Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that Israel “prefer[s] that Turkey not receive F-35s from the U.S.,” breaking with Washington over the move that President Donald Trump indicated he was open to during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September. 

But Leiter dismissed concerns around Saudi Arabia potentially acquiring F-35s, which is currently under negotiation ahead of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the White House next week. “There’s no indication that Israel’s qualitative edge will be compromised,” he said. Leiter has recently become Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main conduit in Washington after the resignation of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer…

Israel is seeking a new 20-year memorandum of understanding with the U.S. when the current one expires in 2028, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios, double the length of past agreements.

New Israeli propositions, including redirecting some of the funds towards joint U.S.-Israeli R&D rather than direct military aid, are reportedly designed to make the lengthy deal more attractive to Trump as well as the GOP, which has grown weary of foreign aid…

Trump told MBS in a phone call last month that he expects to see progress made on Israel-Saudi normalization now that the ceasefire in Gaza is in force, U.S. officials also told Axios, which MBS said he was “willing to work on”…

Israel and White House advisor Jared Kushner are preparing contingency plans in case Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan doesn’t come to fruition, Israeli media reports. The IDF’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, told Israeli Security Cabinet officials that the IDF will soon present its alternative…

Meanwhile in the U.S., the Democratic primary for the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in New York’s 12th Congressional District, which has one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country, gets more crowded by the day. 

Shortly after the entry of JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, into the race, Erik Bottcher, a Democratic city councilman and LGBTQ activist, told The New York Times he’s jumping in (and that he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state). There are rumors that Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway is eyeing a bid, as well. 

Among the many other candidates are longtime Nadler aide Micah Lasher, who today got the endorsement of Comptroller-elect Mark Levine; state Assemblyman Alex Bores; and gun control activist Cameron Kasky, who posted yesterday on social media, “If you are a Democrat running in 2026 and do not fully support an arms embargo to the State of Israel … Stop wasting everybody’s time”…

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell conceded to his opponent, socialist Katie Wilson, today after last night’s ballot drop made it mathematically impossible for him to prevail.

Though the moderate Harrell led in the polls for the week following Election Day, Wilson eventually gained ground and now leads him by a 0.7% margin — just shy of 2,000 votes. With only several hundred votes left to be counted, The Seattle Times said the race is “on pace to be the closest in modern Seattle politics.”

Wilson joins New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, as well as progressive challengers who prevailed in several Seattle City Council races, as evidence of the far left’s growing popularity in major U.S. cities. However, their small (or razor thin, in Wilson’s case) margins of victory and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s win over his DSA-aligned opponent are proof the fringe still lacks a mandate in the Democratic Party…

Former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) announced raising more than $500,000 in the first 24 hours after the launch of her comeback bid for her seat in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.

The Jewish, pro-Israel Navy veteran sent out a fundraising email this afternoon with the subject line “Chutzpah,” saying the “Yiddish term that means guts or courage … runs in my family” and she’s “not afraid of a little mishigas”…

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was hospitalized today after suffering a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up” and subsequent fall and face injuries, but is doing well, his spokesperson reported. His scheduled discussion this evening with UJA-Federation of New York about his new book has been cancelled…

The New York Times profiles Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and his path from leading a small Catholic college to helming the prominent think tank and sparking controversy among conservatives over his embrace of Tucker Carlson. 

Roberts claimed as part of his defense over releasing the controversial video during a staff meeting last week, “I actually don’t have time to consume a lot of news. I consume a lot of sports,” and “I didn’t know much about this [Nick] Fuentes guy. I still don’t.” 

“‘Who could believe that the head of a think tank doesn’t think?’ said Charles Jacobs, the president of the Jewish Leadership Project, which resigned from a Heritage Foundation task force meant to fight antisemitism after Mr. Roberts’ video was released”…

Joining the list of Heritage resignations, Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason’s Scalia Law School and a prominent pro-Israel advocate, announced he is resigning as a Heritage visiting fellow today “based on [his] considered judgment” of Roberts’ video and “subsequent commentary”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for a preview of President Donald Trump’s meeting next week with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is traveling to Israel tomorrow for a five-day trip where he plans to meet with government officials and economic development and high-tech leaders.

The Texas Tribune Festival, taking place this week in Austin, continues tomorrow with speakers including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Democratic Texas Senate candidates James Talarico and Rep. Colin Allred, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), comedian John Mulaney, former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. On Saturday, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are slated to speak.

MSNBC is launching its rebrand on Saturday as MS NOW, part of its separation from NBCUniversal, with dozens of veteran journalists recruited as part of its expanded newsroom.

On Sunday, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present its fourth annual New York Jewish Book Festival. 

Sunday evening, the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly kicks off in Washington, with an opening plenary including former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, authors Sarah Hurwitz and Micah Goodman, CNN contributor Scott Jennings and Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York City.

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

U.S. and Saudi officials are working to finalize a defense pact between the two countries ahead of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington next week, Axios reports. The agreement would reportedly contain similar guarantees to those Qatar received from the U.S. last month, with the Saudis also looking to purchase a weapons package that would include F-35 fighter jets. 

The Trump administration also told the Saudis that it would like to see progress made on Saudi-Israel normalization, U.S. officials said. The negotiations on these deals quietly brought White House advisor Jared Kushner to Riyadh over the weekend and the Saudi defense minister to the U.S. earlier this week…

Jordan Wood, a former congressional aide and Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, announced that he is switching his candidacy to now run for the House in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, where Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) has said he will not seek reelection. 

Wood joined his fellow Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner in vowing not to accept support from AIPAC, saying in an interview last week, “There’s a tremendous amount of distrust right now among Democratic primary voters that the money that AIPAC has put into our political system has affected our priorities when it comes to foreign aid to Israel”…

Another shifting race is New York’s 17th Congressional District, where Jessica Reinmann, a Democratic nonprofit executive who was challenging Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), dropped out of the Democratic primary today and endorsed Cait Conley.

An Army veteran with extensive counterterrorism experience in the Middle East, Conley told Jewish Insider in April about her commitment to Israel’s security and concerns around threats posed by Iran.

With her background in national security, Conley is viewed as having the strongest profile to win back the swing seat for the party, according to Democratic sources familiar with the race.…

The Wall Street Journal reports on financial gains made by U.S. businesses over the two-year Israel-Hamas war; out of the $32 billion of military-related sales the U.S. has greenlit to Israel since October 2023, $19.3 billion is through contracts with Boeing, Lockheed Martin has secured $743 million, Caterpillar secured $295 million, and more…

An Israeli-founded AI cybersecurity company, Tenzai, founded just six months ago, came out of stealth yesterday with a $75 million seed round. Its technology, which finds hackable vulnerabilities in code, drew support from major venture capital firms including Greylock Partners, Lux Capital and Battery Ventures…

Israel reopened the Zikim border crossing into Gaza today to facilitate increased food and humanitarian aid flow, as part of its compliance with the ongoing ceasefire agreement with Hamas…

After being heckled by anti-Israel protesters at a podcast taping earlier this week, former Vice President Kamala Harris paused the conversation to tell the audience: “A lot of what this process has been for me has been about reflection. Look, we should’ve done more as an administration. We should’ve spoken publicly about our criticism of the way that Netanyahu and his government were executing this war.”

“We had more levers in terms of leverage that we did not use. … But let’s be very clear, that the inhuman nature of what has happened to the Palestinian people in Gaza, the innocent civilians, the extent of hunger, famine, suffering, death, is something that we must acknowledge,” Harris continued…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for reporting on the status of the Muslim Brotherhood under Israeli law.

The U.S. House is expected to approve a spending package to reopen the government this evening, which would fund the government through Jan. 30.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is holding a hearing tomorrow morning on religious freedom in Syria during the country’s transition out of dictatorship.

The DP World Tour golf championship kicks off in Dubai, UAE, tomorrow.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Election Day is underway, and voters are breaking turnout records in New York City. Already by noon today, more people had voted in the mayoral race than had voted in the entirety of the 2021 NYC mayor’s race. By 3 p.m., more than 1.4 million New Yorkers had voted in the race — more than in any NYC mayoral election since 2001, according to The New York Times — with several more hours before the polls close at 9 p.m. 

