| | Good Wednesday morning. In today’s Daily Kickoff , we examine the key takeaways from the NY-03 special election results, and report on the reaction of major Jewish groups to the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff : Mike Pompeo, Johnny Olszewski Jr. and Amy Schumer. Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, comfortably won a closely watched New York special election on Tuesday night, narrowing the GOP’s thin majority in Congress and giving Democrats a needed morale boost heading into the 2024 elections, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes. Suozzi defeated Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip, a Nassau County legislator and an Ethiopian Israel Defense Forces veteran who ran a conventionally conservative campaign despite her unique background. Despite both parties pouring millions into the race, Suozzi won by an eight-point margin, 54-46%; the race was called not long after polls closed. In a Long Island district that’s been trending Republican, Suozzi showcased the effectiveness of a centrist campaign, touting a tough stance on border security (despite facing ample attacks on the issue from Republicans) and promoting his strong support for Israel while criticizing the far-left, anti-Israel Squad members within his party. Pilip wasn’t helped by the House GOP’s dysfunction over the last week — in a moderate-minded suburban district where compromise and pragmatism are politically popular. House Republican leaders’ decision to oppose a military funding bill for Ukraine and Israel that comfortably passed the Senate — a position Pilip shared — probably didn’t aid her prospects in a New York City-area district where isolationism doesn’t sell particularly well. Suozzi also benefited from being a familiar face as a former congressman in the district with high name identification. Pilip boasted a compelling profile on paper as an outsider with an American dream story, but wasn’t as accessible on the campaign trail and avoided regular interactions with the press. Public polls showed Suozzi winning a notable share of the Republican vote in the district. Democrats should feel good about what Suozzi’s victory says about the 2024 political landscape. Even though Biden carried the district by eight points in 2020, Republicans have dominated Long Island politics ever since. GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin easily won the district in 2022, a win that brought former Rep. George Santos into office. In the last three years, Republicans have swept every major office in Nassau County. All the GOP victories were fueled by state Democrats’ lurch leftward on issues like crime and immigration. Suozzi’s campaign was something of a course correction against those progressive excesses. One major takeaway from the special election: The party that comes across as closer to the mainstream will have an advantage this year. Suozzi’s lengthy record of moderation, and willingness to go after his party’s left-wing activists, helped him make the sale to swing voters. It’s a lesson the Biden White House will be watching after the congressman’s big win. Back in Washington, the House voted, with a one-vote margin, to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — on its second attempt. The historic impeachment, the first of a Cabinet secretary in nearly 150 years, was opposed by several Jewish community groups. William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod that the impeachment effort and ensuing Senate trial are a “distraction” that “does not serve the interest of the country,” given the heightened threat level since Oct. 7. “I also think, since a conviction requires a two-thirds vote, which definitively will not happen, that this exercise is a waste of time. I look forward to Secretary Mayorkas being able to clear this off his desk and to continue to focus on ensuring that the homeland is secure,” Daroff continued. Daroff said Mayorkas has been “an excellent Homeland Security secretary” who has been “very attentive to the needs of the Jewish community,” and whose department has “been out front and proactive in securing us” at a time of greater threat to the community. Daroff echoed other Jewish groups in saying that there are a “plethora of conspiracy theories, many of which have antisemitic origins, antisemitic implications, that are wrapped into the verbiage that’s been a part of this process” and that “antisemitic elements… have been personally directed at the secretary.” “It’s ironic but it actually makes sense that those elements would target Secretary Mayorkas because he has been so vigilant in trying to stem hate,” Daroff said. Asked about House Republicans’ near-unanimous votes for the impeachment effort, Daroff responded that “it’s a political season and, unfortunately, the politics of the moment seem to have the day.” Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | the trump effect Republican hawks turning more isolationist as Trump reasserts influence over party  CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES Tuesday morning’s vote on the Senate floor, which saw more than half of Senate Republicans vote against aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, crystallized the emerging isolationist instinct in Republican politics, which is now drawing in even some of the party’s most committed foreign policy hawks, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Gabby Deutch report.
