| | Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we continue our reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff took the stage last night. We also look at how universities are preparing for students’ return to campus amid the backdrop of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, cover efforts by hostage families to generate support at the DNC and report on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s comments on anti-Israel protesters at the convention. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Ryan Breslow, Yassamin Ansari and Joshua Leifer.
Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will be the headliner tonight on the third night of the Democratic National Convention. Former President Bill Clinton and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will also be featured speakers.
- Earlier in the day, Democratic Majority for Israel is holding a luncheon honoring pro-Israel elected officials, including Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog is also expected to be in attendance.
- This morning, the only official Jewish event on the “Dempalooza” schedule is taking place — but given security concerns, it will be held at a separate location, away from the rest of the Democratic Party hoopla at McCormick Place. Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami and Democratic Majority for Israel board chair Ann Lewis will speak on a panel about the American Jewish community and Israel after Oct. 7. The conversation will be moderated by former Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) and Alan Solomont, a J Street lay leader and former U.S. ambassador to Spain.
- Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) is bringing his “bagel caucus” to Chicago, and hosting a breakfast this morning.
- At night, after Walz’s speech concludes, J Street will host a foreign policy-themed after-party alongside several other progressive groups, including the Truman National Security Project, the Center for International Policy, Foreign Policy for America and the League of Conservation Voters.
- And on the Republican campaign trail, former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) are slated to speak at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame in Asheboro at 2 p.m. ET, where they’ll deliver remarks on national security.
| Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention was the gathering’s most Jewish so far. Counting Los Angeles Rabbi Sharon Brous, who delivered the invocation, Jewish speakers were halfway to making a minyan, Jewish Insider’s senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch reports from Chicago.
Prime-time speakers included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Emhoff was introduced by his son, Cole, and after the two embraced onstage, Emhoff introduced himself to America as a man who happily put his career on hold to support the ambitions of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris.
If Harris wins, Emhoff would become the first first gentleman, a fact cheered by Jewish Democrats in the audience who held signs that read “First Mensch.” They devoured Emhoff’s descriptions of his Jewish faith — stories that many American Jews would surely recognize from his speeches and interviews at Jewish White House events, but that are now becoming something even bigger: the lore of a future president. Jewish Democrats fell in love with Emhoff when he stepped into his unexpected role as a prominent advocate against antisemitism more than two years ago, but now they have to share him with the rest of the country. They couldn’t be happier to do so.
“I had a typical Jersey suburban childhood,” Emhoff said. “I biked around the neighborhood. I took the bus to Hebrew school. And I rode to Little League practice in the way back of my coach’s wood-paneled station wagon.” When the Hebrew school line sunk in, a small but spunky group of delegates whooped loudly.
Later, Emhoff spoke with pride about his and Harris’ “blended family,” of different faiths and stepchildren and Emhoff’s continued friendship with his ex-wife.
“Over the last decade, Kamala has connected me more deeply to my faith, even though it’s not the same as hers. She comes to synagogue with me for High Holiday services, and I go to church with her for Easter,” Emhoff shared. “She makes a mean brisket for Passover. It brings me right back to my grandmother’s apartment in Brooklyn, you know, the one with the plastic covered couches.”
"Kamala has fought against antisemitism and all forms of hate her whole career. She is the one who encouraged me as second gentleman to take up that fight which is so personal to me,” Emhoff added.
Earlier in the night, after a speech touting Senate Democrats’ achievements, Schumer said he wanted to “close on a personal note.”
“As the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history, I want my grandkids and all grandkids to never, never face discrimination because of who they are. But Donald Trump — this is a guy who peddles antisemitic stereotypes. He even invited a white supremacist to Mar-a-Lago, and unfortunately his prejudice goes in all directions. He fuels Islamophobia and issued a Muslim ban as president,” Schumer said. Earlier in the day, Schumer said that author Robert Caro had given him a copy of his biography of President Lyndon Johnson with the inscription "To the Jewish LBJ."
Then, Schumer veered from his prepared remarks: “Tonight, folks, I am wearing this blue square to stand up to antisemitism, to stand up to all hate,” Schumer said, noting the blue pin promoted by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. “Our children, our grandchildren, no matter their race, no matter their creed, their gender or family, deserve better than Donald Trump’s American carnage.”
