| | Good Thursday morning. In today’s Daily Kickoff , we interview Long Island congressional candidate John Avlon, and report on Queen Rania of Jordan’s downplaying of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks during a speech this week in Qatar. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff : Rep. Tom Suozzi, Richard Lewis and Jeff Zients. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced on Tuesday that he’ll step down from his leadership role at the end of the year, ushering in a generational change in Senate Republican leadership after his 17-year tenure as the top GOP Senate leader. McConnell, 82, has long been a strong ally of the Jewish and pro-Israel community. McConnell’s announcement, which comes amid growing odds Republicans will retake the Senate in November, follows increasing debate in the Republican Conference over the Kentucky senator’s leadership style and priorities, his support for Ukraine, his nonexistent relationship with former President Donald Trump and growing health concerns. In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell mentioned his pride in pushing the emergency foreign aid package through the Senate last month, and alluded to the growing isolationism within his party, a trend he’s sought to combat. “I’m un-conflicted about the good within our country, and the irreplaceable role we play as the leader of the free world… Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time,” McConnell said. “I believe more strongly than ever that America’s global leadership is essential to preserving the shining city on the hill that Ronald Reagan discussed. For as long as I am drawing breath on this earth I will defend American exceptionalism.” McConnell’s resignation puts him in a position to sidestep some potential conflict with Trump, whom McConnell has thus far not endorsed, and is a further reflection of Trump's dominance over the GOP. McConnell’s release of his grip on the Senate GOP could also give more space for the growing isolationist wing of the party to exercise its influence in the Senate. The three most likely contenders to succeed McConnell are Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), former Senate GOP Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the Republican Conference chairman. All hail from the traditional wing of the Republican Party, though Barrasso has more support among Senate GOP hardliners. But with Trump as the expected GOP presidential nominee, it’s very possible an outsider with stronger MAGA credentials could emerge as an alternative. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) ran unsuccessfully against McConnell in 2023, and could reemerge as a candidate. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), who is currently leading Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, has been floated as another possibility, and one senator said as many as 10 candidates could ultimately make a bid for the top job. And in Israel, in what could potentially be the first serious threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyuahu’s government, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for an end to draft exemptions for the country’s Haredi population, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. After the army proposed lengthening mandatory IDF service and reserve duty, sparking an uproar over the negligible number of Haredim who serve in the army, Gallant said the Defense Ministry would only support legislation on the matter if there is a consensus within the coalition – something that is highly unlikely to happen. Gallant has the support of a number of Likud lawmakers and war cabinet member Benny Gantz and his party. While some of Netanyahu’s far-right and Haredi partners have talked about the need for more young Haredi men to enlist, they generally oppose broad, coercive measures, and some are against any change to the status quo. If the Knesset does not approve a plan to gradually conscript Haredim in the coming months, the IDF may have to send call-up letters to all Haredi 18-year-olds, in keeping with a Supreme Court ruling – something that Haredi parties are unlikely to tolerate, and could trigger their exit from the coalition. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir faced a blow yesterday when the country’s war cabinet voted to wrest from him decision-making powers over authority on the Temple Mount during Ramadan next month, after he sought to severely curb the number of Muslim worshippers permitted to visit the holy site. Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | career change John Avlon pivots from punditry to politics  JASON MENDEZ/GETTY IMAGES John Avlon, a former longtime editor and CNN commentator, has recently found himself in an unfamiliar role as he sits for interviews to discuss his new campaign to flip a Republican-held swing seat on Long Island. The moderate Democrat, who jumped into the primary in New York’s 1st Congressional District last week, has long been involved in politics, albeit mostly behind the scenes. Early in his career, he served as a speechwriter for then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and more recently helped to launch the centrist group No Labels, with which he is no longer affiliated. But even as Avlon acknowledges that there is “a natural tension between journalism and politics,” the first-time candidate told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel in an interview this week that he has “always believed they should be complementary,” citing Teddy Roosevelt’s work as a columnist for The Outlook magazine after he served as president.
LaLota challenge: In his quest to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY), a vulnerable freshman Republican in Suffolk County whose district covers a large swath of eastern Long Island, Avlon claims the incumbent is “too far” and “too right,” while accusing him of embracing former President Donald Trump and rejecting bipartisan legislation “because he's not interested in solving problems. The core of my message is that we need to build the broadest possible coalition to defeat Donald Trump, defend our democracy and win back the House from his MAGA minions,” said Avlon, who has long been an outspoken critic of Trump.
