Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sidestepped a question about Israel’s right to exist during an interview with the anti-Israel media outlet Zeteo last week, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. 

Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan asked El-Sayed how he would respond if and when he faces questions on the campaign trail about whether he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Pressed after initially dodging the question, El-Sayed said, “Israel exists. Palestine doesn’t. And so I always wonder why nobody asks me why Palestine doesn’t have a right to exist.”

El-Sayed also dismissed AIPAC donors as “MAGA billionaires throwing their money around to try to dictate the outcome for a Democratic primary,” though AIPAC has not yet endorsed a candidate in the Michigan Senate race…

Chi Ossé, a far-left Gen Z New York City councilman, is planning to launch a primary challenge to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), The New York Times reports, despite discouragement from his ideological ally, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who clinched Jeffries’ endorsement shortly before the general election. Ossé’s insistence on running reportedly caused him to be disinvited from Mamdani’s election night party… 

Elsewhere in New York, Bruce Blakeman, the first Jewish executive of Nassau County who just won reelection last week, is considering mounting a bid for governor, he told Politico, where he would face off against Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in the GOP primary. Both are allies of President Donald Trump; Blakeman said he “told [Trump] that I was interested, and he didn’t discourage me. And I think he’s had the same conversation with Elise. I think the president is going to play it out and see what happens at the convention”…

Also throwing her hat in the ring, former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), a moderate Jewish Democrat with a strong pro-Israel record, plans to launch a comeback campaign tomorrow, Punchbowl reports. Luria would likely be the front-runner in the already crowded Democratic primary to win back Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District from Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), who defeated her in 2022…

Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs and longtime advisor and confidante to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resigned from his post today after three years in the role, JI’s Tamara Zieve reports. “This government will be remembered both for the October 7 attack and for its management of the two-year, seven-front war that followed,” Dermer wrote in his resignation letter. Israeli media had reported for months that Dermer’s departure was expected.

Dermer has led Israel’s ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations since February and is expected to stay on as Netanyahu’s envoy to continue handling the future of the Gaza portfolio, political sources recently told JI… 

The State Department denied reports today that White House advisor Jared Kushner met with Gaza militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab to discuss ceasefire issues including dozens of Hamas terrorists still “stuck” in tunnels on the Israeli side of the ceasefire lines, though U.S. officials told Axios Kushner did speak with Netanyahu about the issue during their meeting in Jerusalem yesterday, and is eager to resolve it without impact on the next phase of the deal…

Saudi Arabia is set to host a U.S.-Saudi investment summit in Washington next Wednesday, a day after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the White House. An invite obtained by CBS News shows the event taking place at the Kennedy Center, co-hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment and the U.S.-Saudi Business Council…

An undated letter from Houthi Chief of Staff Yusuf Hassan al-Madani to Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades indicates that the Yemeni terror group has halted its attacks on Israel and ships in the Red Sea amid the ongoing ceasefire: “We are closely monitoring developments and declare that if the enemy resumes its aggression against Gaza, we will return to our military operations deep inside the Zionist entity, and we will reinstate the ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas,” the letter reads…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an analysis on congressional redistricting efforts and additional reporting on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s Washington meetings.

The International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries kicks off tomorrow, drawing 6,200 rabbis from 111 countries to New York City.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama will appear at Washington’s Sixth & I Synagogue tomorrow evening to discuss her forthcoming book, The Look.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Despite the historic nature of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s White House visit today, his meeting with President Donald Trump was kept a relatively low-key affair. Al-Sharaa entered through a back door and didn’t receive the usual greeting photo op with Trump, and the meeting was closed to the press.

The two leaders made news nonetheless: Syria is now set to join the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS, Trump and al-Sharaa discussed reopening respective embassies in Damascus and Washington and the Treasury Department issued a new order extending the suspension of U.S. sanctions on Syria for six months. 

Ibrahim Olabi, Syria’s U.N. ambassador, said the two leaders also discussed a prospective Israel-Syria security agreement. “The term used frequently during the meeting by President Trump and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio was ‘let’s get this done,’” Olabi said…

Trump has encouraged lawmakers to fully lift the congressionally mandated U.S. sanctions on Syria, but Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), a Trump ally and the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, did not commit to supporting sanctions relief when he held his own meeting with al-Sharaa yesterday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Mast and al-Sharaa “had a long and serious conversation about how to build a future for the people of Syria free of war, ISIS, and extremism,” Mast said in a statement, but offered no words of praise for the Syrian leader…

Sergio Gor was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to India today to unusual fanfare — he and Trump were joined in the Oval Office by Rubio; Vice President JD Vance; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Attorney General Pam Bondi; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro; Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jim Risch (R-ID); Katie Britt (R-AL) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL); Erika Kirk and Fox News host Laura Ingraham, among others. 

Swearing in Gor, who used to serve as the head of the Presidential Personnel Office where he wielded significant influence in assuring political hires shared his skepticism of American engagement abroad, Vance said, “We have such a crowd here, you’d think we were swearing in a vice president”…

Laura Loomer, a right-wing Trump advisor who has historically maintained pro-Israel stances, wrote on social media today that, after spending “an incredible week” in Israel, she has “reached a firm conclusion: Israel must end its dependence on U.S. aid and the U.S. must end all aid to Israel.”

“I truly hope by the end of the Trump administration and by the beginning of a new administration in 2028 that we see zero aid flowing to Israel,” she wrote, calling it a “win-win” for the U.S., which will no longer be a “global baby sitter,” and for Israel, which will be free to conduct its wars as it wishes.

In response, Democratic Majority for Israel accused Loomer of continuing “a troubling pattern on the Right — embracing anti-Israel policies & undermining our allies,” in the vein of Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)…

Christine Pelosi, daughter of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who was thought to be considering a run for her mother’s seat as she retires, announced today that she is not running for Congress. Instead, Pelosi is launching a campaign for the state Senate seat currently held by Scott Wiener, who is running for her mother’s San Francisco congressional district…

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named two of his top advisors today: Dean Fuleihan to be first deputy mayor and Elle Bisgaard-Church as his chief of staff. 

Bisgaard-Church is a democratic socialist who was part of Mamdani’s campaign inner circle. Fuleihan, on the other hand, is a city and state government veteran; he previously served in the same role under former Mayor Bill de Blasio and as his budget director, as well as a budget expert in the state Legislature, among other roles. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), who was at times at odds with Mamdani during his campaign, called Fuleihan’s appointment “exceptional … in more ways than one”…  

Danielle Sassoon, the former interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who resigned her post rather than drop a case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams at the request of the Trump administration, has joined the law office of Clement & Murphy, The New York Times reports. The conservative boutique firm is known for its “longstanding opposition to executive branch overreach”…

The Wall Street Journal reports on Yale’s attempt to stay out of the line of fire in Trump’s crusade against higher education, including President Maurie McInnis’ increased government lobbying expenditures and a student forum where classmates encouraged each other to refrain from disruptive anti-Israel protests: “‘The only thing continuing to protest will do is to take education and opportunities away from the rest of us,’ said one post [on the forum]. ‘Ppl need to stop being stupid and selfish and realize they will gain no ground under this administration on the Israel issue’”…

Palantir CEO Alex Karp defended his support of Israel in an interview with WIRED, released today, saying, “Israel is a country with a GDP smaller than Switzerland, and it’s under massive attack. Some critiques are legitimate, but others are aggressive in attacking Israel. My reaction is, well, then I’m just going to defend them.” 

“When people are fair to Israel and treat it like any other nation, which I don’t think they do, I will be much more willing to express in public the things I express in private to Israelis”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for reporting on veteran journalists Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi’s new book, Don’t Feed the Lion, which they will launch at Temple Emanu-El in New York City tomorrow night, joined in conversation by comedian Elon Gold.

This evening, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will appear on Fox News’ “Special Report” with Bret Baier.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The Abraham Accords is expected to gain another participant this evening, though in a first, the country is not joining as a show of peace with Israel — since the new addition, the Muslim-majority central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, has had full diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992.

Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is expected to announce the move at a meeting with President Donald Trump later today, where they will also hold a joint phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump administration officials told Axios that the White House wants to “build momentum” for the Abraham Accords ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington on Nov. 18.

As far as Kazakhstan’s motivation, the former Soviet nation has long lobbied Washington to cancel a Cold War-era law that has hindered its access to American markets, and could benefit from currying favor with the Trump administration.

Leading Jewish organizations have worked with Kazakhstan’s Jewish community and government for over a decade to lobby Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, and told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov and Danielle Cohen-Kanik that they are highly supportive of the country’s inclusion in the Accords…

Ahead of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s own visit to the White House on Monday, the U.N. Security Council voted in favor of a U.S.-sponsored resolution to lift sanctions on the former Al-Qaida leader turned president…

Also getting an Oval Office welcome, Israeli media reported today that Trump invited the 20 Israeli hostages released from Gaza last month to visit the White House in two weeks…

On the Hill, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee from both parties voiced concerns with Elbridge Colby, under secretary of defense for policy, and his office at the Pentagon at a committee hearing today — for the second time this week, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

“Many of this committee have serious concerns about the Pentagon’s policy office and how it is serving the president of the United States and the Congress,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman of the committee, said in his opening statement. “In many of these conversations, we hear that the Pentagon policy office seems to be doing what it pleases without coordinating, even inside the U.S. executive branch”…

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced this morning that she will retire at the end of her term in 2027, after serving 39 years in Congress where she made history as the first female speaker of the House. 

For most of her illustrious career, Pelosi has been a reliable ally of Israel and, as Democratic leader, generally managed to keep her caucus united around support for the Jewish state. But, like many Democrats, she leaned in a more critical direction during the war in Gaza, at one point supporting a call to suspend weapons transfers to Israel. Read JI’s interview with Scott Wiener, the state senator from California seeking to win her seat…

The IDF is beginning to demobilize thousands of reservists called up for duty, some of whom have served hundreds of days in the past two years, announcing that the country is transitioning from war into a period of “enhanced border security” as the ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza largely endures…

The Treasury Department announced sanctions today against members of Hezbollah’s “finance team” who “oversee the movement of funds from Iran” in an effort to support the Lebanese government’s moves to disarm the terror group. The department revealed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has already transferred over $1 billion to Hezbollah this year…

Author Jamie Kirchick argues in The Washington Post that the “inevitable fracturing of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement is in sight, the instigator of its rupture that most narcissistic and destructive of media personalities: Tucker Carlson.” 

Kirchick admonishes Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts for failing to outright condemn Carlson’s platforming of neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes: “Stalinists and Holocaust deniers like Fuentes are perfectly entitled to spew their nonsense on street corners, through self-published manifestos or in online livestreams. What they are not entitled to is the imprimatur of purportedly respectable institutions whose reputations hinge upon the voices they choose to amplify”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an interview with former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, who will be celebrating his 95th birthday.

On Sunday, the Zionist Organization of America will hold its annual gala, where it will present awards to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY); Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter; Leo Terrell, head of the Department of Justice’s antisemitism task force; Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon; and philanthropists Irit and Jonathan Tratt. 

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Jewish Americans are still taking stock after Zohran Mamdani’s victory last night in the New York City mayoral race. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, based in New York, called Mamdani’s victory a “grim milestone” and a reminder “that antisemitism remains a clear and present danger, even in the places where American Jews have long felt most secure.” Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, listed policies the organization will be looking toward “to address the profound concerns about what the future holds for Jewish safety and belonging.”

Robert Tucker, the Jewish commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, resigned this morning, The New York Post reports, hours before he was set to fly to Israel to meet his counterpart there. 

In his first response to an incident of antisemitism as mayor-elect, Mamdani denounced the vandalism of the Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, which had two swastikas graffitied on it overnight, as “a disgusting and heartbreaking act of antisemitism, and it has no place in our beautiful city”…

Another heavily Democratic city rejected its own far-left candidate for mayor today, as incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis won reelection against his DSA-aligned challenger, state Sen. Omar Fateh, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Marking a win for the more pragmatic wing of the Democratic Party, Frey secured his third term with 50% of the vote, to Fateh’s 44%, in the second round of the city’s ranked-choice voting.