President Donald Trump chimed in last night, urging New Yorkers to vote for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job,” he wrote on social media. Trump added in another post, “Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!”…

One party leader not weighing in: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has officially made it through the mayoral race without issuing an endorsement. He had said throughout the election that he had held “conversations” with Mamdani but resisted calls to either endorse his party’s candidate or to denounce his anti-Israel views. At a press conference in the Capitol this afternoon, Schumer told reporters he himself had voted and “look[s] forward to working with the next mayor” but would not reveal who got his vote…

Leading right-wing figures continue to contend with the normalization of antisemitism within the GOP: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) joined the list of Republicans who have publicly admonished Tucker Carlson for platforming neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes on his podcast, saying today, “Some of the things [Fuentes has] said are just blatantly antisemitic, racist and anti-American. Anti-Christian, for that matter. I think we have to call out antisemitism wherever it is. Whether it’s Tucker or anybody else, I don’t think we should be giving a platform to that kind of speech. He has a First Amendment right, but we shouldn’t ever amplify it. That’s my view.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also denounced antisemitism on the right in comments today, though without naming Carlson or Fuentes. “Well, there are lots of voices, obviously, out there, but I don’t think there ought to be any — there just should be no room at all whatsoever for antisemitism or other forms of discrimination. That’s certainly not what our party is about,” Thune said…

Backlash against the Heritage Foundation for defending Carlson also continues; the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, a conservative coalition aligned with Heritage, changed its tune today in an email to President Kevin Roberts, a day after the task force said it would stand by the organization. 

In today’s email, obtained by Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch, the NTFCA co-chairs made several demands of Roberts, including removing his controversial video defending Carlson; an apology “to those Christians and Jews who are steadfast members of the conservative movement and believe that Israel has a special role to play both biblically and politically;” a conference hosted by Heritage on the boundaries of the conservative movement; hiring a visiting fellow “who shares mainstream conservative views on Israel, Jews and Christian Zionists” to win over Gen Zers; and to host Shabbat dinners with Heritage’s interns and junior staff members to educate them about Judaism.

The task force co-chairs said in the email that if an agreement is not reached soon, their relationship with Heritage “will be irrevocably harmed.” Co-chair Luke Moon told JI, “If the terms aren’t met, we will take the NTFCA elsewhere”…

Several Jewish organizations have cut ties with the NTFCA already over the incident, including the Zionist Organization of America and Young Jewish Conservatives; today, the Coalition for Jewish Values and Combat Antisemitism Movement did so as well.

“We cannot grant legitimacy to an effort to combat antisemitism operated by the Heritage Foundation while Heritage is validating antisemitism and giving it a platform,” CJV wrote. “Although our target” on the task force “was and remains primarily a left-wing cause, ‘no enemies on the right’ was always liable to be proven false.”

CAM, in its resignation letter to Roberts, affirmed its support of free speech and specified that “the genesis of this letter is our deep concern with how you, Mr. Roberts, on behalf of the Heritage Foundation, have chosen to exercise your rights” [emphasis original]…

Bipartisan lawmakers expressed frustration with the Pentagon for not properly briefing them on national security issues at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new rule last month requiring all Pentagon staffers to get approval before interacting with members of Congress.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) called out Elbridge Colby, under secretary of defense for policy, specifically, saying it was even harder to contact him than Hegseth or Trump. “Man, I can’t even get a response, and we’re on your team,” Sullivan said…

The Trump administration is pushing Congress to repeal the Caesar Act sanctions on Syria ahead of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s first visit to the White House on Monday, urging lawmakers to include it in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate already approved the repeal in its version of the NDAA last month, but the House version does not include a similar provision…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an interview with Republican Kentucky Senate candidate Nate Morris, who is seeking to take the seat of retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and for a reflection on the late Vice President Dick Cheney’s legacy.

Tomorrow afternoon, the ADL will host a post-election briefing on the New York City mayoral race with its CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, and Hindy Poupko, senior vice president of community strategy and external relations at UJA-Federation of New York.

Former Israeli hostage Emily Damari will appear at Temple Emanu-El in New York City tomorrow evening  for her first public speaking engagement in the U.S., joined by author Noa Tishby.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

It’s Election Day across the country tomorrow, and we’ll be watching several key races. 

Front of mind is the New York City mayoral race where Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is expected to prevail, though it remains to be seen if he’ll claim an absolute majority.

All candidates are still vying for the Jewish vote: Over the weekend, divisions emerged in the anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidic community after one of its political leaders issued an endorsement of Mamdani — some leaders publicly broke ranks to reject the move and instead endorse his rival, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

Meanwhile, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens (and recalled a blessing he received from Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson decades ago which Sliwa claimed “saved my life”)…

In nearby New Jersey, gubernatorial candidates Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Jack Ciattarelli are doing the same. We’ve covered Sherrill’s recent outreach efforts to the state’s sizable Jewish community; on the GOP side, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday urging “ALL of my supporters in the Orthodox community in Lakewood [N.J.] and its surrounding towns to vote in HUGE numbers for Jack Ciattarelli,” naming in particular “all the Yeshiva students who turned out to vote for me last year.” Trump won around 88% of the heavily Jewish township’s vote in the 2024 presidential election…

And in Virginia, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) is likely to win the governor’s mansion against the state’s current lieutenant governor, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, in a race set to make Old Dominion history — either way, the state will elect its first female governor. 

Also on the Virginia ballot: Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic state senator running for lieutenant governor, who has elicited concern from the state’s Jewish community over her past involvement in anti-Israel activism and her record on combating antisemitism. 

In a brief interview today, Jewish Insider’s Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar asked Hashmi how big of a challenge she thinks antisemitism is in Virginia. Hashmi replied: “I think we see growing challenges on so many levels of bigotry, and we have to be united in our efforts. I’m facing a great deal of Islamophobic attacks, as you probably have seen, so we have to respond to everything.” Pressed on what she thought about antisemitism specifically, Hashmi cut the interview short…

The fallout from the Heritage Foundation’s embrace of Tucker Carlson and refusal to disavow Nick Fuentes continues, as right-wing figures publicly declare themselves aligned with or opposed to the move. Orthodox conservative influencer Ben Shapiro said about Carlson, Fuentes and their ilk in a lengthy video statement today: “These people aren’t to my right. They’re not attached in any way to the fundamental principles of conservatism. And these people have already declared themselves my enemies. I’d be a fool not to take them seriously.”

Ryan Neuhaus, who served as Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’ chief of staff until Friday, resigned after reposting numerous social media posts in defense of Roberts, including one saying that Heritage employees opposed to his statement were “virtue signaling” and calling for them to resign…

A new poll released today by the Democratic Majority for Israel finds that Democrats overwhelmingly support the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas and a majority of them think Trump played at least a “somewhat important role” in reaching the agreement, JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.

A majority of those polled (56%) said they believe that the U.S. should keep its alliance with Israel, though only 32% felt so “strongly.” Three-quarters (75%) said they support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish homeland, with 12% saying they don’t believe Israel has a right to exist…

The Wall Street Journal documents the rise and sustained popularity of Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, the reclusive commander of the Houthis in Yemen, who has continued to resist pressure by officials from Arab states to cease the terror group’s attacks on Israel and ships in the Red Sea, “and go back to being a relatively small-time player in the region’s conflicts.” 

“‘They genuinely believe in this jihad to remove Israel from that land,’ said April Longley Alley, a former United Nations diplomat who has engaged with the Houthi leadership. ‘And they’re going to keep pushing’”…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the dispatch of a humanitarian and medical aid delegation from Israel to Jamaica today, to assist in relief efforts after Hurricane Melissa tore through the country earlier this week…

Sudanese refugees in Israel told The Times of Israel about the compounded pain and fear they experienced as the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and the civil war in Sudan unfolded in parallel, decrying the lack of media coverage of Sudan while the world focused on Gaza…

Yad Vashem announced today that the museum has identified the names of 5 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and hopes to use artificial intelligence to name at least 250,000 more…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for the backstory surrounding Massachusetts Senate candidate Rep. Seth Moulton’s (D-MA) attacks against AIPAC.

