Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social today that the Navy informed him that “all mines have been removed and/or detonated” in the Strait of Hormuz, and that the U.S. has notified Iran “that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed.” The U.S. Space Force is monitoring the strait as well as Iran’s nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, for any suspicious activity, he added…

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said following a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran today that he is hopeful the two countries “will soon announce a temporary corridor for the Strait of Hormuz and practical arrangements to restore safe navigation,” while continuing to work towards a permanent agreement on administering the waterway. The Omani Foreign Ministry further specified that the parties aim to establish a joint effort to clear the strait of mines — despite Trump’s announcement that all have been cleared…

The State Department is preparing to send some foreign service officers and other diplomats back to work at embassies in Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Iraq and Kuwait that were evacuated or had staffing reductions during the Iran war, according to a State Department document obtained by The New York Times, potentially indicating the Trump administration does not expect hostilities to resume…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced that Israel has expelled officials from the Netherlands from the military and humanitarian coordination hub for Gaza located in Kiryat Gat due to “a series of anti-Israel moves by the Dutch government,” including a new law prohibiting trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank…

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed doubled down on his anti-Israel rhetoric during an event at a Dearborn church today, Jewish Insider‘s Matthew Kassel reports, a day after the nominee drew renewed scrutiny over his ongoing association with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker.

El-Sayed declined to confirm if he hopes to win an endorsement from state Sen. Jeremy Moss — a Jewish Democratic nominee for a congressional seat in the Detroit area who is a key holdout in offering his backing — and said that his support for ending aid to Israel is “about making sure that in our foreign policy, we substantiate equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinian folk”…

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) was named ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, where he said he will “work to strengthen America’s relationships with Israel and our Gulf allies.”

A source familiar with the situation told JI’s Marc Rod that, since outgoing ranking member Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) would have been unable to remain in the post next year, he decided to give up the position early to help support Moskowitz in his reelection race — in a South Florida district with a substantial pro-Israel constituency where the leadership position will further bolster Moskowitz’s profile — and to pass off committee leadership to a preferred successor….

A new New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena University poll released today found that nearly half of voters in Pennsylvania view Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Jewish Democrat mulling a presidential bid in 2028, as “about right on support of Israel,” even as he has faced skepticism from the far left over his pro-Israel views, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports. Sixty percent of Democrats said they were satisfied with his support for the Jewish state; 39% of Republicans said the same, while another 40% said he is not supportive enough…

The Department of Justice announced today that a 26-year-old Ohio man had been arrested and charged for sending an email threatening to kill Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) and his family, saying he would behead the Jewish congressman and calling him a Nazi, JI’s Marc Rod reports…

The IDF said it views with “utmost severity” an incident involving far-right MK Zvi Sukkot and his aides who, during a requested tour of the Palestinian town of Madama, attacked a memorial — dubbed the “Martyrs’ Monument” — with a sledgehammer, an incident which was captured on video. The IDF said the tour participants “acted deceptively and manipulatively” while accompanied by IDF soldiers “who had been diverted from their operational activities for this purpose … while the IDF is operating under significant operational strain”…

The Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish group that was backed by the U.S. in the fight against ISIS, has officially dissolved, SDF head Mazloum Abdi announced at the presidential palace in Damascus today. The group has completed its merger into the Syrian army under President Ahmad al-Sharaa, Abdi said — the culmination of a fraught integration process that followed months of deadly clashes between government and Kurdish forces…

Assouline, the luxury publisher known for turning global cities into vibrant $100 coffee-table books, has focused its lens on several Middle Eastern capitals over the years — most recently Beirut. But out of hundreds of titles spanning the globe, not a single Israeli city has made the cut, despite co-founder Prosper Assouline‘s Moroccan Jewish roots, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how Jewish leaders are viewing Rep. Jamie Raskin‘s (D-MD) investigation into the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on campus antisemitism.

Israeli singer Omer Adam will marry his partner Sacha Israelovich at a converted 14th-century Christian monastery in the Italian seaside village of Portofino tomorrow, after having held a civil ceremony today. Hassidic singer Motty Steinmetz is expected to perform at the celebration, reportedly prompting gender-segregated seating for the guests.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced this afternoon that the Trump administration is launching “Operation Economic Outcast” against Iran, an effort aimed at severing Tehran’s global economic ties in order to “collapse every last option” for the regime, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

The Treasury Department designated over 60 entities, individuals and vessels “that enable the Iranian regime to procure illicit nuclear and missile technology, conduct cyber operations and generate oil revenue,” Bessent said, while President Donald Trump “is making phone calls to world leaders with specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime”…

The Treasury Department also redesignated Hezbollah, already a Foreign Terrorist Organization, for acting as a proxy of the Iranian regime under the direction of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and sanctioned 10 individuals who were part of a network transferring funds to Hezbollah through couriers on commercial flights between Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE and Iran…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed today that Iran tried to assassinate one of his sons: “Iran tried to kill, to murder one of my sons,” he said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, without specifying which of his two sons was the target…

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) today denounced comments by antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker claiming that Jews are inviting antisemitic attacks against themselves by supporting Israel, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

Jeffries wrote on X that the “malicious claim that American Jews are inviting violence against themselves is dangerous and antisemitic,” without naming Piker directly. “We will fight the cancer of antisemitism with the fierce urgency of now,” he said…

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, meanwhile, distanced himself from Piker but did not name him nor address the substance of his comments.

