5.28.2024

Inside the Goldberg-Polins’ whirlwind trip to Washington

Parents of American-Israeli hostage press their case to Biden ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
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Jewish Insider | Daily Kickoff
May 28th, 2024
Good Tuesday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the fallout from a deadly Israeli strike in Rafah over the weekend, talk to legal experts about potential implications of the ICC and ICJ rulings, and interview the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin following their latest trip to D.C. to campaign for the release of their son from Hamas captivity in Gaza. We also speak with congressional Dems about whether they would attend an address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Eileen Filler-Corn, Deborah Lipstadt and Nikki Haley.

Israel is again facing international condemnation for its military operations in Rafah, after an airstrike on Sunday took out two top Hamas operatives, but also reportedly killed dozens of internally displaced civilians sheltering in nearby encampments.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking before the Knesset yesterday, called the deadly incident a “tragic accident,” accusing Hamas of harboring its military among the civilian populations. “For us, every uninvolved civilian who is hurt is a tragedy. For Hamas, it’s a strategy. That’s the whole difference,” Netanyahu said.

The White House withheld criticism of Israel, referring only to “devastating images” emerging from the strike and urging Israel to protect civilians as part of its military operations.

"Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians," a National Security Council spokesperson said. "But as we've been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians. We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened, and understand that the IDF is conducting an investigation."

The IDF said it killed Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, senior officials in Hamas’ West Bank command. “The strike was carried out based on prior intelligence information regarding the presence of the senior Hamas terrorists at the site of the strike,” the army said, stating that it had taken a number of steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians, highlighting that the strike had not been in Al-Mawasi, the humanitarian area to which it has encouraged civilians to evacuate, and expressing regret over any harm caused to civilians.

The U.S. received information from Israeli officials that shrapnel from the strike likely ignited a fuel tank nearby causing the fire. Two U.S. officials told Axios that the Biden administration was still assessing whether the strike had crossed the president's “red line,” in order to decide whether it warrants any U.S. action.

Israel received a tougher reception from European capitals. EU foreign ministers held a “significant discussion” on sanctioning Israel if it does not comply with international law, according to Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “horrified” by the news and condemned it “in the strongest terms. There is no safe place in Gaza. These attacks must stop immediately. ICJ orders & IHL [international humanitarian law] must be respected by all parties.” French President Emmanuel Macron similarly said he was “outraged by the Israeli strikes,” and called for “full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.”

The U.K. Labour party leader Keir Starmer, in his first major speech of the election campaign, said the “horrifying” scenes from the strike were the “inevitable consequences of that [Rafah] offensive,” which he said, “should not take place and we should join with our allies to ensure that it doesn’t take place.”

Closer to home, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) threatened to disrupt President Joe Biden’s reelection — while appearing at a conference filled with threatening rhetoric against Israel. On Saturday, Tlaib  was a featured speaker at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, a radical gathering that featured numerous speakers affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The group has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S.

Panelists proclaimed support for terrorism against Israel, with speakers justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack as violent “resistance” against the Jewish state. The conference was decorated with terrorist propaganda, including tributes to PFLP airplane hijacker Leila Khaled.

In the speechTlaib attacked Biden as an “enabler of genocide” while warning that Biden and Democratic lawmakers will face political consequences for their support of Israel. “It is disgraceful that the Biden administration and my colleagues in Congress continue to smear [anti-Israel students] for protesting to save lives — no matter their faith or ethnicity. It is cowardly. But we’re not going to forget in November, are we?”

In response, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said that Tlaib should be expelled from Congress for speaking at the event. “Associating with and speaking before groups that are funded by US designated terrorist organizations is disqualifying,” Lawler wrote on X.

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bring them home 

Inside the Goldberg-Polins' whirlwind trip to Washington

SAMUEL CORUM/SIPA USA via AP IMAGES

Rachel Goldberg-Polin has a moment from her childhood, sometime between 1979 and 1980, etched in her memory. She had gone to sleep, but woke up after a couple of hours. Her father was watching Ted Koppel host that evening’s edition of ABC’s “Nightline.” In the corner of the screen was a number — marking the days that dozens of Americans, including embassy personnel, were held captive in Iran after a violent coup that overthrew the Shah. “He explained to me,” she recalled, “‘Oh, these people are being held hostage’ and what it meant to be held hostage.” Forty-four years later, Rachel wears her own number, marking the days that her son, Hersh, has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. On the day she and her husband, Jon Goldberg-Polin, spoke to Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss by Zoom from their home in Jerusalem, both wore masking tape on their shirts, the number 233 written in marker, marking 233 days since their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was taken hostage by Hamas.

