| | Good Thursday morning. In today’s Daily Kickoff , we talk to Sens. Joe Manchin, Jon Tester and John Fetterman about how pressure from within the Democratic Party for Israel to alter its war strategy is affecting Hamas’ posturing in negotiations, and spotlight the college campuses where administrators are beginning to take a harder line against anti-Israel activity. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff : Evan Ryan, Sam Altman and Avi Wigderson. Amid growing concerns of an Iranian strike against Israel, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke on Wednesday afternoon about a possible escalation. Blinken, according to a State Department readout of the call, “reiterated the United States’ support for Israel’s security and made clear that the U.S. will stand with Israel against any threats by Iran and its proxies.” CENTCOM head Gen. Erik Kurilla is slated to travel to Israel today to meet with Gallant and other top officials as Israel prepares for a potential Iranian retaliation to an attack in Damascus last week that killed a top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general and six additional officers. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Wednesday that Israel “will pay” for the strike. Shortly before Gallant and Blinken spoke, the defense minister briefed journalists in Tel Aviv about Israel’s efforts to increase humanitarian aid going into Gaza, a week and a half after an IDF strike killed seven aid workers and hindered NGO efforts in the enclave, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss reports. In the briefing, Gallant unveiled the next phase of the military’s humanitarian efforts. Within the next week, he said, the Port of Ashdod will be open to increase the flow of aid into Gaza and provide security checks to aid convoys. Israel also approved a new crossing in northern Gaza, and is working with the Jordanian Air Force to move aid from Jordan. Gallant also noted the creation of the Coordination and Deconfliction Cell, which he visited with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew over the weekend. Lastly, he said, Israel is working with the U.S. on naval efforts to bring in aid by sea, and the Defense Ministry’s COGAT unit is working on infrastructure projects in Gaza. In one of the first signals that Israel’s government is thinking longer-term about the administration of Gaza, Gallant said the government is taking into consideration the “planning for the day after Hamas.” “There are three bad options for the day after: Hamas controlling Gaza, Israel controlling Gaza, and total anarchy,” Gallant said. “We need to create another option – to empower a local alternative.” He added that the humanitarian effort is “key in empowering a local alternative.” One individual with knowledge of the aid efforts told JI that “Israel needs to think proactively about building the aid infrastructure and apparatus.” “It’s positive to see the increase in trucks,” the individual said. “But the issue is not about 1 or 10 or 100 more trucks a day. Israel needs to shift its mindset from success being driven by the number of trucks to aiding in distribution of the apparatus.” “Israel isn’t the be-all, end-all of the distribution issue,” the individual added, “but they need to be a part of the solution.” President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised Israel’s efforts to increase the humanitarian assistance entering Gaza, but said Israeli authorities “need to do more.” Even as Israel works to increase aid in Gaza, the IDF is continuing to carry out targeted operations. A strike on a vehicle in Gaza City killed three of Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh’s sons on Wednesday. The IDF said that all three men were active in Hamas, with two of them serving as military operatives and one as a cell commander, and that the men were traveling to central Gaza to conduct terror activity at the time of the strike. Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, said that the strike will not affect Hamas’ negotiating posture, and told Al Jazeera that he “thank[s] God for bestowing upon us the honor of their martyrdom.” “Their pure blood is for the liberation of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and we will continue to march on our road, and will not hesitate and will not falter,” Haniyeh said. Meanwhile, talks to free the remaining hostages hit a stumbling block on Wednesday, as Hamas officials acknowledged that they are unable to produce 40 hostages who fit the description of those who would be released in a first round: women, children, the elderly and sick and injured. And in Washington, the House Republican conference is once again in chaos, after conservatives blocked a procedural vote on reauthorizing federal spying powers. That vote could have implications for the path to passing aid for Israel and Ukraine, Jewish Insider senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod writes. Republican leadership initially planned to bring up foreign aid for a vote next week — although, according to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), they haven’t yet specified what that bill would entail. But the spying powers debate now threatens to spill into next week — the authorities are set to expire on April 19 — and the House will be out of Washington the week after, potentially pushing consideration of foreign aid close to the end of the month. Coming out of an emergency Republican meeting on Wednesday afternoon, several Republicans told JI the issue of timing on foreign aid hadn’t come up, and that they had no clear picture of what the schedule for it might be. Meanwhile, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) continues to threaten House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) ouster if he allows a vote on Ukraine aid on the floor. A resolution condemning the Biden administration’s decision not to veto a cease-fire resolution at the United Nations and criticizing its calls for an immediate cease-fire was also contingent on the procedural vote that was defeated yesterday, leaving it unclear when that resolution will come to the floor. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), a reliable supporter of Israel, said yesterday he plans to oppose the resolution, suggesting it will see little Democratic support when a vote arrives. Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | dem divides Manchin, Fetterman push back against Democrats' pressure on Israel  ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES Some Senate Democrats are raising concerns that efforts by members in their party to publicly apply pressure to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to alter his war plan are impacting Israel’s negotiating position as it works to secure the release of remaining hostages, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
Diminished Israel fears: "It doesn't help, it doesn't help,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told JI when asked on Wednesday if demands from Democrats and the Biden administration to take a more surgical approach to the war was hurting Israel’s negotiating position.
GOP worries: A number of Republicans echoed the concerns of their Democratic colleagues, which come as negotiators continue talks on a hostage deal in Cairo. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said the Democratic-led pressure campaign is “really concerning” to him, arguing that it “increases Hamas' ability to be able to say, 'The whole word against you, Israel, just stop,' while they've got thousands of terrorists in Rafah and they still are holding hostages.”
Democratic defense: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said that Democrats have mostly directed their ire at Netanyahu. “I don't think so. It's not really criticisms of Israel, everybody strongly supports Israel. It's a criticism of Netanyahu, the way he's executing the war and concerns about his strategy. It's not about Israel,” she said.
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Bonus: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said pressure from Egypt and Qatar remains key to convincing Hamas to agree to a hostage deal. Kaine said that Qatar has “played valuable roles” in the past, including the November hostage deal, but suggested that patience with Qatar on Capitol Hill “is almost at an end.” new role Bipartisan bill would create first dedicated White House antisemitism coordinator  ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES In January 2021, the State Department's special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, tasked with tackling antisemitism abroad, was elevated to the rank of ambassador. A year ago, the Biden White House unveiled the country's first-ever national strategy to combat antisemitism. Now, with incidents of antisemitism running at historic levels in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, a bipartisan bill introduced on Wednesday would, for the first time, create an official administration position dedicated specifically to combating antisemitism at home, as well as new structures and procedures at various federal agencies, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Top-level obligation: “We need, at the highest levels of our government, to have people who are dedicated to monitoring and combating antisemitism,” Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), one of the sponsors of the Combat Antisemitism Act (CAA), told JI on Wednesday. “If this responsibility doesn’t fall on top-level people in the administration, then it’s easy for the problems to move to the bottom of somebody’s to-do list and we do not want that to happen.”
Coordinator’s duties: It would establish, within the White House, a dedicated position for a national coordinator to counter antisemitism — who would not be permitted to hold other simultaneous responsibilities. The official would advise the president on combating antisemitism domestically; coordinate, oversee and evaluate federal efforts to combat antisemitism across the federal government; review the efforts and policies of more than two dozen federal agencies and departments in combating antisemitism; brief congressional leaders every six months; and submit an annual report and recommendations to Congress on online antisemitism.
Sponsors: The bill is being sponsored by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) in the Senate, and Reps. Manning, Randy Weber (R-TX), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Marc Veasey (D-TX) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) in the House. All of the bill’s original cosponsors are co-chairs of the task forces. The Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Jewish Federations of North America are supporting the bill.