El-Sayed insisted that “nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” despite having campaigned prominently with Piker, and went on to downplay Piker as “a Twitch streamer” who will not define the race or his campaign. He did not say whether his or his campaign’s relationship with Piker will change going forward…

Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) condemned Piker outright, calling him “a hack who thrives on hate, shock and awe because he lacks substance.” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who has previously appeared on Piker’s show, also rejected the streamer’s comments, telling JI’s Marc Rod that “Jews are not the cause of [antisemitism]. Neither are people who support Israel. Antisemites are to blame. That’s it”…

Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) attended three AIPAC-hosted fundraisers in Los Angeles yesterday with another planned for today, according to The New York Times, as reporting emerges about a growing rift between Rogers and the pro-Israel group as he runs for U.S. Senate.

Rogers reportedly told Michael Tuchin, AIPAC’s board chair, that the group should consider whether it is the best messenger against El-Sayed, though he did not explicitly say he did not want its support and its United Democracy Project super PAC is still considering running ads backing Rogers…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned comments by Brooklyn Democratic leader Carmella Charrington attacking Jewish investors with whom she is engaged in a property dispute as “Zionists” and suggesting some link between her situation and Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank.

“Suggesting that an alleged deed theft in Brooklyn is part of a global conspiracy involving Jewish people is blatant, reprehensible antisemitism. Trafficking in these dangerous antisemitic tropes is vile and inexcusable,” the mayor’s office told JI’s Will Bredderman, after initially avoiding his questions on the issue at a press conference earlier today. However, the administration did not answer a follow-up question about whether the mayor believes Charrington should step aside from her district leader role…

Several leading Jewish and pro-Israel organizations condemned actor Mark Ruffalo for using what they deemed antisemitic rhetoric in his recent social media commentary targeting the Ellison family amid the pending merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, JI’s Haley Cohen reports.

Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of Jewish Federation Los Angeles, said Ruffalo’s “unhinged rant, which combined Jewish wealth, media control, secret technology and sinister global power, is not legitimate criticism. It draws on recognizable antisemitic tropes with a long and dangerous history”…

As New York magazine continues to come under fire for a recent cover issue depicting the rise of Southwest Asian and North African culture in New York City while taking a hostile view of Israel, the magazine said its editors decided “genocide” is an “accurate description” of Israel’s actions in Gaza and therefore “its use would be allowed in our pages,” claiming that “accusations of antisemitic intent” in usage of the word “were in fact obfuscating an overwhelming ­scholarly consensus”…

The Trump administration formally revoked Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism today at the end of the 45-day congressional notification period, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, in order to “eliminate the final major barriers for private sector investment in Syria and promote Syria’s economic recovery and reintegration into the global economy.”

Rubio also revoked the designation of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — a group that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa led until he assumed the presidency in January 2025 — as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, after having removed HTS from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list last year…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a preview of tomorrow’s Senate special election runoff in South Carolina, where Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) still has the backing of much of the GOP establishment, including President Donald Trump, in her race against Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC).

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi is expected to visit Iran tomorrow, as the two countries continue negotiations over administering the Strait of Hormuz amid the announcement of the new U.S. economic campaign against Tehran.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Stefany Shaheen, the daughter of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and a candidate for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, launched a TV ad this week hitting her primary opponent, military veteran Maura Sullivan, for receiving $300,000 in donations “bundled from AIPAC donors,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

The donations referenced in the ad appear to be from individual donors who have previously contributed to AIPAC, but the pro-Israel group itself has made no endorsement and has not been directly involved in the race…

Michigan Democratic congressional nominee Jeremy Moss declined to endorse his party’s Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, in an interview with Slate: “Abdul’s going to have to demonstrate some serious outreach to Oakland County’s Jewish community,” Moss said. The two candidates have “had an ongoing dialogue,” Moss added, as he said Democrats must ensure that “the liberal Jewish community is not politically homeless”…

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, director of community relations at the Ann Arbor Jewish federation who has been outspoken about the threat he believes El-Sayed poses to the Jewish community, appeared at a “Democrats for Rogers” press conference in Detroit today where he said, “I usually vote Democrat, but I’m gonna be voting for Mike Rogers … I’m sad to say this, that Abdul El-Sayed has made one thing very clear: We cannot let him anywhere near the U.S. Senate”…

A new poll commissioned by AARP found El-Sayed leading Rogers by one percentage point, 48-47%, but voters ages 50 and up were 16 points more likely than younger voters to say they were motivated to participate in the general election — a population that swings heavily towards Rogers. Voters ages 50-64 favored Rogers over El-Sayed 51-46%, and voters above 65 favored the Republican by 13 points (54-41%)…

Asked in a New York Times interview about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s call for the federal government to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrives in the city for the U.N. General Assembly next month, Gov. Kathy Hochul advised the mayor, “Let’s focus on the blocking and tackling of city government. That is where I believe the main focus should be”…

The Trump administration, meanwhile, is weighing in on another official’s appearance at the UNGA: The White House intends to prevent Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from attending for the second year in a row, a U.S. official told The Times of Israel…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained on CNBC today that in order to implement the new U.S. economic campaign against Iran, the Trump administration will approach “all of our allies” and tell them, “You are either with us or against us.”