Finding the fix: Avlon, a self-described policy “wonk,” was eager to delve into what he described as “common-sense” Democratic proposals, such as restoring state and local tax deductions, expanding child tax credits and mitigating climate change, among other things. “My rule when I was a columnist,” said Avlon, who helped revive The Daily Beast before joining CNN in 2018 as an anchor and political analyst, “was I didn't want to criticize unless I had a solution.”
‘No room for neutrality’: In conversations with voters, Avlon said he has learned that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is a “top area of concern,” an issue he approaches with characteristic pragmatism. “We need to focus on the underlying principles so that we can depolarize this issue while being true to our values and any sense of perspective,” he said. “I'm strongly pro-Israel for a lot of reasons having to do with democracy, the fact that they’re one of America's closest allies in the world, and there's an enormous number of connections between our two countries and particularly our communities here in New York and on eastern Long Island,” Avlon said. But having lived through Sept. 11 “up close,” he clarified, “when you see a community and a country as viciously attacked by such a horrific and barbaric act of terrorism as Oct. 7 was, there's no room for neutrality.”
Read the full interview here. scoop Israel, Indonesia were on track to normalize ties before Oct. 7: sources  Israel and Indonesia had planned to announce the establishment of diplomatic relations in October 2023, a move that was delayed by the Hamas terror attack on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza, three sources involved in the negotiations told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov. Israel’s then-Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and departing Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s office approved a final draft of an agreement for the Jewish state and the country with the world’s largest Muslim population to exchange trade offices, as a first step towards full diplomatic relations, sources involved in the talks said.
Planning: October 2023 was a likely date for the official announcement, in conjunction with a planned meeting of the Negev Forum in the middle of the month, though November, when Widodo visited the White House, was also under consideration. Jakarta also tracked progress towards Israel-Saudi normalization, thinking that there would be less blowback if both happened within a short period, one source said. Indonesia planned to open a trade office in Ramallah at the same time.
Players involved: Andi Widjajanto, a senior adviser to Widodo, and Ronen Levy, then the director-general of the Foreign Ministry and one of the key Israeli players in the Abraham Accords, met in Jerusalem in September, along with Dan Shapiro, who at the time was the State Department’s senior advisor for regional integration, to finalize the text, as seen in a photo provided by one of the sources involved in the talks. New York-based businessman Joey Allaham played a key role in the negotiations, as well. Though Shapiro was present and a small number of American officials were in the loop about the negotiations, Jakarta did not make any specific requests of Washington.
Read the full story here. JORDANIAN RHAPSODY Jordan's queen downplays role of Oct. 7 as cause of the war in Gaza  Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images In remarks at the Web Summit Qatar in Doha, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan downplayed the role of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel as the cause of the current war in Gaza, arguing that this reflects an “incomplete narrative” of the longer-term Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Long story: “The fact is, when one side of a conflict has been robbed of the right to tell its story, we’re left with an incomplete narrative,” Abdullah said in her speech. “The current iteration opens like this: ‘The war began on Oct. 7.’ To be sure, the brutal Oct. 7 attack opened a new and devastating chapter in the saga. But the larger story has been unfolding for more than most of our lives — 75 years in which Palestinians have not known a single day of genuine peace.”
Palestinian situation: She alleged that Palestinians have, over decades and in the current war, been systematically dehumanized and ignored, “relegated to a footnote in the narrative authored by someone else” and “cast as terrorists and security threats, nothing more.” She said that “Acts of war are not always as clear-cut as an airstrike, an ambush or an abduction,” describing the blockade of Gaza, checkpoints, separation walls, settler violence, detentions without criminal charges and “the endless indignities of life under occupation” as all forms of “violence.”
New lows: In Israel’s operations in Gaza “the bar for humanity keeps falling to new lows — actions that were once unthinkable are now commonplace,” the queen argued. “Just look at global benchmarks of human rights, international law, universal values of equality and justice. Some of our most basic principles are being rewritten in real time to rationalize an irrational level of violence.”
