William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents, to Van Hollen: ‘Labeling American Jews as apologists when they challenge you is not discourse. It is a smear’
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Rabbi Susan Shankman (L) hugs Ron Halber, the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, as they gather together at the Washington Hebrew Congregation during a vigil for Israel on October 09, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleSeveral major Jewish organizations rallied around Ron Halber, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, after a spokesperson for Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) attacked Halber as an “apologist for the Netanyahu government” and unrepresentative of his community.
The Van Hollen spokesperson’s comments came in response to remarks by Halber to reporters in which Halber said that many in the Maryland Jewish community feel “betrayed” by the senator and that he has failed to show empathy for Israel and the Jewish people.
The JCRC’s Board of Directors, in a statement late Thursday, offered Halber, who has led the group for nearly three decades, its full support, and applauded his work.
“Recent personal attacks leveled against [Ron] by Sen. Chris Van Hollen are undignified, unwarranted, and untrue. Ron and his leadership team have our full backing and support,” the board said in a statement. “In a time marked by division and discord, political leaders should model respectful behavior and discourse. We are deeply disappointed that Sen. Van Hollen chose instead to malign Ron and our organization, but we are heartened by the outpouring of support from so many partners and friends. They know what we know: Ron and the JCRC support not only Jewish families, but the millions of people who live in the DMV.”
William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said he’s known, worked with and respected both Halber and Van Hollen for decades, and that Van Hollen has been his representative for much of that time.
“That is why I am stunned, offended, and frankly angry at Senator Van Hollen’s personal attack on Ron,” Daroff said on X. “Ron is a respected communal leader who has spent decades serving Maryland Jews, advocating for security, and giving voice to a community that is anxious and afraid in this moment of rising hostility.”
He said that Halber’s criticism was “not partisan” and was at its core a call for empathy for Israeli lives, Israel’s security dilemmas and the “vulnerability so many Maryland Jews feel today,” but was “met instead with derision.”
“We can disagree about Israeli policy. We can debate strategy and tone. But labeling American Jews as apologists when they challenge you is not discourse. It is a smear. It cheapens the conversation at a time when Jewish anxiety is real and rising, and when we need leaders who hear us rather than dismiss us,” Daroff said. “Our community deserves respect. We deserve empathy. We deserve partnership grounded in good faith. We will speak up for those expectations.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, another major D.C.-area Jewish umbrella organization, also offered support for “the vital role Ron Halber and the JCRC of Greater Washington play in advocating for Israel, Jewish safety, belonging, and connection across Greater Washington.”
“Ron has worked tirelessly for years to build a stronger Jewish community and Greater Washington region,” the organization continued. “At a time of extreme divisiveness in our society, our public officials should not be contributing to these divides through personal attacks.”
AIPAC said the statement by Van Hollen’s team was “shameful.”
“Disagreeing with you, Senator, doesn’t make American Jews apologists for a foreign leader,” the group said on X. “Resorting to this tired and toxic trope only reflects the shallowness of the Senator’s arguments.”
The Jewish Federations of North America, the umbrella group that represents hundreds of Jewish communities and groups around the country, said in a statement that it “stand[s] with our esteemed colleague Ron Halber … following the deeply troubling personal attack leveled against him.”
“Ron and [the JCRC of Greater Washington] understand and speak for their community, and their well-documented concerns should be listened to and addressed on the merits,” JFNA continued. “We are grateful to all the public officials in the Greater Washington DC area who are engaged in productive conversations and collaborations with the Jewish community.”
Yehuda Kurtzer, the president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, called the statement “unconscionable” and said Halber deserves an apology from Van Hollen.
“Politicians need to have thicker skins in responding to criticism, especially when it is directed at them by respected representatives of minority communities. That’s part of the job,” Kurtzer said on Facebook. “Van Hollen has the right to cut off contact with the organized Jewish community even though I think that’s a toxic political choice. But he should not respond publicly like this.”
He added that, “to characterize a pro-Israel view as an apologetic for a foreign government is to evoke unfounded suspicion of foreign interference and to cast the[m] as therefore ‘un-American.’ This is dangerous stuff and politicians shouldn’t do it.”
Halber’s counterparts in other parts of the country have also rallied to his defense. “The contempt with which [Sen. Van Hollen] showed for Ron, the DC JCRC, and the Jewish community is unacceptable. He needs to apologize,” Tyler Gregory, the CEO of the Bay Area JCRC, said.
Jeremy Burton, the CEO of the Boston JCRC said that “Labeling American Jews as ‘apologists’ just because you disagree with them & their (our) attachment to the Israeli people is unacceptable” and also called on Van Hollen to apologize.
Amy Spitalnick, who leads the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, lamented both Van Hollen’s attack on Halber as well as New York Jewish figures’ criticisms of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
“We can’t even engage without resorting to ad hominem attacks. A Senator’s office calls a respected Jewish community professional an ‘apologist for Netanyahu.’ Multiple leaders call the Mayor-elect an ‘enemy of the Jewish people,’” Spitalnick said. “Countering antisemitism and hate, protecting democracy, advancing peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians all require us to engage — not disparage and smear — even and especially when we disagree. This is all so dangerous.”
Rabbi Yaakov Menken, executive vice president of the Coalition for Jewish Values, said that “This was a display of bigotry unbecoming a US senator. [Van Hollen] owes the entire community, and especially [Halber], an apology.
Though he did not address the situation or the senator directly, Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — who addressed a JCRC legislative breakfast the same day as Halber and Van Hollen’s comments and offered praise and thanks to Halber — also reaffirmed his partnership with the D.C. JCRC in an X post on Thursday.
“There’s no higher goal for me than ensuring people feel safe where they live, work, and worship. That’s why our administration is fully committed to combating antisemitism in all its forms, and why I’m proud to announce that my upcoming budget proposal will preserve historic funding for hate crime protection grants,” Moore said, alongside a photograph from his speech in front of a JCRC banner. “Thank you to @JCRCgw for your partnership in this work.”
Eileen Filler-Corn, the Jewish and Democratic former speaker of the Virginia House, said on Facebook that she’s “offended by the personal attack directed at Ronald Halber,” describing him as a “respected leader in our Jewish community” and an “essential” advocate for the community.
“We can and should have healthy debates about the Israeli government and disagreement is part of a vibrant democracy, but labeling American Jews as ‘apologists’ for Netanyahu simply because they express support for the State of Israel is unacceptable, unproductive and entirely out of line,” Filler-Corn said. “Our community is hurting. We are being targeted and antisemitism is surging. At a moment like this, personal attacks on those who advocate for our safety and dignity do nothing but deepen the pain.”
Van Hollen does have some defenders in the Jewish community. Hadar Suskind, the CEO of the left-wing Israel advocacy group New Jewish Narrative, praised Van Hollen’s engagement since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and with the war in Gaza.
“Chris has always been there for his Jewish constituents and in support of the people of Israel,” Susskind said on X. “But you know what, like the majority of Marylanders, including Jewish Marylanders, he disagrees with many of the policies and actions of the Netanyahu government. And he is 100% right to do so and to say so.”
“As American Jews who care about Israel we should want all of our elected officials [to] do what Senator Van Hollen is doing, speak the difficult truths that need to be told and support a better future for Israelis and Palestinians,” he continued. “The days of demanding that elected officials ‘pick a side’ and show loyalty to ‘one team’ are over.”
The Michigan Democrat said that ‘a lot of young people’ who don’t know better are coming to college campuses and hearing and repeating antisemitic narratives
Chip Somodevilla/Sipa USA via AP
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) questions witnesses during a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on September 17, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), speaking to a gathering of Jewish activists on Capitol Hill, highlighted concerns about rising left-wing antisemitism and the ways that antisemitic narratives are being spread to and by college students.
“We’re used to the right-wing side. What is new and what I think has so many in the Jewish community on our heels is that new left-wing antisemitism and how to approach it,” Slotkin said at a pre-High Holidays security briefing organized by several Jewish communal organizations. “How do we counteract it? How do we protect against it? How do we educate?”
“And certainly, we’re watching, on many college campuses, a lot of young people who actually maybe didn’t grow up with the Jewish community at all, get to campus and maybe repeat what they’re hearing, sometimes not even understanding or knowing,” she continued. “I would just say that one of our responsibilities as Jewish leaders and Jewish activists is to try and really parse through how to deal with antisemitism on the left, since antisemitism on the right isn’t good, but it’s more of a well-known threat.”
The freshman Michigan senator, who is working to establish herself as a leader in the chamber on national security issues, recently backed efforts to stop at least some offensive weapons shipments to Israel and emphasized that she hadn’t accepted endorsements from “Jewish group[s],” naming AIPAC and J Street.
Slotkin said at the Wednesday event that she “[doesn’t] think there’s been a more complicated and dicey time to be Jews in America, period, maybe since World War II.”
Speaking in support of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, Slotkin said that one of the “most powerful moments that I had” during her time as a member of Congress was when a mosque in her district faced threats, and she worked with the local Jewish federation and her synagogue to help the mosque apply for an NSGP grant.
An emotional Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) referenced the killing of her friend, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the mass shooting at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis as she discussed the rise of violent extremism across the country, including various incidents targeting the Jewish community.
“We have been through this each and every time, but the babies keep dying,” Klobuchar said.
Klobuchar said that in conversations with administration officials immediately after the Annunciation shooting, her top priority was pushing for increased NSGP funding, in addition to gun control measures and action to address extremism and incitement on social media platforms.