Tenth D.C. visit: The two had just returned from Washington, their 10th visit since the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7 turned their world upside down. Over their repeated trips to the U.S., the Goldberg-Polins have built up a number of allies in the House and Senate, a group of legislators “who are trying to be helpful to us. They know us. They're emotionally invested,” Rachel said. Among them: Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Mark Warner (D-VA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Joni Ernst (R-IA). They also met with former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican running for retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) seat.

Keeping politics out: Even as the war becomes increasingly divisive in the run-up to the presidential election in the U.S., and as the hostage issue becomes increasingly politicized among hostage families in Israel, the Goldberg-Polins have chosen to keep politics out of their fight. It’s a message they said they have conveyed to every American politician with whom they’ve met. “We said, ‘Don't fall into letting this be politicized,’” Jon said. “It is an election year, it is kind of inevitable, but these are human beings. These are eight Americans.”

Meeting Biden: President Joe Biden met privately with a group of special guests, including the Goldberg-Polins, ahead of a Jewish American Heritage Month celebration in the Rose Garden. In the two minutes she had, Rachel appealed to Biden as a parent who had lost a child; the president’s oldest son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015. “I said to him, ‘I understand from everyone in Washington that you're probably the most family-centric person in this city,” Rachel said. “And I said, ‘And I know that you can appreciate that Hersh changed me from being a daughter, a woman, a friend, a wife, into a mother, and that there's a very magical thing that happens to a human being when you become a parent.’ And I said to him — and I put my hand on his chest — and I said, ‘It's like when Beau was born for you, and he changed you from being a man, a husband, a son, into a father.’”

Read the full story here.

Hostage talks: Negotiations between Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators are set to resume today, remotely, in the ongoing effort to reach a hostage release deal.

bibi-sitting

Democrats divided over Johnson's Netanyahu invite

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Democrats are split on how to react to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) plan to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is facing pressure on all sides over the invitation. Johnson told reporters this week that Schumer had privately indicated to him that he plans to sign off on the invite, though the Democratic leader has only confirmed publicly that he is in talks with the speaker’s office on the matter. “ While it remains unclear if Netanyahu will even accept the invitation to speak, the issue has sparked a range of reactions from congressional Democrats, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Lahav Harkov report.

It’s a ‘no’ from me: Progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) have vowed to boycott the speech, and a number of their like-minded colleagues are considering following suit. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) replied with a “no,” when asked if Schumer should sign his name to the invitation. Other Democrats who have been critical of Netanyahu expressed more openness to the idea. 

Hearing him out: “Israel is an ally of ours, our only Democratic ally in the region. I'd be interested in hearing what he has to say in a joint session,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told JI on Thursday. 

Tricky timing: Democrats across the ideological spectrum bemoaned the timing of Johnson’s invitation, noting that it would take place as Israel ramps up sensitive military efforts in Rafah, and a time when Netanyahu is facing growing criticism back home over his handling of the war. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told JI, “I'm not sure about the timing here. I don't know, I'm not sure when the visit is supposed to be. If you think about it, it's Israel, it's a head of state. It's understandable. One thing we have to be careful [about is] that we don't get engaged in domestic politics and the Israelis don't get involved in our domestic politics. We've got to be careful.”

Read the full story here.

court wars

How the ICC, ICJ rulings could have deeper, long-term implications for Israel

LEV RADIN/PACIFIC PRESS/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES

The International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s intention to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – alongside Hamas leaders — and the International Court of Justice’s demand for Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate,” could have broader implications for Israel’s image, its diplomatic standing and its relationships with close allies, including the U.S, in both the short and long term. The decisions could also have an inverse effect on the legitimacy and status of those two international bodies, analysts and legal experts told Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash this week.

Diplomatic fallout: “The war has been quite disastrous to Israel’s diplomatic standing in the world because it has really put it on a collision course with international institutions and with large parts of the international community,” Yuval Shany, a professor in the faculty of law at Hebrew University and a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, told JI. “We are seeing diplomatic relations being cut by some countries, we’re seeing trade sanctions by some countries, we’re seeing limits on military exports, so on the whole I can say that this has not been Israel’s finest hour internationally.” 