Read the full story here. horseshoe theory New ADL poll: Antisemitism closely tied to receptivity to conspiracy theories  MICHAEL BROCHSTEIN/SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES The two leading predictors of antisemitic belief are conspiratorial thinking and the notion that some groups in society should be more dominant than others, according to a poll by the Anti-Defamation League released on Thursday that looked at how antisemitism has changed in scope, nature and implications in the wake of unprecedented levels rising in the U.S. since Oct. 7, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider. The poll also found that maintaining a belief system that divides the world into “oppressors” and “oppressed” strongly correlates with antisemitism.
Generation gap: The survey, which polled 4,143 U.S. adults from Jan. 5-18, found that younger generations endorse more anti-Jewish views. Asked the extent to which Americans agreed with 11 different statements about antisemitic tropes used to measure anti-Jewish attitudes since 1964, as well as statements about Israel, millennial respondents agreed with the greatest number of anti-Jewish tropes on average, at 5.37. Gen Z followed closely behind at 5.01, while Gen X averaged 4.19 and Baby Boomers 3.06.
Conspiracy theorists: According to the data, respondents who fall in the upper quartile of conspiracy theory belief endorsed over twice as many anti-Jewish tropes, on average, as those least predisposed to conspiracy theories. Accepting anti-Jewish rhetoric was also found to correlate significantly with “social dominance orientation,” a worldview typically associated with the far-right, which believes there are superior groups who ought to dominate lower-status groups.
Read the full story here. proxy war U.S. should treat Iranian proxy attacks as attacks by Iran itself, former U.S. envoy argues  LEIGH VOGEL/GETTY IMAGES FOR CONCORDIA SUMMIT Brian Hook, the Trump administration’s Iran envoy, argued on Wednesday that the U.S. should respond to any attacks from Iran’s proxies in the region as if they come from Iran itself, arguing that Iran needs to more directly experience the consequences of the activities that it has supported, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Quotable: “This imbalance is untenable,” Hook said. “The Biden administration should announce that they make no distinction between Iran and its proxies, and anything that a proxy does, we will attribute agency to the Iranian regime, and they will be held accountable as if it were a direct attack.”
Iran’s oil: During the hearing, focused on Iran and its proxies, senators on both sides of the aisle indicated that they support strengthening sanctions on Iran, particularly to target the oil trade from Iran to China. “We’re in total agreement that Iran's intentions are against our national security interests, that we need to enforce our sanctions, particularly in the energy sector, and the importance of U.S. leadership,” Committee Chair Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) said.
Normalization: Cardin and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) both argued that the best path to undermining Iran’s influence and the power of its proxies would be further expanding the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia. “If we can find a path towards Israeli-Saudi reconciliation, recognition, that’s the most important strategic advance, of building on the Abraham Accords, that we could make,” Coons, a close ally of President Joe Biden, said. “But the Saudi Crown Prince is very clear that there has to be an end to fighting in Gaza and there has to be a path towards Palestinian self-determination.”
Read the full story here.
Elsewhere in Washington: Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Randy Weber (R-TX) and Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) are set to introduce legislation mandating that the U.S. use the term “Judea and Samaria” in place of “the West Bank” in all U.S. government communications and documents, and retroactively revising past legislation to reflect such a change. “The Israeli people have an undeniable and indisputable historical and legal claim over Judea and Samaria, and at this critical moment in history, the United States must reaffirm this," Tenney said in a statement, framing the move as a repudiation of the administration’s revocation of the Pompeo Doctrine. “This bill reaffirms Israel's rightful claim to its territory. I remain committed to defending the integrity of the Jewish state and fully supporting Israel's sovereignty over Judea and Samaria." on the hill House progressives push to preserve aid for UNRWA in 2024 government funding bill  DAWOUD ABO ALKAS/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES Congressional progressives are urging key congressional leaders to provide funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as part of the upcoming 2024 government funding process, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Letter writing: Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), André Carson (D-IN) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) led 47 colleagues on a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees — which are currently working to hammer out the details of 2024 government funding — calling on them to provide full funding for UNRWA in the upcoming bill.
Quotable: “Proposals by Congress to prohibit or reduce UNRWA funding will significantly erode the United States' ability to provide life-saving assistance and minimal social structure to Gaza's 2.2 million people,” the letter reads. “It is in the strategic interest of both the U.S. and all of its allies to continue funding UNRWA in order to stabilize the crisis-ridden region and tend to the humanitarian catastrophe that no other organization or agency will be able to effectively address.”
