The director general of Israel’s Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, urged Israelis on Wednesday to understand Washington’s perspective as the U.S. and Israel negotiate the next memorandum of understanding, cautioning against judging American policy through a purely “provincial lens.”

“What some in Israel perceive as weakness or folly, an apparent disregard for every warning sign on the ground, is viewed in Washington as cold, calculated and clear-eyed risk management in an era of shifting global attention,” he said at the annual Herzliya Conference at Reichman University. 

The divergence between the two allies, he concluded, is not a misunderstanding of the fundamental threat, but rather a byproduct of different national security priorities.

“For us, Iran is an existential threat; for the United States, it is a chronic regional challenge, while China and the Indo-Pacific theater remain the core concern,” Baram said. “We think Tehran, they think Taiwan.”

“At the same time, based on my deep familiarity with the range of views within the American system, if there is one thing Americans hate more than this war that has dragged on for them, it is losing a campaign they have already won,” he added of the conflict with Iran.

Ultimately, Baram asserted that as Washington increasingly operates under an “America First” framework, the historic bilateral relationship must pivot toward concrete, mutually beneficial strategic dividends.

“Our partnership cannot rest on shared values alone. It must also rest on hard interests: a strong, independent, and proactive Israel that stabilizes the Middle East is the very asset that allows the United States to redirect resources toward Asia,” Baram stated. “This is the foundation of the next memorandum of understanding on security cooperation now being formulated. The agreement will need to generate security, economic, and strategic benefits for both countries for years to come.”

The director general also noted that he understands the differing strategic realities in Washington, including a growing American desire to avoid prolonged Middle East entanglements while prioritizing competing global theaters.

“From the Pentagon’s perspective, with American munitions stretched between supporting current wars and preparing for a potential confrontation in the Taiwan Strait, a prolonged war in the Middle East runs counter to America’s global posture,” Baram observed.

Baram emphasized that the war with Iran has fundamentally transformed Jerusalem’s strategic military calculus, warning that an escalating Iranian threat necessitates a sweeping, expanded regional security alliance.

“The war has sharpened, for every actor in the region, the price of Iran’s military buildup,” Baram said. “It has created a shared interest in forging a broader alliance, from India through the UAE to Greece and Cyprus. Israel’s strengths in technology, proven operational experience, and defense innovation, combined with the Gulf’s financial power, could enable a new security-economic front.”

Baram said that building these alternative multilateral partnerships is “not a substitute” for Israel’s bedrock security relationship with the United States. Rather, he argued, the strategy allows Israel to “broaden its room to maneuver and its standing on the international stage, and allow us to diversify our strategic footing.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington in early February 2025 with a pitch for President Donald Trump: to join Israel in a future campaign to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites. Trump did not agree at the time, though he eventually came around to the idea.

Two powerful White House figures were particularly skeptical of Netanyahu’s message. 

The first was Vice President JD Vance, who has been calibrating a more isolationist worldview for years. The second, according to a new book by New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, was White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. 

Their new book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, paints a picture of Wiles as a savvy operator with sharp political instincts who, on Middle East policy matters, routinely aligned with Vance in urging Trump to reconsider major foreign policy interventions. 

After that first meeting between Trump and Netanyahu, Wiles and Vance were both skeptical of Israel’s efforts to persuade the president. They feared that any involvement from the U.S. military could “spiral into an Israeli regime-change war,” according to Swan and Haberman. 

Throughout the first months of Trump’s second term, Wiles and Vance both worried that former Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), Trump’s pick to be national security advisor, was “too hawkish” and “too sympathetic to the Israeli line,” according to the book. 

Soon, after an embarrassing public scandal in which Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a group chat with Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top national security officials prior to U.S. strikes on Yemen last year, Waltz was removed from that position and nominated to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. 

When Trump convened his Cabinet in early 2026 to consider whether to attack Iran again, after joining Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, Wiles was once more concerned about the U.S. entering a new global conflict. She worried about “being dragged into another Middle East war,” Haberman and Swan write. Political concerns were top of mind for her — a war in Iran might lead to higher gas prices, which she feared could cost Republicans in the midterm elections this year. 

Ultimately, though, Wiles got on board with the Iran war. 

Wiles, Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s other top foreign policy advisors convened in the Situation Room in late February to discuss the matter.

Vance, who was known to oppose the war, spoke first. He told the president that he thought the operation was a bad idea, but he would support Trump.

Wiles was up next. She told Trump that she was on board if Trump felt the operation would protect America’s national security. 

24 hours later, Trump authorized the strikes on Iran. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday aimed at scaling back Israel’s military presence in Lebanon, where the IDF has established a presence for the last three months as part of its campaign against Hezbollah.  

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad announced the deal at a press conference with Rubio, following four days of negotiations in Washington during the fifth round of direct talks between Jerusalem and Beirut. 

Under the deal, Israel will withdraw from two “pilot zones,” one north of the Litani river and one in southern Lebanon, and transfer administration of the areas to the Lebanese Armed Forces. 

The preliminary deal between Israel, Lebanon and the U.S. is aimed at enabling a broader agreement in the future, a senior Israeli official told CNN.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the framework agreement as a “major blow to Iran,” emphasizing in a video statement that Israeli forces will maintain their presence in Israel’s security zone in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed. 

“Iran is trying to force us into a withdrawal from southern Lebanon by force. In effect, Israel, Lebanon and the United States are telling them: this is none of your business,” Netanyahu said. 

Today is “the beginning of the beginning,” Rubio said at the signing ceremony. “There’s a lot of work ahead. We don’t, in any way, underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead. But we understand the importance of it, how vital it is. And we are honored to play a part in bringing this together.”

Moawad said at the signing that the agreement would be the “first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The announcement comes after months of negotiations and on the heels of the Trump administration signing a memorandum of understanding with Iran and launching a deconfliction mechanism to end the fighting in Lebanon without Israel’s participation.

Lawmakers and Middle East analysts are expressing support for Washington’s reported agreement to help Oman strengthen its maritime intelligence and monitoring of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, saying the move could help secure free access to the critical waterway and deter Iranian influence.

Intelligence Online reported that Oman requested U.S. assistance to strengthen its maritime intelligence and provide surveillance on the Strait of Hormuz to protect shipping during the current ceasefire. The Pentagon received the request last month from the Royal Navy of Oman, sources told the outlet, and Washington has agreed to fulfill it by sending a defense contractor to address the immediate surveillance needs.

Throughout the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Oman has stated it is maintaining its traditional position of neutrality. However, Washington has heavily criticized Muscat for its ongoing backchannel diplomacy with Tehran, calling on the Gulf nation to sever ties and pick a side. 

U.S. officials have also chided Oman for refusing to directly condemn Tehran for drone attacks on regional infrastructure in the Gulf, and the Trump administration previously threatened military action if Muscat cooperated with Iran to impose fees or controls on shipping in the strait. Oman hosted Iranian officials to discuss the “administration” of the strait as recently as Tuesday.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) expressed support for the agreement, assessing that U.S.-Omani cooperation in the strait advances Washington’s interests.

“That would help America,” Kennedy told Jewish Insider. “Therefore, I’m for it. I think it’s great.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that while he did not have independent knowledge of the specifics, he believed closer cooperation is a welcome step.

“Any action that can ensure the strait remains open certainly ought to be welcome,” Blumenthal said. “If the United States can really use Oman’s help, or any other of the Gulf nations, it would be welcome.”

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), however, struck a more skeptical tone.

“Trust but verify,” Burchett said. “I have a hard time trusting anybody in the Middle East right now, so that’s all I can say.”

When asked whether the joint monitoring arrangement could successfully deter Iranian influence or keep the crucial passageway toll-free, Burchett remarked: “I would be wishful for that.”

“The lines change and they get blurred so fast over there,” Burchett added. “I think there’s a new sense of collaboration over there, because a lot of Muslim-leaning countries supported us in our efforts in Iran, so I think they’re sick of the fighting too.”

Analysts said the arrangement is not unusual given the decades-long U.S.-Oman intelligence partnership, but argued it could help repair the countries’ ties, which were strained during the conflict with Iran.

“It’s perfectly in keeping with the Trump administration’s cognitive dissonance to criticize and cooperate with Oman in the same breath,” Jonathan Ruhe, a director of foreign policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said. “Oman hasn’t been America’s closest Gulf partner, but it long depended on the United States to defend Hormuz against Iran.”

Simon Henderson, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, argued that “any policy which helps maintain and improve the ties [between the U.S. and Oman] deserves encouragement.”

“The U.S. needs Oman as an ally if it is to make sure that Iran does not dominate the Strait of Hormuz,” Henderson said. “It will be interesting to see whether the current tension is reparable. Oman is very sensitive to U.S. criticism and may well judge that the future represents a different relationship and direction.”

Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted that the arrangement yields intelligence benefits for Washington.

“The U.S. will expect to receive all of the intel generated by the Omani navy on the strait,” Fitton-Brown said. “It also keeps Oman, along with Qatar and Pakistan, as a mediator in future conflicts. Above all, the U.S. ability to manage future negotiations and crises in the strait will be enhanced, and it is likely to be able to dictate what stance Oman adopts in such negotiations and crises.”

Fitton-Brown added that while Oman has tried to behave neutrally, its core relationship of trust remains with the U.S. This assistance gives Muscat “reassurance that the U.S. still has confidence in it as an ally masquerading as neutral.”

“[Oman] was worried during the U.S.-Iran conflict that it might be forced to make an overt choice between the U.S. and GCC, which would have antagonized Iran,” Fitton-Brown noted. “Now Oman expects that it will be able to continue its cordial relations with Iran, and continue to host the Houthis, without angering the U.S.”

Ruhe added that the U.S. may be eager to assist due to the Trump administration’s focus on “anything that restores oil flowing from the Gulf and reverses the war’s economic costs here at home.”

Furthermore, analysts emphasized that enhanced surveillance capabilities allow Oman to safeguard its own sovereignty against Iran’s aspirations in the strait.

“Oman probably seeks to ensure that it is at least an equal partner with Iran in arrangements over the passage through the strait,” Henderson said.

Fitton-Brown agreed, noting that the Omanis are “trying to understand the future status of the strait and need all the help they can get.”

“The focus is the Strait of Hormuz, which is likely because of Iranian assertiveness in the strait which infringes upon Omani national security,” Fitton-Brown said. “The Omani navy does not lack capability but is looking for enhancement, particularly in the fields of real-time surveillance and fusion of data from different forms of intelligence collection, including open source. The requirement will be for a training program, which can be provided by a U.S. contractor with an intelligence background.”

With Janeese Lewis George’s victory in last week’s Democratic primary, Washington, D.C., is expected to become the third major city in the country, after Seattle and New York, with a democratic socialist serving as mayor. 

Now, Jewish Washingtonians who were unsettled by Lewis George’s stance on Zionism, as articulated in a Democratic Socialists of America endorsement questionnaire in which she said she would reject the “Zionist lobby,” are grappling with how to approach her tenure as mayor. 

Mainstream Jewish organizations tasked with local lobbying and advocacy efforts appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach, while cautioning Lewis George that they will be monitoring her tenure in office to make sure she does not assume positions that exclude segments of the city — including Jewish supporters of Israel.

“We hope to work with her, and we will work with her,” Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told Jewish Insider on Friday. “But at the same time we’re also going to be watching to make sure that she lives up to her promises to make this an inclusive city, where all feel they can participate equally, and that all people, regardless of their backgrounds, are welcomed — Zionists as well.” (In February, Halber called DSA’s requirements for backing local candidates “an antisemitic manifesto.”) 

Anti-Defamation League Washington regional director Tali Cohen expressed a similar sentiment.

“We look forward to continuing our work with local leaders,” Cohen said in a post on X, “while also holding them accountable to combat antisemitism and ensure Jewish voices are included in our nation’s capital.” 

Lewis George, who has served on the D.C. Council since 2020, defeated Kenyan McDuffie by a double-digit margin, 54%-36%, in last week’s primary. During the campaign, she presented a proudly progressive vision for the city, leaning into an affordability message and offering proposals for universal childcare and housing construction that were described as unrealistic by her opponent. 

Lewis George’s campaign was powered largely by labor unions, but also by activists with DSA, of which Lewis George has been a member for years. The group’s endorsement questionnaire included a lengthy section on Israel. “I will refrain from going on any political junkets to Israel. I will also not attend events focused on obfuscating the realities of occupation or promoting Zionism and apartheid,” Lewis George wrote. In a candidate forum hosted by the JCRC in May, she declined to answer when asked to clarify her views on Zionism. 

McDuffie’s strategy included campaigning within the Jewish community and contrasting himself to Lewis George by saying he would have shunned an endorsement from DSA and that he would be a mayor “for all D.C.” The issue of Israel never rose to a major focus for the campaign, and instead the candidates’ approaches to the city’s economic challenges — and its complicated relationship with President Donald Trump and federal oversight — proved to be driving factors in the race. 

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld served for nearly 20 years as the rabbi at Ohev Sholom Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue in Lewis George’s ward. He now runs a small yeshiva in the area, and told JI he is concerned about her election as mayor.

“We need to be on guard. We need to be ready to challenge her, and [these are] concerning times,” said Herzfeld, who told JI he never heard back from her office when he reached out after she was elected to the D.C. Council in 2020. “She’s clearly surrounded herself with people who are anti-Zionists.”

After the Associated Press called the race for her on Thursday, Lewis George hosted a press conference at Busboys and Poets, a Washington bookstore and restaurant that regularly hosts speakers with an anti-Israel bent. (Its 14th Street location, where Lewis George spoke, has a mural painted on the wall showing a group of left-wing leaders and activists sitting at a table together; one of the legs of the table has the words “Long Live the Intifada” painted on top of it, and another says “From the River to the Sea, free Palestine.”)

Lewis George touted “the broad coalition I was able to build,” and specifically mentioned Jews United for Justice, a left-wing Jewish group that supported her campaign. 

“So many different people came into the JUFJ campaign fund because they were excited about Janeese, and I think that really speaks to something special about this election,” JUFJ’s D.C. director, Yael Shafritz, told JI. Shafritz said JUFJ does not take foreign policy issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into account when supporting candidates, but that its members felt Lewis George had taken a strong position on antisemitism.

“All the candidates we endorsed actually gave incredible answers about how they would support the Jewish community around fighting antisemitism,” Shafritz said. After Lewis George met with Washington rabbis in March following the release of the DSA endorsement questionnaire, she released a statement saying it is not a conflict to support “Palestinian human rights” and to “stand firm in my commitment against antisemitism.” 

Lewis George represents Ward Four, which encompasses several neighborhoods in the northernmost part of Washington, including Petworth, Brightwood, Fort Totten, Sixteenth Street Heights and Shepherd Park. The district includes two synagogues — the Orthodox Ohev Sholom and the Conservative Tifereth Israel Congregation — and Milton Gottesman Jewish Day school, a pluralistic pre-K-8 school. 

“There’s a lot of very progressive Jews in Ward Four, and they seem to support her and not have antisemitism as a central campaign issue,” said one of Lewis George’s Ward Four constituents, who requested anonymity because her job does not allow her to speak to the media. “I think there’s an equal amount of Jews like me who want to support her on social policies because we think they’ll make D.C. better, but antisemitism was my number one campaign issue, and how you handle antisemitism. I don’t feel confident that she’ll do much to battle it.” 

Voters in Washington, D.C., appeared poised to select Councilmember Janeese Lewis George to be their Democratic nominee for mayor, all but guaranteeing that she will be elected in November to replace Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is not seeking another term after 12 years in office. The race has not been called, but Lewis George leads by more than 15,000 votes with 64% of the votes counted.

Lewis George, a 38-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America, ran a campaign powered by local labor unions that was focused on cost-of-living issues and countering President Donald Trump. She is on track to defeat Kenyan McDuffie, a former councilmember who ran on a more pragmatic platform that eschewed DSA’s brand of radical politics. 

The candidates’ views on Israel did not define the race, but they were a throughline in the background. Lewis George filled out a DSA endorsement questionnaire early in the campaign in which she pledged to avoid engaging with “the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups.” Later, she promised to stand firm in fighting antisemitism while also supporting Palestinian human rights. McDuffie tried to use the comments to appeal to anti-DSA voters and Jewish Washingtonians. 

Lewis George will represent a shift from Bowser, a moderate Democrat who in 2019 led a trade mission to Israel and who regularly addressed the annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington before AIPAC canceled the event after 2020. 

Elsewhere in Washington, Councilmember Robert White was elected in the Democratic primary to serve as Washington’s delegate to Congress, a nonvoting role. He’ll succeed Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is retiring after 35 years. 

Aparna Raj, a DSA-backed candidate for D.C. Council, appeared likely to win the Democratic primary for Ward 1, a district that includes the neighborhoods of Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights. She told the D.C. Jewish Community Relations Council in a voter guide released last month that she “will not work with AIPAC or organizations whose mission is to lobby for pro-Israel policies.” 

Meanwhile, it was a short night in Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) quickly claimed victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley in a Senate primary runoff. Collins picked up a last-minute endorsement from President Donald Trump, while Dooley’s backing by Gov. Brian Kemp wasn’t enough to push him to victory.

Collins ultimately finished the race around 10 points ahead of Dooley, a similar margin as in the primary election earlier this year. Dooley dominated in Atlanta and Athens, Ga., home of the University of Georgia, while Collins led around the rest of the state.

Dooley was widely seen as the more moderate and more electable of the two Republicans, as compared to Collins, who has been trailed by a series of scandals. Republicans may struggle to reclaim the seat from Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) with Collins as their standard-bearer in the race.

The race may also present a difficult choice for Jewish voters in the state, many of whom have been frustrated by Ossoff’s leftward turn on Israel issues and repeated votes to block arms sales. Some Jewish Ossoff donors sought, earlier in the cycle, to recruit Kemp to run for the seat.

But Collins might not be a palatable alternative for some Jewish voters, having endorsed a post by an antisemitic X account attacking a reporter for being Jewish. His current chief of staff was also recently revealed to be part of a group chat with several white nationalists, where he discussed his efforts to use his congressional influence to free a Holocaust denying far-right activist from prison. He also opposed the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

Many prominent Jewish conservatives supported Dooley in the primary, but could line up behind Collins for the general, given his consistently pro-Israel voting record in the House.

Already, some commentators are discussing the possibility that a decisive victory by Ossoff in the critical swing state could massively boost the rising Democratic star’s chances in the 2028 presidential primary, should he decide to throw his hat in the ring.

Today’s mayoral primary in Washington, D.C., has not gotten the same kind of frenzied national attention that accompanied recent mayoral contests in New York City, which pitted Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, against a centrist Democrat, and in Los Angeles, where Republican Spencer Pratt made an insurgent bid against Mayor Karen Bass and Nithya Raman, a Democrat Socialists of America-affiliated councilmember.

Still, there are some similar dynamics in the race in Washington, where DSA member Janeese Lewis George, a District councilmember, faces Kenyan McDuffie, a former councilmember running a more moderate campaign. And, like in New York, divisions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have surfaced in a way that would once have been unexpected in a municipal election, at least before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. 

Early this year, Lewis George sparked concern among some Jewish Washingtonians when she said in a DSA questionnaire that she would not attend events that “promot[e] Zionism” and that she would avoid engaging with “the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups.” 

She has since done a degree of damage control — meeting privately with rabbis and pledging at a Jewish candidate forum last month not to exclude people “based on your opinions or feelings on matters here and across the world,” even as she avoided answering a question asking her to clarify her views on Zionism. In March, she said it is not a conflict to support “Palestinian human rights” and to “stand firm in my commitment against antisemitism.” 

McDuffie saw an opening with the DSA endorsement kerfuffle, particularly when talking to Jewish voters, a constituency he has sought to engage. He told Jewish Insider in April that he would not seek the endorsement of DSA or any organization “that requires some sort of divisive pledge to exclude people that are a part of the fabric of the community.” And he has opted not to weigh in on questions about Israel at all, saying it is not the role of a mayor to conduct foreign policy. 

But zoom out, and the candidates’ approaches to Israel and Jewish communal issues were not front and center in the closing days of this race. The campaign has otherwise zeroed in on cost-of-living concerns and a dispute over who will better be able to counter President Donald Trump. 

Last week, Trump waded into the race for the first time when a reporter asked what he thought of a socialist candidate running a “Zohran Mamdani campaign,” referring to the mayor of New York. “I wouldn’t like it,” he said. “Maybe we’d take back Washington and run it on the federal basis. We won’t put up with it.” 

In deep-blue Washington, the threat from Trump has united both McDuffie and Lewis George in doubling down on their opposition to the president and his threat to meddle in local politics, a sensitive topic for the District, which was not allowed by Congress to elect its own government until 1973. 

McDuffie told CNN that the best way to counter Trump is not to give him what he wants (namely, Lewis George): “If you believe Donald Trump is a threat to D.C.’s local autonomy, then the last thing we should do is elect someone whose agenda would make it easier for him to justify federal intervention.”

Lewis George called Trump’s comments “an attack on democracy itself.”

“The people of D.C. elect their mayor, and they want someone who’s going to stand up to Donald Trump,” she said in a recent campaign video. 

Polling in the race has been scarce. A Washington Post poll conducted in late May found Lewis George leading McDuffie by 11 points, with a quarter of voters still undecided. Today’s election is the first open mayoral race since Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is backing McDuffie, was elected 12 years ago. Whoever wins will usher in a new political era for the nation’s capital.

Top Trump administration officials shared new details on Monday about the memorandum of understanding reached by the U.S. and Iran over the weekend, arguing that the new agreement is substantially better than the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and could pave the way for a new relationship between Washington and Tehran.

During an interview with CNBC, Vice President JD Vance said he expects the Strait of Hormuz to be opened immediately “in a toll-free way for the long term.” Vance indicated that he has observed more traffic flow in the strait following the announcement of the deal, but that the way in which the strait fully opens will be determined in technical negotiations. 

“What this agreement does is say to the Iranians that ‘You don’t have access to the money to rebuild that nuclear program, but if you’re willing to give up that program long-term, if you’re willing to accept the inspections and verification regime that’s necessary to give us the confidence you’re never going to have a nuclear weapon, then we want you to be a prosperous country, and we will re-invite you into the community of nations,’” Vance said.

Vance said that Iran has agreed to never develop or procure a nuclear weapon and that the U.S. will ensure its stockpile of enriched material is destroyed, adding that technical talks will determine if U.S. ground troops will observe or play an active role in destroying it. He also argued that the latest MOU differs from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed under former President Barack Obama in 2015.

The vice president has stated that Iran’s nuclear program and capacity to enrich uranium have both been devastated by the U.S. and Israeli military campaign. 

“We have comprehensively destroyed their nuclear program, and this agreement is about ensuring that they don’t rebuild it,” Vance said. “The JCPOA was mainly about bribing them to stop the construction or to cease a nuclear program that was already in progress. It’s a very different background, a very different sort of leverage, and I think really a different outcome for the American people.”

Vance also dismissed reports that Iran would receive billions of dollars without the funding being conditioned on the completion of certain steps, a clarification he made during an interview with CBS. 

“When people say that billions of dollars of assets will be released, that’s not true,” Vance said. “What is true is that [there will be] a much better and much more prosperous future if they [Iran] meet the obligations they make in this agreement … that’s one of the things we’re going to work out in the technical talks that will follow the official signing on Friday.”

Vance stressed that the Iranians would attain frozen or other monetary assets only upon meeting verifiable benchmarks. He confirmed that Iran could receive $300 billion in reconstruction funding, as well as $24 billion in frozen assets, but emphasized that the funding would be conditioned on Tehran meeting its obligations.

“It’s set up in such a way where we’re going to have to attach their commitments to deliverables that then are met with economic benefits for the Iranian people,” Vance said on CNN. “On the other hand, if they [Iran] try to rebuild it [their nuclear program] they’re never going to get the financial resources that they would need to rebuild.” 

The vice president said that the U.S. has not expended “a single dollar of sanctions relief or unfrozen assets,” stating that reports otherwise are likely from hardliners “within the Iranian system…in an effort to sell it to certain domestic populations.” 

However, Vance said the U.S. is “open to a lot of things that are on the table.”

“That $24 billion just doesn’t appear anywhere in any of the texts that we’ve talked about with the Iranians,” Vance said. “What we have said is that we’re willing to talk about unfreezing assets, but a much, much bigger deal is un-sanctioning their economy, so long as they make the long-term commitments on the nuclear program.”

