| | Good Monday morning. In today’s Daily Kickoff , we report on the record of Butch Ware, the running mate of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who applauded violence against Israelis and celebrated the Oct. 7 attacks, and report on an invitation by Rep. Andre Carson to controversial U.N. official Francesca Albanese, who last week faced criticism from senior U.S. officials at the U.N. for her antisemitic comments. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff : Sen. John Fetterman, Jessica Tarlov and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | - Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Ann Arbor, Mich., with running mate Gov. Tim Walz for an event today with singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.
- Former President Donald Trump will speak today at a gathering of faith leaders in suburban Atlanta before he holds a rally tonight at Georgia Tech.
- In Pittsburgh, Dan Senor will host a live interview this evening with Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Dave McCormick about Israel and the 2024 election.
- Israel’s consulate in New York is hosting an Oct. 7 memorial ceremony this evening in Manhattan.
- In Israel, the Knesset is expected to hold its final votes later today on legislation to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel, effectively halting the controversial U.N. agency’s operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
- And in Doha today, Mossad head David Barnea, CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani are meeting to discuss cease-fire and hostage-release efforts.
| After weeks of anticipation, Israel responded early Saturday morning to Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, destroying a number of missile-production sites and Iranian aerial-defense systems. But with the U.S. presidential election just over a week away, an immediate Iranian response is unlikely, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss reports.
The limited strikes targeted military sites around Iran, avoiding densely populated civilian areas as well as nuclear and energy facilities — red lines publicly laid out by the Biden administration in recent weeks. Iranian media reported that four soldiers were killed in the strikes.
Initial Israeli assessments found that the strikes significantly damaged Iranian military installations, including Tehran’s Russian-produced S-300 aerial-defense systems. An Israeli official told The Wall Street Journal that the destruction of the systems improved Israel’s “range of freedom of movement in the Iranian skies,” while an assessment from the Institute for Science and International Security suggested that the strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear weapons development.
The strikes — the largest Israeli attack on Iran in history — signaled “that we [can] get to any target in any area in Iran,” former Israeli Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin said on Sunday during a briefing with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, where he is a distinguished fellow.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that Israel has “the ability to do much more,” leaving the door open to potential future strikes on Iranian facilities and targets.
A senior Biden administration official suggested in a call with reporters on Saturday that the Israeli strike “should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran,” amid concerns that tit-for-tat strikes could spiral into a larger, regional war. And with the U.S. election days away, there is unlikely to be any additional attacks by either country before next week, experts assessed.
A response — if there is one — could take weeks. The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed that Israel would face “bitter consequences” for the strikes. The U.N. Security Council is slated to meet today for an emergency session on the strikes, convened at Tehran’s request.
But the degree to which — and when, or if — Iran responds to the strike remains unclear. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel’s strikes “should neither be magnified nor downplayed,” but stopped short of directly calling for a response. | butch's beliefs Jill Stein's running mate celebrated violence against Israelis  MATTIE NERETIN/GETTY IMAGES Rudolph “Butch” Ware, the running mate of Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein, in recent months celebrated violence against Israelis — including the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on the Jewish state. Ware, an associate professor of history from University of California, Santa Barbara, joined Stein’s ticket in mid-August — less than two weeks after Ware’s hip-hop duo, Slum Prophecy, dropped an album-length tribute to the Oct. 7 attacks, Will Bredderman reports for Jewish Insider.
Music mayhem: Marketed until earlier this month on a Shopify account bearing the name Ink of the Scholars, a California limited liability company registered in Ware’s name, the 11-track digital release extols the bloody Hamas raid even in its name: “Aqsa Flood,” after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, as the terrorist group termed the surprise attack. An archived version of the now-deleted page makes this connection explicit. “Eight brand new tracks from Slum Prophecy plus three remixes. All focused on the global uprising sparked Palestinian resistance which named their most recent insurgency Operation al-Aqsa Flood,” the description reads.
Read the full story here. connecticut clash Jahana Hayes' GOP challenger George Logan attacks her over 'tepid' backing of Israel  CHRISTIAN ABRAHAM/CONNECTICUT POST VIA GETTY IMAGES Aiming to unseat Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) after narrowly losing to her in 2022, Republican George Logan is leaning into support for Israel, while framing Hayes as inconsistent and unreliable on issues important to the state’s Jewish community. Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District includes the northwestern part of the state, and is the most competitive district in the otherwise deep-blue state. It also contains a potentially influential Jewish constituency. Logan describes himself as a strong supporter of Israel, which he said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod is “certainly one of our biggest allies in the world.”
