Letlow, and the presence of Fleming, a former right-wing congressman, has complicated the political math in the primary.
Cassidy looks like a long shot even if he heads to a runoff, and Letlow holds a narrow lead in the limited public polling of the race. But there’s a chance that Fleming could sneak past Letlow on the primary ballot and face Cassidy in a runoff, blocking Trump’s candidate from the race. If that happened, it would be another sign that Trump’s endorsement doesn’t carry the same weight as it once did.
The first Trump test of the month (May 5) will be in Indiana, where the president is trying to punish certain Republican state legislators for not backing a redistricting plan, championed by the White House, which would have allowed the GOP to gain an additional seat.
Finally, it’s the spring race where Trump has remained on the sidelines that may be a signal of his limited political powers. After Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) finished ahead of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s primary last month, reports indicated the president was close to endorsing Cornyn for reelection, in an effort to prevent an expensive and competitive general election against Democrat James Talarico.
But amid furious pushback from right-wing activists and polls suggesting that a Trump endorsement wouldn’t have moved the needle that much, the president has not gotten involved in the race. That alone speaks volumes about the limited level of the president’s political capital.
Trump boasts a near-perfect record in GOP primaries throughout his decade-long political career, with the most prominent setbacks being in Georgia (working against Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in 2022). So if the president’s chosen candidates end up falling short in these key contests, it will be a sign that Republicans may already be preparing for the post-Trump era.
Plus, Mamdani's video editor heaped praise on Sinwar
Jim Watson - Pool/Getty Images
U.S. Vice President JD Vance gives remarks following a roundtable discussion with local leaders and community members amid a surge of federal immigration authorities in the area, at Royalston Square on January 22, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Vice President JD Vance telling an anti-Israel protester to blame former President Joe Biden for the situation in Gaza, which Vance called an “absolute catastrophe,” and have the scoop on social media posts from a staffer in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office that praised slain Hamas head Yahya Sinwar. We do a deep dive into the Democratic National Committee’s Middle East working group following a failed effort to push through anti-Israel and anti-AIPAC resolutions at the DNC’s latest meeting, and report on a Yale Youth Poll that found younger voters hold decidedly more antisemitic beliefs than older generations. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Stephen Schwarzman, Joshua Feltman and Zach and Max Bruch.
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
- Talks between the U.S. and Iran could resume in the coming days, President Donald Trump said yesterday. The president’s comments come as the Pentagon prepares to deploy some 10,000 additional troops to the region by the end of the month amid the U.S.’ maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
- The Senate is slated to vote this afternoon on a war powers resolution, as well as on legislation banning arms sales to Israel put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
- Elsewhere in Washington, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and Jeff Bartos, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. for management and reform, are slated to testify today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. priorities at the United Nations.
- Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch will hold a town hall tonight at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue to discuss antisemitism in New York City.
- In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey will join representatives from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to launch the new ARC Health Tech Accelerator in Downtown Boston.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
A popular “domino effect” meme circulates online every few months, linking slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s decision to launch the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — the smallest domino — to a series of major geopolitical shifts across the Middle East. While both simplified and exaggerated, the meme underscores the dramatic reshaping of Middle Eastern power dynamics.
The next domino may be the decades-long fraught relationship between Israel and Lebanon, as Iran’s ironclad grip over the region loosens and its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah, finds itself increasingly weakened and marginalized in Lebanon, where it has for decades played a key role in the country’s politics and military.
Those current geopolitical conditions — Iran at its weakest point in decades, successive levels of Hezbollah leadership removed from power through Israeli military actions, the degradation of Hamas and a new government in Syria that has separated itself from Tehran — laid the groundwork for yesterday’s State Department summit, convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, between Israel and Lebanon.
The State Department meeting between the ambassadors from Lebanon and Israel took place as the U.S. navigates stalled talks and a tenuous ceasefire with Iran — which was initially on unstable ground as Iran demanded that Israel cease its targeting of Hezbollah as part of the ceasefire.
A senior Israeli official told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that Iran’s effort to link the two conflicts was “a strategic trap with long-term ramifications.”
“There was real pressure to link the Lebanon front to the Iran ceasefire,” the official said. If President Donald Trump had acquiesced to the Iranian demand to link the two conflicts, the official continued, “We would not be on the path to peace that we’re on now. Keeping the arenas separate ultimately means that the fate of Lebanon is no longer dictated by Iran.”
