Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began this morning, with more than 15 American warships involved in the operation intended to pressure Iran into concessions after this weekend’s failed negotiations.

President Donald Trump said hours later that the U.S. was “called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal.” Mediators including Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are also reportedly attempting to revive talks between the parties… 

One reported sticking point in the negotiations is a U.S. request that Iran agree not to enrich uranium for 20 years. The 2015 Iran nuclear deal was highly criticized for its sunset clauses, which lifted limits on activity including uranium enrichment after 15 years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked a similar timeframe at a Cabinet meeting today, saying he spoke with Vice President JD Vance yesterday who told him that the U.S. aims to ensure “there is no more enrichment in the coming years, and that could be in decades, no enrichment within Iran.” 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took issue with the timeline: “If this reporting is accurate, the idea that we would agree to a moratorium on enrichment rather than a ban on enrichment would be a mistake in my view. Would we agree to a moratorium for al Qaeda to enrich? No,” he wrote on X. “No enrichment means no enrichment”.…

Six additional Senate Democrats plan to file new war powers resolutions this week to halt the war in Iran, a move that would allow Democrats to continue forcing votes on the war for the foreseeable future, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. 

Previously, a different group of six Democrats introduced similar resolutions, and Democrats have called up two of them thus far, with plans to call up a third this week. The latest group of lawmakers spans from staunch progressives and critics of Israel to generally more pro-Israel members, including Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Andy Kim (D-NJ)…

Citing an “increasingly sour national environment for Republicans,” the Cook Political Report shifted its ratings for four key Senate races in Democrats’ favor: The North Carolina and Georgia races now lean Democratic, the Ohio race is a toss-up and the Nebraska race is likely Republican, rather than solidly. Democrats would need to flip four seats to take back the chamber…

In another heated Senate race where Democrats hope to pick up a seat, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) raised nearly $9 million in the first quarter of 2026, four times the amount her opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), pulled in. The GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund has pledged to spend $15 million in the race, as polls show Peltola with a slight lead…

In an appearance on the “Pod Save America” podcast released yesterday, antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker said he “stands by” his statement made in January that “Hamas is a thousand times better than a fascist settler-colonial apartheid state,” referring to Israel.

“I would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time,” he said on the podcast, claiming Hamas is “entirely comprised … of orphan children that have had their parents killed by an apartheid state that has been dominating the lives of Palestinians for 80 years at this point. … Hamas’ tactics, which I oppose at times, or its like internal governance issues are secondary to this conversation”…

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) called for the federal government to “immediately” pull funding from Yale University over Yale Political Union’s decision to host Piker, who previously suggested that the senator should be killed. Piker is scheduled to speak on campus tomorrow for a debate titled “Resolved: End the American Empire.”

For Scott, Piker’s incendiary language is personal: the streamer was briefly suspended from Twitch last year after urging his followers to “kill Rick Scott.” “An elite private university that hosts an antisemite who says a Senator should be killed, capitalists should be killed, and the U.S. deserved 9/11, shouldn’t get ONE CENT from taxpayers,” Scott wrote on X on Friday… 

J Street is seeking to “set the record straight” after the group backed the growing calls among far-left lawmakers to end U.S. support for Israel’s missile-defense systems, including Iron Dome, despite its own criteria for its endorsees stating otherwise. 

In a new FAQ, the group called Iron Dome “a critically important defense system” which it “supports and consistently lobbies for.” After the end of the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel, which runs through Fiscal Year 2028, however, “financial subsidies to Israel should be rapidly and responsibly phased out. … Israel should pay for these systems”…

More Jews were killed in antisemitic incidents outside of Israel in 2025 than any year in the past three decades, according to a report from Tel Aviv University. Twenty Jews were killed last year in attacks in countries including Australia, the U.S. and the U.K., while the previous record was set in 1994 with the AMIA bombing, which killed 85 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at a new poll assessing the partisan divide emerging among American Jews over pro-Israel political engagement.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will host a Yom HaShoah remembrance event at the Capitol, with a keynote address delivered by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Other speakers include several Holocaust survivors as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Lois Frankel (D-FL).

Amid the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group’s spring meetings being held in Washington this week, Jacob Helberg, under secretary of state for economic affairs, will speak at an event with the Atlantic Council about U.S. economic leadership in the Middle East, including utilization of the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, which has been floated as an alternative trade route to the volatile Strait of Hormuz.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Amid reports that Iran has rejected the U.S.’ ceasefire framework, President Donald Trump told reporters Tehran has made its own “significant” proposal, though it is “not good enough.”

Asked if he may push the deadline again for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face increased U.S. military action — as he has already done three times — Trump said, “Highly unlikely. They’ve had plenty of time.”

Trump also claimed the U.S. had “sent guns, lot of guns” into Iran. “They were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs. You know what happened? The people that they sent them to kept them, because they said, ‘What a beautiful gun. I think I’ll keep it,’” he said…

At a press conference this afternoon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said today would mark “the largest volume of strikes since Day 1” of the Iran war, with more to come tomorrow.

Trump doubled down on his threats, warning that all of Iran “can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.” If Tehran does not acquiesce by his 8 p.m. ET deadline tomorrow, Trump said, “they’re going to have no bridges. They’re going to have no power plants. Stone ages.” 

The president also floated the possibility of charging U.S. tolls to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz once it is reopened and potentially seizing Iran’s oil. Trump and defense officials further detailed the harrowing rescue of a fighter jet pilot, who reportedly treated his own wounds while scaling mountainous terrain to evade capture after being downed over Iran…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke yesterday with Trump, who thanked him for Israel’s assistance in rescuing the pilot…

Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who resigned over his opposition to the Iran war, shared a post on social media on Saturday spreading false claims from Iranian state-linked media and Drop Site News that the U.S. was attempting to kill the servicemember whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran prior to him being rescued, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

The initial statement from Drop Site, a far-left news outlet sympathetic to Hamas and totalitarian regimes, cited a report by Tasnim News, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claiming that the U.S. had “lost hope” of recovering the airman and was instead “attempting to kill him”…

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), who previously served in the Air Force, predicted that the U.S. will deploy ground troops into Iran: “I just don’t see any other way,” he said on Fox News. “I personally think it’s going to be boots — at least special ops, American special operators — on the ground, with allies in the region and air cover,” he said…

The U.S.-led Board of Peace is pressing Hamas to finalize a Gaza demilitarization agreement by the end of the week, The New York Times reports, which would require the terror group to give up its weapons and maps of its tunnel network in the enclave. Negotiators from both sides are expected to meet in Cairo, Egypt, tomorrow…

Democratic Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow announced she raised more than $3 million in the first quarter of 2026 in her bid for U.S. Senate. “There was not a dime of corporate PAC donations, not a dime of AIPAC donations,” she said in a video. The pro-Israel group was the only organization she named.

While McMorrow’s opponents have not yet publicized their latest fundraising figures, her haul surpassed those of last quarter, when Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) led the pack with $2.1 million raised in the final quarter of 2025…

The Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s top super PAC, revealed its $350 million plan to retain control of the upper chamber, focusing on defending incumbents in Ohio, North Carolina, Maine, Iowa and Alaska and seeking to flip seats in Michigan, Georgia and New Hampshire. 

The funds will largely be used for ad campaigns, with the most money being spent to defend Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who must win his first Senate election for the remainder of his term against the likely Democratic nominee, former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a grand welcome upon touching down in Damascus yesterday for his first meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The two leaders “explored avenues for strengthening economic cooperation and the exchange of expertise,” al-Sharaa said…

Sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE have signed equity commitments to the tune of $24 billion to back Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, The Wall Street Journal reports…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of tomorrow’s special election runoff in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, where Republican military veteran and Israel supporter Clay Fuller is expected to win the ruby-red seat of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will hold another press briefing on the Iran war tomorrow morning.

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will host rallies tomorrow at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan with guests including Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) and antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, a move which has drawn condemnation from some Democrats and sparked a broader debate about the mainstreaming of Piker within the party.

The Democratic National Committee will begin its five-day meeting in New Orleans tomorrow, where its resolutions committee will consider several resolutions condemning AIPAC and Israel, including calls for conditions on or a suspension of U.S. military aid to the Jewish state.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will meet with Trump and administration officials in Washington on Wednesday, as the president continues to slam the organization for its refusal to engage in the Iran war.

In observance of Passover, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday, April 13. Chag Pesach Sameach!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump lashed out at European countries this morning for their posture during the war in Iran: He wrote on Truth Social that France is prohibiting planes with military supplies destined for Israel from flying over its territory, calling Paris “VERY UNHELPFUL … The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!”

Trump also named the U.K. among the countries “which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran” and are now struggling to acquire fuel due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “[G]o to the Strait, and just TAKE IT. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” the president warned…

Trump told the New York Post about reports that he’s willing to end the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz: “I don’t think about it, to be honest. My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave the strait will automatically open.”

He similarly said to CBS News about removing Iran’s enriched uranium, “I don’t even think about it. I just know that, you know, that’s so deeply buried it’s gonna be very hard for anybody. … It’s pretty safe. But, you know, we’ll make a determination”…

During a press briefing this morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed that he took a secret trip to the Middle East in recent days to meet with U.S. servicemembers, including Air Force intelligence analysts, Army troops and pilots.

CENTCOM also confirmed that Adm. Brad Cooper visited Israel earlier this week where he met with Defense Minister Israel Katz and Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff…

Israel is ending all arms purchases from France and “replacing it with domestic Israeli procurement or purchases from allied countries,” the Israeli Ministry of Defense said today, adding that there will be “no new professional engagement with the French military” in the latest rift in the deteriorating relationship between Jerusalem and Paris…

A week after Lebanon declared Iran’s ambassador to Beirut persona non grata and expelled him from the country, the ambassador has still refused to leave the embassy compound, and Iran has stated that the embassy remains open…

China and Pakistan, which has been the intermediary for indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, put forward a ceasefire proposal that would see the immediate cessation of hostilities, the safeguarding of nonmilitary targets and the restoration of transit through global shipping lanes…

American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq, today, according to the Iraqi interior ministry, reportedly by Kataib Hezbollah, the same group that held researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov for over 900 days. Kittleson is a freelance journalist primarily based in Europe who has written for outlets including Al-Monitor and Foreign Policy.

Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said in a statement that the State Department “is aware of the reported kidnapping” and had “previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.” Johnson said an “individual with ties” to Kataib Hezbollah “has been taken into custody” in connection with the kidnapping and that the department will coordinate with the FBI to secure Kittleson’s release…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended a dinner for Eid last week where he spoke with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, a conversation that Piker called “very productive” on a recent Twitch stream. 

“No, he did not disavow me,” Piker said in response to a listener’s question. “‘Did you tell him to tune out the bad faith haters?’ I did,” Piker continued. Mamdani appeared on Piker’s Twitch for an interview during the mayoral campaign but has not met with him publicly since…

“Nope,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said in response to a video of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) claiming that, “in many respects,” Piker “is doing a very good job.” “Hasan Piker is a proud antisemite … His voice should have no place in our political discourse and all elected officials should condemn his rhetoric,” Gottheimer wrote…

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, shared an image of a sign which read, “A Jewish data center has no home here,” displayed outside a town hall she held yesterday urging caution around the approval of data centers. “If you think antisemitism isn’t a problem in Michigan, think again,” Nessel wrote…

A new poll commissioned by former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson, now a Democratic candidate for governor, found oyster farmer Graham Platner — whom Jackson is backing — nearly 40 points ahead of Gov. Janet Mills in the state’s Senate race (66-28%) among likely Democratic primary voters. The survey was conducted after Mills had started running ads against Platner based on his past controversial statements, a sign that her line of attack may not be persuading voters…

And another poll commissioned by the Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic group, found Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leading in the heated Republican primary runoff for Senate against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), 47-42%…

A federal judge ruled that the University of Pennsylvania must comply with a subpoena from the Trump administration that seeks information about Jewish university affiliates, which the university had said resembled nefarious efforts by governments over history to gather lists of Jews…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a report from West Bloomfield, Mich., where JI’s Gabby Deutch sat down with community members still reeling from the attack on Temple Israel earlier this month.

Democrat Analilia Mejia and Republican Joe Hathaway will participate in a debate tomorrow evening ahead of the April 16 special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, after Mejia eked out a surprise victory in last month’s primary. While this race will decide who serves out the rest of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s House term, the progressive Mejia is also running essentially unopposed by other Democrats for the full term. 

In observance of Passover, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday, April 6. Chag Pesach Sameach!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump doubled down on threats to escalate the war in Iran while simultaneously heralding the success of ongoing negotiations: He claimed on Truth Social this morning that the U.S. is in “serious discussions” with a “new” and “more reasonable” Iranian regime and that “great progress has been made.”

“But,” he added, “if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)”…

Trump confirmed to the New York Post that the U.S. is engaging with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and assessing whether he’s a reliable partner: “We’re gonna find out. I’ll let you know that in about a week.” He also said the U.S. believes new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “probably” alive “but in extraordinarily bad shape” after he was injured in an airstrike…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed in a Fox News interview that the U.S. is “going to retake control of the straits and there will be freedom of navigation, whether it is through U.S. escorts or a multinational escort”…

A series of surveys released today reveal how Jews and Israelis are perceiving the war in Iran: A poll conducted by the Mellman Group found 55% of American Jews oppose the war while 32% are in favor. Another poll of American Jews, solicited by J Street, found 60% of respondents opposed and 40% in support.

In Israel, meanwhile, a poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute found that the war is losing some support among Israelis, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. In the first week of the war, 93% of Jewish Israelis supported continuing it, while in the latest poll — conducted nearly a month into the war — 78% support it. Nearly three times as many Israeli Jews (12%) now oppose the war as did at the beginning of March (4%)…

The FBI announced findings that the attack on Temple Israel in suburban Detroit earlier this month was “a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan.” The brother of the assailant was a Hezbollah commander who had been killed in Lebanon by the IDF the week before the attack…

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told campaign staff that he did not want to take any public position on the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the war because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad,” according to meeting audio obtained by The Washington Free Beacon. 

