| | Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on concerns within GOP pro-Israel circles over the appointments of critics of the U.S.' approach to the Middle East to key foreign policy roles in the new administration, and report from Rep. Elise Stefanik’s hearing to become U.N. ambassador. We cover Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s comments on a two-state solution at the World Economic Forum and report on the disruption of a class on Israeli history at Columbia University. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Larry Ellison, Gov. Josh Shapiro and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.👇 Share with a friend | - At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, today, Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammed Javad Zarif, who until 2021 was the country’s foreign minister, will sit in conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. Former Secretary of State John Kerry is slated to speak on a panel later this afternoon on climate change. Later on, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, PA Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian and Asaad Hassan Al Shibani, Syria’s new foreign minister, will also sit for separate one-on-one conversations.
- In Washington, the House Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing on global cyber threats this morning. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Rear Admiral (ret.) Mark Montgomery is slated to testify.
| Last night’s terror attack in Tel Aviv, at first, looked like one of the many attacks that have taken place in the city — and around Israel — over the last several years. Nearly all of those attacks — whether car rammings or stabbings — had been committed by Palestinians living in the West Bank or east Jerusalem or Israeli Arab citizens of Israel, Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss reports.
But identification taken from the body of the terrorist who stabbed four people in a highly trafficked pedestrian area, indicated that the assailant was not Palestinian, but Moroccan, and that he had traveled to Israel on a tourist visa in recent days from the U.S., where he held a green card that was issued in 2022.
The type of green card was listed as DV-1, known as a diversity green card that is distributed through a lottery system.
“We are aware of these reports,” a State Department official told JI. “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected. We have no further comment.” The spokesperson referred questions on the assailant’s residency to the Department of Homeland Security.
The terrorist’s identity and his ability to secure a U.S. visa are likely to shine a light on the Trump administration’s approach to both counterterrorism and border security at a time when both issues were already front of mind on Capitol Hill.
Moreover, it is likely to heighten scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s top foreign policy and national security picks at a time when pro-Israel Republicans are raising concerns about the Middle East positions of some Trump appointees and nominees. More on that below.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate earlier this week, will face questions this week about the Tel Aviv terror attack as his State Department also deals with rising tensions in the West Bank, where Israel is working simultaneously to clamp down on settler violence and to combat terror groups operating in the territory that are clashing with Palestinian Authority forces.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch yesterday of Operation Iron Wall, “an extensive and significant military operation to defeat terrorism” in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad forces have for weeks been fighting PA security troops.
The West Bank itself is set to dominate conversations about the Mideast in the Trump administration. Testifying yesterday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) confirmed, in response to a question from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), that Israel has a “biblical right” to the territory. (More below on Stefanik’s hearing.) Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Israel, regularly uses the term “Judea and Samaria,” the biblical term for the territory, to refer to the West Bank.
Trump, who campaigned on ending global conflicts, said in his inauguration speech on Monday that he wants to be “a peacemaker and a unifier.”
Between the tenuous Israel-Hamas cease-fire, regular terror attacks in Israel — including one that has now pulled in the U.S. — and a devolving security situation in the West Bank, Trump will have his work cut out for him. | on defense Pro-Israel Republicans alarmed over Trump’s Defense Department appointee  Tom Brenner/Getty Images The Trump administration’s pick for deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East brings a record on Iran, the Houthis and the region that is alarming pro-Israel conservatives, having described Iran’s missile attack on Israel as “fairly moderate” and urged the U.S. against bombing the Houthis, instead calling for American pressure on Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Matthew Kassel report.
Resume: Michael DiMino, who was a military analyst at the CIA and an official at the Defense Department during the first Trump administration, has been a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Koch-funded isolationist think tank founded by allies of libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that advocates for more restraint in U.S. foreign policy. He has called for a reduced U.S. presence in the Middle East and argued that the U.S. does not have any critical interests in the region.