None of the Jewish speakers mentioned Israel. Only Sanders, who attended the same Brooklyn high school as Schumer, alluded to the Middle East: “We must end this horrific war in Gaza, bring home the hostages and demand an immediate cease-fire,” said Sanders. | back to school Jewish students brace for more disruption upon returning to school in fall  JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images As Jewish students began their summer vacations, many had hoped that a year marked by turmoil over the Israel-Hamas war was behind them. But as fall semesters commence throughout August and September, Israel’s war in Gaza shows no signs of slowing down and Jewish students say they have been given little indication that campus will feel safer than it did in the spring as colleges struggle to balance students' right to express political speech with protecting Jewish students from intimidation, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider.
Issue of enforcement: Despite some new regulations in place at schools throughout the country, experts remain skeptical that elite colleges will enforce their own rules. Mark Yudof, chair of the Academic Engagement Network, told JI that he expects “the encampments, disruptions and other antisemitic or anti-Zionist behaviors will return on many campuses.” Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel International, told JI that he “unfortunately anticipates continued drumbeat of disruptions on campuses this fall. That is a simple function of reality. There remain pockets of students, and non-students, who are committed to using and abusing campus spaces.”
Read the full story here. raising their voices Families of American hostages bring their message to anyone who will listen at DNC  Gabby Deutch Democrats aren’t the only people in Chicago this week looking to make their message heard. The family members of six of the remaining eight American hostages held in Gaza are on the ground too, attending more than 40 events and meetings to remind anyone who will listen that their loved ones — five of whom are believed to be alive — are still held captive by Hamas, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. Many of the family members were scheduled to speak before friendly crowds, at events organized by Jewish organizations. But perhaps more important for the hostage families is the opportunity to speak to the diverse convention goers for whom the return of the hostages is not a central concern.
New York scene: On Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) invited Ruby Chen to a breakfast for hundreds of New Yorkers. “Ruby,” Schumer said, “we are with you guys. Let’s have a round of applause for this man’s strength and courage and everything that he has done.” Chen received a standing ovation. On his way out, he posed for a picture with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who used her address at the convention on Monday night to praise Vice President Kamala Harris for working toward a cease-fire and hostage deal.
Read the full story here. scene last night Protesters disrupt panel on antisemitism on sidelines of DNC  Scott Olson/Getty Images In a secret location, inside a room monitored by security guards and open only to approved guests, dozens of people — Jewish and not Jewish — gathered on Tuesday night to schmooze and nosh over an extensive spread of kosher food. At the event, the first-ever gathering hosted by the Orthodox organization Agudath Israel adjacent to a political convention, attendees discussed rising antisemitism and the growing electoral involvement of Orthodox Jews. So it was the ultimate irony that, midway through the event, a small but vocal group of antisemitic protesters tried to push their way into the event, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
‘Unprecedented’ level of antisemitism: “The more identifiable Orthodox Jewish community we represent has been subjected to an unprecedented level of antisemitic incidents over the past few years,” said Sol Werdiger, board chair at Agudath Israel. “That's why we're here. They think that they can intimidate us. There are thousands of anti-Israel protesters outside, and they cannot intimidate us.” Inside the event, a broad swath of elected officials from across the country stopped by to express solidarity with religious Jews and pledge to join them in the fight against antisemitism. Speakers included Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). Ilan Goldenberg, the newly tapped Jewish outreach director for Kamala Harris’ campaign, was also in attendance.
Read the full story here. protest politics Shapiro equivocates when asked whether anti-Israel protesters ‘have a point’  ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro equivocated when asked whether anti-Israel protesters in Chicago “have a point” — an argument that President Joe Biden made in his convention address that drew widespread applause from the Democratic convention crowd, Jewish Insider’s Josh Kraushaar reports. “Look, I, I haven’t heard specifically what they’ve said. I’m not trying to duck your question. I’ll address it. I think protesters absolutely have a right to have their voices be heard. Whatever the rules of the road are,” Shapiro told JI on Tuesday morning.
On the other hand: Shapiro’s carefully crafted remarks contrasted with another leading Jewish Democrat — Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), who spoke on a panel at the American Jewish Committee breakfast Tuesday morning. Asked about the growing acceptance of anti-Israel radicalism within the Democratic party, Schneider wasted no time characterizing the protesters as part of a radical fringe.
Read the full story here. scoop GWU suspends anti-Israel campus groups through fall semester  STOPANTISEMITISM VIA X The George Washington University started the 2024-25 academic year suspending the groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider.