Funding update: House and Senate leaders announced agreements on a tranche of government funding bills on Wednesday, but said they’ll seek to delay the deadline to finish other bills, including the State and Foreign Operations, Defense and Homeland Security bills until March 22. That also means that the House will likely not resume work on the emergency aid bill for Israel until late March or early April.
Read the full story here. | Lighting a Fire: The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood argues against the celebration of self-immolation, following the suicide of a U.S. service member outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington. “The livestreamer in D.C. said he wished to end his complicity in the Gaza war. That war began when Hamas terrorists burned Israelis alive, and the livestreamer showed no appreciation of the irony that it would end, for him, with his own voluntary experience of the same fate. His willingness to suffer this way certainly demonstrated his ‘determination and sincerity,’ to use Nhat Hanh’s phrase. It also showed his numbness to the suffering of others: His cinders should inspire action, but the much larger piles of cinders of whole families in the Kfar Aza kibbutz somehow should not. In any case, does anyone think determination and sincerity are the missing ingredients in the current war? In this conflict, these qualities are cheap, and everyone knows it. I wonder if I am the only one left who would be more moved and persuaded by an absence of fanaticism.” [TheAtlantic]
The Neo-Nazi Hunter: In The Free Press, David Volodzko interviews Army veteran Kristofer Goldsmith, the founder of a group of military veterans that works to identify neo-Nazi networks. “Since its official founding in 2022, Task Force Butler has evolved from a one-man operation into a fully staffed movement, with a dozen or so volunteers who work remotely across the country. Most have day jobs in fields like mental health, real estate, tech, and finance. The majority are former military with experience in enemy surveillance. ‘The average member is a combat guy who ran around Afghanistan with a machine gun,’ Goldsmith tells me. Goldsmith’s typical day involves sitting in front of an extra-wide gaming screen, laptop, and phone, and infiltrating Nazi groups online. He monitors their private group chats, collects information from social media posts and public records, and studies videos to pick out members based on small details.” [FreePress]
In Isolation: In her Substack “Cosmopolitics,” Elise Labott considers the broader implications of Washington’s struggles to lead on key global issues. “The memories of America's past abandonments — be it the ‘red line’ in Syria, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, or now the wavering support for Ukraine — are cumulative. Each instance chips away at the trust and confidence the world has in the United States. For U.S. allies, the writing is on the wall. French President Macron is talking about possibly sending troops to Ukraine, and the Europeans are beefing up their defenses, not because they love spending on military hardware, but because America is wavering at a time when unity and resolve are paramount. Let's not forget the audience watching this drama unfold: China, Iran, and Russia, ready to exploit any perceived weakness. Fair-weather friends like Hungary’s Viktor Orban are already deepening diplomatic and economic ties with China and Iran — following the lead of America’s Gulf allies, who have been hedging their bets against the United States for years. We are handing our adversaries an opening wrapped in a bow of indecision.” [Cosmopolitics]
Misjudging Oct. 7: In Foreign Policy, Steven Simon and Aaron David Miller challenge the view of Oct. 7 as a “profoundly transformational event” in Middle East history. “It is true that crisis can scramble the playing field, often with horrific consequences — but sometimes with positive outcomes. Almost every breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli arena was preceded by intense violence. The 1973 war led to Egyptian-Israeli peace; Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait produced the Madrid peace conference; and the First Intifada resulted in the Oslo Accords. But we may not be as fortunate this time around. Two deeply traumatized communities will emerge from this crisis, and at the moment both are lacking the kinds of leaders essential to transformational change. It’s worth asking whether the region’s legendary resistance to change and the absence of leaders willing to take real risks, including those in Washington, will yield a new status quo that’s much like the one so many hoped to leave behind. Much remains to be sorted. But several looming factors suggest that the new, post-crisis Middle East may look strikingly like the old one.” [FP]
Call for Calm: In The Liberal Patriot, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Mark Dubowitz and Jonathan Schanzer call for a cease-fire during Ramadan and the release of the hostages to calm tensions during the holiday. “In the end, the real key to preventing a Ramadan explosion this year likely lies in a hostage deal between Hamas and Israel. Obviously, the Israelis are eager to make a deal that would see the release of more than 100 hostages held by Hamas for more than four months — and they are pushing hard for a deal before Ramadan begins. ... Should a deal be reached in the next few days and weeks, it could lower the temperature across the region. If the last ceasefire was any indication, it could lead to a cessation or reduction of violence on the northern border with Lebanon, and perhaps mitigate security crises in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The United States could tout such a deal as providing respite to the Palestinian population in Gaza. Such a message might resonate across the Arab world during Ramadan, and ultimately make it easier for the Saudis to reengage on normalization talks with Israel.” [LiberalPatriot] | Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | Dropping In: The U.S. is considering airdrops of aid into Gaza to circumvent the challenges posed by delivering the aid by land.