Read the full story here. campus beat Several university leaders begin cracking down on anti-Israel disruptions on campus  screenshot Six months after anti-Israel activity began to dominate some college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks — with minimal action taken by college presidents to quell rising levels of antisemitism — administrators at schools such as Pomona, Columbia and Vanderbilt have taken a harder line in recent weeks. As a result, Jewish leaders are wondering whether these three schools’ tougher responses could represent the leading edge of a trend that takes root across the country, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider.
Pomona protest: Last Friday, police officers dressed in riot gear arrested at least 20 masked students at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., after some 150 people stormed the university president’s office and refused to leave for more than three hours. Organized by the student-led group Pomona Divest Apartheid, the demonstrators from Pomona, as well as nearby Scripps and Pitzer Colleges, were protesting the removal of an anti-Israel “mock apartheid wall” on campus.
A student’s perspective: “I don’t see this as a victory and I don’t know if it’s going to change anything in the future,” Ayelet Kleinerman, a fourth-year Pomona student from Israel who founded the group Haverim Claremont in 2022, told JI. “There is a lot of backlash here from students, faculty and community members on the outside,” she continued. “So we will have to wait and see how things unfold, but when people are arrested I don’t see it as a victory — it’s sad that we got to a situation in the first place where police needed to be called. We shouldn’t have gotten to this in the first place.”
Read the full story here. interview choice Tucker Carlson's 'pastor from Bethlehem' is 'the high priest of antisemitic Christianity'  MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES When Tucker Carlson said he wanted to know how the government of Israel treats Christians, he opted against interviewing Israeli Christians, choosing instead to speak to a Palestinian Christian pastor who founded an anti-Israel organization and justified Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Munther Isaac, the pastor featured in a 40-minute interview with Carlson that aired on X on Tuesday, gave a sermon on Oct. 8, 2023, in which he said the attack — a day prior — in which 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered by Hamas was a logical outcome. Isaac is a board member of Kairos Palestine, an organization launched in 2009 whose founding document makes antisemitic statements, such as engaging in replacement theology to deny the Jewish people's historic connection to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Christian reactions: Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, said that “those of us who track these things know that Munther Isaac has long been the high priest of antisemitic Christianity; sadly, he spreads his hate from the city of Jesus’ birth. Since Oct. 7,” Moore said. “Isaac seems to have graduated from being an anti-Zionist Lutheran preacher to a terror sympathizer. There’s really just no other way to describe him.”
‘Rhetoric of lies’: Jonathan Elkhoury, a Christian Lebanese refugee granted Israeli citizenship, said he was “appalled and ashamed” at Carlson’s choice to invite Isaac onto his show, preferring “rhetoric of lies and misinformation about Israel or its treatment of minorities” rather than “a voice that speaks about Christian life in the Holy Land. Tucker Carlson should have taken his platform more seriously, and not invite political activists, in the disguise of a religious robe, to support the ongoing dehumanization of Israelis and the denial of the right of Israel to exist,” he said.
Read the full story here. tiktok talk Heritage senior fellow claims there's 'no evidence' of Chinese censorship on TikTok  ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES A senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, an initiative organizing a future Trump administration policy platform and staffing apparatus, went against the think tank’s position on TikTok by claiming in a CNBC interview that there is “no evidence” of Chinese censorship on the app and dismissing national security concerns as folly, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
McEntee’s argument: John McEntee, a former Trump administration official, acknowledged at the beginning of his CNBC interview on Tuesday that he has grown his business, a dating app for conservatives called The Right Stuff, through TikTok "more than anything," though he goes on to claim throughout the interview that this does not cloud his thinking on the matter. "That's not why I'm against the [House] bill. I'm against the bill because it's new censorship power for the government,” McEntee said during a “Squawk Box” appearance, referring to the House legislation banning the app.
