| | Good Monday morning. In today’s Daily Kickoff , we report on the IDF’s rescue of four Israeli hostages from Gaza over the weekend, look at a new survey of American Jews by the American Jewish Committee focused on antisemitism and have the details on the upcoming renovation of Washington’s Kesher Israel synagogue. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff : Rep. Virginia Foxx, Audrey Gelman and Michael Bloomberg. Secretary of State Tony Blinken touched down in Israel this afternoon local time, on the heels of a dramatic weekend in Israel that provided its citizens a bright moment after eight grueling months of war, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss reports. Blinken will be arriving to a heartened Israeli populace, which is still celebrating the Saturday morning rescue of four Israeli hostages after more than 280 days in captivity. JI’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports below on the military operation that rescued Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv. Blinken will also be arriving to a changed Israeli government, following the announcement from Benny Gantz that he is departing Israel’s war cabinet. Despite Gantz’s resignation from the war cabinet, he is still slated to meet with Blinken during the secretary’s visit. Read more below from JI’s Lahav Harkov on Gantz’s exit. And Blinken will be arriving to hard questions from the Israelis as details of the hostages’ circumstances emerge. The discovery that three of the captives were held in the home of a journalist employed by a U.S.-registered 501(c)3 — more on that below — is expected to deepen questions in Israel and on Capitol Hill about American taxpayer dollars that have unwittingly funded terror activities. That non-profit, the Washington State-based People Media Project, is already taking steps to distance its publication, the Palestine Chronicle, from Gaza journalist Abdallah Aljamal. The Palestine Chronicle edited its website overnight to downgrade Aljamal from a correspondent to a contributor. ( In a version of the Chronicle’s site archived on June 8, Aljamal is listed as a correspondent.) Earlier today, a senior Hamas official called for Blinken to push Israel to end the war in Gaza, despite Blinken issuing a statement on Saturday praising the Israeli operation that freed the four hostages and calling on Hamas to agree to a cease-fire. “The only thing standing in the way of achieving this ceasefire is Hamas,” Blinken said in the statement. “It is time for them to accept the deal.” NBC News reported earlier today that the U.S. is discussing a potential deal with Hamas to release five of the eight remaining American hostages. While the secretary of state’s trip to Israel — his eighth since the Oct. 7 terror attacks — will make headlines, domestic Israeli politics may take center stage today, with a vote expected this evening on the contentious Haredi draft law. The issue was one factor cited by Gantz in his resignation from the war cabinet. Gantz’s departure isn’t the only leadership shuffle happening in Israel. Netanyahu announced on Sunday that MK Danny Danon, who until 2020 was Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., will return to New York later this year when Ambassador Gilad Erdan concludes his posting in Turtle Bay. Elsewhere at the U.N., Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to submit Israel and Hamas to add to a list of state and non-state actors violating the rights of children; the U.N. Security Council will ultimately decide whether to take action against those on the list. Meanwhile, the U.S. is pushing a U.N. Security Council vote on a cease-fire resolution, which was revised over the weekend following pushback from Israel, which objected to some of the language in the original draft. Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | idf rescue Israel rejoices after successful mission to rescue four hostages in Gaza  ALEXI ROSENFELD/GETTY IMAGES Joy and tragedy overlapped in Israel this weekend as special forces carried out a daring military operation on Saturday rescuing four hostages who had been held in Gaza by the militant Islamic terror group Hamas since its barbaric attack on southern Israel eight months ago. As the news broke of the rescue of the four Israelis taken captive by Hamas from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, ordinary Israelis took to the streets – and beaches – in celebration, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.
A huge achievement: Joyous images and videos were soon released of the four — Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41 — touching down at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Center in military helicopters and being tearfully reunited with family members and friends.
Mixed emotions: The joy was quickly mixed with sadness, however, as the families of those who remain in Gaza released a statement urging the government to “remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas.” At rallies around the country on Saturday night, thousands took to the streets expressing joy that the four were rescued but demanding that the government work to reach a deal with Hamas, who in a statement hours after the rescue operation said that the remaining hostages were now in “great danger” and Israel’s actions, which it said killed more than 200 people, would “have a negative impact on their conditions and lives.”
Tragic news: Additionally, it was later revealed that Meir Jan’s father died of a heart attack just hours before the army arrived to deliver the news of his son’s rescue. The daring mission, which took place “Fauda”-style in broad daylight in the center of one of Gaza’s most densely packed neighborhoods – the Nuseirat camp – also took the life of Arnon Zamora, 36, a chief inspector in the Israel police’s special Yamam forces, who led part of the mission.