A similar result may be emerging in Seattle, where preliminary results last night showed the Democratic incumbent, Mayor Bruce Harrell, leading over his socialist challenger, Katie Wilson, though many ballots remain to be counted… 

One day after a historic Election Day — first democratic socialist mayor of New York City, largest turnout in an NYC mayoral race since 1969, first female governor of Virginia, first Muslim woman elected to statewide office as Virginia’s lieutenant governor, a record percentage of registered voters turning out for the municipal election in Minneapolis, among others — and the U.S. is already hitting another milestone: the longest government shutdown in history, at 36 days long.

President Donald Trump partially blamed the shutdown for Democrats’ strong showing in yesterday’s elections at a breakfast with Senate Republicans this morning, telling them, “I thought we’d have a discussion after the press leaves about what last night represented, and what we should do about it. … I think if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans”…

Citing the shutdown, increased polarization and rising political violence, Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced this afternoon that he will not be seeking reelection. Golden, a pro-Israel centrist who often worked across the aisle, has represented Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a largely rural, working-class district that Trump won in the 2024 election by 14 points, since 2018, a seat that will be difficult for Democrats to maintain…

Recently freed former hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov recounted her two and a half years of captivity by Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group in Iraq, in a new interview with The New York Times, detailing the torture she experienced that resulted in potentially permanent nerve damage and the need for “long-term physical and psychological rehabilitation,” as determined by doctors at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center…

The University of Maryland, College Park student government is scheduled to vote on two resolutions hostile towards Israel tonight, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. One calls for the university to prohibit people who are “committing war crimes” and “genocide” from speaking on campus, after the campus chapter of Students Supporting Israel hosted an event last month where former IDF soldiers spoke about their experiences serving during Israel’s war with Hamas.

The second resolution calls on the university to issue an apology to students who faced disciplinary action for protesting that event, when demonstrators packed the outside hallway shouting “baby killers” and “IOF [Israel “Occupation” Forces] off our campus,” while several others protested outside of the building with chants comparing the IDF to the Ku Klux Klan…

Variety profiles David Ellison in his first 100 days as CEO of the recently merged Paramount Skydance, including the media company’s about-face on Israel issues. Free Press founder Bari Weiss, hired as editor-in-chief of CBS News by Ellison, “has been so vocal in her support of [Israel] that she faces frequent death threats. She and her wife, The Free Press co-founder Nellie Bowles, require a detail of five bodyguards that costs the studio $10,000-$15,000 a day.” 

Paramount also reportedly “maintains a list of talent it will not work with because they are deemed to be ‘overtly antisemitic’ as well as ‘xenophobic’ and ‘homophobic,’” after the studio was the first to denounce a boycott of Israel signed by several Hollywood heavyweights…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for the latest news on the Heritage Foundation’s internal reckoning with its defense of Tucker Carlson.

Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, a bill aimed at eliminating loopholes used to possess Nazi-looted artwork that Jewish families have been trying to recover.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Alex Velez-Green to be deputy under secretary of defense for policy, coming days after committee lawmakers blasted the Pentagon office and its head, Elbridge Colby, during a contentious hearing for failing to communicate with them. 

Maccabi Tel Aviv will play Aston Villa tomorrow in a Europa League match that generated controversy after local authorities announced that supporters of the Israeli team would not be permitted to attend, with the game deemed “high risk” over security concerns. Over 700 police officers are expected to be deployed and a no-fly zone will be established around the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, England.

Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team will face off against the Dubai team in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Round 9 of the EuroCup tomorrow.

The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, formerly the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, will host its second Sports Leaders Convening at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts tomorrow, featuring Robert Kraft, the organization’s CEO and owner of the New England Patriots; Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League; Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel International; Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network; and leaders from major sports leagues.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy will host a webinar tomorrow on the possibility of peace between Israel and Lebanon with Lebanese Member of Parliament Fouad Makhzoumi.

• We’re continuing to monitor ceasefire and hostage-release efforts in Israel and Gaza following the Israeli Cabinet’s vote overnight to approve the Trump administration’s 20-point plan to end the war. The ceasefire went into effect at 5 a.m. ET. Israel began its withdrawal from parts of the enclave this morning.
  
• Earlier today, the IDF warned Gazans not to approach the areas of the Strip where troops are still stationed, while Hamas announced its police officers would enter areas from which the IDF withdrew. Within Israel, officials are notifying families of terror victims whose Palestinian assailants are being released as part of the agreement.
  
• In a filmed statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “all of the hostages will be home in the coming days…Two years ago, Simchat Torah turned into a day of national grief. This Simchat Torah will become a day of national joy.”
  
• President Donald Trump is expected to travel to Israel, and potentially also to Egypt, later this weekend, arriving in Israel early Monday morning. Trump is slated to speak at the Knesset on Monday, making him the fourth U.S. president in history to give such an address. He’ll join White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who arrived in Israel last night.
  
• In the U.S., C-SPAN will debut its new “Ceasefire” program tonight. The show’s first guests include former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Faiz Shakir, a senior advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

The newly brokered ceasefire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas was met on Thursday with a notable lack of enthusiasm from the most outspoken Democratic detractors of Israel in Congress — even as they have vocally advocated for ending the war in Gaza. 

While the deal drew accolades across the political spectrum, from left-wing Israel detractors such as Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to MAGA stalwarts, some of the most high-profile members of the far-left Squad and other ideologically aligned lawmakers remained silent well after the first phase of the agreement was finalized Wednesday or offered only grudging praise for the long-awaited development that could lead to an end to the war.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Summer Lee (D-PA) and Greg Casar (D-TX), chair of the House Progressive Caucus, did not respond to requests for comment from Jewish Insider and had not weighed in publicly on the deal as of Thursday night, despite widespread reaction to the agreement on Capitol Hill.

In statements to social media, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Delia Ramirez (D-IL) briefly voiced hope that the deal would hold but reiterated their accusation that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and called for increased accountability in the conflict, without referring to Hamas’ involvement.

Like Omar, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) made no mention of the hostages in his own response to the deal, which also expressed hope that the agreement would, “as soon as possible,” help end “this horrific war.”

The relatively muted comments — or lack thereof — underscore how anti-Israel lawmakers are reluctant to praise a major diplomatic breakthrough brokered by President Donald Trump — even as it aligns with their interests in ultimately ending the two-year war in Gaza.

They also highlight how the broader pro-Palestinian movement, whose extreme rhetoric has increasingly signaled support for Hamas as a “resistance” group righteously opposing occupation, has grown captive to a narrow and uncompromising conception of the war that attributes blame for the conflict exclusively to Israel while largely dismissing the suffering of the hostages.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

How the Deal Was Done: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius examines how President Donald Trump spearheaded the effort to bring the Israel-Hamas war to an end after many failed starts. “The blustering, go-it-alone president did it in an unlikely way: by listening to others and organizing a coalition that, by the end, included all major Arab and European nations, as well as Israel and Hamas. … He decided it was time for peace — and that he wouldn’t tolerate any more foot-dragging from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Hamas. Today, the battlefield is finally quiet. Trump’s peace plan could fall apart, obviously. This is the Middle East. Key details like disarmament of Hamas aren’t yet resolved. But in achieving his ceasefire, Trump demonstrated skills and used tactics that showed more flexibility and cooperation than are typical of him. He listened to expert advice and changed some of his views. He engaged in subtle secret diplomacy, especially with Qatar.” [WashPost]

Split Screen: In The Free Press, Gaza-born researcher and writer Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who lost dozens of relatives in the Israel-Hamas war, looks at the ideological gap between Palestinians in Gaza and supporters of the cause in the West. “Those who decided to spend the second anniversary of the attacks of October 7 ‘flooding the streets’ should instead take a step back and think about how they can actually be helpful to the people of Gaza and beyond. … One of the first steps to freeing Palestinians from the horrors of war is to free them from the ‘Free Palestine Movement’ in the diaspora and Western world. The unholy alliance between the far left, far right, and Islamist hooligans who normalize Hamas’s narrative is harmful first and foremost to the Palestinian people. Legitimate critique of Israeli policies is not the same as calls for jihadi violence and antisemitic rhetoric, which have become the norm in the toxic Israel and Palestine discourse that desperately requires level heads to prevail and radical pragmatism to be adopted across the board.” [FreePress]

Media Shift: Puck’s Dylan Byers considers the backlash to Skydance’s acquisition of Bari Weiss’ Free Press and installation of Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News. “It’s difficult, frankly, to see these reports as anything other than supporting evidence for Bari’s evergreen thesis about media bias — a desire to amplify the preferred narrative, rather than do the actual reporting. There may also be some envy at play, too. Most legacy media journalists who launch Substacks with bold mission statements about speaking the truth end up publishing uninspired partisan analysis and doing video chats with Steve Schmidt every week. Bari went out and built a nine-figure business. In the days since her start, I’ve surveyed at least 15 CBS News sources across the organizations and, in addition to the very real uncertainty around how this is going to work and what it will mean for specific people’s jobs, the overwhelming response has been excitement, cautious optimism, and relief.” [Puck]

The Trump administration is taking a multi-agency approach to its crackdown on far-left groups with alleged ties to “domestic terror networks”; among the groups being investigated are the anti-Israel activist groups IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace…

Paul Ingrassia, the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, faced sexual harassment accusations, since retracted, from a lower-ranking female colleague who stayed in a hotel room with Ingrassia after he had, unbeknownst to her, canceled her room reservation…

The New York Times looks at the role that Jared Kushner, who had planned to stay out of government in the second Trump administration, played in the effort to reach a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, while Politico does a deep dive into how Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the White House’s special envoy, moved the deal across the finish line…

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on a Chinese oil refinery that handles nearly 10% of China’s crude oil imports over its facilitation of Iranian oil distribution in violation of sanctions…

A new Quinnipiac survey of the New York City mayoral race conducted following Mayor Eric Adams’ departure from the race has Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani leading former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 13 points; Mamdani had previously led Cuomo by 22 points in a Quinnipiac poll taken in early September, prior to Adams dropping out…

The New York Times profiles comedian Modi Rosenfeld, dubbed the “Orthodox Ellen DeGeneres” by fellow comic Alex Edelman for his routines that blend his Jewish background and LGBTQ identity…

The Financial Times reports on the “uncertain moment” that the World Economic Forum finds itself in following the departure of its founder, Klaus Schwab, and as “[m]ultilateralism is in retreat, protectionism is on the rise, and great-power rivalry … is remaking global governance”…

CNN spotlights Jewish families who chose to immigrate to Israel — or leave the country — following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize…

Indonesia denied visas to Israeli gymnasts who planned to travel to the Southeast Asian country for the World Artistic Gymnastics, costing the Israeli team its spot in the world championship…

German-born anti-apartheid activist and journalist Ruth Weiss, who escaped Nazi Europe as a child when her family settled in South Africa, died at 101…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (center) met on Thursday with Jared Kushner and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Jerusalem shortly after their arrival from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where they met with negotiators to finalize an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war.