When asked whether the agreement would require Iran to halt support for U.S.-designated terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, Vance indicated that it would, although the specific wording in the agreement appeared to be vague.

“What paragraph one of the agreement says is effectively that Iran commits itself, just as the United States commits itself, to regional peace and stability and part of that is that the Iranians have to stop funding violent terrorist organizations,” Vance said. “They know that we don’t want them to fund terrorist organizations..and be a source of instability in the region.”

The vice president touted the “level of direct connection” established through the latest negotiations, noting that “the people at the highest levels of the United States government are talking to the people at the highest levels of the Iranian government.”

“This is a very interesting thing about these negotiations, is you see people, both the hardliners, but also the more political people, saying, ‘Our relationship with the United States over the past 47 years has been a mistake. Let’s turn over a new leaf,’” he added.

A senior administration official told reporters on Monday that an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon would not be part of the deal, despite Iranian officials’ insistence that it would be included.

The senior administration official confirmed that nuclear discussions would likely occur first and said the agreement “contemplates” the reduction of U.S. military forces in the region “upon the agreement of a final deal.” However, the official noted that Iran will need to “make some concessions and give up some of their activities and some of their nuclear program.”

A senior U.S. official called out “hardliners on both sides,” saying that they are rooting against “compromise” and “making a lot of noise.”

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” the official said. “I think that in any field that I’ve been involved in, I would say nobody roots for the referee. There’s not really a constituency for compromise. So what you’re seeing now is that the hardliners on both sides…we have certain people in the American system who say there’s no deal you could ever do with Iran ever, are obviously making a lot of noise.”

While the full details of the MOU have yet to be released, President Donald Trump indicated on Monday that he expects the document to be made public “sometime after Friday.” 

“I want it to be released because it is a really powerful document,” Trump told reporters during a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France. “It is not like the Obama documents.”

However, Trump warned that should the deal fall apart, tensions between the U.S. and Iran could return to “where we started.”

“We have done a great job and hopefully it is going to be a good relationship, and we are going to get along,” Trump said. “If we don’t, we go back to where we started, but I don’t think that is necessary.”

Former George W. Bush administration official Joel Scanlon was announced on Monday as the new president and CEO of the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. 

The outgoing CEO, John P. Walters, also came out of the Bush administration, where he served as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The institute is closely associated with the Republican Party’s hawkish, more interventionist wing, and its slate of experts is considered strongly pro-Israel.

After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, Walters released a statement saying that Hudson “will always stand on the side of Israel.” Hudson has since doubled down on its support for the U.S.-Israel alliance, even as some GOP-aligned groups — such as the Heritage Foundation, one of the most influential conservative think tanks — have recently taken a more isolationist approach to foreign policy.

At the end of the Bush administration, Scanlon served as director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. Scanlon joined Hudson in 2014, moving through several senior roles, including his current position as executive vice president. He will start as president and CEO in January.

Good Monday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran announced yesterday is playing in Washington and Jerusalem, and report on how officials in World Cup host cities are addressing security concerns around the Iranian national team’s U.S. matches. We profile former White House official Hagar Hajjar Chemali as she launches the Lebanon-Israel Peace Alliance, and spotlight the GOP Senate runoff taking place tomorrow in Georgia. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Tony Blair, Sen. Mitch McConnell and Brig. Gen. Hisam Ibrahim.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

What We’re Watching

• President Donald Trump is traveling to France today for the G7 after attending last night’s UFC fights at the White House as part of the U.S.’ America 250 celebrations. On the South Lawn last night, the president was seen kibbitzing with a number of high-profile names in business and entertainment, including David Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg. Read more here.
• Former Vice President Mike Pence will speak at a members-only event at the National Press Club tonight as part of the NPC Headliners series.
• In Israel, Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi is meeting with senior Israeli officials today. Abdullahi arrived in Israel yesterday after several days in the United Arab Emirates.
• Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ashley Moody (R-FL) are slated to host a press conference in St. Petersburg, Fla., alongside the Justice Department’s Leo Terrell opposing the use of taxpayer dollars for two upcoming Kanye West concerts slated to take place in Tampa later this month.
• In New York, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander will face off tonight in a PIX11 televised debate.
• The Jewish Council on Public Affairs’ two-day national summit concludes today in New York.
• Elsewhere in New York, Join Israel is hosting a fundraiser at Midtown Manhattan’s Jerry Orbach theater featuring a bevy of Broadway stars, including a performance by Tovah Feldshuh. Proceeds from the event will benefit at-risk children in Israel.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S s

A year and a day after Israeli fighter jets first opened fire above Iran, setting off a year of intermittent fighting and numerous failed negotiations, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that an agreement with Iran to end the war had been reached. A signing ceremony set for later this week in Switzerland — which is expected to be attended by Vice President JD Vance — will kick off a 60-day negotiation period to address Iran’s nuclear program and U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

For Americans, the deal closes a chapter that saw high gas and food prices as well as schisms in the GOP as the party’s wings fought over how the war should be fought and ended. Among Democrats, legislators and activists from the party’s progressive wing — from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to the National Iranian American Council’s Trita Parsi (who additionally gloated, “Netanyahu failed!”) — praised the deal.

But Israel was not part of the negotiations, nor did it have final say in what was in the agreement inked between Washington and Tehran. As the Is were dotted and Ts were crossed on the agreement, tensions between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — already on display following Israel’s threatened escalation last week in Beirut, followed by an actual escalation on Sunday when Israel struck Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood — deepened.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on X on Sunday that he was “somewhat concerned” that Iran’s account of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal diverges sharply from what the U.S. negotiators are claiming, and demanded Vice President JD Vance personally present the deal to Congress. More below.

The vice president, who two months ago traveled to Pakistan for high-level negotiations with Iranian officials, has increasingly become the public face of the Iran talks. In an interview last week that aired yesterday on “CBS Sunday Morning,” Vance said he believed “that we are in a position to get a deal that is good for the United States economically and that really does deal with the Iranian nuclear program” in the long term.

For Vance, the success or failure of the deal, and of the negotiations to follow, could become one of the defining political issues of his rumored 2028 presidential bid — one in which he will likely find himself up against Secretary of State Marco Rubio in what could be a bruising primary.

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

FINE PRINT

Graham demands administration present the Iran deal to Congress

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on Sunday he is “somewhat concerned” that Iran’s account of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal diverges sharply from what the U.S. negotiators are claiming, and demanded Vice President JD Vance personally present the deal to Congress, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Notable quotable: “I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming,” Graham said on X. “I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architect of the deal, Vice President Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of the process in presenting the final deal to Congress.”

Read the full story here.

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EYE ON THE BALL

Iran’s World Cup appearance puts security officials on alert

As the Iranian national soccer team begins the 2026 World Cup amid high-level diplomatic negotiations to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, American security officials — and American Jewish communities already operating under elevated threat conditions — are facing challenges beyond soccer, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.

Measures taken: The team is not allowed to stay on U.S. soil overnight; it relocated its training camp from Tucson, Ariz., to Tijuana, Mexico, and will return to Mexico after the final whistle of each of its matches. The host cities are already on alert: Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, a Democrat, said she was briefed on a “credible threat” to the city during the World Cup, which so alarmed her that she decided to turn on CCTV cameras around the soccer stadium for the duration of the games, counter to her longstanding opposition to the surveillance system.

Read the full story here.

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PITCH PERFECT

A Lebanese Zionist’s long-shot bid to reshape the Middle East

Hagar Hajjar Chemali, a self-described “Lebanese Zionist” who is half Jewish and half Christian, is betting that a historic opening can help break through the distrust that has long defined relations between Lebanon and Israel. The former Bush and Obama administration official recently launched the Lebanon-Israel Peace Alliance, an unofficial effort to support the first direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials since 1983, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. 

Unique ability: “It’s about the art of the possible. Lebanese-Israeli peace is not particularly easy to achieve,” said Daniel Glaser, a former assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes. He hired Chemali for her first job at the Treasury Department. “What’s going to get it done is the ability to understand what’s possible, and how to get to that possible within the U.S. system, within Israel and the Israeli system, within Lebanon and the infinitely complicated Lebanese system. There’s not a lot of people that have the ability to do that more than Hagar.” 

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PEACH STATE RACE

Rep. Mike Collins favored in Georgia runoff against Kemp-backed Derek Dooley

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who has repeatedly faced controversy during his time in the House, appears favored to win the Republican Senate primary runoff in Georgia against Derek Dooley, a former college football coach backed by popular moderate GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

State of play: Collins led Dooley 41-30% in the May 19 Republican primary, with Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) coming in at 25%. The runoff is Tuesday, with the winner to face Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in November. President Donald Trump endorsed Collins — generally seen as the more MAGA-aligned candidate — late on Saturday, while Kemp — who national Republicans initially sought to recruit for the race — has been aggressively campaigning around the Peach State in support of Dooley. 

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SHOW OF SUPPORT

Bernie Sanders to appear with Mamdani’s N.Y. congressional slate

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is set to join a rally in New York City on Thursday with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a trio of candidates he is backing in closely watched New York City House races, The New York Times reports. The event, which will be held five days before the June 23 primary at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, will lend a jolt of momentum to Mamdani’s preferred slate of far-left congressional candidates — including democratic socialists Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last election cycle, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Zoom out: The senator’s decision to appear at the rally next week is notable in part because he will be aiding Mamdani in his efforts to unseat two Democratic incumbents, Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), who have drawn backlash from the left over their support for Israel and ties to the pro-Israel group AIPAC, a chief source of criticism in the races.

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TAX CONSEQUENCES

Treasury guidance offers boost to Jewish groups preparing for new education tax credit

Jewish advocacy groups are celebrating a new set of wonky tax guidelines released last week by the Treasury Department that offer clarity into a new federal education tax credit that they hope will help more Jewish families access day school education, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Sneak peek: Education-focused nonprofits have been awaiting guidance from the federal government about the program, which provides a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for people who donate up to $1,700 to organizations that fund certain approved education expenses, like private school tuition and tutoring costs. Last week, Kevin Salinger, the Treasury Department’s deputy assistant secretary for tax policy, did a whirlwind tour of virtual briefings with nonprofits to preview the forthcoming new guidance.

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Worthy Reads

Losing Battle: The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols posits that the U.S. has lost the war with Iran following President Donald Trump’s announcement that an agreement between the countries had been reached. “But even before we have the details, it is clear that Trump has failed to achieve every one of the goals he put forward for this war of choice, and now he is determined to sign, seal, and deliver America’s capitulation as quickly as possible. … Indeed, the United States has perhaps done worse than gaining nothing. Iran, while temporarily weakened, is now an even more powerful political actor: The regime in Tehran stood up to a massive U.S. onslaught, survived, and then inflicted pain on various states in the Gulf as punishment for going along with Trump’s war.” [TheAtlantic]

Power Broker: The Wall Street Journal’s Benoit Faucon and Summer Said spotlight Ahmad Vahidi, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who has played a key role in U.S.-Iran talks. “For months, Vahidi, an enigmatic commander whose predecessor was killed on the first day of the war, has tussled with more public-facing, political figures in the Iranian leadership. Each time, he has come out on top. Vahidi’s position at the top of the regime’s most powerful armed force means his perspective is now shaping Iran’s stance in negotiations to end the war, say mediators involved in the talks. His forces are in charge of imposing Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the regime’s strongest card in negotiations.” [WSJ]

Life of Service: In Sapir, Anne Neuberger, who served as deputy national security advisor for cyber in the Biden administration, calls for the Jewish community to prioritize public service, calling it a “religious imperative” in addition to a civic necessity. “My commitment  —  and that of many of my colleagues  —  to public service was rooted in the spiritual idea that each person has a divine mission that requires channeling her personal gifts toward the public good. For me, that was in the realm of security, but there are so many aspects of public service that have nothing to do with security: law, accounting, engineering, economics, you name it. … The American Jewish community should encourage our children to see a badge, a security clearance, or a civil service ID as a form of kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of God’s name.” [Sapir]

The Art of Erasure: The New York Times’ Sharon Waxman interviews Israeli artists about the challenges they face as anti-Israel sentiment balloons across the arts, largely sidelining Israeli creatives regardless of their political beliefs. “The five I met at the hotel have concluded they can no longer have a good-faith discussion with the outside world since they believe their own survival is at stake. Their reactions struck me as a kind of emotional armor against the judgment of the West. ‘After Oct. 7, you realize you have no one else to trust. We are on our own,’ said the songwriter Aya Korem. … Ms. Korem noted how nearly everyone in Israeli society has been affected by the war. ‘You become humble in front of that and you remember what is important. Your art is the continuation of that. And our moral obligation is to that humility, and to the stories of people who paid actual prices.’” [NYTimes]

Word on the Street

Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sits on the Board of Peace‘s executive board, is set to take on a larger role in the organization, overseeing postwar management in the Gaza Strip…

A spokesperson for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Kentucky senator was hospitalized on Sunday and is receiving “excellent care”…

The head of the Florida Republican Party said it had rescinded an invitation to far-right gubernatorial candidate James Fishback for the party’s upcoming Sunshine State Showdown as well as “all other official gubernatorial primary activities,” adding, “Racism and antisemitism have no place in our Party”…

Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, suggested at an event on Friday that the Trump administration had indicted a group of anti-Israel demonstrators at the University of Michigan for their beliefs, rather than their actions, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The heir to the Lion Raisins brand was arrested by police in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and charged with making criminal threats to a neighbor who is a rabbi; video shared by the New York Post and its local affiliate appear to show Bruce Lion shouting antisemitic slurs from a balcony that overlooked the rabbi’s property, interrupting gatherings…

Four British activists associated with the Palestine Action group were sentenced to prison terms between four and eight years for their participation in a 2024 raid at an Elbit Systems compound in Bristol that caused more than £1 million in damage at the Israeli defense firm’s facility… 

Fifteen people were arrested amid protests outside a synagogue in the Edgware neighborhood of London that was hosting an Israeli real estate event; more than 1,000 people were estimated to have taken part in the protest and counter-demonstration…

In The Wall Street Journal, Phelim McAleer, who with his wife Ann wrote a play about the survivors of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, reflects on antisemitism in his native Ireland ahead of “Bloomsday,” an unofficial holiday celebrating author James Joyce’s Ulysses and its main character, a Jewish man named Leopold Bloom…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz named Brig. Gen. Hisam Ibrahim to serve as the next IDF military secretary; Ibrahim, currently the head of the IDF’s Civil Administration, is one of the most senior Druze officers in the army…

Film critic Gene Shalit, a fixture on NBC’s “Today” show for more than 40 years, died at 100…

Pic of the Day

Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi after the African leader arrived in Israel on Sunday. Abdullahi’s visit comes six months after Israel recognized Hargeisa’s sovereignty, becoming the first country to officially do so.

Birthdays

Chief political correspondent for CNN, born Dana Ruth Schwartz, Dana Bash turns 55…  

Former president of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, Stuart C. Turgel… Former president of the National Rifle Association, Sandra S. (Sandy) Froman turns 77… Ethicist and professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, Laurie Zoloth turns 76… Internationally recognized authority on Yiddish folk and theater music, Zalmen Mlotek turns 75… Entrepreneur, currently living in Estonia, he rebuilt a synagogue and a community center in Estonia, Alexander Bronstein turns 72… President and CEO of the PR firm Edelman, founded by his father Daniel Edelman in 1952, Richard Winston Edelman turns 72… Chief rabbi of Poland, Rabbi Michael Schudrich turns 71… Israeli Druze politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud, Fateen Mulla turns 66… Novelist, screenwriter, teacher and freelance journalist, Jill Eisenstadt turns 63… First woman certified by the NFLPA as a player agent, she is now general counsel for USA Football, Ellen Marsha Zavian turns 63… Director at Citrin Cooperman Advisors, Reuben Rutman… Los Angeles-based attorney, Daniel Brett Lacesa… Former regional director of the ADL based in Los Angeles, now managing member of Abrams Advisors, Jeffrey I. Abrams… Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, now deputy publisher of The Athletic and Wirecutter at The New York Times Company, Clifford J. Levy turns 59… Retired news anchor for Israel Public Broadcasting, she is married to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Geula Even Sa’ar turns 54… Former head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama, she is the author of 2025’s As A Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us, Sarah Hurwitz… Ethiopian-born Israeli marathoner, he represented Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Zohar Zimro turns 49… Co-anchor of a CNN global news show, Bianna Golodryga turns 48…  Former chief of staff to Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), Adam Jentleson turns 45… Co-founder of Evergreen Strategy Group, he is a former director of speechwriting for Hillary Clinton and was also the principal collaborator on memoirs published by HRC, Daniel Baum Schwerin… Director of corporate communications and public affairs at Google, Rebecca Michelle Ginsberg Rutkoff… Chief advancement officer at Birthright Israel Foundation, Jaclyn “Jackie” Saxe Soleimani… Senior recruiter at The Carlyle Group, Victoria Edelman Klapper … PBS News correspondent Ali S. Weinberg Rogin… Associate at Affinity Partners, Elli Sweet… Jimmy Ritter… Joel Winton…

Middle East experts warned on Monday that the Trump administration’s attempts to prevent Israel’s military retaliation against Iran and its pursuit of a swift diplomatic breakthrough with Tehran are exposing a fundamental breakdown in strategic alignment between Washington and Jerusalem. This dynamic is actively undermining American leverage and hardening Tehran’s resolve both at the negotiating table and on the battlefield, the analysts argued.

Following an exchange of airstrikes on Sunday and Monday between Israel and Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abided by a request from President Donald Trump to pause further strikes on Iranian territory. Jerusalem made clear, however, that it will proceed with operations against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. 

Analysts argued that Trump’s recent moves to restrain Israel are backfiring by degrading U.S. deterrence, emboldening Iran and showcasing the fundamentally diverging interests between Washington and Jerusalem regarding the ultimate outcome of the war.

Speaking at a webinar hosted by the hawkish Jewish Institute for National Security of America, Amb. Eric Edelman, a distinguished fellow at JINSA and former White House official, said that the president’s behavior makes the U.S. appear “desperate for a deal.”

“The president has, over the course of several weeks, basically signaled to the Iranians in multiple ways that he is very reluctant to return to kinetic military activity,” Edelman said. “I think that just continues this pattern of suggesting to the Iranians that he really is very anxious for a deal, and I think that’s actually undercutting his leverage with them because it only leads them [Iran] to harden their positions and makes it harder, not easier, to get a deal.”

Edelman added that Iran has actively sought to “take advantage” of this perceived diplomatic anxiety, taking a “much more forward position defending their proxies in Lebanon than they did earlier when Israel was reducing Hezbollah very significantly.”

Ari Cicurel, an assistant director of foreign policy at JINSA, agreed that the administration’s apparent urgency to reach a deal removes vital military deterrence to back up U.S. diplomacy.

“The president has signaled that he is highly prioritizing reaching some deal, and is willing to restrain Israel in order to do that,” Cicurel told Jewish Insider. “That’s a dangerous scenario, in terms of Iran’s potential for aggression, as well as undermines his own ability to reach that deal, because without the credible threat of a military option, Iran is unlikely to make any concessions that would lead to any semblance of a good deal.”

Cicurel noted that restraining Israel at this juncture is particularly “dangerous” given what is at stake regarding the “potential for resumption of major combat operations.” He cautioned that the moves by the Trump administration represent “another example of tensions between U.S. and Israeli leaders undermining deterrence,” giving Tehran a distinct operational gap to exploit.

Robert Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the recent escalation was similar to April 2024, during which former President Joe Biden “urged Israel to ‘take the win’ of defending against Iranian missiles and not to retaliate.”

“In this instance, as then, Israel politely declined U.S. preferences and responded to the Iranian attack with a carefully calibrated retaliatory strike that quickly led to de-escalation,” he said.

The friction underscores a broadening rift in the wartime goals of the two close partners, experts said. While the White House remains intensely focused on domestic economic issues and regional stability, Jerusalem views the conflict as a historic window to permanently dismantle Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and regional proxy architecture.

“At this point in the war, Trump and Netanyahu have different interests at play,” Rachel Brandenburg, a senior policy analyst at Israel Policy Forum, told JI. “Trump’s priority is to re-open the Strait of Hormuz to stabilize global energy markets and bring down the price of fuel, and Netanyahu wants to continue degrading Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and nuclear program.”

Trump, she said, “promised Israel a level of victory over Iran that is far from what has transpired. Trump seems to want the war to end so he can move on, and Netanyahu would prefer the opportunity to finish the job Israel and the U.S. started on Feb. 28.” She added, “Both have election politics in mind, with Israeli elections on the horizon for [the fall] and U.S. midterm elections in November. At the moment the war isn’t helping either of them.”

Brandenburg noted that Trump has aimed to restrain Netanyahu “for some time” across both the Iran and Lebanon fronts, but emphasized that an independent Israeli strike after Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel on Sunday remained necessary, despite Washington’s public calls for a pause. “It would have been too much for Israel to sit tight without responding after Iran targeted Israel directly. Whether Iran continues to strike Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon may have more bearing on what the next phase of the war looks like than Trump,” she said.

A central point of contention has emerged over the linkage of fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon to the broader ceasefire with Iran. Experts warn that Washington has mistakenly tolerated an Iranian strategy designed to shield its primary proxy by tying the fighting in Lebanon directly to the broader U.S.-Iran diplomatic track, even as Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he is “not demanding” Lebanon be part of a deal with Iran despite saying Tehran “would like to see it.” 

“Clearly before the attacks, Iran had been seeking to tie the Israel-Hezbollah exchange of fire against one another, as well as the diplomacy between them, with the diplomacy and ceasefire in Iran,” Cicurel noted. “In President Trump seeking to restrain Israel after Iran has attacked it, it unfortunately encourages Iran to continue that linkage and further encourages Iranian aggression.”

Satloff said that the latest round of fighting “was won by those who oppose Iran’s protection-racket scheme to bring Lebanon into its security orbit and under the umbrella of broader U.S.-Iran negotiations.”

“What is different between this round and April 2024 is that Iran has no conceivable legitimate justification to take any action against Israel,” Satloff said. “Iran is trying to claim that Israel’s action against other nationals in another country — Hezbollah in Lebanon — legitimizes its action. This is totally unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”

Edelman similarly noted that despite Israel’s extensive work to combat the network of Iranian-backed proxies surrounding the country, the administration’s pursuit of a swift ceasefire risks breathing new life into a severely weakened Iranian strategy.

“The Iranian strategy of creating a ring of fire around Israel is in shards,” Edelman said. “And I think as the ceasefire went on, as the Iranians perceived the president’s desire for an agreement, they came to believe that they might be able to rescue something.”

However, Edelman noted that the recent spike in violence does not signal that diplomacy is collapsing, explaining that all sides maintain incentives to pursue a deal.

“I don’t think it’s a signal that negotiations are over,” Edelman observed. He pointed out that “the Iranians actually kind of called a halt to this” round of exchanges to limit the blowback.

Edelman said that with the interior minister of Pakistan currently in Tehran, backchannel diplomatic contacts are actively continuing. He also said that “the Iranians are particularly anxious to get access to frozen funds,” but added that it is “a particular sore point” for Trump.

“I believe he [Trump] wants to try to persuade the American public that whatever deal this ends up being is going to be measurably better than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that President Obama agreed to in 2015,” Edelman said. “In my view that’s going to be a pretty tall order, but not giving the Iranians access to money before they perform whatever obligations they undertake as part of this deal will be a key part of that.”

The Congressional Dads Caucus is hosting children’s influencer Rachel Griffin-Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel, as a featured guest at a reception in Washington on Tuesday, according to an invitation obtained by Jewish Insider. Griffin-Accurso has faced scrutiny and criticism over antisemitic activity and for hosting a pro-Hamas Palestinian journalist on her social media accounts.

Griffin-Accurso is one of 10 “special guests,” including “leaders, advocates, creators, entertainers, and changemakers who are helping redefine fatherhood and caregiving in America,” at the Tuesday reception. 

The reception is co-hosted by the Dads Caucus, founded by Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), to advocate for policies including childcare affordability and accessibility, paid family leave and the child tax credit, ahead of the group’s Dad Ambassador Awards. The event is co-hosted by Equimundo, which describes itself as a nonprofit focused on promoting gender equality and preventing violence.

Gomez, whose office sent the invitation email to staffers for other Dads Caucus members, did not respond to a request for comment.