DIRECTING FIRE
Heckled over Gaza at a Turning Point USA event on Tuesday evening, Vice President JD Vance claimed that “the humanitarian situation in Gaza was an absolute catastrophe” when President Donald Trump returned to office last January and criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict, though he did not defend Israel against the attack, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
What he said: An attendee at the event at the University of Georgia repeatedly shouted that the Trump administration was supporting “genocide” in Gaza by backing Israel’s war against Hamas. “You know who’s the person who got a peace agreement in Gaza? Donald J. Trump,” Vance told the heckler. “So if you want to complain about what happened in Gaza, why don’t you complain about Joe Biden and the last administration? We’re the administration that solved that problem.”
SCOOP
The architect of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s viral video campaign paid homage to the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in a series of tweets uncovered by Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman — posts in which the operative asserted that late Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar “gave his entire life until the end fighting for his people’s liberation.”
Career development: Records show Donald Borenstein got paid more than $90,000 last year by the Mamdani campaign for his services as director of video — a role in which, according to his LinkedIn, he served as “primary cinematographer” for the social media imagery that propelled the democratic socialist lawmaker into Gracie Mansion. Borenstein’s Instagram indicates he has since assumed the title of “creative director” at City Hall, and he has been credited for official videos promoting the mayor and his agenda. Borenstein was also featured in a recent comedy sketch starring Mamdani and his top staffers that was shared on the official NYC Mayor’s Office YouTube channel.
DEM DIVIDES
At last week’s Democratic National Committee meeting in New Orleans, two resolutions concerning Israel were tabled, and punted to a working group tasked with building consensus among Democrats on Middle East-related issues. At a time when Democrats appear deeply divided about how to address the U.S.-Israel relationship and Middle East policy more broadly, that’s a tall order. Never mind that the members of the working group include both strongly pro-Israel and staunchly anti-Israel voices, all tasked with working to further a message that will resonate with as many party members as possible, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Working group worries: The question facing the group’s members is whether they will actually be able to agree on anything — or if the group is simply a way to push the issue off until 2028, when the party platform is again up for debate. It would not be the first bureaucratic Band-Aid applied to paper over an increasingly fraught political debate. “We are working within the framework of the Democratic platform as it is now, so anything which attempts to radically rewrite where the party has been is not something that I personally feel is appropriate,” said Andrew Lachman, a member of the working group who was previously the president of California Jewish Democrats.
MODERATION MESS
A new report reveals that Instagram failed to remove 93% of reported extremist and hateful content, tying the trend directly to Meta’s efforts to roll back content moderation last year. The changes lifted some speech restrictions, allowing incendiary content to remain on the platform, fueling what the Anti-Defamation League report calls a surge of antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Fuentes fallout: The ADL report, released on Wednesday, identified 105 accounts affiliated with white supremacist Nick Fuentes’ “groyper” network, with more than 1.4 million combined followers. Those accounts frequently posted antisemitic conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and pro-Hitler content. The report highlights that in May 2025, shortly after the rollback, Fuentes noted that his content continues to spread on Instagram despite him personally having been banned since 2021, writing on Telegram that Instagram “relaxed its content moderation” and had “stopped taking my clips down.”
KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT
Younger voters are significantly more likely to hold antisemitic beliefs and critical views of Israel compared to older generations, according to a new survey. The Yale Youth Poll, an undergraduate-led research group based at Yale University, polled over 3,400 American voters, more than half of whom were under 35, between March 9-23, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Generation gap: Respondents were presented with paraphrased statements on Israel from several prominent figures across the political spectrum. Among all voters, 35% agreed with the statement “America should end the slavish surrender to Israel, its wars, and its demands for foreign aid,” which is paraphrased from comments neo-Nazi podcaster Nick Fuentes made in a video. But among the youngest respondents, agreement rose to 55% of voters ages 18-22 and to 52% among those 23-29.
Campus climate: A new study on campus discrimination highlights that at least a third of Jewish, Muslim, Black and Asian students have encountered hate and hostility at their universities.
WAR WEARY
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Tuesday that he’s hopeful that the war in Iran is close to winding down, in advance of a deadline that could require congressional action for the war to continue, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Under the War Powers Act, unilateral military action undertaken by the president without congressional authority is limited to 60 days — with a 30-day extension for draw-down purposes.
What he said: Pressed on whether Republicans would be open to voting to continue the war if it extends beyond 90 days, Thune suggested that wouldn’t be necessary. “At this point, most of us, I believe, feel pretty good about what the American military has achieved there in terms of its objectives,” Thune said. “It’s a hypothetical down the road. … I think the administration has a clear objective, a clear plan, and if they can execute on it, hopefully that question won’t be a necessary one that we’ll have to answer.”