Tomorrow, the World Zionist Organization and Temple Emanu-El are holding a memorial event in New York City for slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the 30th anniversary of his assassination. Speakers will include Rabin’s grandson, Jonathan Benartzi; Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute; former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro; Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; and Israeli American peace advocate Alana Zeitchik.

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Efforts are underway to establish an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, Axios scooped today, with U.S. Central Command taking the lead on drafting the plan and holding discussions with countries, including Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Turkey, to potentially contribute troops.

Though Israeli officials have said they oppose Turkey’s involvement in Gaza, the U.S. still views Ankara as most capable of getting Hamas “to agree and behave,” one U.S. official told the outlet.

Israel’s main concern is the new force’s legitimacy with Gazans and its willingness to engage militarily with Hamas, a senior Israeli official said. The plan would also see the creation of a new Palestinian police force, with training and vetting by the U.S., Egypt and Jordan…

Kevin Roberts, president of the influential Heritage Foundation, released a video today affirming the organization’s support of anti-Israel commentator Tucker Carlson, defending the podcaster from the “pressure” of the “globalist class,” after reports arose that Heritage had scrubbed references to Carlson from one of its donation pages.

“When it serves the interests of the United States to cooperate with Israel and other allies, we should do so … But when it doesn’t, conservatives should feel no obligation to reflexively support any foreign government, no matter how loud the pressure becomes from the globalist class or from their mouthpieces in Washington,” Roberts said.

His comments come days after Carlson hosted neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes on his podcast, whom Roberts said he was unwilling to “cancel.” 

“We will always defend our friends against the slander of bad actors who serve someone else’s agenda. That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains — and as I have said before — always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation,” Roberts continued… 

In the run-up to the New York City mayoral election, The Bulwark co-founder Bill Kristol — a longtime conservative commentator and founder of The Weekly Standard — said that he would vote for Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani if he were a resident of the city. 

“You know, New York City gets to have a left-wing mayor. It’s not the first time, and it’s different from the rest of the country. I wish they were a little less, you know, tolerant of certain things — on Israel, and so, against Israel and all that. But some of the economic stuff, I think, is just silly, but I don’t think it’s going to matter,” Kristol told The Forum. He called “the idea of going back to” former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo “ridiculous”…

Cuomo, meanwhile, picked up the endorsement of Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), the former chair of the New York State Republican Party, who said he’s had “plenty of disagreements — very publicly over the years — and fought tooth and nail with Gov. Cuomo. But there’s no doubt in my mind he would be a far superior mayor than a communist,” referring to Mamdani.

When asked if it’s a mistake for Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to stay in the race, Langworthy said, “Everyone’s really got to check, is this a vanity project? Or is this something you’re trying to do to seriously be the mayor? There’s only one candidate running against Mamdani that has a credible path to win. And there’s Andrew Cuomo”…

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is preparing to enter the race for New York governor shortly after the mayoral election, Axios reports, with more than $13 million on hand. Stefanik’s team reportedly believes New Yorkers will turn on the Democratic Party if Mamdani is elected mayor, leaving Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul — who endorsed Mamdani — more vulnerable…

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), the party front-runner for Senate in Michigan, is “underwhelming” the Democratic establishment, NOTUS reports, with strategists warning that her fundraising and campaign activity does not show her substantially pulling ahead of her opponents — state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, the latter of whom is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), both running to her left — as expected…

Palantir’s chief technology officer, Shyam Sankar, appearing on The New York Times’ “Interesting Times” podcast released today, affirmed that Israel is a “morally appropriate partner” for the software giant to conduct business with, and said that he was motivated to join up as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves this year to lend his technological expertise because of his “observation in Israel after Oct. 7.”

“Israel is an incredibly technical country. Bountiful resources of technologists,” Sankar said. But when reservists were called up to join the IDF in its war in Gaza, “they were horrified at the state of technology, which is actually an implicit self-critique. … The IDF got more modernization done in the four months after Oct. 7 than in the 10 years that I’d worked with them prior”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for reporting on the Kennedy Center’s efforts to address antisemitism and fight cultural boycotts of Israel as its Trump-appointed director looks to make a mark on programming at the institution.

The Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership summit kicks off tomorrow in Las Vegas, with featured speakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and many more. JI’s Matthew Kassel will be in attendance — be sure to say hello!

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

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

The White House has told Republicans that President Donald Trump will not pull the nomination of Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait and wants the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold a vote on his candidacy, despite the growing bipartisan opposition to his nomination, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

White House officials have communicated to committee Republicans in recent days that Trump would not withdraw Ghalib’s nomination because the president credits the Democratic Hamtramck mayor with helping him win the state of Michigan in the 2024 presidential election by turning out the state’s Arab American vote, two sources familiar with the ongoing discussions told JI.

“If Trump wants his friend to go down that way, that’s OK. He can go down that way,” one Republican on the committee said, expressing confidence that Ghalib had no path to advance out of committee…

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who represents a Long Island-based swing district on the outskirts of New York City, today endorsed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the general election for New York City mayor. Suozzi had endorsed Cuomo in the Democratic primary and announced last month that he would not be endorsing Zohran Mamdani after he secured the party’s nomination.

In Suozzi’s decision to re-up his support for Cuomo, now running as an independent, less than a week out from the election, he distanced himself from Mamdani’s political leanings: “I’m a Democratic Capitalist, not a Democratic Socialist. I endorse Andrew Cuomo. I can not back a declared socialist with a thin resume to run the most complex city in America”…

Time magazine profiles New York City Mayor Eric Adams, where he recalls hosting Mamdani and his father, Mahmood Mamdani — a professor at Columbia University with a long record of anti-Israel commentary — for dinner in 2023. “The frightening thing is, he really believes this stuff! Globalize the intifada, there’s nothing wrong with that! He believes, you know, I don’t have anything against Jews, I just don’t like Israel. Well, who’s in Israel, bro?” Adams said…

Elsewhere in New York, the Democratic race to clinch the nomination for retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)’s seat gained another candidate today: Cameron Kasky, a Jewish gun control activist who survived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. Kasky, who recently started co-hosting the “For You Pod” with The Bulwark, frequently criticizes Israel and AIPAC in public statements, including accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza and not being committed to the ongoing ceasefire with Hamas.

The field to succeed Nadler, a progressive Jewish lawmaker whose district has one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country, has already drawn several candidates, including his former longtime aide, Micah Lasher…

Another candidate with harsh words for AIPAC is Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), challenging Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) for his seat. Moulton, considered more moderate than Markey, continued to appeal to his left flank this week, appearing on a podcast hosted by Jack Cocchiarella, a self-described “progressive Gen Z political commentator” who frequently engages in harsh criticism of Israel on social media. 

Moulton — who recently decided to return AIPAC’s donations and pledged not to take its support going forward — said his split with the group could continue to feature in the race depending “a lot on what happens in Gaza and Israel. … I certainly hope … we don’t resort to more violence, and if that’s the case, I think we’ll be able to talk about other issues in this campaign. Sadly, if it’s not, then I’m sure this will keep coming up.”

Moulton did not push back on Cocchiarella’s assertion that AIPAC, which he said has ties to the “Netanyahu regime,” should “be registered as a foreign lobby.” (Accusations from both political fringes that AIPAC — whose members are American citizens — constitutes a foreign influence operation have often invoked antisemitic dual loyalty tropes)…

The Anti-Defamation League today removed a section called “Protect Civil Rights” from its “What We Do” webpage, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports, shortly after it pulled down its “Glossary of Extremism and Hate” amid conservative attacks on the organization. The group appears to be pivoting after FBI Director Kash Patel recently cut the bureau’s ties with the ADL, calling it “an extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization”…

Spotted in Riyadh, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa spoke today at the Future Investment Initiative summit, with front-row spectators Donald Trump Jr. and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman…

Also in the region, U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus visited Lebanon today to push the Lebanese government to speed up efforts to disarm Hezbollah, with a goal of total disarmament by the end of the year, The New York Times reports.

The Lebanese Armed Forces have seized 10,000 rockets and 400 missiles from the terror group as part of disarmament efforts already, though Israeli and American officials told the Times it’s not sufficient, with Hezbollah moving to rebuild its stockpile…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for an interview with California Democratic state Sen. Scott Weiner, running to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is rumored to be announcing her retirement plans shortly.