Physician, philanthropist and the majority owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Dr. Miriam Adelson turns 80… 

FRIDAY: Professor emeritus of constitutional law at Harvard Law School, he has argued 36 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Laurence Tribe turns 84… Past chairman and CEO of KB Home, a nationwide home-builder known until 2001 as Kaufman & Broad, Bruce Karatz turns 80… Former director of the Center for Information and Documentation Israel in The Hague, promoting a positive view of Israel within Dutch society, Ronald Maurice (Ronny) Naftaniel turns 77… Former member of the Knesset for 30-years on behalf of three political parties, he has served in six ministerial roles, Meir Sheetrit turns 77… Long-time IDF Chaplain, Yedidya Atlas… Award-winning writer and photographer based in Albuquerque, N.M., Diane Joy Schmidt… Vocalist and songwriter best known as the lead singer of Van Halen, he is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, David Lee Roth turns 71… Co-chairman and chief investment officer of Oaktree Capital Management, Bruce Karsh turns 70… Former NASA astronaut who flew on five Space Shuttle missions, he has held many positions at NASA including chief scientist, John M. Grunsfeld turns 67… Shareholder at the Bethesda, Md., law firm of Selzer Gurvitch, Neil Gurvitch… Dean of Harvard Law School, John C. P. Goldberg turns 64… Founder and principal of Los Angeles-based real estate firm, Freeman Group, Rodney Freeman… Governmental relations and strategic communications principal at BMWL Public Affairs, Sam Lauter… Head of School at de Toledo High School, a Jewish school in Northern Los Angeles County, Mark H. Shpall… Governor of California since 2019, Gavin Newsom turns 58… Concert pianist and composer, Evgeny Kissin turns 54… Israeli comedian and actor, twice voted as the funniest Israeli, Asi Cohen turns 51… Chief rabbi of Vienna and of the Austrian Armed Forces, Schlomo Elieser Hofmeister turns 50… Israel resident and op-ed contributor for The New York Times, he is the author of four acclaimed books, Matti Friedman turns 48… Former two-time White House Jewish Liaison, now the director of Maimonides Fund’s Sapir Institute, Chanan Weissman… President of Ian Sugar Strategies, Ian Sugar… Head of U.S. government relations and corporate affairs at Glencore, Seth Levey… VP in the Chicago office of Goldman Sachs, Avi Davidoff… Rabbi of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, N.J., Elliot Schrier turns 36… North American campus director at CAMERA, Hali Haber Spiegel… Winner of Israel’s National Bible Quiz as a teen and then a soldier in the IDF’s Combat Intelligence Collection Corps, he is a son of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Avner Netanyahu turns 31… U.S. correspondent at Israel Hayom and deputy director at Jewish Virtual Library, Or Shaked…

SATURDAY: Professor emeritus of history at UCLA, winner of both a Pulitzer Prize and the Israel Prize, he won a MacArthur Genius fellowship in 1999, Saul Friedländer turns 93… Former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted then VPOTUS Spiro T. Agnew in 1974, he is the author of four novels, Ronald S. Liebman turns 82… Israeli novelist and documentary filmmaker, Amos Gitai turns 75… U.S. senator (D-WA), Patty Murray turns 75… Senior circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Barry G. Silverman turns 74… Past president and then board chair of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Md., Helane Leibowitz Goldstein turns 72… Israeli ambassador to Germany, he has also been Israel’s ambassador to both the U.K. and the U.N., Ron Prosor turns 67… NYC-based philanthropist, Shari L. Aronson… Former EVP at JFNA, now CEO at the Vancouver, B.C.-based Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation, Mark Gurvis turns 66… Owner of Sababa Travel, Sharon Kleiman Rockman… Los Angeles-based real estate agent, Peter Turman… President and CEO of NYC-based real estate firm Tishman Speyer, Rob Speyer turns 56… CEO of Focus at 50, helping Israeli companies break into the U.S. market, Asher Epstein… Director of development for Yad Vashem UK Foundation, Joshua E. London turns 50… Executive director of the StandWithUs Israel office in Jerusalem, Michael Dickson turns 48… Member of the Council of the District of Columbia since 2015, Brianne Nadeau turns 45… Political journalist, opinion commentator and satirist, Jamie Weinstein turns 42…SUNDAY: Long-time baseball reporter for The New York Times, he is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Murray Chass turns 87… U.S. Ambassador to Italy during the Trump 45 administration, he is a co-founder of private equity firm Granite Capital International, Lewis Eisenberg turns 83… Long-time Fox News anchor, more recently at CNN from 2021 to 2024, Chris Wallace turns 78… Retired CEO of Wakefield, Mass.-based CAST, a nonprofit whose mission is to transform education for students with disabilities, Linda Gerstle… Pediatrician and medical ethicist, John D. Lantos, MD turns 71… Dermatologist in Los Angeles, Lamar Albert Nelson, MD… First female rabbi ordained in Conservative Judaism, Amy Eilberg turns 71… Co-founder of Ares Management, he is the owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, Tony Ressler turns 65… Deputy director of the National Economic Council during the first 17 months of the Biden administration, now a distinguished professor at Northeastern University, Seth D. Harris turns 63… Former executive director of Start-Up Nation Central until 2022, now a strategic adviser to Israeli start-ups including Remilk, Wendy Singer… Editor of The Wall Street Journal‘s Weekend Review section, Gary Rosen… Managing director at Goldman Sachs, he recently completed 31 years at the firm, Raanan Agus… Los Angeles-based trial attorney for many high-profile clients, Babak “Bobby” Samini turns 55… Producer, actress and screenwriter, Alexandra Brandy Smothers… Former member of the Knesset, she now serves as the co-chair of the Green Movement of Israel, Yael Cohen Paran turns 52… Computer programmer, creator of the BitTorrent protocol and founder of Chia cryptocurrency, Bram Cohen turns 50… Only son and heir-apparent of the current Rebbe of the Belz chasidic dynasty, Rabbi Aharon Mordechai Rokeach turns 50… Israeli actress, model and television anchor, Miri Bohadana turns 48… Reporter and host of “The Daily” at The New York Times, Michael Barbaro… Member of the Florida Senate until 2024, Lauren Book turns 41… Freelance journalist, Rosie Gray turns 36… Argentine fashion model and artist, Naomi Preizler turns 34… Pitcher for Team Israel in the 2020 Olympics and 2023 World Baseball Classic, he is the founder of Stadium Custom Kicks, Alex Katz turns 31… October 7 hostage, she was rescued by the IDF in June 2024, Noa Argamani turns 28…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

We’re watching developments in ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations after President Donald Trump called for Hamas to accept the latest U.S.-sponsored deal over the weekend, which would see all the hostages, living and dead, released on the first day of the ceasefire. 

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and former Trump Mideast advisor Jared Kushner met with Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Miami today to discuss developments in Gaza, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports.

Hamas had claimed it was ready to “immediately sit at the negotiating table” in response to Trump’s statement, but sources for the terror group told a Saudi newspaper today that a complete hostage release would not be possible immediately, claiming a ceasefire would have to go into effect first to reach all the bodies…

In other national security news, The New York Times spotlights the race between defense firms to develop technologies for a future “Golden Dome” missile-defense system.

“Companies chosen for Golden Dome are likely to become the new cornerstones of U.S. defense, military officials involved in the project said,” and firms including Palantir and Anduril as well as innovative startups have been in discussions with the Trump administration, the Times reports. 

Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center for Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, “There are more than 100 companies out there with a sensor, satellite or other devices they want to sell to Golden Dome. This is the Wild West, and this is a massive opportunity for whoever is selected”…

Diplomatic tensions are rising between Israel and Spain after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced today that his country would be formalizing an existing de facto arms embargo against Israel and banning anyone who has participated in “genocide” in Gaza from entering Spain as well as ships carrying fuel for the IDF from Spanish ports. 

“This is not self-defense, it’s not even an attack — it’s the extermination of a defenseless people,” Sanchez said of Israel’s war in Gaza.

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced that Israel had banned two anti-Israel Spanish ministers from entering the country; Spain then summoned its ambassador in Tel Aviv, all shortly after a young Spanish immigrant to Israel was killed in this morning’s terror attack on a bus stop in Jerusalem…

The U.K. has come to a different conclusion about Israel’s actions in Gaza, according to a letter sent last week by former Foreign Secretary David Lammy before he was replaced in a reshuffling of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet. 

Lammy wrote to the chair of the U.K.’s international development committee that the Foreign Office had found in an assessment that Israel was not committing a genocide as it was missing “intent” to do so. It’s the first time the U.K. has said so explicitly, previously holding that the matter of genocide was up to international courts to determine, just weeks before the country is expected to recognize a Palestinian state…

Former Hudson Institute CEO and President Kenneth Weinstein will serve as CBS News’ ombudsman, a new role that oversees editorial concerns from employees and viewers, Paramount announced Monday. Alongside reports that Paramount is expected to purchase Bari Weiss’ Free Press and bring her into an editorial role at CBS, the moves mark a new era for the network that has been accused of systemic anti-Israel bias…

Embracing their anti-Israel bona fides, hundreds of actors, filmmakers and film industry workers recently signed a pledge to boycott Israel, which says it was inspired by filmmakers who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa.

The signatories, including Hollywood stars such as Alyssa Milano, Mark Ruffalo, Anna Shaffer, Ayo Edebiri, Cynthia Nixon, Hannah Einbinder and Ilana Glazer, promised “not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions — including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies — that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”…

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said in comments to Jewish leaders in New York City today that some of her fellow Democratic lawmakers are inadvertently fueling antisemitism through the rhetoric and slogans they use, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

“When they say words like ‘river to the sea,’ whey they say words like ‘globalize the intifada,’ it means end Israel. It means destroy Jews,” Gillibrand said. Intifada, she continued, is “not a social movement. It’s terrorism, it’s destruction, it’s death.”

The New York senator had previously offered strong condemnation of NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani for his refusal to condemn the “globalize the intifada” slogan and has not endorsed his bid for mayor…

Mamdani’s opponent, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, officially dropped the ballot line “EndAntiSemitism,” running only on the “Safe & Affordable” line, after the New York City Board of Elections said he couldn’t run on both. Adams’ campaign spokesperson said he intends to pursue legal options over the issue…

Graham Platner, an anti-Israel Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, wrote in a high school op-ed shortly after 9/11, during the Second Intifada in Israel, that the media provides an “incomplete story” of terrorist acts and writes “incomplete coverage” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “where a sometimes-oppressive Israeli state can be, and often is, portrayed as a victim.” 

Platner and his co-authors argued in the article in a local Maine outlet, unearthed by the Free Beacon, that ending terrorist acts would be “best achieved by understanding the circumstances under which they were committed”…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an interview with former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz, whose new book As A Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us, comes out Tuesday. 

It’s a busy week in Washington, where the 2025 MEAD Summit will kick off tomorrow. The high-profile but elusive gathering will bring together top American and U.S. security officials, diplomats, lawmakers, philanthropists, CEOs and journalists. If you’re attending, make sure to say hello to JI’s Josh Kraushaar and Gabby Deutch!

The Iran Conference, hosted by the National Union for Democracy in Iran, will also begin in Washington tomorrow for analysts, policymakers and activists to discuss Iran policy, just two months after U.S. and Israeli strikes decimated Tehran’s nuclear and military infrastructure.

On the Hill, the House Education and Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions will hold a hearing on “unmasking union antisemitism.”

Virginia’s 11th Congressional District is holding its special election tomorrow to fill the seat of the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). James Walkinshaw, Connolly’s longtime former aide, is the heavy favorite to win. Read JI’s interview with Walkinshaw here. 

Looking to New York City, The MirYam Institute will hold an international security benefit briefing tomorrow featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett; nearby, the Soufan Center will begin its Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence, meant to honor the memory of 9/11 victims and address emerging global threats.

The Florida Holocaust Museum is reopening tomorrow with a ribbon-cutting ceremony after an extensive period of renovation.

Abroad, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will host its belated July 4 party tomorrow, and the Hili Forum will convene its last day in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, covering trade, tech and governance. DSEI U.K., a large defense trade show, is starting up in London, where protests are expected against the dozens of Israeli firms that are participating.  

• President Donald Trump is signing an executive order today to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, the name used through the first half of the 20th century until its renaming in 1949 as part of the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, are endorsing Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) today in her bid to succeed Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). Read more from JI’s Emily Jacobs here.
• We’re continuing to monitor the situation in California, where members of the state’s Jewish Caucus are moving toward watering down antisemitism legislation that has faced significant pushback from the California Teacher’s Association. Proposed concessions on the legislation — which has until the end of the legislative session next Friday to pass — include the removal of penalties against schools that foster antisemitic learning environments and a provision setting guidance for teaching subjects that could be considered controversial.
• We’re also keeping an eye on the situation in Israel, following the IDF’s announcement that it was in control of 40% of Gaza City amid continued calls this week from senior Israeli officials including IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Mossad head David Barnea for Jerusalem to accept a temporary ceasefire. Earlier today, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the beginning of an aerial campaign targeting Hamas operatives in Gaza City. As Israel marks 700 days since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, the terror group released a video of Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel.
• Looking ahead to the weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is bringing his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour to New York City on Saturday, where he’ll campaign with Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
• On Sunday, the Jewish Theological Seminary kicks off its inaugural storytelling festival. Etgar Keret, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jodi Kantor, Shalom Auslander, Alex Edelman and Deborah Treisman are all slated to speak at the event, which runs through Tuesday.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Just when it looked like far-left New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was on track to become mayor, in part thanks to persistent divisions among his opposition, there are signs of a possible consolidation of the crowded field.