She highlighted that the Annunciation Church shooter had left a manifesto spreading hate against a range of targets including Jews, Muslims, Black people and Hispanic people, and emphasized that he and other mass shooters have been “performing for the internet.”
While she noted that data shows that political violence has been coming more from the right than the left, “I don’t want to go tit-for-tat. I care about what we’re doing now and going forward, and words matter right now for bringing America together,” Klobuchar said.
Speaking about threats to the Jewish community specifically, Klobuchar noted the rise in antisemitic hate crimes nationally, saying that “something is seriously wrong in our country.” She said that 25 Jewish facilities had received bomb threats in Minnesota in the past year.
“This has completely shattered people, kids are scared,” Klobuchar said.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) said, referring to a string of recent antisemitic attacks, “I don’t care what fringe it comes from. This kind of extremism, hate and violence is unacceptable and needs to be condemned. … Foreign policy debates are complicated. Condemning antisemitism is not.”
She added that, as the generation that survived and witnessed the Holocaust shrinks, “we have to decide as a country if we will let their lessons pass.”
Hassan continued, “We can’t afford inaction. We can’t afford indifference, nor should we feel the need to offer qualification or apology, to simply say that the world’s oldest hate should be denounced as loudly as any other.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) also delivered remarks at the event, as did Rev. Russ McDougall, a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who was invited in part to discuss the Annunciation Church attack. Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) delivered video remarks.
The session also featured a panel with Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff, Secure Communities Network CEO Michael Masters, Orthodox Union Executive Vice President Moshe Hauer and Anti-Defamation League director of government relations Carmiel Arbit.
Fingerhut told Jewish Insider there is “a domestic terror crisis” in the country “and we need comprehensive, strong action.”
“[Members of Congress] didn’t create the COVID problem either, but they responded with a crisis-level response, and that’s the level of response we need,” Fingerhut said.
He emphasized the need not only for increased NSGP funding but stronger funding for local law enforcement, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to fight domestic terrorism. He said that resourcing and funding at those agencies for the counterterrorism mission isn’t sufficient.
“We’re in an era now of a trillion-dollar defense budget that is aimed at fighting terror and protecting America all over the world,” Fingerhut said. “We have a domestic terror crisis here, and it needs the level of attention and coordinated leadership by the federal government that we get in national defense.”
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks at the "Just Majority" Supreme Court press conference on June 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. /Louis County Prosecutor, Wesley Bell gives remarks during the Ferguson mayoral inauguration ceremony for Ella James at the Urban League Empowerment Center on June 17, 2020 in Ferguson, Missouri.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the prospect of Rep. Wesley Bell facing a rematch against anti-Israel former Rep. Cori Bush, and talk to national security experts about potential Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plots against Jewish communities in the U.S. We cover the ADL’s assessment that the Minneapolis Catholic school shooter used weapons inscribed with antisemitic and anti-Israel messages, and report on France’s walkback of its call for the “right of return” for Palestinians as part of Paris’ Palestinian statehood push. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jake Sullivan and Michael Anton.Ed. note: The next Daily Kickoff will arrive on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Happy Labor Day Weekend!
What We’re Watching
- We’re keeping an eye on Washington following yesterday’s White House meeting — which included Jared Kushner and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair — aimed at winding down the Israel-Hamas war, securing the release of the remaining hostages and laying out “day-after” plans for Gaza. Israeli Strategic Minister Ron Dermer scrapped a planned meeting in Israel with World Food Program head Cindy McCain to travel to Washington for the meeting.
- The E3 — the U.K., Germany and France — are set to trigger snapback sanctions against Iran today, following talks between the countries’ foreign minister that failed to yield significant progress. Read more from JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik here.
- The Atlantic Council is hosting an event this morning titled “Understanding IMEC: A pathway to connectivity amid global uncertainty,” focused on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor project. Read our 2023 coverage of the IMEC project here.
- We’re also monitoring the U.N. Security Council’s expected vote on extending the UNIFIL peacekeeping force’s mandate along the Israel-Lebanon border. The initial vote, slated for earlier this week, was postponed and could take place as soon as tomorrow.
- On Sunday, Jewish sports fans in Washington are taking part in Jewish Community Day at Nationals Park, when the Nats take on the Tampa Bay Rays.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
Last year’s election cycle marked a high point for pro-Israel groups, buoyed by the ouster of two virulently anti-Israel House Democrats (former Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman in New York), the defeat of a House Republican who opposed funding to Israel (former Rep. Bob Good of Virginia) and the success of mainstream Democrats in numerous contested primaries.
But the political environment for next year’s midterms is looking somewhat choppier in the Jewish world, amid growing anti-Israel sentiment in the Democratic Party, an anti-establishment, transgressive mood in both parties and the reticence of moderate voices to speak up.
In this less hospitable landscape, pro-Israel groups will be playing more defense than offense — ensuring like-minded incumbents are able to avert serious primary challenges, while working to prevent virulently anti-Israel voices from emerging as nominees in key races.
One of the biggest potential showdowns is developing in St. Louis, where Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) faces the prospect of a rematch against Bush, whom he comfortably defeated by six points in last year’s primary. With the benefit of incumbency, Bell would be favored in any rematch, but he is facing an organized campaign by anti-Israel protesters who disrupted his recent town hall after he returned from a trip to the Jewish state.
AIPAC’s super PAC spent over $8 million against Bush in the 2024 race, and would be expected to prioritize Bell’s reelection as a top priority if she ran again. Bush, for all her celebrity in leftist spaces, has numerous vulnerabilities that haven’t gone away since her last defeat — from her calls to defund the police, lackadaisical constituent service and ethical improprieties involving the use of campaign funds in paying her husband to provide personal security.
Still, in a sign that advocating against Israel can get far-left candidates some traction in deep-blue districts, a Bush comeback will be worth monitoring closely. Indeed, any pro-Israel Democrat running in an urban district with a distinct progressive bent will have to pay attention to any real or prospective primary challenges.
bell curve
Contentious Wesley Bell town hall portends a potential primary challenge
A town hall organized by Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) last week in St. Louis turned contentious as a large group of demonstrators turned out to heckle the freshman congressman — fresh off a trip to Israel — over his support for the Jewish state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. A scuffle later broke out between security guards and some of the demonstrators.
Looking ahead: The situation highlights the ongoing antagonism from the local far left against Bell, which could foreshadow a primary challenge to the congressman from former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), whom Bell unseated, or one of her political allies. Braxton Payne, a St. Louis-based Democratic strategist, told JI he recognized some of the individuals involved in the demonstrations as longtime backers of Bush. He said that the political coalitions supporting and opposing Bell in 2024 have remained largely unchanged since Bell took office. “You’re still seeing the same bases, cohorts of support” as in the 2024 race, Payne said. “I do think there is a sentiment for someone to run against [Bell] in a primary” with support from the “de-facto Cori Bush base.”
minneapolis attack
ADL: Minneapolis school shooter’s gun featured antisemitic, anti-Israel writings
The alleged gunman who opened fire on a Catholic school in Minneapolis on Wednesday, killing two children and injuring at least 17 people, most of them students at the school, used a gun that had antisemitic and anti-Israel writings across it, according to the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Gunman’s inspiration?: The assailant’s gun also included praise for mass killers “across the ideological spectrum,” including white supremacist, anti-Muslim and anti-government actors, the ADL stated. Two of the names that appeared on the gun were Natalie Rupnow, who killed a staff member and a student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., last December, and Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.
community concerns
National security experts warn of Iranian threats to Jewish communities around the world
National security experts are warning that Jewish communities around the world could face increased Iranian threats following the recent accusation by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps orchestrated attacks last year on a synagogue and kosher restaurant in the country, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Threat level: “We’ve seen Iranian penetration in many Westernized countries, with Australia now being the latest. Though to see direct evidence of a linkage to actual violence — not just disinformation campaigns or cyber campaigns — is very frightening,” Rich Goldberg, a senior advisor at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said. “The FBI and NYPD have had live investigations that have resulted in arrests of Hezbollah operatives in New York City casing out institutions,” Mitch Silber, executive director of the Community Security Initiative, which works to safeguard Jewish communities, told JI. “Iranians have a long timeline. Just because [an attack] hasn’t happened in the last six to eight weeks [since the Israel-Iran war] doesn’t mean that the Iranians haven’t stopped plotting.”
PARIS PIVOT
France walks back call for Palestinian ‘right of return,’ but not recognition
France plans to remove a call for the “right of return” for millions of Palestinian refugees to Israel from its declaration, made alongside 60 other countries, for a Palestinian state, Ofer Bronchtein, an advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on Wednesday. Article 39 of the declaration calls for “a regional and international framework offering appropriate support to resolving the refugee question, while reiterating the right of return.”
About-face: Bronchtein told JI that opponents of the declaration are nitpicking to undermine it, and said that the declaration “is almost 20 pages long, and those are two words.” Still, he acknowledged that the wording of Article 39 “could be problematic” and that Paris is “working with the Saudis to find a way to make it clear that was not our intention at all. Macron will say this is our stance. We are not planning to force the return of Palestinian refugees anywhere.”
view from south florida
Wasserman Schultz: Trump admin not concerned with antisemitism, only about ‘maintaining power’
Speaking to members of the Florida Democratic Party Jewish Caucus over Zoom on Wednesday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) accused the Trump administration of not working in good faith to combat antisemitism, discussed recent Democratic National Committee votes on Israel and offered a strong defense of Israel against a growing chorus of critics, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Power grab: Wasserman Schultz argued that a series of moves by the Trump administration — attempting to place new conditions on Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding, gutting the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and eliminating Justice Department programs focused on hate crimes — show that the administration’s focus on antisemitism isn’t genuine. “None of that makes us safer, and all of it demonstrates that they don’t really care about taking care of our community. They aren’t concerned about antisemitism, they are concerned about maintaining power,” she said. “Let’s not let our community members believe the rhetoric and the BS.”
sullivan says
Jake Sullivan says he now supports withholding weapons from Israel
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that the “case for withholding weapons from Israel today is much stronger than it was one year ago,” adding that he now backs such efforts, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports.