Origins: It’s a trend that seems primarily driven by former President Donald Trump’s "America First" ideology, which has been embraced by much of the Republican grassroots base — a fact that several lawmakers who opposed the aid bill acknowledged in floor speeches. Trump has long been dismissive of the U.S.’ NATO commitments — and is now urging lawmakers to restructure military funding to U.S. allies in the form of a loan.
Growing pattern: The stunning opposition of hawkish Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — a close ally of Trump — to aid to Ukraine and Israel captured headlines in Washington on Monday, but other once-stalwart pro-Israel, pro-Ukraine Republican senators are following a similar path and voted against the security aid package.
Cotton’s comments: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) accused Democrats of failing to seriously pursue border policy, forcing Republicans’ hands against the bill, and lambasted the relatively small proportion of non-military spending included in the bill as handouts to Hamas terrorists and left-wing environmental and social causes. While voting against the bill, he blamed “Joe Biden’s failures and his weakness” for crises around the globe. “After four months we saw that the Democrats are more ideologically invested in open borders than they are a secure border or for that matter, aiding our friends around the world,” Cotton said on the Senate floor. “If this bill doesn't pass into law, it should be a template for the future and hopefully legislation that might come back to us from the House. However, the bill still includes $19 billion in nondefense spending.”
Israel impacts: Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, told JI that there are fundamentally different considerations at play in supporting aid to Israel versus Ukraine. Israel relies on Washington more than Ukraine does, he argued. “When it comes to military and financial support for Israel, the U.S. is it. We’re it. There is nobody else,” said Greenway. “Even though it’s the subject of much debate, for Ukraine that’s clearly not the case. There is a broader constellation of European partners and allies that are and will continue and should continue to provide more support to Ukraine. That’s not the case for Israel.”
Read the full story here.
Bonus: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens reflects on the implications of the GOP’s isolationist turn. trip talk In Israel's south, Pompeo calls for 'collective efforts' to bring hostages home  Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Israel this week for what he described as “the most poignant and the most heartbreaking” of all his visits to the Jewish state. The trip marked the former diplomat’s first time in the country since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports.
Southern stops: On Monday, the former secretary of state and his wife, Susan, met with the families of hostages still being held in Gaza. On Tuesday, Pompeo visited the southern Israeli community of Kfar Aza, where more than 60 residents were killed on Oct. 7. Five of the 18 kibbutz residents taken hostage remain in captivity in Gaza.
‘Shocking and sadistic’: “What happened on October 7th was so shocking and so sadistic that the trauma is felt constantly, everywhere by everyone,” Pompeo said. “And yet, their resilience is truly inspiring. Every Israeli continues to sacrifice and give so much to help their countrymen and defend their nation. The ongoing tragedy of hostages held in Gaza demands our collective efforts to bring them home.”
Mayoral meetings: Pompeo then traveled to the site of the Nova music festival, near Kibbutz Re’im, where hundreds of concert-goers were killed. From Re’im, Pompeo, accompanied by businessman Yossi Sagol, went to Ofakim, where he met with the southern town’s mayor before meeting with a cohort of Israeli mayors who are members of the Bloomberg Sagol Center for City Leadership, a joint project between Sagol and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to help leaders of local municipalities address issues in their cities and towns.
Read the full story here. on the hill House Democrats mull options on foreign aid bill as Republicans dig in  KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) pledged on Tuesday to use “every available legislative tool” and that “all options are on the table” to move forward the Senate-passed bipartisan Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan aid package. But given Republican leadership’s increasingly clear opposition to that bill, Democrats face long odds of circumventing their objections, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Broad support: “What is clear is that there are more than 300 bipartisan votes in the House of Representatives to pass the national security bill today,” Jeffries asserted at a press conference, flanked by Democratic military and intelligence community veterans. “Republicans are playing politics with this… What they are doing is politicizing aid to Israel, they’re supporting Putin over the freedom fighters in Ukraine.”