Tomorrow, the N7 Foundation and Polaris National Security Foundation are hosting the invite-only Washington Prosperity Summit, with attendees including Trump administration officials, bipartisan lawmakers, foreign dignitaries from the Middle East and business executives, “to explore policies to advance prosperity in the region.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is hosting its 2025 Humanitarian Award Dinner in Los Angeles tomorrow, honoring Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, CNN anchor Dana Bash, Oct. 7 survivor Aya Meydan and former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov. Director Steven Spielberg will present Zaslav with this year’s Humanitarian Award, the center’s highest honor. 

In Washington, Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Motion Picture Association and the German Embassy will host a special screening of “Nuremberg,” a new feature film on the Nuremberg Trials. 

Also tomorrow, the World Zionist Congress wraps up in Jerusalem and the Future Investment Initiative summit comes to a close in Riyadh.

• The World Zionist Congress continues today in Jerusalem. We’re monitoring efforts by the center-left and center-right blocs to broker a coalition agreement that will determine control over national institutions. Voting on dozens of resolutions and amendments that was previously slated for Thursday — including one resolution regarding Haredi military enlistment — was moved to today in an effort to avoid planned protests outside Jerusalem’s convention center by members of the Haredi community.
• Tonight in Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is holding its annual gala. This year’s gala will honor former Rep. David Trone (D-MD) and his wife, June; JCRC Vice President Behnam Dayanim; and Eva Davis, the co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Network Council.
• The Future Investment Initiative summit continues today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. More below.
• The two men convicted earlier this year for their roles in an Iran-backed assassination plot targeting Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad will be sentenced today in New York. Prosecutors are seeking 55-year sentences for the two men, who are believed to have ties to the Russian mafia.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S EMILY JACOBS AND MATTHEW SHEA

The tenuous ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that had threatened to collapse earlier this week following repeated Hamas violations, including the killing of an IDF soldier in Rafah, and a series of Israeli strikes that killed dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip last night was restored on Wednesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces announced that in accordance with a directive from political leaders, it had renewed enforcement of the ceasefire. The army said it had hit dozens of terror targets and struck over 30 terrorists holding command positions within terrorist organizations operating in Gaza.

Israel had protested to the White House over what it says are multiple violations of the deal by Hamas — including the terror group’s slow-walking of its return of the bodies of the 13 remaining hostages and its staging of the discovery of additional remains of a hostage whose body was repatriated by the IDF in December 2023. But Trump administration officials, who were presented with evidence of the staging, including drone footage, reportedly told aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they didn’t view Hamas’ actions as a breach of the agreement.

But in comments to reporters on Air Force One heading to Seoul, South Korea, President Donald Trump backed the Israeli strikes. “They killed an Israeli soldier, so the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit,” Trump said. “Hamas is a small thing, but they kill people. They grew up killing people, and I guess they don’t stop.”

The ceasefire’s temporary lapse did not surprise some on Capitol Hill. “You’re going to see a lot of this,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Jewish Insider of the renewed skirmishes in Gaza. “I mean, the Hamas soldiers are not terribly civilized, and the fact that there’s a ceasefire is of no moment to many of them. You’re periodically going to see them continue to shoot at the Israeli soldiers, and when they do, the Israeli soldiers are going to shoot back and kill them.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he felt it was “entirely appropriate” that Israel struck Hamas targets in order to protect Israeli forces. “If Hamas is attacking them, violating, obviously, the ceasefire and attacking IDF soldiers, Israel has been very clear: If you shoot us, we’re going to actually stop you,” the Oklahoma Republican said.

Democrats who spoke to JI on Tuesday were less critical of Hamas’ repeated violations and focused on Jerusalem’s actions. “My question is: Is he trying to undo the deal?” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) asked of Netanyahu. “If he’s trying to undo the deal, then he’s got another problem, which is [that] they [the U.S.] want more nations in the Abraham Accords, and those nations have said we’re not coming in unless there is a path forward to Palestinian autonomy.”

Gaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, predicted that the breakout of strikes was an isolated episode that would be “contained,” calling this week’s escalation “concerning but not surprising.” Ceasefires, al-Omari added, “take a while to solidify and stabilize, whether because of accidents or because the sides testing the limits of the ceasefire.” 

Read more here for additional reactions from the Hill and insights from Middle East experts.

Eye on Iraq: The Atlantic’s Robert Worth looks at how Iraq is managing its relationships with both the U.S. and Iran as Iranian-backed companies and groups gain footholds in the once war-torn country. “Iran has taken a beating from both the United States and Israel over the past year, and its vaunted ‘Axis of Resistance’ lies in ruins. Iraq finds itself in the uncomfortable position of being the Islamic Republic’s last major ally in the region and an economic lifeline for its cash-starved regime. President Donald Trump has said nothing about this relationship, even as he’s continued to try to choke off Iran’s economy with sanctions. … Recent American presidents have reluctantly accepted the limits of Iraq’s political system, pressing Iraqi leaders to distance themselves from Tehran but avoiding the kinds of measures that would tilt the country back into open conflict. Trump, who is not known for his patience with diplomatic compromise, may take a different approach.” [TheAtlantic]

Ink Stain: The New York Times’ Tressie McMillan Cottom weighs in on the willingness of some Democratic officials’ to overlook concerns about Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s tattoo of a Nazi symbol. “I don’t particularly care about the symbols people use to signal their membership in a group. Maybe you do need a terrifying tattoo to be a real Marine. And maybe sometimes that terrifying tattoo might resemble Nazi iconography. If you are willing to accept that from a distance, as many Democrats say they are, a person may not be able to tell the real symbol of hate from its doppelgänger, that is for you to live with. But, I do care about the political trade-offs we will ask people to make in the name of pragmatism. If the Democratic future requires us to exchange our discomfort with casual Nazism to advance a political agenda, I am not interested.” [NYTimes]

Erdogan’s Ambitions: In Foreign Policy, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Sinan Ciddi and William Doran explore Turkey’s role as a major arms supplier across Africa. “Alongside its diplomatic surge, Turkey has emerged as a major arms supplier. Turkish drone and small-arms exports have surged, while its military footprint — both through the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkish private military companies — has expanded rapidly. These arms exports exacerbate instability in African states facing civil wars, routinely violating international sanctions and ending up in the hands of malicious regional actors. [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan views Africa as an arena where Turkey can meet regional security demands while enhancing its diplomatic standing, military prestige, and market access. Arms sales form the backbone of this ambition.” [ForeignPolicy]

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) will introduce a resolution this week affirming Israel’s sovereignty over the Temple Mount, a sacred site for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and demanding equal freedom of worship for all, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs has learned… 

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is mulling a bid for governor of New York, is releasing a book that does a deep dive into what she describes as “far-left indoctrination, division, and moral rot” in higher education; Poisoned Ivies, which was born out of Stefanik’s now-viral grilling of university presidents during a December 2023 Capitol Hill hearing, will be published in April 2026…

Tarek Bazrouk, an anti-Israel activist who attacked Jews at Israel demonstrations in New York City on three separate occasions over the last two years, was sentenced to 17 months in prison…

Authorities in Alabama arrested a man who had issued threats against Jewish institutions in the state; officials said Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker had been stockpiling ammunition, body armor and “other items related to the plans of violence”…

Several members of the Muslim Student Association at a Fairfax County, Va., high school were suspended following an outcry over the group’s posting of videos of students imitating hostage-taking…

Violinist Itzhak Perlman will appear as the featured guest on the next episode of The Food Network’s “Be My Guest with Ina Garten,” airing this weekend…

The New York Times reviews Barak Goodman’s new two-part documentary “Kissinger,” about former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s life and career, which debuted this week on PBS…

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen said that the ice cream company’s parent Unilever prevented the ice cream maker from creating a “flavor for Palestine” and that he would make his own watermelon-flavored ice cream instead…

British Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis spoke to Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday outside of the Vatican as the Holy See marked the 60th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate that reshaped Catholic-Jewish relations…

The children of a Jewish-German couple that fled Nazi Germany in 1936 and was unable to recoup the proceeds of the sale of their art collection, which was forfeited to the Nazis, are suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Greek museum over Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 “Olive Picking,” which had belonged to their parents and is now on display at the Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens…

More than 150 Hamas terrorists who were recently released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire were reportedly moved from the luxury resort in Cairo in which they were staying, following a report earlier this week that the released prisoners were being housed in a hotel alongside tourists…

Writer Barbara Gips, who crafted the taglines for dozens of movies including “Alien” and “Fatal Attraction,” died at 89…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the 39th World Zionist Congress, at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem, last night. 