Situation shift: “The thing that we were grappling with throughout all of 2024, which is not the case today, is that Israel was under attack from multiple fronts,” Sullivan, who served under President Joe Biden, told The Bulwark’s Tim Miller. “It was under attack from Hezbollah, from the Houthis, from Syria, from Iraq, obviously from Hamas and from Iran itself. So the idea of saying, ‘Israel, we’re not going to give you a whole set of military tools’ in that context was challenging.”
Worthy Reads
Podhoretz’s Path: In The Free Press, Norman Podhoretz, who is 95, reflects on the “double life” he has led as a child of Brooklyn who was welcomed into Manhattan’s aristocracy before falling out of favor with the city’s elite. “In a peculiar way, my journey began when I escaped death at 6 years old, which I learned later was a very close call. It makes me laugh to think about how many people, how many of my former friends, might have reacted if they knew about my early brush with death. Damn, they might have said. If only. But I was, after all, rather good at escaping dire situations. The trauma of falling from the precipice of New York’s intellectual aristocracy in 1967 — a kind of social death — has stayed with me ever since. But over time, as I sat with and bore it, refusing to apologize for its truth or hide it from public view, the immediacy of the pain softened. In its place came opportunity.” [FreePress]
Get Tough on the Quad: In the Jewish News Syndicate, William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, respectively the CEO and chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, call on universities to take a strong stance against campus antisemitism as the academic year begins. “Rules against disruption and harassment must be applied evenly, not bent by politics. Online harassment and doxxing against Jews should be treated with the same seriousness as other threats and harassment on campus. … Campuses must recognize that for most Jews, support for the State of Israel is not a political slogan but an expression of identity. Treating Zionism as illegitimate means treating Jewish identity itself as suspect. Administrators and student-life offices must apply the same clear standards to safeguarding Jewish students as they do for all others. To that end, organizations and their members who target Jewish students must face consequences. Universities must clearly and broadly communicate their rules regarding protests and harassment, and then enforce them vigorously and consistently.” [JNS]
Word on the Street
Michael Anton, who serves as the director of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff, is departing his post in Foggy Bottom this fall…
A new Quinnipiac survey found that 60% of Americans do not support sending additional military aid to Israel; half of those surveyed — 77% of Democrats and 20% of Republicans — said they believed Israel was commiting genocide in Gaza…
The New York Times does a deep dive into the federal investigation into former National Security Advisor John Bolton, following last week’s FBI raids of Bolton’s home and office; the investigation centers around the interception by a foreign country of emails sent by Bolton to individuals assisting with his 2020 memoir…
xAI, the parent company of the social media platform X and creator of the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot, said in a letter to lawmakers earlier this month that the antisemitic and violent rants posted by the chatbot last month were the results of an “unintended update” to Grok’s code, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…
Microsoft fired two employees who participated in a sit-in in the Washington state office of the company’s president, Brad Smith, and demanded the company cut ties with Israel…
The Beverly Hills Unified School District, in a 3-2 vote, approved a proposal to fly the Israeli flag inside all schools and district buildings; the proposal also designates Oct. 7 as a day of remembrance and recognizes May as Jewish American Heritage Month…
State legislators in California are weighing new legislation that would establish an Office of the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator and would prevent the use of learning materials “that would subject a pupil to unlawful discrimination”…
Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix and Jonathan Glazer signed on as executive producers of an upcoming film about the death of Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl alleged to have been killed by IDF fire in January 2024…
Authorities in Argentina raided a Buenos Aires villa in search of the “Portrait of a Lady,” a 17th-century portrait by Italian artist Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi that was believed to have been looted nearly a century ago from its Jewish owners by a Nazi official who took the artwork to South America after the war…
A group of policy experts from the N7 Initiative — a joint project of the Atlantic Council and the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation — met with senior Syrian officials, including Syria’s minister of defense, in Damascus this week. “We heard [a] real desire to find a way to not just have a ceasefire, but to have a security deal with Israel,” William Wechsler, the senior director of Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council, told Jewish Insider. He said a security deal is the first step on the path toward Israel-Syria normalization — which, he said, is not likely to come soon, but “there’s so many things that can be done in the interim”…
The International Atomic Energy Agency assessed that no enriched uranium has been moved from Iran’s nuclear site in Isfahan since the country’s 12-day war with Israel in June…
Florida businessman and philanthropist Stephen Muss, who saved both the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach and the Alexander Muss High School in Israel from closure, died at 97…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (left) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Wednesday in Washington during Sa’ar’s first trip to the capital since becoming foreign minister.
Birthdays
British actress, known professionally as Emma Samms, she is best known for her soap opera roles, Emma Elizabeth Wylie Samuelson turns 65…
Artist and chemist, he survived the Holocaust by living in a hole in the ground for seven months, Tibor Spitz turns 96… Independent international trade and development professional, Bernard Kupferschmid turns 94… Professor emeritus of quantum physics at Tel Aviv University, now on the faculty of Chapman University in Southern California, Yakir Aharonov turns 93… Honorary president of the Israel Policy Forum and the immediate past president of American Jewish Committee (AJC), Robert H. Elman… Filmmaker and the founder of Brave New Films, Robert Greenwald turns 80… Retired general counsel of Queens College of the City University of New York, Jane Denkensohn… Founder and CEO of retail chain Indigo Books & Music and co-founder and past chair of Kobo, Heather Maxine Reisman turns 77… Psychoanalyst and author of a 2019 memoir about her father Norman Mailer, Susan Mailer turns 76… Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees and former chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, Merryl Hiat Tisch turns 70… CEO of the Consumer Technology Association and author of the New York Times best-seller “Ninja Innovation,” Gary J. Shapiro turns 69… Senior rabbi of B’nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Jose Rolando Matalon… Actor, best known for his roles in two “Home Alone” films and two “City Slickers” films, Daniel Jacob Stern turns 68… Professor at George Washington University, he was deputy counsel in the Biden administration and the National Security Council legal advisor, Jonathan G. Cedarbaum turns 64… Television writer and producer, he is best known as the original showrunner and executive producer of the animated comedy series “Family Guy,” David J. Zuckerman turns 63… FCC commissioner from 2002 until 2009, then CEO of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, Jonathan Steven Adelstein turns 63… CEO and founder of PharmStars and managing partner and co-founder of Ambit Health Ventures, Naomi Fried, Ph.D…. COO of Meta / Facebook from 2008 until 2022, Sheryl Sandberg turns 56… Actor, comedian and musician, in 2018 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Thomas Jacob “Jack” Black turns 56… Early pioneer of contemporary Jewish rock music, Richard Samuel “Rick” Recht turns 55… General counsel of The Guardian US, she is a lecturer at Columbia Law School, Kai Falkenberg… First VP in the Hunt Valley, Md., office of Newmark Valuation & Advisory, Daniel “Doni” Greenwald… Olympic gold medalist in four-man bobsleigh in 2010, he is the co-founder and CEO of Classroom Champions, Steven Michael Mesler turns 47… Israeli soldier held captive for over five years by Hamas, released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal, Gilad Shalit turns 39… Offensive lineman for five different NFL teams since 2017, he was cut by the San Francisco 49ers earlier this week, Michael Dunn turns 31… Ari Willner…
Two attendees called the conversation ‘antagonistic,’ citing the group’s conversation about the humanitarian situation in Gaza
Ohad Kav
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (center) meets with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Aug. 25, 2025, in New York City.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met on Monday with American Jewish leaders in New York, speaking with the group at a moment when tensions between Diaspora Jews and Israel’s leaders over the conduct of the war seem to be growing.
The meeting was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and most of its members — representing the Reform, Orthodox and Conservative movements, as well as major national organizations including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the Jewish Federations of North America — were present in the room.
Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff said the 90-minute meeting was “positive and wide-ranging.”
“We spoke about the war, the plight of the hostages, and the challenges facing Israel, with a clear focus on strengthening U.S.-Israel relations,” Daroff told Jewish Insider. “The exchange underscored our unity, our partnership with Israel and our shared commitment to the Jewish future.”
Two attendees, who requested anonymity, described the meeting as antagonistic, saying Sa’ar took an argumentative tone against Jewish leaders in America who have raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, told JI after the meeting that she sees a growing distance between Israeli leaders and Jews in the United States.
“I think there is deep concern among many American Jews that this government’s quadrupling down on its approach is only going to widen the gap between the diaspora and Israel, when the vast majority of American and, frankly, Israeli Jews have made clear that they believe the war must end, the hostages must be released and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza needs to be addressed,” Spitalnick said.
That sentiment was echoed by Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch, CEO of Women of Reform Judaism.