Griffin-Accurso faced criticism in early 2026 for liking an Instagram comment reading “Free america from the Jews.” She later apologized and said that the “like” was accidental. But she also engaged with conspiracy theories framing the incident as a set-up.

Griffin-Accurso responded, “ooooooooooohhhhh,” to a comment from an anti-Israel account about the incident asserting, “Spoiler alert: They left the comment themselves.”

She also came under fire for featuring Palestinian journalist Motaz Azaiza in a video on her Instagram account. Azaiza defended the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, and posted a message on Telegram praising Hamas terrorists. He also compared Israeli Cabinet leaders to Adolf Hitler.

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told JI that inviting Griffin-Accurso to the event was a “bad decision” and he did not plan to attend. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) also does not plan to attend.

Several other outspoken Jewish and pro-Israel members of the nearly 50-member caucus — which includes prominent moderates like Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) — did not respond to requests or declined to comment on the invitation.

Caucus membership can often be a largely symbolic gesture and most members of the group would not necessarily have been involved in planning the event or been aware of the guest list.

The State Department’s top legal advisor on Wednesday drew a direct connection from the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 — which sought to bring peace between the Israelis and Palestinians — to the global rise in Islamist terrorism, in remarks delivered at an event in Washington marking the anniversary of the deadly 1994 terror attacks on the AMIA Jewish Center in Buenos Aires. The suicide bombing, orchestrated by Hezbollah, killed 85 people and injured more than 300 others one year after the signing of the Oslo Accords at the White House. 

Diplomats, survivors of the attack, Jewish community members and State Department officials gathered on Wednesday at the U.S. Institute of Peace to commemorate the July 18 attacks, where U.S. and Argentine officials vowed to work together to fight Islamist terrorism. Reed Rubinstein, the State Department legal advisor, used his remarks to herald President Donald Trump’s efforts to fight terrorism, which he described as a course correction from decades of failed leadership. 

“The fruit of those accords paradoxically included a massive increase in brutal terrorism,” Rubinstein said, referring to the Oslo Accords. “Oslo led to an unprecedented wave of suicide bombing and death.”

He criticized activists who called the dead “sacrifices to peace,” chastising them for using biblical language “to justify the murder of many as ‘unfortunate but necessary’ sacrifices on the path to peace.”

“In those days, and for so many years after, when moral clarity and truth telling were required, the leadership failed,” said Rubinstein. He took aim at institutions like the United Nations, universities and the media for failing to speak out against antisemitism — and placed blame on Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden. 

“Candidly, prior to Jan. 20, 2025, the United States government more often than not failed, and in many cases failed spectacularly,” said Rubinstein. “But under President Trump, things have changed. Under his direction, the United States has taken and is taking decisive and unprecedented steps to fight antisemitism.” 

Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, called Argentina a “model for the world” in combating terrorism. He shared that two days earlier, during a visit to the South American country, he met with President Javier Milei and thanked him for designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. 

“Argentina has transformed from a beacon where terrorism once reigned supreme to a beacon of Jewish life,” said Kaploun. 

Other senior State Department officials at the event included Jacob Helberg, the under secretary of state for economic affairs; Thomas DiNanno, under secretary of state for arms control and international security; and the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, Gregory LoGerfo. Argentine Ambassador to the U.S. Alejandro Oxenford introduced the event, which was organized by Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. 

An emotional memorial ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Monday marking the one-year anniversary of the murders of Israeli Embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky was filled with many tears, some anger and even a few laughs.

Milgrim’s father, Robert, told an assembled crowd of dignitaries, Jewish leaders and D.C. staffers that he was saddened not only by the death of his daughter but by the ways in which her death exemplifies the challenges facing every Jewish community.

“I’m sad, not only because of the tragic loss of our daughter, but I’m sad due to the state of affairs in which Jews live today,” Robert Milgrim said. “We now live in a world where every Jewish institution needs to be protected by an armed guard wearing a bulletproof vest.”

He said that, in the wake of Milgrim’s death, “we have learned the true meaning of what it is to be a Jew, and even though we are scattered across many lands, we are all part of the same family. This family has provided us with the support, with the support that we need now, and for that I say, thank you to everyone here.”

He said that those gathered should honor Milgrim’s work by “doubling down on full, unapologetic bridge-building.”

Milgrim’s mother, Nancy, recounted her daughter’s upbringing as a member of a small Jewish community in Kansas and her growing love for Israel through multiple visits to the country.

“Sarah believed in the work she was doing at the embassy. She believed in bringing peace to the land she loved, and most of all, she loved Yaron,” Nancy Milgrim said. She added that, in spite of the tragedy, she has learned so much about her daughter and connected with those in her life in a way she might not otherwise have the opportunity to.

“Out of this tragic loss, old friendships were renewed and new friendships have been born. Seeds have been planted for many ways to honor Sarah’s memory and continue the work she was doing,” she continued.

Lischinsky’s father, Daniel, thanked the Israeli Embassy for the opportunities it gave the couple “to develop, to show their abilities, to bring them to life. Thank you to each one of you, the friends of them, for your friendship for them, loving them.”

He also thanked Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter for preserving their memory, keeping a photo of the couple in a prominent spot in his office visible in weekly videos he makes.

“We are going through difficult times in Israel and difficult times around the world, and it’s so important, like Bob and Nancy said, to be together, to be a community,” Daniel Lischinsky said. “We feel your support, we feel your love.”

Two friends and colleagues of the couple, Catherine Szkop and Abbie Talmoud, who were present the night of the shooting and narrowly escaped being killed themselves, also addressed the gathered audience.

Szkop was visibly angry during portions of her remarks discussing the “human safari that unfolded” on the sidewalk of the Capital Jewish Museum. She emphasized that it could have happened to anyone present.

“Every single person in this room should think of themselves as passing through this horrific attack. Indeed, it could have happened to you. It could have been your parents, your children, your spouse, your siblings, your grandparents and your friends mourning your death,” she said. “Instead, it was Sarah and Yaron, and it could have very well been Abbie and me too.”

Szkop said that she refuses to “diminish the human nature of those who actively choose to commit these acts of violence” by calling them “idiots, animals or monsters,” which “gives them an excuse or perhaps, even more troubling, the permission to pursue such heinous acts.”

“From the back of Yad Vashem, at the end of the museum, you can see the cemetery where Yaron is buried, while simultaneously hearing from the tour guide how we have moved beyond the times of the Holocaust and the murderous antisemitism of the Nazis and their collaborators,” she continued. “I urge you to reflect on that. Are we really so sure?”

Talmoud offered some moments of levity, describing the start of Milgrim and Lischinsky’s relationship when they first met on the National Mall during the March for Israel in November 2023 and how Lischinsky maneuvered to get Milgrim’s number to send a photo of them together at the rally. She spoke of their lives together, including their shared love of Milgrim’s dog, Annie, and their first Valentine’s Day as a couple.

“Anti-Zionism denies the Jewish people’s right to exist in their homeland. It is antisemitism, and because of anti-Zionism, my friends were murdered on the streets of Washington, D.C., in the name of Palestine,” Talmoud said. “Society has deemed this acceptable and moral. We must change that.”

Leo Terrell, a senior Department of Justice official focused on antisemitism, also broke down in tears when discussing the shooting. He invited his chief of staff, Sarah Goldman, to join him on stage, who was also in tears.

“This memorial has a personal impact on me, because my chief of staff and I were at the crime scene, where we witnessed the aftermath of this murder,” Terrell said. “We are now more committed than ever to fight antisemitism. To the family members: I will never say no to you. Ever.”

Terrell, who said he’s grown close with Lischinsky’s parents in the past year, tightly embraced the parents of both former embassy staffers.

Noa Ginosar, minister counselor for Middle Eastern Affairs at the embassy and Lischinsky’s former supervisor, said that she’s struggled most in moments where she can “so clearly imagine the questions [Yaron] would be asking, and the excitement he would feel as he would try to make sense of it all, and where it could lead.”

“There are still moments when I want his advice, moments when I walk into the office and instinctively expect him to walk through the door, moments when I find myself wanting to sit down with him and talk through a complicated development in the Middle East, or hear about a hidden corner of Washington that only he seemed to know about,” she continued.

Sawsan Natour-Hassan, the minister for public diplomacy and Milgrim’s former supervisor, said that she is still grappling with the loss of the couple, and said she went back to her last WhatsApp messages with Milgrim.

“You were always one step ahead. You had a rare ability to deal with the most complex and difficult challenges, yet still make room for kindness, optimism, and soft diplomacy,” Natour-Hassan said of Milgrim. “More than anything, you gave people hope that tomorrow could be a better day. You were a bright spot in Israel’s darkest and most desolate things.”

Their final message, Natour-Hassan said, was a photo of Milgrim smiling at the AJC event, between Szkop and Talmoud.

Natour-Hassan, who is Druze, also compared Milgrim to another Sarah, a “revered female figure, a righteous Sarah who stands as a symbol of wisdom, faith, peacemaking and resilience” in the Druze religion.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar both addressed the gathering in prerecorded remarks. 

“In the way of blind hatred, they were not targeted as Sarah and Yaron,” Herzog said. “They were reduced to blank symbols, guilty by association, stripped of their individuality and humanity because of their connection to Israel and the Jewish people. Such is the nature of hatred, such is the culture of glorifying death, destruction, and antisemitism towards Israel.”

He called on everyone to follow their legacy of “peace, dialogue and humanity.”

Ahead of the American Jewish Committee’s annual Global Forum conference, which begins in Washington on Sunday, the group’s CEO, Ted Deutch, is reflecting on a significantly transformed landscape — in which, he said, antisemitism has become mainstream in politics and circles of power in alarming ways that seemed to leave the longtime former congressman stunned.

But he also said that AJC has been working on a comprehensive new plan to address the changing manifestations of antisemitism in the current social environment, which it plans to unveil at next week’s conference.

“Antisemitism is unfortunately no longer just on the fringes, but it’s become instrumentalized, it’s become institutionalized in so many ways and amplified in mainstream politics and media and online and at international institutions,” Deutch said during an interview with Jewish Insider in AJC’s Washington offices on Thursday. “The threat of antisemitism has evolved, and I think our response has to evolve as well.”

The former Democratic congressman expressed a sense of frustration and astonishment with the spread and proliferation of antisemitism in recent years, particularly its mainstreaming in political circles and discourse.

“What is astounding to me is the cavalier way in which so many public voices so freely spread dangerous lies about Israel and the Jewish people,” Deutch said.

Deutch said he’s been reflecting on a speech he made on the House floor in 2019 condemning then-newly elected Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for employing antisemitic tropes. 

He said it was “frustrating” at the time to have to explain to colleagues the history of antisemitism “and why the Jewish community gets to define what they feel threatened by, why others don’t get to impose that on us, and why the use of those tropes over millennia have led to the Jews being attacked and chased out of countries and put in ghettos and the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people.”

Seven years later, Deutch said, “serious political figures” across multiple states in both parties are employing those same antisemitic tropes and worse — spreading conspiracy theories about antisemitic attacks, employing dual loyalty tropes, calling support for a Jewish state inconsistent with American values, sporting a Nazi tattoo, justifying an attack on a synagogue preschool or openly espousing antisemitism — and have constructed a narrative that these are all simply criticism of Israel.

He said that the discourse in mainstream circles has gone well beyond critique of the Israeli government, crossing over into “opposition to the very existence of Israel.”

Deutch said that social media algorithms have played a significant role in mainstreaming hatred, but elected officials are responsible for their own rhetoric and decisions, and have a responsibility to reject antisemitic tropes, rather than playing into them. He pointed to the killings of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside an AJC event in Washington, D.C., a year ago as a consequence of such rhetoric.

“People in public life have a responsibility to understand that the language that they use has real world implications,” Deutch said. “When everyone defaults to accusations of genocide against Israel, that becomes just a political talking point to them. But to people who hear this over and over, and then decide that they’re going to go shoot at and … kill people at Jewish events — they need to think about it in those terms.”

Political leaders, he continued, have a responsibility to create and enforce guardrails for their coalitions as well. He said leaders tolerating antisemitism in the interest of a political “big tent” is unacceptable.

“Whoever is creating the big tent has to be clear about views that are acceptable within the tent, and those that are outside the tent,” Deutch said. “This is not about policy differences. … For thousands of years, we’ve seen what happens when you allow antisemitic tropes to just become part of accepted conversation. We need leaders to speak out against that.”

Those who are only willing to call out antisemitism among their political enemies are “trying to use Jewish fear for political gain,” he added.

Jewish members of Congress, he added, now face legitimate threats to their lives far more frequently than they did when he was in office. “That doesn’t come in the form of some criticism of Israel. These are violent threats against Jews.”

In recent months, calls to end U.S. financial aid to Israel for missile-defense systems have rapidly become mainstream, particularly among Democrats. Deutch argued that that stance reflects a fundamental “hatred of Israel for, sadly, a growing number of elected officials,” emphasizing that the Iron Dome system saves the lives of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians.

He also highlighted the “litmus tests” that political leaders are facing, offering as an example the attacks this week on Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and calls to exile him from the Democratic Party over Auchincloss’ criticism of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s now-covered tattoo of a Nazi Totenkopf.

“We need a strong democracy where no one is shunned because they have the belief that they should be able to live their lives freely, safely, that they can support the State of Israel without being shunned by others in politics,” Deutch said.

Deutch noted that this year’s Global Forum coincides with both the 120th anniversary of AJC but also the 250th anniversary of the United States. AJC, he said, was founded to pressure the U.S. government to address attacks on Jews in the Eastern European pogroms, and these landmark anniversaries come at a new time of crisis for the Jewish people.

He teased plans for an announcement at the AJC conference of a “significant new initiative” to combat antisemitism that “recognizes the moment we’re in and how antisemitism has evolved,” which has come about as a result of meetings with leaders across various sectors of society in the past year to understand and address antisemitism.

“It’s going to talk about all of the ways that antisemitism manifests itself today, and the institutions that are providing cover for it, the way that politics and politicians have in some cases not only referred to it, utilized it, but leaned into it in ways that are extremely dangerous,” Deutch explained. “More than anything, we’re going to be making the point that security alone isn’t enough, that we have to address the culture and the ideology that are driving antisemitism today.”

Deutch praised legislation by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) condemning antisemitic social media influencers on the fringes of both parties as simple and common sense — and lamented that the resolution hasn’t received stronger support. He also praised Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) for their new wide-reaching legislation to help protect the Jewish community.

Looking toward the war in Iran, Deutch said that there should be several key red-lines for U.S. negotiators, who are reportedly close to finalizing a deal with Tehran: no enrichment of uranium, no nuclear weapons, an end to Iranian support for regional terrorism, human rights for the Iranian people and no sanctions relief as long as Iran continues its ballistic missile program.

He said that the administration should not accede to an “agreement by Iran to enter into negotiations” that the regime can then drag on for months and years. Until the next steps are clear, he said, it’s too early to render a verdict on the war and its results.

“Just because there has been this sharp partisan divide over this war doesn’t mean that we should then let Iran off the hook for all of the ways that it has destabilized the region and put so many people, millions of people, at risk,” Deutch continued. “There’s no one who could think that a good outcome here is to simply accept the fact that they’re going to advance their ballistic missile program without any repercussions.”

He said that discussions of congressional war powers were appropriate, but “what’s been missing” from conversations about the war “has been the longstanding bipartisan acknowledgement that we have to stand together” against Iran’s destabilizing activities and violations of its own citizens’ human rights.

In addition to the new plan for addressing antisemitism, Deutch said the Global Forum will focus on education and what the higher education system in the United States should look like, emphasizing that the treatment and silencing of Jewish Americans on campus undermines “the very essence of education in America,” and creates dangerous downstream effects in the next generation of leaders.

He said that, in recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary, the forum will also highlight the role and contributions of Jewish Americans across the country’s history, and reflect on the future of America and the Jewish people’s place in it.

The Global Forum is set to include representatives from more than 70 countries, a sign that the Jewish community “is not going to withdraw, that the Jewish community is going to stand up and proudly be who we are,” Deutch said.

Anticipated speakers include Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA), Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, the parents of murdered Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, former Israeli hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel, ambassadors from the European Union and Argentina and Jewish leaders and experts from around the country and around the world. 

In addition to the new plan for combating antisemitism, AJC will announce a program to provide more opportunities for leaders to visit both Israel and the UAE together, to understand the promise of a more integrated region, Deutch said.

Deutch also emphasized that the Jewish community can’t allow itself to be defined by antisemitism, highlighting plans for new leadership development programs to build and bring together the next generation of Jewish leaders from around the world.

And the group will announce plans to help build upon the relationships between Latin American countries and Israel, ahead of a summit that is set to bring Jewish leaders from across the region together in Costa Rica later in the year.

A week after describing J Street as “a cancer within the Jewish community” for calling for the United States to restrict aid to Israel, Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s envoy to Washington, doubled down on his critique of the organization, stating that the liberal advocacy group’s recent actions are “decidedly not pro-Israel.”

The remarks came during Leiter’s broader address on Thursday at the Re-Charging Reform Judaism conference on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, during which he argued to the audience of over 300 Reform rabbis, lay leaders and teachers that American Jews need to respond to rising anti-Zionism and post-Oct. 7 hostility toward Israel with a stronger, more unapologetic form of Zionism and Jewish solidarity. 

“J Street does incalculable amount of damage to the interests of Israel,” Israeli Amb. Yechiel Leiter said at the Re-Charging Reform Judaism conference, expanding on his previous critique of the liberal advocacy group.”

Watch more of what he said below or read our full story: https://ji.news/55×33

— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) May 27, 2026

While Leiter expanded on his critique of J Street, receiving applause and a standing ovation at the end of his speech, his remarks were more measured than in previous appearances, focusing on what he described as the group’s role in supporting arms embargoes and amplifying accusations against Israel, rather than attacking the organization wholesale. His past comments — including describing J Street as “duplicitous” and “two-faced” — drew ire from many progressive Jews.

“I believe the tent, as we call it, should be wide and as inclusive as possible, but it cannot be inclusive to those who are contributing to the efforts of those seeking to collapse the tent. J Street does incalculable amount of damage to the interests of Israel,” he said. 

He continued, arguing that support for arms embargoes against Israel “endanger Israel” and  that “supporting such embargoes is not pro-Israel,” He also denounced the organization’s call for Leiter to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse of Palestinians outlined in a controversial opinion piece by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof earlier this month. 

“It is certainly not pro-Israel to push the canards peddled by Nick Kristof in The New York Times. Jewish dogs don’t commit rape. That was the last straw for me….It’s perfectly fine to have a different vision than the majority of Israelis as to what that peace should look like… but it’s unethical to undermine Israel’s democratically elected government. Friends, please understand, I did not call out J Street because I disagree with their vision of Israel. I call them out because their actions are endangering Israel,” he said.  

Leiter also said that senators he meets with on Capitol Hill have accused Israel of “genocide and starvation” and said lawmakers cite J Street as a source for those claims.

“Ask anyone in the know in Washington who is lobbying alongside [Sen.] Bernie Sanders [I-VT], who is responsible for 40 of 47 Democratic senators voting in favor of the arms embargo in Israel,” Leiter said. “They will tell you J Street.”

Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) expressed concerns about Chris Rabb’s Democratic congressional primary victory in Philadelphia this week, which is likely to send the Pennsylvania state legislator to Washington next year in a deep-blue district.

They expressed particular concern about a post shared on Rabb’s Instagram account that described the Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney as a false flag operation, which Rabb’s campaign has attributed to an unnamed former staffer and disavowed. 

In a new statement to Jewish Insider, Rabb pushed back, emphasizing his connections to the Jewish community and explaining that the post was shared by a former contractor with whom the campaign had cut ties, without his approval.

Moskowitz noted that mass shootings are a particularly personal topic for him given that he graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of one of the largest school shootings in U.S. history.

“I had a shooting at my high school, 14 kids were killed, three adults. [Former Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene called that a false flag event. To see someone on my side of the aisle see a mass shooting and call it a false flag is obviously tremendously disappointing,” Moskowitz told JI on Thursday.

He said that such rhetoric also feeds into a cycle of escalation that leads to comments like those from antisemitic Texas Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo, who called for imprisoning and castrating Zionists.

“How did we get here?” Moskowitz asked. “It’s because of statements like [Rabb] said, and statements that many other people say, and the stuff that goes online. It’s the constant escalatory behavior.” 

Gottheimer said he was “deeply concerned about the things [Rabb] has said and shared” as well as “who he campaigned with,” naming Hasan Piker, the far-left streamer who has repeatedly espoused antisemitic sentiments and support for terrorism in particular.

“Whether that was some sort of campaign gimmick or his deeply felt beliefs — we’ll see,” Gottheimer said.

Rabb pushed back hard in a lengthy statement to JI, again denying any knowledge of the Bondi Beach post.

“The Bondi Beach Instagram story was reposted to my account without my knowledge or consent by a vendor with whom my campaign has severed ties. Accusations to the contrary are extraordinarily troubling because they misrepresent my deep and enduring commitment to combatting antisemitism and standing with the Jewish community here in Philadelphia and around the world. There is no place for such destructive and shameful hate,” Rabb said. “I have never and would never support any such heinous conspiracy theories.”

Rabb also emphasized longtime connections to the Jewish community — growing up in a Black and Jewish neighborhood and working with Jewish communities during his time in office to fight white Christian nationalism and bigotry, and noted the longtime alliance between the Black and Jewish communities to fight racism.

“These accusations ignore my life-long connection to the Jewish community amid multi-generationial ties to Jewish friends and neighbors borne of shared struggle and resistance to systems of harm,” Rabb continued. “I am proud that Philadelphia’s Jewish community was at the heart of my campaign – including many volunteers and staff, all the way up to our campaign manager. In Congress, I will do everything in my power to prevent violence against Jewish folks — or any other people — because I firmly believe in protecting and supporting the safety and equality of all.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who endorsed Rabb, defended him.

“I was concerned about [the Bondi Beach post], but they said it was someone on the staff and he disowned it immediately. He disavowed it,” Raskin said. “I spent some time with him, and he’s a very smart and thoughtful and decent guy.”

Good Thursday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the diverging opinions in Jerusalem and Washington on restarting the war with Iran, and report on how the Obama Presidential Library is framing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. We report on the criticism faced by Track AIPAC over its since-revoked endorsement of a Democratic congressional candidate in Texas who suggested imprisoning “American Zionists” in ICE facilities, and cover yesterday’s Capitol Hill hearing on antisemitism in the healthcare field. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sarah Rogers, Michael Bay and Shay Shwartz.

Ed note: In observance of Shavuot and Memorial Day, the next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Tuesday, May 26. Check out JewishInsider.com for breaking news over the long weekend. Chag sameach!

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

What We’re Watching

• Today is the one-year anniversary of the terror attack at the Capital Jewish Museum in which two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed outside of an American Jewish Committee event taking place inside the venue. In marking the day, the museum announced that it will be open to the public today “as a space of reflection and remembrance.”
• The House of Representatives is expected to hold a vote on an Iran war powers resolution today, after House GOP leadership postponed the vote, which was to take place yesterday, over Republican attendance issues.
• The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is holding candidate forums today with D.C. mayoral candidates Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS

In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Netanya and Beersheva, the conversations are the same: When will the war with Iran resume? What contingency plans are in place? Do we need to temporarily rent an apartment with a shelter?

All over Israel, there is a looming feeling that the next round of fighting is just around the corner. The Israel Democracy Institute’s latest polling, conducted earlier this month, found that 62% of Israelis think that the war’s renewal is likely.

But in the U.S., a resumption of war appears increasingly unlikely. With gas prices rising and the midterms approaching, the White House has little appetite for prolonged conflict. A New York Times/Siena poll released earlier this week found that nearly two-thirds of Americans think that going to war against Iran in the first place was a bad idea. Though fresh off a series of primary and state-level wins, President Donald Trump appears cognizant of the uphill battle that comes with resuming an unpopular war, even as he told reporters earlier this week he didn’t factor “Americans’ financial situation” in his approach to the war.

There is also a question of funding. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said this week that the Pentagon would “probably” be out of money to fund the Iran war by August.

Those are key factors that have not penetrated the discourse in Israel. Across the U.S., gas prices are sky high. The midterms are less than six months away. And on Capitol Hill, even some of the president’s staunchest backers are signaling opposition to a resumption of the war.