Emmy Award-winning television producer, writer and actor, best known for NBC’s “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” Michael Schur turns 50… 

Haifa, Israel-born director and screenwriter of animated and live-action films including “The Lord of the Rings,” Ralph Bakshi turns 87… Dean emeritus of the Yale School of Management, he has served in the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Clinton administrations, Jeffrey E. Garten turns 79… Academy Award-winning actor, who played Yoni Netanyahu in the 1976 film “Victory at Entebbe,” Richard Dreyfuss turns 78… Retired CEO of the Center for the National Interest and publisher of its namesake foreign policy magazine, The National Interest, Dimitri Simes turns 78… Former director of the social justice organizing program at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Mordechai Eliyahu Liebling turns 77… Pulitzer Prize-winning author and editor of The New Yorker since 1998, David Remnick turns 67… Bernard Greenberg… Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Phoenix, Dana Evan Kaplan turns 65… Author, satirist and public speaker, Evan Sayet turns 65… Classical pianist, Susan Merdinger turns 63… Sports agent who has negotiated over $10 billion of player contracts, Drew Rosenhaus turns 59… Actor who appeared in 612 episodes of daytime soap opera “As the World Turns,” his mother, Rina Plotnik, served in the IDF, Grayson McCouch turns 57… Screenwriter and film director based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Andrea Dorfman turns 57… Mathematician, cryptologist and computer scientist, Daniel J. Bernstein turns 54… Israeli collaborative artist, designer and photographer, Moshe Hacmon turns 48… VP for strategic communications and business development at Anchorage-based Northern Compass Group, Rachel Barinbaum… Jockey who has won more than 1,740 races with earnings of more than $67.6 million, David Cohen turns 41… Marketing director for Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group, Leigh Shirvan Helfenbein… Senior product manager at Audible, Samantha Zeldin… Former national spokesperson for the Harris Walz campaign, now an AVP for public affairs at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, Seth Schuster… Ph.D. candidate in Russian and East European history at Harvard, Leora Eisenberg… Booking producer at NBC Universal’s “The Beat with Ari Melber,” David Siegel…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today ordered the IDF to “immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip” after Hamas terrorists opened fire on Israeli troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Hamas, in response, said it is postponing the release of a hostage body meant to be turned over to Israel today. Yesterday, Hamas staged the recovery of hostage remains that it reburied before handing to the Red Cross, caught on film by the IDF, which turned out to be partial remains belonging to a hostage who was already recovered by the Israeli army in 2023. Netanyahu said the act “constitute[d] a clear violation of the [ceasefire] agreement.”

Israeli officials told Axios that Netanyahu initially sought approval for action against Hamas from President Donald Trump, who is currently traveling in Asia, before moving forward, but there’s “no indication” the two leaders spoke before Netanyahu’s announcement on today’s strikes…

A senior Israeli official told Israel Hayom that Saudi Arabia has scaled back its participation in ceasefire talks after far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made a disparaging comment last week on Saudi-Israel normalization, if it were to require the establishment of a Palestinian state. The statement (“No thank you, keep riding camels in the desert”) prompted blowback and he apologized shortly after.

“It’s not only because of Smotrich, but his comments certainly pushed [the Saudis] in that direction,” the official told the outlet. “Israel is now dealing with a bloc that includes Turkey, Qatar and Egypt — countries interested in preserving Hamas’ role in Gaza to varying degrees and refusing to pressure it to disarm”…

The Wall Street Journal traveled to an IDF outpost on the “yellow line” demarcating where Israeli troops have pulled back in Gaza. Israel is working on building water and electricity infrastructure and new aid hubs in the area and believes the entire line, which sits on high ground by design, is defensible from Hamas, Israeli officials told the Journal…

With a week to go until Election Day in the New York City mayoral race, new video has surfaced of Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani invoking antisemitic rhetoric shortly before the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. 

Speaking at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in August 2023, Mamdani said, “For anyone to care about these issues, we have to make them hyper local. We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” The idea that police brutality in the United States is caused by law enforcement training or coordination with Israel is a modern antisemitic trope.

Mamdani continued, “We are in a country where those connections abound, especially in New York City. You have so many opportunities to make clear the ways in which that struggle over there [Israel], is tied to capitalist interests over here”…

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports on the super PACs backing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor, which have raised him more than $40 million over the course of the election — compared to $10 million raised by super PACs for Mamdani and $1 million for Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee.

“The donors to the pro-Cuomo super PACs have included Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor; William Lauder, the chair of the Estée Lauder Companies; Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress; Bill Ackman, the investor; Steve Wynn, the casino investor; Daniel Loeb, the hedge fund manager; Barry Diller, the chairman of IAC; and Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb,” the Times reports.

Bloomberg, who spent at least $8 million attempting to defeat Mamdani in the Democratic primary, met with him last month after he clinched the party’s nomination. Bloomberg was careful to note it was not an endorsement meeting, but rather a discussion on policy and staffing if Mamdani is elected mayor…

On the Hill, the nomination of Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., to be U.S. ambassador to Kuwait is facing what appear to be insurmountable odds as opposition to his confirmation grows among Senate Republicans, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

Senators on both sides of the aisle had privately expressed reservations about Ghalib’s nomination prior to his rocky confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, but his attempts to evade responsibility for his support of antisemitic positions prompted several Republicans on the committee to go public. 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced at the end of Ghalib’s hearing last Thursday that he would not be able to support moving his nomination out of committee to the Senate floor. Sens. John Curtis (R-UT), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) have since followed suit. Others on the panel, including Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), have said they plan to raise their concerns about Ghalib with the committee chairman, Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), and the White House…

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) will introduce a resolution this week affirming Israel’s sovereignty over the Temple Mount and demanding equal freedom of worship for all, JI’s Emily Jacobs scooped. 

The resolution, if adopted, would put the House of Representatives on record as affirming “the inalienable right of the Jewish people to full access [of] the Temple Mount and the right to pray and worship on the Temple Mount, consistent with the principles of religious freedom.”

The current Israeli position, however, that Netanyahu has consistently affirmed, is to maintain the status quo at the holy site, which restricts Jewish prayer…

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who led the the memorable questioning of university presidents at a House Education Committee hearing in December 2023, is coming out with a new book, titled Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America’s Elite Universities, on April 7, 2026…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider tomorrow morning for reaction in Washington to Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza in response to Hamas’ ceasefire violations.

Tomorrow, the Future Investment Initiative continues its ninth annual conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In the evening, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is hosting its 2025 annual gala. Honorees include former Rep. David Trone (D-MD) and his wife, June, who is a JCRC board member; Behnam Dayanim, attorney and JCRC vice president; and Eva Davis, a realtor and co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Network Council.

