Plus, Biden and Obama officials resist Iran rethink

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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) speaks to reporters as he arrives for a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on February 25, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight Kentucky state Sen. Aaron Reed, who is considering a primary challenge to Rep. Thomas Massie, and report on interim Columbia President Claire Shipman’s apology to Jewish communal leaders over past comments calling for the removal of a Jewish trustee over her pro-Israel advocacy. We look at the race taking shape in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, where Adelita Grijalva is polling above Daniel Hernandez ahead of the July 15 special election primary, and report on bipartisan legislation led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mike Lawler that call for the U.S. to provide Israel with bunker-buster bombs and the planes to use them. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Ritchie Torres, Phil Rosenthal, Bar Winkler and Roey Lalazar.
Ed. note: The next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Monday, July 7. Enjoy the long holiday weekend!
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington on Sunday, ahead of his planned Monday meeting with President Donald Trump.
- We’ll be reporting on the details around the meeting and what’s at stake as the two leaders discuss Gaza, Iran, Syria and normalization efforts — sign up for Jewish Insider’s email and WhatsApp alerts to stay up to date with the latest developments over the long weekend.
- Former Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander is slated to meet Trump at the White House at 12:45 p.m. ET.
- The Nova Music Festival exhibition and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are hosting an event this afternoon with DJ and Nova festival survivor Noa Beer and Holocaust survivor Nat Shaffir.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
After Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, the U.S. is now demanding that Tehran return to the negotiating table.
“Told you so,” many prominent Democrats — including architects of Iran policy in both the Obama and Biden administrations — are saying in response, arguing they were right all along about the power of negotiations. But in doing so, they are also overlooking the impact of President Donald Trump’s military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities on the regime’s negotiating calculus.
The Pentagon is now saying the strikes set back the Iran nuclear program by two years. Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, said that Iran is no longer a nuclear threshold state as a result of the U.S. and Israeli attacks.
But those assessments, among other similar analyses, have done little to change the minds of some of the leading Democratic foreign policy hands who have long argued for diplomacy above all else.
KENTUCKY CONTEST
Potential Massie challenger Aaron Reed a supporter of Israel, Iran strikes

Local and national Republicans are eyeing Kentucky state Sen. Aaron Reed as a potential primary challenger to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), as President Donald Trump and his political allies mount an aggressive effort to unseat the incumbent lawmaker, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Dividing line: Middle East policy is emerging as a key divide between the first-term Reed and Massie: asked by the Louisville Courier Journal about any ideological differences between him and Massie, Reed offered a one-word answer: “Israel.” Reed’s Kentucky state Senate biography page lists him as a member of the Kentucky-Israel Caucus. While Massie was the most vocal Republican critic in Congress of the Trump administration’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, introducing a war powers resolution that aimed to stop U.S. military action against the Iranian regime, Reed has been openly supportive of the strikes.