Inverse effect: Alan Baker, the director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Israel’s former ambassador to Canada, said that the decisions issued by these two international bodies – which were established to solve global disputes and prosecute individuals accused of committing the most heinous crimes – could end up having an inverse effect on the courts themselves. “What the Palestinians have done from the very beginning is to target the ICC as good grounds for politicization against Israel,” he said. “Because they haven't been able to physically eliminate Israel, they found a very good way of carrying out lawfare to undermine Israel's legitimacy and turning the ICC into their own backyard Israel-bashing tribunal.”

Put to the test: “The decision was sufficiently ambiguous to give Israel some wiggle or maneuver room, but in practical terms, I think it would be wise for Israel to continue the operation with additional measures of protection, so it can at least show the international community and the ICJ that it is taking the concerns raised by the court really seriously,” Shany said. That ambiguity could now be put to the test following Sunday’s IDF strike on Rafah, which Palestinians say killed at least 45 people, including women and children, in a tent city set up for internally displaced civilians. Hours after the attack, several humanitarian organizations sent out a petition demanding that the U.N. Security Council members enforce the ICJ ruling and pressure Israel to immediately halt all fighting in Gaza. 

Read the full story here.

Madrid’s move: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government will today formally recognize a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank connected by a corridor, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Norway and Ireland are also poised to recognize a Palestinian state today.

BATTLE FOR BISMARCK

North Dakota primary pits a traditional Republican against a rival skeptical of foreign engagement

AP Photo/Jack Dura/Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP File

In North Dakota, the GOP primary race for the state’s sole House seat is set to play out as another battle between the Republican Party’s traditional wing and the Freedom Caucus-aligned insurgent right wing, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

In the race: North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak faces former state Rep. Rick Becker, a plastic surgeon, in the primary. Fedorchak is defending U.S. engagement around the world, while Becker is pushing for scaled back U.S. involvement globally and opposes most foreign aid. One of the sharpest divides between the two Republicans is over foreign policy. Fedorchak is leaning into traditional conservative views on foreign policy in her campaign — expressing staunch support for continued U.S. assistance to Israel and Ukraine — while Becker favors dramatically cutting foreign aid.

Fedorchak’s view: “I think Israel needs to have the resources necessary to properly secure its safety and stability and help reinforce the stability in the broader region as a whole and the Middle East,” Fedorchak told JI, adding that she’s “committed to ensuring the continuation of foreign aid to Israel.” Speaking more broadly about the recent foreign aid bill, Fedorchak said, “We have to support our allies around the world and help them defend their democracies and stave off the aggressors that are anti-democracy and anti-American.”

Becker’s view: When he spoke to JI, Becker said that he is “very much in favor of pulling foreign aid,” particularly from U.S. adversaries, but that “Israel should be the last place that we pull foreign aid” and he is “completely in favor” of continuing that aid in the near term.  Ultimately, he continued, he wants to see Israel in “a position where Israel no longer even desires or needs aid from the United States.”

But: Becker’s support for continued near-term aid for Israel appears different from a view he has expressed in at least one other interview. In a Feb. 17 interview with The Dakotan, Becker said, “I respect Israel and I respect Israel’s right to defend itself completely but sending billions and billions of dollars to Israel — they are less in debt than we are. I understand they may even have a surplus, I don’t know. But the point is we’re in the hurt bay. There’s no place for us to be lending money, even to our friends, Israel.”

Read the full story here.

BATTLEGROUND VIRGINIA

Three contenders emerging in Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Jennifer Wexton

Valerie Plesch for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Ahead of next month’s primary election, the crowded Democratic field in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District looks like it’s coming down to three candidates: former State House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, state Rep. Dan Helmer and state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Key endorsement: Subramanyam’s campaign received a major boost with an endorsement from Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), the outgoing incumbent who is retiring from Congress due to a terminal illness. The Democratic-leaning 10th District covers most of Northern Virginia’s western suburbs, including all of fast-growing Loudoun County.  

Israel views: Filler-Corn and Helmer, who are both Jewish, have been outspoken about their support for Israel in their campaigns. Subramanyam said at a recent forum that he’d “like to see a long-term two-state solution” but “one of the states can’t be Hamas — that’s the reality.” He said he’d like to see a negotiated cease-fire including the release of the hostages in Gaza, but again emphasized that “long-term peace requires that Hamas not be one of the states.”

Looking ahead: Both Bob Holsworth, a Virginia political scientist and analyst, and Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, an election handicapping newsletter, named Subramanyam, Filler-Corn and Helmer as the likely top candidates in the race, but said it’s difficult to predict beyond that. 