If asked by reporters, El-Sayed said his strategy would be to “go straight to pedophilia, frankly. I’ll just be like, ‘Pedophile president decides that he doesn’t like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war’”…

Allies of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told Politico that the mayor’s dismissal of criticisms of his wife, Rama Duwaji, for her past extreme rhetoric and social media posts — calling her “a private person” — doesn’t comport with Duwaji’s very public profile. 

“‘She is the first lady of New York City. She has a police detail and a government staff,’ said one of the elected officials, who believes Duwaji should explain herself publicly. ‘She would need to do an interview, better explain herself, and have her do some visits and meetings with key constituencies, like Jewish museums’”…

An AI-generated Instagram account, which featured a fake Orthodox rabbi spreading antisemitic conspiracies to its more than 1.4 million followers, was taken offline over the weekend following major backlash from Jewish groups and one Democratic lawmaker — yet several similar, hate-peddling accounts have emerged with little to no public action from Meta, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Several new Rabbi Goldman accounts started posting similar videos within the past two weeks — two of which already have followings of 18,500 and 10,000. Both remain active on Instagram and their bios state, “only Backup account for @rabbigoldman” and “old account got banned”…

The Knesset passed a controversial law today allowing courts to impose the death penalty on convicted terrorists found guilty of murder, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.

The law, championed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, applies in military courts to non-Israeli residents of the West Bank — meaning, in the vast majority of cases, Palestinians. In civilian courts, the law permits applying the death penalty to those who “intentionally cause the death of a person with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel” — language which would also likely exclude Jewish assailants. Critics say it will likely be struck down by the High Court…

The Times of Israel breaks down the legislative maneuver used in Knesset by the coalition that caused opposition members to accidentally vote in favor of allocating 800 million shekels (~$250 million USD) to Haredi schools as they passed the state budget this morning…

In an interview on Israel’s Channel 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has barely spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since their last meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at the resolution coming under consideration by the Democratic National Committee that explicitly criticizes AIPAC’s political spending.

The House and Senate left for recess until mid-April, after failing to come to an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has now reached its longest-ever shutdown. Calls have already begun from at least one Republican senator to bring Congress back into session sooner, but prospects for an early return are currently unclear.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will speak at Temple Emanu-El in New York City tomorrow about his new book, Stand, on the one-year anniversary of his delivery of the longest-ever speech on the Senate floor.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced this afternoon that he’s extending his original five-day delay on strikes on Iran’s energy sector, which was set to expire tomorrow, by another 10 days. “As per Iranian Government request … I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” he wrote on Truth Social, adding that negotiations continue and are “going very well”…

At a Cabinet meeting earlier today, Trump revealed that the “present” Iran had provided the U.S. earlier this week was allowing eight Pakistani-flagged oil tankers to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, which he said proved the U.S. was speaking with the “right people” in Iran with the authority to make such decisions. 

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, meanwhile, confirmed reports that the U.S. had presented Iran with a “15-point action list” as a starting offer in peace talks between the two countries, and that Pakistan is acting as mediator…

Speaking at the FII Priority summit in Miami, Jared Kushner said that, during his negotiations with Iran prior to the war, “We basically saw that there was no seriousness, and that they were trying to play different games to just get beyond President Trump in order to preserve their capabilities and pathway to get to a nuclear weapon in a way that would have been very, very hard to be stopped in the future”…

CENTCOM applauded an Israeli strike that killed Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the IRGC Navy, and warned all IRGC Navy members to “immediately abandon their post and return home.” Tangsiri had been named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. in 2019 and was leading Iran’s efforts to shutter the Strait of Hormuz…

Even as U.S.-Iran negotiations continue, the U.S. is considering diverting weapons for Ukraine to the Middle East, The Washington Post reports, including air-defense interceptor missiles. 

Ukraine has proved a stalwart ally to the Gulf as it comes under attack from Iran — around 200 Ukrainian military personnel have been deployed around the Middle East to help defend against Iranian drones and President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia today for a surprise visit…

Resources are also being redirected to Gaza — the Trump administration has reportedly pulled $1.25 billion from international peacekeeping and disaster assistance programs for the Board of Peace’s operations, for which Trump had pledged $10 billion in U.S. funding…

An AI-generated Instagram account portraying an Orthodox-looking rabbi is pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories to its more than 1.4 million followers, and it’s not the only one, according to a study published Wednesday by Combat Antisemitism Movement.

Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports: Researchers identified 12 AI-generated “rabbis” with a combined following of 2.1 million Instagram users, all of which promote classic antisemitic stereotypes. The “Rabbi Goldman” account features many of these, including one video in which the “rabbi,” wearing a tuxedo and seemingly seated in a luxury airplane, claims that Jews utilize empty private jets to evade taxes…

A new Emerson College poll of the Maine Senate race found oyster farmer Graham Platner with a nearly 30 point lead over Gov. Janet Mills (55-28%) in the Democratic primary. Both Platner and Mills lead Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in the general election matchup, 48-41% and 46-43%, respectively…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom again reaffirmed his support for Israel in an interview with The Bulwark, likening his love for the country but strong disapproval of its current government with how he feels about the U.S…

Democrat Analilia Mejia and Republican Joe Hathaway will participate on April 1 in what is likely to be the only debate of the New Jersey 11th Congressional District’s special election, after the far-left Mejia won the Democratic nomination in a hotly contested primary last month. The New Jersey Globe, which is hosting the debate, acknowledged it had chosen to do so on the first night of Passover, in a district with a sizable Jewish population…

The College Republicans chapter at the University of Florida is suing the school, after a photo of one of its members doing what appeared to be a Nazi salute led to the chapter’s ban from campus. 

The chapter argues that the ban violated its First Amendment rights as the member “expressed a viewpoint off-campus that was alleged by some to be anti-Semitic,” and claims it was deactivated in part because it recently hosted James Fishback, a candidate for Florida governor who has expressed antisemitic and anti-Israel views…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for comments from Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow on Israel and antisemitism as she seeks the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Abdul El-Sayed.

President Donald Trump will provide closing remarks at the FII Priority summit in Miami tomorrow afternoon.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will headline CPAC’s Ronald Reagan Dinner. His primary opponent, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), will not be making an appearance, despite the confab taking place in his home state and calls from its leadership for him to attend.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to France to attend a meeting of G7 foreign ministers where he is expected to press allies on the Iran war — he told reporters as he departed today, echoing a line from Trump, that the countries involved “get far more of their fuel from” the Strait of Hormuz “than we do.”

• Israel confirmed Iranian state media reports this morning that Ali Mohammad Naini, the spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had been killed in a strike, hours after he rebuffed a claim by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran was no longer able to manufacture ballistic missiles.
• Meanwhile, the U.S. is kicking off what is expected to be a multiweek operation to open the Strait of Hormuz. In a joint statement released last night, the U.K., France, Japan, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, joined later by Canada, said they backed the American effort to restore freedom of movement through the crucial waterway.
• In New York City, the House Appropriations Committee is holding a field hearing today on accountability and reform at the U.N.
• The Fanatics Flag Football Classic is taking place tomorrow in Los Angeles after being moved from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, due to the ongoing war.
• Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
• The Leffell Foundation’s third annual rabbinical conference kicks off on Sunday in Florida.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV

Over the last three weeks, Qatar’s leadership has woken up to a reality it had long seemed determined to disprove: that money will only take you so far. And so Doha has fallen back on a longstanding Middle Eastern tradition of blaming Israel for its problems.

Qatar is the top foreign contributor to American universities, World Cup host, patron of the arts and donor of the new Air Force One, and the influence that comes with philanthropy led much of the world to turn a blind eye to the dark side of the Al Thani royal family’s generosity: Funding perhaps the world’s most effective propaganda arm for radical Islam, Al Jazeera, hosting the leaders of Hamas and other terrorist groups, and more. 

With a massive real estate portfolio that includes properties in London and Manhattan, its efforts to bail out White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in 2023 and 2025, and its work with former lobbyists now in the Trump administration — such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel — Doha appeared to have built a winning strategy to ensure its voice was heard in the White House.

Despite public opposition from Qatar and other Gulf states, the U.S., alongside Israel, went to war with Iran. Now, Doha finds itself on the receiving end of attacks from the Islamic Republic. Tehran’s attacks on Qatari gas facilities have led to a loss of 17% of Qatar’s capacity to export liquefied natural gas and an estimated $20 billion loss of annual revenue for the next three to five years, QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters. 

The latest Iranian assault on Doha’s gas industry came after Israel struck the Iranian side of the South Pars gas field, shared with Qatar. In a message that appeared, at least in part, an attempt to appease Doha, President Donald Trump blamed Israel — in mild terms by Trump standards — and said he had no idea about the attack, a claim experts and former Israeli and U.S. officials have said is unlikely to be true. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Thursday night press conference that Israel “acted alone” and will respect Trump’s request that Israel not bomb the gas field again.  

In addition, Trump threatened that if Iran attacks “a very innocent, in this case, Qatar,” the U.S. will “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

Ariel Admoni, a Qatar expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), said Trump’s statement shows “great anger” in Doha “expressed through pressure on Trump and a demand to clarify that he wasn’t part of this, in order not to hurt [Qatar’s] image” of being well-connected to the administration.

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

Target on His Back: Roll Call’s Ryan Tarinelli interviews Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) about having been a target of a foiled terror plot. “‘In any of his writings that they discovered, he wasn’t mad about any of my policy positions or votes. It was simply the fact that I was Jewish [and] my support for Israel,’ Moskowitz said. Efforts to dehumanize Jewish people appear in normal life, Moskowitz said, but even more so online, where it can reach younger people.” [RollCall]

Too Close For Comfort: In The Wall Street Journal, Third Way’s Jonathan Cowan and Lily Cohen call on Democrats to distance themselves from far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has increasingly been embraced by elements of the left. “Mr. Piker is anti-American, antiwomen, anti-Western and antisemitic. No Democrat should engage with him. All should seek to push him to the fringe, where he belongs. This isn’t happening. … There’s no excuse for putting political tribalism before Jewish safety. Or for overlooking hatred to generate likes online. Or for failing to act against the surge of antisemitism, spread by the Hasan Pikers of the world and normalized by too many on the Democratic side.” [WSJ]

The Rhodes to Ruin: In The Hill, American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch raises concerns about comments made this week by Obama administration official Ben Rhodes calling for the Democratic Party to ostracize lawmakers in the party who support military action in Iran. “Disagreements about war and peace are as old as American democracy itself. They should be debated vigorously, examined carefully, and decided with the seriousness that questions of life and death demand. But declaring that those who reach a different conclusion simply don’t belong crosses a very different line: It replaces debate with ideological exclusion. Rhodes’s comment reflects a broader and troubling shift in political discourse. Increasingly, foreign policy disagreements are treated not as differences in judgment but as evidence of moral failure. The expectation is no longer that leaders will argue their case and persuade others. It is that those who dissent should be pushed outside the bounds of legitimate debate.” [TheHill]

The Treasury Department is mulling lifting sanctions on 140 million barrels of Iranian oil currently at sea in an effort to lower oil prices, which hit $119 a barrel on Thursday…

Israel struck Syrian infrastructure on Friday, which Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said was in response to attacks on the Druze minority near the border with Israel, adding, “Israel will not stand by and will not allow anyone to harm the Druze under the cover of our war against the Iranian terrorist regime and against the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon”…

Bazan Group reported to investors on Friday that vital infrastructure at its oil refinery in Haifa had sustained damage in an Iranian missile attack on Thursday, but it is expected to return to regular operations within a few days… 

The Wall Street Journal looks at how President Donald Trump has narrated his version of the Iran war and communicated U.S. policy on Iran through scores of Truth Social posts…

Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized the administration for bypassing normal congressional review procedures to approve $20 billion in arms and military equipment sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan…

The New York Times does a postmortem on AIPAC’s spending in the recent Illinois primaries, as the group — and Israel — faces diminishing support from Democrats…

The University of California Board of Regents reached a settlement with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights over what Jewish students said was the University of California, Berkeley’s failure to address campus antisemitism; under the terms of the settlement, the school will implement mandatory campus-wide antisemitism and anti-discrimination training, and hire a Title VI coordinator…

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is surveying Cornell University employees about antisemitism they have experienced or observed on the campus as the Trump administration pursues a civil rights case against the Ivy League school…

Palestinian American author Susan Abulhawa criticized American Jews and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — who last week distanced himself and his wife, who illustrated one of Abulhawa’s books, from the author over her numerous antisemitic comments — saying that “Jewish Americans are the most privileged demographic in this country … no terrible words should be spared for these monsters, because they are monsters”…

In the 24 hours before a fringe Catholic political group planned to host a gala in Washington honoring a number of public figures who have faced accusations of antisemitism, including Candace Owens and Joe Kent, several prominent members of the American Catholic Church stated unequivocally that antisemitism is not a part of their religious doctrine, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports…

The Lebanese American man who attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., sent a photo of himself with the rifle he used to a family member on the day of the attack…

Temple Israel released photos of the extensive damage caused during last week’s attack, saying that unauthorized photos that have been published “have caused considerable harm to the survivors of last week’s attack” and that the congregation was sharing their own photos “to take back control of our narrative”…

The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco announced plans to sell its building in the city’s downtown Yerba Buena district after temporarily shuttering in late 2024 over financial challenges…

The Wall Street Journal reviews “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” the feature-length continuation of the popular TV series that centers around a Nazi plot to destabilize the British economy…

The Washington Post spotlights the northern Israel residents who are staying in the area rather than evacuating amid constant fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog visited the Israeli Arab town of Kfar Qasem, where several homes and businesses were hit by missile shrapnel earlier this week.

