Plus, the race to replace Pelosi
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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.
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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
Race to replace Pelosi offers early test of whether progressive Jews welcomed on the left
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
DMFI works to block antisemitic activist from winning Dem nomination in Texas swing district
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
Senate Republicans split over the prospect of resuming military operations against Iran
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
Israel’s business leaders see opportunity amid war, political shifts
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 leaves Democratic Party, citing rise in antisemitism
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
Olga Deutsch to succeed Gerald Steinberg as president of NGO Monitor
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…
Gov. Janet Mills is facing anti-Israel oyster farmer Graham Platner, who called himself a ‘communist’ in 2021
Robert F. Bukaty/AP/Graham Platner campaign
Gov. Janet Mills and Graham Platner
The Democratic Senate primary in Maine is shaping up to be among the most significant proxy battles over Israel in the upcoming midterm elections, pitting the state’s moderate two-term governor against a left-wing populist upstart who has vocally embraced an anti-Israel platform.
Gov. Janet Mills, who announced her campaign to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Tuesday and is backed by Senate Democratic leadership, is set to face a well-funded challenge from Graham Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer who boasts high-profile support from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
In contrast with Mills, who has criticized anti-Israel divestment efforts in her state and warned against a “deeply troubling” rise in antisemitic incidents after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Platner has promoted more hostile views on Israel and its alliance with the United States.
Since entering the race in August, Platner has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and endorsed measures to block U.S. arms sales to Israel. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment regarding the recently brokered ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas.
Platner has also been an outspoken critic of the pro-Israel advocacy group AIPAC, whose affiliated political arm is supporting Collins, one of the most vulnerable Republicans now seeking reelection — in a state President Donald Trump lost by seven points in 2024.
“We are focused on helping to re-elect Senator Collins, who has long been a leader and champion of strengthening the partnership between the U.S. and Israel,” Marshall Wittmann, a spokesperson for AIPAC, told Jewish Insider on Thursday.
Wittmann did not address whether AIPAC has plans to get involved in the primary. Collins, a five-term senator, has defended her relationship with AIPAC, which has faced growing criticism from Democratic candidates in recent months as intraparty tensions over Israel have intensified.
It remains to be seen if the Maine Senate race will draw outside spending from other pro-Israel groups including Democratic Majority for Israel, which has engaged in a number of recent primaries. The group did not respond to requests for comment from JI.
The primary also includes Jordan Wood, a former congressional aide whose campaign says that he has raised $3 million since April. Dan Kleban, a brewery owner in Maine, dropped out of the race on Tuesday and endorsed Mills, who was aggressively recruited by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Mills’ campaign said this week that she had raised $1 million in the 24 hours after she announced her bid. Platner’s team reported a $4 million haul since entering the race over the summer, with prominent contributors ranging from Ron Klain, a former chief of staff to President Joe Biden, to the billionaire donors Donald Sussman and Chris Hughes, according to campaign filings.
While Platner, 41, has drawn scrutiny over his views on Israel — which he has made a central component of his campaign messaging and national fundraising appeals — the political newcomer has more recently weathered controversy surrounding past comments in which he identified as a “communist,” called “all” police “bastards” and said rural Americans are racist and stupid, among other incendiary statements.
Platner has said that such views, unearthed in a CNN investigation published on Thursday, do not reflect his current thinking. Still, the deleted posts underscore how a previously untested candidate is likely to navigate additional vulnerabilities in a race that Democrats view as one of their top priorities as they seek to win back the Senate majority next year.
Following Mills’ launch this week, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a top elections forecaster, said that it had changed its ranking of the Maine Senate race from “leans Republican” to “toss-up” — a rating also echoed by The Cook Political Report.
Mills — who, at 77, would be the oldest freshman senator in history if elected — has won praise from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The two-term governor also formed a joint fundraising committee with the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm earlier this week, according to a new campaign disclosure.
Mills’ campaign team features veterans of her 2022 bid for governor, a person familiar with the matter told JI on Thursday, including Eric Adelstein of the communications consultancy AL Media and Jefrey Pollock of the polling firm Global Strategy Group — which has conducted a number of surveys on Israel and the Jewish vote.
Chelsea Brossard, a Democratic strategist who recently advised Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) in his bid for governor of New Jersey, is also joining Mills’ team as campaign manager, according to the source, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss undisclosed details.
Mills’ campaign did not respond to requests for comment from JI on Thursday. Pollock declined to comment.
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