• We’re keeping an eye on the situation in the Middle East and Washington following Israel’s targeting of senior Hamas officials in Doha yesterday. More below.
• The California Senate’s Education Committee is holding a hearing this afternoon on AB 715, legislation meant to address antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools. One of the legislators supporting the bill told The Jewish News of Northern California that the text had become “narrower” after the bill’s backers “compromised on numerous things with our colleagues who expressed concerns” over the legislation.
• Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Ari Berman will serve as the Senate’s guest chaplain today. C-SPAN’s Howard Mortman, author of When Rabbis Bless Congress, notes that Berman, who delivered the benediction at President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, will become the third rabbi to have prayed both in Congress and during a presidential inauguration.
• Elsewhere on Capitol Hill today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s subcommittee on early childhood, elementary and secondary education is holding a hearing on antisemitism in K-12 schools. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Brandy Shufutinsky, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s Rachel Lerman, Defending Education’s Nicole Neily and T’ruah’s Rabbi Jill Jacobs are slated to testify.
• Brandeis University is unveiling its “New Vision for American Higher Education” this afternoon at the National Press Club. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is slated to speak at the event. Across town, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is speaking at a Heritage Foundation event focused on the Muslim Brotherhood.
• The American Jewish Committee is holding an event this morning marking the upcoming fifth anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords.
• This afternoon, the Jewish Democratic Council of America is hosting “Israel and Gaza: Two Years Later and What Comes Next” with Israel Policy Forum’s Michael Koplow.
• Elsewhere in DC, the National Union for Democracy in Iran and MEAD are continuing their conference in Washington today.
• Some MEAD attendees are heading to Israel for the Jefferies TechTrek conference in Tel Aviv, which kicked off with a welcome reception last night. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, Paul Singer, Bill Ackman, Shaun Maguire and Dan Loeb are among those gathered for Jefferies.
• The Climate Solutions Prize Tour kicks off today in the United Arab Emirates, before moving to Israel on Sunday.
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in London today for a two-day visit.
• In Canada, “The Road Between Us,” about Israeli Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon’s efforts to rescue his son’s family from their Gaza envelope home on Oct. 7, 2023, will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, after it was previously removed from the slate of films over what organizers said was a failure to get Hamas to approve the use of its videos of the attacks.
• In Pennsylvania, representatives from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will deliver a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Talya Lubit, who pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy and defacing and damaging Chabad of Squirrel Hill.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS AND Lahav harkov

Nearly a day after an Israeli airstrike targeted a meeting of high-level Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, there are more questions than answers, both in Jerusalem and Washington. Israel has not confirmed which officials were killed in the strike, while Hamas has said that five officials from the group, including the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, were killed in addition to a member of the Qatari security forces. 

Israeli reports earlier today indicate that the strike did not kill the most senior echelon of the terror group, which for years has been based in Qatar, a U.S. ally.

Amid ongoing uncertainty over the success of the strike, the operation was met with rare condemnation from the White House, first from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and then from President Donald Trump himself, who said he “was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect” — perhaps, in part, because the operation is not believed to have taken out the most senior Hamas officials.

But it was Trump himself who said over the weekend on his Truth Social site that he had “warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting” the ceasefire and hostage-release deal that had been put forward by the U.S.

At the same time that Trump officials, including the president, were criticizing the operation, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee was embracing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the U.S. Embassy’s belated Independence Day celebration in Jerusalem, where the prime minister addressed a smaller group of VIPs attending the party.

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

Empty Gestures: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers the ramifications of the “gesture politics” that politicians and activists engage in around the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “What, then, do these gestures accomplish? The legitimate needs of the Palestinian people are these: an end to this war; an end to being dragged into future wars by Hamas; an end to the chronic misgovernance of the Palestinian Authority; the establishment of a self-governing political order that improves the lives of Palestinians without endangering the lives of Israelis; the eventual creation, under conditions of mutual trust, of a Palestinian state. Immediate recognition of such a state advances none of this. It is the proverbial cart before the horse. France and its fellow travelers aren’t aiming to do much to help actual Palestinians. Mainly, they seek to congratulate themselves. Countries achieve irrelevance when moral onanism takes the place of serious policy as the principal instrument of national policy.” [NYTimes]

Bullish Economy: In The Wall Street Journal, Nimrod Sapir considers why Israel’s economy has “defied expectations and displayed remarkable resilience” over nearly two years of war and growing international isolation. “Demographics further bolster Israel’s prospects: a growing, youthful labor force. Israel has the highest population growth rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, and that growth goes far beyond the Haredi and Arab sectors. Surging global demand for Israeli defense systems likewise strengthens the export base and opens new markets. Israel’s military achievements — particularly in neutralizing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and diminishing threats from its proxies — are reshaping the geopolitical landscape. For the first time in decades, investors can anticipate a gradual easing of geopolitical risks that have long weighed heavily on Israel’s economic potential.” [WSJ]

New Stage of War: The Free Press‘ Jay Solomon spotlights Qatar’s years of engaging in “one of the Middle East’s most dangerous games of double-dealing” by hosting Hamas officials as it benefits from its allyship with Western nations. “Israel’s attack on Qatari soil, and the U.S.’s connivance, marks the crossing of another boundary in the Jewish state’s two-year war with Hamas, sparked by the October 7 attack. … Israel’s attack inside Qatar may open a new chapter of direct conflict between Netanyahu’s government and the Al Thanis, though likely not involving their militaries. Qatar is one of the world’s richest nations per capita and possesses vast resources to challenge the legitimacy of the state of Israel through Doha’s global media operations, including the Al Jazeera television network and support for international bodies like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.” [FreePress]

Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrapped up a bipartisan delegation to Italy, Tunisia and Morocco…

Democrat James Walkinshaw is won the special election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, succeeding Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who died earlier this year and for whom Walkinshaw served as chief of staff until 2019…

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is slated to travel to the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly later this month; al-Sharaa, who will speak to the gathering on Sept. 24, is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the annual confab…

Northwestern University announced the hiring of Henry Bienen to succeed outgoing President Michael Schill; Bienen previously led the school from 1995-2009, during which time he spearheaded the launch of Northwestern’s campus in Qatar…

The FBI is investigating threats made to several Pittsburgh-area Jewish organizations, including the Tree of Life… 

Police in Oregon are searching for an individual who spray-painted swastikas on the Oregon Jewish Holocaust Museum earlier this summer…

Actress Scarlett Johansson said she intentionally cast Holocaust survivors in “Eleanor the Great,” her directorial debut, about an elderly American Jewish woman who assumes the childhood storyline of a deceased friend who had survived the Holocaust…

United Against Nuclear Iran CEO Mark Wallace sent a letter to the head of the U.S.-based Marriott International, inquiring about the hotel chain’s hosting of Hamas officials at the Ritz Carlton in Doha, Qatar…

The Wall Street Journal reports that Turkey and Egypt warned Hamas officials abroad in recent weeks to tighten security measures around their meetings…

Spain banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, amid rising tensions between Jerusalem and Madrid over the war in Gaza and a Spanish arms embargo on Israel…

Former National Security Council staffer Oliver North quietly married his former secretary, Fawn Hall, nearly four decades after the Iran-Contra affair both were involved in…

The son of a British couple detained since January in Iran said his parents’ situation is “dire” following their meeting with the British ambassador in Tehran…

The International Atomic Energy Agency reached an agreement with Iran to resume inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities, three months after cooperation ceased amid the 12-day Israel-Iran war…

Zachary Isakowitz, who previously worked at the Semiconductor Industry Association as head of government affairs and at the Treasury, is joining Nvidia as a director of government affairs.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (on guitar) and Paul Singer (on keyboard) jammed out to Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” at the embassy’s belated Independence Day celebration last night at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.

Writer, columnist and author of four New York Times bestsellers, Amity Ruth Shlaes turns 65…

Chairman of Shamrock Holdings, Roy Disney’s private investment company, Stanley Gold turns 83… Retired realtor in Southern California, Dianne Varon… Former EVP and general counsel at Chicago’s futures broker Rosenthal Collins Group, Gerald Fishman… Past president of Congregation Ahavas Israel in Passaic, N.J., Howard Penner… Retired coordinator at Truman Heartland Community Foundation, she had been a Hebrew teacher at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, Kan., Henri Goettel… Houston attorney, and Republican Party activist, Gary M. Polland turns 75… Denver attorney and politician, he served in the Colorado House of Representatives for eight years, Joel Judd turns 73… Executive assistant to the office managing partner of the E&Y office in Tampa, Nancy Carol Finkel… U.S. senator (R-WY), Cynthia Lummis turns 71… Retired VP at Goldman Sachs, now a part-time elementary school teacher, Matthew Fried… Real estate attorney in South Florida, Steven A. Greenspan… Award-winning journalist and author, he wrote a 2024 book on Bernie Madoff, Richard Behar… Former acting administrator of the DEA, now a senior counsel at D.C.’s Crowell & Moring, Charles Philip “Chuck” Rosenberg turns 65… Founder and managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, Andrew Shapiro… NYC trusts and estates attorney, Lawrence Ira Garbuz… Co-founder and partner of One Madison Group, Jonathan Soros turns 55… Television writer and producer whose work includes “The Big Bang Theory,” Eric Kaplan turns 54… Executive director of the Maryland/Mid-Atlantic region of Agudath Israel, Ariel Sadwin… Writer, actress and comedian, she was a writer for “Saturday Night Live,” Sarah Schneider turns 42… Principal at Blue Zone Partners and managing partner at Precision Infrastructure Management, Charles Szold… PR strategist, Josh Nass… Chief foreign correspondent for Fox News, his 2024 book, Black Saturday, covers the events of Oct. 7 and the war that followed, Trey Yingst turns 32… Jennifer Meyer…