Antisemitism concerns: McEntee also dismissed concerns that the app is feeding antisemitic and anti-Israel content to its young base of subscribers, arguing that it only reflects the anti-Israel views of Gen Z Americans. “Why is there less pro-Israel content? Well, the younger generation is less pro-Israel, that might be good or bad or whatever, but it's just feeding American public opinion,” McEntee continued. “No one's actually like promoting or censoring Uighur content, it's just not a top-of-mind issue for most Americans. That's why you don't see it."
No comment: A Heritage Foundation spokesperson declined to comment to JI on McEntee’s claims about TikTok, despite the conservative think tank openly backing the effort to regulate the social media app and being vocal about the national security threats posed by the company and its technology.
Read the full story here. funding feud Canadian relatives of Oct. 7 victims take government to court over renewed UNRWA funding  DAWOUD ABO ALKAS/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES Canadian families whose relatives were murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7 sued Ottawa in federal court to block the government’s plan to reinstate funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. Canada paused its funding for UNRWA, the U.N. agency dealing with Palestinian refugees and their descendants, after Israel provided evidence that some of its staff took part in the Hamas attack on Israel last year, and UNRWA’s leadership dismissed them to investigate the allegations. Later reports found that large numbers of UNRWA staff are members and supporters of Hamas. Last month, however, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen's office announced that Ottawa "will be lifting its temporary pause" and supports the U.N.'s "processes to address the allegations and reinforce its zero tolerance for terror" after having reviewed an interim report on the matter. The statement touted UNRWA's "vital role in Gaza, providing over 2 million people with humanitarian relief," Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
The case: The families’ application for judicial review, filed with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), Jewish federation's advocacy arm in Canada, contends that the Canadian government demonstrably knew about UNRWA’s ties to Hamas, a terrorist group proscribed by Ottawa, and as such, the "decision to re-instate UNRWA funding flies in the face of Canada's own anti-terrorism provisions of the criminal code." According to Canadian law, it is "a criminal offense to collect or provide property or make available financial or other services knowing that they will be used in whole or in part for the purpose of facilitating terrorist activity."
Petitioners: Among the family members joining the petition are Dikla Mizrachi, mother of Ben Mizrachi; Iris Liniado, daughter of Judith Weinstein Haggai; Jacqui Vital, mother of Adi Vital-Kaploun; and Raquel Ohnona, mother of Alexandre Look. They released a statement that they are "appalled and sickened by the decision of the Canadian government to reinstate funding to UNRWA given its ties and support of the terrorism that took our loved ones’ lives.”
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On the Hill: U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power indicated in testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that U.S.-backed humanitarian groups in Gaza will continue to cooperate with UNRWA, despite Congress’ ban on funding to the U.N. body for at least the next year, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. | Worlds Apart: In The Atlantic, Middle East political analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib considers the challenges hindering a resolution to the Israel-Hamas war in the short term, and Israeli-Palestinian peace in the long term. “During my trip to the Middle East, I was discouraged to witness the way that many Palestinians, and their supporters in the Arab world, obtain information about the war in Gaza. A sizable segment of the population gets its news through social-media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook, as well as WhatsApp — all rife with misinformation, disinformation, inaccuracies, conjecture, rumors, and propaganda. … My conversations gave me hope that it is possible to challenge preconceived notions through persistent engagement. However, revising deeply held beliefs that undermine healing, coexistence, reconciliation, and peace will be an immense and difficult undertaking. This war has made it abundantly clear that Palestinians and Arabs on one side, and Israelis on the other, live in parallel worlds that are informed by entirely disconnected sets of facts, reducing their ability to find common ground or pragmatic solutions. Even people who dislike and despise Hamas struggle, for a variety of reasons, to reconcile their own sense of historical injustice with what a resolution to the conflict would entail.” [TheAtlantic]