Israel position: Logan said that Israel has the right to defend itself and eliminate terrorists and that he wants to see the war in Gaza come to an end when Hamas has been removed from power. “We should all want this war to end, but not at the expense of Israel or the United States,” he said. Logan accused Hayes of “trying to play both sides of the issue,” and of being an unreliable friend of Israel. “Now is not the time to be tepid in our support of Israel,” Logan said. “Either you’re with Israel or you’re not. She is not with Israel, in my opinion.”
Read the full interview here. tree of life anniversary Harris, Emhoff mark six years since deadly synagogue shooting  JAHI CHIKWENDIU/THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES Today in Pittsburgh, one day after the six-year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will deliver a speech at the University Club with a closing argument to Jewish voters. According to a Harris campaign official, Emhoff will speak about “the threat posed to Jewish people in America by Donald Trump’s antisemitism and desire for unchecked power.”
Harris’ statement: Vice President Kamala Harris expressed solidarity with the survivors of the attack, the families of the victims and the entire Jewish community, in a statement yesterday. “As we know, today’s remembrance also comes amid a rise of antisemitism, here and around the world. Earlier this month, we marked one year since the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack against Israel in which 1,200 innocent people were massacred, 250 people taken hostage, and where Hamas committed unspeakable sexual violence,” she said. “I will always work to ensure the safety and security of Jewish people in the United States and around the world, and will always call out antisemitism whenever and wherever we see it.”
In Squirrel Hill: Dave McCormick, the Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee, attended a gathering last night in the neighborhood, where he lives, to honor the victims of the attack.
Jewish outreach: Hours after Harris staged an impromptu speech on Wednesday at the Naval Observatory to condemn past comments reportedly made by former President Donald Trump praising Adolf Hitler’s generals, her husband took that message to Jewish voters and donors on a campaign swing in South Florida, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. tuckered out Trump-backing Jewish activist backs out of MSG rally over Tucker Carlson appearance  Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish activist who has emerged as a surrogate at Trump campaign events for speaking out against antisemitism within the Democratic Party, backed out of former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday over Tucker Carlson being granted a speaking slot. Kestenbaum, a recent Harvard graduate who spoke at the Republican National Convention in support of Trump’s 2024 bid, told Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs he decided against participating in the event over Carlson’s attendance.
What he said: Kestenbaum said he was in discussions with the Trump campaign about speaking at the rally, but that the plans were scrapped to make room for speeches from Carlson, Elon Musk and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), among others. “I believe President Trump, through the advocating for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act protections, Abraham Accords, and other measures, is the best choice for American Jewry,” Kestenbaum told JI in a statement on his decision. “I will be voting for him and will continue to make the argument for him to moderate and liberal Jewish voters as the election closes. I also believe that Tucker Carlson is a dangerous antisemite who has no business in electoral politics.”
Read the full story here.
Bonus: Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who was panned after his speech at the Madison Square Garden rally in which he made offensive comments about Puerto Rico, suggested that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict be settled with a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors: “You know Palestinians will throw rock every time. And also we know Jews have a hard time throwing that paper." scoop Rep. Andre Carson to bring U.N.'s Albanese to Capitol Hill for staff briefing  ATILGAN OZDIL/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) has invited Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, whom the Biden administration has repeatedly condemned as antisemitic and unfit for her position, to Capitol Hill to brief congressional staff on Tuesday. Albanese has a long track record of statements and comments that the Biden administration and lawmakers have described as antisemitic. The administration has also accused her of excusing and justifying the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
On the schedule: An invitation for the event, scheduled for Tuesday, circulated by Carson’s office on Friday and obtained by JI, says that Albanese “will address the current human rights landscape in the Palestinian territories, sharing findings from her recent reports and discussing urgent areas for action.” The invitation says the “briefing offers congressional staff an invaluable perspective on conditions affecting the Palestinian people, highlighting specific civil rights issues, limitations on movement, and humanitarian access challenges.”
Read the full story here.