Going Deeper: Reuters looks at the lead-up to the Biden administration’s decision to publicly call Israeli settlements “inconsistent” with international law.
Warning Signs: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) pressed the Department of Defense on whether it had identified any warning signs regarding Aaron Bushnell prior to his death by suicide outside the Israeli Embassy last weekend, and whether there are service members who have indicated support for terrorist groups.
Humanitarian Aid Push: Sens. Peter Welch (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) wrote to Israeli Ambassador Mike Herzog urging expanded humanitarian aid access into Gaza, as well as well as a plan to restore water, electricity and communications infrastructure.
Suozzi in the House: Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) was sworn in last night, two weeks after winning a special election to replace Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
Zients' Scorecard: Axios looks at White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients’ first year on the job.
Beefing Up Security: The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent highlights Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s efforts to increase funding for the state’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
Musk to Testify: X owner Elon Musk was ordered to testify in a defamation lawsuit after being accused of amplifying a post incorrectly identifying a Jewish man as a participant in a neo-Nazi fight.
Nonprofit Probe: The U.S. Agency for International Development’s inspector general has launched an investigation into U.S. government funding for a nonprofit group that allegedly has ties to terrorists.
Casualty of War: The New York Times’ Tom Friedman suggests that Israel is squandering any remaining global goodwill and needs to move forward with a two-state solution.
Love and War: In the Boston Globe, a Jewish student at Harvard reflects on her relationship with her Muslim boyfriend in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
Campus Beat: University of California, Santa Barbara temporarily suspended the school’s MultiCultural Center after threatening posters targeting the student body’s president, who is Jewish, were found in the building.
Journalists’ Plea: More than 50 broadcast journalists in the U.K. signed on to a letter calling for more open access to Gaza, entrance to which is tightly controlled by Israel due to security concerns.
H.S. Walkout: Dozens of students at El Camino Real Charter High School in Southern California staged a walkout over antisemitism at their school.
Rap-aport-ing the Stars: In an appearance on Israeli’s satire show “Eretz Nehederet,” actor Michael Rapaport called out Hollywood bigwigs for ignoring the plight of the hostages held in Gaza.
Mehdi’s Move: Former MSNBC commentator Mehdi Hasan is launching a new Substack.
Remembering: Ruth Fein, a former president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, died at 96. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Richard Lewis died at 76. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor Edward B. Roberts died at 88. |  x New York City Mayor Eric Adams hosted Jewish community leaders at City Hall yesterday. |  Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Gobbi Fine Art LLC French fashion photographer featured on the reality television series “America's Next Top Model,” Gilles Bensimon turns 80...
Executive director of AIPAC from 1980 through 1993, Thomas A. Dine turns 84... Polish-born economist and professor at New York University, Roman Frydman turns 76... Professor of business at Columbia Business School, she is a former board chair at Jewish Theological Seminary, Abby Joseph Cohen turns 72... Former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Paul D. Rosenthal turns 64... Co-founder of Biebelberg & Martin in Millburn, N.J., he is the immediate past chair of the Golda Och Academy in West Orange, Keith N. Biebelberg... Professor of Bible at Bar-Ilan University, Joshua Berman turns 60... Denver-based attorney at Recht Kornfeld, Richard K. Kornfeld... Born in Kyiv, former U.S. Supreme Court law clerk and now a UCLA law professor known for his eponymous prominent legal blog "The Volokh Conspiracy," Eugene Volokh turns 56... Israeli mountain climber, search and rescue professional, photographer and speaker, best known for his heroic rescue of an unconscious Turk he found near the summit of Mount Everest in 2012, Nadav Ben Yehuda turns 36... Political operations project manager at AIPAC, Samantha Friedman Fallon... | | | | | |