Stage and screen actor, television director and musician, best-known for his role as the title character in the television comedy series “Barney Miller,” Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz) turns 95…

FRIDAY: Retired consultant on public policy issues to IBM, Ford and Citicorp, among others, he was the chair of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, Norman Ira Gelman turns 97… Rabbi and human rights activist, he has served for over 60 years as the senior rabbi of NYC’s Park East Synagogue, Arthur Schneier turns 96… Pioneer of financial futures, he is the chairman emeritus of CME Group (formerly the Chicago Mercantile Exchange), Leo Melamed turns 94… Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences as a geologist and oceanographer, but known popularly as poet and performer, Alexander Gorodnitsky turns 93… Australian award-winning writer of Portuguese Sephardi descent, author of fiction, nonfiction, screenplays and poetry collections, David George Joseph Malouf turns 92… Senior advisor to the family office of Charles Bronfman, he was previously SVP and COO of UJA-Federation of New York, Dr. Jeffrey R. Solomon turns 81… Senior lecturer of Talmud at Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Rabbi Tzvi Berkowitz turns 75… Award-winning author of 26 children’s books, Louis Sachar turns 72… Owner of Baltimore-based Diamond Point Metals, Jack Zager… Former professional tennis player, Bruce Manson turns 70… Philanthropist and pioneer in corporate social responsibility, formerly CEO of family-owned Timberland, Jeffrey Swartz turns 66… Retired as Israel’s chief of police in 2018 after a 27-year prior career at the Shin Bet, Roni Alsheikh turns 63… Host of “Time Team America,” a PBS program, she also produced and directed a feature-length documentary titled “Our Summer in Tehran,” Justine Shapiro turns 63… Chilean businessman with substantial mining interests, in 2014 he donated seven newly written Sefer Torah scrolls to synagogues on six different continents, Leonardo Farkas turns 59… Former member of the Knesset for the Blue and White alliance, he served as minister of justice, Avraham Daniel “Avi” Nissenkorn turns 59… Journalist, author and lecturer, he is an editor-at-large for Esquire, Arnold Stephen “A.J.” Jacobs turns 58… Actor, podcast host, director, comedian and advocate for Israel, Michael Rapaport turns 56… First-ever Jewish mayor of Lansing, Mich., now in his second term, Andy Schor turns 51… Award-winning Israeli actress, her credits include a role in “Fauda,” Netta Garti turns 46… Actor, music video director and writer, he is the son of Dustin Hoffman, Jake Hoffman turns 45… Head of global strategic partner sales within the financial services group at Amazon Web Services, Daniel M. Eckstein… Senior writer and messaging strategist for Apple, Matt Finkelstein… Senior editor of politics, policy and ideas at Vox, Benjamin “Benjy” Sarlin… Director of real estate development for a N.Y.-based hedge fund, Jason Lifton… Comedian, writer and actress who gained popularity through her comedy videos on YouTube, Joanna Hausmann turns 37… New York City-based comedian, his most recent show centers on a meeting of neo-Nazis that he attended incognito in Queens, Alex Edelman turns 37… Talmud teacher and secretary of the committee of Jewish law and standards at the Rabbinical Assembly, Max Buchdahl… Technical program manager at Bugcrowd, Tatiana Uklist turns… Ehud Lazar…

SATURDAY: Rabbi emeritus of Manhattan’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and former principal of the Ramaz School, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein turns 94… Harvard professor, biochemist, physicist, molecular biology pioneer and winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Walter Gilbert turns 94… Scholar of Jewish mysticism and a retired dean at the Hebrew College in Boston, Arthur Green turns 85… Far Rockaway, N.Y., resident, Samuel Gross… First Jewish member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire until 2011, he is of counsel to the law firm of Shaheen & Gordon, Paul Hodes turns 75… Former executive director of The Charles Bronfman Prize, Jill Collier Indyk… Chabad rabbi, martial artist and chaplain for 13 years in the Israel Prison Service, Fishel Jacobs turns 70… President of NYC- and Singapore-based KWR International, Keith W. Rabin… Retired director general of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was previously Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Yuval Rotem turns 67… Istanbul-born entrepreneur, hotelier and real estate developer, he is president of NYC-based Alexico Group LLC, Izak Senbahar turns 67… Co-founder of Wynnefield Capital Management, Joshua H. Landes… Award-winning film, stage and television actor and singer whose roles include the title role in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Matthew Broderick turns 64… Israeli rock musician and record producer, he is best known for being the guitarist and one of the songwriters in the rock band Mashina, Shlomi Bracha turns 64… Hedge fund manager, philanthropist and former chairman of the board of the New York City Opera, Roy Niederhoffer turns 60… Partner in the Los Angeles office of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, Michael Blacher… Founding editor of The Dispatch and author of three NYT bestsellers, Jonah Goldberg turns 57… James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef from Miami, Michelle Bernstein turns 56… Emmy Award-winning CNN anchor, John Berman turns 54… IDF general, he is one of the highest-ranking Druze ever in the IDF, Ghassan Alian turns 54… President and founder of Bully Pulpit International, Andrew Bleeker… Stage and voice actress, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld turns 39… Board member at Shefa: Jewish Psychedelic Support, Hadas Alterman… Staff attorney at Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services in Cleveland, Addison Caruso…

SUNDAY: Professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia, E.D. Hirsch turns 98… “Star Trek’s” Captain Kirk, in 2021 he flew to space aboard a Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule, William Shatner turns 95… Born in Iran, twice elected as mayor of Beverly Hills, he is a past president of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, Jamshid “Jimmy” Delshad turns 86… Dentist, born in Tel Aviv and raised in NYC, he practiced in Norwalk, Conn., Murray Bruckel, DDS… Academy Award-winning screenwriter, his work includes “Forrest Gump” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Eric R. Roth turns 81… Israeli viola player and teacher, she has performed as soloist with many orchestras worldwide, Rivka Golani turns 80… Senior principal of the law firm of Neuberger, Quinn, Gielen, Rubin & Gibber, Isaac M. Neuberger turns 79… One of the principal anchors for CNN, Wolf Blitzer turns 78… Aviation and aerospace professional, Mike Orkin… Founder and executive director at WomenStrong International, Susan Morton Blaustein turns 73… Mayor of the 16th Arrondissement of Paris until 2023, now a member of the upper house of the French Parliament, Francis Szpiner turns 72… Popular musical entertainer in the Orthodox Jewish community, his stage name is Avraham Fried, Avraham Shabsi Friedman turns 67… Director of marketing and communications at Dorot, Andrea Glick… SVP and general counsel at Hertz Corporation until 2014, J. Jeffrey Zimmerman… Chabad rabbi in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, he is a frequent guest on “Fox News at Night,” Chaim Mentz… Hedge fund manager, he sold a majority stake in the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning during 2024 but he continues to control the team, Jeffrey N. Vinik turns 67… Retired Israeli basketball player, she is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most points (136) ever scored in a women’s professional game, Anat Draigor turns 66… Author, journalist, soldier and award-winning defense correspondent who has covered Israel and the Middle East, Arieh O’Sullivan turns 65… Journalist and author, Debra Nussbaum Cohen… Head of real estate for Mansueto Office, Ari Glass… Member of the U.K. Parliament until 2024 as a member of the British Conservative Party, Robert Halfon turns 57… Partner at Mercury Public Affairs, Jonathan Greenspun… SVP at HCA Healthcare, Jeff E. Cohen… Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, she is a member of Adas Israel, a Conservative Washington synagogue, Judge Neomi Rao turns 53… Internet celebrity, pizza reviewer, blogger and founder of Barstool Sports, David Portnoy turns 49… Visuals editor at The City (dedicated to in-depth local reporting in NYC) and adjunct professor at CUNY, Ben Fractenberg… VP of communications and public policy at Antora Energy, Adam Perecman Frankel… Founder and CEO of beauty and cosmetic firms Into The Gloss and Glossier, Emily Weiss… Creator of the Yehi Ohr program at Jewish Community Services of South Florida, now a real estate agent, Zisa Levin… Retired MLB first baseman after seven seasons, he starred for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Isaac Benjamin “Ike” Davis turns 39… Communications director for then-Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), Sarah Alice Frank Feldman… Energy policy and climate change reporter for Politico, Joshua Adam Siegel… Director of the Dan David Prize (an international award headquartered at Tel Aviv University), Charlotte Hallé… Director of communications at the U.K.’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, James Sorene… Beatrice Stein…

• Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed “significant surprises” in Iran and Lebanon that “will escalate the war,” a day after Israel assassinated Iranian National Security Council head Ali Larijani. Katz also said that Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib had been killed in overnight strikes. More below.
• The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding a hearing on worldwide threats this morning, with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel set to testify.
• Gabbard’s appearance comes a day after Joe Kent — whom Gabbard had reportedly refused orders from the White House to fire — stepped down as head of the National Counterterrorism Center (more on Kent’s resignation below). President Donald Trump, for his part, reupped a 2020 tweet of Kent’s in which the former Green Beret said, “We shouldn’t sit and wait for the next attack, wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out.”
• Less than 24 hours after news broke of his resignation, which he tendered to Vice President JD Vance on Monday, Kent is expected to sit for a live interview today with Tucker Carlson as the commentator further locks in his position as the go-to first interview for recently departed Trump officials following Carrie Prejean Boller‘s appearance on “The Tucker Carlson Show” following her ouster from the Religious Liberties Commission over her support for Candace Owens and comments about Israel.
• Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are attending a closed briefing today on the situation in the Middle East with senior officials from the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
• The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will have its confirmation hearing this morning for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to be Homeland Security secretary, following Kristi Noem’s departure last week from the role.
• The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is holding a virtual hearing on the rise of global antisemitism.
• Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told JI that Senate Democrats are likely only planning to force a vote this week on one of the half-dozen war powers resolutions that they’ve introduced to halt the war in Iran. Meanwhile, Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) reiterated that he’s planning to force further action on war powers resolutions in the House.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Reports of the demise of AIPAC’s political clout in Democratic primaries, it turned out, were greatly exaggerated.

Pro-Israel candidates who received backing from AIPAC or AIPAC-aligned groups won two of the four targeted Democratic primaries in Illinois — and helped block all the Squad-aligned far-left candidates from winning nominations in all of the races. It was a respectable, if not dominant showing, but one consistent with making an impact with the $22 million pro-Israel groups spent in the four open congressional races.  

In the 8th District, former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) came out ahead of anti-Israel activist and businessman Junaid Ahmed, and looks like a lock to hold onto the suburban district as long as she wants.

Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who benefited from about $4.5 million in outside spending from a pro-Israel group, comfortably outdistanced former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) in the 2nd District by a double-digit margin (41-29%) — even though Jackson entered the race as the favorite. The anti-Israel candidate in the field, state Sen. Robert Peters, finished in a distant third place, with only 12% of the vote. 

AIPAC’s biggest setback came in the affluent Chicago lakefront seat of retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), where Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss prevailed over pro-Israel state Sen. Laura Fine despite facing a barrage of attacks from an AIPAC-aligned group. But pro-Israel voters also dodged the worst-case outcome in the 9th District, with anti-Israel social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh finishing in second, and trailing badly in the district’s suburban precincts. All told, Biss won with 30% of the vote, Abughazaleh finished with 26% and Fine tallied 20%. 

And despite AIPAC’s super PAC spending nearly $5 million in positive ads to boost Chicago city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 7th District, state Rep. La Shawn Ford narrowly prevailed in the crowded primary, 24-20%. Ford was backed by retiring Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), with the congressman’s political machine ultimately making a bigger difference than the money spent on behalf of Conyears-Ervin.

Anthony Driver, Jr. and Kina Collins, the two candidates running on anti-Israel platforms, lagged well behind in third and fourth place, tallying a combined 20% of the vote. 

AIPAC managed to block all six of the far-left candidates it viewed as potential Squad-aligned lawmakers, which a source close to AIPAC told JI was the group’s top goal in the home stretch of the campaign — once it backed off of anti-Biss attacks that failed to dislodge him as the front-runner and Abughazaleh closed in in second place. AIPAC is treating that as a win as well.