Meeks’ move: Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) said he’s aiming to call up a war powers resolution this week to force an end to the war in Iran, but that he’s still working to lock down the support of a few wavering Democratic and Republican lawmakers whose support will be necessary to pass the legislation.
Worthy Reads
Same as the Old Boss: The Wall Street Journal’s Margherita Stancati, Benoit Faucon and Henna Moussavi look at the maximalist, hard-line positions of the new upper echelon of Iranian leadership, overseen by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. “[The supreme leader] relies on a network of trusted allies that analysts call the Habib Circle. Its members include many veterans of the war with Iraq who served in the Revolutionary Guard’s Habib Battalion, renowned for attracting radicals and named after a seventh-century figure in Shia Islam revered for sacrificing his life in battle. Its recruits included Khamenei himself, who was a teenager when he enlisted toward the end of the war. … The new leadership has proved resilient and adaptable, emerging from the first five weeks of the war with its command and control intact. Their hard-line approach is evident in their appointments.” [WSJ]
Best Chance for Beirut: The Washington Post’s Carine Hajjar posits that the Lebanese government is in a position to take decisive action against both Iran and its Hezbollah proxy. “With the leadership of Hezbollah’s Iranian sponsors in disarray, Lebanon may never get a better chance to reclaim its sovereignty. … Even if the Lebanese are frustrated with Israel striking their country, ‘there’s a reason why these Israeli rockets are falling on us,’ Makram Rabah, an assistant history professor at the American University of Beirut, told me. The Israelis have been clear with the Lebanese: They won’t accept an armed Hezbollah, and if Beirut won’t act, they will.” [WashPost]
The Piker Problem: In his Substack “Identity Crisis,” Shalom Hartman Institute President Yehuda Kurtzer weighs in on the recent decision by The New York Times’ Ezra Klein to platform far-left streamer Hasan Piker. “Liberals must not decide that they need the ugliest forms of illiberalism in order to try to restore our fragile and collapsing liberal order. This was true when it involved defending a US senator hoping to impose martial law on American cities, and it is true now when it involves the demagogue-ing of our public square and the soft-pedaling of antisemitism. On both sides, violence is the tool of authoritarianism, and the enemy of the liberal project. Piker’s very project involves the delegitimating of the very liberal order by whose rules Klein is playing.” [IdentityCrisis]
Word on the Street
France and the U.K. are drafting a postwar plan that would free up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and would include mine-clearing technology and military escorts through the waterway; the plan, which European officials will meet to discuss later this week, would require the approval of Iran and likely exclude the U.S….
Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman met this week in New York with Qatari Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari…
The Financial Times reports that Iran clandestinely acquired China’s TEE-01B spy satellite, which it used to target U.S. bases during the recent war…
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and 50 House Democrats introduced a bill to create a commission to assess President Donald Trump’s potential removal from office under the 25th Amendment, a move prompted in part by the Iran war. Efforts to remove Trump under the provision are almost certainly doomed to fail…
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) urged the administration not to renew oil sanctions waivers on Russia and Iran; “Iran continues to reap significant revenue due to its current waiver, providing financial relief to an adversary we are actively fighting. Any additional waivers for Russia or Iran would be against our national interests,” Moran said…
Citing an “unprecedented and escalating threat environment facing religious communities and institutions” across the country, a coalition of Jewish groups, joined by organizations representing a range of other faiths, is urging Senate and House leaders to significantly expand funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to “up to $1 billion,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
The Wall Street Journal looks at recent clashes between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, suggesting that the pontiff “has been building broad support within the global church for his course, which combines advocacy for peace and dialogue with a stronger emphasis on traditional Catholic doctrines”…
The Michigan arm of the powerful SEIU labor union announced on Tuesday that it had rescinded its endorsement of Amir Makled, an attorney running for the University of Michigan board of regents, in light of Makled’s deleted social media posts praising the terrorist group Hezbollah, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports…
Law firm Kirkland & Ellis has reportedly offered a three-year, $80 million package to Joshua Feltman, the chair of Wachtell Lipton’s corporate restructuring and finance department…
Portland Trail Blazers guard Deni Avdija hit the game-winning three-point shot to lead Portland over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA’s play-in game and into the NBA playoffs; the Israeli NBA star scored 41 points, and tallied 12 assists and 7 rebounds…
The Harvard Crimson reports that Harvard has yet to release a report on antisemitism that was mandated by its January 2025 settlement with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law…