Drill down: The suspension, which was first announced in a joint Instagram post by the two groups on Monday — and has not yet been publicized by the university — is slated to run through the end of the fall semester. The groups said that university officials have told them they would remain on “disciplinary probation” through the remainder of the school year. Under the suspension, SJP and JVP will not be recognized as registered campus organizations, are prohibited from hosting on-campus events and lose all university funding.
Read the full story here. by a nose Pro-Israel Democrat prevails in closely contested Phoenix House race  JASON WISE/GETTY IMAGES FOR GREEN NEW DEAL NETWORK, CLIMATE ACTION CAMPAIGN Following a recount, a pro-Israel Democrat running for an open House seat in Phoenix claimed a narrow victory on Tuesday over a primary opponent whose Middle East policy views faced scrutiny from Jewish voters, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Yassamin Ansari, the former vice mayor of Phoenix favored by pro-Israel leaders, won the Democratic nomination by just 39 votes, beating Raquel Terán, a former state legislator and party chair backed by the activist left.
Parsing the differences: In a position paper circulated during the campaign, Ansari, 32, had vowed to support continued military aid to Israel “without additional conditions,” among other stances endorsed by pro-Israel groups. By contrast, Terán, 47, was less forthcoming in sharing her positions on Israel, raising concerns among Jewish leaders who were frustrated by her lack of clarity on a key issue, particularly amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Democratic Majority for Israel’s political arm, DMFI PAC, endorsed Ansari and spent nearly $300,000 to boost her campaign.
Read the full story here. | What Free Speech Means: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens pens a letter summarizing what he would like to see university administrators say to incoming students ahead of the fall semester. “If all we accomplish by adopting the Chicago principles is that everyone gets to speak and nobody bothers to listen, those principles will have fallen short. If we embrace institutional neutrality at the topmost level while remaining indifferent to the one-sided politicization of classrooms, departments and administrative offices, we will have done little to advance the pedagogical benefits of neutrality, which is intended to broaden your exposure to the widest variety of views and ideas. And if we permit protests that inhibit the speech of others, or set up no-go zones for Jewish students, or make it difficult to study in the library or pay attention in class, we may have upheld the right to speak in the abstract while stripping it of its underlying purpose. The point of free speech is to open discussion, not to shut it down. It’s to engage with our opponents, not to shut them out. It’s to introduce fresh perspectives, not to declare every perspective but our own to be beyond the moral pale.” [NYTimes]
Rescue and Recovery Efforts: The Wall Street Journal’s Anat Peled looks at the intelligence-gathering efforts that help Israeli officials locate and recover hostages, both living and dead. “In the haze after the Hamas-led attack, Israel didn’t know which of the thousands of missing people were kidnapped or dead. More than 10 months later, and after a costly military operation that has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, and laid waste to much of the enclave, Israeli intelligence has increased. Israel has obtained troves of valuable Hamas data as it has unearthed laptops, cellphones and documents from Gaza, using artificial intelligence to comb through it. And with American help, it has boosted its signals intelligence. Human intelligence—recovered from Palestinians detained by Israel inside Gaza and others who provide information to Israeli forces, has also been key.” [WSJ] | Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | Politico reports that cease-fire and hostage-release negotiations appear likely to fail over Hamas’ refusal to accept the deal that Israel has agreed to, with “many” in the Biden administration “now frustrated by the group’s public rhetoric and unsure whether Hamas’s remarks are merely bluster, a negotiating tactic, or whether the group is sincerely against the agreement”...
Hamas accused the Biden administration of “blind bias” in its handling of negotiations, and denied President Joe Biden’s suggestion that the terror group was “backing away” from an agreement…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the “modern marriage” of Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff…
Puck’s Julia Ioffe mulls potential Cabinet picks in a future Harris-Walz administration: CIA Director Bill Burns as secretary of state, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks or Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth as secretary of defense and the National Security Council’s Maher Bitar in a senior intelligence role…
Thirteen individuals were arrested in skirmishes between anti-Israel protesters and police outside the Israeli Consulate in Chicago…
Maryland Senate candidates Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan condemned the recent antisemitic vandalism at four schools in Montgomery County, Md., Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…
AIPAC’s United Democracy Project gave nearly $1 million to a super PAC targeting the main primary challenger to Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, according to a new filing from the Federal Election Commission; Thanedar won the primary with 54.5% of the vote…
A mosque in Rockland County, N.Y. apologized after a guest imam gave a sermon praising Hamas as “the people of Allah” and prayed to “destroy the Zionist Jews”...