New attack: The race has also been roiled in recent days by a new independent expenditure campaign opposing Filler-Corn, which she and her campaign have criticized as antisemitic and sexist. The attacks accuse Filler-Corn of catering to the interests of business groups, including the pharmaceutical, tobacco and oil industries, rather than voters, citing her past work at a lobbying firm. “It is disappointing but unsurprising that I face false and baseless attacks from a dark money group,” Filler-Corn said in a statement. “These false attacks are plainly sexist and rely on vile antisemitic tropes.”

Read the full story here.

calling out extremes

Deborah Lipstadt's horseshoe theory of antisemitism

Noam Galai/Getty Images

After Deborah Lipstadt was sworn as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism two years ago this week, she began to travel the world to ask countries how the United States could help them fight antisemitism in their borders. But something has begun to change since the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel, Lisptadt said Friday at a virtual hour-long briefing for members of the Jewish community, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Failing state: “In the past few months, especially since the turmoil on the campuses, I've been having countries saying to me, ‘Is your country OK? What can we do for you?’” Lipstadt recounted. “What is happening in America — it has sent a shudder through many countries, because they wonder, are we on the verge of becoming a failed state?”

Not 1939, yet: Lipstadt, who was nominated to the ambassador-level position by President Joe Biden, said the good news of the past nearly eight months has been the support of the U.S. government in fighting antisemitism. But she expressed deep concern about rising antisemitism around the world and in the U.S. “I’m often asked, as a historian, ‘Is this 1939?’” Lipstadt said. “I say, ‘No, that’s a bit of an extreme position.’ I think it’s more like the early 1930s, maybe the late 1920s, with the destabilization of society.” 

Unique hatred: Since Oct. 7, Lipstadt said the language she uses to talk about antisemitism — and where it appears on the ideological spectrum — has changed. “I talk about a horseshoe. If you think about a horseshoe, the two ends meet together and often are magnetized and attracted to one another. It's a question of extremism,” said Lipstadt. “Very few prejudices come from different ends of the political spectrum, virtually none. They're either one side or the other, but they’re not coming from both. And here, they come from both, they share the same template, because the antisemitic template is so old and so malleable, and they share that extremism. And that makes this harder to fight and a more frightening phenomenon.” 

Read the full story here.

Striking Soleimani: Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., the former head of U.S. Central Command, wrote in The Atlantic about the decision to assassinate Qassem Soleimani — and its aftermath: “Iran had doubted our ability to demonstrate such force, and for good reason—we had never done so over the course of at least two administrations. Now, for the first time in many years, Iran had seen the naked power of the United States. It had to recalculate. Small-scale attacks continued, particularly those that couldn’t be directly attributed to Iran. But operational guidance to both Iranian forces and their proxies had changed: Avoid major attacks on U.S. forces. This was a watershed moment in the U.S.-Iran relationship. Striking Soleimani showed Iran a kind of resolve that had long been absent from U.S. policy. This cycle played out again last month, when Iran attacked Israel: American engagement countered Iranian aggression.” [TheAtlantic]

Pride and Prejudice: Tablet contributing writer James Kirchick writes in The New York Times about the growing bigotry against Jews in the literary world: “Over the past several months, a litmus test has emerged across wide swaths of the literary world effectively excluding Jews from full participation unless they denounce Israel. This phenomenon has been unfolding in progressive spaces (academia, politics, cultural organizations) for quite some time. That it has now hit the rarefied, highbrow realm of publishing — where Jewish Americans have made enormous contributions and the vitality of which depends on intellectual pluralism and free expression — is particularly alarming. As is always and everywhere the case, this burgeoning antisemitism is concomitant with a rising illiberalism. Rarely, if ever, do writers express unanimity on a contentious political issue. We’re a naturally argumentative bunch who — at least in theory — answer only to our own consciences. To compel them to express support or disapproval for a cause is one of the cruelest things a society can do to writers, whose role is to tell society what they believe, regardless of how popular the message may be.” [NYT]

The Feather Ruffler: For the Wall Street Journal, Siobhan Hughes spotlights Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) more than a year after he was hospitalized for severe depression. “He is lucky to be alive. His support for Israel is unshakable. He backs President Biden. He’s sticking to the hoodies. And he has no plans to change his party affiliation, even as many Democrats purse their lips when the freshman senator breaks with the party line on the most controversial issues of the day. ‘I might have a different view on things like Israel, and some other ones,’ Fetterman, 54 years old, said in a wide-ranging interview in his office. ‘I just consider myself a Democrat that calls balls and strikes,’ he said, while pointing to his solid blue voting record and support for party positions on LGBTQ rights and abortion access.” [WSJ]

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Around the Web

Wilmington Watch: Senior Democrats are now feeling a “pervasive sense of fear” over President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects, Politico reports, with even once-optimistic strategists increasingly downbeat about the president’s reelection prospects.

