Plus, D.C.’s new kosher sushi spot
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This is a satellite image of the Fordow facility in Iran.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on how Zohran Mamdani’s supporters and staffers, as well as New York lawmakers and GOP strategists, are responding to the Queens assemblyman’s presumed win in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, and assess how Jewish Democrats are feeling about the direction of the party in the wake of Mamdani’s electoral success. We also cover President Donald Trump’s announcement of a U.S.-Iran meeting taking place next week and the Department of Justice’s continued concern that American Jews may face increased threats in the wake of the U.S. and Israeli campaign against Iran’s nuclear program. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mike Pompeo, Danny Wolf and Yossi Cohen.
What We’re Watching
- Senior administration officials will brief the Senate today on U.S. operations in Iran and the Israel-Iran war. The White House will reportedly limit the classified information shared with legislators in the briefing, amid concerns over leaks such as the limited intelligence assessment reported by CNN earlier this week. Absent from the briefing will be Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who had previously been slated to brief legislators alongside CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is holding a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon to discuss the U.S.’ weekend strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
- The Aspen Ideas Festival continues in Colorado. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Rabbi Shira Stutman are slated to speak on panels today. At 6 p.m. ET, former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will speak in conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
- The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America conclude their two-day leadership fly-in to Washington today. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) told the group on Wednesday that funding for the National Security Grant Program — including grants applied for in 2024 and new grants for 2025 — should move forward “very, very quickly.”
- Elsewhere in Washington, Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Shri Thanedar (D-MI) are slated to speak at the March on Washington for Jewish Civil Rights on the Capitol grounds.
- In Venice, Italy, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez‘s wedding weekend kicks off today. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Oprah Winfrey and the Kardashian family are among the attendees; Jordanian Queen Rania is rumored to have received an invite to the nuptials as well.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Israel is feeling victorious after its 12-day war with Iran, which culminated in the U.S. strikes on underground nuclear sites that significantly degraded and rolled back Tehran’s nuclear program. While the country is mourning 29 civilian deaths — in addition to seven soldiers killed in Gaza this week — and thousands have lost their homes in missile strikes, nearly two-thirds of Israelis, according to a new poll, think their country won the war.
But there have been some cautionary signals about the state of Iran’s nuclear program since the fighting ended, most notably a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency report from the U.S. that suggested — with reportedly low confidence — that the bombings only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months. President Donald Trump, at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, called the DIA intelligence report, which was based on satellite imagery, “fake news” and cited a more favorable Israeli intelligence report as being more reliable. And CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Thursday that “a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes.”
Further dampening the mood was Trump angrily and publicly pressuring Israel not to aggressively respond to a ceasefire violation that came within hours of a volley of missiles that killed several Israelis right before the ceasefire went into effect.
But as Israeli officials and national security experts have taken the time to assess the geopolitical landscape, the overall picture is one of significant military success.
The Trump administration and Israeli officials have an interest in presenting the mission in Iran as successful, which may lead some to trust the intelligence leaks over their statements. However, their assessment of the DIA report as “flat-out wrong,” as the White House put it, is backed up by several experts surveyed by Jewish Insider – though most cautioned that it’s unlikely anyone knows the full extent of the damage yet.
Israel “attacked and had aerial superiority in Iran for nearly two weeks and could have continued for as long as [it] wanted, had international legitimacy and not just American support, but involvement,” IDF Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and the former head of the research division of the Israel Defense Forces’ Intelligence Directorate, said. “The change in mindset is more important than the physical damage. Iran can build a new Fordow in three or four years; they were already working on more underground facilities, but what is the point if they know that the U.S. has an unlimited number of bombs that they can drop anywhere and are willing to use them?”
In a televised message on Thursday, Iranian Supreme Leader Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised “Iran’s victory over the U.S. regime” and claimed that the “Zionist regime was practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic.”
EXTREMISM EMPOWERED
Mamdani’s radical supporters, staffers under the spotlight after victory
Zohran Mamdani’s commanding performance in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday night underscored how the 33-year-old assemblyman, a democratic socialist from Queens, successfully built a coalition extending well beyond his far-left base of support. But while his focus on affordability resonated with many voters across the five boroughs who rejected former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani’s all-but-certain victory has also empowered some of his more extreme supporters to espouse incendiary rhetoric that his critics say has helped fuel a rise in antisemitism in the city, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Online incitement: In celebrating the presumed upset by a candidate with a long record of anti-Israel activism, many of Mamdani’s allies on the far left have promoted calls to “globalize the intifada,” a motto he had refused to condemn in the final stretch of the campaign, while attacking “Zionists” and using threatening language that has raised alarms within the city’s mainstream Jewish community. “Consider the intifada globalized,” one prominent Mamdani supporter wrote on social media, using a phrase that critics interpret as violent incitement against Jews — and echoing a number of comments invoking similar language in the wake of the bitterly contested primary. “The last 24 hours will be an inflection point in history for Zionism and the entity,” said another backer with a relatively sizable following on social media. “Tonight we celebrate,” a like-minded Mamdani enthusiast added in an ominously worded post. “Tomorrow we get the lists from Zohran and the round up begins.”