“If you insist on doing business with [Iran] — either transferring money, buying their oil, doing seaborne ship transfers — then the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. government will put its full might and force toward enforcing against you,” he added…

The NYT looks at which countries do the most business with Iran and could therefore be hardest hit by the new measures, including China, India and several Middle East nations…

Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Jewish member of the state’s Legislature, denounced the Georgia branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for featuring extremist anti-Israel voices including Zahra Billoo, Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur as keynote speakers at its gala next month.

CAIR-GA has “dropped the mask at this point,” Panitch told the Jerusalem News Syndicate. “This is actual straight-out, Nazi-level Protocols of the Elders of Zion kind of antisemitism. They’re doing it, and they can’t say they didn’t know”…

For more than 150 years, Baltimore’s Orthodox Jews have walked to synagogue on Preakness Saturday and listened to the roar of the crowd from Pimlico Race Course less than a mile away, never able to join it. That changes in 2027, when the second jewel in horse racing’s Triple Crown — following the Kentucky Derby and preceding the Belmont Stakes — moves from Saturday to Sunday, finally opening the gates at Pimlico to the local Shabbat-observant community for the first time since the race started in 1873, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the growing divide between the United States and Israel over how to approach post-Assad Syria.

Despite her recent debate stage snafu, which has led GOP operatives to question her chances in next week’s special runoff election, Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) is still enjoying the support of the party: Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the Senate majority whip, is in South Carolina today to support her race, and President Donald Trump will join her in Myrtle Beach for a rally tomorrow.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Jewish leaders in Michigan are circulating an open letter, obtained by Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel, urging Jewish Democrats and independents in the battleground state to sign their names in support of former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) as he faces Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed in the race for U.S. Senate.

If El-Sayed were to claim victory in the general election, the authors say, “we fear the far-left and anti-Jewish elements in the Democratic party would become dominant … We cannot allow him to become the Democratic standard-bearer or Michigan’s senator”…

California state Sen. Aisha Wahab still holds a narrow lead as of this afternoon over former Dublin, Calif., Mayor Melissa Hernandez in the special election runoff for an East Bay House seat that drew a late surge of outside spending from AIPAC.

With 62% of the vote counted in yesterday’s election, Wahab had 51%, leading Hernandez by two percentage points or 1,356 votes, according to the unofficial initial returns. “We made a race that wasn’t close when we started into a nail-biter,” Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC, told JI’s Matthew Kassel…

ICE detained a Jewish bridal shop owner and his mother living in Englewood, N.J., a local elected official confirmed today to JI’s Haley Cohen: Ari Ladino and his mother, Chava, who are originally from Bogotá, Colombia, run Luana Rose Modestly in Teaneck — a dress shop specializing in modest special occasion gowns popular among local Orthodox Jewish women. The reason for their arrest remains unclear…

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post today, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack doubled down on his criticism of Israeli strikes on a Syrian air base earlier in the week, which Israel said had been prompted by Turkish involvement at the base. “Turkish forces were not aware that the Israeli aircraft were en route to that specific Syrian base … [and] could potentially have been inclined to scramble their own jets in the belief that they themselves were under attack,” Barrack said.

He announced that the U.S. is looking to relaunch a deconfliction cell between Israel and Syria, with potential Turkish participation, and downplayed reported Israeli concerns over a specific Turkish radar system said to be deployed at the base. “We remain convinced that this technical requirement need not pose a security concern, and that further conversations can help clarify the matter to everyone’s satisfaction,” Barrack said…

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, visited Israeli troops in southern Syria today, where he said Israel is “monitoring the changes on the Syrian front” and “know[s] how to use our power precisely where it is needed and when it is needed”…

The IDF announced it is opening an investigation into the killing of 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza in January 2024 after finding that troops had indeed fired at her family’s vehicle as it was traveling opposite the direction of an evacuation route. The military had previously denied responsibility for the incident, which drew global attention and inspired an Oscar-nominated film titled “The Voice of Hind Rajab.”

The IDF will also investigate the killing of 15 rescue workers traveling in emergency vehicles in March 2025, and closed investigations into a strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy and into the deaths of several Doctors Without Borders members, finding that troops’ actions in those incidents did not rise to the level of criminal offenses…

The New York Times examines CENTCOM’s efforts to keep oil traffic flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, including utilizing air- and water-based assets to intercept Iranian drones and missiles targeting commercial traffic.