“Generally speaking, Israelis are not really attuned to internal politics in the U.S. that could be affecting President Trump’s decisions,” Tamar Hermann, director of IDI’s Viterbi Center for Public Opinion, told Jewish Insider this morning. “Recent coverage in the Israeli media has tended to obscure the domestic political constraints Trump faces, creating the impression that he is operating without meaningful checks and is effectively able to do as he pleases.”

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

LIBRARY LOOK

Obama presidential center touts Iran nuclear deal as key part of former president’s legacy

The Barack Obama Presidential Center, slated to open in Chicago in mid-June, will feature an exhibit highlighting the former president’s “patient and principled diplomacy” and “strategic engagement with adversaries” in the lead-up to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, asserting that he prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

What it says: “Through diplomacy, the US forged a new treaty with Russia to reduce both countries’ nuclear stockpiles,” the exhibit reads, according to images obtained during the museum’s soft launch reviewed by JI. “The Obama administration prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.” A dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center is scheduled for June 18 followed by its opening to the public the next day.

Read the full story here.

Bonus: The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into “how Iran got to the nuclear threshold on the watch of three U.S. presidents,” noting that the Obama administration’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “delayed but didn’t shut the door on Iran’s potential pathway to a bomb.”

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FACING THE HEAT

Track AIPAC under fire as Democrats condemn its extremist Texas pick

Track AIPAC, the social media account that has gained a growing audience among anti-Israel activists in recent years, found itself in an embarrassing position this week when a candidate it had championed for Congress faced bipartisan backlash over extreme antisemitic comments calling to imprison and castrate “American Zionists,” whom she accused of pedophilia, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. The account said on Tuesday it was “immediately revoking” its endorsement of Maureen Galindo, a San Antonio activist competing for an open swing seat in Texas next week.

Yes, but: The point at which Track AIPAC finally chose to draw a line over Galindo’s rhetoric underscored how the account’s ostensibly narrow focus on opposition to what it calls the “Israel lobby” has often obscured an indulgence of extreme views and positions. Brian Romick, the president of DMFI PAC, which is backing Galindo’s runoff opponent, Johnny Garcia, argued that “Track AIPAC embodies the very-online activist fringe: large social-media following, minimal real-world influence, and a political strategy based on vibes.”

Read the full story here.Dems denounce: Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said on Wednesday that they would seek to expel Galindo if she is elected — forcing daily votes if necessary. Their comments mark an escalation among Democrats condemning Galindo since her comment gained widespread attention, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

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SPLITSCREEN

JDCA backs both McMorrow and Stevens in Michigan Senate race

The Jewish Democratic Council of America announced a dual endorsement on Wednesday of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in Michigan’s three-way Senate Democratic primary, saying “there are two candidates who stand with our community on issues of importance to Jewish voters, and there is one who does not,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Reasoning: “It is because of this stark contrast of the views and values of Haley Stevens and Mallory McMorrow, compared to those of Abdul El-Sayed,” a vocal critic of Israel who has captured the enthusiasm of the far left, “that we are taking the distinct opportunity to endorse two candidates,” Halie Soifer, JDCA’s CEO, said in a statement.

Read the full story here.

Michigan matchup: In Michigan’s statewide election for two seats on the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Republican nominees Lena Epstein and Michael Schostak, who both identify as Jewish, told JI’s Gabby Deutch they’re campaigning on fighting antisemitism at the school.

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ON THE HILL

House hearing spotlights antisemitism from healthcare unions

Speaking at a House Education & Workforce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, a doctor accused his union of engaging in systemic discrimination against Jewish and Israeli health providers, supporting terrorist sympathizers and making “its obsession with a single geopolitical conflict a defining future of its identity” — all while he’ll be forced by federal law to fund it, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Healthcare havoc: Jacob Agronin, a cardiology fellow at a major medical institution in Philadelphia, testified alongside several other experts on antisemitism at a hearing focused on anti-Jewish hate in the medical field — which both Jewish medical providers and patients report as a growing problem since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The hearing focused in particular on the role of healthcare worker unions, like the Committee of Interns and Residents, of which Agronin is set to be a member, in spreading antisemitism and their failures to stand up for Jewish union members.

Read the full story here.

Parents’ night: A group of Jewish parents from across Pennsylvania arrived at a virtual meeting with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) with a plea: take note of antisemitism happening not just on college campuses but also in K-12 schools, and do something about it, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.

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BUFFER BATTLE

NYC Council speaker preps new school ‘buffer bill’ to beat Mamdani veto

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin will back fresh legislation to compel the NYPD to establish formal protocols for deploying buffer zones around schools during protests — a push Menin said will sail through the council with more than enough votes to beat any effort from Mayor Zohran Mamdani to block it, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.

Bridging the gap: The move comes a month after Mamdani exercised his veto power in order to stop a similar bill from becoming law, citing concerns from unions that the blocked measure could interfere with their demonstrations around college facilities, even though the proposal contained an explicit labor carveout. In a press conference on Wednesday, Menin characterized this as a misunderstanding — one the new legislation will rectify by applying exclusively to early childhood education facilities and “most K-12 schools.”

Read the full story here.

Moreno moves: Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said Wednesday that he plans to call on the Senate to pass the SACRED Act, legislation imposing restrictions on protests around synagogues and other religious institutions, by unanimous consent, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

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IN MEMORIAM

Barney Frank, trailblazing Jewish congressman, dies at 86

Known as a liberal firebrand, Frank’s most high-profile act in politics was drafting the legislation that tightened financial regulations in response to the 2008 financial crisis, a bill known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Paving the way: Frank was widely considered a pioneer for the LGBTQ community after coming out publicly as gay in 1987. Frank grew up in a working-class Jewish family in Bayonne, N.J. His sister, Ann Lewis, also worked in politics, holding senior roles in the Clinton administration and later on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Frank said he was drawn to public service early, feeling in some way that he was an outsider who could challenge how things were done. “I’m a left-handed gay Jew,” Frank said. “I’ve never felt, automatically, a member of any majority.”

Read the full obituary here.

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Worthy Reads

American Jews Under Siege: In The Atlantic, Israel Policy Forum co-founder Michael Sonnenfeldt considers the “untenable position” that many American Jews find themselves in amid rising domestic antisemitism alongside decreasing support among Americans for Israel. “Anti-Semitism is rising sharply in the United States at the same time that traditional alliances with progressive organizations are weakening, political identities are being reshuffled, and emotional ties to Israel are strained by policies that clash with deeply held democratic and ethical commitments. The simultaneity of these pressures — political, moral, and psychological — is what makes the present moment feel so destabilizing.” [TheAtlantic]

Middle Man: In The Wall Street Journal, Sadanand Dhume questions Pakistan’s ability to operate as a fair intermediary as it seeks to play a central role in U.S.-Iran talks. “Pakistan has attributes that make it a useful intermediary, but America shouldn’t forget that when it comes to Iran, Pakistan’s interests aren’t the same as those of the U.S. On the face of it, Pakistan might seem like an odd choice for mediator. During the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan was widely castigated for playing a ‘double game,’ accepting U.S. aid to fight terrorism while at the same time secretly aiding and abetting the Afghan Taliban.” [WSJ]

A Convert’s Burden: In Moment Magazine, JoJo Kalin, a convert to Judaism who organized the event at the Capital Jewish Museum in which two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed, reflects on her faith as she considers her interaction with the suspected assailant, to whom she offered water after the attack. “There is a version of the future in which my future children would not have to carry this particular kind of fear. I am aware of that. And I am choosing this one anyway. I choose it because what they would inherit is not only fear. It is also peoplehood, memory and a stubborn, enduring joy. … I still think about that glass of water, about the instinct to give it, about the fact that I did not hesitate. I don’t know what it means, fully. I’m not sure it resolves into something clean or instructive. But I know this: That moment belongs to my humanity, not to his violence.” [Moment]

Word on the Street

Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs talks to Leo Terrell, the senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights and chair of the Department of Justice’s antisemitism task force, about the creation of the DOJ’s Antisemitism Advisory Committee, which Terrell will oversee…

The Justice Department announced its indictment against a New Jersey man charged with making interstate threats to a Jewish institution in New York…

Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, refuted accusations that the Trump administration has been ineffective in combating the spread of misinformation and hateful content on social media, arguing that free speech protections and efforts to combat disinformation are not mutually exclusive, in comments at the Hudson Institute on Tuesday, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports… 

Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced a resolution honoring the 130th anniversary of the Jewish War Veterans organization…

During a House hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) engaged in a heated back-and-forth with a witness, Carol Swain, an author and commentator, as Swain repeatedly dodged his question about whether neo-Nazis are a supremacist group. Two other witnesses answered the question with a simple “yes”…

Director Michael Bay is working with Universal Pictures to develop a feature-length film about the rescue of two American pilots who were shot down in Iran last month; the film will be based off an upcoming book on the event by Mitchell Zuckoff…

TechCrunch profiles Ocean founder Shay Shwartz, whose email security platform protects against AI-powered attacks and recently exited stealth mode with $28 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners that included an investment from Wiz’s Assaf Rappaport…

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher looks at how Jewish groups are approaching the use of AI for Torah study…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with other Israeli officials, issued a sharp condemnation of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after he released a video showing himself taunting detained flotilla activists, JI’s Matthew Shea reports…

Israeli prosecutors filed charges against a Jewish man accused of taking part in at least three attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank since February, including an April attack in which a poultry farm employee was hospitalized and remains in a coma…

The Wall Street Journal looks at Israeli efforts to track down all terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks…

The U.S. is pressuring Palestinian officials to drop an effort by the Palestinian Authority’s representative at the U.N. to seek the vice presidency of the U.N. General Assembly, warning that the State Department could revoke the visas of the Palestinian delegation should the bid proceed…

The Associated Press profiles Iranian Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, describing the senior military official as a “longtime veteran of the ruling system” involved with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina, who is believed to be one of few Iranian officials in contact with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei…

The New York Times spotlights the “intelligence fraternity” of former and current IRGC officials, including many with links to the country’s new supreme leader, positing that the group’s “shared backgrounds, careers and ideological outlook” are “one reason the war has neither collapsed the government nor paralyzed it”…

Wine of the Week

JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Warneke Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the Gen VIII 2019 Cabernet:

After a 250th National Shabbat celebration at the White House, where candles were lit in the Indian Treaty Room, we walked over to nearby Decatur House, the historic 1818 mansion on Lafayette Square, for a meaningful and memorable Shabbat dinner. Kiddush was made over a cup recovered from one of the communities destroyed on Oct. 7, and each guest was given a challah cover embroidered with the presidential seal. For such a special and historic moment, my dear friend Pauly treated me to two of the finest and most important kosher wines from the Herzog family: The Warneke Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the Gen VIII 2019 Cabernet. These wines perfectly matched the severity and grandeur of the dinner.

The 2023 Warneke Valley is a cab of remarkable poise, carrying a subtle maturity that belies its youth. The opening is pure silk, the mid-palate carries the traditional Herzog vanilla and the finish lingers with notes of parve dark chocolate. The Gen VIII, by contrast, is bold and brash, fruit-forward, with rough-and-tumble tannins that would not let me sleep at night. It has long been one of my favorites, but this vintage will surely overtake its predecessors as one of the greatest ever made. To drink them side by side was a true privilege. Not an inexpensive luxury, but one I would gladly forgo most other pleasures to repeat. Enjoy both alongside a juicy steak, and lay a few bottles down for a future milestone worth celebrating.

Pic of the Day

Former Pittsburgh police officer Daniel Mead, who was injured while responding to the October 2018 Tree of Life shooting, on Wednesday received the Justice Department’s Hometown Hero Award.

Birthdays

Actor, artist and playwright, Lisa Edelstein turns 60… 

Former U.S. senator from Minnesota, he was previously a comedian, actor and writer, Al Franken turns 75… VP of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, Ralph Lewin turns 73… Guitarist and composer, Marc Ribot turns 72… EVP of American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, Ron Solomon… Chief rabbi of Mitzpe Yericho (a yishuv located in the Judean desert) and dean of Hara’ayon Hayehudi yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer turns 71… CEO of the Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group, he is co-founder of Times of Israel, Seth Klarman turns 69… Northern California-based comedian, he celebrated his bar mitzvah at 52 in Israel, Josh Kornbluth turns 67… New York Times contributing Opinion writer, Jeffrey Toobin turns 66… Founder and publisher of City & State NY, Thomas Allon turns 64… Director of antisemitism education and associate director of the Israel Action Program, both at Hillel International, Tina Malka… Former head of Dewey Square’s sports business practice, now a freelance writer, Frederic J. Frommer… Author and journalist, she was a reporter with The New York Times for eight years, Amy Waldman turns 57… U.S. cyclist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she is now the executive director of the New England Mountain Bike Association, Nicole Freedman turns 54… President and CEO of the Michigan-based William Davidson Foundation, Darin McKeever… University chaplain for NYU and executive director of NYU’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Life, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna turns 48… Founder of Agora Global Advisory, Brandon Pollak… EVP and chief legal officer at Sinclair Inc., David Gibber… Professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, Scott Joel Aaronson turns 45… President of Mo Digital, Mosheh Oinounou… Los Angeles-born, raised in Israel, international fashion model for Versace, Sharon Ganish turns 43… CEO of CreoStrat, Steve Miller… Windsurfer who represented Israel in the Olympics, she is now an energy management program manager at SolarEdge, Maayan Davidovich turns 38… Player on the USC team that won the 2016 NCAA National Soccer Championship, she is now an associate in the L.A. office of Foley & Lardner, Savannah Levin turns 31… Comedian, actor and writer, known for starring in the HBO Max series “Hacks,” Hannah Marie Einbinder turns 31… COO at the Yael Foundation, Naomi Kovitz… 

On Tuesday, a gilded ballroom inside a Washington hotel served as a soapbox for more than a dozen Democrats — many with national ambitions — to pitch their vision for America to a room full of liberal donors, staffers and funders. 

The setting was the Center for American Progress’ IDEAS Conference, a convening put on by the Democratic think tank that pledged to bring together “the broad center-left’s leading thinkers and doers” to offer ideas on a range of policy topics.

American foreign policy was, naturally, one of those topics. In the two sessions on national security, each of which devoted significant discussion to the Middle East, one topic was notably absent: Israel. 

Democratic support for Israel has shifted dramatically since the Oct. 7 attacks and the resulting war in Gaza. Over the last few months, particularly since the war in Iran began, that policy shift has quickly solidified. Forty out of 47 Senate Democrats voted last month to block some arms sales to Israel, and the progressive Israel advocacy group J Street has urged Democrats to move toward ending all U.S. aid to Israel. 

Democrats’ attitude toward the U.S.-Israel relationship is in flux, and is almost certain to be a major point of contention in the 2028 primary campaign. But if CAP’s conference is any indication, many mainstream Democrats — the ones who are not pushing firebrand far-left views on Israel — would rather avoid the topic if they are not forced to discuss it. 

Certainly, it made clear that they no longer see Israel as the kind of ally that will earn applause in the same way that Taiwan and Ukraine garner cheers from rank-and-file Democrats.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) kicked off the gathering with an address billed as “National Security Ideas for the Future.” He cited his own experiences as a member of the Marine Corps who served in Iraq, arguing that the war in Iran is misguided and harming Americans. 

”I’m here today because right now our country is in danger. Will this president continue to drag America into another endless Middle East war?” Gallego said. “This is a war that wasn’t planned, wasn’t authorized and is not making us safer. [Donald] Trump got his war, and working families got stuck with the bill every day.”

Gallego made clear that his opposition to the Iran war does not mean he thinks America should step off the world stage. The U.S., he argued, should still come to the defense of Taiwan and Ukraine.

“I see on Twitter all the time, ‘Well, if you’re against the war in Iran, why do you support the war in Ukraine?’” Gallego said. “Let me be clear: The Ukrainian people are fighting for their independence, and it’s in our strategic interest to make sure that they win, that Europe wins and that we all win and defeat Russia.”

He extended the argument to Taiwan, calling for Washington to continue arms sales to the country and to help it grow its self-defense capabilities.

“We have allies that have fought with us and will continue to fight with us, but not if we abandon Taiwan, Ukraine and NATO,” said Gallego. He did not mention Israel in his speech.

Later in the day, a conversation on the future of American policy featured Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), former Secretary of State Tony Blinken and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Like Gallego, they slammed Trump’s campaign against Iran as illegal.

“This is not a situation where we should normalize the idea that a president can start a war on their own, and then it’s up to Congress later to disapprove of it, right?” said Kim. “Just from the outset, this is wrong. This is an illegal, unconstitutional war.”

The only mention of Israel in their 30-minute conversation was a brief aside from Blinken, as part of a broader point he was making about Iranian missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates. All three speakers doubled down on U.S. support for Ukraine and for Taiwan, particularly in the face of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.

At the end of the day, CAP President Neera Tanden said she hopes attendees walk away with a sense of where the Democratic Party is going. “To win the future we have to tell people where to go, what the path is, what the path is forward,” Tanden said. 

Other speakers included California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). 

The open race for mayor of Washington, D.C., has been largely uneventful ahead of next month’s primary — so much so that the first TV ads run by the leading candidates, Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George, sound nearly identical. Both candidates tout affordability and safety on the campaign trail, with promises to build more housing and stand up against President Donald Trump. 

But if elected, Lewis George’s victory would mark a significant shift away from the centrist brand of politics espoused by outgoing Mayor Muriel Bowser over the last 12 years, and would instead hand a major win to Washington’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, of which Lewis George has been a member for years. 

Lewis George has faced criticism throughout the campaign from some in the Jewish community for comments she made on a DSA endorsement questionnaire pledging to boycott events that “promote Zionism” and criticizing Jewish activists’ approach to combating antisemitism. Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, on Tuesday called DSA an “evil” organization that seeks “to make being Jewish unacceptable in polite society.” 

DSA has activated its small but growing membership to knock on doors for Lewis George, a member of the D.C. Council, tapping into a grassroots energy that they hope translates into success at the ballot box. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of two DSA members currently serving in Congress, attended a recent DC DSA rally alongside Lewis George. 

DSA’s Metro DC chapter is relatively small. Yet its current roster of roughly 3,400 members represents a massive increase from its pre-2016 nadir of just 200 members — and mirrors DSA’s growing clout nationally. 

“For most of the ‘80s and ‘90s and 2000s, DSA was a small organization with maybe 5,000 or 8,000 people at the most. I would say the average age was probably over 60, maybe higher than that,” said Peter Dreier, an emeritus professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles. “Then Bernie [Sanders] ran for president in 2016 and started talking about democratic socialism in a way that made sense to, particularly, a lot of young people, and he kind of opened the door to people to be in DSA.” 

Overall, DSA is still a small organization on the fringes of Democratic politics. Even the highest membership counts — adding up DSA’s local chapters — don’t top 100,000. But the unexpected popularity of Sanders’ 2016 presidential run sparked a resurgence of interest in democratic socialism not seen in generations, and that has continued well past his two campaigns. A 2025 Gallup poll found that 42% of Democrats have a positive image of capitalism, down from 54% a decade ago, while 66% have a positive view of socialism.  

“If [young people] don’t remember the Cold War, then what do they think when they hear the word socialism? There’s still a battle over that, but they’re more likely to think, ‘Oh, countries that have more equality, or students that get free or almost free higher education, everybody has access to healthcare,’” said Dreier. 

“We are going to raise money and develop a plan over the course of the next few months to try to make them toxic, to make it unacceptable for major figures in the party or anybody actually running for office to be affiliated with the DSA, the way it should be unacceptable to be affiliated with [neo-Nazi influencer] Nick Fuentes if you’re running as Republican,” Third Way’s senior vice president for public affairs, Matt Bennett, said. 

The key question now facing capital-D Democrats — one they sound unsure of how to answer, or perhaps unwilling — is how to handle an insurgent faction that has galvanized people over its straightforward messaging on corporations (bad), taxing the rich (good) and Medicare for All (necessary), while at the same time promoting far-left positions like prison and police abolition that are nowhere near the Democratic mainstream. The group has long promoted the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, as well as calling for an arms embargo on Israel, and its members passed a resolution last year affirming their commitment to anti-Zionism. On Oct. 7, 2023, DSA released a statement holding Israel accountable for the Hamas attacks and calling on members to take to the streets to protest U.S. support for Israel. 

The centrist Democratic group Third Way plans to launch a major PR campaign against DSA in the coming months, one of the group’s executives told JI, arguing that its far-left positions and incendiary brand of politics will be harmful for the party’s electoral prospects. 

“We are going to raise money and develop a plan over the course of the next few months to try to make them toxic, to make it unacceptable for major figures in the party or anybody actually running for office to be affiliated with the DSA, the way it should be unacceptable to be affiliated with [neo-Nazi influencer] Nick Fuentes if you’re running as Republican,” Third Way’s senior vice president for public affairs, Matt Bennett, said. 

In the decade since Sanders’ 2016 campaign, DSA has had an outsized impact on national politics. The 2018 congressional victory of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a DSA member, raised the group’s profile. A steady stream of more than 200 DSA-aligned candidates have been elected to state and local offices since, culminating with the election of DSA member Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City last year. 

“To the degree that people need to pay attention to DSA, it’s because they built this kind of political machine,” said Micah Sifry, a journalist focused on left-wing political organizing. “In a time when people are, for the most part, not very organized, the ability of any small group, relatively speaking, to punch above its weight grows.” 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, New York has the largest bench of DSA-affiliated state lawmakers. The group has slowly but steadily been gaining electoral power in state and local offices in some unexpected places, too, like Minnesota, Colorado, Delaware and Wisconsin. The group’s largest foothold is in city council races, where a small but committed cadre of volunteers can swing elections in low-turnout races. 

National Democratic leaders are divided about how to treat the small but vocal socialist minority in the party. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) declined to support Mamdani in the primary election but ultimately endorsed him ahead of the general election last year. Weeks later, Jeffries voted in favor of a Republican-led resolution condemning socialism. He has been skeptical of the left-wing ideology throughout his political career: “There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism,” he said in 2021. A spokesperson for Jeffries declined to comment this week when asked if he believes Democrats should be welcoming socialists into the party. 

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin has been more open-minded about socialists. Asked by Fox News last year whether progressives like Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez make his job harder, he said no. 

“The party is a big tent. But just like we have to believe it’s a big tent, the DSA also has to believe it’s a big tent, and I’m not sure they do,” Brian Romick, CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, said. “Democratic leaders want to win elections, and that means a big tent, and that means that Democratic base voters and pro-Israel voters and moderate people who maybe voted for [Donald] Trump sometimes because they’re concerned about prices have to be in the tent.” 

“I don’t think they make it difficult at all,” Martin said in August 2025. “The difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party is that we’re a big tent. We have lots of people in that tent from all of the different ideological wings, from conservative Democrats, to centrists, to progressives, to these new leftists.” A DNC spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment this week.

Brian Romick, CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, told Jewish Insider this week that he is concerned about the inroads DSA is making in the party. He agreed with Martin that the Democratic Party should be a big tent, but noted that DSA members — who are at times intent on putting litmus tests even on would-be allies — don’t extend the same understanding to more moderate members of the party.

“The party is a big tent. But just like we have to believe it’s a big tent, the DSA also has to believe it’s a big tent, and I’m not sure they do,” Romick said. “Democratic leaders want to win elections, and that means a big tent, and that means that Democratic base voters and pro-Israel voters and moderate people who maybe voted for [Donald] Trump sometimes because they’re concerned about prices have to be in the tent.” 

The questionnaire Lewis George filled out in Washington to earn DSA’s endorsement reveals how important hard-line opposition to Israel is to the organization, which requires even candidates for local offices with no connection to foreign policy to all but disavow the Jewish state. Most voters who support DSA-aligned candidates likely are not drawn to them because of their views on the Middle East; Mamdani’s message was first and foremost about affordability. But DSA’s growing reach among Democrats gave a foothold to anti-Israel views that may have once been rare, though global attention on the war in Gaza also contributed to shifting Democratic orthodoxy on the conflict. (Other far-left groups like Justice Democrats have played a role, too.)

Zach Shartiag, a Jewish Democratic campaign operative from Chicago, told JI that Democrats he has talked to who support DSA candidates generally do not do so because of DSA’s stance on Israel, even if the activists are themselves critical of Israel.   

“People might be very anti-Israel now, but at the same time, it’s like, what does that have to do with local politics?” said Shartiag, who is currently working on a congressional campaign in Hawaii. “I’ve talked to a lot of people, just in general, normal humans, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I might be against what Israel’s doing, but what does that have to do with the local and the city and the state?’” 