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

Iran in North Africa: In Semafor, former White House Middle East Envoy Jason Greenblatt raises concerns about the expansion in North Africa of the Iran-backed Polisaro Front, with which Tehran has been building ties for decades. “By building ties with the Polisario, Iran gained a foothold in North Africa and a means of pressuring Morocco, one of Washington’s most reliable regional partners. Morocco’s cooperation with the United States includes counterterrorism coordination and broader regional security efforts. Undermining Morocco therefore undermines American interests.” [Semafor]

What Tulsi Believes?: The Atlantic’s Shane Harris considers the questioning Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has in the past opposed U.S. military action in Iran, may face on Capitol Hill today following the resignation of National Counterterrorism Center head Joe Kent over the Trump administration’s Iran strategy. “The entry of the United States into the very war that Gabbard has long opposed raises uncomfortable questions. How does Gabbard herself feel about the decision to go to war? Does she share Kent’s view that he could not ‘in good conscience’ support a war that, by his account, was predicated on misleading information? These are narrow versions of the big question that has dogged Gabbard for weeks: Why is someone who built her political identity on opposition to ‘regime-change wars’ still serving in this administration?” [TheAtlantic]

Angst in Amsterdam: In Tablet, Rabbi Pini Dunner reflects on recent attacks on Jewish institutions around the world, including a Jewish school (cheidar) in Amsterdam founded by his late grandfather, a Holocaust survivor who fought with the Dutch Jewish resistance. “My grandfather believed that the only answer to hatred was to double down on Jewish life — to strengthen it, expand it, and refuse to allow intimidation to succeed. The history of the Cheider proves that he was right. The school began at a moment when many believed traditional Jewish life in the Netherlands might never recover from the devastation of the 20th century. One man disagreed. He cleared a table in his apartment and gathered five children around it. That was how the Cheider began.” [Tablet]

President Donald Trump warned that NATO allies were making a “foolish mistake” in not assisting in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but said the U.S. did not “need or desire” assistance to do so…

The USS Ford carrier group, which has been plagued by a series of issues, including fire damage and plumbing problems, during its nine months at sea,is expected to depart the Red Sea to travel to Crete for repairs…

The Wall Street Journal reports on Israel’s systematic targeting of Iranian regime officials, an effort that includes “chasing security forces from their headquarters to muster points then on to hide-outs under bridges in an effort to disrupt their activity and show Iranians that the enforcers are being taken out”…

Iran’s judiciary said it executed a man charged with spying for Israel…

The New York Times looks at how U.S. Gulf allies under attack from Iran are increasingly looking to Europe and Australia to fulfill their defensive weapons needs, while those countries push for the Iranian regime to be, per The Wall Street Journal, “neutered, if not dismantled,” in the U.S.-Israel strikes…

Dr. Anwar Gargash, a top advisor to president of the United Arab Emirates, told Bloomberg that Iran erred in attacking the UAE and other Gulf nations, saying the attacks have pushed moderate Arab states toward Israel and the U.S. and away from Tehran…

Major U.S. airlines, including United and Delta, are extending suspensions of direct flights to Israel, upending travel plans for thousands hoping to visit the country for Passover, when the country typically sees a surge in visitors, and beyond, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

Albania’s parliament adopted a resolution declaring Iran to be a “state sponsor of terrorism,” a week after Iran-linked hackers coordinated a cyberattack and reportedly stole personal data of lawmakers in Tirana…

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) on Tuesday urged the administration to work to free one of his constituents, Kamran Hekmati, from prison in Iran. Hekmati, who is Jewish and a U.S. citizen, has been held by the regime for nearly a year for visiting Israel for his son’s bar mitzvah more than a dozen years ago, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Nearly all Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the administration’s “seeming lack of preparedness for the war it initiated with Iran and its foreseeable risks to American citizens and U.S. government personnel”…

Administration officials dodged questions about weapons sales to Turkey during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Tuesday, despite calling antisemitic statements from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “atrocious,” JI’s Matthew Shea reports…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights Jonathan Gould, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, who is shaking up the banking industry by giving the green light to crypto firms to build national trust banks…

Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who is mounting a bid for Senate, released her first ad attacking Graham Platner over past comments he made regarding sexual assault as the two engage in a heated primary to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in November…

A federal judge ordered the reinstatement of more than 1,000 Voice of America employees who were laid off nearly a year ago, determining that Trump administration official Kari Lake’s efforts to dismantle VOA parent U.S. Agency for Global Media were unlawful…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day and the presence of former Irish President Mary Robinson in New York to talk Middle East politics and praise Robinson’s controversial tenure as the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, JI’s Will Bredderman reports… 

Canadian businessman Stephen Smith will make his first foray into the media market and acquire a nearly 27% stake in The Economist Group from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild in a deal worth roughly $400 million…

The New York Times talks to members of the Dutch Jewish community about antisemitism in the Netherlands following attacks on a religious school in Amsterdam and a synagogue in Rotterdam in the last week…

Former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll is joining Code for Israel as the group’s new CEO; read our 2023 interview with Roll here…

Ben Wieder is joining the Los Angeles Times’ Washington bureau…

Literary agent Albert Zuckerman, whose Writers House worked with Ken Follett, Stephen Hawking and others, died at 94…

Israeli Ambassador to Argentina Eyal Sela (center), flanked by Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno (second from left) and Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan (right), a native of Argentina, spoke on Tuesday at a ceremony commemorating the 34th anniversary of the bombing of Israel’s embassy in Buenos Aires, in which 29 people were killed and 200 injured.

Lead vocalist for the pop rock band Maroon 5, Adam Levine turns 47… 

Screenwriter, actor, comedian and film executive, he is best known for co-writing the screenplay for “Jaws” and its first two sequels, Carl Gottlieb turns 88… U.S. special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism during the Biden administration, Ambassador Deborah Esther Lipstadt turns 79… National columnist with Creators Syndicate and contributor to CNN Opinion, Froma Harrop turns 76… One-half of the eponymous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (Jerry is four days older), Bennett “Ben” Cohen turns 75… Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Howard E. Gendelman, MD turns 72… French businessman, he was the CEO and chairman of Électricité de France from 2014-2022, Jean-Bernard Lévy turns 71… Former crisis response team manager for the City of Los Angeles and now a consultant for nonprofit organizations, Jeffrey Zimerman, MSW… Former head coach of the Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team, his Hebrew name is Mordechai as he was born in the week of Purim, Bruce Pearl turns 66… Senior rabbi-elect at the New North London Synagogue, Rabbi Daniel S. Nevins turns 60… Filmmaker, writer and stand-up comedian, Jake David Shapiro turns 57… Identical twin brothers and former yeshiva students, both singers and songwriters who recorded as “Evan and Jaron,” Evan Lowenstein and Jaron Lowenstein turn 52… Actor, comedian and writer, Adam Pally turns 44… COO at Roofmart, Ariel Koschitzky… Actor known for his roles in “24” and “House of Sand and Fog,” Jonathan Ahdout turns 37… COO and chief of staff at the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Samuel Crystal… Senior business transformation consultant at EY, Michael Schapiro… Actor and television producer, best known for his role on the Netflix original series “Orange Is the New Black,” Alan Aisenberg turns 33… Israeli actor, singer and television presenter, Shahar Tavoch turns 27…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Previewing his State of the Union address tonight, where it remains to be seen if he will make any announcements on Iran, President Donald Trump told reporters, “Iran wants to make a deal more than I do, but they just won’t say the sacred phrase: ‘We won’t build nuclear weapons,’” signaling that the two sides are still at an impasse ahead of the third round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the congressional Gang of Eight, the bipartisan set of leaders advised on classified matters by the executive branch, this afternoon to provide an update on Iran, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly joining the discussion. The White House did not brief the group before striking Iran last June, drawing ire from Democrats…

Ahead of the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told C-SPAN about potential Iran strikes, “Closed-door briefings are fine, but the administration has to make its case to the American people on something as important as this”…

Around a dozen U.S. F-22 stealth fighter jets departed from the U.K. today to be deployed at an Israeli Air Force base in the south of the country, as over 150 aircraft are being moved to the region. Military experts told The Washington Post that the “assets being assembled are indicative of a multiday campaign without a ground invasion”…

The Coast Guard is investigating a swastika drawn at its primary recruit training center in New Jersey, where Coast Guard commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday quickly flew to address recruits and staff about the incident. Lunday recently came under fire from Congress, and had his confirmation delayed, over a change in Coast Guard policy that downgraded the swastika from a prohibited hate symbol to “potentially divisive,” which was eventually walked back.

Regarding the recent incident, Lunday said in a statement to The Washington Post, “Anyone who adheres to or advances hate or extremist ideology — get out. Leave. You don’t belong in the United States Coast Guard and we reject you”…

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) is pushing for legislation to require an affirmative congressional vote prior to the U.S. reaching any nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, following a notification from the administration to Congress indicating that it is moving toward a deal that could allow Riyadh to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

The notification procedures, which do not include specific terms of a potential deal, suggest that Saudi Arabia will not be required to agree to more intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspections or “gold standard” safeguards — which would require Saudi Arabia to agree not to enrich or reprocess nuclear material — used for the U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates…

The Justice Department sued the University of California today under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination, alleging that the UCLA campus created a “hostile work environment against Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff.” 

During campus anti-Israel protests in 2024, the DOJ said, “the University allowed antisemitic harassment to continue unabated for days” and “has ignored, and continues to ignore, gross and repeated violations” of time, place and manner restrictions on student protest. The department further claimed Jewish and Israeli faculty at the school have been physically threatened, ostracized, harassed, forced to take leave and assaulted…

The New York Times details efforts by New York’s business community and Democratic establishment to organize and promote the moderate wing of the party in response to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rise to power. Some of the individuals involved, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo allies Phil Singer and Steven Cohen, are considering forming PACs, watchdog groups, lobbying campaigns and more…

New York’s Working Families Party endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) yesterday over Mamdani’s objections. The mayor has been backing Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who, like Mamdani, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a vocal critic of Israel, and he had lobbied the WFP to endorse her or to stay out of the race. WFP’s director, Jasmine Gripper, told the Times, “At the end of the day, Zohran is an individual who gets to weigh in as an individual”…

A new poll from the University of New Hampshire found oyster farmer Graham Platner with a commanding lead among likely Senate Democratic primary voters, outdistancing Gov. Janet Mills by 34 points, with the primary less than four months away. In a general election matchup with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Platner leads Collins by 11 points, while Mills and Collins are neck-and-neck…

Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Ohio branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), testified at the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee last week against a bill to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, where he claimed that Israel operates the world’s largest human skin bank and harvests the skin from deceased Palestinians. “And if I call them Nazis,” Turaani continued, “your law is going to punish me.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s Ohio River Valley office condemned Turaani’s speech, saying that the “antisemitic organ harvesting myth plays on the blood libel trope, which has spurred the torture, murder, and expulsion of Jews for centuries”…

The U.S. Embassy in Israel announced that, as part of the government’s “efforts to reach all Americans,” the embassy will be providing consular services for one day only at several locations across Israel and the West Bank, including Ramallah and the Jewish settlement of Efrat…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for the highlights from President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, taking place at 9 p.m. ET tonight, as all eyes are on possible U.S. military action against Iran.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Israel tomorrow, where he will be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before addressing the Knesset. In the evening, the two leaders will have dinner at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. Read JI’s interview on Modi’s visit with Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar.

The New York City Council will hold its first hearing on Council Speaker Julie Menin’s bill aiming to create “buffer zones” around houses of worship to protect from disruptive protests. The bill’s language was updated last night to remove the original 100-foot figure, which had reportedly emerged as a point of concern for the NYPD.

Congressional candidates from Illinois’ 9th District, where pro-Israel spending is boosting state Sen. Laura Fine and attacking Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, will hold a debate on local news. 

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again voiced skepticism about the U.S.’ ability to reach an agreement with Iran as he departed Joint Base Andrews today, reports Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov, who is traveling with the prime minister’s delegation.

A day after his White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Netanyahu told reporters, “The president thinks the Iranians understand who they’re dealing with. He thinks the conditions he is setting, combined with their understanding that they made a mistake last time not reaching a deal, could bring them to agree to conditions that will allow a good deal to be reached.”

The prime minister’s view was more reserved: “I do not hide my general skepticism about the possibility of any deal with Iran.” Netanyahu said he told Trump that if a deal is indeed reached, “it must include the components that are important to us, the State of Israel, and, I think, the entire international community: not just the nuclear matter, but also ballistic missiles and Iranian proxies in the region.”

The Prime Minister’s Office also said Netanyahu will not be returning to Washington next week as scheduled, in order to speak at an AIPAC conference, and will instead appear virtually…

At a press conference this afternoon, Trump said the timeline for a potential deal with Iran is “over the next month … should happen quickly.” Asked why Netanyahu wants him to stop negotiating, Trump said, “He didn’t say that, we didn’t discuss that. I’ll talk to [Iran] as long as I like.” Trump additionally said Israeli President Isaac Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” and called him “disgraceful” for not issuing a pardon to Netanyahu…

The Trump administration smuggled around 6,000 Starlink terminals, used to establish internet connection, to activists in Iran during the regime’s violent suppression of nationwide protests, which included internet blackouts, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his team refused to condemn antisemitic and pro-Hamas social media posts from the co-founder of the group ‘Hot Girls for Zohran’ when pressed by JI’s Will Bredderman and other reporters today.

Speaking from City Hall, Mamdani would only stress that Gilani’s organization operated independently of his official election effort: “This was an individual leading an outside group and was never paid for by our campaign,” said Mamdani. “If New Yorkers want to know my views then they can hear it directly from me.

But when JI pressed the mayor directly whether he condemned the content of Gilani’s posts, he refused to respond and left the room, similar to how he fled questions on the matter from Politico on Wednesday…

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) urged the Trump administration today to investigate reports that a clique of radical staffers at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had launched an anti-Israel “working group” inside the agency, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.

In a letter addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Stefanik decried reports that employees had met during work hours at the city bureaucracy’s Queens headquarters. She raised the possibility that the department’s federal funding might have gone toward a prohibited political purpose — or that the gathering may have violated civil rights protections by creating a discriminatory environment for Jewish New Yorkers…

The nomination of Jeremy Carl, tapped to be the assistant secretary of state for international organizations, appears bound to fail after Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) announced his opposition to Carl’s confirmation following his contentious hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Curtis and a series of Democrats questioned Carl over past antisemitic, anti-Israel and otherwise inflammatory comments that the nominee had made online and in a series of podcast appearances, including his assertion that the U.S. spends too much time and energy on Israel “often to the detriment of our own national interest” and that “the Jews love to see themselves as oppressed”…

CENTCOM announced today it had completed a “deliberate and conditions-based” withdrawal of U.S. forces from al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, handing control of the site on the country’s border with Iraq and Jordan to forces aligned with the Syrian government. The U.S. has had a presence at the base since 2016 as part of its fight against ISIS; over 7,000 ISIS detainees are also being transitioned out of Syria into Iraq, while the U.S. troops were relocated to Jordan…

Germany joined the growing calls today for U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese to resign, after France did the same yesterday, over her recent speech at the Al Jazeera Forum where she called Israel humanity’s “common enemy.” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X, “I respect the system of independent rapporteurs of the UN. However, Ms. Albanese has already repeatedly failed in the past. I condemn her recent statements about Israel. She is untenable in her position”…

Israeli authorities arrested several people, and indicted one army reservist and one civilian, for allegedly using classified information to place bets on the popular prediction market Polymarket around the timing of Israel’s war with Iran last June, the Shin Bet announced today. The bets all correctly predicted the timeline of the strikes, raking in more than $150,000, Israeli media reported…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on the race to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, where the congresswoman is coming out forcefully against the lone Jewish candidate in the race — for being too supportive of Netanyahu.