Bolt is reportedly finalizing a $450 million Series F round of funding with Emirati and British investors that will give the company a $14 billion valuation; founder and former CEO Ryan Breslow is also rejoining the company, more than two years after he stepped down…
In the Washington Post, Michael Lewis reflects on his coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried, about whom he wrote a book that was released amid the FTX founder’s trial…
An event at a Brooklyn bookstore featuring author Joshua Leifer in conversation with Rabbi Andy Bachman was canceled an hour beforehand; Leifer said that the store’s employees told him “they were unwilling to host the conversation with Andy because they would not permit a Zionist on the premises”...
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), whose district includes the Brooklyn neighborhood where the bookstore is located, blasted the last-minute cancellation as “unacceptable antisemitism, plain and simple”; New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is mounting a mayoral bid, slammed powerHouse Books’ decision as “utterly outrageous”...
The Wall Street Journal reports on efforts by Palestinian influencers to push the Harris campaign on issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…
Creative Community for Peace issued an open letter calling on the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to rescind its Emmy nomination of a work produced by Gazan activist Bisan Owda over her ties to the U.S.-designated terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine…
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg was tapped as the new host of the network’s “Sunday NFL Countdown”...
The University of Kentucky is eliminating its Office of Institutional Diversity, and will no longer require diversity training or for its staff to write and submit diversity statements as a condition of employment…
The Wall Street Journal looks at the intelligence-gathering efforts that help Israeli officials locate and recover hostages, both living and dead…
A spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps suggested that Iran is potentially delaying plans to strike Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month…
Michal Mentch-Gerstler, until recently the chief of staff to former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan, was named head of communications and government relations for El Al… |  RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images Rescued Israeli hostage Noa Argamani attended a meeting earlier today with Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen (right) and G7 embassy representatives in Tokyo. |  Justin Baker/Getty Images Israeli-born pawnbroker and star of the reality television series “Beverly Hills Pawn,” Yossi Dina turns 70...
Retired owner of Effective Strategy Consultants, Irwin Wecker… Senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit (with chambers in Chicago), the first woman appointed to this court, Judge Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner turns 86… Former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, L. Rafael Reif turns 74... Former chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, he was the first Jewish chief justice in Ohio history, Eric S. Brown turns 71... Mexican writer, playwriter and journalist whose work is related to diversity and its obstacles, Sabina Berman Goldberg turns 69... Businessman and collector of modern and contemporary art, he is a partner in the NFL's Washington Commanders, Mitchell Rales turns 68... U.S. senator (D-MT), Jon Tester turns 68... Israeli physician who was a member of the Knesset, he now serves as mayor of Ashdod (Israel's largest port and its seventh largest city), Dr. Yehiel Lasri turns 67... Photographer best known for his fashion and celebrity images, Jerry Avenaim turns 63... Israeli career diplomat who served for six years as consul general in New York, Ido Aharoni turns 62... President at The Maimonides Fund, Mark Charendoff... Co-founder of BlueLine Grid, he was previously an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and a member of the Los Angeles City Council, Jack Weiss turns 60... Director of school strategy and policy for the UJA-Federation of New York, Chavie N. Kahn... Global head of public affairs at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Ken Mehlman turns 58... President of Berger Hirschberg Strategies, Rachel Hirschberg Light... Co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin turns 51... MLB pitcher for nine teams in a 16-season career, he was the starting pitcher in three of Team Israel's first four games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, all of which the team won, Jason Marquis turns 46... Former district attorney of San Francisco, elected in 2019 and recalled in 2022, Chesa Boudin turns 44... Head coach of the Temple University Owls men's basketball team, Adam Fisher turns 40... President at Bold Decision, Adam Rosenblatt... Missions manager for domestic and overseas travel at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Erica N. Miller... Communications director at Breakthrough Energy, David Abadian Heifetz... Pop singer and songwriter, Madeline Fuhrman turns 31... Editor of the “Weekly Israeli Bites” newsletter and a Lauder fellow at the World Jewish Congress, Noa Rakel Perugia... Associate editor at Simon & Schuster, Tzipora (Tzippy) Baitch... Lynn Sharon... James Barton... | | | | | |