Bonus: U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council Michèle Taylor slammed Albanese’s recent comments, saying that “antisemitism has no place at the UN” and adding that Albanese “is unfit for any role at the UN.” | Lit Crit: In the Free Press, Lionel Shriver responds to a recent call by several hundred writers to boycott the Israeli publishing industry. “But the intention is not only aimed at punishing Israel’s tiny cultural institutions. The boycott seeks to go well beyond the signatories and intimidate all authors into withdrawing their work for consideration at Israeli publishing houses and refusing to participate in Israeli festivals. That includes writers who disagree with the organizers and do not believe that the IDF’s effort to root out Hamas qualifies as genocide as well as a range of Jewish writers in and outside of Israel whose views on this war may be tortured or finely nuanced. Because we must all speak as one. As ever, a single perspective is permissible. Writers used to enjoy conflict, complexity, contradiction — duking it out on paper or raucously talking over each other on a festival panel. Now we chant in a unified chorus.” [FreePress]
Mismatched Militaries: The Wall Street Journal’s Sune Engel Rasmussen, Laurence Norman and Anat Peled look at the differences in military capability between Israel and Iran following Israel’s weekend strikes against Iranian military and aerial-defense facilities. “For decades, Iran and Israel have fought each other indirectly. Iran has armed and trained militias to harass and threaten its enemies, including Israel, as a way to keep conflict away from its own borders. Israel has pressured Iran through sabotage and assassinations targeting Iran’s nuclear program, and by hitting Iranian forces abroad, including in Syria. The recent war has pitted the two enemies in a different kind of battle: a direct, long-distance war. And they are performing very differently. Iran has twice, in April and October, been able to sporadically penetrate Israel’s air defenses but only by firing hundreds of missiles at a time. Israel has twice shown its ability to strike sensitive Iranian targets, with few if any of its weapons being intercepted. A previous Israeli attack hit an aerial defense radar in April. Saturday’s assault involved Israel’s most-advanced aerial weapon, F-35 jet fighters, which are adept at evading radar, people familiar with the mission said.” [WSJ]
Tarlov’s Take: The New York Times’ Michael Grynbaum spotlights Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov, one of the co-hosts of Fox News’ “The Five.” “Despite her un-Fox upbringing, Ms. Tarlov has thrived by bursting viewers’ bubbles on a network where pro-Harris voices are scarce. Her exchanges on ‘The Five’ have become a staple of the @KamalaHQ social media account, which the Harris campaign uses to amplify positive media moments for its candidate. The ‘Pod Save America’ guys invited Ms. Tarlov on their podcast. Democratic stars like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California have gone out of their way to say hello when visiting the Fox studios. She has even managed to stay on cordial terms with the Trump loyalists who try — teasingly, they say — to disparage her views on television on a daily basis. Jeanine Pirro says Ms. Tarlov is ‘smart as hell,’ and they share makeup and jewelry tips. [Sean] Hannity, who gave Ms. Tarlov an early break on his prime-time show, calls her ‘family.’ She is on texting terms with [Jesse] Watters’s mother, a registered Democrat, whose advice for dealing with her son on the air is simple: ‘Kick him.’” [NYTimes] | Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is facing allegations of sexual misconduct tied to his actions toward a female colleague; Khan had reportedly pressured the woman to deny the claims…
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to bring legislation sanctioning the ICC for pursuing arrest warrants against Israeli officials up for a vote “as soon as the Senate returns,” Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signed onto a letter alongside seven foreign counterparts warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s actions could result in the collapse of the Palestinian economy; Smotrich has until the end of the month to grant a critical extension allowing financial correspondence between Israeli and West Bank banks…
Egypt proposed a two-day cease-fire and hostage-release deal that would see four hostages freed in exchange for a brief pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas…
Visiting Michigan on Saturday, former President Donald Trump worked to shore up support among Muslim voters, saying he could end Middle Eastern conflicts if elected…
In an interview with The New York Times published on Saturday, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) expressed unwavering support for the Jewish state amid an uptick in anti-Israel sentiment in his party over the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports…
The editorial boards of the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post struck down plans to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong rejected a claim from his daughter that Harris’ refusal to categorize Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide” was the reason the paper opted against endorsing her…
The Trump campaign released a new ad featuring a Holocaust survivor calling on Harris to apologize for her comments calling Trump a “fascist”...