The full picture of DSA’s influence in the party will not be known until all the votes are tallied at the end of this year’s midterm elections. A number of DSA-affiliated candidates are gaining ground in congressional primaries, such as Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, who has garnered progressive endorsements in a Philadelphia-area open seat, and New York state Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who has Mamdani’s backing for her congressional campaign. 

Still, the election outcomes in states across the country this year will present only a partial picture of where the Democratic Party is moving. In the same year that Mamdani won in New York City, for instance, Democratic moderates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively. 

The only certainty, then, is that the battle between centrists and socialists will continue into 2028. 

“I think you’re going to have a real mixed verdict, with us yelling about our side and the left yelling about their side,” Third Way’s Bennett acknowledged. “So what that means is, unsurprisingly, we’re going to go into the presidential primary season with the two camps demanding that they are right.” 

Washington, D.C., will be buzzing with events on Friday evening bringing in Shabbat 250, a national Sabbath marking the 250th birthday of the United States. 

Several Jewish organizations have been planning celebratory gatherings, both in Washington and across the country, to commemorate Shabbat 250 since President Donald Trump encouraged Jewish Americans to observe Shabbat this weekend in his Jewish American Heritage Month proclamation. 

The proclamation marked the first time a U.S. president had called for a national Shabbat, prompting some Jewish leaders to rush to organize events.

“There will be a number of events taking place around town for Shabbat 250,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), told Jewish Insider. “In observance of the Sabbath, I’ll need to walk everywhere, so I hope to make it to as many gatherings as possible.”

Shemtov said the message he’s taken from his conversations with fellow Jewish leaders going into this weekend is one of gratitude toward the president for including the national Sabbath in his JAHM proclamation and of hope that the venture would prompt more Jewish Americans to keep Shabbat.

“I’m obviously delighted by the president’s call to observe Shabbat, because this reinforces Jewish identity with Jewish observance and tradition. I hope those who don’t yet observe Shabbat will choose to do so, and those who already observe will choose to share with a friend who doesn’t yet know about this beautiful cornerstone of our heritage,” Shemtov said. “I would imagine that those Jewish people who were in America 250 years ago could not have imagined our good fortunes today and must be kvelling.”

“Some Jewish leaders have said that much like Shabbat gives us a break from the week for renewal and recalibration, their hope is that this Shabbat will be a moment of reprieve from partisan political battles for even just one day,” he continued.

The most difficult ticket to snag is the White House’s official Shabbat 250 reception, which is slated to take place at 6 p.m. ET in the Indian Treaty Room. While Trump and Vice President JD Vance are not expected to be in attendance, Trump administration staffers have been invited to and are expected at the gathering. 

Several invite-only dinners are taking place around D.C. after the White House event concludes and before sundown on Saturday. Details for many events are being kept under wraps due to security concerns.

One of those receptions is being co-sponsored by the American Association of Jewish Lawyers & Jurists and the Combat Antisemitism Movement. The gathering, titled, “Shabbat 250 Dinner: A Celebration of the President’s National Sabbath,” will feature a “family style” Sabbath meal and an afterparty dubbed “Farbrengen 250,” according to an invitation obtained by JI.

An event organizer described the gathering to JI in a statement as an “off-the-record dinner” bringing together “Jewish members of the administration, Capitol Hill staff, media and policy professionals in celebration of the president’s National Sabbath.” The organizer told JI that guests will receive “the usual kippot and benchers” and copies of Charlie Kirk’s book on Shabbat. The wine served at the event will be donated by Psagot Winery, the Israeli vineyard located in the West Bank.

“We were incredibly moved by President Trump’s call for a national Sabbath as part of the USA250 commemorations,” Arie Lipnick, advisory board chairman of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, told JI in a statement. “In that spirit, CAM is excited to help bring together more than a hundred Jewish members of the administration, Hill staff, media and policy professionals in celebration of America and Shabbat.”

When a group of Jewish Democratic activists and donors convened in Washington this week for the annual leadership summit of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, the message seemed to be one of defiance: defiance against President Donald Trump, to be sure, but also a defiant attitude pushing back against some of the recent shifts within the party. 

JDCA’s primary objective is to elect Democrats. But as more Democrats have taken positions critical of or outright hostile to Israel, JDCA’s top activists made clear this week that another major concern is making sure pro-Israel Jews continue to be welcome in the party. 

“We are fighting to ensure that the views and values of Jewish Americans continue to find their political home in the Democratic Party in Michigan and beyond, and we have work to do,” Halie Soifer, the group’s CEO, said on Tuesday night. She noted that the JDCA hopes to help defeat Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left candidate who appears to be rising in the polls. 

“It’s clear there’s one candidate whose views are antithetical to ours, and we want to ensure he’s defeated,” said Soifer, though she did not name El-Sayed directly. JDCA has not endorsed either of his opponents, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow or Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI). 

“We at JDCA only support Democrats, but we do not support them all,” Soifer told the summit. “We understand it’s not just about electing Democrats. It’s about electing Democrats who align with us, and this includes efforts to ensure that candidates who have espoused anti-Israel and/or antisemitic views are defeated before November.” 

Over the two-day gathering, a parade of high-profile speakers from Democratic leadership — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), along with Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD), respectively the former House speaker and majority leader — addressed the convening. Their appearances seemed designed to affirm that Democrats remain pro-Israel and committed to fighting antisemitism. 

“We have to decisively confront antisemitism from wherever it comes from,” said Jeffries. “I will always hold firm in my support for the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and eternal homeland for the Jewish people.” 

Schumer did not specifically discuss Israel but raised concerns about the increasing use of the word “Zionist” as a slur. 

“I’ve long said we must fight antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears, even if it’s in our own party. I’ll continue to do so,” said Schumer. “Today, antisemitism takes all different forms: Holocaust denialism, conspiratorial delusions of Jewish or Zionist control of the world, replacing the word ‘Jewish’ with the word ‘Zionist’ to demonize Jewish communities.”

The outgoing Democratic leaders were not as sanguine, instead offering a note of caution about how the dynamic towards Israel has shifted within the Democratic Party. 

“Always, but right now, we really have to work together to make sure that support for Israel is, without question, bipartisan,” Pelosi said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t have our differences of opinion … but it should not weaken the fact that we have bipartisan support. That has always been the tradition, and we must make sure we get through this place where we are, where there may be some doubt in people’s minds as to whether that is a value.” 

Pelosi is retiring at the end of this year, as is Hoyer, who was even more blunt: “How many of you have been anxious yourselves about rhetoric heard from some Democratic officials and candidates? We ought to be,” he said. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said he hoped to prove that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) does not speak for the party on matters related to Israel, though he noted with worry that Sanders’ attitude — one that is deeply critical of Israel — appears to be on the rise.

“It’s clearer and clearer to me that there is real alarm about a fundamental break between Democrats as a party and Israel as a nation, and I’m going to do everything I can to resist and oppose that break, while criticizing [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his values and decisions,” said Coons. “I’m trying to be an effective and engaged voice with a perspective that you just heard and not have Bernie Sanders be the only senator whose perspective and attitude is heard across the country.” 

Forty Senate Democrats voted last month for a Sanders-authored resolution attempting to block some arms sales to Israel, a record high. Coons said he knows those senators still support Israel’s right to exist, but cautioned that being too critical of Netanyahu can give cover to people who are actually anti-Israel. 

“I strongly support Israel’s right to exist, its right to be a Jewish homeland and a democracy, and its value to the American people as a partner and ally,” said Coons. “I think we are at risk of some of my colleagues, in trying to send a message to Netanyahu or in opposition to his policies and stances, to be misunderstood as abandoning that commitment.” 

Coons said that on the campaign trail, and on recent trips around the country, he hears “profound concern about where’s the Democratic Party going on Israel.” Some Jewish politicians who addressed the JDCA summit expressed a deeper sense of unease and discomfort about their Jewish identity, against the backdrop of rising antisemitism. 

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who spoke at a cocktail reception Tuesday evening, talked about how challenging it is to be a Jewish elected official in the current environment.

“It has become deeply, deeply complicated to be a Jew in America,” said Slotkin. “There’s not a single day that goes by for myself representing the state of Michigan that I am not feeling torn.” 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey delivered a jolt of energy to the room with an impassioned speech about his community’s support for immigrants in the face of ICE enforcement activity, which resulted in the killing of two American citizens by ICE agents in his city in January. When a JDCA member asked him for advice on how to respond to others in the Democratic Party who have made anti-Zionism a political litmus test, he expressed concern. 

“It has been deeply concerning for me personally, as a proud Jew,” Frey said. “I am a great supporter of the endurance of our American Republic, a big believer that America should continue to exist, and an adamant opponent of Donald Trump. The same thing can apply to Israel.”

Ultimately, though, the gathering was a political pep rally — a chance for Democratic activists and donors to hear from politicians at all levels of government and gin up excitement ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Everyone who addressed the gathering all but guaranteed that Democrats would take back control of the House and Senate. 

The conversations seemed meant to ressure Jewish Democrats about both the party’s fortunes for November and its treatment of pro-Israel Jews. One JDCA activist described the group’s work as “grasstops,” which was demonstrated by the appearances from top party leaders. 

But the anti-Israel sentiment that has steadily grown within the party over the past three years is not coming from party leaders; it is driven by far-left activists. Whether JDCA has a plan to counter that grassroots energy remains to be seen — and the answer will only come at the ballot box later this year. 

Amid the rise of a DSA-aligned mayoral candidate in the city, a senior Jewish community leader in Washington, D.C., excoriated the Democratic Socialists of America as an “evil” organization committed to driving Jews out of society.

Speaking on a webinar with other Washington-area Jewish leaders on Tuesday, Ron Halber, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, stridently criticized the far-left group.

“I think they’re a fringe, radical, antisemitic organization, and I happen to even think they’re evil,” Halber said. “They are trying to do in America what [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement] seems to do internationally, which is to make being Jewish unacceptable in polite society.”

He said that the group wants to make Jews feel “isolated” and force them to “renounce Zionism” and their connection to Israel in order to participate in the political process. Antisemitism is “core to their belief,” he continued.

Halber described the activist group as emboldened and energized during the second Trump administration — as numerous DSA-aligned candidates make gains in local and national elections — and said that the Jewish community “should view DSA with alarm, because they are having a radical impact.”

And, he added, the Jewish community should be “very, very wary of political candidates who go out and seek their endorsement and who wish to affiliate.”

The Metro DC DSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Halber said it’s the responsibility of Jewish organizations to come together with allies to expose the DSA as “the fringe of American society that most people in America would be repulsed by.”

Tali Cohen, the Anti-Defamation League’s Washington regional director, said on the webinar that she has been “astonished by the rhetoric coming out of the D.C. DSA chapter.” 

Cohen said the group is attempting to “isolat[e] the Jewish community through exclusionary policies” — requiring endorsees to cut ties with “the overwhelming majority of organized Jewish community institutions” — and has “embrace[d] antisemitism as an organizational orthodoxy” through its embrace of anti-Zionism.

“If you read DSA’s platform, they have disproportionately and overwhelmingly chosen to focus on the world’s only Jewish state,” she continued. “The selective focus can suggest that something else is at work beyond just policy concerns.”

Cohen also raised concerns about the group’s opposition to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and its efforts to defund the D.C. police, a project she said endangers the Jewish community.

The event comes following a high-profile clash between Jewish communal groups and the Washington DSA chapter over its endorsement questionnaire for the city’s mayoral race that required candidates to pledge to refrain from engaging with “Zionist lobby groups.”

Mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George, a DSA member endorsed by the group, said in response to the questionnaire that she would not attend events “promoting Zionism and apartheid.”

Alan Ronkin, the regional director of the American Jewish Committee in Washington, and ADL experts also spoke on the webinar.

Asked at the Politico Security Summit in Washington on Tuesday if she still calls herself a Zionist, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) said, “I believe in a Jewish State of Israel, yes. And that to me isn’t a radical thing to say and I always have.”

“I can say that in the same breath that I criticize the military policy of Bibi Netanyahu,” she added.

Slotkin acknowledged it “used to be easier” to say that she considers herself a Zionist. “I come from a state that has a huge Arab and Muslim population, a very large Jewish population. There’s not been a single issue that I’ve seen that’s been more emotional than this one because so many people have family members who are caught in the middle of this conflict.” 

“As someone who served three tours in Iraq,” she continued, “I do have concerns with the way the Israelis are organizing military policy right now, certainly in Gaza but also other places.”

“What I can’t accept, though, is collective punishment that comes from saying, ‘well, I don’t like Bibi Netanyahu’s military policy so Jews in America’s synagogues should be attacked,’ including synagogues I’m very close to and spent my life growing up in,” Slotkin said, referring to the March car-ramming and shooting attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich. 

Slotkin called the attack “particularly personal” in an interview with Jewish Insider shortly after.

She continued on Tuesday, “That’s collective punishment that we wouldn’t allow when we’re talking about African Americans or talking about Italian Americans and so we shouldn’t allow it for Jewish Americans, either.”

Writer and researcher Hussain Abdul-Hussain has an unusual story: A Shia Muslim raised in Iraq and Lebanon and taught to hate Israel and the West, he is now a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies living in Washington, and the author of a book called The Arab Case for Israel. 

It was his years in Lebanon that gave him unique insight into the country’s political workings, which now play a major role in its tenuous ceasefire with Israel.

“Lebanon was a thriving state when the Arabs were fighting Israel state-to-state, when it was a symmetric military-to-military war,” Abdul-Hussain told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov and Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy Executive Director Asher Fredman on the “Misgav Mideast Horizons” podcast this week. 

“What happened is that, after 1967, when the Arab armies were defeated, the Arabs switched from military-to-military to asymmetric war, with armed factions like Hamas, or the PLO before Hamas, or Hezbollah [against Israel],” he said. “They decided when to fight, how to fight, where to launch attacks, and these were in Jordan and Lebanon. … Jordan decided [to say] ‘We are a state and we will not allow these armed factions to run our affairs’ … They ejected them in 1970. Lebanon, unfortunately, came under enormous pressure from all kinds of Arab capitals. … Everyone forced Lebanon to accept [PLO leader Yasser] Arafat and his armed factions to operate out of Lebanon and launch attacks on Israel.”

“Since then, the Lebanese state has not been able to restore its sovereignty to pre-1969 days,” Abdul-Hussain argued. “After Israel ejected Arafat in 1982, Hezbollah inherited the mantle. … We have an issue of chronic weakness of the Lebanese state facing armed factions.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is “probably the only elected Lebanese official to state on the record that Hezbollah is treasonous and wages war on behalf of Iran,” Abdul-Hussain said. In addition, there were reports as talks began last month that Aoun would be willing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, Aoun said more recently that Lebanon would not be able to negotiate with Israel until its fight against Hezbollah ended.

“Hezbollah and Iran don’t want any kind of direct talks with Israel,” Abdul-Hussain pointed out.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia, he noted, have also been advising the Lebanese government not to negotiate normalization, a topic that was one of Israel’s conditions for entering the talks.

Riyadh’s motivation, according to Abdul-Hussain, is for Arab states to line up behind the Gulf state and wait for it to make peace with Israel — a move that Saudi Arabia has conditioned on the creation of a pathway to Palestinian statehood.

“This is leverage for the Saudis; it’s not in the interest of Lebanon,” Abdul-Hussain said. “These are factors that come in so the Lebanese state remains weak and unable to take on Hezbollah.”

Abdul-Hussain credited the Trump administration for “giving Lebanon more attention than any administration since the early days of Ronald Reagan. … I’m happy that someone sees Lebanon as it is, not as we imagine it to be or just dismiss it and say ‘This is too complicated for us and we’re not going to go into it.’”

That attention is “a golden opportunity … to help disarm Hezbollah and live at peace with Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, everybody else,” he said. “If the Lebanese don’t grasp it, I’m not sure there will be another opportunity in the coming future.” 

Abdul-Hussain said that Aoun’s recent message that he will not shake hands with Netanyahu at the outset of negotiations does not diminish the major step he took toward peace talks with Israel.

“For a Lebanese president to say that we are parting ways with the Arab League and Saudi Arabia and that we are ready to shake hands with the Israeli prime minister if there is an agreement – that is huge,” he said.

As for France, which has often intervened on matters related to Lebanon, but is not involved in the talks with Israel, Abdul-Hussain said, “France has not paid a penny to Lebanon in a long time … but for some reason they keep sitting at the table deciding Lebanon’s fate. My guess is that they enjoy the spotlight.”

The French and the Saudis try to intervene in Lebanon “for their own ego,” Abdul-Hussain argued, but France is “more dangerous,” because it “tries to curry favor with Iran by taking Hezbollah’s side in Lebanon. The French would tell the Iranians, ‘Listen, we will not go against Hezbollah … [or] whatever Hezbollah policy. But keep in mind that when the time comes and there are no sanctions and you need to give contracts away, the French took your side. The French do this all the time. They did it with Saddam Hussein.”

A more recent example Abdul-Hussain cited was when the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain brought a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council stating that the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway and countries should be able to use military force to open it; “The French took the side of the Chinese, Russians and Iran” against it, he said.

“Why would France do that?” he said. “OK, you don’t like Trump, you don’t want to open your airspace to Trump. But if you are about international law, this is as [legitimate] as it can get. So what do the French do? They hedge against the West. … and this is what they’re doing in Lebanon.” 

Abdul-Hussain said he was “thrilled” to hear Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter say that he “would like to keep the French as far away as possible from pretty much everything, but particularly when it comes to peace negotiations.”

Abdul-Hussain’s book, The Arab Case for Israel, was published in February and features not only his arguments in favor of supporting Israel, but how he came to hold such views after receiving an anti-Israel education.

“My dad is from Iraq, from Baghdad, and my mom is from Baalbek in Lebanon,” Abdul-Hussain recounted this week. “I grew up in both countries. After second or third grade, we left Iraq permanently, during the war with Iran. … Of course, the 1980s in Lebanon is when Israel invaded [Lebanon] and when Hezbollah was being put together, and the days of the civil war.” 

Abdul-Hussain recalled growing up in Iraq “shouting slogans against Khomeini and against Israel, and then … [in] Lebanon shouting pro-Khomeini slogans against Saddam Hussein, but still against Israel.” 

He attended the American University in Beirut, where he was exposed to less conservative Muslim ideas of “all kinds, Marxist, socialist, anarchist, you name it” but still anti-Israel.

Abdul-Hussain became a reporter at the now-defunct Daily Star, a leading English-language newspaper in Lebanon, rising to the position of managing editor. 

When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, Abdul-Hussain was covering the events and drove to the border.

“At the time, the border was just a flimsy barbed wire. You could see Israelis on the other side, and I stood there and I watched Israeli families in Metula and all these towns … mothers driving their children to school, men working the fields, some guy driving a tractor. This was the first time that I saw Israelis as humans … as people like us, and this made me so curious,” he recalled.

Abdul-Hussain was able to pick up Israeli radio stations from Lebanon, and began to learn Hebrew in that way, because “If you lived in Lebanon, you had no access to anything Israeli. The only access you had is anti-Israel books by Edward Said, [Norman] Finkelstein, [Noam] Chomsky. You can buy Mein Kampf anywhere.” 

Listening to Israeli radio, Abdul-Hussain found that “These guys are not really obsessed with killing all the Arabs and taking all the land and establishing Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates and all the conspiracy theories that I had learned.”

In 2004, he moved to Washington to work for the newly-founded Al Hurra, the U.S.-backed Arabic language news channel meant to support the spread of democracy in the Middle East, and has lived in the U.S. ever since.

“After I came to the U.S., I had unlimited access to everything Hebrew and Jewish and Israeli and I understood this is a totally different story from the one I was taught,” he said.

Abdul-Hussain makes the case that “Whatever happened in the past, whatever injustice has befallen the Arabs and the Palestinians, moving on and seeing Israel as an asset is much more in the Arab interest than trying to wind the clock back to a time when Israel didn’t exist.” 

“I show the numbers, the receipts as we say here in Washington,” he added. “Look at the Abraham Accords countries and their trade and economy. Look at the cold peace with Egypt and Jordan and their trade and economy, which is much less than the Abraham Accords countries. Then, look at Lebanon and Syria, who are still at war and miserably behind the others.”

Abdul-Hussain pointed at a trend by which “The more peaceful you get with your surroundings, the better your economy thrives and blooms. This is the idea of the book.”

Last November, Rahm Emanuel, the tough-talking Democratic operative and prospective presidential candidate, took the stage of the Jewish Federations of North America’s annual conference in Washington to deliver a blunt word of warning about Israel’s declining reputation in the United States and around the globe.

“I don’t mean to be the party pooper, but look, this is not going to be helpful if we’re not going to be honest with each other,” he said on an opening panel, urging the crowd to reckon with a marked downturn in support for the Jewish state over its war in Gaza, particularly among younger voters. “Israel is extremely unpopular.”

Emanuel, a veteran Jewish politician and party official who had recently concluded a tour as U.S. ambassador to Japan in the Biden administration, acknowledged his message might not ingratiate him to the thousands of Jewish communal leaders in the audience who were no doubt deeply familiar with the issue he was highlighting.

“This may be the last time I’m asked to speak to you. I get it,” he said with a hint of indifference. “But we have to be honest about the task we have” for those “who believe that there is something special” to the U.S.-Israel relationship. “We have our work cut out, and it’s not here to get applause,” he told the crowd.

In hindsight, Emanuel’s frankly worded comments marked something of a turning point in his approach to Israel and the Jewish community, foreshadowing more recent remarks in which he has voiced harsh criticism of the country’s military tactics in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks and championed new policy proposals against American military aid to Israel.

Yet even as he builds a profile as a potential candidate willing to tell the Democratic Party hard truths and challenge orthodoxy on a range of issues from trans rights to child social media bans to age limits for politicians, Emanuel, 66, was reticent in exploring his views on Israel in more depth during an interview with Jewish Insider, which he had resisted for nearly a month.

“What I said couldn’t have been clearer,” he told JI last Thursday, referring to his recent comments on “Real Time With Bill Maher” calling for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel that raised eyebrows in the Jewish community. “There will no longer be U.S. taxpayer subsidies for the purchase of U.S. military equipment. Israel will be like every other ally. They can buy what they want, and they have to live within the restrictions.”

“You can decide to slice it, dice it, but that’s what it is,” he said.

While U.S. military funding to Israel has increasingly faced pushback in the Democratic Party, particularly on the far left, Emanuel’s argument that Israel no longer needs the sort of special treatment that he helped promote in the Obama White House has been striking to watch precisely because he has long been a staunch defender of the Jewish state and its founding ideals.

Emanuel, whose middle name is Israel and who speaks fluent Hebrew, holds a uniquely personal connection to the Jewish state. His late father, an Israeli immigrant born in Jerusalem, served in the Irgun, the Zionist paramilitary force that fought for Israeli independence. As a child, he spent summers in Israel and later volunteered as a civilian assistant to the Israel Defense Forces during the Gulf War. His son celebrated his bar mitzvah in Israel.

Emanuel, a moderate former congressman and mayor of Chicago, pointed out in the interview that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had himself proposed winding down U.S. military aid over the next 10 years, saying in January that the country had “come of age” and “developed incredible capacity” to continue on its own. 

Emanuel, however, said that he would instead suspend the assistance “immediately,” characterizing his position as “part of an overall policy” tied to Israel’s strategically secure position in the region as well as its political isolation on the world stage — both of which he argued have never been greater than now.

“If you or anybody thinks you’re going to continue the American taxpayers paying for this, good luck passing that in the U.S. Congress. You’re asking a president of the United States to spend X amount of political capital to do something that even Israel’s own prime minister acknowledged isn’t going to happen,” he said, referring to continued U.S. military aid.

The Jewish state “has made a decision to only lean on its defense and not lean on its diplomatic front,” he told JI, adding that Netanyahu had chosen to “walk away” from pursuing a two-state solution, support for which has declined in Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks and ensuing war in Gaza.

In his view, the U.S. should continue to stand with Israel only if its efforts in the region help contribute to peace. “Every risk you will take, the State of Israel takes, for peace, then America will stand by you,” he said. “We understand there’s risks. We have stood by Israel through thick and thin.”

“But,” he said, “when one friend in that relationship abandoned something that’s contrary to our interests and contrary, in my view, also to Israel’s interests,” it is reasonable, he suggested, to rethink that alliance.