Read the full story here. held by a reporter Palestinian journalist held Israeli hostages in home  GIDEON MARKOWICZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES A Palestinian journalist and his family held three Israeli hostages captive in their home in the Gaza Strip until their rescue on Saturday morning, the Israeli Defense Forces said on Sunday, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss reports.
Army findings: “Following the completion of IDF and ISA examinations of reports on the subject, it can be confirmed that Abdallah Aljamal was an operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, who held the hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv captive in his family home in Nuseirat,” the IDF said in a statement. Aljamal, his father and wife were killed during the IDF operation.
Published works: Aljamal was a contributor to The Palestine Chronicle, and published frequently on the site. On June 3, he published an article with the headline “My House Will Always Be Open – Stories from the Gaza Siege.” The Palestine Chronicle is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in the U.S. with the official name People Media Project.
Al Jazeera aspect: In 2019, Aljamal published an article tagged as an opinion piece on Al Jazeera’s website. Al Jazeera attempted to distance itself from Aljamal on Sunday, saying, “This man is not from Al-Jazeera, and he did not work for Al-Jazeera at all, and he is not listed as working for Al-Jazeera neither now nor in the past. We do not know him, and all the rumors that have been spread are empty of content and not true at all.”
Read the full story here. exit announcement Gantz leaves government, accusing Netanyahu of playing wartime politics  Amir Levy/Getty Images Minister Benny Gantz resigned from the Israeli war cabinet on Sunday, taking his party out of the coalition while accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not putting the country’s best interests first, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. “Months after the October disaster, the situation in the country and the rooms in which decisions are made changed,” Gantz said. “Strategic, fateful decisions are met with hesitations and deferrals out of political considerations … Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing to true victory.”
Pushing Gallant: Gantz called on Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, of Netanyahu’s Likud party, to quit as well, and said that an election should be held, “after which a government can be established, with the trust of the people, that can meet our challenges.”
Consequences: While the war cabinet minister’s departure from the government would not necessitate an election, as Netanyahu still has a 64-seat coalition, the move is likely to be destabilizing. A Knesset vote on a bill regarding Haredi conscription to the IDF, which the Supreme Court ordered but is opposed by Netanyahu’s coalition partners Shas and UTJ, is expected to test the strength of the government on Monday. Gallant plans to vote against the government-sponsored bill, a step that would normally trigger an automatic resignation by a minister, but wouldn’t necessarily in this case because of a technicality — though it could lead to his dismissal by the prime minister.
Read the full story here. poll position AJC survey finds significant majorities of Jews concerned about antisemitism, support  Scott Olson/Getty Images A survey of the U.S. Jewish community by the American Jewish Committee found that a significant majority of the U.S. Jewish community harbors deep concerns about antisemitism in the United States and remains strongly supportive of Israel. It also suggested that a much-speculated swing in the Jewish vote this November may not materialize, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Antisemitism: The survey found that 93% of Jews think that antisemitism is a problem, with 56% calling it a “serious” problem. And 87% said antisemitism has increased since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, with 55% saying it has increased “a lot” since the attack.
Israel: On Israel, 85% of Jews said it's important for the U.S. to continue to support Israel, with 60% rating it very important. Seventy-eight percent of Jews said they are paying more attention to news about Israel since Oct. 7. The survey also found that pluralities of Jews feel more connected to Israel — 45% — and to their Jewish identities — 48% — since the Oct. 7 attack.
Election watch: The survey suggested that predictions that Trump would do significantly better among Jewish voters in 2024 are overstated. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they plan to vote for President Joe Biden, roughly in line with the 64% who reported, in the same poll, having voted for Biden in 2020. Trump won 23% of the Jewish vote in the AJC poll, while 10% of respondents said they planned to vote for someone else, and 6% said they do not plan to vote.
Read the full story here. escalating tensions Foxx threatens to subpoena Northwestern, accuses Schill of false testimony  MICHAEL A. MCCOY/GETTY IMAGES In a scathing new letter to the leadership of Northwestern University on Friday, House Education and Workforce Committee chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) threatened to subpoena the school. Foxx also accused Northwestern President Michael Schill of providing false testimony in a committee hearing last month, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Schill stress: Foxx’s letter alleges that “rather than being cooperative and transparent, Northwestern has obstructed the Committee’s investigation of” antisemitism and Schill “refused to answer questions,” “made statements at odds with the public record” and “demonstrated an overall attitude of contempt” for the committee.