PARTY CRASHER
After Mamdani victory, Jewish Democrats alarmed by party’s tolerance of antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism
Many Jewish Democrats are questioning where their party is heading after a dynamic young socialist with radical anti-Israel politics is on track to become mayor of the largest city in America, which has the largest Jewish population of any city in the world. Coupled with Democrats’ reluctance to offer support for President Donald Trump’s targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, which drew support from major Jewish groups, Zohran Mamdani’s ascension has some pro-Israel Democrats concerned about the future of their party, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Good ol’ days: “[President Joe] Biden was elected running a campaign in 2020 premised on combating antisemitism. That was the animating feature that got him into the race. So the politics of this have really moved,” said a former White House official. “This is all about language and people using their microphones, and the fact that someone could feel empowered to double down on these ideas and win a mayoral race in New York City, that doesn’t happen by accident. It takes years of moving the goalposts on this language, on what it means to be antisemitic in America in 2025.” Put more bluntly by another senior Biden administration official: “I feel like a person without a party.”
Toeing the waters: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) congratulated Mamdani on Wednesday for his presumed victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary but stopped short of endorsing the far-left state assemblyman’s candidacy in the general election, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
REPUBLICAN PLAYBOOK
GOP strategists, lawmakers seek to tie vulnerable Dems to Mamdani following NYC primary win
Republican campaign operatives say they intend to tie vulnerable Democratic candidates to Zohran Mamdani, the presumed winner of New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, over his far-left policies, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. GOP operatives told JI they expect Mamdani to prominently feature in future ads and broader messaging targeting Democrats nationwide.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth: “From a political standpoint, this takes the party’s most polarizing progressive and puts them on a national stage. It’s a big opportunity for us. There’s gonna be massive ramifications on the national level. It’s a real gift for Republicans,” a longtime GOP campaign operative told JI.
Keeping distance: Other New York lawmakers, including Reps. Laura Gillen (D-NY), Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and George Latimer (D-NY), declined to support Mamdani, citing ongoing concerns about his ideological record. Both Gillen and Suozzi represent Long Island-based swing districts, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
THE ART OF NO DEAL
Trump announces meeting with Iran but says a nuclear agreement ‘is not necessary’
President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the U.S. and Iran will hold a meeting next week, but said that he doesn’t think reaching a nuclear agreement with the country is necessary in the aftermath of U.S. strikes on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports. Speaking at a press conference before leaving the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump said, in response to a question asking if he was interested in restarting nuclear negotiations with Iran, “I’m not.”
Done and dusted: “The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done,” Trump continued. “And you know, I could get a statement that they’re not going to go nuclear. We’re probably going to ask for that, but they’re not going to be doing it anyway.” He said he had asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to draw up a “little agreement for them to sign, because I think we can get him to sign it. I don’t think it’s necessary.”
Case closed: Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told a gathering of American Jewish leaders on Wednesday that the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz had “destroyed” the sites, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
ON ALERT
AG Bondi says DOJ is keeping a close eye on potential threats to Jewish community
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday that the Department of Justice was keeping a close eye on potential homeland threats to the Jewish community that may be motivated by the American and Israeli military strikes on Iran. Bondi’s comments followed recent administration warnings about potential Iran-linked “sleeper cells” in the country or radicalization of individuals domestically by Shia or Iranian propaganda, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
What she said: Bondi, asked by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) about potential threats to the Jewish community, highlighted the Capital Jewish Museum attack, the firebombing of activists at a hostage-awareness march in Boulder, Colo., and the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home as a series of connected incidents. “We are all over these cases, working hand in hand with the FBI, with Homeland Security, all of our agencies are working so well together to try to combat this throughout our country,” Bondi said. “Without getting into detail in this setting, Iran, of course, is a threat. They have been a threat, and they always will be a threat to our country. And we are working hand in hand with all of our agencies to protect Americans and to keep us safe. We have a 24/7 command center at the FBI set up for situations just like you described, senator.”