• We’re keeping an eye today on a number of weekend developments across the U.S. and Middle East:
• Congress is back in session today in Washington after the August recess. Driving today’s news is Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) announcement last night that he will not seek reelection next year. More below.
• The Senate is slated to hold a procedural vote on the National Defense Authorization Act this evening. On the other side of the Capitol, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a virtual briefing with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee focused on the West Bank.
• In the Middle East, tensions remain high following Israeli strikes late last week that killed a dozen senior Houthi officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi. The Iran-backed group retaliated several times over the weekend with ballistic missile attacks, all of which fell short or were intercepted.
• In Gaza, an Israeli strike killed Abu Obeida, Hamas’ spokesman, over the weekend. President Donald Trump, who is slated to speak from the White House at 2 p.m. today, addressed Israel’s predicament in Gaza, telling the Daily Caller on Sunday that Israel “may be winning the war, but they’re not winning the world of public relations, you know, and it is hurting them.”
• Belgium became the latest European nation to announce plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly in New York later this month. In response to the Palestinian statehood push, Israel is reportedly considering annexing parts of the West Bank. 
• Missing from the UNGA this year will likely be the Palestinian delegation, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked the visa of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and dozens of other officials, who had planned to attend the General Assembly as well as an international gathering focused on Palestinian statehood.

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAr

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), a progressive stalwart and a longtime Democratic pillar on the House Judiciary Committee, announced his retirement Sunday evening, opening up a recently redrawn Manhattan district that the congressman has held for over three decades.

Nadler, whose district has one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country, has long positioned himself as a progressive pro-Israel advocate, even as he broke with the organized Jewish community on some issues — most notably his support for former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement in 2015.

But in recent months, he has emerged as being at odds with the New York Jewish community on some high-profile issues. Even as most of the leading New York state Democratic voices have held back any endorsement of far-left New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, Nadler was one of the first House Democrats to offer the anti-Israel candidate his support — and has worked to secure support from a deeply skeptical Jewish community towards Mamdani. 

Nadler has also lately become a sharp critic of the Jewish state, in contrast to his pro-Israel Jewish Democratic colleagues from his home state. In a New York Times interview announcing his departure, he accused Israel of committing mass murder and war crimes in Gaza “without question.” He told the paper that when he returns to Congress, he will support legislation withholding offensive military aid to Israel, joining a growing roster of progressive Democrats in doing so — a move that could give cover for other colleagues to follow suit. 

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

Rahm Com(munism): In The Wall Street Journal, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, who is mulling a 2028 presidential bid, warns that domestic political division is providing an opening to malign actors, such as China, that seek to capitalize on the moment. “By 2011, the country was beset by two movements defined almost exclusively by anger and resentment. Occupy Wall Street’s antipathy to capitalism fixed the sentiment now driving Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for New York mayor. The tea party simultaneously metastasized into the MAGA movement and the riots of Jan. 6, 2021. With real violence in the offing, politics are worse than they have been in decades. … In some Shakespearean sense, China’s long shadow has appeared at exactly the right moment. But Xi Jinping is much more than a foil poised to unite Americans who would otherwise remain defined by their blue and red affinities. The China threat is both real and potent. The U.S. has never before been asked to face down a country that has three times our population, is fueled by an advanced economy, and is capable, as its leaders intend, of replacing us atop the global hierarchy.” [WSJ]

What the Australia Attacks Signal: The Atlantic’s Arash Azizi considers the motives behind Iran’s attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets around the world, following Australia’s expulsion of Iranian diplomats over Tehran’s involvement in recent antisemitic attacks in the country. “The elements organizing the attacks are ideological. They seek to burnish Iran’s image as an aggressive, revisionist actor, determined to destabilize the West and unconstrained by practical concerns. Inside the regime, this faction competes with a more pragmatic group that prioritizes trade and seeks to improve relations with the West. Those behind the hits on Australian targets may even see their activities as having a dual use: By striking synagogues and restaurants in Western countries, they intimidate their global enemies and help stymie the diplomatic agenda of pragmatists at home.” [TheAtlantic]

Hanging With Hezbollah: In The Free Press, Winston Marshall reflects on a recent trip to Lebanon and meeting with a Hezbollah member in Baalbeck. “Believe it or not, I feel sadness for the jihadi at the Baalbek mosque. His was a worldview almost completely inverted from mine. For him the good guys are Nasrallah, Assad, Khamenei, and Hitler. The bad guys are Donald Trump, Jews, and Jolani. Only on Jolani might we have found some common ground. His eyes glazed with the delirium of his cult. Rarely in my life have I come face-to-face with a man possessed with such evil. How exactly does one offer a golden bridge of reconciliation to a cult hell-bent on fighting and martyrdom? That is the impossible question Lebanon has to answer.” [FreePress]

The Trump administration is planning to cut $4.9 billion in foreign aid from the State Department, USAID and other international aid groups without congressional approval, under the auspices of the Impoundment Control Act…

The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency garnered $5 billion following its launch earlier this week; Zach Witkoff, a son of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff who serves as WLF’s CEO, distanced the private company from the Trump administration but added, “clearly President Trump is the greatest president of all time”…

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to end the mandate of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been operating along the border between Israel and Lebanon for five decades, at the end of 2026…

The Washington Post reports on a postwar plan for Gaza, days after President Donald Trump convened a White House meeting on the issue, that would see the enclave enter into a 10-year trusteeship with the U.S. that would involve the temporary relocation of its residents both within and outside the Strip during the rebuilding effort…

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is reportedly clashing with senior CIA officials after she disclosed the name of a currently serving undercover CIA officer in a list of current and former officials whose clearances were being revoked by the ODNI… 

Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) urged the Trump administration to “use its full power and authority to immediately facilitate a massive surge in all humanitarian aid, and in particular infant formula, into Gaza to address this crisis”…

A Florida man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for planning attacks on Jewish and Black community sites as well as on Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)…

The Boulder chapter of “Run for Their Lives,” an organization that arranges weekly marches to advocate for the hostages held in Gaza, will no longer publicly advertise its walking route, the group announced last week, saying the decision was made “following weeks of escalating harassment and threats,” less than three months after a Molotov cocktail attack on the group left a participant dead and injured 15 others,Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

Unknown vandals graffitied the Greenwich Village apartment building where New York Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn lives, writing in red paint, “Joe Kahn lies Gaza dies”…

The superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District struck down a school board vote to display the Israeli flag in schools and administrative buildings in the district for one month every year; Superintendent Alex Cherniss said that only the U.S. and California flags would be flown on school properties, citing “heightened safety concerns”…

The New York Post reports on financial ties between the Qatari royal family and filmmaker  Mira Nair, the mother of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani; Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, the sister of the Qatari emir, has repeatedly posted on social media in support of Mamdani’s candidacy…

Police in Ontario, Canada, are investigating the stabbing of a Jewish woman at a kosher supermarket as a hate crime; days later, 32 officials from Canada’s Liberal Party, led by MP Anthony Housefather, issued a statement condemning the “deplorable rise of antisemitism in Canada”…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer tapped former Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to serve as his chief economic advisor; Shafik, an economist, departed Columbia last summer amid widespread criticism of her administration’s handling of campus antisemitism…

A Holocaust memorial in Lyon, France, was vandalized with graffiti reading “Free Gaza”… 

The Wall Street Journal looks at how the IDF is struggling to get reservists, many of whom have served months of reserve duty, to continue reporting as the war grinds on toward a third year…

A flotilla of nearly two dozen boats attempting to reach Gaza departed on Monday after a failed start on Sunday due to adverse weather conditions; climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was detained and deported from Israel in May, is participating in the new flotilla effort…