“There will no longer be U.S. taxpayer subsidies for the purchase of U.S. military equipment. Israel will be like every other ally. They can buy what they want, and they have to live within the restrictions,” Emanuel said of his vision of the future of military aid to Israel.

His comments indicate that he is now embracing a fundamental reassessment of the U.S.-Israel alliance, abandoning even the pretense of tough love that once characterized his approach, among other moderate voices in the Democratic Party. 

For example, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a centrist Jewish Democrat who is also weighing a presidential campaign in 2028, recently reiterated his support for continued U.S. aid to Israel but said that it should be seen as “leverage” to exert pressure over the country’s use of American-made weapons.

“Rahm’s move tells you a lot about the politics of the Democratic Party on Israel now. And that is a sign of how Israel’s image has changed in the country,” said Dennis Ross, a former U.S. diplomat and Middle East negotiator who overlapped with Emanuel in the Obama administration.

Despite his strong attachment to Israel, Emanuel is reckoning with a changing party no longer broadly sympathetic to the pro-Israel perspective that had long been central to his political identity, even as he has tussled with Israeli leadership during his time as a public figure.

Last Friday, for example, Emanuel signaled he would back Graham Platner, the far-left Senate candidate in Maine now poised to become the Democratic nominee, even as the Marine veteran has called to block U.S. military aid to Israel while facing controversy over a Nazi tattoo he recently covered up.

“Whether it’s people chanting ‘Jews will not replace us’” in Charlottesville, “or somebody bombing Gov. Shapiro’s home, or somebody painting Nazi insignia on my fence, or the candidate saying ‘I did not know that was a Nazi’” insignia on his chest, “we’re going to have to confront this,” Emanuel told JI the day before announcing his support for Platner, while touting his record of fighting antisemitism.

“I’ve dealt with it when I ran for Congress,” he said on the phone from Chicago, noting that he was outside an Anne Frank exhibition opening in his home city. “And I’ve also been upfront when I think a decision is going to lead to the strategic and diplomatic isolation of, not only the State of Israel, but, more importantly, the Jewish people.”

Still, Emanuel seemed reluctant and even somewhat frustrated to answer further questions seeking clarity on the implications of his new approach to Israel and how he arrived at his position. He refused to confirm explicitly, for example, if he would back defensive aid for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, which has recently emerged as a subject of intense debate in some corners of the Democratic Party.

It is a significant contrast with where Emanuel stood during his time as Obama’s chief of staff. In the White House from 2009-2010, Emanuel was one of Obama’s top consiglieres on policies relating to Israel. He was involved in initial funding to boost Israel’s Iron Dome system, an effort that culminated in a 10-year memorandum of understanding between the two countries that provides $3.8 billion in annual aid through 2028, which the White House touted, at the time, as “the largest single pledge of military assistance in U.S. history.”

In 2009, Emanuel shared more reassuring words in his address to the JFNA’s annual gathering, praising Netanyahu while citing his own familial ties to Israel as well as what he had called the “privileged point of view” from understanding the Jewish state’s “value as a homeland.”

“Those who have questioned” whether the Obama administration’s opposition to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and outreach to the Arab world “implies diminished support for Israel, that is not the intent,” he said, filling in for his boss. “It is not the case and it never will be. The truth is the opposite. Only through dialogue will Israel achieve the peace it seeks.”

Emanuel now takes a more jaundiced view of Israeli diplomacy, fueling his calls for an end to U.S. aid. “Under Prime Minister Netanyahu, in the last three years, you’ve lost Europe, you’ve lost the American public, and you picked up Somaliland,” he scoffed to JI, referring to Israel’s decision to formally recognize the secessionist region in the Horn of Africa last year. “As my grandmother would say, ‘Such a deal.’ That is your only diplomatic achievement.”

Julie Fishman Rayman, senior vice president of policy and political affairs at the American Jewish Committee, called Emanuel’s views “disappointing and worrying,” arguing that U.S. security assistance to Israel “is not just vital to deterring further attacks and ensuring the survival of the state of Israel, but is integrally tied to safeguarding American interests in the region.”

Emanuel argued that his position on U.S. aid is a logical extension of sentiments he had conveyed in 2009 while in the Obama administration, when he repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu over settlement expansion in the West Bank, which the White House cautioned would jeopardize prospects for achieving a two-state solution.

“I went straight to the prime minister to his face and said, ‘What you’re doing is going to lead to the great isolation of Israel,’” Emanuel recalled, noting, as he often does, that Netanyahu called him a “self-hating Jew,” underscoring the highly personal tenor of their long-testy relationship. “Look, I have a longstanding relationship,” he explained. “I’m honest about it.”

But even as he argues that Israel is today “a different country from a sense of wealth and capacity,” he has strained to harmonize the motives now animating his current approach. He has dismissed speculation over the sincerity of his stance and whether it is rooted in a good-faith view of Israel’s economic standing or if it is instead a more cynical political calculation tailored to a rising anti-Israel faction in the Democratic Party.

Though in contrast with high-profile voices on the far left, Emanuel has shied away from charged rhetoric about genocide in Gaza, saying it is a legal question, as well accusations that Israel had tricked President Donald Trump into war with Iran, which he says ignores U.S. agency in the conflict. He has said it is a “mistake” to restrict arms sales to Israel, suggesting that he is not aligned with related resolutions that were introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) last month and notably drew backing from most Senate Democrats.

Emanuel’s allies said in recent interviews that they were not surprised with his approach, saying that he has been building to this moment for some time. “Do I agree with him? Not necessarily,” former Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), who served with Emanuel in Congress, told JI. “But this is not a breakthrough position. He’s expressed those concerns for years.”

David Axelrod, a former chief strategist to Obama, likewise agreed in a text message to JI that “Rahm’s basic concerns about where Bibi is leading are not new,” using Netanyahu’s nickname. “Rahm, like a lot of us, has always believed a two-state solution was the only road to peace and Bibi has been deeply, irretrievably opposed and actively hostile to the notion.”

“You ask these questions like somehow I’ve changed. The prime minister used to articulate a two-state solution. He was for it. He’s the one that’s changed,” Emanuel said of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

One prominent Jewish Democrat, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss a charged issue, called Emanuel’s stance a practical response that “takes the wind out of the sails of the far left and the far right,” which have politicized funding for Israel. “As long as we’re giving aid to Israel, Americans will feel like they have a say in Israeli policy and how that investment is managed.”

But if that is Emanuel’s aim, he has not made it clear. In conversation with JI, he was hesitant to clarify his own positions when pressed. Asked if he would back Iron Dome funding, he said he had been “part of the financing” for a “joint project” that he called “key for Israel’s security” when it was first developed with the United States.

He declined to elaborate further about such aid. “U.S. taxpayers should not be in the position of subsidizing a country,” he reiterated. “You know my history with the Iron Dome,” he said. “I’m done. I’ve answered it.”

Though some allies of Emanuel are willing to indulge his views more favorably than other 2028 prospects with thinner resumes related to Middle East policy, a range of Jewish and pro-Israel organizations are now pushing back on his recent turn against U.S. military aid.

“It’s in America’s interests to keep our word and help a democratic partner shield innocent civilians from missiles,” Deryn Sousa, a spokesperson for AIPAC, told JI, referring to the Iron Dome. “Reneging on the Obama administration’s signed agreement with our closest ally in the Middle East would send a devastating message to our allies, empower our enemies and do nothing to advance peace.”

Brian Romick, president of Democratic Majority for Israel, said that “Israel’s situation is not comparable to our other close allies.”

“Unlike Japan, South Korea and Germany, Israel does not have permanent U.S. troops on the ground,” he told JI recently. “It’s also surrounded by enemies who actively want to wipe it off the face of the earth. U.S. security assistance reflects that reality and the significant strategic benefits the aid provides.”

Michael Makovsky, president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told JI in a recent interview that he disagreed with Emanuel, even as he acknowledged the sentiment as a “legitimate view.” Still, he added that it is “in the U.S. interest” to continue providing military aid to Israel, “which anyway all goes to buying U.S. weaponry.”

Even some pro-Israel Democrats sympathetic to Emanuel and his perspective said his comments on military aid raise more questions than they answer. One influential Jewish Democrat who has long been acquainted with Emanuel, speaking on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive topic, expressed concerns that ending aid to Israel could stoke further calls from the far left to condition military funding or block future weapons sales outright.

For his part, Emanuel avoided commenting on the question of Israel’s qualitative military edge, which the U.S. is legally obligated to ensure but allies say could suffer without military aid. “I feel like we’re taking the same question from 50 angles,” Emanuel told JI. “I want Israel to fight for peace the way it’s proven that it’s fought in the last three years. That’s what’s missing,” he said last week.

“You ask these questions like somehow I’ve changed,” Emanuel said earlier in the call. “The prime minister used to articulate a two-state solution. He was for it. He’s the one that’s changed.”

A gunman who attacked the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington on Saturday night appears to have been acting alone, but is not currently cooperating with authorities, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday morning. 

President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and other Cabinet officials were rushed out of the Washington Hilton ballroom, where Trump was attending the WHCD for his first time as president, after shots were fired around 8:40 p.m. on Saturday.

The gunman had rushed a security checkpoint one floor above the ballroom armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives and was tackled by law enforcement, D.C. police chief Jeffery Carroll said at a press briefing hours after the incident. 

Trump released images and security camera video of the moment on Truth Social, where the attacker is seen running past security, who react quickly. He did not reach the ballroom.

The gunman was arrested and taken to a local hospital, though officials say he was not shot during the altercation. One Secret Service officer was shot but was saved by his bulletproof vest, Trump said, and no other injuries were reported.

The suspect has not been named publicly but anonymous law enforcement officials identified him to The New York Times as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, Calif. Federal authorities swarmed his home in the Los Angeles area hours after the attack. A LinkedIn account appearing to be connected to Allen indicates he was a video game developer and a part-time teacher.

Blanche said the gunman took a train from Los Angeles to Chicago and from Chicago to Washington where he checked into the Hilton as a guest a day or two before the event. It appears from the initial investigation that the suspect “set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche added. 

An apparent manifesto by the shooter sent to his family members and obtained by CBS News said he was targeting administration officials, “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” because he didn’t want their “crimes” to “coat [his] hands.” He said he would not target “Mr. Patel” — referring to the FBI director — Secret Service, Capitol Police or National Guard troops. “In order to minimize casualties, I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls),” he added.

He further criticized what he called the lack of security at the hotel and apologized to his parents “for saying I had an interview without specifying it was for ‘Most Wanted,’” as well as to his colleagues and students for saying he had a personal emergency.

Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Sunday that the suspect was being charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and with assault of a federal officer, among other charges, and would be arraigned on Monday.

Trump, speaking from the White House briefing room shortly after the incident, praised law enforcement and members of the media for their response — a change in the president’s usual acrimonious tone with the press. He insisted that the WHCD be rescheduled shortly, and further used the incident to justify the construction of his White House ballroom.

A who’s who of the leading names in media, tech and global and domestic politics are flocking to the nation’s capital for the scores of exclusive parties surrounding the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner this Saturday — where President Donald Trump will make his first-ever appearance as president and deliver a roast of the political press corps. 

The correspondents’ dinner, and the parties thrown in its honor, have always generated enough fanfare to maintain its status as the biggest weekend of the social calendar in Washington. This year, however, is being treated inside the Beltway as the most high-profile WHCD weekend in at least a decade, the result of Trump’s decision to participate in this year’s dinner after boycotting it for his entire presidency.

In addition to Trump’s roast, guests will be entertained by Oz Pearlman, a famed mentalist known for his mind-reading tricks. Pearlman, who is Jewish and was born in Israel, marks a shift from the traditional entertainment choice at the dinner, which is usually a monologue delivered by a comedian. Those comedians’ jokes about Trump were a factor in why the president has skipped previous dinners, and the White House Correspondents’ Association canceled its planned entertainer last year over backlash to her past comments.

The dinner could make for some awkward moments: one of the WHCA’s award winners this year is a team from The Wall Street Journal, for reporting on Trump’s ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — an article that led Trump to sue the Journal. And that’s not to mention Trump’s routine hostility toward and criticisms of the media more broadly. It is unclear if the president will be present for the award ceremony.

Celebrities have historically flocked to Washington for WHCD weekend, though the number of famous names willing to appear for the dinner or other events dwindled during the first Trump administration. That trend began to reverse during the Biden administration, though it picked up again last year when Trump returned to office. 

Nicki Minaj, the rap superstar who has become an advocate for the Trump administration, will be attending the dinner as a guest of the Washington Times. No other media organizations have announced celebrity guests for their respective tables at the dinner. 

Regardless of a diminished turnout of famous faces, this weekend will be jam-packed with nonstop events, and it has already begun.

Trump’s announcement in early March that he would attend Saturday’s dinner — leading many senior administration officials to also make plans to attend the festivities and Donald Trump Jr. to organize an ultra-exclusive event at his Executive Branch Club in Georgetown on Friday night — prompted an avalanche of interest from major companies, U.S. officials, foreign diplomats and dignitaries, top corporate powerbrokers and domestic political firms. 

Boeing, Meta and Amazon swiftly organized intimate, invite-only gatherings for this weekend or became lead sponsors for events being hosted by D.C.-area embassies, media outlets, political operatives and high-profile consulting groups. Foreign ambassadors stationed in the U.S. and others looking to connect with the president’s circle or the broader Washington political orbit began calling in favors to get on the guest lists for all of the weekend’s events, making invitations all-the-more difficult to secure for those who have attended in the last decade. 

The parties start early on Friday with Axios Live’s annual WHCD weekend kickoff brunch at 9:00 a.m., followed by MS NOW’s brunch at 11:00 a.m. and Punchbowl News’ WHCD weekend kickoff gathering the publication’s townhouse in Capitol Hill at noon. 

Meghan McCain’s “Renegade Women’s Cocktail Party” at The Graham in Georgetown starts at 4 p.m. while YouTube’s official WHCD party at Floreria Atlantico in Georgetown and the Motion Picture Association’s reception at the Downtown headquarters begin at 5:30.

Later that night, Semafor is hosting a “house party” at the private residence of its founder, Justin B. Smith, starting at 8 p.m.; Creative Artists Agency’s annual Friday evening party, sponsored by Vanity Fair, will take place this year at 7:30 p.m. at the Belgian ambassador’s residence near Georgetown; and United Talent Agency will host their annual “Celebration of American Journalists” at 9:00 p.m. at Osteria Mozza in Georgetown.

The Qataris are once again hosting a Friday evening correspondents bash with Washingtonian magazine, which starts at 8 p.m. at the Georgetown Four Seasons, which Qatari Ambassador Meshal Al Thani is slated to attend. At 7 p.m., doors will open for the Daily Mail’s party with Brunswick Review Business Magazine at the British ambassador’s residence.

Saturday’s festivities start at 11 a.m. with the annual White House Correspondents’ garden brunch, hosted by Tammy Haddad at the Beall-Washington House in Georgetown. Ahead of the dinner, Puck is hosting a “penthouse pre-party” on the rooftop of The Hepburn, located next to the Washington Hilton. At the Hilton, where the dinner is taking place, The Wall Street Journal and ABC News have their respective annual pre-dinner receptions at 5:30 p.m. The Washington Post has a cocktail reception at the Hilton starting at 6 p.m., the same time that Politico’s pre-dinner event with CBS News — featuring new CBS News honcho Bari Weiss — takes place just down the hall. 

Alongside the dinner, Substack is hosting its “New Media Party” at 8 p.m. at the Renwick Gallery, located blocks from the White House; afterward, MS NOW and NBC News have dueling parties starting at 11:30 p.m., with the former hosting theirs at Dupont Underground in Dupont Circle and the latter hosting theirs at the French ambassador’s residence in Kalorama. Time’s WHCD afterparty at the Swiss ambassador’s residence in Woodley Park begins at 11 p.m.

On Sunday, NOTUS and Politico are hosting a brunch at the home of Robert Allbritton starting at 11:00 a.m., and CNN’s “WHCD Weekend Finale” brunch reception starts at 12:30 p.m.

This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced this afternoon, with the status of negotiations with Iran up in the air and the expiration of the ceasefire quickly approaching, that he is indefinitely extending the ceasefire at the request of Pakistani negotiators (despite having said, as recently as this morning, that he was not inclined to do so).

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured … we have been asked to hold our Attack … until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other”…

Talks were meant to begin shortly in Islamabad, but Vice President JD Vance’s trip was reportedly put on hold and he remains in Washington. Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were all spotted arriving at the White House for meetings this afternoon.

Iran also had not committed to sending its own delegation — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire through its blockade of Iranian ports and seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, calling it an “act of war. … Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying,” he wrote…

U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that had been sanctioned for working with Iran which defense officials said was currently carrying Iranian oil, in a further escalation of the U.S. campaign against Tehran-aligned assets and actors outside of the Middle East. 

The Treasury Department also announced sanctions on 14 individuals and entities in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for “their involvement in procuring or transporting weapons or weapons components on behalf of the Iranian regime”…

Six weeks after he was announced as Iran’s new supreme leader after the assassination of his father, Mojtaba Khamenei has still not been seen in public, raising speculation he is incapacitated from injuries sustained in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike or has been smuggled abroad…

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) endorsed Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R-MS) view that the U.S. should reconsider its funding for the Lebanese Armed Forces in light of its continued inaction to disarm Hezbollah, in addition to the Lebanese government’s failure to “follow through on long-promised economic reform. The era of complacency & unconditional bailouts must come to end,” Risch said…

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) clarified that his post calling it “awesome” that several Iranian oil tankers had bypassed the U.S. blockade — reporting that has been disputed as Iranian propaganda — was written as sarcasm. “[O]bviously Trump’s bungled mismanagement of this war is not ‘awesome.’ As I have said a million times here, it’s a disaster and he should end the war immediately,” Murphy wrote on X…

Democratic lawmakers are expressing concern over Israel’s fracturing relationship with key European allies, while experts say the shifting dynamics could carry longer-term economic and political risks for Jerusalem, even if Israel weathers threats to unwind largely symbolic defense agreements, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

Among other recent moves, Spain and Ireland led a push today to suspend the EU’s association agreement with Israel. The initiative stalled as member states remained divided on the issue; still, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) called the developments “deeply alarming.” 

“NATO allies like Spain, France and Italy are turning their backs on Israel, a key democratic partner that is actively fighting on the front lines against Iran,” Gottheimer said. “Singling out Israel represents a double standard”…

The arsonist who pleaded guilty to attacking a North London synagogue on Saturday night was released on bail by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, JI’s Haley Cohen reports. The 17-year-old boy who threw a bottle containing accelerant through the window of Kenton United Synagogue must live and sleep at his home address and not enter any synagogue, the judge said. It was the third such attack on a Jewish institution in London within a week…

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) resigned from Congress this afternoon, half an hour before her House Ethics Committee sanctions hearing was due to begin. Having lost jurisdiction in the matter, the committee canceled the hearing…

The Board of Peace is reportedly in discussion with the UAE-owned DP World logistics company about managing supply chains and humanitarian aid in Gaza, including potentially building a new port and developing a free-trade zone, according to Financial Times, as part of the Trump administration’s vision of privatizing much of Gaza’s services and infrastructure…

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at how Jewish Democrats in Michigan are making sense of their place in the party in the wake of a state convention where pro-Israel voices were shouted down and a pro-Hezbollah candidate won the party’s nomination for a statewide race.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing evaluating the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.

A vote on the fifth Iran war powers resolution in the Senate, expected today, has been pushed to tomorrow.

92NY will host a discussion on the future of New York’s Jewish community with New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and New York City Comptroller Mark Levine.

The New York City Council’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism will hold its first hearing. The task force was established by Menin in January, shortly after her election, to make recommendations and work towards her five-point plan to combat antisemitism.

Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate will host a unity dinner in partnership with the NFL, Hillel International, United Negro College Fund and the Pittsburgh Steelers for Black and Jewish college students from the Pittsburgh area. The event will include a fireside chat featuring Kraft, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch.

Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie will hold a meet-and-greet with young Jewish professionals. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) will speak in conversation at Yeshiva University with its president, Rabbi Ari Berman, about her new book, Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America’s Elite Universities.

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IRON DOME DECISIONS

J Street accelerates leftward shift as progressives move to end Iron Dome funding

J Street’s Ilan Goldenberg said the surge in far-left calls to cut off missile-defense aid ‘stirred up the conversation a little more’ but says the group was moving that way regardless

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CAMPAIGN CLASH

Sue Altman accuses challenger in N.J. race of ‘cheerleading’ the ‘deaths of Israeli children’

Adam Hamawy said on Hasan Piker’s show that he does not support Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system, arguing that it insulates Israel from the consequences of war

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This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Iranian officials have signaled they will attend talks with the U.S. in Islamabad, Pakistan, this week, with Vice President JD Vance, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner expected to depart for the meeting tomorrow (despite President Donald Trump’s claim that they were already in transit this morning). 

Negotiators are up against a running clock, as Trump said today that his two-week ceasefire with Iran will end “Wednesday evening Washington time” and it’s “highly unlikely that I’d extend it” if no deal is reached…

In a series of heated social media posts, Trump again denied that Israel dragged the U.S. into war with Iran: “[T]he results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” were his motivation, he wrote on Truth Social. 

Trump also boasted that the deal under negotiation will be “far better” than the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. “If a Deal happens under ‘TRUMP,’ it will guarantee Peace, Security, and Safety, not only for Israel and the Middle East, but for Europe, America, and everywhere else,” he wrote. Lashing out at the media, Trump insisted, “I’m winning a War, BY A LOT, things are going very well,” claiming the U.S. blockade, “which we will not take off until there is a ‘DEAL,’ is absolutely destroying Iran”… 

The State Department confirmed that the U.S. will host the second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, as the 10-day ceasefire between the two countries that began last Thursday, after the first round of talks, continues to hold…

Republican operatives and strategists are growing increasingly concerned that the GOP may lose the Senate in the midterm elections, several told Politico, as rising gas prices and unease around the war with Iran create a poor national environment for Trump’s party. 

The New York Times’ Nate Cohn argues that Democrats have a “realistic chance” to flip the four seats they need to win back the chamber because “they’ve recruited unusually strong candidates in three states that supported Mr. Trump three times: North Carolina, Ohio and Alaska.”

“In all three states, the Democrats’ likely nominees are popular recent statewide office holders. They either won their last campaign or were highly competitive in losing re-election under less favorable political conditions. So far, the polls show those Democrats running well ahead of what one might otherwise expect,” Cohn writes…

Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg’s shifting views on Israel policy and decision to skip two upcoming Jewish community candidate forums are raising eyebrows in New York’s heavily Jewish 12th Congressional District, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

During a candidate forum at 92NY last week, for example, Schlossberg rejected continued U.S. funding for offensive weapons to Israel amid the war in Iran — even as he emphasized support for boosting the Iron Dome missile-defense system, which he described as a “critical” technology…

Minnesota’s Democratic Party is poised to endorse progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate at its convention next month, Flanagan’s campaign said, after the lieutenant governor secured support from over 90% of Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party local conventions held statewide. The party endorsement, however, will not determine the nominee, as Democratic voters are set to choose their candidate in the Aug. 11 primary election.

The campaign of Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), Flanagan’s primary opponent and the favorite of pro-Israel activists, called on the DFL last week to launch a formal investigation into a series of alleged instances of antisemitic activity among its delegates. One instance at a local convention last month reportedly saw an unnamed delegate argue that “we should nuke” Israel…

The Wall Street Journal reports on the growing feud between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, which “spilled out into public view on Thursday, when Driscoll described to lawmakers his fondness for the Army’s former top general, Randy George, whom Hegseth fired as the service’s chief of staff on April 2 while Driscoll was on vacation”…

A Washington Post investigation found that, since January 2025, neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes has made nearly $900,000 through paid messages on his livestreams from roughly 11,000 fans. His top 500 donors are responsible for almost half of that amount…

The UAE has asked the U.S. to consider offering it financial assistance amid the war with Iran, as the Gulf country has borne the brunt of Iran’s drone and missile strikes, taking a heavy toll on its oil, economic and tourism industries. Emirati officials raised the idea of a currency-swap line, which would allow Abu Dhabi inexpensive access to U.S. dollars…

European officials hosted two meetings on Gaza reconstruction today — one gathering, led by EU representative Kaja Kallas and Norway, centered on coordinating aid with the U.S.-led Board of Peace, where White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum requested international assistance in rebuilding the enclave. The other forum, led by Kallas and Belgium, focused on a two-state solution and was attended by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa…

In response to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s condemnation of an IDF soldier found to have desecrated a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon, Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, accused the IDF of committing war crimes. 