Better protection: Bob Milgrim, father of Sarah Milgrim, one of the two Israeli Embassy employee who were killed last month at the Capital Jewish Museum, told a group of Jewish leaders on Wednesday that better security at the event where his daughter was slain might have prevented the attack, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
POMPEO’S PRAISE
Mike Pompeo says nuclear strikes restored deterrence against Iran, North Korea
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised President Donald Trump on Wednesday for his decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend, pushing back on criticism from the isolationist right that the attack would embroil the U.S. in another prolonged conflict in the Middle East, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. Pompeo appeared at the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire, a part of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, for “Building Back American Deterrence and Strength in a Dangerous World.”
What he said: The former secretary of state said during a moderated conversation with Tim Horgan, WACNH’s executive director, that the U.S. strikes served to prevent war rather than cause it. “Make no mistake, President Trump’s decision to act … delivered more security for our friends in Israel and made the world safer. America reasserted its global leadership. We didn’t send the 82nd [bomb squadron] — we sent America,” Pompeo said. Pompeo said that he believed the strikes by Israel and the U.S. on Iran’s nuclear facilities had restored deterrence in regard to both Iran and North Korea. “I do know this: [North Korean] Chairman Kim [Jong Un] is sitting a little less comfortably on his throne today,” he said.
Worthy Reads
Going to Extremes: In the New York Post, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt raises concerns about the ‘horseshoe theory’ that has united the far right and far left around the U.S. strikes on Iran. “From radical-left activists claiming America lives ‘under a Zionist regime’ to far-right conspiracy theorists pushing tropes about Jewish foreign-policy manipulation, the extremes of American politics are perverting healthy democratic debate and corrupting legitimate policy disagreements about foreign intervention. … Today, as Americans debate Trump’s military action against Iran, the same dangerous patterns are emerging. Whether dressed up as ‘anti-Zionism’ or presented as high-minded foreign policy analysis in coded language, legitimate policy debates have become vehicles to spread antisemitism.” [NYPost]
A Striking Change: In The Wall Street Journal, Elliott Abrams considers the shift in American policy and the U.S. approach to the Middle East over the four decades between Israel’s attack on Iraq’s Osirak reactor and this month’s joint Israeli-American efforts to neutralize the Iranian nuclear program. “So the U.S. moved in 26 years from condemnation of a surprise Israeli attack on the Iraqi reactor to knowledge and effective approval of the Israeli strike on the Syrian reactor. Another 18 years later, the U.S. actually joined the effort to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. What explains this progression? Relations between the U.S. and Israel grew closer in those four decades, except in the Obama years. American officials and analysts more broadly understood Israel’s value as an ally. U.S. aid budgets grew. Israel joined the U.S. Central Command and began to coordinate through it with Arab armed forces. It became increasingly obvious that Iran was a deadly enemy of the U.S. and the greatest state supporter of terrorism, and its growing alignment with Russia and China made it more dangerous.” [WSJ]
It’s the Economy, Stupid — Again: In The Washington Post, James Carville and Stan Greenberg predict an “earthquake” in the 2026 midterm elections as focus shifts to voters’ economic concerns. “In primaries this month in New Jersey and Virginia, Democratic voters nominated moderate and progressive candidates for governor with broad appeal. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a retired Navy helicopter pilot, and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, a former CIA officer, each flipped Republican-held House seats in 2018. They made affordability their top priority. … In the past two years, no mainstream statewide candidate has lost to a challenger from the Bernie Sanders wing. In fact, two members of ‘the Squad’ — Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri — lost their House seats in Democratic primaries last year. The reason is the great majority of Democratic voters hate the activist, elite agenda that dominated the Democratic Party under President Joe Biden.” [WashPost]
In the (Think) Tank: In Politico, Tevi Troy considers the challenges facing newly created Democratic think tanks at a time when the party appears reluctant to embrace new thinking. “Think tank history tells us that this latest iteration can play an important role in the Democratic Party’s climb back to relevance. But the institution only works if a party is aiming for a reboot or a new direction. And it’s not clear Democrats are ready or willing to do that. … New think tanks arising out of election defeats are only useful if they can create a permission structure for changing what isn’t working. It’s not the 501(C)(3) tax status of think tanks that have enabled them to help parties recover from crushing defeats in the past. It’s the willingness to rethink, reexamine and challenge the accepted precepts of a party that has been failing to appeal to voters.” [Politico]
Word on the Street