The New York Times reports on concerns from Israeli tourists of harassment abroad as a result of escalated tensions resulting from the Israel-Hamas war…

GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy, who settled a lawsuit with Qatar after being hacked, is reportedly a partner in the Israeli company KOIOS, which ran a public relations campaign on behalf of Doha… 

A second former International Criminal Court staffer accused the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, of sexual misconduct; Khan, who had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, was placed on administrative leave in May following earlier allegations that he’d acted inappropriately toward a staffer…

Gallant said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 that Israel should kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the next round of conflict between Israel and Iran…

The New York Times reports on how Israel tracked the movements of senior Iranian officials through the phone activity of their bodyguards…

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it arrested eight people accused of sending sensitive information regarding Tehran’s military and its nuclear program to Mossad agents…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan encouraged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to continue nuclear talks with the West and reiterated Ankara’s support for Tehran…

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that a building in Syria that was destroyed by Israel in 2007 was found to have trace amounts of uranium, deepening speculation at the U.N. nuclear watchdog that the site had been used as a nuclear reactor…

Houthi terrorists stormed the Sanaa, Yemen, offices of UNICEF and the World Food Program, detaining staffers from both organizations…

Ruth Marks Eglash is now the editor of The Jerusalem Report…

At the funeral of her son Idan Shtivi on Monday, Dalit Oron mourned over the body of Shtivi, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023. IDF forces operating in Gaza last week recovered Shtivi’s body as well as the body of hostage Ilan Weiss, who was killed on Oct. 7 while defending his community in Kibbutz Be’eri.

Television producer, attorney, legal analyst and celebrity reporter, he is the founder of TMZ, Harvey Levin turns 75…

Trustee of a foundation started by her husband, Harold Grinspoon, she is on the PJ Library Book Selection Committee, Diane Leshefsky Troderman turns 84… Attorney who was part of the “Dream Team” that successfully defended O.J. Simpson in 1995, he is a co-founder of three businesses, LegalZoom, Shoedazzle and RightCounsel, Robert Shapiro turns 83… One of Israel’s earliest high-tech entrepreneurs, Yossi Vardi turns 83… Rabbi of Baltimore’s Shearith Israel Congregation since 1987 and president of the Baltimore Vaad HaRabonim, Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer turns 81… Lincolnwood, Ill., resident, Tobi Rebecca Kelmer… Tech entrepreneur and consultant at Xynetics Group, Richard Mandelbaum turns 79… Member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party from 1999 until 2022, Yaakov Litzman turns 77… SVP at Southern Bank & Trust, he is an honorary director of Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk, Va., Steven Kocen… CEO of Lionsgate Entertainment, the leading Canadian independent film studio, Jon Feltheimer turns 74… Retired president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston from 1987 to 2017, Lee Wunsch turns 73… Author, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Nick Hanauer turns 66… Investigative producer for CBS News, Daniel Klaidman… Chief Washington correspondent for Newsmax, James Rosen turns 57… Founder of Israeli media organization TheMarker and a deputy publisher of the Haaretz daily newspaper, he is also a clinical professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Guy Rolnik turns 57… Serial entrepreneur, co-founder and chairman of Groupon, he is also the founder and CEO of Tempus AI, Eric Lefkofsky turns 56… Executive producer at PBS’s “Frontline,” Raney Aronson-Rath turns 55… Chair of Sight Diagnostics, he was previously director general of the Israeli prime minister’s office, Eliyahu David (Eli) Groner turns 55… Contemporary Jewish religious music vocalist, known by the mononym “Ohad,” Ohad Moskowitz turns 51… Chief of staff for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jess Fassler… D.C.-based U.S. tax policy reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Richard Rubin… Actor, comedian and impressionist, Jonathan Kite turns 46… Executive editor of news for Bloomberg, the co-anchor of “What’d You Miss” on Bloomberg Television and co-host of the “Odd Lots” podcast on Bloomberg Podcasts, Joseph Weisenthal turns 45… Partner at Axiom Strategies, Ethan Zorfas turns 40… Co-lead of the U.S. tech practice at Edelman, Margot Edelman… Chief of staff at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Seth Zweifler… Former MLB baseball pitcher, he was a first-round pick in the 2013 MLB draft, now playing for the Staten Island FerryHawks, Rob Kaminsky turns 31…

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

There has been a whirlwind of political activity in Israel today, starting with the bombshell news that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to ask the Security Cabinet to approve an expansion of Israel’s war in Gaza, which would see the IDF control all of the enclave.

The move will have reverberations throughout Jerusalem and Washington, from Netanyahu’s own government to hostage families, Capitol Hill and the White House. Officials on both sides of the aisle in the U.S. have been pushing hard for a comprehensive ceasefire and an end to the war — including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who was in Israel just days ago at the behest of President Donald Trump. Stay tuned to Jewish Insider for how this will play out in the coming days…

In other headlines coming out of Israel, the Cabinet voted unanimously this morning to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with whom the current government has been at odds since it was formed, accusing her of political bias.

Shortly after the vote, the Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction temporarily blocking the firing and ordering the government to continue abiding by Baharav-Miara’s legal opinions until the court issues a final ruling. 

It’s the first time an Israeli government has ever voted to oust the AG, and with some Cabinet ministers already boycotting her and pushing back on the court’s decision, Israel could be edging toward a constitutional crisis.

Meanwhile, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein was officially pushed out of his chairmanship of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today, over coalition disagreements on a Haredi conscription bill. He was replaced by Boaz Bismuth, also from Likud, whom the party hopes will be more amenable to reducing sanctions on Haredim who dodge the draft. Israeli voters across a large swath of the political spectrum, including the Likud base, are on Edelstein’s side of the debate…

Getting a front-row seat to these developments, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) trip to Israel with a House Republican delegation continues today. The group visited the town of Ariel, making Johnson the highest-ranking elected federal official to visit a West Bank settlement. While there, Johnson told a meeting of senior Yesha Council officials that “Judea and Samaria are the front lines of the State of Israel and must remain an integral part of it,” and stopped by Ariel University…

Also in Israel this week are two delegations of freshman House members, one from each caucus, organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. The Democratic trip is led by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the former House majority leader, and Rep. Pete Aguilar, (D-CA), the caucus chair…

Back at home, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations CEO William C. Daroff met with Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon today. Though Colby had faced criticism around his nomination from pro-Israel circles for his calls to scale back U.S. involvement in the Middle East, Daroff told JI that Colby “expressed a clear and serious understanding of U.S. strategic interests in the Middle East, including the vital importance of deterring Iran, preventing regional adversaries from gaining dominance, and sustaining Israel’s security following the Twelve Day War.” Daroff said he was “encouraged by [Colby’s] principled and grounded approach”…

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

Software analytics giant Palantir topped $1 billion in revenue for the first time, it shared in an earnings report today. The company has secured several large contracts with the Trump administration, including an agreement announced last week for $10 billion over the next decade with the U.S. Army…

Veteran Democratic political strategist Howard Wolfson, an outspoken supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, appeared on Daniel Gordis’ “Israel from the Inside” podcast today with the message that “the war for hearts and minds” in U.S. support for Israel “has been lost.” The former communications director of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, Wolfson said that he’s “clanging the alarm bell as loudly as I can and hoping that the Israeli public and the decision-makers in Israel understand how far Israel has fallen in public approval in the United States and what the implications of that are.”

“Israel is getting absolutely decimated” in information warfare, Wolfson continued. “And that may not be fair, it may not be accurate, but I think those questions of fairness and accuracy, they’ve become largely irrelevant. It’s not about fairness and accuracy. It’s about effectiveness and about impact.”…

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

Keep an eye on Jewish Insider this week for a dive into the lessons learned from Israel’s disengagement from Gaza 20 years ago this month, an analysis of what a new poll of New York City Jewish voters means for Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral prospects and a look into the latest fundraising figures from pro-Israel campaign groups.

Tomorrow morning, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will meet with American Jewish leaders in New York, JI has learned, and then head to a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation of the hostages held in Gaza. Sa’ar prompted the special session after videos of two hostages — Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski — were released by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, showing the two men looking haggard and severely emaciated.