“Lessons should also be drawn regarding the way they are being trained,” Sikorski wrote on X. “IDF soldiers themselves admit to war crimes. They killed not only civilian Palestinians but even their own hostages”…

Incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar affirmed that his country is bound by rules of the International Criminal Court to arrest those sought under its warrants, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Magyar said he intends to prevent Hungary from leaving the ICC, a move his predecessor, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, had initiated.

Responding to questions about Netanyahu’s claim that Magyar had invited him to the country for a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising, Magyar responded, “Every leader is welcome to attend this important commemoration,” but “we have a legal obligation to enforce the court’s rulings, and I’m sure [Netanyahu] knows this”…

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced this afternoon that he will step down from the helm of the tech giant and become its executive chairman in September. Succeeding Cook is John Ternus, head of the company’s hardware engineering…

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Rachel Goldberg-Polin on the release of her book, When We See You Again, which debuts tomorrow. 

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will hold a nomination hearing for Kevin Warsh, son-in-law of Jewish philanthropist Ronald Lauder, to be chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Democrats intend to press Warsh on his personal fortune, which he has only partially disclosed thus far.

The House Ethics Committee will hold a public hearing to determine whether to apply sanctions to Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), after finding last month that she had committed serious ethics violations and campaign finance misconduct.

The U.S. Helsinki Commission will hold a hearing on Iran’s support for Russia amid its war with Ukraine.

The Senate Foreign Relation Committee’s subcommittee on Africa will hold a hearing on U.S. approaches to counterterrorism on the continent. 

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LATIN LINKS

Milei, Netanyahu launch ‘Isaac Accords’ to encourage Israel, Latin America engagement

An Israeli diplomatic source told JI that Ecuador and Paraguay are expected to join the Isaac Accords

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MICHIGAN MOMENT

Michigan Dems nominate lawyer who praised Hezbollah for UMich regent over Jewish incumbent

Platner, in Reddit post on Hamas terrorist attack: ‘From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent’

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This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

President Donald Trump announced the start of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon to begin at 5 p.m. ET today, after he held phone calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day. 

Trump added that he will be inviting Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for “meaningful talks,” later telling reporters such a meeting could happen in the “next week or two.”

The text of the agreement released by the State Department indicates the ceasefire is a “gesture of goodwill” on Israel’s part “intended to enable good-faith negotiations” toward a permanent agreement. The temporary pause in hostilities could be extended if Lebanon “effectively demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty” and prevent Hezbollah from carrying out attacks against Israel…

Trump again indicated further talks with Iran could take place this weekend and said the two sides are “very close to making a deal,” telling reporters this afternoon that Iran has already agreed to “give us back the nuclear dust,” referring to its highly enriched uranium. 

Hours earlier, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned at a press briefing that U.S. forces are “maximally postured” to return to military operations against Iran if negotiations are unsuccessful, and will look to attack “infrastructure, power and energy”… 

The House narrowly voted to block a Democratic resolution to force an end to the war in Iran by a vote of 214-213-1, with all but one of the four Democrats who opposed a similar effort in March changing their votes to support today’s measure, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Juan Vargas (D-CA) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who voted last month against a similar resolution, flipped their votes to support the war powers effort. But Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who is retiring at the end of his term, voted no again. On the Republican side, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who voted for the war powers resolution last time, switched his vote to “present.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican who voted for the resolution…

Vice President JD Vance, the first vice president to serve simultaneously as finance chair of his party, is building donor relationships that may prove useful should he choose to run for president in 2028, The New York Times reports, including attempting to woo some pro-Israel donors who have otherwise been wary of his ties to far-right commentator Tucker Carlson. 

Among others, Vance has developed relationships with Jewish philanthropists Miriam Adelson, whom he spent New Years Eve with at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and Paul Singer; has appeared as the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by Palantir and 8VC co-founder Joe Lonsdale; and has been featured at a Republican National Committee event hosted by tech executive Keith Rabois, who is married to Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg…

With less than six weeks to go until the Texas primary runoff election, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is defending his seat against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with a significantly larger war chest: As the first quarter of 2026 closed, Cornyn had more than $8 million in cash on hand (including a small donation from former President George W. Bush), while Paxton had $2.6 million in the bank. Whoever clinches the GOP nomination will face state Sen. James Talarico, who has nearly $10 million on hand…

Josef Palermo, who was the first curator of visual arts and special programming at the Kennedy Center until his dismissal last month, recounts his experience as Trump and the center’s then-President Richard Grenell initiated an overhaul of the building, a process Palermo describes as “cronyism, incompetence, and a series of bizarre moves.”

Palermo recounts an exhibition he organized commemorating the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in the building’s Israeli Lounge: “Speaking at the opening reception, Grenell warned the mostly Jewish audience that unless donors came forward to sponsor the space and pay for renovation costs, the lounge would be given away to a new donor. … Such a strong-armed fundraising pitch, at an event commemorating a pogrom, struck many of us in the room as inappropriate. I was mortified”…

Asked for his perspective on antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker’s reach on his platform, Twitch CEO Daniel Clancy said at the Semafor World Economy summit in Washington today that “one of the challenges is when you’re livestreaming you say a lot … you might say a lot of things that are over the top. … If you violate [community guidelines] then we take enforcement actions and we suspend you — it’s designed not to kick you off forever.”

“Whenever Hasan has stepped over the line, we’ve taken action … Folks will get worked up from both the right and the left on this because we have also conservative people that are saying certain things that some people don’t like. … In general, we think it is important for us to allow people to express themselves,” Clancy said…

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a temperature check on support for Israel within the Democratic Party, in light of 85% of Democratic senators voting in favor of a Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)-led measure to block military sales to the Jewish state.

France and the U.K. will co-host a conference tomorrow focused on restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, with leaders from several European, Asian and Gulf countries participating via video.

Michigan’s Democratic Party will hold its endorsement convention on Sunday, where party activists will nominate their two preferred candidates for the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents. The election has reignited the campus’ debate over Israel, as candidate and anti-Israel activist Amir Makled seeks to unseat Jewish regent Jordan Acker, who became the target of antisemitic vandalism and harassment in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. (The SEIU labor union recently pulled its endorsement of Makled over his past support of Hezbollah.)

National party leaders including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will appear at events in Detroit ahead of the convention. 

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

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CAPITAL CONTEST

D.C. mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie courts Jewish voters as DSA-endorsed rival Lewis George faces communal backlash

‘I didn’t seek, nor would I accept, the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America,’ McDuffie told JI in an interview

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SCOOP

‘I dig it’: Graham Platner praised Hamas tactics in 2014 graphic video of killings of Israeli soldiers

Platner, in Reddit post on Hamas terrorist attack: ‘From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent’

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At the Semafor World Economy summit in Washington on Wednesday, Chuck Robbins, CEO of the tech giant Cisco, spoke about his decision a decade ago to acquire Leaba Semiconductor, an Israeli company, before it had even developed a product. 

“Now we’re underpinning the GPU training models and running the enterprise AI stacks. And it turns out, it’s been brilliant,” Robbins said.

“You never know how important a decision is when you make it, and if you have conviction, and your team has conviction, even with something we have invested in for probably five years before we begin to see any ROI, you just gotta stay with it,” Robbins added.

As Washington, D.C., voters get ready to elect their first new mayor in more than a decade, the two leading candidates — former colleagues on the Council of the District of Columbia — are proposing drastically different visions for the city’s future: political moderation or democratic socialism.

In an interview with Jewish Insider this week at his campaign headquarters in Northeast Washington, former Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie drew a direct contrast between his campaign and that of his Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed rival, Janeese Lewis George. 

“I didn’t seek, nor would I accept, the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America, or any organization, for that matter, that requires some sort of divisive pledge to exclude people that are a part of the fabric of the community of the District of Columbia,” McDuffie said.

He was referring to a DSA endorsement questionnaire that asked candidates not to engage with “the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups.” Lewis George, a longtime DSA member, vowed not to attend events that promote Zionism when she filled out the questionnaire, which earned her the DSA endorsement. 

Lewis George’s responses sparked concern among many in the Jewish community, and she apologized in a closed-door meeting with rabbis in March. But she has not offered any public remorse. 

“I think it’s important for elected officials to have the courage to say in public things that they say in private,” McDuffie said. “Any message that depends on taking a pledge to exclude entire communities as a condition of a political endorsement is extraordinarily divisive and disturbing.” 

Amid the controversy surrounding her DSA questionnaire and the meeting with rabbis, Lewis George released a statement last month pledging to stand firm in both her opposition to antisemitism and her support for “Palestinian human rights.” McDuffie told JI that he did not see the mayoral race as a place to litigate debates about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I think a mayor’s responsibility is to look out for all of its residents, particularly our most vulnerable residents,” said McDuffie. “At a time where the Jewish community is seeing rising antisemitism worldwide, and even the District of Columbia, it’s important that they understand that their elected officials are going to use every tool possible to protect them.” 

“I didn’t bring those issues into this race. My opponent did it when she sought the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America,” McDuffie said. “I’m not running for Congress. I’m not engaging in the crafting of foreign policy. I’m running for mayor of Washington, D.C., the most beautifully diverse city in America, and I’m running to fight and deliver for all D.C.”

McDuffie is actively courting votes in the Jewish community. He will appear next week at a meet-and-greet with Jewish young professionals in the District. 

“I think a mayor’s responsibility is to look out for all of its residents, particularly our most vulnerable residents,” said McDuffie. “At a time where the Jewish community is seeing rising antisemitism worldwide, and even the District of Columbia, it’s important that they understand that their elected officials are going to use every tool possible to protect them.” 

McDuffie pledged to speak out against antisemitic violence and rhetoric so that the District’s Jewish residents “understand that they have a mayor and elected leadership who’s going to strongly oppose those kinds of activities and threats and do everything humanly possible to protect them.” He called the city’s nonprofit security grant program, which provides funding to several local synagogues to pay for security expenses, a “nonnegotiable,” even if the city faces other budget challenges. 

Born and raised in Northeast Washington, McDuffie entered politics circuitously. He worked as a mail carrier for the USPS before ultimately going to college and law school, in a career pivot he said was inspired by witnessing the death of two friends to the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. He spent a few years as a prosecutor, in Maryland and at the Justice Department, before running for Council in 2013. McDuffie represented Ward 5, which includes the neighborhoods Bloomingdale, Eckington, Brookland and Fort Totten, until being elected to a citywide at-large position in 2022 where he served until January.

His message now is about affordability, a buzzword brought into style last year by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member like Lewis George. The way to make the city more affordable, according to McDuffie, is “economic growth with guardrails” — a contrast to the sweeping changes promised by Lewis George, the viability of which McDuffie has questioned.

“They want experience. They want vision. They want bold. They want change. What they don’t want is more empty promises,” said McDuffie. “What they don’t want is rhetoric that isn’t supported by an actual plan. What they don’t want is somebody who engages with organizations seeking to divide residents, and what we think we have as an advantage is both a vision that is about building a big tent and inviting people in and a record.” 

“We’re the nation’s capital. We can walk and chew gum,” McDuffie said. “I think that’s important for people to understand, that we can have innovative, transformational policies at the same time that we’re delivering core services on time and within a budget that doesn’t default to raising taxes on hard-working residents.” 

McDuffie seemed to recognize that pushing a vision of pragmatism may not be as seductive as promises powered by major spending increases. For instance, both Lewis George and McDuffie want to build new housing in the city, but Lewis George has promised to build 72,000 new units compared to 12,000 suggested by McDuffie, The Washington Post reported. But McDuffie argued that voters want honesty.

“They want experience. They want vision. They want bold. They want change. What they don’t want is more empty promises,” said McDuffie. “What they don’t want is rhetoric that isn’t supported by an actual plan. What they don’t want is somebody who engages with organizations seeking to divide residents, and what we think we have as an advantage is both a vision that is about building a big tent and inviting people in and a record.” 

Though McDuffie and Lewis George are widely viewed as the frontrunners in the race, they are not the only candidates running in the Democratic primary which, in deep blue Washington, will almost certainly decide the eventual victor. Other candidates in the June 16 primary include real estate developer Gary Goodweather and former Councilmember Vincent Orange.

This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

A war powers resolution brought by Senate Democrats to force an end to the war in Iran was blocked by Republicans yet again this afternoon, the fourth failed attempt mounted by Senate Democrats since the war began in late February, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Nevertheless, top Senate Democrats have said they intend to continue forcing such votes weekly (they have nine more resolutions already filed) in the hopes that more Republicans will change their votes as the war drags on…

Texas state Sen. James Talarico announced he raised $27 million in the first quarter of 2026 in his run for U.S. Senate, a massive haul that his campaign claimed is the largest amount ever raised by a Senate candidate in the first quarter of an election year. Democrats hope the funds will put Texas in play as Talarico seeks to challenge either Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who are still locked in their own hotly contested primary.

The top Senate fundraisers behind Talarico this quarter were also Democrats: Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) brought in $14 million — breaking the record for first-quarter fundraising in Georgia — former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper raised $13.8 million and former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) raised $12.5 million…

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) said he raised $1.1 million in this year’s first quarter, bringing his total to $4.4 million raised — more than any other House incumbent or candidate in New Jersey this cycle, according to the New Jersey Globe — as he defends his swing seat from several well-funded Democratic challengers. 

But even as he’s pulled in plenty of support, Kean has missed a month’s worth of votes on Capitol Hill due to an unspecified medical issue, with his staff declining to say when he will return…

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in an interview on the “Pod Save America” podcast praised former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — once a vocal Omar foe who called for the congresswoman’s deportation while they were both in the House — and far-right influencer Candace Owens over the pair’s break with President Donald Trump, JI’s Marc Rod reports.

“I believe the thing that has been very fascinating, especially about Marjorie and Candace, is that … they’re saying, ‘This action is wrong,’ right? They’re saying, ‘I am done with you.’ We should give them credit for that, the fact that they’ve had this wake-up call to finally seeing this con man, this corrupt, chaotic man for what he is,” Omar said…

Sebastian Gorka, the White House senior director for counterterrorism and a deputy assistant to the president, is reportedly angling for the position of director of the National Counterterrorism Center, which was recently vacated by Joe Kent amid Kent’s opposition to the Iran war. Gorka has been a staunch defender of Trump and backed his war with Iran, as well as repeatedly praised Israel amid its war in Gaza…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Péter Magyar, the presumptive next prime minister of Hungary, for the first time today, calling the conversation “warm” and saying that Magyar indicated he will continue the close relationship the countries enjoyed under his predecessor, outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán…

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her proposal to bar demonstrations of more than two people from occurring within 25 feet of a house of worship today, JI’s Will Bredderman reports, legislation that has drawn legal scrutiny over its creation of a new felony offense for violators.

“I believe I have the right to protect people’s constitutional right to free exercise of religion,” Hochul told reporters when asked if she had concerns that the legislation might provoke challenges on First Amendment grounds. “So if that means we test it in court, bring it on”…

After holding its final public hearing earlier this week, the White House Religious Liberty Commission is now preparing a set of recommendations to be presented to the president next month. Ambiguity and confusion about the commission’s mandate has left commissioners unsure if they’ll continue to meet — their first year on the panel was marred by the firing of one commissioner over her disruption of a hearing on antisemitism… 

Progressive media organization More Perfect Union is launching More Perfect University, an effort aimed at college students to act as an alternative to the conservative Turning Point USA, with a focus on urging young people to share left-wing political and economic messaging through social media. Faiz Shakir, the head of More Perfect Union who is also chief political advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign, said he hopes to jump-start “an economic populist movement for the next generation”…

Duke University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter has been suspended as a student group and had its funding frozen after it posted virulently antisemitic imagery depicting Israel and the U.S. as pigs frothing at the mouth on its Instagram page, prompting student complaints to campus administration…

University of Michigan President-elect Kent Syverud announced today he has been diagnosed with brain cancer and will no longer assume the presidency, leaving the future of the school’s leadership in question. Jewish leaders had praised Syverud’s appointment as a positive development for UM, which had seen rampant anti-Israel activity in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks…

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of a first-of-its-kind antisemitism conference taking place tomorrow at Harvard, created as an outcome of last year’s settlement of a Title VI lawsuit against the school.

New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District will hold its special election for the remainder of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s congressional term, where progressive Analilia Mejia is expected to prevail against Republican Joe Hathaway.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold nomination hearings for John Breslow to be U.S. ambassador to Cyprus, Todd Steggerda to be U.S. representative to the U.N. in Geneva and Preston Wells to be U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, among others.

The Shalom Hartman Institute will host a discussion at the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, on American Jewry ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

The House Appropriations Committee will hold a budget hearing on the Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

Stories You May Have Missed

SCOOP

Zohran Mamdani’s video chief lauded Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar

The Oct. 7 mastermind died in ‘heroic’ style, according to Donald Borenstein, director of video for the Mamdani campaign and City Hall

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DEM DIVIDES

Inside the DNC working group at the center of Democrats’ Israel fight

The question facing the Middle East working group’s members is whether they will actually be able to agree on anything — or if the group is simply a way to push the issue off until 2028

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This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

U.S.-Iran talks could restart in the next two days, President Donald Trump told the New York Post. “[S]omething could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go [back to Islamabad, Pakistan]” rather than a different mediating country, he said in an interview today. 

Trump also indicated he wasn’t happy with reports that his own negotiating team had offered Iran a 20-year pause on its ability to enrich uranium. “I’ve been saying they can’t have nuclear weapons, so I don’t like the 20 years,” he said…

CENTCOM announced that no ships made it past the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in its first 24 hours, and six merchant ships “complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around”…

Saudi Arabia is reportedly pressuring the U.S. to end the blockade, fearing retaliation and disruption to other trade routes. Iran has threatened to mobilize the Houthis in Yemen to close off the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which Riyadh utilizes to move its oil exports out of the Red Sea…

European countries are drafting a plan to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz after the war ends, possibly without the participation of the U.S. As part of this effort, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France and the U.K. will co-host a conference on Friday of “non-belligerent countries ready to contribute” to the “multilateral and purely defensive mission”…

The Treasury Department said it will not renew a waiver set to expire later this week that temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil — the waiver had drawn condemnation from some lawmakers who had worked to institute those sanctions…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized at the outset of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington this morning that the talks are a “process” that will “take time,” and that the objective of today’s meeting was to “outline a framework upon which a permanent and lasting peace can be developed” and bring a “permanent end to Hezbollah’s influence” in the region.

The State Department said after the meeting, the highest-level talks between Jerusalem and Beirut in over 30 years, that the sides “agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue,” though it did not indicate when or where further talks may take place. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told reporters that the parties “discovered today that we’re on the same side of the equation. That’s the most positive thing we could have come away with”…

Italy is suspending its defense agreement with Israel, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said today, declining to renew the agreement “in consideration of the current situation.” Italy had grown critical of Israel’s war in Gaza and has been noncooperative in the war with Iran, reportedly not allowing U.S. aircraft to land at its bases.

Trump railed against Meloni, who has thus far been an ally of his, in an interview with an Italian outlet today, saying he’s “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong,” and claiming she’s “no longer the same person” after she called the president’s attack on Pope Leo XIV yesterday “unacceptable.” “It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance,” Trump said…

Hamas has rejected the U.S.-led Board of Peace’s disarmament proposal, according to the BBC. The parties seem to once again be at an impasse, as Hamas tells mediators it will not continue onto the second phase of the ceasefire until it feels Israel has complied completely with the first phase, while Israel says it will not move forward until there is progress on disarming Hamas…

The New York Times details a tense event held by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) in his Hudson Valley-based swing district where the lawmaker was pressed by constituents demanding answers and accountability on the Iran war; it’s seen as a harbinger of the growing discontent some Republicans will have to contend with around the largely unpopular war in the lead-up to the midterms…

The Union for Reform Judaism released a statement yesterday voicing concern about “efforts to single out AIPAC as a particularly malign influence in campaign finance. … [T]he harsh language being used by some to denigrate and vilify AIPAC borders on — and in some cases crosses over into — antisemitism.” 

“Until such time as [C]ongress reforms the nation’s broken campaign finance system overall — an effort we would enthusiastically welcome — to single out AIPAC’s activity will continue to raise questions of antisemitic motivation,” the organization wrote, in a sign of how the demonization of pro-Israel donors and groups is raising alarms across the Jewish political and religious spectrum…

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a progressive Jewish legislator running to fill Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) seat, was accused at a campaign event earlier this week of taking $50,000 from AIPAC by a constituent citing the far-left group TrackAIPAC. “I just want to be clear, I’m not accepting any support from AIPAC,” Wiener responded. “There are people who are gonna list out all my Jewish donors and say that. I’m not taking any support from AIPAC and I support the Block the Bombs Act”…

The Michigan arm of the powerful SEIU labor union announced today that it had rescinded its endorsement of Amir Makled, a candidate for the University of Michigan board of regents, in light of Makled’s deleted social media posts praising the terrorist group Hezbollah, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. 

Makled is a Dearborn attorney who represented an anti-Israel protester who was arrested during the 2024 anti-Israel encampments at UM’s flagship Ann Arbor campus. A Detroit News report found that Makled had deleted posts praising Hezbollah’s leaders and retweets of antisemitic messages from the far-right influencer Candace Owens, as he now seeks to unseat Jewish regent Jordan Acker…

The relationship between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin appears to be growing increasingly acrimonious as Menin publicly distances herself from some of the mayor’s policies, Politico reports, including apparently helping to plan a protest outside Mamdani’s speech marking his first 100 days in office…

France is exploring legal options to bar rapper Kanye West from entering the country to perform at a concert in Marseille in June, after he was similarly banned and prevented from performing in the U.K. earlier this month. “I refuse to let Marseille be a showcase for those who promote hatred and unapologetic Nazism,” the city’s mayor, Benoit Payan, wrote on social media…

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

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

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look into the work of the Democratic National Committee’s Middle East working group, established last summer, including how it’s approaching intraparty divides over Israel policy.

Two of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) three joint resolutions of disapproval seeking to halt $658.8 million in sales of munitions to Israel are expected to receive a vote in the Senate tomorrow. Sanders and other progressive Democrats have forced votes on similar efforts to block arms sales to Israel on three previous occasions since the war in Gaza began, with a majority of the Democratic caucus — 27 lawmakers — voting to block at least one arms sale in July of last year, a significant jump in support from similar efforts in November 2024 and April 2025.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told reporters Democrats will likely force a vote tomorrow on another Iran war powers resolution, the third such vote after the previous two failed largely along party lines.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on reforming the U.N. with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and U.S. Representative for U.N. Management and Reform Jeff Bartos.

The Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan will host an antisemitism town hall with Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

Israel’s Sheba Medical Center will unveil ARC Landing Boston, its first health care accelerator based in the U.S., at an event featuring Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.

Stories You May Have Missed

MINNESOTA MATTERS

Angie Craig calls on Minnesota Democrats to investigate antisemitism ahead of state party convention

Delegates are expected to take up divisive anti-Israel resolutions at the convention being held next month

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HUNGARY FOR MORE

Analysts expect continued pro-Israel slant from new Hungarian government under Magyar

Economic ties and broader European alliances are likely to preserve the bilateral relationship, even as the expected prime minister-elect moves to rejoin the ICC and potentially pivot back towards the EU

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👋 Good Tuesday morning!