The alternative: The minority leader declined to specify what paths Democrats might pursue, explaining that the party would be discussing the issue further behind closed doors on Wednesday morning. But it’s widely believed that Democrats are considering a long-short bipartisan maneuver, requiring signatures from a majority of House members, called a discharge petition, which would force a vote on the bill over the objections of House leadership. It’s one of their few avenues for circumventing House leadership.
The problem: It’s likely that Jeffries would need to convince a sizable number of House Republicans to revolt against their leadership to bring the bill to the floor — an extremely difficult prospect. He’ll need not just to pick up enough Republican signatures to achieve a majority of the House, but also make up for an unknown number of far-left Democrats who would oppose any measure providing additional military aid to Israel.
Progressive view: Democratic Israel critics are, so far, declining to say how they’d approach a potential discharge petition effort including aid to Israel. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) told JI that he hadn’t thought about the issue yet, and that Democrats hadn’t yet discussed it in detail. He said the question is “difficult” because there’s “no question I would vote for Ukrainian aid. There’s no question I would vote against Israeli aid.” He also called the humanitarian assistance portion of the bill insufficient.
No partners: Democrats pursued discharge petitions on other bipartisan issues last year, but failed to convince a single Republican to join the efforts. Only two such petitions have succeeded in decades. Key moderate Republicans are so far rejecting the idea and saying they have concerns about some parts of the Senate-passed package, instead floating a new bipartisan compromise including border legislation. Discharge petitions also take weeks to become eligible for consideration on the House floor.
Read the full story here.
Elsewhere in the House: The House, by a voice vote, passed legislation extending U.S. anti-boycott laws designed to combat international boycotts of Israel and other U.S. allies to include those boycotts organized by international governmental organizations. coalition chatter In Israel, discord in coalition over Haredi conscription  BEATA ZAWRZEL/NURPHOTO VIA AP Coalition lawmakers have in recent days been calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conscript Haredim to the IDF rather than extend mandatory service for those already enlisted, exposing potentially destabilizing cracks in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. The IDF published a plan last week to increase its manpower in light of the war in Gaza and expected ongoing security needs. According to the new plan, mandatory military service for males would rise from two years and eight months to three years, and for women in combat from two to three years. In addition, the retirement age for regular reservists would rise from 40 to 45, and would require more time per year.
Increasing the burden: Politicians in the opposition pointed out that the vast majority of Haredi 18-year-old males are exempt from serving in the IDF by declaring that they are full-time yeshiva students, and said it would be unfair to add to the burden of those who already serve when Haredim are not required to do so.
Pressure from within: Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and Likud MKs Dan Illouz and Moshe Saada wrote to Netanyahu on Tuesday, noting that in the war that followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of over 1,000 Israelis, 569 Israeli soldiers were killed and over 2,800 were wounded. “In the continuing wartime reality, the number of soldiers needed to fulfill the mission of our long-term security…requires renewed preparations and appropriate legislation,” their letter reads. “The immediate need [for the IDF plan] is understandable and clear, and the legislative amendments must be advanced to ensure that the IDF acts within the law, but the bill naturally and justly floats a broader matter that is pushed off from decade to decade without a solution.” The Likud lawmakers called to “expand the circle of those who carry the burden” of military service.
Read the full story here. maryland match Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger's leading successor running as pro-Israel moderate  JOHNNY O DEMOCRAT FOR CONGRESS WEBSITE As one of Maryland’s veteran House members, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), prepares to retire at the end of his current term, his likely successor is vowing to uphold the congressman’s long-standing commitment to supporting Israel in Congress, where Democratic divisions over Middle East policy have sharpened in the wake of Hamas Oct. 7 attack. “Israel is one of our most critical allies in what remains a very dangerous and unstable part of the world,” Johnny Olszewski Jr., the popular Baltimore County executive, said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel last week. “It’s so important that we continue to support and stand with Israel, that we acknowledge its right to exist and its right to defend itself.”