Beyond protecting tankers loaded with oil, the U.S. military has also reportedly established its own corridor to help empty ships enter the strait, load up and exit largely undetected…

The New York State Department of Financial Services issued a notice warning Holocaust survivors and their families about potential fraud by an organization calling itself the “Jewish Holocaust Claims Center” that is contacting such individuals about their eligibility for compensation…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how Sen. Darline Graham‘s (R-SC) debate stage flub on national security may impact her chances in next week’s South Carolina special runoff election for Senate.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and his primary opponent, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), will face off in their final debate before the election. Moulton, 47, is mounting a generational challenge to the 80-year-old Markey and has taken an increasingly critical stance against Israel and AIPAC on the campaign trail, while Markey has long staked out staunchly anti-Israel positions.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social this morning that “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” directly contradicting a statement from Jared Kushner yesterday that dialogue between the White House and “different areas of the Iranian government” is “probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been”…

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, who also serves as special envoy for Syria and Iraq, said on X this morning that he’s “deeply concerned” over what he called “confirmed Israeli airstrikes” on Syria’s Abu al-Duhur Airbase overnight, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strikes.

“The United States has in the past, and will continue in the future, to host discussions to encourage diplomatic cadence over kinetic frustration for both nations,” Barrack said, calling the incident an “unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.” Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who has been a pro-Israel stalwart, also condemned what he called “one-sided aggression”…

U.N. inspectors visited some nuclear sites tied to the deposed Assad regime in Syria this week, the first time that International Atomic Energy Agency officials have been given full access to the sites. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said at a press conference with IAEA head Rafael Grossi that nuclear material found at the locations, including several tons of uranium, will be placed “under IAEA safeguards”…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions today against Tomoko Akane, president of the International Criminal Court, and Abdoulaye Seye, a senior trial lawyer, as part of the Trump administration’s recently announced campaign to target the body.

Rubio said the two individuals “have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction,” likely in reference to Israeli leaders…

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, claimed today that the Trump administration’s probes into campus antisemitism were “fake” and that schools found to have violated federal civil rights law were effectively framed, pointing to whistleblower reports that claimed the administration had manipulated evidence to show violations of law despite lacking sufficient evidence.

Raskin announced that he is launching an investigation of the alleged “misconduct” of the Department of Justice and intends to assess potential changes to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act “in light of this Administration’s shockingly reckless and unethical actions,” JI’s Marc Rod reports…

The DOJ charged a New York man, Larry Montes, with two federal hate crimes charges and one count of destruction of religious property for disrupting Shabbat services at Central Synagogue in Manhattan over the weekend, where he struck a congregant, damaged synagogue property and spat on and headbutted a security guard. Montes has already been charged with hate crimes by local prosecutors…

The DOJ also charged 17 members of the Mabna Institute — an Iran-based company that federal prosecutors say ran a state-sponsored cyber campaign on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since at least 2013 — with hacking 144 U.S. and 178 foreign universities, dozens of private companies and several U.S. government agencies to steal research, academic data and intellectual property…

The Department of Defense instructed 30 U.S. academic institutions to conduct reviews of their ties with “foreign entities of concern,” threatening future Pentagon funding for research projects if they fail to do so and terminate “problematic partnerships”…

Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, pushed back today against what he alleged was a doctored audio clip circulating online designed to portray him as more loyal to Israel than the United States, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

“There is a manipulated and unsourced audio, with things I never did and never would say, that is nothing more than political disinformation intended to portray me as anti-American,” Moss, who is Jewish, said on X…

Rebecca Weininger, senior regional director of Anti-Defamation League Midwest, called out the Chicago branch of the Democratic Socialists of America’s “fixation on Israel” after the group’s 2027 city council endorsement questionnaire asked local candidates to explain whether they consider themselves anti-Zionists and if they support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The group’s outsized focus on the Jewish state, Weininger said, is “not only far removed from the responsibilities and priorities of an alderman, but also risks fueling anti-Jewish sentiment, harassment, and ultimately, violence against Chicago’s Jewish community”…

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) suggested in an interview with The Washington Post that he believes Democrats can still win the Senate even if far-left Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, whom Schumer has endorsed, loses in November, JI’s Marc Rod reports. “A path to winning back the Senate clearly goes through Michigan, but we have a whole bunch of different paths,” Schumer said.

The Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC, is spending $3 million on a new ad campaign to defeat Republican nominee Mike Rogers, portraying him as a career politician who enriched himself while in Washington…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for results from today’s key races in Florida and California. Polls close in the Sunshine State at 7 p.m. ET, and in the Golden State at 11 p.m. ET.

Hannan Lis, Brian Hermelin and Rob Orley, three prominent Jewish Democratic bundlers in Michigan, are hosting a fundraiser tonight for the state’s Republican Senate nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), as some Jewish Democrats in the Wolverine State consider flipping their votes against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Read Lis’ comments to JI here.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) will face off in a debate tonight hosted by the South Carolina GOP, a week ahead of their runoff election.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump confirmed to Fox News this morning that the White House is communicating directly with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and said that Tehran should “raise the white flag of surrender,” as the 60-day memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran — which was intended to lead to the creation of a permanent peace agreement but was quickly deemed moot by both parties — officially expired today without a deal in sight.