The New York Timesreported that embattled Mayor Eric Adams is considering a job offer from the Trump administration — a position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development or an ambassadorship have been floated — that would entice him to withdraw from the race. The paper is also reporting that Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has also been approached by Trump allies, but Sliwa has remained adamant that he is sticking in the race. 

All told, Trump’s team is doing everything it can behind the scenes to eliminate the structural hurdles for a successful anti-Mamdani coalition, without publicly putting its finger on the scale for the leading Mamdani challenger, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (It’s also notable that Trump, even though it would be in his political interest to use a Mamdani mayoralty as a battering ram against Democrats, is more concerned about the policy consequences of a socialist mayor in his hometown.)

A one-on-one Mamdani-Cuomo general election showdown is still far from a sure thing, but it’s worth noting that the matchup would be quite competitive, according to the available public polling. Even the pro-Mamdani pollster Adam Carlson found in July that Mamdani only led Cuomo by three points among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup, though the lead expanded to double digits when the most likely voters were polled.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Kim or Khamenei?: In Foreign Affairs, Vipin Narang and Pranay Vaddi of MIT’s Center for Nuclear Security Policy posit that as a result of the damage inflicted to Iran’s nuclear program during the 12-day Israel-Iran war, North Korea will become a model for rogue states looking to advance their nuclear programs. “In contrast to Tehran, Pyongyang largely avoided delays in weaponizing its program; it made steady progress toward a bomb, using periodic engagement to test U.S. resolve over possible agreements, routinely relied on feints and stalling tactics, and weathered tremendous diplomatic and economic pressure along the way. When diplomacy broke down, North Korea rapidly advanced its program so its Kim regime was prepared to approach any future engagement from a position of greater strength. … For would-be proliferator states, the lessons are dangerously clear: do not wait to get the bomb, assume major powers will attack, and do not trust that diplomacy is within reach. In other words, be like Kim, not like Khamenei.” [ForeignAffairs]

The New Axis Powers: In The New York Times, the Center for a New American Security’s Richard Fontaine and Andrea Kendall-Taylor caution that this week’s summit in Beijing with the leaders of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran signals a growing threat to the U.S.-led world order. “Though they may occasionally come to one another’s aid — like the North Korean soldiers who joined their Russian allies in battle against Ukrainian forces — that is not the point. The group has a much more ambitious objective. It seeks, like the World War II era Axis Powers of Germany, Italy and Japan, “a new order of things,” in which each country can claim “its own proper place.” Discontented with an international system they believe denies them the status and freedom of action they deserve by virtue of their power and civilizations, they are united in the desire to change it. … Indeed, the gathering in Beijing suggests that the axis, rather than withering following the war in Iran in June, has momentum. Its members sense an opportunity.” [NYTimes]

Laying Blame: In The Times of Israel, Menachem Rosensaft, who teaches a genocide law course at Cornell Law School, pushes back against the International Association of Genocide Scholars’ recent passage of a resolution labeling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. “Nowhere in the IAGS resolution is there even an allusion to, let alone explicit mention of, the facts that it is Hamas, not Israel, that has used Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including children, as human shields; that it was Hamas, not Israel, that established military installations behind schools and hospitals, making them legitimate targets in Israel’s wholly legitimate efforts to eliminate the threat posed by such military installations; that by all reliable accounts, Hamas bears more than its fair share of responsibility for preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.” [TOI]

The State Department announced sanctions on Al Haq, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights over the groups’ legal moves against Israel at the International Criminal Court…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he had advised European countries against their push for Palestinian statehood, saying that such a move would cause “reciprocal actions” — such as Israeli annexation moves — and “would make a ceasefire [in Gaza] harder”; Rubio’s comments came as Finland joined the group of European nations that issued a declaration in support of a two-state solution following a French- and Saudi-led conference in July on the issue…

The U.S. is mulling restrictions on diplomats from several countries, including Brazil, Iran and Sudan, who are traveling to New York later this month for the U.N. General Assembly; among the restrictions under consideration is banning Iranian diplomats from shopping at big-box stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club…

President Donald Trump hosted tech leaders, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google co-founder Sergey Brin on Thursday at the White House; Brin was later photographed with Trump in the Oval Office…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the tensions between Trump and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has opposed key pieces of the president’s legislative agenda and increasingly finds himself at odds with GOP leadership…

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) filed a resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for “promoting and cheering on terrorism and antisemitism at the People’s Conference for Palestine.” Carter is a candidate for Senate in Georgia…

Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) is weighing a congressional bid in Florida’s 19th District, as Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) vacates the seat to run for governor…

Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, pleaded not guilty to a series of felony charges related to the May attack…

The New York Times profiles author Sam Sussman, whose soon-to-be-released novel Boy from the North Country mirrors his own life as the potential son of singer Bob Dylan…

Argentinian prosecutors filed charges against the daughter and son-in-law of a senior Nazi official who served as financial advisor to Adolf Hitler before fleeing to Argentina with looted artwork; the couple was charged with hiding the looted “Portrait of a Lady” by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi, as well as nearly two dozen Matisse works…

In a new interview with the popular Israeli Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to a question asking if Israel could announce the war over in Rafah and allow civilians back into the city, saying, “It’s a good idea and it’s not theoretical … We are doing work on the ground”; Netanyahu declined to respond to whether the war would end before Israel’s next election, which is set for over a year from now could take place earlier in 2026… 

Israel’s national basketball team fell short in its EuroBasket tournament matchup against Slovenia; the team, led by Deni Avdija, will next face Italy or Greece… 

In his first visit to Qatar since Iran launched ballistic missiles at the U.S. air base in Qatar, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Thursday in Doha; Araghchi also met with senior Hamas officials living in Qatar… 

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had downgraded its diplomatic relations with Australia following the expulsion of Tehran’s ambassador to Canberra and three other Iranian diplomats over Iran’s involvement in attacks on Jewish sites in Melbourne and Sydney…

Warren Bass, who previously worked at the Pentagon as director of speechwriting and a senior advisor to former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, is joining The Washington Institute for Near East Policy as director of communications and senior fellow…

Mia Ehrenberg is joining the Democratic National Committee as senior spokesperson…

Holocaust survivor David Schaecter, a co-founder of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, died at 96…

Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, whose most well-known work was a deep dive into Nazi doctors during the Holocaust, died at 99…

Joshua Abram, a co-founder of the NeueHouse coworking space, died at 62…

Philanthropist Harold Matzner, the longtime chair of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, died at 88…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (left) met on Thursday with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. In a readout following the meeting, Herzog said the two discussed, “first and foremost, the need and duty to free the hostages and bring them home.”

Co-founder and chairman of Murray Hill Properties in NYC, Norman Sturner turns 85 on Saturday… 

FRIDAY: Author, educator, and activist, Jonathan Kozol turns 89… Rabbi emeritus of Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, N.J., and rosh yeshiva of the Torah Academy of Bergen County, Rabbi Yosef Adler turns 74… Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, JoAnne Fishman Kloppenburg turns 72… COO of The New York Public Library, she has been married to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) since 1980, Iris Weinshall turns 72… Principal at Watershed Associates, he is a negotiation consultant, Stuart Shlossman… Heidi Beth Massey… New York-based real estate developer, Jacob Frydman turns 68… Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, for the Southern District of Florida, Laurel Myerson Isicoff turns 68… Investigative journalist, Yevgenia Albats turns 67… Member of the Knesset until 2023, she is the first woman in the IDF promoted to major general (the IDF’s second highest rank), Orna Barbivai turns 63… Canadian lawyer, investor and business executive, he is the co-founder and chairman of Israeli AI company Aiola, Mitch Garber turns 61… Nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and a senior editor at Reason magazine, Jacob Z. Sullum turns 60… Chief assistant district attorney in Manhattan until 2021, now a criminal defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo turns 59… Entrepreneur and investor, he is the chairman of Mentored, an education technology platform, Eric Aroesty… Managing editor for politics and legal affairs at USA Today, Holly Rosenkrantz… Senior rabbi of Temple Sholom in Vancouver, B.C., and past chair of Reform Rabbis of Canada, Rabbi Dan Moskovitz turns 55… Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Ari Devon Sandel turns 51… Member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Yulia Malinovsky turns 50… Payroll specialist at Topaz Financial Services, Jeremy C. Frankel… Voice actor for English versions of anime, animation and video games, Maxwell Braden Mittelman turns 35… Director in the D.C. office of Baron Public Affairs LLC, Jeremy Furchtgott… Founder of Bangalore-based Catoff, Anthony (Tony) Klor… NYC-based director of strategic initiatives and director of IPF Atid, both at Israel Policy Forum, Shanie Reichman turns 30… Shoshanna Liebman…

SATURDAY: Retired 36-year member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Sander Levin  (D-MI) turns 94… CMadelon “Madi” Portugal… Member of the New York State Assembly from 1981 until the end of 2024, Helene Weinstein turns 73… Oncologist and bioethicist, he is the older brother of Rahm and Ari, Ezekiel Jonathan “Zeke” Emanuel turns 68… Co-founder in 2008 of Kol HaNeshamah: The Center for Jewish Life and Enrichment and co-author of a siddur, Dr. Adena Karen Berkowitz… Founding managing director at Olympus Capital, Daniel R. Mintz… Former governor of New Jersey from 2010 until 2018, and two-time candidate for president of the U.S., Chris Christie turns 63… Toronto-based publisher and entrepreneur, she serves on the board of governors of Shalem College, Elisa Morton Palter… Rabbi of Temple Shalom in Louisville, Ky., since 2016, Beth Jacowitz Chottiner turns 61… City treasurer of Southfield, Mich., Irv “Moishe” Lowenberg… Chess Master since age 14, now a FIDE Grandmaster, Ben Finegold turns 56… National director at AIPAC, Joseph S. Richards… Acting president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America until this past July, earlier this week she was named as chief development officer at the Ad Council, Jennifer Mamlet… Chief communications officer at Bloomberg LP, Jason Schechter… Israeli film, television and stage actor, Amos Tamam turns 48… Author, he won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel The Netanyahus, Joshua Cohen turns 45… Former rabbi at Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis for 14 years, now a consultant, Avi S. Olitzky… Senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, he is a veteran of the IDF and an AIPAC alum, Daniel Flesch… Communications director at the William F. Buckley, Jr. Institute at Yale University, Ari Schaffer… Australian-born entrepreneur, now living in NYC, he is the co-founder of two start-ups, Ben Pasternak turns 26… Actor whose career started at 8 years old, Asher Dov Angel turns 23…

SUNDAY: Palm Beach, Fla., resident, the school at the Westchester (N.Y.) Jewish Center bears her name, Beverly Cannold turns 100… Considered one of the “Founding Mothers” of NPR, she is now a special correspondent on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Susan Stamberg turns 87… Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, Baron Andrew Zelig Stone turns 83… Longtime political columnist for Time magazine and author of the novel Primary Colors, Joe Klein turns 79… Color commentator for New York Yankees radio broadcasts since 2005, Suzyn Waldman turns 79… Former national political editor at the Washington Post, Maralee Schwartz… Owner and CEO of Gristedes Foods, John Catsimatidis turns 77… Pulitzer Prize-winning former national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, now director of literary journalism at UC-Irvine, Barry E. Siegel turns 76… Minneapolis-area school counselor and language arts teacher, Sandra Sevig… Russian-born mathematician, he is a professor emeritus at UCSD, he was formerly a professor at both Yale and University of Chicago, Efim Zelmanov turns 70… Chief rabbi of the U.K., he was knighted by King Charles III as part of the 2023 New Year Honours, Rabbi Sir Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis turns 69… 2023 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Drew Weissman turns 66… Global co-chair of the Israel practice at Latham & Watkins until his retirement in 2023, Stuart Kurlander… President of Hofstra University since 2021, the first woman to hold this position, Susan Poser turns 62… Bahraini ambassador to the U.S. from 2008 until 2013, after the prior four years in the Bahraini Parliament, both firsts for a Jewish woman, Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo turns 61… Personal finance journalist and CEO of the multimedia company HerMoney, Jean Sherman Chatzky turns 61… Vice provost at Yeshiva University, she is the author or co-author of 15 books on leadership, the Torah and spirituality, Erica Brown turns 59… Award-winning special writer at The Wall Street Journal and author of six best-selling books, Gregory Zuckerman turns 59… Part-owner of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, the NFL’s Washington Commanders and MLB’s Cleveland Guardians, David S. Blitzer turns 56… Tax partner with RSM US LLP, where he serves as the national family office enterprise markets leader, Benjamin Berger… Screenwriter, producer and director of many successful films and TV shows, Alex Kurtzman turns 52… Author of three New York Times bestsellers and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon turns 52… Rabbi of Baltimore’s Congregation Shomrei Emunah since 2009, Rabbi Binyamin Y. Marwick… Deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), Eric B. Kanter…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Kicking off the new school year, embattled Northwestern University President Michael Schill announced today he is stepping down as president, remaining in an interim role until his successor is chosen.