“I said I was there representing two million Reform Jews. We’re the largest denomination in North America, and we are proud Zionists. We’re lovers and defenders of Israel, even as there are broad views within our movement,” Hirsch told JI on Monday. “The frame that this government is offering — and this is something I would say not just in this meeting, but publicly — is widening the breach between the North American community, between the full movement that I represent, and Israel.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli consulate in New York declined to comment. Sa’ar will also travel to Washington this week, where he is expected to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday. It will be Sa’ar’s first official visit to Washington since he was appointed Israel’s foreign minister last November.
Plus, the House Rs and Ds in Israel this week
NEVE DEKALIM, GAZA STRIP - AUGUST 16: Israeli police arrest anti-disengagement activists trying to prevent the entry of shipping containers August 16, 2005 into Neve Dekalim, the largest Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. As Israel's disengagement of some 8000 settlers from the Gaza Strip enters its second day, diehard settlers dug in for the final fight against Israel's historic Gaza Strip pullout after 38 years of occupation. (Photo by Shaul Schwarz/Getty Images)
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff we talk to key figures from the period of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza 20 years ago and report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new plans to expand the war in Gaza. We also interview a cousin of Evyatar David, days after Hamas released a video of him being forced to dig his own grave. We review the latest round of fundraising reports filed by leading pro-Israel advocacy groups and interview James Walkinshaw, the favorite to win a special general election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District in September. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gideon Sa’ar, Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, William Daroff and Elbridge Colby.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is in New York this morning for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation of the hostages held in Gaza. Sa’ar prompted the special session after videos of two hostages — Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski — were released by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Before the session, Sa’ar will hold a meeting with American Jewish leaders. Read more here.
- Northwestern University President Michael Schill will appear before the House Education and Workforce Committee today for a closed-door transcribed interview about alleged failures to protect Jewish students on the Illinois campus.
- Also in Israel this week are two delegations of freshman House members, one from each caucus, organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. The Democratic trip is led by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the former House majority leader, and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the caucus chair.
- The Republican trip is led by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and includes Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Rep. Troy Downing (R-MT), Julie Fedorchak (R-ND), Randy Fine (R-FL), Brandon Gill (R-TX), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Mark Harris (R-NC), Jeff Hurd (R-CO), Brian Jack (R-GA), John McGuire (R-VA), Bob Onder (R-MO), Derek Schmidt (R-KS), Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) and Tony Wied (R-WI). Their visit will include meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s josh kraushaar
A new poll of New York City Jewish voters commissioned by the pro-Israel New York Solidarity Network underscores the presence of a cohesive constituency opposed to Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy to become New York City mayor — but also illustrates some of the divisions preventing the city’s Jewish community from speaking with a loud, united voice.
The poll, conducted by the respected Democratic polling firm GQR, found Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, winning only 37% of Jewish voters, with 25% backing Mayor Eric Adams, 21% supporting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and 14% preferring Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. The results show that even though most Jewish voters identify as Democrats, a clear majority won’t support the Democratic nominee because of his record on issues of concern to the Jewish community — in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-to-1.
Adams performs particularly well among Orthodox Jews, winning 61% of their vote, while Cuomo leads among Conservative Jewish voters with 35% support. But among unaffiliated and Reform Jews, Mamdani leads with a near majority of the Jewish vote.
Asked if Jewish voters were pro-Israel, two-thirds (66%) responded in the affirmative, while 31% said they weren’t. That’s a slightly larger share of non-Zionist Jews than we’ve seen in national polling. Nearly two-thirds (63%) also said that the “globalize the intifada” rhetoric that Mamdani has defended is antisemitic, with just 27% disagreeing.
policy reckoning
Lessons from Gaza disengagement remain relevant 20 years later
Twenty years ago this month, Israel dismantled 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip, in what was known as the disengagement, initiated and overseen by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Two decades later, Israel is fighting its longest war in Gaza, after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks perpetrated by the Hamas terrorist organization that has controlled Gaza since 2006. In the interim years, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza shot hundreds and sometimes thousands of rockets at Israeli population centers each year, prompting five major Israeli military operations in Gaza. Key figures from that period told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov that the Israeli government’s failure to formulate a day-after plan for Gaza — a criticism that has been leveled at Jerusalem in the current war — is in part to blame for the unfulfilled promises of the disengagement.
Pressure point: Gilad Erdan, a former senior Israeli cabinet minister and ambassador to the U.S., was a freshman Likud lawmaker when the disengagement was announced, and became a leading figure in the party’s rebellion against Sharon. Erdan noted to JI that Sharon not only claimed the disengagement would improve Israel’s security, he said that “if Israel doesn’t take this step, there will be other diplomatic plans [that the world will] try to force on Israel, and this step will free us of pressure from the international community. It’s clear that it didn’t reduce pressure, it increased it.”
Not followed through: Elliott Abrams, who was deputy national security advisor to the George W. Bush administration at the time of the disengagement, told JI that Sharon did have a larger overarching idea behind the move, but subsequent prime ministers did not follow through with it. “Sharon said at the time that Israel needs to establish its borders, and I think he would have done something … with the West Bank. Whatever the future of Israel is, it doesn’t include Gaza, which has no use economically and no significance religiously,” was the logic, Abrams said.
WAR PATH
Netanyahu reportedly pushing for major expansion of war in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to ask the Security Cabinet to back expanding Israel’s military efforts in Gaza, Israeli media reported on Monday. “We are going to conquer the [Gaza] Strip,” a senior source in Netanyahu’s office told Israel’s Channel 12. “The decision was made. Hamas will not free more hostages without us fully surrendering, and we will not surrender. If we don’t act now, the hostages will die of hunger and Gaza will remain under Hamas’ control,” the source added, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
A few caveats: Netanyahu did not use the term conquer or occupy with all of the Cabinet ministers to whom he conveyed his position, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan. Maariv reported that Netanyahu has not made a final decision yet about whether the IDF should take control of all of Gaza, and noted that legally, he cannot decide on his own without the Security Cabinet.
COUSIN’S CRY
‘Evyatar became a skeleton in Hamas tunnels,’ hostage’s cousin says after video released
Days after Hamas released a video showing hostage Evyatar David emaciated and being forced to dig his own grave in a tunnel under Gaza, David’s family called on the Trump administration to do anything it can to ensure that the hostages are released. “Evyatar is fighting for his life with what little strength he has left,” Matan Eshet, David’s cousin, told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on Monday. “You can see it in his eyes. You don’t need a medical degree to understand that Evyatar only has a few days to live.”
Unrecognizable: David, 24, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova Festival on Oct. 7, 2023. In a video released over the weekend, an extremely gaunt David was shown in a tunnel under Gaza digging, with his bones protruding. He wrote on a calendar documenting the small amounts of food — either lentils or beans — his captors have given him on some days, and on other days he wrote “no food.” Eshet said his family is “feeling broken” after seeing the new footage. “It’s not Evyatar. He doesn’t look like that or sound like that. That’s not how he moves. We see the distress in so many ways. He looks like a shadow of himself,” Eshet said. “He has to get medical care and food already.”
More from David’s family: Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, said on CNN on Monday, “Hamas is using my brother in this twisted, sick experiment on human lives. It’s not pressured enough … All leaders of all nations should stand up united and put every ounce of pressure they can on Hamas. Hamas must be begging for a deal.”
MONEY MATTERS
Pro-Israel groups post strong fundraising figures in first half of 2025
The latest round of fundraising reports filed by leading pro-Israel advocacy groups suggests that they are in strong financial shape as the midterms come into view, even as some of the top pro-Israel candidates have underperformed with their fundraising in key races. United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, raised $13.5 million in the first half of 2025, according to its mid-year fundraising report filed late last week, with nearly $39 million on hand at the end of June, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Shot up: Those figures were far higher than the $8.8 million in contributions the group had pulled in during the same six-month period in 2023, at the beginning of the last election cycle. The group, which ultimately raised much more in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, had $9 million on hand at the time, federal filings show. Among the top donors to UDP this cycle are Blair Frank, a portfolio manager at Capital Group, who gave $1.5 million — marking the only seven-figure contribution. The Kraft Group, a holding company led by Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, gave $500,000 — as did four other donors including Sanford Grossman, Michael Leffell, David Messer and Andrew Schwartzberg, according to the new filings.
DISTRICT DYNAMICS
James Walkinshaw sounds more supportive of Israel than his former boss
James Walkinshaw, a longtime former aide to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), aims to follow in his late mentor’s footsteps as the strong favorite to win a special general election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District in September, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Comparisons: Asked if he sees any major differences between himself and Connolly — whether on policy or his approach to the role of a member of Congress — Walkinshaw said that there are few, and that he was aligned with his former boss’ views on most issues. But when it comes to Israel, Walkinshaw sounds likely to adopt a more moderate tone on Middle East policy, something of a contrast from Connolly, who took an increasingly critical view of the Jewish state during his tenure in the House. “I think the U.S.-Israel relationship has immense historical importance. It has immense strategic importance to the United States, and I want to see a strong U.S.-Israel relationship with bipartisan support,” Walkinshaw told JI.
selective security
Harvard funding Hillel’s security costs but not doing the same for Chabad
Harvard University’s recent decision to cover security costs for Harvard Hillel was celebrated by many Jewish students as a way to alleviate growing security costs amid a surge in campus antisemitism. But for others, it raised questions about why the agreement did not extend to other Jewish groups affiliated with the school, such as Harvard Chabad, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Left out: “Of course, there is a sense that there should be a responsibility” to cover Chabad’s security as well, Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi told JI, although he said that he has never directly asked the administration to do so. Alex Bernat, Harvard Chabad’s outgoing undergraduate student president who graduated in the spring, said it’s “crucial” that Chabad receive the same funding. “If you want to make claims about protecting the Jewish community, you have to protect the whole Jewish community,” he told JI.
