Daily Kickoff
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2026
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we have the scoop on social media posts by Rep.-elect Brad Lander’s new communications director in which the self-identified communist opines on “wealthy, powerful, well-connected Jews,” look at what Sen. Rand Paul’s expected position as ranking member of the Senate’s powerful Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee means for the committee’s efforts to address campus antisemitism and spotlight a new GOP candidate recruiting group being led by the former Heritage Foundation staffer behind the think tank’s video in support of Tucker Carlson. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gov. Wes Moore, Rep. Dan Goldman and David Schwimmer.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Tamara Zieve and Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today's Agenda
Majority Democrats is holding its “What’s Next” convening in Denver, with a number of potential 2028 presidential candidates — including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — in attendance.
Dozens of prominent Democrats, including some fresh off their midterm wins, such as Sens.-elect James Talarico (D-TX) and Josh Turek (D-IA) and Rep.-elect Sam Forstag (D-MT), are also expected to be in attendance. Despite the confab’s center-left orientation, some prominent progressives, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and political strategist Morris Katz, are also slated to attend.
Jewish National Fund-USA’s Global Conference for Israel kicks off today in San Diego. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and World Zionist Organization President Rabbi Doron Perez are slated to speak today alongside Sinai Temple’s Rabbi Erez Sherman and Young Israel of North Beverly Hills’ Rabbi Pini Dunner in what is being billed as a “bold” conversation on Israel.
One Thing to Know
By Marc Rod
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a strident critic of the U.S.-Israel relationship, is mulling a bid to challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for the role of majority leader in the next Congress — a move that, at this point, seems unlikely to succeed.
Van Hollen told reporters on Tuesday he is “actively listening to people” about a potential majority leader bid. “We should not have a coronation,” he said. “We should not support anybody for leader without a very clear plan. As you know, there are many people who think change is required.”
Though Israel doesn’t seem to be the primary motivating factor for Van Hollen’s potential bid for majority leader, it is a major dividing line between Schumer and the senior senator from Maryland, as well as some other Democrats opposing Schumer. It is also one of the factors driving left-wing frustration with Democrats’ current Senate leader.
A Van Hollen win would likely lead to a spate of anti-Israel legislation on the Senate floor.
The Big Reads
SCOOP
Brad Lander’s ‘self-identified communist’ comms director: Wealthy Jews acting as vulnerable minority ‘make me sick’
Rep.-elect Brad Lander’s (D-NY) new communications director is a “publicly self-identified communist,” who has denied Israel’s right to exist and equated the slogan “Am Yisrael Chai” — a Hebrew phrase meaning “the people of Israel live” — with “globalize the intifada,” and called for the abolition of all national borders, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. News that Jesse Myerson would become the incoming congressman’s messaging chief was first reported on Tuesday in Politico New York’s morning newsletter. The outlet highlighted Myerson’s past work for politicians involved in the Democratic Socialists of America, though not his short stint at the failed DSA-tied advocacy group Our Time or his 18-month tenure at the far-left Jewish activist group IfNotNow.
SECOND ACT
Ex-Heritage aide behind Tucker Carlson video to lead new GOP recruiting group
A new organization aimed at replacing some of the Republican Party’s older, more moderate lawmakers in the House with a slate of young conservative populists launched this week, with one of the faces of a right-wing controversy at the helm, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report. The group, American Ascent, is being run by Ryan Neuhaus, the former chief of staff at the Heritage Foundation who wrote the script for a now-infamous video in which Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts defended Tucker Carlson and called those criticizing Carlson for platforming neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes a “venomous coalition.”
Difference of opinion: Republican senators reacted skeptically to Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that the GOP’s midterm losses were a sign of voters’ desire for the party to end the war in Iran and rethink its relationship with Israel.
COMMITTEE CHANGEOVER
In blow to efforts to fight antisemitism, Rand Paul set to join Bernie Sanders atop Senate education panel
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the leading libertarian voice in the upper chamber, announced on Wednesday that he will take over as the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in the next Congress, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report. Paul’s expected role as the ranking member on the HELP Committee, alongside the incoming chair, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), indicates that addressing campus antisemitism — a priority for outgoing chair Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) —is not likely to be a top agenda item for the committee in the next two years.
The Rundown
The rest of today’s original stories from Jewish Insider — full stories, all published on the site.
TRANSITION TENSIONS
Eisenkot warns Netanyahu against launching war during coalition talks
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Report: Vance considering direct talks with top Iranian security official
COURTROOM CLASH
Brandeis Center sues to compel release of Department of Education foreign funding report
CAMPUS COVER
Former Trump official Josh Gruenbaum says elite college presidents privately welcomed admin pressure
PAGE TO SCREEN
Gal Gadot to bring Golodryga and Levi’s ‘Don’t Feed the Lion’ to the big screen
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Speaking at a Veterans Day event at Arlington National Cemetery, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. has already won the war against Iran, but “we want to make sure we have a total victory, not a 93% victory”...
Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Wednesday that Iran will not allow any nuclear enriched material to leave the country, rebuffing an offer from Russia to remove the uranium as part of a potential deal to ease U.S. concerns…
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed met today with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during U.S.-led talks between Russia and Ukraine in the UAE…
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) conceded to Democrat Scott Colom, expanding Democrats’ majority in the upper chamber and making Colom the first Democratic senator elected from Mississippi since 1982…
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL) convened the first congressional forum between committee members and ambassadors from Abraham Accords countries, with discussions focused on efforts to strengthen regional cooperation…
Outgoing Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) announced that Rep.-elect Micah Lasher (D-NY) would succeed him as chair of the unofficial House Bagel Caucus, which Goldman began shortly after entering office…
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, announced the upcoming release of his book, Repair: Healing a Divided Nation, slated for March 9, as he mulls a 2028 presidential bid…
An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza overnight targeted a Hamas brigade commander and additional terrorists, according to the IDF and Shin Bet, which said the brigade had turned the Nasser Hospital compound into a headquarters and said it issued a warning prior to the strike; Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defense agency said a doctor was among six who were reported killed…
A new Quince commercial starring actor David Schwimmer, which plays on a “Friends” plot line, has sparked online backlash, with social media users decrying the company’s work with Schwimmer over his alleged support for Israel; Schwimmer, who is Jewish, has been vocal in his advocacy against antisemitism and condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks against Israel…
Vine Ventures raised $236 million for its third fund, which focuses on investment in Israel and AI-driven defense companies that span the U.S.-Israel tech corridor…
Chabad-Lubavitch announced plans to open a center in Tirana, Albania, the first permanent Chabad center in the country that served as a haven for Jews during the Holocaust…
Australian podcaster Erin Molan said she was targeted by Iranian hackers, following similar espionage incidents involving Australian journalist Sharri Markson and former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger…
Judge Richard Posner, longtime justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and one of the most-cited legal scholars in U.S. history, died at 87…
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Jake’s Take: The Atlantic’s Russell Berman spotlights Majority Democrats chair Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) as he reflects on the party’s midterm gains and potential trajectories. “But when I asked Auchincloss about the voters’ apparent desire for candidates who didn’t look like they were born in a suit and hadn’t spent years preparing to run for office, he became as animated as I’d ever seen him. ‘I find that to be so condescending to the working class,’ Auchincloss replied. … ‘Bigotry right now in the Democratic Party is not with the working class,’ he continued. ‘It is in faculty lounges in my alma mater after October 7, for example.’” [TheAtlantic]
Iran Endgame: In The Wall Street Journal, former CIA Director David Petraeus, who previously headed CENTCOM, lays out suggested conditions for the U.S. to set in any negotiated deal with Iran. “Tehran’s clock measures how long the regime can withstand lost oil revenue, restricted commerce, damaged infrastructure and continued military pressure. Washington’s clock measures how long the American public will tolerate high energy prices, commercial disruption, military risk and a seemingly open-ended confrontation.” [WSJ]
Definition Debate: In The New York Times, Amherst College professor Ilan Stavans reflects on the Royal Spanish Academy’s refusal to change its current definition of the Spanish word for Jew that uses the descriptor, “a miserly or usurious” individual. “Language is a barometer through which one is able to assess a society’s opinions and beliefs. The word 'judío' is far from the only one in the Academy’s dictionary that casts Jews in a negative light. … Dictionaries are living entities. They have always included misconceptions, since they reflect the society they define. They also have the capacity to redefine, and push us to recognize our own prejudices.” [NYTimes]
Picture of the Day
Arab-Israeli vlogger Nuseir “Nas” Yassin (left) spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a fireside chat on Wednesday at the Nas Summit Jerusalem conference. Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Birthdays
Kelly Kruger, actor best known for her roles on “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” turns 44
JC OLIVERA/VARIETY VIA GETTY IMAGES
Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, co-founder and dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, turns 102
Carol Gluck, professor emerita of history at Columbia University and expert on Japan, turns 85
Morley Winograd, author and chairman of the board of directors of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, turns 84
Steven Scheiner, accountant and former PwC partner in Phoenix
Stephen M. Saland, former New York state senator, he is a descendant of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the former Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Jerusalem, turns 83
Al Michaels, sportscaster for “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video, after more than 50 years at NBC and ABC, turns 82
Jack Reed, U.S. senator (D-RI), turns 77
Bernard Wachsman, attorney in Brooklyn
Linda Rosenthal, member of the New York State Assembly since 2006, her district includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, turns 69
Neal Shusterman, author of young-adult fiction and winner of the 2015 National Book Award for Challenger Deep, turns 64
Naomi Wolf, author, journalist and former political advisor to Al Gore and Bill Clinton, turns 64
Michael Kremer, Nobel laureate and chief economist of the World Bank Group, turns 62
Elizabeth Beckman “Libby” Schaaf, former mayor of Oakland, Calif., now president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, turns 61
Rabbi Róbert Frölich, rabbi of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, turns 61
Sanford E. “Sandy” Perl, partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, turns 61
Jeffrey Zients, White House chief of staff for the last two years of the Biden administration, turns 60
Joanne “Jo” Coburn, British journalist with Times Radio, turns 59
Rabbi Elimelech Biderman, Hasidic lecturer with thousands of students, known as Reb Meilech, turns 59
Thad Levine, former EVP of MLB’s Minnesota Twins, now special advisor to baseball operations for the Milwaukee Brewers, turns 55
Robert Ilatov, member of the Knesset until 2019 for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, turns 55
Devra First, restaurant critic and food writer for The Boston Globe, turns 54
Nina Brosh, Israeli fashion model and actor, turns 51
Rabbi Eliyahu Hasid, former member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, turns 50
Aviva Zucker Snyder, campus support director at Hillel International
Dave Weinberg, founder of Gently Ventures
Matthew Berkman, assistant professor of Jewish studies at Oberlin College, turns 42
Spencer Lucker, special advisor for the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity
Mikhail Varshavski, New Jersey-based primary care physician known as Doctor Mike, he is an internet celebrity on YouTube and Instagram, turns 37
Adela Cojab, legal fellow at the National Jewish Advocacy Center, turns 30
C.J. Stubbs, free agent in the MLB, turns 30
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