In a post on his Truth Social site, President Donald Trump called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be given a pardon — or have corruption charges against him dropped entirely — alleging that Netanyahu, with whom Trump said he “went through HELL,” was facing a “ridiculous Witch Hunt”…
Trump is considering naming a successor to Fed chair Jerome Powell as soon as September; those in consideration for the role include former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former World Bank President David Malpass and Fed governor Christopher Waller…
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff suggested in a Fox News interview that the U.S. “will have big announcements on countries that are coming into the Abraham Accords,” a month after making similar comments at an Israeli Independence Day celebration in Washington…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday for dehydration…
Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), who served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during the first Trump administration, announced his bid for Senate in New Hampshire, setting up a potential matchup against Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH); Brown previously mounted a Senate bid in the state in 2014, where he narrowly lost to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)…
AIPAC’s PAC is reportedly searching for a potential candidate to run against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has repeatedly opposed legislation to combat antisemitism and support Israel…
Marc Andreessen and Mark Levin were among those named to the Trump administration’s Homeland Security Advisory Council…
White Plains, N.Y., Common Councilman Justin Brasch declared victory over former Councilwoman Nadine Hunt-Robinson in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor…
The Justice Department charged the man accused of firebombing a hostage-awareness rally in Boulder, Colo., last month with committing hate crimes…
A mediator proposed that Trump and Paramount Global settle Trump’s lawsuit against the company for $20 million, with some of that money going to PSAs on Paramount’s networks to combat antisemitism; the lawsuit stems from an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris on CBS’ “60 Minutes” program that the president alleged was selectively edited…
The Brooklyn Nets selected Israeli-American basketball players Danny Wolfand Ben Saraf in the first round of Wednesday night’s draft…
Goldsmiths College issued an apology to Jewish students and faculty for having allowed a “culture” of antisemitism to permeate the London university in recent years…
Xero will acquire Matan Bar and Ilan Atias’ bill-pay startup Melio for $2.5 billion, the largest acquisition in the New Zealand-based accounting-software provider’s history…
Former Mossad head Yossi Cohen is working on a book on his five years leading the agency, deepening speculation that Cohen is poised to enter politics…
Pic of the Day
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), hung a mezuzah on the doorpost at the grand opening on Wednesday of Oro Nami, a new kosher sushi restaurant in the West End neighborhood of Washington.
Birthdays
First Jewish federal cabinet member to serve in post-WWII Germany, she is minister for education, family, seniors, women and youth, Karin Prien turns 60…
Artist known for his Expressionist paintings, Jonah Kinigstein turns 102… British Labour party member of Parliament for 42 years ending in 2017, David Winnick turns 92… Member of the New York State Senate from Queens since 1999, she chairs the committee on higher education, Toby Ann Stavisky turns 86… Partner in the law firm BakerHostetler, known for his recovery of $14.5 billion from the Madoff investment scandal, Irving H. Picard turns 84… Retired co-host for more than 30 years of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Robert Siegel turns 78… Rabbi of Congregation Chaverim in Tucson, Ariz., for more than 35 years, Stephanie Aaron… Founder of Grover Strategies, he was previously chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Alan Solow turns 71… CEO of Emerging Star Capital and the author of a biography of President Bill Clinton, Robert E. Levin… Attorney and Holocaust survivors’ rights advocate, Samuel J. Dubbin turns 70… CEO of ZMC, he was previously chairman of CBS and CEO of 20th Century Fox, Strauss Zelnick turns 68… Professor of psychology at Loyola University Maryland, she is known for her work on sleep patterns and behavioral well-being, Amy Ruth Wolfson, Ph.D…. Israeli actress and comedian, Anat Waxman turns 64… Once the wealthiest of all Russian businessmen, then a prisoner in Russia and now living in London, Mikhail Khodorkovsky turns 62… Novelist and journalist, most notable as the author of the Magicians trilogy, Lev Grossman… and his twin brother, author, video game designer and adjunct instructor at NYU, Austin Grossman both turn 56… Former dean of Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, now head of school at Ramaz, Noam T. Wasserman turns 56… President and founder of Reut Group, Gidi Grinstein turns 55… Political commentator, YouTube personality, comedian and talk show host, Dave Rubin turns 49… Head of external communications at Geico, Ross Feinstein… Partner since January in Mayer Brown’s D.C. office, Michael “Mickey” Leibner… VP of Israel and Jewish affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Sara Fredman Aeder… Executive director at the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, David Bocarsly turns 35… Project leader at Boston Consulting Group, Asher J. Mayerson… Author and former RNC national spokesperson, Elizabeth Pipko turns 30…