Building on Dutch’s legacy: Olszewski, a 41-year-old Democrat who launched his campaign days after Ruppersberger, 78, announced his plans to step down late last month, said he would seek “to build on Dutch’s legacy of being involved and engaged” on national security issues. The 11-term congressman, a former ranking member of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, “provides a great model across the board to follow,” Olszewski averred, “and certainly that includes issues of global importance.”
New generation: The model set by Ruppersberger, a moderate lawmaker devoted to bipartisan initiatives, will be difficult to emulate as both parties have grown increasingly polarized and warring Democratic factions butt heads over the Biden administration’s continued support for Israel in its ongoing effort to eliminate Hamas. But Olszewski, who goes by the nickname “Johnny O,” insisted that he was up to the task, touting a record of working with Republicans as county executive over the past five years. “I’m someone who believes that Washington is ready for a new generation of leadership,” he said, reiterating a line from his campaign announcement. “Leaders who can work together to find compromise without compromising values.”
Read the full interview here. conspiracy claims Nevada Senate candidate Jim Marchant repeatedly invoked antisemitic tropes in public statements  ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES In a series of interviews and public appearances spanning nearly two years, Jim Marchant, a Republican candidate for the Senate seat in Nevada, has frequently invoked antisemitic tropes claiming that “evil people” including the “Khazarians,” “the cabal,” “globalists” and “central bankers” have controlled the government and conspired to oppress the American people and the world for centuries, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Long shot: Marchant is likely a long shot for the Republican nomination — he trails a distant third in fundraising among Republicans behind Army veteran Sam Brown and former Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter. Marchant, who ran for the U.S. House in 2020 and was the Republican nominee for Nevada secretary of state in 2022, emerged as a prominent proponent of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, among other conspiracy theories.
What he’s saying: In public appearances dating back to 2022 that have been published online, Marchant has repeatedly promoted the idea that a shadowy group of powerful individuals has been secretly controlling the world and U.S. politics — claims that closely echo antisemitic tropes. In one particularly striking appearance last month on America Matters Media, a syndicated radio and TV show, Marchant claimed that nefarious individuals supporting Democrats have “had a plan for thousands of years, actually… they’re evil people. You know, they’ve taken control of everything through the money system. And you know, just look it up, it started with the Khazarians.”
Background: The Khazarians, or Khazars, refer to a group living in Eastern Europe that largely disappeared more than 1,000 years ago, and have been the subject of antisemitic conspiracy theories for centuries. Such theories, according to the American Jewish Committee, falsely claim that the Khazars are the antecedents of modern Ashkenazi Jews — who, the theory claims, are not “real Jews” — developed a “Khazarian Mafia” or secret empire to control the world. The theory has also been deployed to deny Jews’ connection to the land of Israel.
Going deeper: Marchant went on to say that this group “infiltrated everything, including the central bankers and all of that. And they have controlled everything. And they bailed us out after the Civil War. They turned us into a corporation.” He claimed that Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon were targeted for assassination or other retribution for their opposition to this plan.