Read the full story here. dni drama DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard faces rocky road to confirmation  Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Republicans are acknowledging that former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is facing challenges for her confirmation as director of national intelligence, but maintain she still has a viable path despite concerns about her readiness for the job and amid new revelations about her controversial meetings with former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Tulsi’s troubles: “Let's put it this way: I do a lot of boating. There's a lot of barnacles that need to be scraped off that hull because it's starting to create a drag. It's not sinking, it's not taking on water, but it's definitely slowing down,” one GOP senator told JI of the status of Gabbard’s nomination as of Tuesday. Even if Gabbard wins enough support from Republicans to get confirmed, few GOP senators are offering her a fulsome endorsement. Some senators have said Gabbard’s conversations with senators lately have been better than their impressions from an initial round of meetings. Others have mulled backing her despite serious reservations, concluding the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is not as significant a position as it once was.
Read the full story here.
Bonus: Dozens of former national security officials and diplomats signed onto a letter calling for the Senate Intelligence Committee to hold a closed-door hearing for Gabbard’s confirmation that would allow for a comprehensive review of government files. turtle bay talk Stefanik said she pursued U.N. ambassador role to help combat antisemitism  Kent Nishimura/Getty Images Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in her confirmation hearing on Tuesday that if confirmed, combating antisemitism and anti-Israel bias at the U.N. would be a central goal for her, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. She also affirmed that the Trump administration aims to dismantle the scandal-plagued United Nations Relief and Works Agency and work with U.S. allies to reimpose snapback sanctions on Iran before they expire later this year.
Driving factor: Stefanik said that bias at the U.N. was a major factor that drove her interest in the Turtle Bay role, pointing to issues — especially since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel — at agencies such as the U.N. Security Council and UN Women. “It’s one of the reasons why, in my conversations with President Trump, I was interested in this position,” Stefanik said. “We need to be a voice of moral clarity on the U.N. Security Council and at the United Nations at large, for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel, and I intend to do that.” Stefanik said she wanted to emulate former U.N. Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan in his stand against the body’s “Zionism is racism” debate 50 years ago.
Read the full story here. changing tides in davos Israeli President Isaac Herzog: Oct. 7 a ‘wake-up call’ for limits of two-state solution  FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images Israeli President Isaac Herzog, long a supporter of a two-state solution, described the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as a “wake-up call” for his outlook on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, telling attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday that his view of peace in the Middle East had shifted, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Changes afoot: Herzog described a bleaker view than he has previously espoused about Israel’s Palestinian neighbors, shaped irrevocably by the trauma of the terror attacks that killed more than 1,200 people. While he acknowledged “there must be a political move forward on the Palestinian front,” he did not commit to a Palestinian state as the end point of that process. “The idea of the two-state solution is something which, on record, I supported in the past, many times,” Herzog said in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “But I would say that I had a wake-up call following Oct. 7.”
Read the full story here.
Bonus: While in Davos, Herzog met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. According to an Israeli readout of the meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the Qatari leader “reaffirmed his commitment to implementing all stages of the agreement. President Herzog shared with him the profound emotions experienced across Israel following the release of three hostages” earlier this week. class disrupted Columbia University course on Israel disrupted by Palestinian protesters on first day of class  haley cohen Columbia University students learning about the history of Israel found their first day of class in the new semester thrown into chaos Tuesday after four masked demonstrators barged into the classroom, banged on drums, chanted “free Palestine” and distributed posters to students that read “CRUSH ZIONISM” with a boot over the Star of David, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. The masked demonstrators also held up, and tried to plaster the walls of the classroom, a sign featuring an illustration of Hamas terrorists pointing guns titled “THE ENEMY WILL NOT SEE TOMORROW.”
Chaotic campus: “They started throwing fliers at us all and talking about how terrible it is that this class is even happening and that we have an Israeli professor,” Lishi Baker, a junior studying Middle East history and a student in the History of Modern Israel course, told JI. Baker praised the professor, Avi Shilon, a visiting professor from Israel, for responding “calmly.” Dozens of protesters, with their faces covered by keffiyehs and masks, also took to Columbia’s main quad, as well as the entrance of the Morningside Heights campus, on Tuesday afternoon to chant for an “intifada revolution” and other antisemitic slogans.
Read the full story here.