Non-compliance: The letter accuses Northwestern of failing to comply with a previous request for documents on the school’s handling of antisemitism and anti-Israel demonstrations. Foxx said in the letter that she’s prepared to subpoena the school for documents and testimony, and that the committee will hold the school’s full Board of Trustees responsible for following her requests.
What they want: The letter gave Northwestern 10 days, until June 17, to provide a series of documents and communications relating to the encampment, antisemitism, board meetings, antisemitism advisory committee meetings and donations from Qatar, or face a subpoena.
Read the full story here.
Also on the Hill: Members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee wrote to the leaders of a series of federal agencies about potential violations of the Civil Rights Act, relating to campus antisemitism, at schools receiving funding from the agencies, including for science-based scholarships and research grants. They highlighted that events on campus may make schools ineligible for such funding and requested that each agency review civil rights compliance at the schools receiving funding from them. kesher construction Georgetown's historic Kesher Israel synagogue set to undergo major renovation, expansion  Hilary Phelps Kesher Israel Congregation, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Washington, D.C., has a storied, even mythic, history among Jews of the nation’s capital. What it doesn’t have is anything approaching a modern building. That’s about to change as the synagogue, which has remained largely untouched since it was built in 1931, is set to undergo a major renovation, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Distinguished: For decades, Kesher was the only Orthodox synagogue in central Washington (a distinction it now shares with a Chabad House). It has been home to generations of Jewish politicians, including Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Jack Lew, now the U.S. ambassador to Israel. It’s a frequent stopping point for Jewish dignitaries visiting Washington.
But underwhelming: “Sometimes people walk in, they'll be like, ‘I've heard so much about Kesher Israel, it has such a big place in people's minds and in the eyes of the Jewish people,’” said Kesher Rabbi Hyim Shafner. “They'll walk in and be like, ‘This is it?’” The synagogue has no lobby, leading guests to sometimes wonder if they are at the right entrance. It is inaccessible to people with disabilities; all spaces are reachable only by climbing up or down stairs. Its social hall can fit no more than 50 people for a Shabbat dinner, despite the synagogue’s membership of more than 300 people. Critically, the building lacks the security protections that are common in many other synagogues.
Major project: The synagogue recently won approval from the requisite zoning and governmental boards in Georgetown to begin construction, not an easy task in the preservation-obsessed neighborhood. Now Kesher’s leadership is preparing for a major renovation and expansion project that is estimated to cost at least $12 million and take more than two years to complete.
Read the full story here. | American Hostages: The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus spotlights the American hostages who remain in Gaza. “But, most of all, they have a message for their fellow Americans: Do not forget us. ‘The narrative is not being told enough that this was an attack … on the United States, not only on Israel — this was an attack on citizens from 24 states,’ said Orna Neutra, Omer’s mother. ‘And more specifically, there were 44 Americans murdered on Oct. 7. … There were 12 taken hostage and eight are still hostage. I think that gets lost.’ Why, I ask, do they think that is happening? ‘Personally, we have suspicions, but I think part of it is that it’s perceived that those Americans are dual citizens, and maybe more Israelis than Americans,’ said Ronen Neutra, Omer’s father. ‘So maybe … not equally important.’ Adi Alexander was, as he put it, ‘a little bit bold’ in quoting his congressman, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), to the effect that the Americans killed and held hostage are ‘not being mentioned enough only because of the fact that they are Jews.’” [WashPost]
Khan’s Consultants: In The Wall Street Journal, Eugene Kontorovich raises concerns about the anti-Israel biases of individuals selected as consultants to chief prosecutor Karim Khan. “The legal credentials of the prosecutor’s consultants aren’t in question. The problem is that while they’re entitled to their opinions, picking them to assist in a criminal prosecution is different from inviting them to speak at a conference. Mr. Khan chose them despite their strong, legally controversial stances on the issues they were supposed to examine neutrally. They expressed these opinions in political, not merely academic, contexts. Not one expert with a public record of serious skepticism about the court’s jurisdiction or alleged Israeli criminality was included on the panel. It would have been easy for Mr. Khan to find experts with similar views who hadn’t made their prejudices public. That Mr. Khan chose these advisers indicates that he valued certainty in the results above even the appearance of impartiality.” [WSJ] | Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | Saudi Sights: The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are moving closer to finalizing a security agreement as part of a broader Saudi-Israel normalization mega-deal.