The University of Pennsylvania requested a stay of a judge’s order requiring the school to turn over names of Jewish employees of the school to the Trump administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…
The New York Times spotlights the growing interest from private equity firms in local bagel shops that can be developed and scaled…
MyPrize co-founders and brothers Zach and Max Bruch made a $360,000 donation to establish an endowment for Olami Manhattan to support the group’s efforts to bring young Jewish adults to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
Axel Springer received approval from U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to purchase The Telegraph, clearing a major hurdle in the German company’s £575m effort to acquire the British publication…
Days after U.K. authorities revoked Kanye West’s permission to enter the country for a now-canceled music festival over his past antisemitic remarks, French authorities are weighing a similar ban on the artist, who is set to perform in Marseille in June…
Dublin Mayor Ray McAdam apologized to the city’s Jewish community for a series of administrative and procedural errors around a failed effort to rename the city’s Herzog Park, which was named after former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, the father of President Isaac Herzog, who was born in Belfast and raised in Dublin…
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that the country would suspend the automatic renewal of its defense cooperation agreement with Israel, prompting President Donald Trump to rail against Meloni, who has thus far been an ally of his, telling an Italian outlet he’s “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong. … It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance”…
Italian entrepreneur Adriano Goldschmied, who developed dozens of brands of denim jeans, died at 82…
Pic of the Day
Congressional leaders, newly appointed U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Board Chair Jeff Miller, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others spoke alongside Holocaust survivors on Capitol Hill on Tuesday at the U.S.’ annual commemoration of Yom HaShoah, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Birthdays
Retired U.S. astronaut and a veteran of five space shuttle missions, Marsha Sue Ivins turns 75…
Psychiatrist, entrepreneur, movie producer and philanthropist, Dr. Henry George Jarecki turns 93… Former 15-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, Howard Lawrence Berman turns 85… Duke University professor, physician, biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate in 2012, Robert Lefkowitz turns 83… Retired U.S. Army chaplain who attained the rank of lieutenant colonel, Rabbi Alan Sherman… Professor of German and comparative literature at New York University, Avital Ronell turns 74… Israeli Breslov rabbi and founder of Chut Shel Chessed Institutions, Shalom Arush turns 74… Former city controller of Philadelphia for 12 years, following 16 years as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Alan Butkovitz turns 74… CEO of DMB Strategic, David Brand… Founder and director of the graduate school in the decorative arts at Bard College in Dutchess County, N.Y., Susan Weber turns 71… Deputy counsel at the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Deborah R. Liebman… Former executive director at American Press Institute, he is the author of 10 books, including three novels, Tom Rosenstiel turns 70… Born in NYC, now living in Jerusalem, he is the rebbe of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty (a position he assumed in 1984 when he was 25), Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer turns 67… Former deputy secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration following four years as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Sarah Bloom Raskin turns 65… Winner of 12 Olympic medals at five different Olympic Games, Dara Grace Torres turns 59… Managing partner, CEO and chief investment officer of Hudson Bay Capital Management, Sander R. Gerber… CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009 on sabbatical this year, prior to that he was the executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Daniel Sokatch turns 58… Cheryl Myra Cohn… Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and founder of the Truman National Security Project, Rachel Kleinfeld, Ph.D…. Head coach of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos basketball program, Joe Pasternack turns 49… Senior political correspondent at The Hill, Amie Parnes turns 49… CEO of the American Fintech Council, Y. Phillip Goldfeder turns 45… Actor, comedian, writer, producer and director, Seth Rogen turns 44… CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Mark Treyger turns 44… Co-founder and co-CEO of theSkimm, Carly Zakin… Research manager at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, David May… Director of grants and operations at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Kristin McCarthy… Founder and CEO of Neue Urban, Zach Ehrlich… Social entrepreneur, environmental activist and human rights activist, Erin Schrode… Israeli singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer, Jasmin Moallem turns 31… Moshe Lehrer…
The question facing the Middle East working group’s members is whether they will actually be able to agree on anything — or if the group is simply a way to push the issue off until 2028
Paul Holston/AP
People stand outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, June 14, 2016.
At last week’s Democratic National Committee meeting in New Orleans, two resolutions concerning Israel — including one that referred to Israel’s actions as a genocide — were tabled, and punted to a working group tasked with building consensus among Democrats on Middle East-related issues.