In The Wall Street Journal, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) raised concerns over the Biden administration’s limited response to questions regarding Iranian election interference…
The New York Times looks at how law firms are navigating decisions regarding legal representation for individuals involved in litigation surrounding the Israel-Hamas war…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights CNN’s Dana Bash, who has been a key player in the network’s election coverage as CNN’s chief political correspondent…
The president of Pomona College suspended 10 students through the end of the 2024-2025 academic year over their participation in an on-campus demonstration on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks; the anti-Israel students took over and shut off access to a campus building, causing extensive damage to the building and disrupting classes…
Dozens of anti-Israel protesters disrupted California state Sen. Scott Weiner’s annual pumpkin carving event for families in his Bay Area district…
Norwegian investor Storebrand Asset Management sold its holdings in Palantir over the U.S. company’s work in Israel…
Police are investigating the circumstances in which a Jewish man in Chicago was shot on his way to synagogue on Saturday morning; following the attack, the assailant engaged in a shootout with police and was taken to a hospital in critical condition…
The trade publication Shelf Awareness refused to run an ad promoting Israel Alone, the recently published book by French writer Bernard-Henri Lévy, over concerns that the book title’s mention of Israel may upset some of the trade publication’s readers; Lévy responded with a Wall Street Journal op-ed about his “first censorship experience,” in which he said it “seems that no Jewish author, no one remotely connected to Judaism, is safe from this kind of exclusion”…
Australia rejected the visa application of far-right commentator Candace Owens, who had planned to travel to the country for a speaking tour next month, with Canberra’s immigration minister saying that Owens “has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction”...
The Wall Street Journal spotlights how the drug Captagon has fueled violence across the Middle East, both through its use by terrorists carrying out attacks and through the billions of dollars it has generated for rogue regimes across the region that produce and sell the drug…
The family of Rabbi Avi Goldberg, an Israeli reservist killed in Lebanon over the weekend, said that politicians will only be allowed at the Goldberg family’s shiva if they come in pairs — a member of the ruling coalition joined by a member of the opposition…
One person was killed and dozens injured when a truck rammed into a bus at a crowded junction near the Glilot IDF intelligence base in northern Tel Aviv; the truck driver was killed at the scene…
Israel’s Defense Ministry said that the Iron Beam defensive system is expected to be fully operational by 2025…
The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner interviewed Yossi Klein Halevi about national sentiment in Israel over both the government and the country’s future in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks…
The Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, who was not Jewish but hosted a variety of events to celebrate Jewish holidays and events at his Terrapin Crossroads music venue, died at 84…
Hollywood producer Lynda Obst, whose films included “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Contact,” died at 74… |  courtesy Jewish staffers at the White House participated in a Sukkot event last week with Kesher Israel’s Rabbi Hyim Shafner. |  Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty Images Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning actor, Joaquin Rafael Phoenix turns 50...
Redondo Beach resident, Larry Berlin... Rabbi of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, Adolf Shayevich turns 87... Spiritual leader of the Village of New Square (Rockland County, N.Y.) and Hasidic Rebbe of Skverer Hasidism worldwide, Rabbi Dovid Twersky turns 84... Retired actor best known for his role as NYPD Det. Andy Sipowicz in “NYPD Blue,” Dennis Franz turns 80... Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, she also served as minister of aliyah and integration, Sofa Landver turns 75... Anthropology professor at NYU, she won a 1994 MacArthur genius fellowship, Faye Ginsburg turns 72... Rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Hamden, Conn., Benjamin Edidin Scolnic, Ph.D. turns 71... Co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates turns 69... Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, he is a 2012 MacArthur genius fellow, David Louis Finkel turns 69... Four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and assistant secretary for health, Rachel Leland Levine turns 67... Former member of the Knesset for Likud, he then served as mayor of Beit She'an, Jackie Levy turns 64... Manager of MLB's San Francisco Giants, he has been named Manager of the Year three times, Bob Melvin turns 63... Executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass in Lexington, Ky., until earlier this year, now on Kentucky's Antisemitism Task Force, Mindy Haas... Actress and investor, she is an owner of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, Jami Gertz turns 59... Owner of a Chick-fil-A franchise in the Houston area, he was a collegiate and an NFL football coach, Tony Levine turns 52... Film and television director, producer, screenwriter and actor, Jacob "Jake" Kasdan turns 50... Israeli singer in the Mizrahi style, Yaakov (Kobi) Peretz turns 49... Member of the California State Assembly (D-16), Rebecca Bauer-Kahan turns 46... Member of the Knesset for the Likud party until 2019, Oren Hazan turns 43... Scottsdale, Ariz., attorney, he was a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives, Adam Kwasman turns 42... President at Apex Healthcare Properties, Elliot Schwab... Senior manager at Point32Health, Avital Warburg Goldstein... | | | | | |