War as Cautionary Tale: In The Spectator, Jake Wallis Simons suggests that the Israel-Hamas war has broader implications for Western society. “The way in which the Jewish state – the regional military superpower, enjoying huge military support from the global superpower – is being forced to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory is a cautionary tale for the West. It is often correctly said that Israel is on the frontline of the struggle against jihadism. Well, pay attention: the collapse of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which after the October atrocities was the most justified imaginable, is a harbinger of what may lie ahead. … For the West, however, it is the big picture that is of crucial importance. Whatever our frustrations with the appalling administration in Jerusalem, the way in which Washington and London have played out their hostilities in public – and have now apparently deprived Israel of victory – sends a dangerous signal to the world. Whether seen from Tehran, Moscow, Beijing, Pyongyang or Rafah, the message is clear: we may be more powerful than our enemies, but we no longer possess the resilience to stand up to them.” [TheSpectator]
Road to Rafah: In The New York Times, Benny Morris argues in favor of an Israeli military incursion into Rafah. “Yet, despite these powerful reasons to stand down, Israel must take Rafah if it wants to demolish Hamas as a military and governing organization. And for Israel, that potential outcome outweighs the many risks. If Hamas emerges from this war in control of Rafah, where thousands of its fighters are believed to remain, and the southern quarter of Gaza, it could gradually rearm through the tunnels connecting the Strip and Sinai, and soon project its power northward to encompass most or all of the Strip, many analysts believe. Above all, an Israeli failure to take Rafah and smash Hamas’s last organized military formations and its governing structures will paint Israel, in its enemies’ eyes, as a weak, defeated polity, easy prey for the next potential assailant. Paradoxically, the spectacle of Israeli weakness — as much as a Rafah offensive — could tempt Hezbollah to gamble on a full-scale war.” [NYTimes]
Empowering Hamas: For CNN, former White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt suggests that sustained support for Israel from the Biden administration could alter how Hamas is prosecuting the war. “Nonetheless, the Abraham Accords are instructive because what made those peace deals possible was a regional attitude shift. The Arab states received a clear message from Israel and its allies: Israel was sovereign on its territory and was not going to give it up. It was better to work with Israel than to try to destroy it. At the same time, the Arab states were undergoing a historical transformation, embracing a future marked by shared economic opportunity, opposition to the threats coming from Tehran and hope for a peaceful and prosperous Middle East. These states, and their courageous leaders, were charting a course for a new version of the Middle East no one expected a decade ago. Hamas and its Iranian sponsors are now getting the opposite message, that they should never adopt the attitude that led to peace because the West will never allow Israel to conduct its wars the way any other sovereign would: until its enemies are defeated and no longer pose a threat.” [CNN]
Do Not Go Gentle…: In The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Lieberman discusses the cancer diagnosis his father, Sen. Joe Lieberman, received in 2018, and how it impacted his life until his death last month. “Do I wish that we had understood his condition better and longer? In retrospect, not really. My dad wasn’t about death; he was about life — and living it. If I had to guess, he knew he had a serious illness and may not have wanted to know more than that. If he’d known his life expectancy in 2018 and shared it with us, to a significant extent these past six-plus years would have been counted down. He would have been counting them down, and we would have been counting them down. That’s not how my dad lived, and that’s not how he would have wanted people to see him. Consequently, he lived life at 110% until the end.” [WSJ] | Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | Scene Last Night: Attendees at last night’s state dinner for the prime minister of Japan included Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Cabinet Secretary Evan Ryan, CIA Deputy Director David Cohen, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, Phil Gordon, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy Assistant to the President Amos Hochstein and Rae Ringel, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink, Neil Bluhm, Michael and Susie Gelman, Robert Goodman and Jayne Lipman, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, Josh and Ali Rogin.
Trump Talk: Speaking in Atlanta, former President Donald Trump said, “Any Jewish person who votes for a Democrat or Biden should have their head examined.”
Michigan Move: Trump allies are considering running ads praising his support for Israel in areas of Michigan with large Arab-American populations.
In the Courts: Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison for perjury.