Read the full story here. | Tunnel Vision: In Time, Jehad al-Saftawi, now living in the U.S., reflects on his encounter with members of Hamas who were constructing a tunnel underneath his Gaza home. “The day after we inspected the house, [my neighbor] called to say that the men had returned in the night. My mother didn’t want me to go, but I put on my clothes and headed alone to the unfinished home. When I reached the iron door of the house, I began to hear the movement of people inside the house. I knocked on the door. A masked person opened the door and asked me to step back a bit. Then he closed the door behind him and asked who I was. I defiantly told him that I am the owner of the house. ‘Who are you?’ I asked. Meeting masked men is something we are used to in different aspects of Gazan life. We argued. I told him my uncle, who was a member of Hamas and prosecutor in its government, would stop them from building a tunnel. The masked man insisted they would continue as they pleased. He said I should not be afraid and that this would just be a small closed room to remain buried underground. No one can enter or exit. He said that only in the case of an Israeli ground invasion in this area and the displacement of residents would these rooms be used to supply weapons. ‘We don’t want to live above a stockpile of weapons,’ I told him, just before he forced me to leave.” [Time]
Looking Back: In The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s David Schenker suggests that the Biden administration has reverted to a series of Trump-era policies vis-a-vis the Middle East. “Mr. Biden’s return to Trump-era policies comes after three years of trial and mostly error. His approach to Iran featured a failed effort to return to the nuclear deal, lax application of sanctions, repeated releases of frozen assets, and a general disinclination toward conflict with the theocracy and its proxies. Mr. Trump’s Iran policy wasn’t as strong as it should have been. His administration exerted economic pressure on Tehran but didn’t respond militarily to the regime’s provocations in 2019, including scuttling ships in Emirati ports, downing a U.S. drone in international airspace, and attacking Saudi Aramco operations in Abqaiq and Khurais. Ultimately, the sanctions didn’t succeed in restarting nuclear negotiations with Iran for a better deal. But the Trump administration understood that proxies were part of the Iran problem. To that end, it supported the Saudis in their war against the Houthis, targeted the Hashd, and periodically attacked the proxies’ Iranian masters.” [WSJ]
Dashed Dreams: In Tablet, Gadi Taub argues that the hope of a two-state solution is dead. “To be sure, the two-state solution was a noble dream. But it turns out it always was just that — a dream. What enabled those who clung to it long enough to continue sleepwalking through the wrecks of exploding buses, the bodies of slain civilians, the constant wild calls for violence against us, the massive efforts to build terror infrastructures under our noses and on our borders, was our own tendency to imagine Palestinians in our own image. For all the fashionable talk of diversity, we too find it hard to imagine a people that is not like ourselves. Knowing our own striving for self-determination, we assumed that the Palestinians, too, want above all to be masters of their own fate in their own sovereign state. But that is not what they want. The huge amount of international aid Palestinians have received since 1948 was never used for nation-building. It wasn’t used for building houses and roads or for planting orange groves. It was harnessed to one overarching cause: the destruction of the Jewish state.” [Tablet]
Should I Stay Or Should I Go? In The New York Times, former CENTCOM head Gen. Kenneth McKenzie argues that talk of a U.S. military pullout from Iraq and Syria is damaging to U.S. interests. “It gives hope to Tehran that it is succeeding in its long-term goal of ejecting the United States from the region through its proxy militias. Nothing could be less helpful — or more dangerous to our service members who are already in harm’s way. Should U.S. troops stay in Syria and Iraq, or should they go? And if they stay, how does American leadership prevent these attacks from continuing? What’s needed now is a presidential decision that has been too long deferred: a firm commitment to keeping our troops in Syria and an additional, nuanced commitment to work with the Iraqi government to find a mutually agreeable force level in that country.” [NYT]
Ivy Instincts: In The Atlantic, Christopher L. Eisgruber, the president of Princeton University, disputes claims that elite schools have compromised their scholarly excellence for their pursuit of diversity. “False dichotomies between excellence and diversity are partly the result of political campaigns waged for ideological reasons. But like most reactionary myths, hand-wringing about modern universities also trades upon dewy-eyed nostalgia from smart, decent people who ought to know better… People who accuse universities of ‘social engineering’ today seem to forget the social engineering that they did in the past — social engineering that was designed to protect class privilege rather than disrupt it. At Princeton and other Ivy League universities, anti-Semitic quotas persisted into the 1950s. Asian and Asian American students, who now form such an impressive part of the student body at Princeton and its peers, were virtually absent.” [TheAtlantic] | Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | Hostage Talks: Officials said that progress had been made during talks yesterday in Cairo aimed at releasing the hostages; Mossad head David Barnea and CIA Director Bill Burns were both in Egypt for discussions.
On the Mend: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released after being hospitalized with a bladder issue.
Miami Moment: Speaking at the Axios BFD conference in Miami, Jared Kushner praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a “visionary” who has “done a lot of things that have made the world a better place”; Kushner also ruled out working in a second Trump White House, should his father-in-law win the presidential election.