Jared Kushner separately told Fox News about the status of talks with Iran that Trump is “focused on economic pressure” but is still open to reaching an agreement, adding that dialogue between the White House and “different areas of the Iranian government” is “probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been” and that the conversations are “positive”…

Trump also threatened in his interview to “bomb the sh*t out of” Oman if the country “gets in the way,” amid Muscat’s negotiations with Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking later to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he doesn’t think Oman “behave[s] very well” and that the U.S. would “handle them very easily.” He also reaffirmed his recent claim that he intends to declare the strait a U.S. territory, saying he “think[s] it’s a great idea”…

Responding to Trump’s threat, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) announced he intends to introduce a war powers resolution when the Senate returns from recess to prohibit U.S. military action against Oman…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had “deep and constructive discussions” with Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov and Kushner in Jerusalem today, where the parties agreed to establish two working groups: one on the “disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza,” which they agreed should happen before “any reconstruction,” and a second on sanitation and public health concerns in the enclave.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also met with the group and said he was “impressed that Israel’s security interests are an important and central element of their plan”…

After the meetings, Kushner told Fox News that he predicts there will be progress in starting to demilitarize Gaza “in as little as 30 days” and beginning to fill in Hamas’ terror tunnels “in the next 60 to 90 days.”

Despite Trump stating in his interview that Israel should not be conducting any more strikes in Gaza, Kushner said the Board of Peace would “not restrict Israel’s right to defend itself” and that if Hamas doesn’t follow through on its commitments, Israel will “have a lot more support from the U.S.” to “finish the job.” He called his Sunday meeting with Hamas leaders “cordial” and said they “said all the right things” but that they are “hard to trust”…

Trump said today it’s “most appropriate” that he “stay out of” Israel’s upcoming elections but added that he “may endorse somebody” anyway….

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi disputed claims by Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the region of Kurdistan, that his office was attacked by Iranian drones: “Kurdish friends should be vigilant against false-flag ploys to sow discord between neighbors,” Araghchi said on X, claiming that Iran has historically “protected” the Kurds. It was a striking characterization given that Iran has repeatedly struck Kurdish opposition bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, including during the current war, and has a decades-long history of suppressing its own Kurdish population…

New York City leaders are condemning a series of inflammatory posters opposing a new housing development in Chelsea that use antisemitic, racist and homophobic language, including a call to “stop Zionist occupation of Manhattan,” tying the project to “foreign wealth dirty zionist money” and claiming that “Talmudists are trained to cheat.”

City Hall called the posters “vile” and claimed the rhetoric “has absolutely no place in our city’s political discourse,” while Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, said, “Disagreement over housing policy is legitimate. Dehumanizing your neighbors is not”…

Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) continued to spar this week over the University of Washington’s decision to cancel a planned speech by antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

After Goldman argued initially against Jayapal’s denunciation of the school, the congresswoman said she “completely disagree[s] with [Goldman’s] analysis of free speech”; Goldman responded that students have ample access to “Piker’s racist and anti-American views,” but the university has a responsibility to prevent discriminatory conduct or a hostile environment for Jewish students that could interfere in their ability to participate on campus…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at AIPAC’s involvement in tomorrow’s special election in California’s 14th Congressional District, where state Sen. Aisha Wahab is facing off against former Dublin, Calif., Mayor Melissa Hernandez, who is backed by the pro-Israel group.

Florida will also hold its primary elections tomorrow, where several pro-Israel and Jewish candidates are facing off against far-right and far-left extremists. Read more on the races and their implications here.

The Sephardic Rabbinical Conference will conclude in New York with speakers including Israeli Consul General Ofir Akunis; Daniel Rosenthal, vice president for government relations at UJA-Federation of New York; Rabbi Elie Buechler, director of programs at the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center; and rabbis from around the world.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced today that his Office to Combat Antisemitism will be releasing a municipal plan to combat antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.

The mayor marketed the plan as the “first-in-the-nation,” even as former Mayor Eric Adams already released a “blueprint” for combating antisemitism on his last day in office, which included the city adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism — a policy that Mamdani repealed on his first day.

The move comes days after Mamdani hosted a roundtable with rabbis in the city who asked the mayor to back off his attacks on Israel, a request that Mamdani did not reference or commit to addressing in his remarks…

The California state Legislature is considering a bill to require state agencies to include “Jewish” as an ethnicity option on all forms that collect demographic data. The move would make California the first state to officially consider Judaism as more than a religion for identification purposes…

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit yesterday brought by the Trump administration against Harvard University alleging that the school showed “deliberate indifference” to antisemitism on campus in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.

The judge ruled that the few campus incidents cited by the administration were “too isolated and episodic” to find “any institutionalized noncompliance with Title VI persists at Harvard to this day”…

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on X today that she had communicated her “concerns” to the University of Washington about its decision to cancel an appearance by far-left, antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, and encouraged student groups who “want to hear from Mr. Piker to work with the University to ensure they can proceed.”