Schill’s tenure coincided with a period of antisemitic turmoil on the Chicago-area campus and he was accused of handling the issue poorly, leading some lawmakers to call for his resignation. 

A brief recap of Schill’s troubled tenure: He acceded to several demands of an anti-Israel encampment on campus in the spring of 2024, drawing condemnation from Jewish leaders and leading several Jewish members of Northwestern’s antisemitism advisory committee to step down. He then defended the move in a heated House Education and Workforce Committee hearing as being in the interest of Jewish students and was recalled by the committee this spring due to his alleged failure to live up to his own commitments from the previous hearing.

Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) said in a statement today that “President Schill will leave behind a legacy of not only failing to deter antisemitism on campus but worsening it. … Northwestern’s next president must take prompt and effective action to protect Jewish students.”

In his resignation announcement, Schill said that “from the very beginning of my tenure, Northwestern faced serious and often painful challenges. … I was always guided by enduring values of our University: protecting students, fostering academic excellence, and defending faculty, academic freedom, due process and the integrity of the institution”…

Columbia University, meanwhile, hired Jonathon Kahn as its senior associate dean of community and culture, a new position created to “build and lead initiatives that cultivate curiosity, civic purpose and meaningful dialogue” and “reimagine what a liberal arts and sciences education can be in the next century,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

Kahn signed a 2021 letter supporting the Palestinian “indigenous resistance movement” and rejecting “the fiction of a ‘two-sided conflict,’” accusing Israel of carrying out “settler colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing”…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called an Israeli proposal by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to annex parts of the West Bank “wholly predictable” in response to European countries’ planned recognition of a Palestinian state. 

Rubio said, “We told all these countries. We said, if you guys do this recognition stuff — it’s all fake, it’s not even real — if you do it, you’re going to create big problems. There’s going to be a response from Israel … and it may even trigger these sorts of actions that you’ve seen, or at least these attempts at these actions. So we’re watching it closely.”

Rubio, who was asked about the issue today at a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, continued, “What you’re seeing with the West Bank and the annexation, that’s not a final thing. That’s something that’s being discussed among some elements of Israeli politics. I’m not going to opine on that today.”

“And by the way, let me tell you something. The minute, the day that the French announced their [intent to recognize a Palestinian state], Hamas walked away from the negotiating table. … We also warned that that would happen, and it did. Sometimes, these guys don’t listen,” Rubio said.

The issue of West Bank annexation was due to be discussed in a high-level meeting convened by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today but was reportedly removed from the agenda after the UAE warned such a move would be a “red line” for regional normalization…

Israeli officials told The Wall Street Journal that Mossad Director David Barnea and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have joined IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir in expressing hesitation to Netanyahu over the IDF’s plan to expand its offensive into Gaza City. They have also argued in favor of reaching a partial hostage-release deal with Hamas as an alternative to the comprehensive deal Israel is currently seeking…

A viral accusation that the IDF killed an 8-year-old Palestinian boy at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site in May was proven false when the boy was found to be alive and safely extracted from the Gaza Strip. The claim had been made by Anthony Aguilar, a former GHF contractor and Green Beret, who repeated the story on far-right and far-left media outlets.

Johnnie Moore, head of the GHF, said in a statement today, “When this lie was brazenly, cravenly shared from the press to the halls of Congress, our team set out to find this little boy — whatever it took.” He attributed the success to “veterans who never stopped working to find him and bring him to safety in the most complex environment imaginable”…

A report by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, obtained by the Associated Press, found that, as of one day before Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities began, Iran had escalated its nuclear enrichment and increased its stockpile of near weapons-grade enriched uranium to where it could soon produce at least one atomic bomb…

On the Hill, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) asked the FBI to investigate the Palestinian Youth Movement as a “threat to U.S. national security” after one of its leader, Aisha Nizar, called for Palestinian activists to “disrupt” the supply chain for F-35 fighter jets at the recent People’s Conference for Palestine in Michigan…

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), who is running for Senate in Georgia, filed a resolution today to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for “promoting and cheering on terrorism and antisemitism” at the same conference…

Semafor’s David Weigel reports from this year’s National Conservatism conference, which is winding down in Washington today and featured a host of high-level right-wing personalities from Trump administration officials to lawmakers and influencers. 

Conference speakers and attendees were jubilant over what they view as conservative successes in President Donald Trump’s second term, but there was one “possible future sore point that conference organizer Yoram Hazony acknowledged openly: Israel.”

“Hazony was upset by the ‘depth of the slander of Jews as a people’ that he saw in corners of the online right. The Israel critics in their fold could make the nationalist ‘revolution consume itself,’ he added, and risk everything,” Weigel wrote…

In long anticipated news, United Airlines announced today it’s restarting direct flights to Tel Aviv from Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles in early November…

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for reporting on a new cross-faith initiative to address antisemitism led by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

This weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will be campaigning with New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani in the next installment of Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy tour, after an appearance in Maine last weekend with anti-Israel Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner. 

We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom! 

• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is in New York this morning for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation of the hostages held in Gaza. Sa’ar prompted the special session after videos of two hostages — Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski — were released by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Before the session, Sa’ar will hold a meeting with American Jewish leaders. Read more here.
• Northwestern University President Michael Schill will appear before the House Education and Workforce Committee today for a closed-door transcribed interview about alleged failures to protect Jewish students on the Illinois campus.
• Also in Israel this week are two delegations of freshman House members, one from each caucus, organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. The Democratic trip is led by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the former House majority leader, and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the caucus chair.
• The Republican trip is led by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and includes Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Rep. Troy Downing (R-MT), Julie Fedorchak (R-ND), Randy Fine (R-FL), Brandon Gill (R-TX), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Mark Harris (R-NC), Jeff Hurd (R-CO), Brian Jack (R-GA), John McGuire (R-VA), Bob Onder (R-MO), Derek Schmidt (R-KS), Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) and Tony Wied (R-WI). Their visit will include meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s josh kraushaar

A new poll of New York City Jewish voters commissioned by the pro-Israel New York Solidarity Network underscores the presence of a cohesive constituency opposed to Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy to become New York City mayor — but also illustrates some of the divisions preventing the city’s Jewish community from speaking with a loud, united voice.

The poll, conducted by the respected Democratic polling firm GQR, found Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, winning only 37% of Jewish voters, with 25% backing Mayor Eric Adams, 21% supporting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and 14% preferring Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. The results show that even though most Jewish voters identify as Democrats, a clear majority won’t support the Democratic nominee because of his record on issues of concern to the Jewish community — in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-to-1.

Adams performs particularly well among Orthodox Jews, winning 61% of their vote, while Cuomo leads among Conservative Jewish voters with 35% support. But among unaffiliated and Reform Jews, Mamdani leads with a near majority of the Jewish vote. 

Asked if Jewish voters were pro-Israel, two-thirds (66%) responded in the affirmative, while 31% said they weren’t. That’s a slightly larger share of non-Zionist Jews than we’ve seen in national polling. Nearly two-thirds (63%) also said that the “globalize the intifada” rhetoric that Mamdani has defended is antisemitic, with just 27% disagreeing. 

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

The Blame Game: Coleman Hughes writes in The Free Press about the West’s “moral confusion” in assigning blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “There’s no doubt that there is a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. But the information pipeline between Gaza and the West is fundamentally broken, biased, untrustworthy, and weaponized against Israel. And the less skeptical that Western journalists are, the more sources like Hamas and the Gaza Health Ministry can disseminate misinformation without penalty, perpetuating the false narrative that Israel is the genocidal aggressor in a war waged against them by a group whose mission is, in fact, genocide.” [FreePress]

PR Course Correction: The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer writes about how Israel can turn international public opinion around. “Every image of a child with protruding ribs is both a human tragedy and a propaganda victory for Hamas — and proof of how a just war badly lost the plot. I believed in Israel’s casus belli. I don’t believe in this. No justification can redeem the immorality of a policy built on deprivation. As Gaza braces for the worst, Israel still has a narrow window to correct its course. By flooding the zone [with aid], Israel has one last chance to redeem itself.” [TheAtlantic]

Questioning the War: The Wall Street Journal’s Anat Peled spotlights the growing number of voices in Israeli society, mostly on the center-left, that are questioning the morality of Israel’s actions in Gaza and calling for an end to the war. “In recent weeks, more Israelis — including prominent public figures — have called to end the war in Gaza while decrying the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, marking a shift in the public discourse. A majority of former directors of the Israeli military; Mossad; Shin Bet, the country’s internal security agency; and the police, called on the Israeli government on Sunday to end the war against Hamas. The cause began as a just one after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, they said. But now it has become futile … Nightly news reports have featured more Gazans talking about suffering in the strip. Photos of Gazans killed in the war are now more visible in some public spaces such as protests. More than 1,000 leading Israeli artists created a stir when they signed a petition calling to end the killing of children and civilians in Gaza.” [WSJ]

Baltics Balance: The Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon writes about Israel’s “pivot to the Baltics,” as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar return from separate trips to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “Calls for punitive measures against Israel are growing louder in EU corridors. In that environment, courting sympathetic voices in the Baltics – where the diplomatic weather is noticeably warmer – isn’t just smart; it’s necessary. … What’s at stake here is more than just goodwill. There are real, high-stakes policy implications. The EU is currently debating whether to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a framework governing economic and political cooperation between Israel and the EU. Sa’ar’s visit to the Baltics in June – before going to Brussels – was part of an effort to prevent such a move, and Herzog’s visit now continues that effort.” [JPost]

A new Pentagon report confirmed that the U.S. withdrew troops from three military bases in Syria and Iraq in May, who were stationed there to combat ISIS forces…

Air Mail writes about the issue of ordinary Israelis engaging in espionage on behalf of Iran, with the Shin Bet confirming more than 60 Israeli citizens are being prosecuted for treason…

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) defended New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s policy proposals for the city on Monday in a heated debate with CNBC host David Faber. Warren called Mamdani’s primary win “democracy at work”…

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) visited the town of Ariel yesterday, making him the highest-ranking elected federal official to visit a West Bank settlement…

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in grant notices made public Friday that states must guarantee they will not engage in boycotts of Israeli companies in order to qualify for a tranche of more than $1.9 billion in natural disaster preparedness grants…

The Israeli Cabinet voted unanimously yesterday to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with whom the current government has been at odds since it was formed, accusing her of political bias. Shortly after the vote, the Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction temporarily blocking the firing and ordering the government to continue abiding by Baharav-Miara’s legal opinions until the court issues a final ruling…

The third season of the TV series “Tehran,” which follows an undercover Mossad agent in Iran, may come to Apple TV soon, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Though it aired in Israel over two years ago, Apple has repeatedly delayed the season’s release in the U.S. due to the Oct. 7 attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza…

Rest of World examines how the rise of data centers in the Gulf amid the race to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure will stress already water-scarce countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia…

The Anti-Defamation League said on Monday that the Portland Police Department is investigating the recent vandalism of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education with swastikas as a hate crime…

New Lines Magazine chronicles the violent clash inside Sweida Hospital in southern Syria last month as government-aligned militias and Bedouin groups clashed with the local Druze population last month…

Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff (right) met with Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon yesterday. Daroff told Jewish Insider that Colby “expressed a clear and serious understanding of U.S. strategic interests in the Middle East, including the vital importance of deterring Iran, preventing regional adversaries from gaining dominance, and sustaining Israel’s security following the Twelve Day War,” and that he was “encouraged by [Colby’s] principled and grounded approach.”