Nipped in the Budd: Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) attempted to fast-track passage of his bill that could strip Qatar of its status as a major non-NATO ally, but was blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
Tunnel Vision: Thirteen men were arraigned on charges ranging from criminal mischief to obstructing governmental administration in connection with an incident at Chabad-Lubavitch’s Brooklyn headquarters earlier this year.
Road to Referendum: Harvard’s student government approved a petition for a campus-wide referendum calling for divestment from companies that operate in Israel.
Campus Clash: The dean of the University of California, Berkeley’s law school and his wife clashed with anti-Israel students at their home during a celebratory graduation dinner when a student grabbed a microphone to give an unauthorized speech about Gaza. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky published a statement about the incident.
Guilty Plea: A Cornell student arrested in October for making threats to Jewish students and institutions pleaded guilty, citing his recent autism diagnosis.
Altman’s Pitch: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pitching investors and officials in the United Arab Emirates on the formation of a global coalition that would advance AI technology.
Top Prize: Israeli mathematician Avi Wigderson was awarded the 2023 Turing Award for Outstanding Contributions in Computer Science for his research into the relationship between randomness and computer algorithms.
PA Presentation: The Palestinian Authority’s representative to the U.N. presented UAE Ambassador to the U.N. Lana Nusseibeh with a “Shield of Palestine” in honor of her support for the Palestinians in the international body.
On Pause: Lufthansa temporarily suspended its flights in and out of Tehran over security concerns related to Iran’s threats against Israel.
Remembering: Comic book author and historian Trina Robbins died at 84. |  courtesy Members of Agudath Israel of America visited Washington this week for a leadership mission, which included meetings with and speeches by White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, Assistant Secretary of Education Catherine Lhamon, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Jeohn Favors, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Aaron Keyak and several U.S. senators, including Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). The group also met with lawmakers to discuss support for Israel, freeing the hostages and confronting antisemitism. |  Bobby Bank/WireImage Actress who played the title character on the 325-episode soap opera satire "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," Louise Lasser turns 85...
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and syndicated columnist, she is the co-founder and director of "The Conversation Project" focused on end-of-life care, Ellen Goodman turns 83... Founder and CEO of the USA Network in 1977, she is the co-founder and chairman of Springboard Enterprises, Kay Koplovitz turns 79... West Bloomfield, Mich.-based inventor on more than forty patents, Barry Schwab... Actor, director and screenwriter, he played the role of a crooked politician in “The Sopranos,” Peter Riegert turns 77... Sarita Dery... Former deputy director of WomenStrong International, Sydney Rubin turns 72... Managing partner and a founder of LA-based law firm Glass & Goldberg, Marshall F. Goldberg... Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 1999 from the Pittsburgh area, Dan B. Frankel turns 68... Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, he is the director of the narrative medicine program at the Temple University medical school, Michael Vitez turns 67... Australian industrialist, executive chairman of Visy Industries and Pratt Industries US, Anthony Pratt turns 64... Executive chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies, he serves on charitable boards including the University of Pennsylvania and the 92nd Street Y, William P. Lauder turns 64... Interim provost of Harvard University, John Francis Manning turns 63... General counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, Jonathan E. Meyer turns 59... Professor at Sarah Lawrence College, he is a scholar of Eastern European Jewry, with a focus on the social history of Hasidism, Glenn Dynner turns 55... Retired Olympic breaststroke swimmer, Vadim Alekseyev turns 54... Co-founder of Caracal Global Strategies and founder and CEO of Brigadoon, Marc A. Ross turns 53... Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, Rabbi Ezra Y. Schwartz turns 50... Israeli-based angel investor and entrepreneur, he is a partner at Tel Aviv-based Accomplice Blockchain, David Galper... Head of fixed income sales at Citadel LLC, he was previously a Major League Soccer midfielder, Jordan Cila turns 42... Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and a dayan/judge at the Beth Din of America, Rabbi Itamar Rosensweig turns 35... Youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona House of Representatives, Alma Hernandez turns 31… Larry Engelhart… | | | | | |