At a time when Democrats appear deeply divided about how to address the U.S.-Israel relationship and Middle East policy more broadly, that’s a tall order. Never mind that the members of the working group include both strongly pro-Israel and staunchly anti-Israel voices, all tasked with working to further a message that will resonate with as many party members as possible.
“As much as this issue is potentially divisive, I think it’s actually really the purview of a smaller group of activists who want something really radical. I think most Democrats are within what the Democratic platform of 2024 is, and that’s two peoples living in two states, side-by-side in peace,” Adam Goldwyn, a working group member who serves as chair of the North Dakota Democratic Party, told Jewish Insider.
The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform, authored in the midst of Israel’s war in Gaza and the simultaneous hostage crisis, reflected former President Joe Biden’s support for Israel. But rank-and-file Democrats have shifted away from Israel since then. A recent Pew Research Center poll showed that 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have an unfavorable view of Israel, an increase from 69% one year ago, and a growing cadre of Democratic candidates and activists have targeted the pro-Israel group AIPAC as a toxic brand that is not welcome in Democratic politics.
Even though the DNC is not tasked with rewriting the party platform until 2028, the party’s biannual meetings present opportunities for activists to submit resolutions on any number of topics. Following Democrats’ 2024 defeat, anti-Israel activists — including two who sit on the working group — have put forward resolutions that would attempt to dramatically move the party’s public positioning to the left.
One, which called for an arms embargo on Israel, was voted down at the party’s summer meeting in August 2025. Another, which criticized AIPAC’s involvement in Democratic primaries, failed to advance at the meeting in New Orleans last week. Allison Minnerly, a DNC member from Florida who authored both of those resolutions, sits on the working group. Another resolution considered last week, which referred to Israel’s actions as a genocide and was written by working group member Joseph Salas, was sent back to the working group for consideration.
The question facing the group’s members is whether they will actually be able to agree on anything — or if the group is simply a way to push the issue off until 2028, when the party platform is again up for debate. It would not be the first bureaucratic Band-Aid applied to paper over an increasingly fraught political debate.
“Both young voters who consider themselves vigorously pro-Palestinian, and Jewish voters, who are one of the most loyal groups in the Democratic Party, are not going anywhere,” said Andrew Lachman, a member of the working group who was previously the president of California Jewish Democrats. “Anyone who wants to take an approach of trying to shout one or the other out of the room, I think it’s bad politics. It’s bad for the party, and it’s an unrealistic expectation.”
“We are working within the framework of the Democratic platform as it is now, so anything which attempts to radically rewrite where the party has been is not something that I personally feel is appropriate,” said Andrew Lachman, a member of the working group who was previously the president of California Jewish Democrats.
Lachman said he recognized “that the conversation has shifted a little bit in the last couple of years.” But, he added, the party must still be able to find common ground among party members who hold different views on the issue.
“Both young voters who consider themselves vigorously pro-Palestinian, and Jewish voters, who are one of the most loyal groups in the Democratic Party, are not going anywhere,” said Lachman. “Anyone who wants to take an approach of trying to shout one or the other out of the room, I think it’s bad politics. It’s bad for the party, and it’s an unrealistic expectation.”
DNC Chair Ken Martin created the working group last August, amid controversy surrounding the failed arms embargo resolution. He had put forth his own resolution, which was more balanced, but withdrew it and opted instead to task a group of party activists with litigating the issue.
“I feel like we’ve been a little rudderless,” Steph Newton, an Oregon Democrat who was appointed co-chair of the group, told JI on Friday after the group met in New Orleans. “I’m taking it seriously. I want my kids to be Democrats. I want this party to be safe for my kids in the future.”
“There is a divide in our party on this issue. This is a moment that calls for shared dialogue and calls for shared advocacy,” Martin said in August. He called on the task force “of stakeholders on all sides of this to continue to have the conversation, to work through this, and bring solutions back to our party.”
Steph Newton, an Oregon Democrat who was appointed co-chair of the group, drafted a charter for the working group that the body is now editing ahead of its next planned meeting later this month. The group was “convened to support the Democratic Party in advancing a just, secure, and lasting peace in the Middle East, while strengthening internal cohesion across perspectives within the Democratic coalition,” the draft charter states, according to a copy shared with JI.
“I feel like we’ve been a little rudderless,” Newton told JI on Friday after the group met in New Orleans. “I’m taking it seriously. I want my kids to be Democrats. I want this party to be safe for my kids in the future.”
She expressed frustration at working group members who had submitted their own resolutions ahead of last week’s meeting. Newton’s goal is for the group to be able to come up with some kind of compromise language that they can all get behind.