The Munich Security Conference kicks off tomorrow, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the U.S. delegation and speaking from the main stage on Saturday. Dozens of members of Congress were also expected to attend — official travel was canceled due to the impending shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security tomorrow, but members still may attend on their own. One member making a foray into foreign policy is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who will be speaking on two panels at the high-level summit. Other Democrats in attendance will be California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

In observance of President’s Day, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Tuesday. Shabbat Shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The U.S. will continue pursuing diplomacy with Iran, President Donald Trump said following his White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. 

“There was nothing definitive reached” in the meeting “other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue, to see whether or not a deal can be consummated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference.”

If negotiations do not lead to a deal, the president added, “we will just have to see what the outcome will be. Last time, Iran decided they were better off not making a deal, and they were hit with [Operation] Midnight Hammer. That did not work out well for them. Hopefully, this time, they will be more reasonable and responsible.”

Netanyahu’s office said about the meeting, “The prime minister stood up for the State of Israel’s security needs in the context of the negotiations, and the two agreed to continue to coordinate closely”…

Even as Trump insists diplomacy will continue, the Pentagon has told a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare for deployment to the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reports, to join the USS Abraham Lincoln along with dozens of U.S. aircraft and other warships…

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of 23 senators, spanning the political and ideological spectrums, introduced a resolution today condemning the Iranian government for its crackdown on protesters and attempts to cut off internet access across the country, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

“Iranian civilians’ unprecedented nationwide protests and bravery, confronted with the regime’s unprecedented widespread extrajudicial killing of thousands and disruption of all electronic communication, have profoundly destabilized the country and constitute changed conditions in Iran,” the resolution reads, highlighting that the regime’s suppression and killing of protesters continues… 

The Trump administration expects to be able to announce several billion dollars in donations for Gaza reconstruction at the Board of Peace’s inaugural meeting in Washington next week, The Times of Israel reports, even as it is still working on a proposal to disarm Hamas. That plan so far reportedly envisions Hamas relinquishing its heavy weapons and destroying manufacturing sites, without fully addressing lighter arms…

Conservative activist Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission today, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, two days after the commission held its first public hearing on antisemitism, which turned contentious when Prejean Boller pressed Jewish witnesses about whether they would consider her antisemitic for not being a Zionist and for believing Jews killed Jesus.

“No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who chairs the commission, wrote in a post on X. “This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision”…

France is calling for the resignation of U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced today, after Albanese called Israel humanity’s “common enemy” in a speech at the Al Jazeera Forum in Qatar over the weekend.

“France unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks made by Francesca Albanese, which are directed not at the Israeli government, whose policies may be criticized, but at Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable,” Barrot said in remarks to lawmakers. Her latest comments add “to a long list of scandalous positions,” including “justifying” the Oct. 7 attacks and “comparing Israel to the Third Reich,” he said…

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced legislation seeking oversight into the hundreds of millions of dollars in Venezuelan oil proceeds that the U.S. has acquired, some of which officials have said is being held in an account in Qatar…

New York City’s only Ethiopian-Israeli restaurant is closing its doors to diners, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports, and turning only to private events over rising anti-Israel harassment, which the owner, Beejhy Barhany, said escalated after the restaurant became kosher in February 2024…

The Department of Homeland Security hired a social media manager who had raised red flags at his previous position at the Department of Labor posting messaging that echoed white nationalist sentiments on official social media accounts, The New York Times reports.

Those posts “used evocative imagery, some reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s, with phrases like ‘Restore American Greatness’ and ‘the globalist status quo is OVER.’ … Colleagues warned superiors that the department’s accounts could be seen as promoting white-supremacist rhetoric, Nazi imagery and QAnon conspiracy theories”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Jason Friedman, a longtime Chicago Jewish federation leader making a bid for Illinois’ open 7th Congressional District.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a nomination hearing for conservative commentator Jeremy Carl to serve as assistant secretary of state for international organizations. Schumer denounced Carl and his nomination on the Senate floor this week, “citing Carl’s long history of racist, white supremacist, and antisemitic views.”

Sinai Temple in Los Angeles will host a summit tomorrow on faith and sports, ahead of NBA All-Star weekend taking place in the city. The convening will feature several NBA athletes, coaches and faith and civic leaders.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump is considering sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East as a contingency if negotiations with Iran fail, he told Axios today. “Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” the president said, adding, “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”

Still, Trump expressed optimism that Tehran “wants to make a deal very badly” and said the negotiations are “very different” since he authorized strikes last June on Iran’s nuclear facilities. He also said he doesn’t think Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is en route to Washington for his Wednesday meeting with Trump, is nervous about the negotiations, stating Netanyahu “also wants a deal. He wants a good deal”…

Trump also reiterated his opposition to West Bank annexation, days after Israel’s Security Cabinet voted to expand Israeli authorities in the area. “I am against annexation. We have enough things to think about now. We don’t need to be dealing with the West Bank,” he told Axios. While Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu tomorrow will ostensibly focus on Iran, the latest Israeli moves could drive a wedge between the two leaders…

On the campaign trail, former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) conceded the race for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District to far-left activist Analilia Mejia today, after outstanding ballots broke decisively in her favor over the weekend. 

In his statement, Malinowski, the presumed favorite who was the target of over $2 million of ads by the AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC, claimed that “the outcome of this race cannot be understood without also taking into account the massive flood of dark money that AIPAC spent on dishonest ads” attacking him. He warned, “If AIPAC backs a candidate — openly or surreptitiously — in the June NJ-11 Congressional primary, I will oppose that candidate and urge my supporters to do so as well.”

Mejia was congratulated by New Jersey Democratic leaders including Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker and Gov. Mikie Sherrill, though it remains to be seen if she will retain their support in the June primary when she must run for the Democratic nomination again if she hopes to retain the office for a full term…

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) officially launched her reelection campaign today for her seat which Democrats likely need to flip if they hope to take back the chamber. Collins, who has been targeted by Trump due to her occasional votes across the aisle, will likely face either Maine Gov. Janet Mills or oyster farmer Graham Platner in the general, after they battle it out in a hotly contested primary…

New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado dropped his primary challenge to Gov. Kathy Hochul today, whom he had hoped to beat out in her reelection race from the left. The move comes after several progressive leaders, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, endorsed Hochul, which Delgado alluded to in his statement: “After much consideration, I’ve concluded that there simply is no viable path forward. And though my campaign has come to an end, I fully intend to do all I can in our effort to build a more humane, affordable, and equitable state that serves all New Yorkers”…

The Washington Free Beacon details several Mamdani administration staffers with a history of comments defaming Israel, including one who called Israel a “modern-day Nazi Germany” and one who called people ripping down posters of Israeli hostages “heroes”…

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, condemned rhetoric from the leader of the state Democratic Party’s Muslim Caucus, Elyas Mohammed, in a statement shared exclusively with JI’s Matthew Kassel. Mohammed recently described Zionists as “modern day Nazis” and as a “threat to humanity,” among other incendiary social media posts.

“Antisemitic comments and conspiracy theories have no place anywhere, including in the North Carolina Democratic Party,” the governor said, after the leaders of several prominent Jewish groups in the state sent a joint letter urging Democratic officials and lawmakers to publicly denounce Mohammed’s statements…

Columbia University is considering expanding and refocusing how its Middle Eastern studies department teaches about Israel, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. The provost’s regional review committee announced a set of recommendations this week for the department, including a stronger partnership with the school’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, marking a pivot in a field and at a school that have come under immense scrutiny from the federal government and Jewish leaders following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks…

Shaare Tefila, a Conservative congregation in Olney, Md., in the Washington suburbs, was defaced with antisemitic graffiti today, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. A swastika, the word “genocide” and the phrase “AZAB,” an acronym standing for “All Zionists Are Bastards,” were spray-painted on street signs and banners outside the synagogue.

Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, called the act “outrageous. While it is fortunate that no one was physically hurt, it is yet another sad reminder that antisemitic incidents have become common occurrences throughout our region,” he said…

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said the Justice Department intends to pursue and ultimately shut down groups that have engaged in disruptive protests at synagogues and other antisemitic activities, as well as those supporting those groups, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Speaking today at a conference on antisemitism organized by The George Washington University Program on Extremism, Dhillon said her division’s work includes pursuing those funding, training and supporting groups such as American Muslims for Palestine and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which she said are engaging in “acts of domestic terrorism”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump tomorrow at the White House, as the Israeli PM seeks to provide input on U.S. negotiations with Iran.

The House Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the potential impacts of a Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which looks likely as lawmakers struggle to reach a deal before its funding runs out on Friday.

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice with Attorney General Pam Bondi.

American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch will speak at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El on the organization’s annual State of Antisemitism in America survey, released today.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The IDF announced this morning it had identified the remains of the final deceased hostage, Ran Gvili, in Gaza and is returning them to Israel for burial, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports, marking the end of the hostage crisis that had gripped Israel and world Jewry for nearly 850 days in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

Beyond the hostages taken on Oct. 7, Gvili’s return means that no Israelis — living or deceased — are being held by terror groups in Gaza for the first time since 2014.

While the IDF uncovered Gvili’s body in a Muslim cemetery where Hamas had buried it, President Donald Trump told Axios that the terror group “worked very hard to get the body back. They were working with Israel on it. You can imagine how hard it was.” 

“Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised,” Trump continued, as the parties move into Phase 2 of his peace deal. For its part, Israel announced it will reopen the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza in a “limited” capacity later this week.

Remarking on Gvili’s return, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added at a press conference this afternoon that “more than 20 new, additional countries have also signed up to join the newly established Board of Peace,” without naming the additions…

The New York Times lays out the latest developments in U.S.-Iran tensions, as American military assets reach the region and Iranian officials, as well as Iranian proxy terror groups, intensify their threats against the U.S. and Israel. 

Joe Kent, the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, has warned Iraqi officials that if Iranian-backed militias in Iraq were to strike U.S. troops, the U.S. would retaliate, according to the Times…

Trump told Axios that the situation in regards to Iran is “in flux” but that the U.S. has “a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela.” Still, the president left the possibility of diplomacy with Tehran open: “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk”…

Despite the ongoing tensions, the Trump administration deported about a dozen Iranians back to Tehran yesterday, CNN reports. It’s the third such deportation flight to Iran during Trump’s second term, and the first since the regime began its violent crackdown on protesters…

Elsewhere in the region, Israeli and Lebanese officials were hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Jordan over the weekend to discuss “steps needed for a more peaceful and prosperous region,” according to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut…

Several leading Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups are expressing concerns about the impact of the recent rise in antisemitic and Islamist messaging out of Saudi Arabia, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports, as the Gulf kingdom’s rhetoric is increasingly raising questions about its standing as a reliable U.S. ally in the region.

Among other groups, the Anti-Defamation League said in a sharply worded social media statement last week that it was “alarmed by the increasing frequency and volume of prominent Saudi voices — analysts, journalists and preachers — using openly antisemitic dog whistles and aggressively pushing anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric, often while peddling conspiracy theories about ‘Zionist plots’”…

Turning to the U.S., progressive operative Waleed Shahid announced today that he will assume the newly created role of deputy communications director of economic justice in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office, JI’s Will Bredderman, joining us to cover New York City Hall, reports.

Shahid, the former spokesperson for Justice Democrats, was also a leader in the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which sought to deny support to former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the Biden administration’s support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks, and served as an advisor to former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)…

After the fatal shooting of a man by ICE officers in Minneapolis this weekend, Gov. Tim Walz compared immigration enforcement activities in Minnesota to Anne Frank’s persecution by the Nazis, drawing condemnation from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Someone’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota,” Walz said at a press conference yesterday.

Without referencing Walz or ICE, the USHMM responded in a statement today: “Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish. Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable. Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges”…

Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, whose New York City show was canceled last week amid protests by pro-Hamas groups, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about becoming an “international flashpoint” after his subsequent show in Beverly Hills, Calif., was also canceled and his visa to perform in Canada was revoked. 

“I’m not a politician. I’m a comedian. A very Zionist comedian. But it’s terrible to see it happening. But I am not giving up and I’m not giving in. I will not give them the pleasure. But I am getting a lot of threats on my life. I know there’s a big difference between us, but I don’t want to be the Israeli Charlie Kirk,” Hochman said…

Rapper Kanye West took out a full-page ad in today’s print edition of The Wall Street Journal apologizing for his erratic, and often antisemitic, behavior in recent years, claiming his actions stemmed from a brain injury sustained years ago that amplified his bipolar disorder. 

“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it,” West wrote in the ad. “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people”…

The Washington Post reportedly informed its staff on a Zoom call today that up to half of employees will be laid off, with the biggest cuts to its foreign and sports desks…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Deni Avdija, the Israeli NBA star making his triumphant return to Washington tomorrow as his current team, the Portland Trail Blazers, takes on his former team, the Wizards, during their Jewish Heritage Night game.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s new memoir, Where We Keep the Light, is out tomorrow. We’ll be taking a look at how Shapiro discusses Israel and Judaism in its pages, as the swing-state governor potentially seeks the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.

Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, representatives of the U.S. and Israel will speak at the United Nations, and the Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington will host “Enduring Music: Compositions from the Holocaust,” a concert of music composed in ghettos and death camps.

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s International Conference on Combating Antisemitism will continue with remarks from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (who addressed the Knesset today), former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and more.