Worthy Reads
The Blame Game: Coleman Hughes writes in The Free Press about the West’s “moral confusion” in assigning blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “There’s no doubt that there is a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. But the information pipeline between Gaza and the West is fundamentally broken, biased, untrustworthy, and weaponized against Israel. And the less skeptical that Western journalists are, the more sources like Hamas and the Gaza Health Ministry can disseminate misinformation without penalty, perpetuating the false narrative that Israel is the genocidal aggressor in a war waged against them by a group whose mission is, in fact, genocide.” [FreePress]
PR Course Correction: The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer writes about how Israel can turn international public opinion around. “Every image of a child with protruding ribs is both a human tragedy and a propaganda victory for Hamas — and proof of how a just war badly lost the plot. I believed in Israel’s casus belli. I don’t believe in this. No justification can redeem the immorality of a policy built on deprivation. As Gaza braces for the worst, Israel still has a narrow window to correct its course. By flooding the zone [with aid], Israel has one last chance to redeem itself.” [TheAtlantic]
Questioning the War: The Wall Street Journal’s Anat Peled spotlights the growing number of voices in Israeli society, mostly on the center-left, that are questioning the morality of Israel’s actions in Gaza and calling for an end to the war. “In recent weeks, more Israelis — including prominent public figures — have called to end the war in Gaza while decrying the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, marking a shift in the public discourse. A majority of former directors of the Israeli military; Mossad; Shin Bet, the country’s internal security agency; and the police, called on the Israeli government on Sunday to end the war against Hamas. The cause began as a just one after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, they said. But now it has become futile … Nightly news reports have featured more Gazans talking about suffering in the strip. Photos of Gazans killed in the war are now more visible in some public spaces such as protests. More than 1,000 leading Israeli artists created a stir when they signed a petition calling to end the killing of children and civilians in Gaza.” [WSJ]
Baltics Balance: The Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon writes about Israel’s “pivot to the Baltics,” as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar return from separate trips to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “Calls for punitive measures against Israel are growing louder in EU corridors. In that environment, courting sympathetic voices in the Baltics – where the diplomatic weather is noticeably warmer – isn’t just smart; it’s necessary. … What’s at stake here is more than just goodwill. There are real, high-stakes policy implications. The EU is currently debating whether to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a framework governing economic and political cooperation between Israel and the EU. Sa’ar’s visit to the Baltics in June – before going to Brussels – was part of an effort to prevent such a move, and Herzog’s visit now continues that effort.” [JPost]
Word on the Street
A new Pentagon report confirmed that the U.S. withdrew troops from three military bases in Syria and Iraq in May, who were stationed there to combat ISIS forces…
Air Mail writes about the issue of ordinary Israelis engaging in espionage on behalf of Iran, with the Shin Bet confirming more than 60 Israeli citizens are being prosecuted for treason…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) defended New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s policy proposals for the city on Monday in a heated debate with CNBC host David Faber. Warren called Mamdani’s primary win “democracy at work”…
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) visited the town of Ariel yesterday, making him the highest-ranking elected federal official to visit a West Bank settlement…
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in grant notices made public Friday that states must guarantee they will not engage in boycotts of Israeli companies in order to qualify for a tranche of more than $1.9 billion in natural disaster preparedness grants…
The Israeli Cabinet voted unanimously yesterday to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with whom the current government has been at odds since it was formed, accusing her of political bias. Shortly after the vote, the Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction temporarily blocking the firing and ordering the government to continue abiding by Baharav-Miara’s legal opinions until the court issues a final ruling…
The third season of the TV series “Tehran,” which follows an undercover Mossad agent in Iran, may come to Apple TV soon, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Though it aired in Israel over two years ago, Apple has repeatedly delayed the season’s release in the U.S. due to the Oct. 7 attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza…
Rest of World examines how the rise of data centers in the Gulf amid the race to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure will stress already water-scarce countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia…
The Anti-Defamation League said on Monday that the Portland Police Department is investigating the recent vandalism of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education with swastikas as a hate crime…
New Lines Magazine chronicles the violent clash inside Sweida Hospital in southern Syria last month as government-aligned militias and Bedouin groups clashed with the local Druze population last month…
Pic of the Day
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff (right) met with Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon yesterday. Daroff told Jewish Insider that Colby “expressed a clear and serious understanding of U.S. strategic interests in the Middle East, including the vital importance of deterring Iran, preventing regional adversaries from gaining dominance, and sustaining Israel’s security following the Twelve Day War,” and that he was “encouraged by [Colby’s] principled and grounded approach.”
Birthdays
Professional boxer who held the WBA super welterweight title from 2009 to 2010, in 2014 he was ordained as a rabbi and then known as the “Boxing Rabbi,” Yuri Foreman turns 45…
Chairman of Delphi Capital Management, he is the founder and chairman of Open to Debate, a public policy debate series, Robert Rosenkranz turns 83… Former chairman of the World Zionist Organization who later served as chairman of the Jewish National Fund, Avraham Duvdevani turns 80… Former Israeli ambassador to France, following seven years as a member of the Knesset, Yael German turns 78… Author of 25 nonfiction books, including The Portable Curmudgeon, Zen to Go and Advice to Writers, Jon Winokur turns 78… Historian, Nazi hunter and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem until 2024, Efraim Zuroff turns 77… Banker, once known as “Austria’s woman on Wall Street” and founder of Bank Medici in 1994, Sonja Kohn turns 77… Former Soviet Refusenik, he served as speaker of the Knesset for seven years, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein turns 67… Intellectual property and entertainment attorney based in Ithaca, N.Y., he is an adjunct professor of law at both Cornell and Touro, Howard Leib… Member of the British House of Lords, he was chief executive of the Office of the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and then chief executive of the United Jewish Israel Appeal, Baron Jonathan Andrew Kestenbaum turns 66… Businessman Murray Huberfeld… Songwriter, author, political columnist and noted baseball memorabilia collector, Seth Swirsky turns 65… Chair of the Department of Jewish History at Baltimore’s Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, Neil Rubin, Ph.D…. Actor who starred in “Weekend at Bernie’s,” his father and grandfather were both rabbis, Jonathan Elihu Silverman turns 59… President at ConservAmerica, he is an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Jeffrey Kupfer… President of the Center for Jewish History in NYC and professor at Fairfield University, Dr. Gavriel David Rosenfeld turns 58… Former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party, Roy Folkman turns 50… Director of the Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution for 13 years until this past June, he is soon to become a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, Natan Sachs… Investment and foundation manager at Denver-based Race Street Management and a board member of JFNA, Cintra Pollack… VP of government affairs at WISPA – the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, Matt Mandel… Chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Gregg (A.G.) Sulzberger turns 45… Former director of responsible innovation at Meta / Facebook, now a consultant, he is also the spiritual leader of Chochmat HaLev, a progressive spiritual community in Berkeley, Calif., Zvika Krieger… Member of the comedy duo Jake and Amir, Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz turns 40… Longtime member of the Israeli national soccer team who also played in Europe’s UEFA Champions League, Gil Vermouth turns 40… Co-founder of Cadence, an AI-driven performance nutrition platform, Lila Cohn… Front end engineer at Platform.sh, Abby Milberg… 2023 graduate of Harvard Law School, now an assistant corporation counsel for New York City, Michael E. Snow… Senior advisor for implementation at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Lisa Geller… Leslie Saunders… Director of antisemitism programs at the Anti-Defamation League, Anyu Silverman…
The meeting comes a day after reports indicated Netanyahu intends to expand IDF control over Gaza
Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar (C) attends the EU-Israel Association Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on February 24, 2025.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will meet with American Jewish leaders in New York on Tuesday morning, Jewish Insider has learned.
Sa’ar is in New York to attend a special session of the United Nations Security Council, which he initiated to discuss the situation of the remaining hostages in Gaza, days after the release of videos of two hostages — Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski — by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, showing the two men looking haggard and emaciated.
William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said in a statement to JI, “We look forward to this important meeting with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, continuing a long-standing relationship grounded in mutual respect and shared priorities. It is always beneficial when American Jewish leaders and Israel’s foreign minister engage directly on the key issues of the day.”
“As Minister Sa’ar prepares to address the United Nations Security Council on the ongoing plight of the hostages,” he continued, “it is critical that their suffering not be swept aside by the international community. Their release must remain a global moral imperative.”
The meeting comes a day after reports indicated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to ask the Security Cabinet to back expanding Israel’s military efforts in Gaza.
Plus, a look at Gottheimer's campaign playbook
Western Wall Heritage Foundation
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and his wife Dina Powell McCormick visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem on May 27, 2025.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we sit down with Sen. Dave McCormick in Jerusalem, and report on Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the Israeli Embassy in Washington yesterday, where he paid his respects following last week’s killing of two embassy staffers. We also interview Mike Sacks, a candidate in the crowded Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District, and report on Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s Jewish voter outreach efforts ahead of the upcoming New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial primary. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Bruce Pearl, Leo Terrell and Nathan Lewin.
What We’re Watching
- Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad Director David Barnea are in Washington this week for meetings on Iran with senior Trump administration officials.
- Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and senior Justice Department officials are slated to speak at a Jewish solidarity event this evening in Washington.
- In New York, the American Jewish Committee, the Consulate General of Israel in New York and Israel’s diplomatic mission at the U.N. are hosting a memorial event this afternoon for the two Israeli Embassy staffers killed outside an AJC event in Washington last week. AJC CEO Ted Deutch, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon and John Kelley, the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. mission to the U.N., are among the event’s speakers.