Piker had earlier this week denounced Democrats who didn’t “speak out against this clear violation” of the First Amendment due to his “position as a prominent critic of Israel”…

Former Democratic Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner is expected to headline a Labor Day rally for the Hancock County Maine Democrats next month, his first public appearance since dropping out of the Senate race after he was accused of rape by a former romantic partner…

White House advisor Jared Kushner is planning a trip to Israel next week with Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials to discuss the Hamas disarmament deal, Axios reports…

CENTCOM announced today it is undertaking efforts to establish the “first-ever multi-domain, multinational attack drone task force,” including consulting with and inviting regional partners to join, that will work to utilize unmanned, one-way attack drones “from above, on, and below the sea” in the Middle East…

The U.S. has lost roughly a quarter of its fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones in the war with Iran, sources told The Washington Post, as the armed drones have been targeted by Tehran and its proxies in Yemen and Iraq…

The Pentagon is sending the USS George Washington aircraft carrier to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East, as reports and lawmakers indicate that conditions aboard the ship are deteriorating after a record 200 days without a port call; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the concerns about the Abraham Lincoln today as “completely misrepresented”…

Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), facing a runoff special election to be the GOP nominee for her late brother’s Senate seat, announced she is co-sponsoring the Jewish American Security Act, the U.S.-Israel FUTURES Act, a bill on Iran sanctions and a bill on Iranian human rights and internet access…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at how Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is avoiding contending with the anti-Israel turn of her preferred successor, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, in her race against state Sen. Scott Wiener.

President Donald Trump will appear with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the GOP candidate for New York governor, at an event on Long Island honoring law enforcement officials.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a member of the Squad, will appear at a rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., alongside anti-Israel progressives running against Jewish Democrats Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), as well as socialist Colorado Democratic congressional nominee Melat Kiros.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

A State Department official pushed back on Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s comments in southern Lebanon today, where he said the IDF would remain deployed in a security zone, contrary to the agreement signed between Washington, Jerusalem and Beirut.

“The United States expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the Framework they agreed to, and Israel clearly stated that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. A permanent military presence in South Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made in the Framework, or the long-term peace and security of both states,” the official told Axios…

Sources told Reuters that Israel and Lebanon have agreed that countries including Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Indonesia could contribute troops to an international force meant to oversee Hezbollah’s disarmament; an Israeli official denied any decisions had been made on the issue…

President Donald Trump continued to boast about the success of the U.S. campaign against Iran, stating again in a post on Truth Social today that the U.S. “has total control over the Strait of Hormuz” and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is “decimated and fleeing.”

Meanwhile, out of the 166 ships that have transited the strait so far this month — a significant decrease from the average before the war — only two are known to have used the U.S.- and Oman-backed route, according to The Wall Street Journal…

In a rare interview with Western media, top IRGC advisor Mohammad Reza Naqdi told “PBS News Hour” that Iran is prepared to continue hostilities through the end of Trump’s term and accused the U.S. of waging a “war without strategy”…

The New York Times documents the efforts being made by Gulf countries to construct routes to move oil out of the region that do not rely on the Strait of Hormuz…

Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov denied in a post in Hebrew today that there is any financial agreement between the board and Hamas, refuting a report by Israeli public broadcaster Kan that the board would cover Hamas’ debts up to $400 million.

The disarmament roadmap states that the new Palestinian technocratic government will “assess the legitimate commitments to suppliers, contractors and other parties — up to a total amount of no more than $400M — and address them”; Mladenov said in his post that such processes “are not channeled through Hamas” and that “all accounts are open to full scrutiny by the donor governments”…

The publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Michael Morris, penned an open letter to Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) today pressing the senator over his repeated votes to block U.S. military sales to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

“I apologize for being blunt, but please, stop lying to me and your constituents. I hear you claim, over and over again, that you support Israel — that your support is ‘ironclad.’ It is not,” Morris wrote…

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) denied today that the more than $30 million of support she received from AIPAC’s super PAC in her failed run for U.S. Senate backfired, saying on CNN that those who criticize AIPAC “maybe don’t understand what the group is” and that she’s “proud of the friendships and the relationships I have there [and] the really good Americans” who make up its membership…

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is stepping away from her role at the end of the month, Trump announced today, in order to spend more time with her family. The president said Leavitt will now serve as “one of my top outside advisors”…

Josh Kushner, managing partner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, and former Disney CEO Bob Iger have agreed to purchase a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers for a record-breaking price of $12.5 billion, JI’s Matthew Shea reports…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at local Jewish political organizing efforts in major cities across the country.

The Hudson Institute will hold an event examining the state of the ongoing conflicts in the Gulf with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Behnam Ben Taleblu and Hudson’s Michael Doran, Ludo Hood and Zineb Riboua.