In Berlin, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat will deliver remarks at the WELT Economic Summit, the annual European business and political confab organized by media conglomerate Axel Springer.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Before officials departed from Davos, Switzerland, today, the Trump administration undertook a big task: laying out its complete vision for the demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.

Jared Kushner, speaking after President Donald Trump’s remarks at his founding ceremony for the Board of Peace, presented the administration’s “demilitarization principles” meant to be implemented in the next 100 days, including the destruction of “heavy weapons, tunnels, military infrastructure, weapons production facilities and munitions.” 

The ultimate vision sees a completely overhauled Gaza including a port and a tourism zone along the Mediterranean coast, as well as large residential areas and industrial complexes, while retaining the IDF security perimeter. 

But “this deal only happened because … we all worked together to make this happen,” Kushner said, urging countries, including Israel, to put aside their differences to bring the plan to fruition. “I see people criticizing Israel, or Israel criticizing Turkey and Qatar. Just calm down and work together for 30 days”…

Meanwhile, several of the highest-profile attendees of the Board of Peace ceremony hustled to a private lunch, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, including Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who both spoke hopefully about the future of the Abraham Accords.

Also in the room: Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and more…

The Wall Street Journal lays out the concerns of the Board of Peace holdouts — including China, Russia, France and Britain, who are wary of joining a body where they don’t hold a permanent veto and that seeks to replace the one where they do, at the U.N. Security Council. There’s also the issue of its broad mandate: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said today that European leaders could work with the board “if we narrow it down to Gaza like it was meant to be”…

The U.S. is weighing a complete withdrawal of its troops from Syria, the Journal also reports, shortly after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s forces carried out a campaign against the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, ultimately ordering it to disband.

The U.S. has around 1,000 troops in the country, many of whom are co-located with the SDF, where they carry out missions against ISIS (SDF forces were in charge of guarding ISIS prisoners until last weekend). Recent events have led the U.S. to question the viability of its mission in Syria, American officials told the Journal…

Elsewhere in the region, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a stark warning to the U.S. and Israel, even as Trump said this morning that he’s open to diplomatic dialogue with Tehran. 

The IRGC and Iran “have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “a leader dearer than their own lives,” Mohammad Pakpour said, as Iran issued its first official death toll of the protests, putting the number killed at 3,117…

Stateside, California state Sen. Scott Wiener, who is running for retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) seat, announced today that he is stepping down from his role as one of the co-chairs of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports, capping off nearly two weeks of controversy and frustration among Jewish leaders in the state after the San Francisco Democrat declared Israel’s actions in Gaza to be a genocide. 

Wiener said in a statement, which was obtained by JI, that the decision was prompted in part by the fallout of his genocide comments. “My campaign is accelerating, and my recent statements on Israel and Gaza have led to significant controversy in the Jewish community. The time to transition has arrived,” Wiener said. He will remain in the role until Feb. 15.

In an interview with Politico this week, Wiener said he’s heard from unhappy Jewish voters and leaders in the days after his comments, but asked them to remember his record. “If you’re mad at me, if you feel betrayed, I respect and honor that. But just also remember how many times I’ve gone to the mat for this community, and the bullets I’ve taken for this community,” Wiener said…

In a new ad released today, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), facing a serious primary challenge from his right, calls “radical Islam” a “bloodthirsty ideology” that has influenced recent terror attacks targeting Jews, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.

“It fueled the unspeakable crimes on Oct. 7,” Cornyn says in the 30-second ad, called “Evil Face,” before citing the mass shooting last month during a Hanukkah gathering in Australia that was allegedly motivated by ISIS. “It showed its evil face again at Bondi Beach.”

The ad comes as Cornyn’s opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has also made combating “radical Islamist terrorist groups” a priority, as he engages in a lawsuit with the Council on American-Islamic Relations…

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro further clarified the questions he was asked by Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign as he was vetted to be her running mate, in an interview airing this weekend on “CBS Sunday Morning.” “They actually asked if I was an agent [of the Israeli government] and if I had ever spoken to an undercover agent of the Israeli government,” he said, to which he pointed out that he wouldn’t necessarily be aware if he had spoken to someone undercover. 

“I think it went beyond just checking a box on a questionnaire,” Shapiro said of his perception of the questioning. “I can tell you that it landed on me in an offensive way. I have dedicated my entire adult life to serving this country. … For someone to question my loyalty, particularly as someone who is as open about his faith as he is, was offensive to me”…

The Department of Homeland Security said Columbia University graduate student and protest leader Mahmoud Khalil could be deported to Algeria, JI’s Haley Cohen reports, shortly after a federal appeals court ruled Khalil could be rearrested.

Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said on NewsNation yesterday, “it looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now. It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card. You are a guest in this country — act like it. It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that Khalil “is a New Yorker. He should remain in New York City.” He called the “attack” on Khalil “part of a larger attack on the freedom of speech that is especially pronounced when it comes to the use of that speech to stand up for Palestinian human rights. I will make that clear to everyone. He deserves to be in the city just like any other New Yorker”…

Australia’s main opposition coalition, composed of the Liberal and National parties, split yesterday — during the country’s day of mourning for the Hanukkah Bondi Beach massacre — over a disagreement about the government’s proposed hate speech laws, which were introduced as a response to the attack. The Liberal party voted with the government to adopt the reforms, which increase penalties for hate speech and ban groups who promote it, while the Nationals were opposed, citing concerns around free speech…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a rundown of the state of the race in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, where former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) is fending off far-left Israel detractors.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration’s focus will shift back from Gaza to Russia and Ukraine, as the countries hold trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, UAE, tomorrow and Saturday. White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner headed from the Board of Peace ceremony to Moscow earlier today. 

Diplomats and Jewish leaders will head to Jerusalem for the 2nd annual International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, hosted by Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, which kicks off Monday evening. Last year’s inaugural conference was mired in controversy over the inclusion of far-right European politicians, causing several leading Jewish figures to cancel their appearances (many of whom similarly do not appear on this year’s agenda).

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump took center stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this morning, and while headlines were dominated by his proclamations of the U.S.’ intent to acquire Greenland (and subsequent announcement that he and the NATO secretary general are coming to an agreement on the issue), Trump also issued a stark warning to Hamas in his remarks, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

“Hamas has agreed to give up their weapons,” Trump told a packed room of attendees. “If they don’t do it, they’ll be blown away very quickly.” 

The president has made similar statements since the adoption of the ceasefire in October, though he laid out a more concrete timeline for his expectation of disarmament: “They’ve got to do it, and we’re going to know over the next two or three days, certainly over the next two or three weeks, whether or not they’re going to do it,” said Trump…

Ahead of the signing ceremony for the Board of Peace that Trump is hosting in Davos tomorrow, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar and the UAE issued a joint statement accepting his invitation to join. 

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told Bloomberg News “20 or 25 leaders have already said yes” to attend the signing ceremony, despite other world leaders already having departed from Switzerland. “Everyone wants to be a part of this,” he said…

On the sidelines of the confab, Trump spoke with CNBC about U.S. relations with Iran amid heightened tensions and American military assets moving into the Gulf. “We hope there’s not going to be further [military] action, but they’re shooting people indiscriminately in the streets,” Trump said of the Iranian regime. 

Asked by host Joe Kernen, “Should we stay tuned in Iran?” Trump was noncommittal: “I guess — I mean, look, it’s a rough place,” he said. But he added that if Iran continues to try to acquire nuclear capabilities, strikes like those the U.S. and Israel carried out in June are “going to happen again.” 

Witkoff similarly told Bloomberg, “Iran needs to change its ways, they need to do that. And if they do, if they indicate they’re willing to do that, I think we can diplomatically settle this.” Asked if he has the sense that Iran wants to take the diplomatic path, Witkoff said, “We don’t have that sense yet”…

The Treasury Department issued sanctions today against six “Gaza-based organizations that claim to provide medical care to Palestinian civilians but in fact support the military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades,” the department said. “The fraudulent nature of these organizations, which use deception to raise funds from international donors, demonstrates Hamas’s perfidy and deprives innocent civilians of the medical care they need.”

The department also designated the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad as a terror group, a move that lawmakers have pushed, for “not only work[ing] with, and in support of, Hamas — it operates at Hamas’s behest.” The group, which claims to be a Palestinian advocacy organization, was designated as such by Israel in 2021 and was alleged to have organized recent anti-Israel flotillas…

Meanwhile in the Big Apple, divisions between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Comptroller Mark Levine over their positions on Israel surfaced, as Mamdani pushed back on Levine’s recent statements that he remains committed to resuming the city’s investment in Israel Bonds. 

“I’ve made clear my position, which is that I don’t think that we should purchase Israel Bonds. We don’t purchase bonds for any other sovereign nation’s debt. The comptroller has also made his position clear, and I continue to stand by mine,” Mamdani said at a press conference today…

While he is distancing himself from Levine, Mamdani is presenting a united front with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, The New York Times writes, as the two navigate their differences on policing, Israel and other issues…

Mamdani also said today that he was “sickened” by antisemitic vandalism found in Borough Park, which saw many swastikas painted around the predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. “I stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish New Yorkers who were targeted. My administration is working closely with the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force as well as our Parks Department, and those responsible will be investigated and held accountable,” he said in a statement…

Not 24 hours earlier, a Manhattan comedy club canceled Israeli comedian Guy Hochman’s show last night after pro-Hamas groups protested outside of the venue, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. “The owner of the place was afraid and canceled the show,” Hochman told JI, referring to Broadway Comedy Club, located near Times Square. “So, I did an alternative show for my audience outside freezing to death”…

Some of the candidates competing for retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) seat in New York’s 12th Congressional District provided insight into their positions on Israel in a candidate questionnaire to receive the endorsement of the Working Families Party, Politico reports.

Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg and state Assemblymembers Alex Bores and Micah Lasher all said they would not support a resolution sponsored by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide; Bores and Lasher said they would not support the “Block the Bombs Act” placing sweeping restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel, while Schlossberg said he’s unsure; and Schlossberg said he would support a bill brought several years ago that sought to prohibit U.S. aid to Israel from being used for a variety of military operations, while Bores said he would not and Lasher was unsure…

After Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro alleged that Vice President Kamala Harris’ team asked if he had ever been an Israeli agent as he was being considered to be her running mate, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, told reporters yesterday that he didn’t think the questions during the vetting process were inappropriate. “The questions are tough. I think you’ve got to be tough during the process,” he said.

“I mean, what’s appropriate and inappropriate in the context of getting, as one pundit calls it, ‘an MRI for your soul,’ when you’re out there in the national political arena?” Pritzker, who was also vetted by the Harris team, asked. His comments are at odds with moderate Democrats on Capitol Hill, who told JI that Shapiro’s account was “totally insane,” “problematic” and “incredibly disturbing”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Paige Cognetti, the Democratic mayor of Scranton, Pa., seeking to flip a northeast Pennsylvania swing seat by emphasizing her pro-Israel bona fides.

President Donald Trump will hold the signing ceremony for his Board of Peace with several world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, tomorrow morning local time (around 4:30 a.m. ET). 

Australia will hold a national day of mourning to honor the victims of the terror attack that took place at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced.

The Sundance Film Festival kicks off in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah: For the cinephiles keeping track, on the docket this year is a Hebrew coming-of-age film set in the ‘80s titled “Tell Me Everything,” a documentary about three doctors providing humanitarian care in Gaza, a panel by the Jewish Institute for Television & Cinema on combating antisemitism through film and more.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump continues to promote his Board of Peace ahead of its launch at the World Economic Forum later this week: In its charter sent to leaders around the world, the president laid out a vision for the body, which has grown into a U.N.-like institution that would mediate global conflicts and would require countries to pay $1 billion to secure a permanent seat, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Asked at a press conference this afternoon if he intends for the body to replace the U.N., Trump said it “might.” “Wish the United Nations could do more, wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” he said.

More than 10 countries have reportedly signed on to join the board, whose charter does not mention Gaza, including the UAE and Hungary. But its expanded mandate has made other countries wary: When told France does not intend to accept the invitation to join, Trump threatened to put a 200% tariff on French wines and Champagnes…

At the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent credited the U.S.’ “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran for the protest movement that wracked the country in recent weeks. “It’s worked because in December, their economy collapsed. … They are not able to get imports, and this is why the people took to the streets. … This is economic statecraft, no shots fired, and things are moving in a very positive way here,” Bessent said…

Asked about the remaining potential for U.S. military action in Iran over its violent crackdown on the protests, Trump said at this afternoon’s press conference, “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future” and once again praised the regime for not proceeding with its plans to hang 837 protesters. “We’re just going to have to see what happens,” Trump said…

Israeli authorities began demolishing the compound that previously housed the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Jerusalem, a year after Israel passed a law banning UNRWA from operating in the country over the  involvement of its employees in terror activities, including the Oct. 7 attacks. 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry denied U.N. claims that the compound has diplomatic immunity, saying in a statement, “Even prior to the passage of legislation in January 2025, UNRWA had already ceased its operations at this site and no longer had any UN personnel or UN activity there. The compound does not enjoy any immunity and the seizure of this compound by Israeli authorities was carried out in accordance with both Israeli and international law”…

Several European countries have not sent their representatives back to the U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel after the holidays, Reuters reports, as the countries, including Germany, France and Britain, consider the value of engaging with the body that diplomats called “directionless” and a “disaster”…

In campaign news, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) condemned as antisemitic an ad running in New York’s suburban 17th Congressional District that targets him for his support for Israel and for receiving backing from pro-Israel donors, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

“This ad is a disgrace,” Lawler said in a statement. “This kind of politics has no place in the Hudson Valley. I am calling on every candidate running in NY-17 to publicly and unequivocally denounce this ad immediately. Silence is an endorsement.”