- Elsewhere in New York, a Jewish American Heritage Month reception slated to be hosted tonight at Gracie Mansion by New York City Mayor Eric Adams was postponed to July.
- The IHRA International Conference on Combating Antisemitism at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs concludes today. Earlier today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered remarks via video in which he said he prayed “for the day when the entire world will recognize the futility of antisemitism — when leaders will abandon self-destructive hatred and forge a new future in partnership with Israel. By building on the Abraham Accords. Under President Trump’s leadership, there are signs that the future may be closer than we dare dream.”
- Today marks 600 days since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. Communities in Israel and around the world are marking the day with ceremonies and events. Earlier today, released hostages, including Arbel Yehoud, Luis Har and Yocheved Lifshitz, held a press conference in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square calling for the release of the remaining 58 hostages in Gaza.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JOSH KRAUSHAAR
The next month will give political observers an important read on which faction of the Democratic Party — the grassroots left or the pragmatic middle — is ascendant in the early months of the Trump administration. These battles, not coincidentally, are also proxy fights between those serious about fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel against those representing a more radical anti-Israel element.
The first big contest, Pittsburgh’s mayoral primary this month, marked a big win for mainstream Democrats. Challenger Corey O’Connor, the Allegheny County controller, defeated Mayor Ed Gainey, dealing a major blow to the activist left in a city where it had recently been on the rise. O’Connor won, in part, by building a strong relationship with the sizable Jewish community in the city that was turned off by Gainey’s record on antisemitism and frequent anti-Israel commentary.
There are four more big clashes coming up next month in New York and New Jersey. The biggest clash is between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and other challengers in the New York City mayoral race. Cuomo, running as a stalwart champion of the Jewish community, currently holds a comfortable lead, but faces elevated unfavorable ratings from his time as governor. Mamdani is polling in second place as a far-left candidate who doesn’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and supports the BDS movement.
A Cuomo victory would underscore that maintaining close ties to the city’s Jewish community — the largest in the Diaspora — is still the time-tested formula for success in Gotham politics. Recent polling suggests the Jewish electorate in New York City is unusually divided, with Cuomo holding a plurality of support.
Two other downballot contests in New York City are also worthy of attention: a City Council primary clash in Brooklyn between anti-Israel Councilwoman Shahana Hanif and Maya Kornberg, the latter of whom is running as a pro-Israel progressive; and a comptroller battle between Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Councilman Justin Brannan, who has been courting support from anti-Israel activists on the campaign trail.
Two weeks before New York’s June 24 primaries, New Jersey will hold its gubernatorial primaries — with the Democratic side of the field featuring a stalwart of Jewish interests in Congress (Rep. Josh Gottheimer), a center-left candidate with a generally supportive but less reliable record on Israel and antisemitism (Rep. Mikie Sherrill), a progressive-minded Jewish candidate (Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop) and a pair of left-wing candidates with close ties to the activist base (Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and New Jersey Education Association head Sean Spiller).
While the New Jersey governor’s race is less binary than the New York City contests, Gottheimer’s showing will be a useful indicator of the clout of the organized Jewish community in the state, while the performance of the left-wing candidates would indicate whether there’s much of a market for undiluted activism.
The Democratic nominee is expected to face former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, the front-runner for the GOP nomination. In a surprise, Ciattarelli came within three points of defeating Gov. Phil Murphy in the 2021 governor’s race.
These four contests will be a valuable bellwether of the Democratic Party’s ideological vibe at a time when it is still trying to calibrate its message after a rough defeat in the 2024 elections. A strong showing by pro-Israel moderates would send a powerful corrective to the common assumption that the AOC wing of the party holds the upper hand.
TRIP TALK
Sen. Dave McCormick, in Israel, talks about Trump’s Iran diplomacy, Gaza aid
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) arrived in Israel on Monday at a particularly significant moment, with nuclear talks with Iran reaching a critical juncture and the U.S. and Israel moving forward with a plan to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza. McCormick’s visit to Israel is part of his first trip abroad after becoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism earlier this year. “There are so many issues that will be coming before the Senate … so it felt like it was appropriate to come and get the truth on the ground,” McCormick said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Distribution dynamics: Minutes before his meeting with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the group implementing the American-Israeli Gaza aid plan, which has come under fire from international aid groups on the ground, McCormick spoke with JI about the significant issues on his agenda. Tech investor Liran Tancman, one of the Israelis involved in arranging the aid distribution program, took part in the meeting with McCormick and GHF as well. The GHF began distributing aid on Monday, though it had to pause at one point on Tuesday, reportedly due to overcrowding. Additionally, Hamas members reportedly threatened Gazans who cooperated with the American-led effort. “I certainly recognize … how complex a problem this is,” McCormick said. “On one hand, you want to give the humanitarian assistance that is needed to make sure innocents are able to have the support they need. But it’s also a tool that’s been hijacked by Hamas as a source of revenue, as a source of leverage and control. So, how do you balance?”
GARDEN STATE STAKES
Gottheimer’s path to the governor’s mansion runs through New Jersey’s Jewish community
As Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) aims to come from behind in the closing weeks of the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial primary, the veteran congressman is counting on support from the state’s sizable Jewish community to launch him to victory in the June 10 election, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Matthew Kassel report.
State of play: The Jewish community is “a key part, a critical part of the coalition,” Gottheimer told JI on Monday. “These off-year primaries are — despite what we’re all working to do — it’s always a lower turnout in the off years. And I’d say the Jewish community is very engaged, and I think they play a really important role in the election.” Gottheimer recently picked up the endorsement of the Lakewood Vaad, an influential group of rabbis in one of the state’s largest Orthodox Jewish communities, which urged both Democrats and unaffiliated voters to vote for Gottheimer in the Democratic primary, which observers say could potentially generate tens of thousands of votes for Gottheimer.
SHOW OF SOLIDARITY
Vice President Vance visits Israeli Embassy following killing of staffers
Vice President JD Vance visited the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Tuesday to pay his respects following last Wednesday’s killing of two staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in the nation’s capital. Vance was seen in photos posted on X by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter signing a condolence book at the embassy honoring the memories of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, the two staffers killed in the May 21 attack following a museum event for young diplomats and Jewish professionals hosted by the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Ambassador’s appreciation: “Thank you @VP Vance for coming to the Embassy to honor our dear colleagues and friends, Sarah and Yaron. The care and compassion you and the Trump administration have shown in the wake of this murderous attack are testaments to the enduring friendship between our two countries and peoples, and our mutual battle against terrorism,” Leiter wrote on the social media platform.
crossover candidate?
Bruce Pearl rumored for potential Senate run
With Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the former Auburn University head football coach, announcing on Tuesday that he’ll forgo a second term in the Senate to instead run for governor of Alabama, chatter is emerging that another Auburn coach, Bruce Pearl, who took the men’s basketball team to the Final Four this year, might follow in Tuberville’s footsteps and make a bid for the Senate seat, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
The latest: Semafor reported on Tuesday that Pearl’s name is being floated for the seat, but it’s not clear whether he is interested. Pearl is Jewish and has become politically active on issues related to Israel and Middle East policy and antisemitism — delivering a keynote address just last week on Capitol Hill at a breakfast honoring Jewish American Heritage Month, addressing the audience alongside numerous Senate and House members.
CIVIC CALLING
Latest Lawler challenger says antisemitism helped motivate his congressional bid, accuses Republicans of weaponization
Mike Sacks was taught as a child to fight antisemitism — literally — with left jabs and left hooks and right crosses. His father, he said, taught him to box as an elementary schooler “because [my father] had to fight back against Jew hatred as a kid and as a young man,” having been subjected to antisemitic taunts. Now, the former political journalist turned Democratic candidate in New York’s 17th Congressional District told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod in a recent interview, rising antisemitism is a factor in his bid to unseat Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). But he also accused Republicans of cynically weaponizing the issue with no intent to actually address the problem.
Personal issue: “I’m running for my community, my congregation and my country,” Sacks said, mentioning both local and nationwide antisemitism. “As a Jewish father raising my kids in the Jewish faith, this is my community. It’s not a political issue for me. It’s personal,” Sacks said. “When I go to Congress, this is not an issue I’ll take on to score political points, but for the rights of my community and my faith.”
REOPENING AND REMEMBRANCE
Capital Jewish Museum to reopen Thursday
The Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington will reopen on Thursday, eight days after the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members outside of the museum. The building’s reopening will feature a program to honor the memories of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, who were killed on May 21 while leaving an event at the museum for young diplomats and Jewish professionals hosted by the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
On the agenda: Speakers at the reopening program will include the museum’s leadership, Executive Director Beatrice Gurwitz and Board Chair Chris Wolf, local elected officials and local clergy, according to the museum, which declined to disclose a full list of speakers. “We will gather as a community to remember Yaron and Sarah as our thoughts remain with their loved ones,” Gurwitz said in a statement. “This tragedy will not keep us from telling the story of the greater Washington region’s Jewish history for visitors from around the world.”