Laying Down the Law: Former President Donald Trump promised to crush pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses to a roomful of donors this month in New York. “One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students. As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave,” Trump reportedly said.

Heckled: Trump was jeered upon delivering a speech Saturday at the Libertarian National Convention. He was the first current or former president to address the third-party group.

Rafah Crossing Clash: An Egyptian soldier was killed near the Rafah border crossing following a clash between Israeli and Egyptian soldiers.

Warming Ties: The Biden administration plans to lift a ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials told the Financial Times.

Divided Allies: The U.S. is pushing back against an effort by Britain and France to censure Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s member-state board in June, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Aid Ship Freed: A U.S. ship working with the floating pier for Gaza humanitarian aid has been released after it got stuck on the Ashdod beach due to rough weather conditions.

Trudeau’s Troubles: The political outlook for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “so grim,” Politico reports, that many members of his Liberal Party “have been grumbling that maybe he should just step down and give someone else a shot.”

Jewish School Shooting: Toronto police are investigating a Saturday morning shooting at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School, a Jewish girls school. There were no reported injuries.

Heavy Hitters: Former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe are slated to host an exclusive fundraising dinner for President Joe Biden in Virginia on June 18, Axios reported. 

Shein-ing a Light: The Washington Post profiles Claudia Sheinbaum, who looks set to become Mexico’s first female and first Jewish president.

View From Baghdad: The New York Times interviews Iraqis about their thoughts and feelings about the war in Gaza.

Nuke Update: Iran has expanded its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said. 

South Africa Slam: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a campaign speech that included the slogan “from the river to the sea,” while he left out calling for the release of the “hostages held in Gaza” as was written in the prepared remarks.

Buying Up Israel Bonds: The Financial Times spotlights investments made by Joseph Abruzzo, the comptroller for Palm Beach County, who holds $700  million out of his $4.6 billion portfolio in Israel Bonds

Amir Levy/Getty Images
Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley visited the Nova Festival site in Re'eim, Israel, yesterday as part of a tour of Israeli Gaza border communities.
Birthdays
Lorne Thomson/Redferns

British comedian, screenwriter and singer, he is the author of a 2021 book on antisemitism, Jews Don't Count, David Lionel Baddiel turns 60...

Founding rabbi of both Lincoln Square Synagogue in NYC and then later the City of Efrat, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin turns 84... Director of UCSF's Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, he won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Stanley Benjamin Prusiner M.D. turns 82... Executive director of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Jerome H. Kadden... Former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani turns 80... Former mayor of Toronto, John Howard Tory turns 70... Winnipeg-born attorney, previous campaign chair for Winnipeg's Combined Jewish Appeal and governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Gail Sheryl Asper turns 64... U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) turns 53... Four-time U.S. national fencing champion and a two-time Olympian, then an attorney who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Eric Oliver "Nick" Bravin turns 53... Longtime member of the Knesset on behalf of the Likud party, he was recently appointed as Israel's consul general to New York, Ofir Akunis turns 51... Guitarist, composer and leader of the bands Rashanim and Zion80, Jon Madof turns 50... Rabbi at Temple B'nai Sholom in Huntsville, Ala., Eric Berk... Senior manager in the executive office at The Pew Charitable Trusts, Lauren Mandelker... Singer-songwriter, artist and filmmaker, Adam Green turns 43... Entrepreneur and member of the Pritzker family of Hyatt Hotels, Matthew Pritzker turns 42... Managing principal of Asher Strategies, David A. Lobl... Founder in 2015 of At The Well, a women's wellness organization rooted in Jewish spirituality and women's health, Sarah Michal Waxman... Founder and CEO at Vista Nexum, Adelle Malka Nazarian... Freelance journalist Thea Glassman... Fashion designer and the founder of WeWoreWhat, Danielle Bernstein turns 32... Harry Weinstein... Named for his father, a WSJ bureau chief that was kidnapped and murdered by Pakistani terrorists a few months before he was born, Adam Daniel Pearl turns 22... Israeli swimmer, she competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Aviv Barzelay turns 22... Irwin Weiss...

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