| | Good Thursday morning. In today’s Daily Kickoff , we interview first-time congressional candidate Eugene Vindman, and talk to Amb. Deborah Lipstadt on the sidelines of the ADL’s Never is Now conference. We also feature a profile of the assistant general manager of the resurgent Baltimore Orioles, Eve Rosenbaum. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff : Marc Benioff, Ari Harow and Alex Karp. President Joe Biden will deliver the annual State of the Union address tonight to a joint session of Congress, providing the president — who has shied away from media interviews and speeches in front of big crowds — with what will likely be the largest stage of his reelection campaign, Jewish Insider senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch writes. What Biden plans to say in the address will offer a crucial look at his current thinking on Israel’s war with Hamas. The speech falls five months to the day after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks that killed over 1,200 Israelis and resulted in the capture of more than 200 hostages; Mia Schem, a hostage who was freed in November, will be in the gallery, alongside more than a dozen family members of those still held captive by Hamas and Talia Khan, a Jewish MIT student who has spoken out about campus antisemitism. The White House has largely remained tight-lipped about Biden’s planned remarks. In a sign of just how much has changed in the world, Biden did not mention Israel or the Middle East once in his 2023 State of the Union. White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told Politico that the president’s speech will address the situation in Israel and Gaza “head-on.” “The president is working hour by hour to negotiate an immediate and sustained cease-fire in Gaza over a period of at least six weeks as part of a deal that would release hostages, and get significantly more humanitarian aid in,” Zients added. “And he wants enduring peace in the region so that Palestinians and Israelis can live with security, dignity in two states — something he is actively working towards every day.” As Biden administration officials work to achieve a temporary cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of some hostages, it will be worth watching how Biden describes the war and America’s position on it. After Oct. 7, Biden delivered several White House speeches strongly standing by Israel. Will he tout his support for Israel tonight as an applause line? How will he balance his pro-Israel position with the mounting White House pressure on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza? Biden still seeks the passage of a foreign-aid bill that would increase military assistance to both Israel and Ukraine, a measure that has been held up by House Republicans. Will he call out Republican leaders directly for stalling American aid to key global allies? The address comes as Biden faces headwinds from the left over his continued support for Israel. This week, nearly 20% of Democratic voters in Minnesota voted “Uncommitted” in the presidential primary, rather than backing Biden, in a move generally understood to be tied to Biden’s policies on Israel. He is also facing pressure from progressive lawmakers to rein in Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. It’s also worth watching how Biden is received by lawmakers — whether they cheer on his support for Israel, and if critics who oppose his position on Israel make that opposition known. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), a far-left lawmaker who started calling for a cease-fire just days after Israel was attacked, is bringing as her guest a Palestinian dentist and graduate student from a local university whose family members were killed in Gaza. Ultimately, expect tonight’s speech to be a signal of how Biden talks about Israel as the presidential campaign gears up — and as the war enters its sixth month. Ahead of the speech, the hostages' family members who will be in attendance said they have distributed yellow ribbon pins and dog tags to every congressional office, urging the lawmakers to wear them, or a patch showing the number of days the hostages have been in custody, to honor the hostages during Biden’s remarks, JI's Marc Rod reports. Prior to the address, Schem is set to meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers organized by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Kathy Manning (D-NC), along with other members of Congress and officials. The Orthodox Union will be facilitating the meetings. Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | FIRST-TIME CANDIDATE Eugene Vindman offers tough love to Israel as he pursues congressional campaign  TOM WILLIAMS/CQ-ROLL CALL, INC VIA GETTY IMAGES Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman gained national prominence as a whistleblower who helped spark former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. Now, as a congressional candidate, Vindman says he’d use his background as a war crimes prosecutor to train a critical eye on Israel’s operations in Gaza, emphasizing the need for thorough scrutiny of any potential wrongdoing, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Vindman is one of nine Democrats running for the seat of Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), who is leaving Congress to pursue a gubernatorial campaign. Republicans, who landed a top recruit for the race, also plan on targeting the swing Northern Virginia district.
Looking closely: In an interview with JI, Vindman cited his experience as a war crimes prosecutor and investigator as a “unique” asset when it comes to his “nuanced” approach to Middle East policymaking. While he calls himself a supporter of Israel, he also said that he would be “highly surprised” if some Israeli soldiers hadn’t engaged in misconduct during operations in Gaza to take out Hamas — something he described as essentially inevitable in war, including by U.S. troops. But he said he hasn’t seen any evidence of systemic violations.