Podium Wars: The New York Times looks at tensions between White House Press Secretary Karine Jeanne-Pierre and Adm. John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, as they share the White House lectern and time with the press corps.
Campus Beat: MIT announced the suspension of the campus group Coalition Against Apartheid after the group circumvented university procedures and held an unauthorized event; MIT President Sally Kornbluth added in a statement that “we shouldn’t feel it’s OK to vilify and shun Israeli and Jewish members of our community.”
Indiana Arrest: Authorities in Indiana arrested a man who had threatened to kill Jewish people and government officials who he perceived to be pro-Israel.
Pushing Back: New York City Mayor Eric Adams responded to anti-Israel hecklers calling for a cease-fire by demanding, “Bring the hostages home.”
Columbia Case: A Jewish graduate student at Columbia is suing the university, citing an “explosion” of antisemitism on the New York City campus since Oct. 7.
Israel’s Northern Front: Israel conducted strikes in southern Lebanon today after an Israeli woman was killed and eight others were wounded in a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon into Safed.
Spotting Sinwar: The IDF released footage of Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar walking with his brother, wife and children through a tunnel under Gaza’s Khan Younis days after the terror attack.
The Day After: The New York Times talks to former Palestinian Authority official Mohammed Dahlan, now an advisor to the president of the UAE, about potential future scenarios to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that are being discussed by Arab leaders.
End of Conflict: In Newsweek, Gilead Sher and Dan Perry lay out the framework for a proposed resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Laugh Track: In The Wall Street Journal, comedian Amy Schumer reflects on her tumultuous childhood, which included being bullied for being Jewish. |  Emirates News Agency UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Gen. Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan met in Dubai on Monday with NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit 2024. Seated to the left of Caban is Joel Eisdorfer, a senior advisor to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. |  Jamie McCarthy/WireImage Film producer and EVP of the NFL's New York Giants, winner of a Golden Globe award, an Academy Award and two Super Bowl rings, Steven Elliot "Steve" Tisch turns 75...
Whitefish, Mont.-based civil and human rights activist and radio host, Allen Secher turns 89... Owner of Bloomberg LP and former mayor of NYC, Michael Bloomberg turns 82... Author and award-winning investigative journalist for the Washington Post, Carl Bernstein turns 80... Chairman and CEO of Reebok for 26 years until its 2005 sale to Adidas, Paul Fireman turns 80... British businessman and founder of WPP plc, Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell turns 79... Former borough president of Brooklyn for 12 years, following a 23-year stint as a New York State senator, Marty Markowitz turns 79... Chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, Stephen A. Schwarzman turns 77... Retired chairman and CEO of Los Angeles-based City National Bank, Russell Goldsmith turns 74... Host of "Fresh Air," Terry Gross turns 73... Sports executive and former All Star basketball player, Donna Geils Orender turns 67... Executive board member at the Los Angeles Museum of The Holocaust, Paulette Beckmann Nessim... Co-founder and CEO at 25Madison and executive chairman of Townsquare Media, Steven Price... Volleyball and beach volleyball star, she is the sole Brazilian in the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Adriana Brandão Behar turns 55... Long-distance runner, she won the bronze medal in the women's marathon at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Deena Drossin Kastor turns 51... Senior government affairs director for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Howard Handler... Financial advisor in the Boca Raton office of San Blas Securities, Alan Feinberg Jr.... Activist and writer known by the pen name MaNishtana, Shais Rishon turns 42... Ice hockey player selected in the first round of the 2002 NHL draft, he then played on four NHL teams and was also a player on the U.S. national team, Eric Nystrom turns 41... Director of community engagement for the Anti-Defamation League, Carly Pildis... Co-founder of Run for Something PAC, Amanda Litman... Four-year basketball player for the California Golden Bears, then for Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Premier League, now a real estate broker in Miami, Sam Singer turns 29... Actress, Madison Iseman turns 27… BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Painter and photographer, Ron Agam turns 66... | | | | | |