• The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on the Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The vote comes a day after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who last week fell short in his reelection bid after President Donald Trump endorsed an opponent, flipped his vote to advance a similar Democratic-led measure in the Senate. More below.
• The House Education Committee’s subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions is holding a hearing this morning on antisemitism in the healthcare field, with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s Deena Margolies, Dr. Jacob Agronin, Bend the Arc CEO Jamie Beran and American Jewish Medical Association CEO Eveline Shekhman set to testify. Read more here.
• Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) is among those slated to speak at a hearing being convened this morning by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the State Department’s budget request for its adjacent entities.
• The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the Southern Poverty Law Center in a session titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate.”
• Elsewhere in Washington this morning, the Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Combat Antisemitism Movement and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History are hosting a congressional breakfast to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month. Sam Salz, who in 2022 became one of the only Orthodox Jews to play Division I college football when he walked on to Texas A&M’s team, will give the breakfast’s keynote address.
• Down Pennsylvania Ave., the Hudson Institute is holding an event with Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, on modernizing public diplomacy to address global challenges. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is slated to give introductory remarks at the event.
• The Federalist Society is hosting its inaugural Legislative Branch Summit today in Washington.
• In Israel, the Knesset unanimously advanced a bill to dissolve the body, which if passed would automatically trigger elections, which are slated to take place no later than October 27. The bill will still need to go through several more readings and votes before it is passed.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Pro-Israel and Republican Jewish groups helped oust one of their leading GOP antagonists on Tuesday night, aligning with President Donald Trump to defeat Rep.Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the most expensive House primary in recent memory. 

Ed Gallrein, a military veteran and farmer recruited by the Trump White House to challenge Massie, decisively defeated the congressman by 10 points, 55-45%. Massie, a libertarian lawmaker who long cast lonely Republican votes against Israel funding and resolutions condemning antisemitism, increasingly trafficked in bigoted rhetoric in the closing weeks of the campaign. 

In his concession speech, Massie continued his antisemitic vitriol against his opponent, telling the crowd: “I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.” Even though Trump’s outspoken opposition was the leading factor behind his demise, he routinely blamed Jewish and pro-Israel donors like Miriam Adelson for costing him his seat and insinuated that Israel was buying seats in Congress. 

Massie first drew the ire of Trump for voting against his “big beautiful” reconciliation bill last year, and the anger was exacerbated by his work with Democrats to force the Department of Justice to release all of the files involving Jeffrey Epstein. 

Outside groups, including a Trump-aligned super PAC (MAGA KY) and those affiliated with the Republican Jewish Coalition, AIPAC and Christians United for Israel, spent aggressively with ads and billboards attacking Massie over his record, with several pointing out his opposition to Israel and Trump’s foreign policy.

Massie’s defeat also underscores Trump’s strong and continued support within the party, with his endorsements in primaries almost always translating into his candidate’s victory. His opposition to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) led to his defeat last week, and he successfully ousted most of the Indiana GOP state senators who opposed his redistricting efforts.

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

Narrative War: Days after The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof published a piece alleging numerous abuses of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli security officials, Kristof’s colleague on the Opinion desk, Bret Stephens, observes the documented history of news outlets publishing falsehoods about Israel without basic fact-checking. “The common thread in these and many other stories is that they all involve strenuous, if ultimately embarrassed, efforts to prove that Israelis deliberately seek to kill the innocent and maim the vulnerable, apparently for no other reason than gratuitous cruelty. This isn’t a matter of reporters’ impartially trying to expose wrongdoing wherever they find it — if that were the case, the errors wouldn’t invariably lean in the same ideological direction. It isn’t speaking truth to power. It’s feeding narratives to the credulous.” [NYTimes]

Drawing Down Aid: In The Wall Street Journal, the American Enterprise Institute’s Daniel Samet argues in favor of winding down U.S. aid to Israel, calling it a “political liability” that could affect the future of the relationship between the countries. “Military aid to Israel, which Washington began supplying in significant amounts during the 1960s, has been a sound investment. The U.S. has financed a reliable ally that fights and wins wars against America’s enemies. Yet Israel no longer commands the affection of the American people as widely as it once did. Ending military assistance is a political imperative in changing times.” [WSJ]

U.S. forces in the Indian Ocean seized an Iran-linked oil tanker that had been under U.S. sanctions since March; the vessel was believed to be carrying upwards of a million barrels of crude oil that was loaded earlier this year from Iran’s Kharg Island…

The New York Times reports on an Israeli-developed plan, backed by the U.S., for former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was under house arrest in Tehran, to be installed as the leader of Iran; the plan reportedly fell apart after the hard-liner was injured on the first day of the war in a strike intended to free him from house arrest and, per the Times, “became disillusioned with the regime change plan”…

Ahmadinejad biographer and Israeli analyst Meir Javedanfar dismissed the report, calling it “a disinformation campaign initiated by those that tried to assassinate him”; Javedanfar said that the “disinformation is being used to create chaos within the ranks of the Islamic Republic of Iran” following what he described as “an assassination attempt gone wrong”… 