Elaborating: Vindman said, “As a responsible international actor, [Israel] has an obligation to conduct operations in accordance with the law of war and international criminal law,” which bans targeting civilians and civilian objects, mandates that it only attack lawful targets, requires it to distinguish between civilian and military targets and be proportionate in its attacks. “They have a right to self-defense, but they don’t get a free pass to do whatever they want,” he reiterated later in his conversation with JI. “I look at this from a perspective of supporting the Jewish state and Israel, but also as a strong supporter, [I] have to make sure… we hold them to that same standard that we would abide by.”
Read the full story here. speaking up Amb. Lipstadt: Muslim advocacy group CAIR has 'no place in fight against antisemitism'  John Lamparski/Getty Images When the White House released its long-awaited national strategy to combat antisemitism last spring, Jewish leaders were puzzled by the inclusion of the Council of American-Islamic Relations as one of the organizations primed to take up the fight. The State Department's antisemitism envoy, Deborah Lipstadt, urged patience at the time, despite the Muslim civil rights group's long record of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish statements. But on Wednesday, in an interview with eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen for Jewish Insider on the sidelines of the Anti-Defamation League's Never is Now summit in Manhattan, Lipstadt said “they’ve failed… [and] have no place in the fight against antisemitism.”
No place: Lipstadt’s comments come in the wake of a series of statements by CAIR leaders praising Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks — including from its executive director, Nihad Awad, who said in November that he was “happy to see” the attack, which he characterized as “self-defense.” “We gave CAIR a chance and they have proven that they have no place in the fight against antisemitism — if anything we have to fight those kinds of attitudes,” Lipstadt told JI.
Larger context: Lipstadt’s remit is global, but with antisemitism dramatically rising in the U.S. in the wake of Israel’s war with Hamas, her focus has shifted to include domestic hate towards Jews. She emphasized that the two are not mutually exclusive. She said she balances both by “talking about [domestic antisemitism] in the context of international antisemitism.”
Read the full interview here.
More from the conference: Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner addressed the gathering yesterday. Watch his remarks here. Q&A Ari Harow reflects on the lessons of 2014 and Netanyahu's view on hostage negotiations  GABRIEL BAHARLIA The year 2014 — the last large-scale IDF ground operation in Gaza — has been on the minds of many Israelis since the war in Gaza began in October. A decade later, many of the key players in Washington and Jerusalem are the same with different titles. The year 2014 was also when Ari Harow was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff. When Harow wrote his new book, My Brother's Keeper: Netanyahu, Obama, & the Year of Terror & Conflict that Changed the Middle East Forever, he didn't know how much of the events nearly a decade earlier would reverberate at the time of its publication in late January. Harow has spent much of the past decade fighting legal charges against him, became a state witness in a corruption case against Netanyahu, and at the end of January was convicted on one count of fraud and breach of trust as part of a plea deal. Harow spoke with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov about his time in Netanyahu's office, what the lessons of 2014 tell us about 2023-2024 and Netanyahu's view on hostage negotiations.
Nightmares played out: “About a week or 10 days [after the Oct. 7 attack] it suddenly hit me that, wow, what I wrote about is really…the same players, same actors, same scenarios, but [now it’s] obviously on a much larger scale,” Harow said. “The nightmare scenarios I wrote about in the book are the nightmare scenarios that actually took place. That also shows that, when we talk about the intelligence failure, it’s not that we didn't imagine the [Oct. 7] scenario – I outline it. It was discussed in 2014, [terrorists] crossing the border, taking over kibbutzes, killing people, taking hostages, etc. When it actually took place, it was eerie to go back and look at the book.”
Bibi’s rationale on the Shalit deal: “From a policy perspective, Netanyahu was a founding and leading voice [discussing] how to deal with terrorists,” Harow said. “He was the father of not negotiating with terrorists, and that was always his stance in previous deals that took place. When it came to the Shalit deal – this was not something that he shared publicly – but he told me that his rationale to even contemplate that type of deal was Iran. If we at some point decided to attack Iran's nuclear capabilities, he wanted to give the pilots and soldiers the confidence that Israel would do everything in their power to bring them home, so that they could go out on their missions without any worries at heart, and therefore he was going to pay a price.”
Read the full interview here. baltimore's best All about Eve, the Orioles front-office trailblazer  BALTIMORE ORIOLES Since before she can even remember, Eve Rosenbaum, the assistant general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, has been faithfully committed to her hometown baseball team, having attended her first Orioles game at Memorial Stadium in 1990, when she was just 9 weeks old. Like many long-suffering Baltimore baseball fans, however, Rosenbaum, 34, has never seen her team win the World Series or even advance to the championship. The Orioles last claimed the trophy more than four decades ago, in 1983. Now, as the Orioles gear up for a highly anticipated new season boasting one of their strongest rosters in recent memory, Rosenbaum, in her fifth year with the club, can be credited with helping to instill a renewed if unfamiliar sense of mounting excitement with just a few weeks until Opening Day. “The team last year was good enough and our players are only going to continue to mature and get better,” Rosenbaum told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel in a recent interview, “so I'm definitely excited for the season coming up.”