Professional boxer who held the WBA super welterweight title from 2009 to 2010, in 2014 he was ordained as a rabbi and then known as the “Boxing Rabbi,” Yuri Foreman turns 45…

Chairman of Delphi Capital Management, he is the founder and chairman of Open to Debate, a public policy debate series, Robert Rosenkranz turns 83… Former chairman of the World Zionist Organization who later served as chairman of the Jewish National Fund, Avraham Duvdevani turns 80… Former Israeli ambassador to France, following seven years as a member of the Knesset, Yael German turns 78… Author of 25 nonfiction books, including The Portable Curmudgeon, Zen to Go and Advice to Writers, Jon Winokur turns 78… Historian, Nazi hunter and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem until 2024, Efraim Zuroff turns 77… Banker, once known as “Austria’s woman on Wall Street” and founder of Bank Medici in 1994, Sonja Kohn turns 77… Former Soviet Refusenik, he served as speaker of the Knesset for seven years, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein turns 67… Intellectual property and entertainment attorney based in Ithaca, N.Y., he is an adjunct professor of law at both Cornell and Touro, Howard Leib… Member of the British House of Lords, he was chief executive of the Office of the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and then chief executive of the United Jewish Israel Appeal, Baron Jonathan Andrew Kestenbaum turns 66… Businessman Murray Huberfeld… Songwriter, author, political columnist and noted baseball memorabilia collector, Seth Swirsky turns 65… Chair of the Department of Jewish History at Baltimore’s Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, Neil Rubin, Ph.D…. Actor who starred in “Weekend at Bernie’s,” his father and grandfather were both rabbis, Jonathan Elihu Silverman turns 59… President at ConservAmerica, he is an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Jeffrey Kupfer… President of the Center for Jewish History in NYC and professor at Fairfield University, Dr. Gavriel David Rosenfeld turns 58… Former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party, Roy Folkman turns 50… Director of the Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution for 13 years until this past June, he is soon to become a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, Natan Sachs… Investment and foundation manager at Denver-based Race Street Management and a board member of JFNA, Cintra Pollack… VP of government affairs at WISPA – the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, Matt Mandel… Chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Gregg (A.G.) Sulzberger turns 45… Former director of responsible innovation at Meta / Facebook, now a consultant, he is also the spiritual leader of Chochmat HaLev, a progressive spiritual community in Berkeley, Calif., Zvika Krieger… Member of the comedy duo Jake and Amir, Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz turns 40… Longtime member of the Israeli national soccer team who also played in Europe’s UEFA Champions League, Gil Vermouth turns 40… Co-founder of Cadence, an AI-driven performance nutrition platform, Lila Cohn… Front end engineer at Platform.sh, Abby Milberg… 2023 graduate of Harvard Law School, now an assistant corporation counsel for New York City, Michael E. Snow… Senior advisor for implementation at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Lisa Geller… Leslie Saunders… Director of antisemitism programs at the Anti-Defamation League, Anyu Silverman…

• The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations kicks off a three-day mission to Israel today.
• Oral arguments in Harvard‘s lawsuit against the Trump administration‘s freezing of approximately $3 billion in federal funds begin today in Boston.
• Lawmakers in Texas return to Austin today for the start of a special legislative session that will take up, among other issues, potential statewide redistricting that could potentially give Republicans an additional five House seats but may make other safe GOP districts more competitive.
• Israel launched fresh drone strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen earlier today, days after a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed terror group triggered sirens across central Israel.
• We’re keeping an eye on Iranian nuclear talks, following an announcement this morning from Iran’s Foreign Ministry that Tehran’s deputy foreign minister will meet this Friday in Istanbul with his counterparts from the U.K., France and Germany to continue negotiations. Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with senior Iranian official Ali Larijani.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

A newly released CNN poll, conducted this month, illustrates the resilience of a hawkish DNA within the Republican Party and among its voters even amid the rise of an isolationist strain that has sought to gain influence in the GOP during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The poll asked respondents: “Do you think the United States should or should not take the leading role among all other countries in the world in trying to solve international problems?” Overall, 43% took the more active approach, while 56% took a more isolationist view.

Republicans, however, remained the strongest advocates of a muscular American role in world affairs, with 52% supporting America taking a leading role, with 47% opposed. By contrast, just 42% of Democrats and 39% of independents shared the more hawkish worldview.

Notably, the shift in more isolationist sentiment was almost entirely driven by Democrats and independents since the last CNN survey in March, which found majority support for significant American global engagement. In the March survey, a 57% majority of Democrats preferred more American involvement in the world, a number that dropped 15 points in the last four months. The Republican share of those preferring American engagement remained steady at 52%.

The results from the CNN polls suggest there’s a more committed core of Republican-voting hawks that is more resilient than the shifting political winds, whereas the Democratic foreign policy worldview appears more dependent on partisanship and what’s happening in the news at the time.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

The Trump Whisperer: The New Yorker’s Antonia Hitchens profiles Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, looking at the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO’s yearslong friendship with President Donald Trump. “Lutnick and President Donald Trump speak on the phone most nights, at around one in the morning, just after Lutnick gets in bed. They talk about ‘real stuff,’ like Canadian steel tariffs, Lutnick told me, and also about ‘nothing,’ which he summarized as ‘sporting events, people, who’d you have dinner with, what was this guy like, can you believe what this guy did, what’s the TV like, I saw this on TV, what’d you think of what this guy said on TV, what did you think about my press conference, how about this Truth?’ Of course, Lutnick said, ‘Trump has other people he calls late at night.’ But does he have other people he always calls?” [NewYorker]

Confronting Cambridge: The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer does a deep dive into the tenure of Harvard President Alan Garber, who has handled much of the fallout from the school’s handling of post-Oct. 7 campus antisemitism as well as Harvard’s legal battles with the Trump administration. “Even as Harvard sits on the receiving end of vitriolic attacks from the right, Garber has turned inward — willing to engage with Harvard’s harshest critics and to admit that even bad-faith attacks sometimes land on uncomfortable truths. He’s treated the university’s crisis as an opportunity, leveraging the looming threat of Trump to make changes that would have been politically impossible in less ominous times. The leader of Harvard, bane of MAGA, agrees with much of the underlying substance of the MAGA critique of higher education, at least when stripped of its rhetorical froth and fury. He knows that elite higher education is suffering a crisis of legitimacy, one that is, in no small measure, of its own making, because it gives fodder to those who caricature it as arrogant and privileged.” [TheAtlantic]

The Gaza Debate: In eJewishPhilanthropy, Michael Berenbaum and Menachem Z. Rosensaft respond to genocide scholar Omer Bartov’s recent New York Times op-ed alleging Israel is engaging in genocide. “We are not arguing that this war has always been waged appropriately or that it has been waged proportionally. Nor do we suggest that Israel or any other country involved in warfare cannot be accused of or should not be held accountable for other alleged violations of international law, including crimes against humanity, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing. But those are separate questions from whether a genocide is being committed; and unless such alleged violations of international law satisfy the elements, including specific intent, as defined in Article II of the Convention, they do not constitute genocide.” [eJP]

Cowed on Campus: In Tablet, Eric Kaufmann looks at recent survey data from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression that indicates shifts in the behaviors of Jewish college students as campus climates become increasingly politicized in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and ensuing war in Gaza. “A closer look at the 2024 data shows that the pro-Palestinian tent encampments had a big impact: Before they went up on April 17, 28% of Ivy League Jewish students self-censored. Afterward, 40% did. Across all institutions in the FIRE data, statistical analysis shows that the encampments increased Jewish self-censorship while reducing it for conservatives. Conservative speech has for years been the least free of any major demographic, but Jews have now converged with them. In the Ivy League, Jews now self-censor more than conservatives do.” [Tablet]

Unnamed Trump administration officials are reportedly angry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s recent actions, telling Axios that the prime minister has “acted like a madman” who “bombs everything all the time”; the White House officials expressed concerns that Netanyahu’s actions could “undermine” President Donald Trump’s efforts in the region…

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) met for an hour on Friday with New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani but did not issue an endorsement for the candidate; a spokesperson for Jeffries said the two had a “constructive, candid and community-centered” conversation that also included “a variety of other important issues, including public safety, rising antisemitism, gentrification and the importance of taking back the House in 2026”…

Reps. Mark Alford (R-MO), Don Davis (D-NC), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), John Carter (R-TX), Sam Graves (R-MO) and Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) introduced a resolution congratulating the fighter and bomber wings involved in the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities…

Sens. John Curtis (R-UT) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced a resolution commemorating the anniversaries of the bombings of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina and the Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish community center; in the House, Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX) introduced a resolution condemning the AMIA bombing…

Reps. Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Mark Messmer (R-IN) introduced a bill requiring the administration to provide a strategy to counter Iran and Hezbollah’s influence in Latin America…

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who in 2022 lost to Gov. Josh Shapiro in the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race, teased a potential rematch, posting different logos for a “Doug Mastriano for Governor” campaign…

Minnesota’s statewide Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsed state Sen. Omar Fateh, a democratic socialist, over incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the efforts of Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, under the leadership of Adam Katz, to use analytics to identify digital trends in antisemitism, craft countermessaging and share data with social media platforms and universities…

Harvard Business School graduate Yoav Segev filed a lawsuit against the university and its police department, alleging that both failed to protect him from being assaulted by anti-Israel campus activists and that school officials obstructed an investigation into the incident…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought medical attention over the weekend after falling ill from eating spoiled food; the prime minister will work from home until Tuesday while he recovers…

Israel, working with the U.S., reportedly delivered aid to the Syrian Druze city of Sweida as a ceasefire reached late last week appeared to hold; more than 1,100 are believed to be dead in the sectarian violence that drew in Syrian government forces…

Israel will not renew the visa of Jonathan Whittall, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the West Bank and Gaza, citing his “biased and hostile conduct against Israel”…

Hamas officials in Gaza claimed at least 85 people were killed trying to access humanitarian aid near the Zikim border crossing; the IDF, which said it fired “warning shots” to remove an “immediate threat,” disputed the number, saying the “reported number of casualties does not align with the existing information”…

The Wall Street Journal looks at the logistical and operational challenges facing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation amid increasing concerns over humanitarian aid distribution in the enclave…

Senior Christian leaders from Jerusalem, including Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, visited the sole Catholic church in Gaza, which was damaged by an Israeli strike last week that also killed three people…

Brig. Gen. (res.) Giora Even Epstein, the most decorated Israeli Air Force fighter pilot in the country’s history, died at 87…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (right) received the credentials of Polish Ambassador to Israel Maciej Hunia. Hunia’s arrival marks the first time in four years that Warsaw has had an ambassador posted to Israel. In addition to Hunia, Herzog also received the credentials of Malta’s new envoy to Israel, Ambassador Claude Bonello.