The ad, paid for by the anti-Israel Institute for Middle East Understanding, states in part, “Israelis enjoy universal healthcare, while Americans go bankrupt from medical bills. Lawler’s reward? Giant campaign donations from AIPAC and the pro-Netanyahu lobby.” The 17th District, one of Democrats’ top targets in November, has a sizable Jewish population and many pro-Israel swing voters, which have been key to Lawler’s past victories…

The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC with ties to Senate GOP leadership and one of the largest independent spenders in Senate races, announced an initial investment of $42 million to back Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Maine. It’s the super PAC’s largest spend ever in the state, which will be rolled out in August, as Collins enters a general election likely facing either Gov. Janet Mills or oyster farmer Graham Platner…

Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) launched her bid to challenge Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) this morning, days after Trump endorsed her on social media. Cassidy, who already has several primary challengers, drew the ire of the president when he voted to convict during his 2021 impeachment proceedings, though Cassidy had told other senators privately that he believed Trump would stay out of the race… 

The University of Pennsylvania, which is being sued by the Trump administration over its alleged failure to comply with subpoenas related to an investigation into antisemitism at the Ivy League school, is fighting back against the administration’s request for records about Jewish employees, calling it “disconcerting” and an “extraordinary and unconstitutional demand.”

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had reportedly sought information about university employees who submitted complaints about antisemitic discrimination and those who were members of Jewish campus groups; Penn said in its filing that the EEOC is “entirely disregarding the frightening and well-documented history of governmental entities that undertook efforts to identify and assemble information regarding persons of Jewish ancestry”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a deep dive into J Street’s embrace of Democrats seeking to create distance between the U.S. and Israel. 

The World Economic Forum continues in Davos, where President Donald Trump will give an address at 8:30 a.m. ET. Also appearing onstage tomorrow are Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa; Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi; governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Kevin Sitt of Oklahoma; Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud; Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang; JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon; and David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar.

Mark your calendars: AIPAC will host its Congressional Summit from Feb. 22-24, with a potential appearance by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Jewish communal source confirmed to JI.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

U.S. officials advised President Donald Trump that a large-scale military campaign against Iran is unlikely to topple the regime and could spark a wider regional conflict, The Wall Street Journal reports, a message that coincided with the president dialing back his warnings to Tehran over its violent suppression of protests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also reportedly weighed in yesterday, asking Trump to postpone any strikes, and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt have communicated similar messages.

U.S. officials told the Journal these developments have led Trump to hold off on strikes for now, though he directed military assets to be readied in case of action. The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier strike group is reportedly being moved from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East. 

In a similar vein, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited an Arrow missile defense battery site in Israel today and directed a drill simulating a missile attack, saying in a statement, “It is important that every citizen of Israel knows that the IDF is constantly prepared to defend the country”…

In the absence of military action, the U.S. is punishing Iran economically, issuing sanctions today against what it called “the architects” of the crackdown. The Treasury Department will “use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Among the sanctioned Iranian officials are Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security, who was “one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people,” according to the Treasury Department, and several commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces…

Turning to Gaza, American officials expressed their optimism about Phase 2 of the peace plan shortly after its launch yesterday, telling reporters, “For the first time in Gaza in almost a long time, there’s no Palestinian Authority and there’s no Hamas governing it.”

“We’ve talked to a number of Hamas people, and we’re hearing throughout the Arab world that people don’t want to be at war anymore. They want peace,” one of the officials said, claiming Hamas leaders “are indicating that there’s a real possibility” they will lay down their arms…

A new Emerson College poll released today shows the Republican primary for Texas Senate in a dead heat, with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, polling at 26% and 27%, respectively. With Trump refraining from offering his endorsement to either candidate, it’s likely the race will head to a runoff.

On the Democratic side, state Sen. James Talarico is leading the primary over Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), 47-38%. Talarico has recently caused concern in the Texas Jewish community over his increasingly critical rhetoric on Israel, leading some to tell Jewish Insider that, without concerted outreach from his team, they’re likely to back Crockett…

A competitive Democratic primary is also underway in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, where surgeon Adam Hamawy entered the race today to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) with a profile that may help him break through the field.

Hamawy, of Egyptian descent, served as a trauma combat surgeon during the Iraq War, where he operated on Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who credits him with saving her life. In May 2024, he joined a delegation of American doctors to assist in health-care efforts in Gaza, where he was temporarily stuck during an Israeli border closure (he returned for a second mission in January 2025). 

Though Hamawy has not run for office before, he has spoken extensively about his experience treating “mass casualties” in the enclave and condemning Israel and the U.S.’ role in the “indiscriminate killing and destruction there.” Watson Coleman, also an outspoken critic of Israel, brought him as her guest to Trump’s 2025 State of the Union address…

Asked about his views on Israel, Antonio Delgado, New York’s lieutenant governor who is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul from her left, said in an interview released Tuesday that the U.S. should not “fund, provide weapons or diplomatic cover to any military operation that causes catastrophic civilian deaths or mass starvation … Otherwise, we are complicit.” 

Delgado pledged not to take money from AIPAC, though the pro-Israel group does not contribute to gubernatorial races, and Delgado took a 2019 trip to Israel as a member of Congress with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. 

Delgado further described Netanyahu as “deeply problematic” and a “war criminal,” but when asked if Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, he largely demurred. “I can see how people would want to argue it both ways and I’m sensitive to this, candidly, based on my own relationships,” he said. Delgado’s wife is Jewish and they are raising their children Jewish. “It’s hard to argue against scholars. … [But] wherever you fall on that question, we can’t fund it. … We can’t be complicit in it, anymore”…

A federal appeals court ruled today that former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the school’s anti-Israel protest movement, could be rearrested, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. Khalil was released in June from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, where he had been held for three months. 

In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel decided that the federal district court in New Jersey that issued Khalil’s release did not have jurisdiction over the matter and that it should have been handled in immigration court, which is part of the executive branch overseen by the Justice Department, meaning Khalil is now liable to be rearrested.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani denounced the ruling, saying in a statement, “as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free — and must remain free”…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of Amy Acton, the Jewish public health expert hoping to become the first Democrat to win an Ohio governor’s race in 20 years. 

The U.S. and Israel will sign a strategic framework on AI cooperation at the City of David tomorrow, led by Jacob Helberg, the U.S. under secretary of state for economic affairs, and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Erez Eskel, head of Israel’s National AI Directorate. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are also expected to be in attendance. 

Also heading to Israel is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who announced a last-minute trip this afternoon to meet with Netanyahu “at this crucial time in the history of the Middle East.”

Iran International will hold its second briefing of the week in Washington with former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus. Read JI’s coverage of Wednesday’s event here.

Honduran President-elect Nasry Asfura will travel to Israel over the weekend, where he is expected to meet with Netanyahu, Sa’ar and President Isaac Herzog, as well as visit Yad Vashem and the Western Wall. Asfura, who will take office later this month, met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington earlier this week and was hosted by AIPAC leadership.

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Tuesday. Shabbat Shalom!

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump indicated that his threats to Iran are making an impact; he told reporters this afternoon, “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, it’s stopped, and there’s no plans for executions,” referencing reports that an arrested protester was due to be executed today.

Trump later appeared to downplay protester deaths, calling it “one of those things … people were shooting at them with guns and they were shooting back.” It’s a notable change in tune from the president, who just yesterday told Iranian protesters to “save the names of the killers and abusers” and that “help is on its way.”

Asked if this means that military action against Iran is off the table, Trump responded, “We’re going to watch it and see what the process is, but we were given a very good statement” that the killing has stopped “by people that are aware of what’s going on”… 

Others are still bracing for potential military action: Some personnel were told to evacuate the U.S.’ Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by tonight, Reuters reports. (Recall that Iran launched several missiles at Al Udeid after the U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites last June.)

A number of airlines have canceled or suspended flights to Iran; the Lufthansa group, in addition to avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace, said it will only operate day flights to Israel and Jordan through Jan. 19, avoiding overnight trips.

IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin warned on social media to avoid rumors and misinformation about the evolving situation, saying the IDF is “prepared for defense and on alert for surprise scenarios”…

White House special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of Phase 2 of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan today, “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.” This phase “establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza … and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel,” Witkoff said. 

“The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Witkoff added, though the U.S. has not taken action on Hamas’ failure to return the body of Ran Gvili, the final hostage, in the three months since the terror group was meant to at the outset of the ceasefire agreement. 

It is still unclear how the U.S. and its partners will disarm Hamas or remove it from power, with the International Stabilization Force still not in place and foreign nations refusing to engage with Hamas militants…

Meanwhile, the midterms are picking up speed: New polling out of the Michigan Senate race shows Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) looking like the most electable Democrat against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), the expected GOP nominee. 

In a Detroit News poll testing general election matchups, Stevens and Rogers were tied at 44% each, while physician Abdul El-Sayed, who has made criticism of Israel central to his campaign, fared the worst, losing to Rogers 48-42%. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, another critic of Israel, would also trail, 46-42%, the poll found…

In the Garden State, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) secured the endorsement of Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) today, a meaningful show of support from the progressive-minded senator as Menendez may face a primary challenge from his left from Mussab Ali. 

Ali, who is expected to join the race shortly, is a vocal opponent of Israel and has been a champion for the anti-Israel protests and encampments that roiled college campuses in recent years; Kim has also been criticized by Jewish leaders for his support of measures blocking some arms sales to Israel… 

Trump will not be endorsing three Republican senators facing competitive reelection campaigns: Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Politico reports. Cornyn and Cassidy are facing serious Republican primary opposition, while Collins is facing the likelihood of a hotly contested general election…

The State Department is indefinitely suspending immigration visa processing for individuals from 75 countries starting Jan. 21, building on the Trump administration’s total and partial immigration bans that already exist on nearly 40 countries. The pause will impact those looking to permanently immigrate who may “become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people,” the State Department said…

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Ryan Crosswell, the Marine veteran and former Republican looking to win the Democratic nomination in a key Pennsylvania swing district.

The technocratic Palestinian committee launched with Phase 2 of the Gaza Peace Plan — which will be headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister for the Palestinian Authority — is expected to hold its first meeting tomorrow in Cairo, also attended by Nickolay Mladenov, the former U.N. envoy to the Middle East now leading the Gaza Board of Peace.

The Israeli American Council kicks off its annual summit tomorrow in Hollywood, Fla., with a plenary including Adm. (res.) Daniel Hagari, the previous IDF spokesperson; Boaz Levy, the CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries; and Betsy Korn, the chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

• President Donald Trump is meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this morning, followed by a lunch between the president and Vice President JD Vance. Trump will meet in the afternoon with oil and gas executives to discuss the situation in Venezuela.
• Jacob Helberg, the undersecretary of state for economic affairs, is traveling to the Middle East through next weekend. He’s slated to meet with senior officials in Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the UAE, he’ll lead the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-UAE Economic Policy Dialogue.
• We’re continuing to monitor the situation in Iran, where protests escalated last night as the regime cut off internet and international phone calls, limiting the amount of information that could leave the Islamic Republic. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a video address that Trump’s hands were “stained with the blood of Iranians” for having voiced support for the protesters.
• Ongoing current events coincide with the long-delayed release of the third season of the Israeli series “Tehran,” which drops today on Apple TV in the U.S.
• Tomorrow, Rabbi David Wolpe will sit in conversation with the Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt at Los Angeles’ Sinai Temple, where Wolpe is the Max Webb Rabbi Emeritus.
• Awards season kicks off on Sunday night with the Golden Globes. Up for Best Motion Picture and Best Screenplay is “Marty Supreme,” based on the life of table tennis player Martin Reisman (with star Timothée Chalamet nominated for Best Actor). “It Was Just An Accident,” a thriller by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (who also received nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay), and “The Voice Of Hind Rajab,” about a young Palestinian girl who died during the Israel-Hamas war, are both nominated for Best Film in a non-English language. Adam Brody was nominated for Best Actor for his starring role in the TV show “Nobody Wants This,” and Jason Isaacs was nominated for his “White Lotus” performance in the Best Supporting Actor category. Comics Sarah Silverman and Brett Goldstein are both nominated for their stand-up specials.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW SHEA

The United States, Israel and their regional allies are watching closely as sustained unrest in Iran puts renewed pressure on the regime at a moment of economic strain, international isolation and lingering fallout from the 12-day war with Israel last June.

Recent demonstrations have spread across all 31 of Iran’s provinces, fueled by public anger over a collapsing economy, inflation exceeding 40% and aggressive crackdowns by security forces. Economic pressure — intensified by costly proxy wars and United Nations sanctions — have sent Iran’s currency into a sharp decline.

Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said the regime’s “unwillingness to be responsive to its people’s basic demands and rights,” is also a factor. Adding that Tehran has a “clear preference to spend the country’s resources on military projects like its proxies, missiles and nuclear program instead of its citizens’ well-being.”

More than 400 demonstrations took place this week alone, with at least 743 recorded over the past month, according to a tracker from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The death toll has reached at least 38, with more than 2,200 arrests reported. The demonstrations are the largest since April 2025 and among the most sustained since late 2022 as videos continue to circulate online of Iranians flooding the streets, burning regime flags and lighting fire to statues of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ruhe said that uprisings by the Iranian people against the regime are not uncommon. “In 2009 it was political corruption, when the regime clearly stole the presidential election to get [former President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad reelected,” he said. “In 2017-18 it was economic and foreign policy issues, for instance Iranians being killed in the Syrian civil war and the regime’s lavish spending on its proxies instead of at home. In 2022 it was social and cultural issues, namely hijab enforcement.”

But experts say what is unfolding now could be more significant than protests of the past, expressing to Jewish Insider that recent developments could pose an unprecedented challenge to a regime already under strain. 