Great expectations: Speaking from Sarasota, Fla., where the Orioles are now midway through spring training, Rosenbaum noted that expectations are especially high this year as the players ride the momentum from a 101-win season in 2023 that took them all the way to the American League Division Series — a remarkable turnaround for a team that had long been stuck in last place. “There’s a different vibe at spring training this year,” she told JI. In the past, “sometimes it would kind of be like, ‘OK, we're just trying to get through the season,' and then it’s like, ‘OK, we're trying to figure out who’s an interesting player or who might stick around.'”
Talent on the field: This year, on the other hand, “it's like, ‘We’re here, we’re legit, people have to take us seriously,'” she said. “I think the talent we're going to put on the field is going to be a super exciting collection of players.” Most notably, that collection now includes Corbin Burnes, the Cy Young-winning pitcher whom the Orioles acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers last month in a blockbuster trade that is likely to boost Baltimore’s odds of advancing to the World Series.
Read the full interview here. U.N. CONDEMNATION Jewish lawmakers condemn U.N. for slow pace of Hamas sexual violence report  versello/Flickr A group of 24 Jewish lawmakers condemned the United Nations on Wednesday for its long delay in issuing a report on sexual violence committed by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, even as they described its conclusions as “welcome,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Criticism: The lawmakers called the report “long-overdue” and said they “are appalled that it took the United Nations nearly five months to believe evidence that includes graphic, horrifying photographs and videos taken immediately after the attack and statements from released hostages, eyewitnesses, first responders, law enforcement, and trauma experts.”
Who signed: The statement was organized by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Kathy Manning (D-NC). The additional signatories spanned the political spectrum from progressives to Republicans. They included nearly all Jewish House members: Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Becca Balint (D-VT), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Mike Levin (D-CA), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Max Miller (R-OH), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Susan Wild (D-PA).
Read the full story here.
Elsewhere in Washington: The House passed a package of several 2024 appropriations bills on Wednesday, including provisions directing the secretary of commerce to continue supporting the administration’s antisemitism strategy and directing the Department of Justice to issue a report, within 60 days, on its plans to implement the strategy. “The unprecedented rise in antisemitism in the United States since Hamas's October 7th massacre in Israel is deeply disturbing and requires swift action,” Manning, a co-chair of the House antisemitism task force, told JI. “That is why I welcome the inclusion of key provisions requiring the Departments of Justice and Commerce to enforce the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and report progress to Congress.” playing to the base Progressive Democrats embrace calls to cut off aid to Israel  Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Before the current war in Gaza, calls to place conditions on U.S. military assistance to Israel were largely the purview of the far-left fringe. But amid Israel’s military campaign to root out Hamas, with a mounting civilian death toll and worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, the effort has become increasingly common among Democrats. And as the rhetoric has shifted, the left wing’s position has also moved further, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. After having successfully pressed the White House to implement new, global conditions on foreign arms sales, some on the left are calling for the U.S. to threaten to or immediately suspend military aid to Israel entirely.
New Letter: Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) led 34 House Democrats on a letter warning against an Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, arguing that such an operation would likely violate U.S. arms sales policy. “As contemplated by the Administration’s policy, a ground invasion that runs counter to the specific principles outlined in NSM-20 should not be supported by U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance,” the letter reads, referring to the new arms sales policy issued by the administration placing human rights and humanitarian aid-related conditions on arms sales to all U.S. allies.
Shut down: Some progressive Senate Democrats have staked out similar positions. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has also said aid should be cut off in the event of a Rafah invasion. Sens. Peter Welch (D-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have said military assistance needs to be cut off immediately unless Israel increases humanitarian aid access in Gaza. They argued that Israel’s alleged obstruction of aid already violates existing arms sales restrictions.
Read the full story here.