Actress and producer, Alysia Reiner turns 55… 

Laureate of the 1992 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Rudolph A. Marcus turns 102… President at Admar Group, Henry Dean Ostberg turns 97… Retired CEO of Sony/ATV, a large music publishing firm, he is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Martin Bandier turns 84… Professor emeritus in the Department of Physics at Bar-Ilan University, he won the Israel Prize in 2018, Shlomo Havlin turns 83… Director of the Center for the Political Future at USC, Robert Shrum turns 82… Criminal defense attorney, known for representing many politicians, celebrities and organized crime defendants, Benjamin Brafman turns 77… Former member of the U.K.’s House of Commons, now in the House of Lords, Baroness Susan Veronica Kramer turns 75… U.S. senator (R-WY), John Barrasso turns 73… Chairman and CEO at Quantitative Financial Strategies, Sanford “Sandy” Jay Grossman turns 72… Endocrinologist and professor at Columbia University’s medical school, she is an honorary president of NYC’s Central Synagogue, Shonni Joy Silverberg, MD… Professor at Columbia Law School and daughter of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jane Carol Ginsburg turns 70… Brooklyn resident, Irene Ostrovsky… Comedian and actor, best known for his five seasons on “Saturday Night Live” ending in 1990, Jon Lovitz turns 68… Former chief rabbi of Moscow, his opposition to the Ukraine war forced him to leave Russia, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt turns 62… Literary agent at the William Morris Endeavor book department, Eric Matthew Simonoff turns 58… Professor of astronomy at MIT and winner of a 2013 MacArthur genius award, Sara Seager turns 54… Brazilian fashion designer best known for avant-garde designs and eclectic prints, Alexandre Herchcovitch turns 54… CEO of Fanatics, licensed sports merchandise and digital sports platform, Michael G. Rubin turns 53… Founder, president and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) and the Electrification Coalition, Raphael “Robbie” Diamond… Rabbi of Congregation Bais Naftali in Los Angeles, his YouTube channel has over 4.6 million views, Rabbi Yoel Gold… Online media personality and director of product management at Electronic Arts (EA) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Veronica Belmont turns 43… CEO of Women of Reform Judaism since 2023, Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch… Clinical social worker, Aniko Gomory-Pink… Entrepreneur and political activist, Chloé Simone Valdary turns 32… Policy advisor at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Zachary A. Marshall… Recruiter at Tines, Rachel Elizabeth Nieves… Attorney in Madrid and secretary general of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain until 2021, Elias Cohen…

• Fox will air an hour-long interview tomorrow night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recorded with Mark Levin during the Israeli leader’s trip to the U.S. this week.
• On Sunday, former Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY) and Peter King (R-NY) will sit with author Daniel Silva at Long Island’s Sid Jacobson JCC to discuss Silva’s latest novel, An Inside Job.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Since Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, there’s been a fascinating disconnect between the polls showing Mamdani still vulnerable in the general election and the sclerosis among political leaders unable to make the tough decisions on whether to rally behind an alternative in a bid to stop the socialist candidate from becoming the next mayor.

There hasn’t been much good polling since the primary, but the most recent general election surveys all paint a picture of Mamdani leading the race with a plurality, but far below what a typical Democratic nominee should be receiving after a stunning, come-from-behind defeat of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

One poll, conducted by the Democratic firm Slingshot Strategies between July 2-6, found Mamdani winning 35% of registered voters, Cuomo at 25%, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa tallying 14%, Mayor Eric Adams at 11% and attorney Jim Walden at 1%. Thirteen percent said they were undecided.

A late-June poll by the GOP firm American Pulse found Mamdani at 35%, Cuomo at 29%, Sliwa winning 16% and Adams with 14%. Asked whether they were leaning towards voting for Mamdani or anyone but Mamdani, it was close to an even split, with 48% leaning towards Mamdani and 46% preferring anyone else.

Of note, both polls found the combined Cuomo and Adams vote — which roughly encompasses the lion’s share of the moderate Democratic electorate — narrowly outpacing Mamdani’s share of support. In other words, the Mamdani alternative wouldn’t necessarily need a large portion of the Republican vote to prevail. 

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

On the Nobel Watch: In his “Clarity” Substack, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren reflects on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week. “As Netanyahu knows well, the president deserves a Nobel Prize for making peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but the Saudis won’t negotiate as long as the IDF is fighting in Gaza. So Trump wants a ceasefire that’s acceptable not only to the U.S. and Israel but also to Hamas. … But beyond a Gaza ceasefire, the key to the regional transformation remains America’s continued commitment to deter Iranian aggression. Though badly battered by Israel and the United States, Iran will certainly try to recover from Operation Rising Lion and Operation Midnight Hammer — first by sending armed bands across our northern border and soon by trying to rebuild Fordow.” [Clarity]Anxious in Iran: In The Atlantic, Roya Hakakian considers the impact of last month’s war between Israel and Iran on the Islamic Republic’s small Jewish community. “The signs in Iran are ominous — and the pleas from Iranian Jewish elders may now go unheard. The community’s old talisman may no longer hold its charm. An overlooked victim of the 12-day military operation against Iran is Iranian civil society, especially its minorities, particularly Jewish Iranians, who were already at risk. Since the war, their conditions have infinitely worsened — a fact that should lead the Trump administration to reconsider its refugee ban. The United States took on a moral responsibility for Iran’s persecuted citizens when it became a combatant against their oppressive regime.” [TheAtlantic]

State officials are pressuring the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to post the agency’s long-overdue guidelines for applicants for security grants, warning that the continued failure to do so is imperiling security and counterterror efforts across the country…

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced bipartisan legislation on Thursday that would expedite arms sales to U.S. partners that normalize relations with Israel and work with the U.S. in its efforts to counter Iran and its terrorist proxies, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report…

The Hill talks to Jewish House Democrats, including Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), concerned over New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada” and refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher looks at how pulpit rabbis are responding to the IRS’ recent decision that will allow clergymembers to endorse political candidates while retaining their congregations’ tax-exempt status…

Former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was held in an immigration detention center for months as the government sought to deport him over his anti-Israel campus organizing, filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Trump administration…

Unilever tapped executive Jochanan Senf to be the next CEO of subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s, amid a yearslong dispute with the ice cream company’s board over its social justice initiatives; Senf had previously served as the managing director of Ben & Jerry’s in Europe…

The New York Times reports on Bill Ackman’s foray this week into professional tennis, where he played a doubles match alongside former professional tennis player Jack Sock, losing in straight sets…

Larry David is set to write and star in a new sketch comedy series about U.S. history for HBO, working with former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground company, following the end of his long-running “Curb Your Enthusiasm” series on the network…

The Forward spotlights White Oak, Pa., a mill town that once boasted a large Jewish community, as it struggles to draw in new Jewish families…

A new report from a U.K. parliamentary committee found that the threats posed by Iran to the country — including targeted assassinations and attacks on dissidents — are similar to those posed by Russia… 

An Israeli security guard was killed in a terror attack at a West Bank shopping complex; the assailants, who were killed at the scene, were reportedly police officers in the Palestinian Authority’s force who had recently completed their training…

Israel will allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza utilizing additional access routes and distribution points, following meetings between Israeli and EU officials…

A senior Israeli official said that at least some of the enriched uranium stored at the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran survived the U.S.’ bunker-buster strikes on the facility last month, and could feasibly be accessed by Iranian nuclear engineers…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel could conduct future strikes on Iranian targets if it feels threatened, saying that “Israel’s long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel”…

The U.S. re-upped its travel warning urging American citizens against traveling to Iran, as Tehran confirmed the arrest last month of an 18-year-old French-German cyclist who had been traveling through the country…

Alan Hassenfeld, a former executive of Hasbro Games and major Jewish philanthropist who was a mainstay of the Rhode Island Jewish community, died at 76…

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his wife, Dana Blumberg, are among the attendees at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, this week.

The annual invite-only retreat kicked off earlier this week, once again drawing a who’s who of media moguls, tech titans, political heavyweights and dealmakers. A-listers and boardroom titans traded suits for the fleece vests commonly associated with Sun Valley and jeans and polo shirts as they huddled for panels, private chats and leisurely walks in the Idaho sun.

This year’s attendees include Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Bloomberg, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Joshua Kushner, Yousef Al Otaiba, Mathias Döpfner, Diane von Furstenberg, Barry Diller, Brian Roberts, Adam Silver, Gary Bettman, Mitch Rales, Bob Iger, Alex Karp and more. 

See more photos of this year’s Sun Valley attendees here.

Founder and CEO of Wisconsin-based Good Karma Brands, Craig Karmazin turns 50… 

FRIDAY: Entrepreneur, investment banker, civil servant and political advisor, Stephen Berger turns 86… Developmental psychologist at Harvard, he was selected in the 1981 inaugural class of MacArthur genius fellows, Howard Gardner turns 82… Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, he was PM Tony Blair’s special envoy to the Middle East for nine years, Baron Michael Abraham Levy turns 81… U.S. senator (D-MA), Ed Markey turns 79… EVP of the Milken Family Foundation and past chair of the board of trustees of JFNA, Richard V. Sandler turns 77… Journalist covering classical music, he is the author of Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947, Norman Lebrecht turns 77… Founder of Schnur Associates, she spent 12 years as executive director of the Greater New York Coalition for Soviet Jewry, Zeesy Schnur… West Orange, N.J., resident, Jeffrey Maas… Actress, she portrayed Frau Farbissina in the Austin Powers film series, Mindy Lee Sterling turns 72… Singer-songwriter, known by his stage name “RebbeSoul,” Bruce Burger turns 68… Founder and retired CEO of Sidewalk Labs (an Alphabet company), he was previously CEO of Bloomberg L.P., Daniel L. Doctoroff turns 67… Group EVP of public relations for Discovery Channel and Science Channel from 2007 until 2023, Laurie Goldberg… Executive chairman of Aston Martin and the owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team, Lawrence Stroll turns 66… Radiation oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvey Jay Mamon, MD, Ph.D…. Managing member at Samuel Capital Management, Barry Mannis… Former member of the Knesset for the Likud party, Yaron Mazuz turns 63… Former commander of the IDF’s Southern Command, now in the IDF Reserves, Maj. Gen. Shlomo “Sami” Turgeman turns 61… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit since 2014, Judge Robin Stacie Rosenbaum turns 59… Retired tax attorney, she now bakes challahs on Manhattan’s UWS to benefit the UJA, Adina Tamar Spiro Wagman… Executive editor of The City, Alyssa A. Katz… Founder of Koz and Effect LLC, Lindsey Caren Kozberg… Consultant focused upon social impact strategies, Joshua D. Wachs… Actor, podcaster and lead singer of the band Sun Spin, Michael Owen Rosenbaum turns 53… Ukrainian-born computer scientist and internet entrepreneur, Max Levchin turns 50… Principal at Civitas Public Affairs Group, Celine Mizrahi… Chabad rabbi at Washington University in St. Louis, Rabbi Hershey Novack… Comedian, podcaster and political commentator, Katherine Rose “Katie” Halper turns 44… Screenwriter and executive producer, Theodore Beren Bressman… Retired ice hockey forward, he played for 19 seasons in the U.S., Canada and Europe, now a businessman in Destin, Fla., Jacob Micflikier turns 41… Executive director of the New Democrat Coalition, Anne Sokolov… and her twin sister, a co-founder at Social Goods, Kate Sokolov… Offensive guard in the NFL for eight seasons until 2015, his Hebrew name is Gedalia Yitzhak, Geoff Schwartz turns 39… Senior deputy associate counsel in the White House Counsel’s office during the Biden administration, Matthew J. Rosenbaum… Bryan Stone…