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

Softer Touch on Protesters: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh posit that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are taking a less hard-line approach to the protests sweeping the country. “The government hopes a softer touch will cause the marchers to be satisfied with making their point. If not, the emollients favored by [Parliament Speaker Mohammad] Qalibaf and Pezeshkian will likely give way to the severity favored by the supreme leader and encouraged by Mr. Trump’s provocative challenge. For at least a century, the Iranian public has sought meaningful political participation while central governments resisted. With the exception of the 1979 revolution, the regimes prevailed. But Iranians have never remained satisfied with national bargains in which they forfeit political rights for economic dividends or social emancipation.” [WSJ]

Clash in the Gulf: In Foreign Policy, Marc Lynch looks at the dynamics between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as the countries clash in a number of theaters, including Yemen and Somalia. “[After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks,] the UAE maintained its relations with Israel, positioning itself as the key Arab interlocutor for a post-Hamas Gaza and hoping to claim vindication for its strategy of tight alignment with Israel and Washington. Saudi Arabia, with a much more challenging domestic environment and its own ambitions for regional leadership, reverted to its traditional position of conditioning normalization with Israel on a credible path toward a Palestinian state. Unstated, but well understood, was that Riyadh never had any intention of joining an Abu Dhabi-led initiative. The crystallization of a divide between Saudi Arabia and the Emirati-Israeli alliance would force everyone in the region to take sides — something smaller states usually prefer to avoid. Most of the other Gulf states, such as Egypt, seem to be falling in line with Saudi Arabia. The competition could inflame civil wars, just as it did a decade earlier.” [FP]

Five Senate Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Susan Collins (R-ME), Todd Young (R-IN) and Rand Paul (R-KY) — voted with Democrats in favor of a war powers resolution limiting further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval… 

Bloomberg reports on the White House’s exclusion of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard from the planning of the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month due to Gabbard’s past opposition to U.S. military action in Venezuela…

Massad Boulos, the Trump administration’s senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, said that the U.S. will make an announcement about the Muslim Brotherhood in the coming days…

Politico looks at the wave of far-left Democrats critical of Israel who are who are mounting congressional bids, deepening divisions within the party and raising concerns that far-left candidates focused on Israel will drain campaign resources and damage eventual candidates’ efforts to win in the general election…

The Cooper Union settled a lawsuit brought forth by 10 Jewish students at the school who had been trapped in the New York university’s library for 20 minutes while anti-Israel students protested outside in an October 2023 incident …

Four former University of Rochester students pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging university property for their roles in posting “Wanted” posters accusing faculty and staff members of committing war crimes in Gaza; the students were expelled weeks after they were arrested…

New Jersey State Police are investigating an incident that took place on the New Jersey Turnpike on Wednesday in which a rock was thrown through a school bus window, fracturing the skull of an 8-year-old girl…

Approximately 30% of the workforce across the six locations of New York City eatery Breads Bakery is unionizing and making demands of the shop’s Israeli owners — including “a redistribution of profits, safer working conditions, more respect and an end to this company’s support of the genocide happening in Palestine”…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a royal commission investigating antisemitism, following the terror attack targeting a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach last month…

The board of the Adelaide Writers’ Week festival in Australia disinvited anti-Israel activist and writer Randa Abdel-Fattah, saying her participation in the event would “not be culturally sensitive” during what the board described as an “unprecedented time so soon after Bondi”; Abdel-Fattah’s disinvitation prompted the withdrawal of several participants who had been slated to speak at the festival…

Politico breaks down the significance of the U.S.-brokered meeting between senior Israeli and Syrian officials in Paris this week, during which the parties agreed to create communications channels to more effectively coordinate on security, diplomatic and commercial issues…

The United Arab Emirates ceased funding scholarships for citizens who plan to study in the U.K.; the cut comes amid frustration from Emirati officials over London’s refusal to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization…

A new report from TRM Labs found that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used two U.K.-based cryptocurrency exchanges to move approximately $1 billion over the last three years…

The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into a shadow fleet with ties to Russia, Iran, China and Venezuela that moves oil around the world in violation of international sanctions…

Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Syrian-born man who tackled and disarmed one of the two gunmen in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in Sydney that killed 15 people, visited Capitol Hill on Thursday, his arm still in a sling after being shot twice.

“What I want to say for the whole world around everywhere, in America, Australia, England, everywhere in the world, we must stand by each other and stay united, and peace for everyone. That’s my message,” al-Ahmed told Jewish Insider in between meetings with officials including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Al-Ahmed was accompanied by Rabbi Yehoram Ulman (second from left), a Chabad leader in Sydney whose son-in-law was killed in the attack, and Rabbi Levi Shemtov (far left), the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch. Al-Ahmed and Ulman also met jointly with Sens. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA).

Actor with a recurring role in “Sex and the City” and author of two books on his recovery from acute myeloid leukemia, Evan Handler turns 65 on Saturday… 

FRIDAY: Law professor at Georgetown University, Peter Edelman turns 88… Former member of the Swiss Federal Council and president of the Swiss Confederation in 1999, she is the first woman to ever hold this position, Ruth Dreifuss turns 86… Rabbi emeritus of Kehilath Israel Synagogue in Overland Park, Kan., Herbert Jay Mandl turns 81… Vice chairman of Gilbert Global Equity Partners, Steven Kotler… Pulitzer Prize-winning Supreme Court reporter for The New York Times for 40 years, she is now a lecturer and senior research scholar at Yale Law School Linda Greenhouse turns 79… Retired MLB umpire, he worked in 3,392 major league games in his 26-year career, his family name was Sklarz, Al Clark turns 78… Presidential historian, spokesman for the 9/11 Commission, and university lecturer, Alvin S. Felzenberg turns 77… Composer, singer, radio show host, and author, he has released seven albums under the name “Country Yossi,” Yossi Toiv turns 77… Actress, singer and songwriter, she is the half-sister of Barbra Streisand, Roslyn Kind turns 75… Australian author of more than 40 books of children’s and young adult fiction, including a five-book series about a 10-year-old Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Poland, Morris Gleitzman turns 73… Former governor of the Bank of Israel from 2013 to 2018, Karnit Flug turns 71… International president of the Rabbinical Assembly, he is the rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor, N.J., Rabbi Jay M. Kornsgold turns 61… Dean of the Bar-Ilan University law school, Michal Alberstein turns 57… Investment banker, Joel Darren Plasco turns 55… Justice of the High Court of Australia, James Joshua Edelman turns 52… Russian-born American novelist, journalist and literary translator, Keith A. Gessen turns 51… Filmmaker, she is the second lady of New York State, Lacey Schwartz Delgado turns 49… NFL insider and reporter for the NFL Network, Ian Rapoport turns 46… Chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance and founder of Skydance Media, David Ellison turns 43… Israeli actress and model, best known for her role as Nurit in “Fauda,” Rona-Lee Shimon turns 43… Director of development and community relations at Manhattan Day School, Allison Liebman Rubin… Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer at The New Yorker, Ben Taub turns 35… Enterprise account executive at Built, Madeline Peterson… Television and film actress, Nicola Anne Peltz Beckham turns 31…

SATURDAY: Physician and medical researcher, Bernard Salomon Lewinsky turns 83… Editor and publisher of Denver’s Intermountain Jewish News, historian and teacher of the Mussar movement, Rabbi Hillel Goldberg turns 80… President of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston for 30 years, now a professor at Brandeis, Barry Shrage turns 79… Former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Baron David Edmond Neuberger turns 78… Musician, singer-songwriter and co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Steely Dan, Donald Fagen turns 78… World-renowned Israeli cellist, he has over 50 recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon label with many top orchestras, Mischa Maisky turns 78… U.S. senator (R-MO) from 2011-2023, Roy Blunt turns 76… Long-time editor at Bantam Books, Simon & Schuster and Crown Publishers, Sydny Weinberg Miner… Retired executive director at Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor society for accounting students, Hadassah (Dassie) Baum… Founder and CEO at Los Angeles-based Quantifiable Media and Tel Aviv-based Accords Consulting, Rose Kemps… Fellow for Religious Freedom at the Forum, Richard Thomas Foltin… Professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, he taught his last class in December 2024, Jonathan D. Sarna turns 71… President and CEO of the Nellis Management Company and past president of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Mark A. Levitt turns 70… Majority owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob turns 70… Member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, Uri Maklev turns 69… U.S. senator (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen turns 67… Member of the U.K.’s House of Lords and advisor to the government on antisemitism, Baron John Mann turns 66… Theatrical producer, playwright and director, Ari Roth turns 65… Vice chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, Beth Ellen Wolff… Author and journalist best known for his novels Gangster Nation, Gangsterland and Living Dead Girl, Tod Goldberg turns 55… Member of the Knesset for Likud, Galit Distel-Atbaryan turns 55… Film director and screenwriter, Joe Nussbaum turns 53… Caryn Beth Lazaroff Gold… Private equity executive and unofficial troubleshooter for the Trump administration, Jared Kushner turns 45… Communications manager for Ford Motor Company, Adam David Weissmann… Former spokesperson on terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, Morgan Aubrey Finkelstein… Israeli rapper, singer and songwriter, Michael Swissa turns 30… Andrew Tobin… Debbie Seiden…

SUNDAY: Psychologist and the author of 27 books, he lectures at NYU, Michael Eigen turns 90… Retired judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, author of 40 books on jurisprudence and economics, Richard Posner turns 87… Violinist and music teacher, Shmuel Ashkenasi turns 85… Film, television and theater director, best known for his TV series “Full House” and “Family Matters” and his films “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Fat Albert,” Joel Zwick turns 84… Las Vegas resident, Stephen Norman Needleman… Economist and professor of banking at Columbia University, he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Frederic Stanley “Rick” Mishkin turns 75… Noted gardener and florist, Lynn Blitzer… Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of experimental medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, he is the author of five books, Dr. Jerome E. Groopman turns 74… Former member of the Canadian House of Commons, Susan Kadis turns 73… Former director general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Avi Gil turns 71… CEO of Sense Education, an AI company, Seth Haberman turns 66… Attorney, author, speaker and activist, Brian Cuban turns 65… Partner at Magnolia Marketing LLC, Alan Franco… Rabbi at Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT), Rabbi Daniel Korobkin turns 62… Former National Hockey League player for 12 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks, Ronald “Ronnie” Stern turns 59… Actress, socialite and reality television personality, Kyle Richards Umansky turns 57… Defensive tackle in the Canadian Football League for 12 seasons, he is a co-owner at Vera’s Burger Shack based in Vancouver, B.C., Noah Cantor turns 55… Film, stage and television actress, Amanda Peet turns 54… Hockey coach, he is a former goaltender with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, he also played in six other leagues, Josh Tordjman turns 41… Member of the Knesset for the Democrats party, Naama Lazimi turns 40… Executive chef and restaurateur, Yehuda Sichel… VP and head of strategic partnerships at Penzer Family Office, Michal (Mickey) Penzer… French-American actress, Flora Cross turns 33… Director of football strategy and assistant quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens, Daniel Stern turns 32… Founder when she was just 12 years old of Nannies by Noa, Noa Mintz turns 25…

• We’re continuing to monitor developments in Australia. At a Sunday vigil in Sydney for the victims of last week’s Bondi Beach attack, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was jeered and booed over what the country’s Jewish leaders have derided as inadequate efforts to address antisemitism before and since the attacks. 
• Earlier today, an Australian court released police charging documents for the alleged shooter who was not killed during the attacks. The documents noted that Naveed Akram and his father had also hurled explosive devices into the crowd that had failed to detonate, and prior to the attacks had recorded a video explaining their motivations while standing in front of an ISIS flag. 
• In Israel, Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, in collaboration with the Ruderman Family Foundation, is hosting a conference this afternoon examining the U.S.-Israel relationship, including the connection between Israel and American Jewry.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

The kids aren’t alright.

That’s the unmistakable takeaway from a weekend filled with shocking developments surrounding the views of young conservatives, punctuated by a Turning Point USA conference that turned into a proxy war between mainstream voices led by Ben Shapiro, looking to create guardrails against antisemites and conspiracy theorists within the MAGA movement, against a growing cadre of bad-faith right-wing influencers leading the charge to embrace extremist voices into the conservative coalition.

The conference concluded with Vice President JD Vance all but taking the side of the extremists, while offering fulsome praise to his friend, Tucker Carlson, as an essential part of the Republican Party coalition.

The last several days also featured news of an eye-opening Manhattan Institute focus group of Gen Z Nashville-area conservatives reluctant to offer any negative reaction toward Adolf Hitler and sharing numerous antisemitic stereotypes about Jews. (One 29-year-old woman offered this representative reaction about Hitler: “I think he was a great leader, to be honest. I think what he was going for was terrible, but I think he showed very strong leadership values.”)

The weekend ended with a Jewish Insider scoop that a Trump administration nominee for a senior position at the State Department has a long track record of making derogatory comments about the Jewish community, characterizing Jews as religiously incorrect and in need of conversion.

This moment was further underscored by the hideously antisemitic tirade that Candace Owens went on over the last few days, barely eliciting any serious pushback from conservative movement leaders. Meanwhile, former journalist Megyn Kelly, during her own speech Friday at the TPUSA conference, chose to go after Shapiro and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss even as Kelly has publicly steered clear of criticizing Owens, citing the fact that she’s a young mother and a personal friend. (Shapiro, she said, is no longer a friend after he criticized her in his speech Thursday night.)

Shapiro, long one of the leading voices on the right, opened the conference with a warning that the conservative movement is in danger from “charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty, who offer nothing but bile and despair.”  

He called out Tucker Carlson, Owens and Kelly by name. “We must not let fear of audience anger deter us from telling the truth; we must not let fear of other hosts deter us from telling the truth,” Shapiro warned. “The fact that Candace has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense into the public square for years on end while others fly cover for her is … cowardly.”

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