TikTok Ban: The Jewish Federations of North America is urging the House Energy and Commerce Committee to approve a bill today seeking to ban or force the sale of TikTok by its China-based parent company. JFNA described TikTok as “the worst offender by far” in driving antisemitism on social media. “There is no one answer to the rise in antisemitism, but… [the bill] is a very important step that Congress can take today,” JFNA leadership said. | Karpe Diem: The Washington Post’s Josh Tyrangiel spotlights how Palantir — and its CEO, Alex Karp — are revolutionizing the AI space, and how those innovations could revamp the effectiveness of governance. “Karp was born in New York City to a Black mother and a Jewish father. He’s severely dyslexic, a socialist, a 2016 Hillary Clinton supporter. When we spoke in Palantir’s New York offices, it was clear that he’s both whip-smart and keeps a careful accounting of the slights he’s accumulated. ‘Quite frankly,’ Karp told me, ‘just because of biographical issues, I assume I am going to be screwed, right?’ It was like meeting the protagonist from a book co-authored by Ralph Ellison and Philip Roth. … Like generations of Black and Jewish entrepreneurs before him, Karp presumes his company isn’t going to win any deals on the golf course. So to get contracts from Fortune 500 companies and governments Palantir must do things other software companies won’t, and do them so fast and cheap that the results are irrefutable.” [WashPost]
Settler Sanctions: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg suggests that the Biden administration’s recent executive order targeting Israeli settlers has two goals: splintering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, which includes far-right ministers, and pushing forward the possibility of a two-state solution. “The Biden administration has indicated its intent to roll out further settler sanctions in the coming weeks. This development has incensed the Israeli far right but also exposed its weakness. When Biden’s initial sanctions on four violent settlers compelled the Israeli banking system to cut them off, an outraged [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich threatened to propose legislation that would force the banks to do business with the settlers regardless of U.S. penalties. … If this is how he and his allies respond to American sanctions on even the country’s most extreme elements, the far-right parties will no longer be viable partners for any Israeli government that seeks to maintain a healthy relationship with the United States.” [TheAtlantic]
The Other Mideast War: The New York Times’ Tom Friedman travels to U.S. bases across the Mideast to better understand the military challenges facing the U.S. and its allies from Iran and its proxies. “There is no equilibrium here. What you have, instead, is the other Middle East war that began shortly after the tragic Israel-Hamas war that broke out on Oct. 7. This other Middle East war pits Iran and its proxies — the Houthis, Hezbollah and Shiite militias in Iraq — against both the small network of U.S. bases in Syria, Jordan and Iraq established after 2014 to destroy the ISIS Islamic state and against the U.S. naval presence in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden that keeps the vital shipping lanes there secure and open. … In short, Americans may not know they’re at war with Iran, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guards know for sure they are in a shadow war with America through their proxies.” [NYTimes] | Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | The March to Reelection: President Joe Biden is planning to use tonight’s State of the Union address as a launchpad for his campaign against former President Donald Trump, and will scale up his campaign efforts in the coming weeks.
Arms Sales: Administration officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing that Washington has signed off on the sale and delivery of more than 100 separate arms shipments to Israel since Oct. 7.
New Sanctions: The U.S. announced sanctions on two ship owners and two vessels that the Treasury Department said had shipped commodities on behalf of Iran-based financier Sa'id al-Jamal, whose companies generate money for the Houthis. The sanctions come as three civilians were killed in a Houthi attack on a Barbados-flagged vessel off the coast of Yemen — the first fatalities since the Iran-backed group began to disrupt the major shipping route.
Aid Package: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he's been working on his own version of an aid package for Israel, Taiwan and U.S. allies that he'll bring forward when the House completes the 2024 government funding process. He said it's more expansive than another version of the bill led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and that he has discussed it with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Suspicious Signatories: Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Kathy Manning (D-NC) were added without their knowledge or consent as co-sponsors of a resolution titled "Original Resolution Affirming the State of Palestine’s Right to Exist." Both lawmakers, who are Jewish, withdrew their support for the resolution.
Dean’s Done: Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) ended his longshot bid for president and endorsed President Joe Biden.
Vote Void: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said she was sympathetic to Minnesota voters who cast their ballots for "uncommitted" in this week's presidential primary against President Joe Biden, but did not actually vote herself.
A Min Win: California state Sen. Dave Min will face off against Republican Scott Baugh in the November race to succeed Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), after fellow Democrat Joanna Weiss conceded last night.
IHRA Impasse: Indiana lawmakers are at an impasse over legislation meant to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism after far-left lawmakers expressed opposition to the text’s inclusion of examples of antisemitism that mention Israel.
The Day After: On the latest episode of Dan Senor’s “Call Me Back” podcast, Micah Goodman considers Israel’s post-Oct. 7 future ahead of the release of his upcoming book, The Eighth Day.
Haul for Hawaii: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff made a $150 million donation to the health-care system of Hawaii, where he is a part-time resident; the gift is Benioff’s largest single donation.
People of the (Digital) Book: Sefaria held its 10th anniversary gala in New York this week, months after it was postponed following the Oct. 7 terror attacks and war with Hamas.