Worthy Reads
Anton’s Tone: The Free Press’ Eli Lake spotlights Michael Anton, the White House’s director of policy planning, who played a key role in the administration’s transition phase. “His name is not known to most people outside of Washington, but inside the Trump administration Anton has emerged as one of the most important intellectuals behind the president’s foreign policy revolution. In an administration beset with, at times, bitter ideological divides and an often chaotic style that has shocked both allies and foes, Anton has risen to the top by playing his cards close to his chest and deftly navigating the right’s warring foreign policy camps. … With a mix of provocative broadsides in the media and unglamorous behind-the-scenes work in government, Anton has charted an improbable path, from the heart of the neoconservative establishment to the core of the new MAGA foreign policy establishment. Over a decade in which the American right has been defined by bad-tempered, friendship-ending fights, Anton, a Machiavelli scholar, hasn’t just survived the America First revolution, he has helped to shape it.” [FreePress]
Counting on a Trump Retreat: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh consider the factors at play for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the U.S. and Tehran negotiate a new nuclear agreement. “Five months into Mr. Trump’s second term, the mullahs are no longer afraid of the unpredictable American president who killed Qasem Soleimani in 2020. ‘In matters such as the purchase of Gaza and Greenland, the imposition of new tariffs, and even negotiations related to the Ukraine War, Trump first applied maximum pressure, but ultimately left room for retreat,’ is the assessment of Nournews, the mouthpiece for Iran’s national security council. The Trump administration has convinced many in Tehran that the president doesn’t want another conflict in the region. His threats of fire and fury are becoming more recognizably Middle Eastern — words substitute for actions. Given all the advanced centrifuges and the ever-deeper bomb-proof underground enrichment sites, the military option is becoming less credible. For Israel, it’s now or never. The U.S. has patience with threats that are existential only to its allies.” [WSJ]
Bibi Digging In: The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reflects on his recent trip to Israel, where he said he saw “signals flashing” that Israelis increasingly back an end to the war, even as the government and Hamas choose to prolong the fighting. “As a result of Netanyahu’s military operations, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah — not to mention Saudi Arabia — are all now much freer to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel to a degree they never were when Iran’s regional mercenary network was so powerful. Yes, Netanyahu made that happen! But he also never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity for peace. Netanyahu today staunchly refuses to harvest what Netanyahu has sown. He will not do the one thing that would unlock the politics of the whole region: open a road, no matter how long, to a two-state solution with a reformed Palestinian Authority. … The more I would argue to Israelis that Netanyahu is making a historic mistake — trading peace with Saudi Arabia for peace with the far-right extremists who keep him in power — the more they would ask me: ‘Do you think Trump can save us?’ That question is the ultimate sign that your democracy is in trouble.” [NYTimes]
Keep Hope Alive: In the Jewish Telegraph Agency, Claire Sufrin juxtaposes the tragedy of the Capital Jewish Museum terror attack with her own relationship with her husband, whose girlfriend prior to Sufrin had been killed in the 2002 Hebrew University bombing. “My story — my family’s story — is a very small piece of a much larger whole, the whole of the Jewish people, and the whole of all humanity, not just existing but persevering. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anyone as something to replicate, were such a thing possible. And yet, at a time like this, I am standing up to say: let’s not give up, not now or not ever. We must still believe, always believe, that there is potential for something better, even in the wake of the most difficult, most painful loss and even in the hardest moments when all we want is to crawl into a tiny hole and pretend that none of this exists, not evil, not despair, not any of it. We must continue taking chances, risking our hearts and our lives, and we must nurture whatever little glimmer of potential growth we may spot, not because we know what will be — we can’t — but because we need, in a way we can’t explain, to see how it might flower.” [JTA]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump reportedly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week against making any moves that could jeopardize Washington’s nuclear talks with Iran…
The State Department has paused student visa interviews as it prepares to implement a more rigid vetting process for prospective international students that includes screening social media accounts…
Leo Terrell, the head of the Justice Department’s antisemitism task force, said that the University of California system should expect “massive lawsuits” as the White House expands its crackdown on colleges and universities…
The University of Florida Board of Trustees unanimously selected former University of Michigan President Santa Ono to be the school’s next president; Ono had previously been announced as the board’s only finalist for the position, which opened following the resignation of former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)…
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) starts out with an early lead the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan, according to a new poll commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber; Stevens leads with 34% of the Democratic vote, with former Wayne County Health Director Dr. Abdul el-Sayed winning 22% and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in third with 14%. Nearly one-third (30%) of Democrats said they’re undecided…
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan was moving forward with an effort to procure arrest warrants for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir before he went on leave amid an investigation into allegations that he had sexually assaulted subordinates…
Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker was reinstated on the platform after briefly being banned over comments in which Piker posited that the killings of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington was a “false flag” operation…
The Overland Park, Kan., Jewish community held the funeral for slain Israeli Embassy staffer Sarah Lynn Milgrim on Tuesday under heavy security; Milgrim’s casket was draped with an Israeli flag…
In The Wall Street Journal, Nathan Lewin calls on Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute violators of a 1968 law banning violence against individuals using or benefiting from federally financed programs…
Reuters spotlights the potential effects of the Trump administration’s tariffs on a Spanish hatmaker that sells approximately 30,000 hats each year to Orthodox customers in the U.S….
The New York Times looks at how residents of a Berlin housing development that had originally been built for SS officials and their families during WWII reckon with their neighborhood’s past…
Germany is considering freezing its weapons exports to Israel, amid concerns in Berlin over Israel’s recent actions in Gaza; earlier this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Israeli actions “in recent days can no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas terrorism”…
The IDF carried out airstrikes on Houthi targets at the airport in Sana’a, Yemen, in response to a series of Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Israel in recent days…
Israel and Syria have in recent weeks reportedly engaged in direct talks focused on security issues…
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said that Jakarta was open to establishing diplomatic ties with Israel on the condition that Israel recognizes a Palestinian state…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (center) met on Tuesday in Jerusalem with Jewish leaders, including William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (left), and U.K. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (second from left).
Birthdays
Author of 14 novels and a children’s book, Millions of Maxes, Meg Wolitzer turns 66…
Founding rabbi of both Lincoln Square Synagogue in NYC and then later the city of Efrat in the Judean Hills, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin turns 85… Director of UCSF’s Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, he won the 1997 Nobel Prize in medicine, Stanley Benjamin Prusiner M.D. turns 83… Executive director of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Jerome H. Kadden… Former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani turns 81… Former mayor of Toronto, John Howard Tory turns 71… Winnipeg-born attorney, previous campaign chair for Winnipeg’s Combined Jewish Appeal and governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Gail Sheryl Asper turns 65… British comedian, screenwriter and singer, he is the author of a 2021 book on antisemitism titled Jews Don’t Count, David Lionel Baddiel turns 61… Secretary of state of the United States, he is also serving as national security advisor, Marco Rubio turns 54… Four-time U.S. national fencing champion and a two-time Olympian, then an attorney who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Eric Oliver “Nick” Bravin turns 54… Longtime member of the Knesset on behalf of the Likud party, now serving as Israel’s consul general to New York, Ofir Akunis turns 52… Guitarist, composer and leader of the bands Rashanim and Zion80, Jon Madof turns 51… Rabbi of Boston’s South Shore Congregation Sha’aray Shalom, Eric M. Berk… Dancer and choreographer, Brian L. Friedman turns 48… Senior manager in the executive office at The Pew Charitable Trusts since 2015, Lauren Mandelker… Singer-songwriter, artist and filmmaker, Adam Green turns 44… Entrepreneur Matthew Pritzker turns 43… Managing principal of Asher Strategies, David A. Lobl… Founder in 2015 of At The Well, a women’s wellness organization rooted in Jewish spirituality and women’s health, Sarah Michal Waxman… Founder and CEO at Vista Nexum, Adelle Malka Nazarian… Freelance journalist writing about culture, Thea Glassman… Fashion designer and the founder of WeWoreWhat, Danielle Bernstein turns 33… Harry Weinstein… Named for his father, a WSJ bureau chief who was kidnapped and murdered by Pakistani terrorists a few months before he was born, Adam Daniel Pearl turns 23… Israeli swimmer, she competed in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Aviv Barzelay turns 23… Irwin Weiss…
Sen. John Fetterman asked members of the left, ‘Why can’t you just call it [antisemitism] what it is?’
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Sen. John Fetterman, (D-PA) talks with reporters after the Senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
Pro-Israel leaders in the United States on Thursday connected the murder of two Israeli Embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington to the anti-Israel advocacy seen on the political extremes throughout the country since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, characterizing it as a culmination of such rhetoric and, in some cases, the failure of some politicians to denounce it.
The suspected shooter, Elias Rodriguez, shouted “free, free Palestine” and “I did it for Gaza” following the shooting, according to an eyewitness and video from the arrest. He reportedly published a manifesto railing against Israel.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said that the attack should be a signal to the left that it needs to rethink its rhetoric on Israel and Zionism. He compared the anti-Israel movement in the United States to a “cult” that has been stoked online and is using inherently violent slogans while its members “try to hide behind this idea that it’s free speech to intimidate and terrorize members of the Jewish community.”
He said that too many on the left have failed to call out antisemitism in the anti-Israel movement.
“Why can’t you just call it what it is, and then address and assert the pressure on the aggressor,” which is Hamas,” Fetterman said. “I can’t even imagine having to live with that ever-present antisemitism and what? Why can’t people just acknowledge and call that what it is?”
Fetterman predicted that the same elements of the left that have supported Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will also rally behind Rodriguez.
“What part of my party does this come from where it’s like, we try to defend or try to justify assassinating an executive in broad daylight or … somebody [who] guns down” two people at a Jewish event, Fetterman asked incredulously.
Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter connected the shooting to the anti-Israel protests seen on college campuses and elsewhere in the country.