SATURDAY: Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Rita E. Hauser turns 91… Former congressman (R-OK) for 16 years, Marvin Henry “Mickey” Edwards turns 88… Former executive director of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, Dan Botnick… Canadian journalist, social activist and author of three bestselling books, Michele Landsberg turns 86… Former member of the Florida House of Representatives for eight years, Franklin Sands turns 85… Best-selling author, screenwriter, and playwright, sister of the late Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron turns 81… Professor of religion at the University of Vermont, he was an advisor to Bernie Sanders on his 2016 presidential campaign, as an undergraduate at Yale his roommate was Joe Lieberman, Richard Sugarman turns 81… Co-founder of Imagine Entertainment, his films and TV series have been nominated for 47 Academy Awards and 217 Emmys, Brian Grazer turns 74… Obstetrical nurse and board-certified lactation consultant in NYC, Rhona Yolkut… Founding executive director (now retired) of Newton, Mass.-based Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, focused on children with special educational needs, Arlene Remz… Businessman born in Ukraine, living in London, co-owner of the Midland Group with holdings in steel, shipping, real estate, agriculture and sports, Eduard Shifrin turns 65… Former member of the Knesset for the Blue and White party, he grew up in Raleigh, N.C., as Albert Rosenthal, Alon Tal turns 65… Chief television critic for The New York Times, James “Jim” Poniewozik turns 57… Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission until this past January, Jessica Rosenworcel turns 54… Israeli journalist and former member of Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Anastassia Michaeli turns 50… Founder of Innovation Policy Solutions, a D.C.-based health care consulting and advocacy firm, Jennifer Leib… U.S. senator (I-AZ) until January 2025, Kyrsten Sinema turns 49… Israeli news anchor, television presenter and journalist, Yonit Levi turns 48… Winner of an Olympic gold medal (Athens, 2004) and a silver medal (Sydney, 2000) as a freestyle swimmer, now in the product development software business, Scott Daniel Goldblatt turns 46… Senior reporter at CNN, Edward-Isaac Dovere… Partner in the Des Moines-based public relations firm AdelmanDean Group, Liz Rodgers Adelman… Israeli media personality, sociologist and fashion and jewelry designer, Ortal Ben Dayan turns 44… U.S. senator (D-NJ), Andrew Kim turns 43… President of executive communications firm A.H. Levy & Co based in NYC, Alex Halpern Levy… Intensive care nurse now living in Jerusalem, Rena Meira Rotter… Benjamin Birnbaum… Actress, she is well known for playing a Jewish character on television (the title character in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), though she herself is not of Jewish descent, Rachel Brosnahan turns 35… National director of Teach Coalition, Sydney Altfield… Board member of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and the Israel Policy Forum, Steven Koppel…

SUNDAY: Scottsdale, Ariz., resident, retired teacher, Howie K. Kipnes… Actor whose films have grossed more than $10 billion, his maternal grandmother was Anna Lifschutz, a Jewish immigrant from Minsk, he is best known as the title character in the “Indiana Jones” film series, Harrison Ford turns 83… Fellow at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Michael W. Cohen, MD… Ridgefield, Conn., resident, Louis Panzer… Lecturer on the federal budget process following 37 years at various federal agencies, Johnny Cahn… Co-host of “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN since 2001, Anthony Irwin “Tony” Kornheiser turns 77… Actress, best known for her role as Frenchy in “Grease,” Edith “Didi” Conn turns 74… Author of crime and suspense novels, he is also a conservative commentator, Andrew Klavan turns 71… Guide and educator at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Rabbi Dr. Eric Marshall Lankin… Senior manager of regulatory and legislative affairs at PJM Interconnection, Stuart Widom… Country music artist, Victoria Lynn Shaw turns 63… Television executive and producer, she was the president of HBO’s entertainment division until 2008 and was responsible for commissioning “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and other hit shows, Carolyn Strauss turns 62… Film director and screenwriter, Shari Springer Berman turns 62… Television writer, David X. Cohen turns 59… Author and journalist, Katie Roiphe turns 57… Chief legal officer and chief policy officer at HackerOne, Ilona Cohen… Owner of the D.C. area franchises of SafeSplash Swim Schools, Jennifer Rebecca Goodman Lilintahl… Founder of Omanut Collective, Sarah Persitz… Director of major gifts at American Friends of Magen David Adom, Yishai Mizrahi… Creator, writer and producer of the TV show “Casual” which ran from 2015 to 2018, Alexander “Zander” Sutton Lehmann turns 38… Aspen, Colo.-based neuro-linguistic programming coach, she is also the CEO and founder of entertainment agency Art of Air, Ariana Gradow… Managing director at BDT & MSD Partners, Nicholas Avery Newburger… Managing partner at Surround Ventures, Jared Kash… Television and film actor, Wyatt Jess Oleff (family name was Olefsky) turns 22… Technology investor and executive, Eric A. Kohlmann… Reporter at Punchbowl News, Max Cohen…

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is meeting with President Donald Trump today at the White House.
• Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Randy Fine (R-FL) are speaking at a Sephardic Heritage International DC event this evening on Capitol Hill commemorating the anniversary of the Farhud pogrom that took place in Iraq in 1941.

A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s MATThEW KASSEL

With just under three weeks until New York City’s mayoral primary on June 24, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is slowly but surely securing commitments from a range of key leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community, a large and politically influential voting base whose widespread support is seen as crucial to his pathway to the Democratic nomination.

In the coming days, Cuomo is expected to garner endorsements from several prominent Orthodox leaders in Brooklyn and Queens, including major Hasidic sects in Borough Park and Williamsburg that can traditionally turn out thousands of votes, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to address private plans.

But as most top Orthodox leaders have not historically taken sides until relatively late in the primary season, some Jewish community activists are voicing anxiety about their continued delay in publicly backing Cuomo — as he increasingly faces competition to his far left from Zohran Mamdani, a Queens state assemblyman whose fierce opposition to Israel has drawn mounting accusations of fueling antisemitism.

“Now that the race has been essentially a two-man race for the past few months, what are they waiting for?” one Jewish leader, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Jewish Insider. “Are they considering Mamdani?”

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

Full-Court Press: In the Baltimore Sun, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan calls for “moral clarity” in the face of rising antisemitism in the U.S. “When innocent people are attacked for their faith or identity, neutrality is not courage. It is cowardice. People are hungry for real leadership. Not performative outrage. Not partisan talking points. Real leadership, rooted in principle and courage. That is what communities expect from their elected officials, civic organizations, media institutions and universities. They want to know that when a synagogue is firebombed or a Jewish student is harassed, someone will speak up. When extremists target a faith community, there should not be silence or spin. There must be action.” [BaltSun]

Choppy Waters: The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Kalin and Shelby Holliday look at how the maritime warfare perpetuated by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has reshaped the U.S. response to threats in the region. “Officials are now dissecting how a scrappy adversary was able to test the world’s most capable surface fleet. The Houthis proved to be a surprisingly difficult foe, engaging the Navy in its fiercest battles since World War II despite fighting from primitive quarters and caves in one of the world’s poorest countries. The Houthis benefited from the proliferation of cheap missile and drone technology from Iran. They fired antiship ballistic missiles, the first-ever combat use of the Cold War-era weapon, and they innovated how they deployed their weaponry. The latest technologies have transformed maritime warfare, much the way they have rewritten the script for land wars in Ukraine — forcing militaries to adapt in real time.” [WSJ]

The Show Must Go On: The Washington Post’s Marc Fisher reflects on his recent visit to a new LGBTQ exhibition at the Capital Jewish Museum, which opened on the same day the museum reopened following an attack the week prior in which two Israeli Embassy officials were killed. “Jewish museums chronicle the centuries-long tension among Jews between insisting on belonging to the culture where they live and accepting the outsider status foisted upon them by dominant forces in their society. …  The exhibit confronts contradictions, which are at the heart of Judaism. People like the shooter cannot bear such nuance; to them, it somehow makes sense to take out one’s wrath toward Israel against a Jewish American institution — one that barely mentions Israel. The museum, like all good encounters with history, cherishes clashes between past and present, but the shooter can only see the binary: us and them.” [WashPost]

President Donald Trump announced last night that citizens of 12 countries will be barred entry to the United States, while citizens of seven other countries will face restrictions. The planned executive order was scooped yesterday by Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch…

Jason Isaacman, an ally of Elon Musk who had been the Trump administration’s pick to head NASA until his nomination was pulled last month, reportedly told associates that he believes that Musk’s departure from the White House gave the administration an opportunity to rescind the nomination; White House officials said the nod was pulled over Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats, which Isaacman disputed, saying the White House was aware of the donations…

Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will release a book later this year about her time in the Biden administration and departure from the Democratic Party…

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) launched the Save New York PAC to boost GOP candidates running in local races across the state…

Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Bill Keating (D-MA), Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and Becca Balint (D-VT) are leading more than 90 Democrats on a resolution calling on the administration to “urgently use all diplomatic tools” to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza, as well as release the hostages and end the war in Gaza; Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) is leading similar legislation in the Senate with the support of nearly all Democrats…

A group of lawmakers from more than 30 countries came together on Wednesday to discuss ways that the Abraham Accords can be leveraged to address energy security issues in the Middle East, the Caspian Sea Basin and the Eastern Mediterranean, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod has learned…

Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX) and Randy Fine (R-FL) introduced a resolution condemning the antisemitic attack on a hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., and calling for congressional action “to secure the border and deport migrants who overstay their visas”…

The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war without conditioning a ceasefire on the release of the remaining hostages; the other 14 members of the council voted in favor…

The IDF found and returned the bodies of U.S.-Israeli citizens Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai, who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…

The Wall Street Journal interviews victims and witnesses of the terror attack on marchers at a Boulder, Colo., walk on Sunday to call attention to the plight of the hostages in Gaza…

A federal judge issued an order barring the deportation of the wife and children of the Egyptian national accused of attacking the Boulder hostage march…

Germany’s Federal Research and Information Point for Antisemitism said that antisemitic incidents in the country had nearly doubled between 2023 and 2024, finding 8,627 incidents of violence, vandalism and threats targeting Jews last year…

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suspended operations for a second day, as both the foundation and Israeli officials address safety concerns tied to a series of deadly incidents near distribution sites in recent days…

Israeli officials said the country exported a record $14.8 billion in weapons in 2024, an increase of $1.8 billion from the year prior…

Stu Sandler is joining the office of Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) as chief of staff; Sandler was previously  the deputy director of the Republican Jewish Coalition…

Aaron Bandler is joining the Jewish News Syndicate as U.S. national reporter, based out of Los Angeles…

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spoke on Wednesday at a vigil held at the site of the weekend terror attack targeting a hostage-awareness march in Boulder, Colo., in which 15 people, including a Holocaust survivor, were injured.

Actor, voice actor, comedian, writer and producer, Nicholas Kroll turns 47…

Lithuanian-born Holocaust survivor, co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Va., known for his ever-present cowboy hat, Jay M. Ipson turns 90… Training director and broker associate of the Santa Monica, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services branch, Saul Bubis… Owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots, Robert Kraft turns 84… The first woman to serve as international president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Judy Yudof turns 81… Senior project manager in the AI field, Dan Yurman… Israeli politician, diplomat and businessperson, he served as consul general of Israel in Philadelphia from 1988 to 1992, Israel Peleg turns 76… VP of new business development at Maresco & Partners, Linda Greenfield… Author of 11 personal finance books, financial advisor, motivational speaker and television host, Susan Lynn “Suze” Orman turns 74… Staff member at Burbank Temple Emanu El, Audrey Freedman-Habush… Portrait photographer and visual anthropologist, she is the author of The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of the Diaspora, Penny Diane Wolin turns 72… Former commissioner on the U.S. International Trade Commission, now a consultant, Dean A. Pinkert turns 69… Best-selling instrumental musician, the saxophonist “Kenny G,” Kenneth Bruce Gorelick turns 69… Columnist for the New York Post, Andrea Peyser turns 66… Senior associate general counsel at Compass real estate, Sam Kraemer… EVP and managing director at DC’s Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), Michael Heimowitz… Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for eight years until 2022, Gila Deborah Martow turns 64… VP of government affairs at Invenergy, Mark S. Weprin turns 64… First-ever Jewish speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, she served from 2020 until 2022, Eileen R. Filler-Corn turns 61… Manager of the Jeff Astor Legacy Fund, Beth Astor Freeman… Member of Congress (D-PA-6), her father is a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Poland, Christina Jampoler Houlahan turns 58… Member of the British House of Commons for 15 years, now a member of the House of Lords, Baron Ed Vaizey turns 57… Entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, he holds more than 100 granted and pending patents, Nova Spivack turns 56… Professor of Israel studies at UCLA, Dov Morris Waxman turns 51… Film and television actress, she has a recurring role in the Fox series “The Cleaning Lady,” Liza Rebecca Weil turns 48… Co-founder of BlueLabs and director of analytics for the campaigns of both Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2012, his father and grandfather were both rabbis, Elan Alter Kriegel… Research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, he was previously a member of the New Hampshire state Legislature, Jason Bedrick turns 42… Humorist, novelist and screenwriter, Simon Rich turns 41… Partner relationship manager at Voyant, Arielle Levy Marschark… Account director on the corporate PR team at M Booth, Maya Bronstein… Clara Moskowitz… Susan Stein…