Death Toll Breakdown: An analysis from the Associated Press found that the number of female and child casualties in Gaza dropped significantly, suggesting both an increase in Israeli pinpoint operations focused on terror targets and faulty reporting by the Gaza Health Ministry.
Army Withdrawal: The head of the IDF’s Gaza division resigned over the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, saying he had “failed in my life’s mission to protect the Gaza border communities.”
Back Up: The NAACP briefly took down its statement calling for the U.S. to halt arms shipments to Israel before reinstating the page.
Backing Brown: Former President Donald Trump endorsed Sam Brown in Nevada’s Republican Senate primary over Jeff Gunter, who served as U.S. ambassador to Ireland during the Trump administration.
Indivisible Split: City & State NY looks at the internal divisions roiling progressive activist group Indivisible Westchester, which previously backed congressional candidate George Latimer’s successful bid for county executive, as Latimer mounts a primary challenge to Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).
District Damage: National Park Service officials are assessing damages following a weekend anti-Israel protest outside the White House in which the grounds, including a statue of General Lafayette, were vandalized.
Toronto Tally: An estimated 40,000 people — including Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan — participated in an Israeli solidarity march in Toronto over the weekend.
Stanford Suspects: Thirteen people who barricaded themselves in the office of Stanford University’s president and provost are facing felony burglary charges, with bail set at $20,000.
On the Market: WeWork founder Adam Neumann listed his New York City townhouse for $25 million.
The Spielberg Touch: Steven Spielberg assisted President Joe Biden in his D-Day speech at Pointe du Hoc, France; the director is also working with the Democratic National Committee on strategy efforts ahead of the August convention.
Southwest Stake: Elliott Investment Management has accrued a $2 billion stake in Southwest Airlines as the carrier faces declining revenue and other challenges.
Timberwolves Talk: Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will partner with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in an effort to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Upstate Escape: The Wing founder Audrey Gelman is opening a hotel in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Across the Pond: The Times’ columnist Alice Thomson spotlights Victoria Starmer, the Jewish wife of Labour leader Keir Starmer.
Election Season: French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the country’s National Assembly, triggering summer elections, following right-wing victories in France and Germany in the weekend’s European Parliament elections.
Bogota Ban: Colombia announced it will ban its coal exports to Israel, citing the ongoing war in Gaza.
Mideast Meet-up: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh in Doha over the weekend; Fidan was in Qatar for a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers.
Ahmadinejad Out: Iran barred former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running in the country’s upcoming elections to succeed President Ebrahim Raisi; the Guardian Council approved six candidates to appear on the final ballot.
Remembering: Holocaust survivor Sigmund Rolat, who used the wealth he amassed after immigrating to the U.S. to fund projects in his native Poland, including a Jewish museum on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, died at 93. Environmentalist and artist Debby Lee Cohen, whose efforts focused on eliminating plastic trays in school lunchrooms, died at 64. |  Amir Levy/Getty Images People celebrate as they hold photos of rescued hostages Noa Argamani and Almog Meir Jan at Tel Aviv's Hostage square on Saturday. |  Michael Campanella/Getty Images Belgian singer and songwriter, known as "Blanche," Ellie Blanche Delvaux turns 25...
Author of award-winning books about her experiences before, during and after the Holocaust, Aranka Davidowitz Siegal turns 94... Emmy Award-winning TV journalist and the author of 14 books, Jeff Greenfield turns 81... Physical therapist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Andrea Sachs... Cathy Farbstein Miller... Senior director of communications for CoGenerate, Stefanie Weiss... Former attorney general and then governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer turns 65... Director of business development at Evergreen Benefits Group, Avi H. Goldfeder... Blogger and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Neil Steinberg turns 64... Film, television and stage actress, Gina Gershon turns 62... Actress and the older sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman turns 58... Israeli film and TV actress, Avital Abergel turns 47... Veteran of nine NFL seasons as an offensive tackle, he is now the athletic director of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mike Rosenthal turns 47... Director of strategic partnerships at the Birthright Israel Foundation and director of community education at NYC's Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, Rabbi Daniel Kraus... Professor at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, Yascha Mounk turns 42... Economic commentator on Israeli television, Matan Hodorov turns 39... Publisher of The New York Sun, Dovid Efune... CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, Tyler Gregory... Singer, composer and entertainer in the contemporary Jewish religious music industry, Simcha Leiner turns 35... CEO of NYC-based Encounter Programs, Yona Shem-Tov... | | | | | |