“We got agreement from folks. We said, ‘Hey, it wasn’t cool that you guys went off and did something like this and just submitted something. You should have come to the group,’” said Newton, who also leads the Oregon Democratic Party’s Jewish caucus. “The next thing that’s going to be coming out of this is going to be coming from the working group.”
Her co-chair on the working group is Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. Other members include longtime pro-Palestinian activist James Zogby and Deborah Cunningham-Skurnik, a regional director in the California Democratic Party.
What the working group members can agree on is the shared goal of electing Democrats. A DNC spokesperson told JI that this is the lens through which the working group views its mandate: winning elections.
“I think certainly there are some people for whom the message is more important than the election,” said Goldwyn, the North Dakota Democrat. “But I think that’s not where most Americans and most DNC members and most voters are.”
Plus, Ottawa's inaction concerns Canada's Jews
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump as he leaves the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026.
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the state of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran as President Donald Trump issues a new deadline for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and talk to Canadian Jewish leaders about rising antisemitism — and government inaction — that is prompting some Canadian Jews to consider relocating. We report on the White House’s requested budget cuts for FEMA and Justice Department programs, and talk to New Jersey Democratic congressional candidate Tina Shah, who is centering her support for Israel as she mounts a bid to take on GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Harmeet Dhillon, Omer Horev and Rabbi David Wolpe.
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
- President Donald Trump will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. ET from the White House alongside senior military officials to discuss the weekend operation to rescue a U.S. servicemember whose plane was shot down in Iran. Yesterday, Trump warned that Iran’s power plants and bridges would be targeted on Tuesday over Iran’s continued blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. More below.
- Shortly after the press conference, Trump will deliver a Passover greeting toJewish leaders at the White House.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
As the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran extends into its sixth week, the next 36 hours may be some of the most pivotal, offering clarity as to whether an end is in sight — or whether an escalation is imminent.
On the table now, according to Axios, is a proposed two-phased ceasefire deal, lasting 45 days, that would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give negotiators two to three weeks to reach a broader agreement to end the war. As a signal that the U.S. is open to the agreement, President Donald Trump extended by 24 hours the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait, setting a new deadline of Tuesday night ET.
The core issues remain: Tehran’s closure of the key waterway, and the fate of the country’s enriched uranium. But a deal between Washington and Tehran would include broader issues, including potential sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran’s promise that it will not pursue nuclear weapons. Iran has signaled that it will not reopen the Strait for a temporary ceasefire and is seeking a more permanent resolution.
The president paired threats with optimism, leaning into the current debate with a conflicting mix of tough talk — warning yesterday that strikes targeting Iran’s power plants and bridges would take place on Tuesday in the absence of a deal — and hopes of an 11th-hour diplomatic breakthrough.
A diplomatic agreement would see a winding down of the war that would likely allow Iran to retain some of its ballistic missile capabilities — a compromise that is unlikely to sit well in Israel, which continues to face fire from Iranian forces.
On the other hand, Trump’s threatened destruction of key Iranian infrastructure could further deteriorate conditions in the Islamic Republic, where a regime-imposed internet blackout has ensured minimal on-the-ground reporting on weeks of war. And as always, the president has one eye on the markets, which will open today after the holiday weekend.
The U.S. and Israel have already made serious strategic strides by killing dozens of members of Iran’s senior leadership and severely crippling Tehran’s nuclear program. The question now is whether that will be enough for Trump to declare victory in accordance with the rough timeline he’s given for U.S. operations in Iran — or whether the U.S. will double down on its military operations.
oy, canada
As Canadian Jewish families began celebrating the holiday of Passover, many found the ancient narrative colliding with a modern reality of rising fear at home amid a wave of antisemitic attacks, highlighting what Jewish leaders describe as “systemic” Jew-hatred in Canada. And it is even leading some Jewish Canadians to consider their own kind of exodus from their country, with one communal leader telling Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen that “the promise” that Jews could practice their faith openly in the country “has been broken.”
‘Systemic failure’: Canada has experienced some of the most severe manifestations of the global surge in antisemitism since Oct. 7. — with higher rates of antisemitic incidents than other countries but lower conviction rates. “There has been a systemic failure across jurisdictions to face antisemitism,” said Richard Marceau, senior vice president of strategic initiatives and general counsel at CIJA, an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada. Marceau asserted that Canadian society has “a complete misunderstanding” of what antisemitism is, whether it stems from “the far left, far right [or] Islamic circles.”