Iranian state media reported that Tehran had offered a new proposal to the U.S. that would include the withdrawal of U.S. troops from areas near Iran, an end to hostilities targeting both Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon and reparations for damages the regime sustained in the recent war…

The United Arab Emirates said that three drones that targeted the country’s nuclear power plant over the weekend originated from Iraq, deepening speculation that Iran, which backs militias in the country, was behind the attack…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the challenges facing Kuwait following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has halted the Gulf state’s ability to ship crude oil…

President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Tuesday, dealing a significant blow to Cornyn’s bid for a fifth term, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…

Former CIA officer Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, an ally of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, is departing her senior roles at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Management and Budget to return to the private sector…

The Senate passed a resolution honoring Jewish American Heritage Month by unanimous consent…

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), responding to Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) primary defeat, said that Massie “lost because he had the guts to stand up to the Epstein class and against the war”; the California Democrat, who is mulling a 2028 presidential bid, said he welcomed “voters who feel rejected by Trump,” pledging to “build a movement to stand for Team America”…

The South Carolina Statehouse approved a new congressional map that would eliminate the district represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the state’s only Democratic district; the new map will next head to the state Senate for a vote…

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has in recent days held a series of meetings and listening sessions with Wall Street executives, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, after Mamdani angered business leaders by filming a video outside the home of Citadel’s Ken Griffin in which the mayor announced a plan to tax second homes in the city…

Police in New York are investigating the death of a Jewish bakery owner and former Hatzolah volunteer whose body was found in the Queens neighborhood of Flushing after he was shot in the neck and back…

The Strokes announced that guitarist Nick Valensi, who is Jewish, won’t be participating in the band’s upcoming summer tour, weeks after Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said on the “SubwayTakes” web series that “American Zionists get the benefits of white privileged people, but talk like they are Black people during slavery”…

Mohamed Hagi, Somaliland‘s newly arrived ambassador to Israel, announced that Hargeisa planned to open its embassy in the country in Jerusalem…

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed that the International Criminal Court was seeking a warrant for his arrest; the ICC would not comment on the claim, saying that requests for warrants are confidential…

In what he said was a response to the ICC’s request for a warrant, Smotrich threatened to evict residents of the West Bank Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar…

Comedy writer Barry Blaustein, a longtime collaborator of comedian Eddie Murphy who worked on the screenplays of “Coming to America” and “The Nutty Professor,” died at 71…

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who is in Prague this week for meetings with senior officials, announced the launch of the Israel-Czech Republic Business Forum alongside his Czech counterpart, Petr Macinka.

Emmy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Rachel Platten turns 45… 

CEO at Kings’ Care – A Safe Place, operator of multiple drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment centers, Ilene Leiter… Canadian businesswoman and elected official, she served in the Ontario Assembly and in the Canadian House of Commons, Elinor Caplan turns 82… Former member of the New York State Assembly until 2020, representing the 97th Assembly District in Rockland County, Ellen Jaffee turns 82… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CT) for 20 years, he was born in a DP camp in Germany after WWII, Sam Gejdenson turns 78… Chagrin Falls, Ohio, attorney, Robert Charles Rosenfeld… CEO emeritus of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Michael S. Miller… Seamstress and weaver, Bernice Ann Penn Venable… Retired in 2022 as a federal judge for the Southern District of Texas, she is now a mediator and arbitrator, Judge Nancy Ellen Friedman Atlas turns 77… Five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and writer who has worked on “Saturday Night Live,” PBS’ “Great Performances” and “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” Alan Zweibel turns 76… U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) turns 75… Former director of international affairs, policy and planning at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, following 12 years at the ADL, Michael Alan Salberg… Professor at Tulane, he was president of the Aspen Institute, CEO of CNN and managing editor of Time, Walter Isaacson turns 74… Born in upstate New York as Michael Scott Bornstein, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and then member of the Knesset, Michael Oren turns 71… Actor and singer, known for her work in musical theater, Judy Kuhn turns 68… CEO and founder of Abrams Media, chief legal analyst for ABC News and the founder of Mediaite, Dan Abrams turns 60… NYC location scout and unit production manager for feature films, TV and commercials, David Brotsky… Co-founder and CEO of Breitbart News, Larry Solov turns 58… Senior advisor at Majority Democrats, Ami Copeland… French singer and actor, at 13 she became the youngest singer to ever reach No. 1 in the French charts, Elsa Lunghini turns 53… Co-president of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, Matthew Silverman turns 50… Principal of public policy at Amazon, Philip Justin “PJ” Hoffman… Program officer of Jewish life at the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Vadim Avshalumov… Founder and CEO of Berkeley, California-based Caribou Biosciences, a genome engineering company, Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D…. Senior director of government relations and strategy for the ADL, Lauren D. Wolman… Executive communications leader, Susan Sloan… VP of digital advocacy at McGuireWoods Consulting, Josh Canter… Beauty pageant winner who was awarded the title of Miss Israel 2014, Doron Matalon turns 33… Master of public policy candidate at Oxford University, Aylon Berger turns 26… Conservative political activist, he is a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Kyle Kashuv turns 25…