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview today’s high-level talks in Washington between Israel and Lebanon, and talk to Senate Republicans about reports of a U.S. request for Iran to pause its enrichment of uranium for 20 years. We report on a call from Rep. Angie Craig, who is mounting a Senate bid, for Minnesota Democrats to investigate antisemitic activity ahead of the state party’s convention, and look at what the election in Hungary of Péter Magyar could portend for Budapest-Jerusalem relations. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gov. Wes Moore, Noah Wyle and Elkana and Rebecca Bohbot.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

What We’re Watching

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio will oversee talks in Washington this morning with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and State Department Counselor Michael Needham will also join the talks, slated to start at 11 a.m. Read more here.
• Ahead of the talks, a senior Hezbollah official said the Iran-backed group would not abide by any agreement reached between Beirut and Jerusalem. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has continued since the implementation of the Iran ceasefire, but has largely occurred in southern Lebanon and northern Israel following pressure from the White House for Israel to scale back its attacks in Beirut.
• A second round of in-person negotiations between the U.S. and Iran could take place as soon as this week — days before the April 21 expiration of the current ceasefire — following President Donald Trump’s comments yesterday that “we’ve been called by the other side,” who would “like to make a deal very badly, very badly.”
• The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is hosting its annual Yom HaShoah commemoration on Capitol Hill this morning, with more than 30 Holocaust survivors slated to attend. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Lois Frankel (D-FL) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will participate in the ceremony, during which Ben Ferencz, who served as the U.S.’ chief prosecutor in Nuremberg, will be posthumously honored.
• The Atlantic Council is hosting Jacob Helberg, the State Department’s under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, this evening for a discussion on U.S. economic leadership in the Middle East.
• Semafor’s World Economy Summit continues today in Washington. Speakers include Helberg, Sens. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) and Gary Peters (D-MI), former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Michael Dell, Reid Hoffman, Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick, Forum AI’s Campbell Brown and Citadel’s Ken Griffin.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Tomorrow (April 15) isn’t just Tax Day, but it’s also the deadline for candidates vying in the pivotal midterms to report their latest fundraising figures — an important marker on the political calendar in determining which candidates are raising enough money to run credible campaigns and which will be left financially behind. 

Historically, having a critical mass of prominent, well-heeled supporters was a prerequisite for a congressional candidate being able to get their message out to the public. 

Not long ago, candidates with extreme or exotic views — such as those affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America on the left or those embracing conspiracy theories on the far right — would have a hard time being taken seriously by rank-and-file donors, who typically want a back a winner and would shy away from those with far-out-of-the-mainstream views. 

Similarly, the pro-Israel community historically benefited from the presence of strong organizations like AIPAC that helped pool supporters’ money to favored candidates, giving them outsized impact within both parties. More recently, AIPAC’s super PAC has led the way in engaging directly in political campaigns, directly spending money on behalf of favored candidates and attacking some of the most radical candidates on the ballot.

But in our brave new decentralized world of politics and media, where a critical mass of small-dollar donations from passionate individuals can easily be amassed online (especially through an incendiary video clip or well-timed fundraising appeal), the comparative advantage of having a defined group of reliable donors can be neutralized by an online feeding frenzy that galvanizes enough individuals to give to a radical cause or candidate. 

At the same time, the social media-driven public conversation — without any guardrails and few standards — has totally transformed what is viewed as normal. One recent example: 27-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, a far-left social media influencer without any roots in the Chicago-area district she was running in, raised well over $3 million for her (unsuccessful) primary campaign, fueled by high-volume, low-dollar, largely out-of-state contributions. 

If former House Speaker Tip O’Neill once said all politics is local, the opposite is true today. All politics is now nationalized, with the most outlandish hot takes and incendiary commentary most likely to go viral. 

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

TEHRAN TALKS

Senate Republicans maintain Iran should have no enrichment capacity, amid reports of 20-year pause proposal

Senate Republicans maintained the position on Monday that Iran should never be allowed to possess nuclear enrichment capacity, following reports that the administration had proposed a 20-year pause in enrichment — rather than a permanent end to Iran’s enrichment capacity — as part of peace talks in Islamabad over the weekend, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

What they’re saying: Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) told JI that he hadn’t seen the reports about the administration’s negotiating position and declined to comment on it specifically, but said more broadly that he does not believe that Iran has any legitimate need for enrichment. “There’s no civilian reason for Iran to have an enrichment program,” Ricketts said. “They’re getting their uranium right now for their civilian program from Russia, and the fact that they have admitted they’ve enriched uranium to near bomb-grade potential demonstrates that this is for nuclear weapon production, not civilian use.”

Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Budd (R-NC), Rick Scott (R-FL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK) and John Curtis (R-UT).

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MARKING THE DAY

Wes Moore pledges solidarity with Jewish community, emphasizes ‘responsibility’ of Holocaust remembrance

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore pledged that his administration “will always support Maryland’s Jewish community” in recorded remarks for an event Monday evening marking Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust memorial day, at Beth Tfiloh Congregation in Pikesville, Md., a heavily Jewish suburb of Baltimore, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

What he said: The Maryland governor, a potential Democratic presidential contender, said that it is his and his state’s “governing philosophy” to “unapologetically confront and condemn antisemitism and persecution wherever it arises,” to provide no refuge to hate, denial and conspiracy theories, to ensure that everyone feels safe to worship and to “realize the full promise of tikkun olam.” He called Holocaust remembrance a “responsibility” for those living today.

Read the full story here.

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MINNESOTA MATTERS

Angie Craig calls on Minnesota Dems to investigate antisemitic activity ahead of state party convention

The Senate campaign of Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) is calling on Minnesota’s Democratic Party to launch a formal investigation into a series of alleged instances of antisemitic activity among delegates in the lead-up to its state convention being held at the end of next month, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Allegations: In a letter sent last week to Richard Carlbom, chair of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Craig’s campaign wrote that one of its staffers had received a threatening anonymous phone call last month from a person “believed to be a delegate” who used an ethnic slur for Jews and said that the congresswoman “takes dirty Jewish money.” The letter, shared exclusively with JI, also cited a local DFL organizing convention in late March at which an unnamed delegate allegedly said that “we should nuke” Israel, among other examples of extremist violent rhetoric. 

Read the full story here.

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PIKER’S POV

Hasan Piker doubles down on Hamas support

Given the chance to walk back some of his most incendiary commentary on an episode of the “Pod Save America” podcast released Sunday, antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker instead doubled down on his support of Hamas and other inflammatory rhetoric, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.

What he said: “This [quote] is from January,” host Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter to President Barack Obama, told Piker in a segment looking back on some of Piker’s comments that have been picked up by national media. “‘Hamas is a thousand times better than a fascist settler colonial apartheid state,’” Favreau quoted. “I stand by that,” Piker responded quickly, later adding, “I’m a lesser-evil voter and therefore I would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time.”

Read the full story here.

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

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HUNGARY FOR MORE

Analysts expect continued pro-Israel slant from new Hungarian government under Magyar

The end of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year tenure following his electoral defeat on Sunday to center-right rival Péter Magyar has sparked immediate questions regarding the future of one of Jerusalem’s most reliable, yet complicated, alliances in Europe. While Orbán’s departure removes a reliable ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu within the European Union, experts suggest Jerusalem’s standing in Europe and bilateral relationship with Budapest will not be significantly set back, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.

Solid standing: Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, suggested that significant change in posturing is unlikely. “Israel’s standing in Europe won’t be dimmed by Orbán’s departure,” Ruhe said. “Israel has reliable partners like Germany, Czechia, Greece and Cyprus. Germany in particular has been a firewall against a lot of European anti-Israeli actions, and Magyar has suggested he’ll follow Germany’s lead here.”

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POLL POLITICS

New survey of Jewish voters finds partisan divide over pro-Israel political engagement

A recently conducted survey assessing how Jewish voters view leading Israel advocacy groups finds that public opinion is divided over the effectiveness of outside engagement in American elections, Jewish Insider’s Josh Kraushaar reports. The Mellman Group poll, commissioned by the Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI) and released last week, surveyed 800 registered Jewish voters between March 13-23. 

Survey says: It found a narrow 39% plurality agreed that it “was more important than ever” for pro-Israel groups to play a leading role in speaking out against candidates who oppose a close U.S.-Israel alliance, while 37% of respondents feared that such advocacy risks making things worse. The split largely was along partisan lines: While two-thirds of Jewish Republicans and 59% of Jewish independents backed strong pro-Israel political advocacy, just 28% of Democrats shared the same view. A near-majority (46%) of Democrats feared that pro-Israel electioneering could turn voters against Israel. 

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Worthy Reads

West Bank Extremes: In The Free Press, Haviv Rettig Gur warns that settler violence in the West Bank has the potential to radicalize Palestinian elements in the enclave and drive further strife. “Underneath all of this is a structural failure: the absence of a coherent rule of law in the West Bank. In a system without clear law and order, naked power wins. Always. For Palestinians, legal uncertainty is constant — over land, over protection. For extremist settlers, that vacuum is an opportunity. Meanwhile, most Israelis are looking elsewhere, at rockets, at war, at existential threats. The settler violence issue feels secondary. Or unsolvable. And that’s a mistake. Because there will be a price to pay for this lawlessness.” [FreePress]

Dire Straits: In Foreign Policy, Bobby Ghosh looks at the challenges facing Tehran as the Islamic Republic focuses on its control of the Strait of Hormuz after six weeks of war that has degraded much of the country’s military capabilities. “The element of strategic surprise [on Hormuz] is now spent, and the world will find ways to mitigate the costs Iran can impose. Mojtaba Khamenei may match Trump for braggadocio, but the country he has inherited from his father has been devastated, and the prospects for recovery are grim. All the problems that existed before Feb. 28 exist still, compounded by everything the war has wrought. A survivor he may be. Stronger, he isn’t.” [ForeignPolicy]

IHRA Ire: In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Alyza Lewin praises the decision by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to sign into law legislation adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. “Why are detractors aggressively seeking to torpedo IHRA legislation? The answer: Because the IHRA definition exposes bad-faith actors who deliberately seek to conceal their hatred of Jews under the guise of political criticism of Israel. It unmasks those who claim to support Jews but work overtime to turn society against anyone who recognizes essential components of Jewishness, namely Jewish peoplehood and a shared ancestry originating in the Land of Israel.” [MilwaukeeJournalSentinel]

Word on the Street

President Donald Trump signed a bill extending the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act, which will make it easier for the descendants of Holocaust survivors and victims whose art was looted by the Nazis to recover the works; the legislation passed the House of Representatives last month and the Senate in December…

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

The Atlantic looks at the commercial impact of the U.S.’ blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as Washington attempts to force Iranian concessions vis-a-vis economic pressure…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) efforts to shift the Democratic Party to the left as he backs far-left candidates across the country during the midterms…

Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX) announced their resignations from Congress amid efforts to expel both men, in addition to Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and Cory Mills (R-FL), from the House…

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hosted King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands at an event at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on Monday… 

The Washington Post reports on a recent dinner in which Heritage Foundation chief Kevin Roberts praised Chronicles editor Paul Gottfried, whose monthly magazine has platformed far-right fringe and white supremacist writers…

The New York Times looks at efforts by National Ground Game, a nascent Democratic group, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist Nick Fuentes to make gains on college campuses following last year’s killing of Charlie Kirk, whose Turning Point USA had developed a large campus following under Kirk’s leadership…

More than 1,000 Hollywood figures signed onto a letter from Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment, Norm Eisen’s Democracy Defenders Fund and the Future Film Coalition opposing Paramount’s efforts to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, citing the loss of jobs and higher costs they believe would result from the deal…

“The Pitt” actor Noah Wyle, whose father was Jewish, talked to the U.K.’s Jewish Chronicle about his time on the show and his first experience playing a Jewish character…

Dublin’s National Concert Hall canceled an upcoming fundraiser for Magen David Adom Ireland for a second time after the event, scheduled for May, was canceled and reinstated…

A report from Tel Aviv University released ahead of Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, found that 2025 saw the highest level of deadly antisemitic violence in more than 30 years…

Former Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot and his wife, Rebecca, announced on the six-month anniversary of Bohbot’s release from Gaza that they are expecting their second child…

Former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Arthur Schechter, who previously served as president of the Jewish Federation of Houston and a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, died at 84…

Pic of the Day

Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor lit a candle this morning at a commemorative event for Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Sachsenhausen Memorial in Oranienburg, Germany.

Birthdays

Basketball player selected 26th overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2025 NBA draft, Ben Saraf turns 20…

Anne Monk… Former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Elisse B. Walter turns 76… Israeli news editor and analyst who retired in 2020 from the Israeli daily Haaretz, Chemi Shalev turns 73… Media executive who sold her family’s controlling interest in Paramount Global to Skydance Media in August 2025, Shari Redstone turns 72… Co-founder, co-chairman and co-CEO at Canyon Partners, LLC, Mitchell Julis turns 71… Film, television and theater producer, his credits include the widely acclaimed 2016 film “La La Land,” Marc Platt turns 69… Birmingham, Ala.-based post-denominational rabbi, known on social media as “Deep South Rabbi,” Barry Altmark… Founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and author of 10 books about makeup and beauty, Bobbi Brown turns 69… Border czar for the first few months of the Biden administration, she is the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Roberta S. Jacobson turns 66… Bench coach for the New York Yankees, he was also bench coach for Team Israel at the World Baseball Classic in 2023, Brad Ausmus turns 57… Los Angeles-based freelance editor and writer, Robin Heinz Bratslavsky… SVP of Washington and investigative news at CNN, Adam Levine… Emmy Award-winning actress best known for the title role on the WB series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Sarah Michelle Gellar Prinze turns 49… Journalist, professor and author of five books, Sasha Issenberg turns 46… Co-founder and CEO of Statt, a venture-backed AI/ML enterprise software platform, Steve Glickman… Teacher, formerly principal, at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto, Hillel David Rapp… French entrepreneur, he is the president of CRIF, the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions since 2022, Yonathan Arfi turns 46… Founder and CEO of Charity Bids, Israel “Yummy” Schachter… Award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer, Rachel Swirsky turns 44… President of Sightful, he is the co-author of The New York Times bestseller The Black Banners, Daniel Freedman… Classical cellist, she was awarded a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 2022, Alisa Weilerstein turns 44… Former baseball first baseman who played in the MLB, Japanese and Mexican leagues, Joshua S. Whitesell turns 44… Documentary filmmaker, Nicholas Ma… Washington-based senior technology policy reporter at Axios, Ashley Gold… Isaac Hasson… Graphic designer and daughter of Carolina Panthers owner, David Tepper, Casey Tepper… Yitzchak Tendler… Jon Fine… Moriah Elbaz…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will convene the ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Tuesday for the highest-level direct talks between the countries in over 30 years.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh will represent their countries, with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and State Department Counselor Michael Needham also taking part in the meeting.

The negotiations are meant to focus on how Israel and Lebanon can work together to disarm Hezbollah and make peace between the countries.

A State Department official said the talks are “a direct result of Hezbollah’s reckless actions,” and “will scope the ongoing dialog about how to ensure the long-term security of Israel’s northern border and to support the Government of Lebanon’s determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory and political life.”

“Israel is at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon, so there is no reason the two neighbors should not be talking,” the State Department official said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam canceled a planned visit to the U.S. this week to monitor the situation from Beirut and “safeguard the security of the Lebanese people and preserve national unit,” he wrote on X. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the talks last week, marking a shift in his position from earlier in the Lebanon campaign that began after Hezbollah joined Iran in attacking Israel in late February. Netanyahu said over the weekend that he had agreed to the talks because they would not only be about a ceasefire, but about disarming Hezbollah and working toward peace with Lebanon. President Donald Trump said at the time that he asked Israel to “low-key a bit” the strikes in Lebanon. 

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi posted on X that the direct talks “in practice reinforced the separation between the Lebanese file and the Iranian track. … The Lebanese state alone holds the authority to negotiate on behalf of Lebanon.” 

The talks are set to take place as Hezbollah continues to launch rockets and drone attacks at northern Israel on a daily basis and the IDF continues to target Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The IDF said it struck about 150 Hezbollah targets on Monday, and it continues its ground operations in the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s stronghold of Bint Jbeil. 

The IDF cleared for publication on Tuesday the name of Sgt.-Maj. Ayal Uriel Bianco, who was killed in battle in Lebanon.

Netanyahu visited IDF troops in Lebanon over the weekend, and praised them on Monday for “pushing the enemy away from the border” and creating “a solid, deeper security zone that both prevents the danger of invasion and distances the anti-tank missile threat.”

This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

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

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

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

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

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After the ceasefire went into effect, there was a pervading feeling in Israel that the war with Iran was not complete, and the return to routine life may be short-lived

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COMFORT FOOD

From trauma to table: An Israeli duo uses food therapy and song to foster connection

A traveling program called ‘Soul and Roll’ by singer Hananel Edri and Foodish CEO Merav Oren tells the Jewish story through an immersive culinary and musical experience

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Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) has lately been saying that she does not take money from AIPAC or any corporate political action committees. So when a college student asked her at a town hall in Cincinnati on Thursday about $4.5 million she has received from “pro-Israel lobbies,” Slotkin pushed back — arguing the student was unfairly lumping together all Jewish donors. 

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to on ‘not AIPAC but the Israel lobby.’ If you’re equating ‘Israel lobby’ to Jews, I got a problem with that,” Slotkin said. 

The figure that the Xavier University student quoted comes from a far-left organization called Track AIPAC, which targets elected officials who it alleges have received funding from the “Israel lobby.” But increasingly, the group is tallying up donations from “lobby donors,” a broad category that critics believe includes any Jewish donors who have also supported AIPAC, J Street or other Jewish or Israel-related advocacy groups. 

Slotkin said that just as Iranian Americans, for instance, may not agree with everything the Iranian government does, “I think it’s really important, especially now, to make a distinction between the Israeli government and the choices that they’re making and the average Jew, okay, and Jewish people who donate to campaigns,” Slotkin said, earning applause from the audience. 

At the end of the event, she stood by her response to the question when asked about it by another attendee.

“What I take issue with is someone saying that I took $4.5 million from the pro-Israel lobby. That’s not AIPAC. I don’t know what that is,” she said. “But if that’s counting Jewish donors and saying Jewish donors are somehow the same as ‘pro-Israel lobby,’ I got a problem with that, and not just as an elected official, as a Jew.” 

Asked her position about taking money from AIPAC, Slotkin said she doesn’t accept AIPAC funding in the same way she eschews other “corporate PAC money.” But she said their work in Washington, of advocating for an issue by building relationships with members of Congress, is the same thing that scores of other groups do.

“I think Americans have the right to support those groups and do whatever they want. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with them. I don’t personally take money from AIPAC. I haven’t in many, many years,” Slotkin said to cheers. “But they and every other organization have an ecosystem in Washington, that they are doing things that every — there’s plenty of groups like them that do the very same thing, a Pakistani American group, or whatever group.” 

After the town hall, Slotkin told Politico that she would not do an interview with Hasan Piker, the antisemitic Twitch streamer who appeared at two campaign rallies earlier this week with progressive Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. 

“I gotta call balls and strikes, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, coming from the state that I come from, so that’s what I’ve tried to do as he’s come into Michigan,” Slotkin said. 

The comments Piker has made with which she takes issue, Slotkin continued, are “some derogatory things he’s said about Orthodox Jews, saying that we deserve 9/11, there’s some things in there. Not to mention he calls me stupid like every other week.” 

This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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O CANADA

As antisemitic attacks mount, Canadian Jews ask whether they still belong

After a series of targeted attacks in Toronto and beyond, Jewish leaders are raising the alarms on Canada’s failure to properly protect its Jews amid ‘systemic’ antisemitism

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Maureen Tkacik, a top editor for The American Prospect, an influential progressive magazine in Washington, has made no secret of her self-avowed hatred of Israel, particularly in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza.

“Hating Israel is everything to me,” Tkacik wrote in one social media post in February, while adding in another, “If you don’t hate Israel I strongly question your humanity.”

In recent months, however, she has increasingly entertained conspiracy theories about Israel, used antisemitic rhetoric and expressed her approval of far-right extremists stoking anti-Jewish sentiment, raising questions over her ongoing association with a periodical that had long been viewed as a paragon of modern liberalism.

The Prospect — a magazine first published in 1990 that has helped to launch the careers of Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Jonathan Chait and other prominent liberal pundits — states on its website it “is devoted to promoting informed discussion on public policy from a progressive perspective,” while highlighting its efforts “to dispel myths, challenge conventional wisdom and expand the dialogue.”

But Tkacik’s online commentary has clashed with that editorial ethos, as she is drawn to conspiracy mongering about Israel and what she views as its malign influence on U.S. politics and government.

In some social media posts, for instance, she has indicated that she believes it is possible Israel was involved in the assassinations of both President John F. Kennedy and conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

“JFK did not want Israel to develop the nuclear weapons they still refuse to acknowledge having,” she wrote last month, in response to commentary from far-right commentator Tucker Carlson tacitly suggesting that Israel was behind the killing, a conspiracy theory that has recently gained renewed currency on the far right.

Regarding Kirk, Tkacik has frequently cast doubt on the FBI’s investigation into his killing, saying “there appears to be probable cause that he was scared of being harmed by Israel in the weeks prior.”

“The evidence that he was embroiled in a serious feud with the Israel lobby is abundant,” she wrote about Kirk last week, adding, “Israel has killed for far less.”

In other posts, Tkacik has railed against “ZOG,” short for “Zionist Occupied Government,” which the American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League have called a white supremacist conspiracy theory alleging that the United States is controlled by Jews. 

As she expressed her growing horror with Israel’s military operation in Gaza, Tkacik, the Prospect’s investigations editor, largely abandoned the pretense of journalistic objectivity about related matters — dismissing hostage posters as “genocidal propaganda,” calling reports of Hamas engaging in widespread sexual violence “the systemic rape lie” and labeling a Jewish New York Times reporter “a Likud asset,” among other incendiary statements.

Last week, Tkacik lashed out in response to a Jewish Insider report about a democratic socialist mayoral candidate in Washington who had privately apologized to a group of Jewish communal leaders for saying she would not attend events “promoting Zionism.”

“What is so apparently impossible about saying GO F*** YOURSELF to Nazis?” she said of the rabbis and communal leaders in a characteristically vituperative post reminiscent of social media comments in which she has smeared pro-Israel Jews as Nazis and told them they should move to Israel.

In a handful of posts, Tkacik has otherwise referred to JI as “Jewish supremacist insider” while seeking to discredit its reporting.

Tkacik has alternatingly described Israel as a “Zionist cabal that in the end may be dominated by non-Jews,” “a genocidal demon rapestate hellbent on obliterating civilized humanity,” “the literal HQ of US Homeland Security” and — in one even more extremely worded comment she has only tentatively walked back — “a brainwashed psychopathic death cult that might need to be nuked to save the human race.”

Her invocation of demonic rhetoric to denigrate Israel echoes the antisemitic conspiracy theorist Candace Owens, whose show Tkacik has said she “secretly” follows. “Candace says some ludicrous things but ‘our government is occupied by Zionists’ ain’t one of them,” Tkacik argued in a social media post last November. 

In addition to occasionally praising Owens and Carlson — who have emerged as the right’s most vicious critics of Israel — Tkacik has defended Ian Carroll, an antisemitic influencer who has pushed Holocaust revisionism while promoting conspiracy theories about Israel’s connection to Kirk’s killing and other issues.

Addressing the recent foiled terrorist attack at a synagogue in Michigan, Tkacik seemed to suggest that the congregation had played a part in inviting the violence due to its support for the Jewish state. 

“My kids went to summer camp at a reform synagogue where I was surprised to learn ‘lots of Israeli flags’ hung indoors,” she wrote last month. “It is heartbreaking to imagine kids targeted over a camp venue, but given that this is the world OUR overlords have made I don’t understand how a place of worship hangs a flag associated w genocide.”

In response a request for comment from JI on Tuesday, Tkacik said: “Every single one of these quotes has been stripped of its context, so I don’t imagine any response here will fare any better, but there is no polite or respectable or levelheaded way to engage honestly with the unrelenting indiscriminate violence Israel has perpetrated over the past two and a half years, or for that matter apartheid lobby stenographers who spend their days trying to get people fired for opposing genocide.”

Editors at the Prospect did not return requests for comment about her posts and whether they reflect the magazine’s values.

Tkacik, who goes by Moe, has long been regarded as a strong investigative journalist known for a fiercely independent streak, focusing on such diverse issues as corporate malfeasance, private equity and health care. She co-founded the feminist website Jezebel in 2007, following stints with The Wall Street Journal, Time and Philadelphia magazine. She started at the Prospect in 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.

In her reporting on Israel-related subjects while at the magazine, Tkacik has appeared to avoid the sort of extreme rhetoric that has characterized her social media output, even as she has been highly critical of Israel — in keeping with the outlet’s approach to the Jewish state and pro-Israel advocacy groups such as AIPAC.

In a Facebook post last month, Tkacik described herself as someone who “argues with strangers on the internet about Israel,” while also acknowledging “how insane and pathologically self destructive that would seem to someone with normal hobbies.”

“It is not healthy,” she wrote elsewhere on social media last year, “to hate anything as much as every human being needs to hate Israel at this moment.”