“The point of the matter is that on campuses around this country, where ideas — these are the temples of ideas — where smart ideas, intelligent ideas, moral ideas, truthful ideas, are supposed to be taught, we have useful idiots running around in support of the destruction of Israel,” Leiter said at a press conference.
“This is done in the name of a political agenda to eradicate the State of Israel,” Leiter added. “The State of Israel is now fighting a war on seven fronts. This is the eighth front, a war to demonize, delegitimize, to eradicate the right of the State of Israel to exist.”
He also connected rising global antisemitism to countries like France that have spoken out against Israel and are moving to recognize a Palestinian state.
A coalition of 42 Jewish organizations, in a statement, described the murders as “the direct consequence of rising antisemitic incitement in places such as college campuses, city council meetings, and social media that has normalized hate and emboldened those who wish to do harm.”
William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said on X, “There is a direct line between demonizing Israel, tolerating antisemitic hate speech in the public square, and violent action.”
“We are now witnessing the deadly consequences of months of relentless antisemitic incitement — amplified by international organizations and political leaders across the globe — since the horrors of October 7,” Daroff said. “This is not a debate over policy; it is the mainstreaming of hatred, and its consequences are measured in blood.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said on X the attack was “the deadly consequence of normalizing Jew-hatred.”
“Since October 7, antisemitic attacks have surged — fueled by violent chants to ‘globalize the intifada’ and slurs like ‘dirty Zionist,’” Gottheimer said.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), highlighting a tweet from a local anti-Israel group that praised the attack, said that, “Violence is not a bug but a feature of virulent Anti-Zionism.”
Arizona state Rep. Alma Hernandez called out a series of progressive lawmakers, saying, “spare us the fake outrage.”
“Two Israeli diplomats were murdered in cold blood—and you dare act concerned? Y’all have spent years fueling the hate and antisemitism that’s now exploding across America. Don’t pretend to care,” Hernandez continued, in an X post. “You are constantly surrounded by keffiyehs and “Free Palestine” and have pushed rhetoric that’s radicalized Americans into thinking murdering Jews and harassing them in the streets will somehow “liberate” Palestine and end the so-called genocide. No thanks.”
“We don’t want prayers from politicians who support individuals and organizations that promote this hate and who are being actively supported by said individuals and organizations while they run for office,” Hernandez added.
“You can’t support chants of ‘Globalize the Intifada’ and then be ‘appalled’ when people act it out,” Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch said on X in response to a statement on the attack from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) that did not acknowledge that the victims worked for the Israeli embassy and condemned “violence” broadly. Panitch also criticized other progressive Democrats who issued statements on the attack.
Panitch added, “Fascinating that those who campaigned against the Jewish community’s right to define their own experience of antisemitism are the ones who call ‘Globalizing the Intifada’ peaceful protests. The same ones who can’t say the word antisemitism in their posts.”
Jordan Acker, the University of Michigan regent who has been repeatedly targeted with antisemitic harassment and vandalism, drew a direct line between those incidents and demonstrations on the University of Michigan’s campus, and the Wednesday night murders.
“This isn’t protest. It’s a threat. This is what antisemitism looks like — and it’s escalating,” Acker said. “This is part of a terrifying trend: Jews in America being hunted, harassed, and attacked for being visibly Jewish — for existing in public. When we call it antisemitism, we’re told we’re overreacting. That our fear is political. That our pain is inconvenient. We’ve been gaslit for 18 months. Enough.”
He also called out progressives directly, saying “antisemitism isn’t any less dangerous when it comes wrapped in ‘progressive’ language.”
In response to the attack, some of the most prominent far-left critics of Israel on Capitol Hill have offered what many in the Jewish community have seen as half-hearted and inadequate responses.
“My heart breaks for the loved ones of the victims of last night’s attack in D.C. Nobody deserves such terrible violence. Everyone in our communities deserves to live in safety and in peace,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said, linking to an article highlighting that the victims, Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, were Israeli Embassy workers, but not noting their backgrounds or the circumstances of the shooting in her own post.
Omar noted that the shooting took place at the Capital Jewish Museum but did not acknowledge the victims’ backgrounds and condemned violence broadly.
“I am appalled by the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum last night. Holding the victims, their families, and loved ones in my thoughts and prayers,” Omar said. “Violence should have no place in our country.”
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
DEEP DIVE: “How To Lose $1 Billion: Yeshiva University Blows Its Future on Loser Hedge Funds” by Steven I. Weiss in TakePart: “What they couldn’t have known… a decade ago was that the real danger in Yeshiva’s new leadership was not to the school’s spiritual welfare but to its very existence. Over the years to come, the new leadership at Yeshiva would ramp up risk in the school’s investment portfolio, vastly increase spending, and do little to insure against a rainy day. When rainy days did arrive, with the global financial meltdown of 2008, Yeshiva was heavily exposed. Today, its finances are overwhelmed by a sea of red ink. According to a recent announcement by credit ratings agency Moody’s, the school will run out of cash next year. (more…)
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
DAY 5: Netanyahu: It’s Going To Take Time: “We are here in the midst of a complex operation. We need to be prepared for the possibility that it may take time. This is a serious event and there will be serious consequences. We are working together in a considered, responsible and very determined manner.” Netanyahu urged the international community to decry the kidnapping: “I expect all responsible elements in the international community – some of whom rush to condemn us for any construction in this place or for enclosing a balcony in Gilo – to strongly condemn this reprehensible and deplorable act of abducting three youths.” After 5 days and without mentioning Hamas, the EU finally released a statement: “We condemn in the strongest terms the abduction of 3 Israeli students in the West Bank and call for their immediate release.” [Statement] (more…)
By Jacob Kornbluh & JI Staff
SHOCKED! – The One Word To Describe How Everyone Felt Last Night When They Heard That House Majority Leader & Sole Jewish GOP Congressman, Eric Cantor, Lost His Primary Election – The First House Majority Leader to Lose Renomination Since The Office Was Created in 1899. Tea Party Challenger Dave Brat, an economics professor for the past 18 years at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Va., defeated Cantor 55.5% to 44.5%.
Several Prominent ‘Jewish Insiders’ Sent Us Their Reactions… (more…)
Four Jewish #Senate committee chairs–Levin, Feinstein, Boxer, Wyden–write against @SenatorMenendez #Iran bill http://t.co/Yu20EeMal6
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 20, 2013
. @lrozen You are burying the lead: Nearly 25 percent of Senate Dems, incl perhaps the Leader, are willing to publicly buck POTUS.
— William Daroff (@Daroff) December 20, 2013
. @lrozen The leader of their party. That’s expected. This is a big deal – even if it runs counter to the narrative you’d prefer.
— William Daroff (@Daroff) December 20, 2013
No, but that it’s not irrelevant to the domestic politics of it. Deep misgivings about Iran bill with pro Israel Dems @eottolenghi
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 20, 2013
This bill is not a juggernaut, significant opposition and significant who is opposing. Resistance not futile @eottolenghi
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 20, 2013
Same as your point. You can be sure that Senate offices paying attention to four Jewish Senators against the Menendez bill @Daroff
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 20, 2013
Otherwise, why would Jewish Federation bother to put out a statement in favor of the bill, if they thought doesn’t matter? @Daroff
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 20, 2013
But you are putting out position on a bill that is before lawmakers. So how is it not relevant that 4 Jewish Senators oppose bill? @Daroff
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 20, 2013
@lrozen Because it implies interests that are different than their non-Jewish peers.
— William Daroff (@Daroff) December 20, 2013
@lrozen We speak for the Jews. The Senators speak for their constituents. Again, their religion is immaterial to their view of US nat sec.
— William Daroff (@Daroff) December 20, 2013
. @PeterBeinart My point, Peter, is the danger of ascribing different motivations to Jewish Senators than to their non-J peers @lrozen
— William Daroff (@Daroff) December 20, 2013
Tweeps: My point was that Jewish Senators represent their constituents, whereas JFNA, among others, represents the Jewish community.
— William Daroff (@Daroff) December 20, 2013
Tweeps @lrozen is a friend. She is a good person, I didn't intend to imply otherwise; I merely disagree w/a syllogism she used. I'm sorry.
— William Daroff (@Daroff) December 20, 2013
Top Talker: American Jewish Family Accuses Israel of Caving In To China; Urges U.S. Court to Reject Israeli Attempt to Silence Witness: “An American family that is suing the Bank of China in a U.S. terrorism case accused Israel on Tuesday of caving in to Chinese pressure by blocking a key witness from testifying. The lawsuit revolves around allegations that Bank of China knowingly allowed Palestinian militants to use its accounts to finance their operations, including the suicide attack that killed 16-year-old Daniel Wultz, and 10 others. Bank of China denies the allegations. (more…)
West and Iran May Be Near Nuclear Deal: “After years of fruitless negotiations, Western and Iranian diplomats are on the verge of an agreement that would freeze Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of some economic sanctions.” [Bloomberg]
Netanyahu: Geneva offer to Iran is a ‘historic mistake’: Addressing Israeli and Diaspora leaders in Jerusalem as a new round of talks on Iran’s rogue nuclear program got under way in Geneva, Netanyahu said, the proposals “on the table in Geneva” would “ease the pressure on Iran in return for ‘concessions’ that aren’t concessions at all.” He said Israel completely oppose these proposals, which would leave Iran with a capacity to build nuclear weapons. “I believe that adopting [these proposals] would be a mistake of historic proportions. They must be rejected outright,” he added.” [TOI] (more…)