Bar Ban: A Salt Lake City bar owned by former mayoral candidate Michael Valentine posted that the establishment was “pleased to announce we are banning all Zionists forever from our establishments.”
Lofty Living: The Wall Street Journal spotlights the New York City loft of Israeli-born architect Eran Chen.
Red Carpet: The LAPD is beefing up security ahead of the Academy Awards this Sunday in an effort to prevent anti-Israel protests from disrupting the annual gathering.
Across the Pond: The U.K.’s Foreign Office held a seminar for staffers in which lecturers — who had previously said that British foreign policy against Hamas had contributed to the Oct. 7 attacks — instructed attendees against calling Hamas a terrorist group and suggested that Israel is a “white, settler colonialist nation.”
Cameron’s Warning: U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron met with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, for what Cameron later described as “tough but necessary conversations” about Israel’s responsibilities in Gaza.
Hate Background: A 15-year-old who stabbed an Orthodox Jewish man in Zurich over the weekend had posted videos online expressing solidarity with the Islamic State and described himself as a “soldier” of the caliphate.
Gaza Aid: South Africa pressed the International Court of Justice to call on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza.
Settlement Building: A Wall Street Journal report found “surging” Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank since Oct. 7.
Media Move: Former Rolling Stone Editor-in-Chief Noah Shachtman is returning to Wired as a contributing editor.
Transition: Zachary Florman is now the communications director for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). He was previously press secretary for the New Jersey legislator.
Mazal Tov!: Constitutional law expert Eugene Kontorovich married Yehudit Macales on Tuesday at the Psagot Winery.
Welcome to the World: Actress Gal Gadot welcomed her fourth child, Ori, with her husband, Jaron Varsano.
Remembering: French Resistance member Josette Molland, who in her later years used art to explain her experiences in Ravensbrück and other camps, died at 100. Dr. Anthony Epstein, who discovered the Epstein-Barr virus along with his doctoral fellow in 1964, died at 102. |  Kent Nishimura/Getty Images Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) embraces Ruby Chen, whose son Itay is being held hostage in Gaza, at an event on Capitol Hill on Wednesday with families of the remaining 134 hostages. Read more about the bipartisan event here. |  Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images for Harper Collins Television news anchor and author of five bestselling finance guides, Nicole Lapin turns 40...
Nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Times from 1984 to 2019, author and social observer, Suzanne Bregman Fields, Ph.D. turns 88... President emeritus of the California Institute of Technology, he is the 1975 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, David Baltimore turns 86... Former bureau chief for the AP in Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, London and Tokyo, now a journalism educator at The George Washington University, Myron Belkind turns 84... Former chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner turns 82... Geneticist and 2017 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, Michael Rosbash turns 80... Member of the Knesset for the Meretz party between 1992 and 1996, Binyamin "Benny" Temkin turns 79... Retired media executive, Ruth Barbara Jarmul... Chairman and general trust counsel of Fiduciary Trust International, Gail Ehrlich Cohen... Award-winning freelance journalist, author and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Anne Farris Rosen turns 68... British barrister and a member of the House of Lords, he is the long-time chair of the British Legal Friends of Hebrew University, Lord David Philip Pannick turns 68... Executive director of Academic Exchange, Rabbi Nachum Braverman turns 66... Democratic political strategist, now the director of finance at Four Directions, Lewis H. Cohen... Professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and the author or editor of several books about Baruch Spinoza, Yitzhak Yohanan Melamed turns 56... Academy Award-winning actress, Rachel Weisz turns 54... News director for D.C.'s NBC4 News and an adjunct professor of journalism at American University, Matt Glassman... Executive director of the Women's League for Conservative Judaism, Rabbi Ellen Wolintz-Fields... Brooklyn-based political consultant and attorney, he is also the membership director at the Rent Stabilization Association, Michael Tobman... The Israeli Foreign Ministry's director of U.S. congressional affairs, Elad Strohmayer turns 43... Israeli actress and singer, Ester Rada turns 39... Author, popular science writer, spaceflight historian, YouTuber and podcaster, best known for writing Breaking the Chains of Gravity, Amy Shira Teitel turns 38... Climate deals reporter at Axios Pro, Alan Neuhauser... Attorney in Reno, Nev., Sasha Ahuva Farahi... President of Every Minute Communications, Rachel Zuckerman... Digital engagement director at AIPAC, Cory Meyer... Comedian, actress, and screenwriter, known professionally as Sarah Squirm, now a regular on “Saturday Night Live,” Sarah Sherman turns 31... Jake Hirth... Yaakov Spira... | | | | | |