Elsewhere: Harvard University agreed to implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism as part of a resolution to two Title VI lawsuits that it settled in federal court in Boston, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. crossover appeal Democrats Jared Polis, Susie Lee make surprise appearances at Republican Jewish bash  Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Two elected Democrats turned heads as they made surprise appearances at a Republican Jewish Coalition event celebrating President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington this week, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report. A representative for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, confirmed that he was in attendance, and Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) was seen in photographs at the inauguration weekend event.
Background: Polis, who is Jewish and seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, has broken with his party’s orthodoxy repeatedly in the past few months, including in offering early support for Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services and supporting key elements of Trump’s deportation and government downsizing plans. Lee, who represents a perennially competitive district near Las Vegas, has been close with the local Jewish community and maintained a strongly pro-Israel voting record.
Read the full story here. | Erdogan’s Muscle: The Economist looks at how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is positioning Ankara to exert its influence in a post-Assad Syria. “For now, at least publicly, Turkish officials are making a point of showing respect for Syria’s sovereignty and its government. ‘They’re not trying to pressure them into taking specific actions,’ says Ms Khalifa. But the magnitude of Turkey’s involvement in Syria is making some Arab governments uneasy. The Saudis see Turkey as a rival for leadership in the Sunni world. The United Arab Emirates and Egypt resent Mr Erdogan’s support for Islamist groups. Because this caused a painful standoff with the Arab world a decade ago, the Turkish president will be wary of fanning the flames of political Islam once again. The Assad regime publicly embraced pan-Arabism but ultimately served as an Iranian foothold in the Arab world. Syria’s neighbours do not want it to break free of Iran’s influence only for it to come under Turkey’s." [TheEconomist]
Heading For a Crack-up: In the Washington Post, Gary Ginsberg, the author of First Friends, The Powerful, Unsung (and Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents, examines the “friendship of utility” that has formed between President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk. “Before the Trump tie-up, Musk had money to satisfy his every whim; now, he has access to power and his own quasi-official department to reimagine how to spend the government’s money. Trump, meanwhile, gets de facto control of the world’s most influential social media platform and the reflected glory from the world’s most famous entrepreneur. It’s fair to ask how long this friendship can last, and what damage it might cause while it does. … Looking at the history of presidential friendships, it’s clear the ones that survived and had the most impact had one thing in common: The friend always knew there was only one top dog, and it was the president. The better metaphor for the Trump-Musk friendship might be two Cybertrucks racing toward each other head-on. In recent weeks, Musk has generated nearly as many headlines as the president-elect. Will the narcissistic Trump continue to tolerate it? In the past, he has demanded total fealty, bordering on obsequiousness, from his closest advisers. Musk is not that guy.” [WashPost]
An Uptick Down Under: In The Free Press, Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry whose former home was the target of an antisemitic attack, reflects on the government’s response to the uptick in antisemitism in Australia. “The common refrain is that these attacks are ‘un-Australian,’ as if they run contrary to who we are as a country. I’d like to believe that. After all, my parents were Soviet refuseniks, who arrived in Australia from Kyiv in the late ’80s, when I was 4 years old. I grew up being told stories about what it is like to live in a place where Jews were treated with suspicion, where it was not safe to even speak about being Jewish. … But the Jews I speak to today don’t recognize our country anymore. The children of Holocaust survivors have told me they’re glad their parents aren’t alive to see what Australia has become. Members of my community have beefed up the security around their homes, putting bars on windows, fearing an attack. Some are nervous about wearing a Star of David necklace in public. Others wonder if they should take down the mezuzahs from their front doors. They debate removing their kids from Jewish schools, or at least telling them to change out of their uniforms before walking home. My youngest daughter is now 5, but until recently, I was picking her up from a preschool that has an armed guard. No one wants to live this way.” [FreePress] | Join Hen Mazzig, Montana Tucker and more at ADL’s Never Is Now, the world’s largest summit on antisemitism and hate, in NYC on March 3-4. Register now!_____ Which type of pet insurance do you need? Accident & illness policies, accident coverage, and wellness riders all offer varying degrees of protection. Which one do you need? View our list of the Best Pet Insurance providers to find the best fit for you. SEE PROVIDERS Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening, or other communication. | President Donald Trump revoked the Secret Service protection of former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who had been the target of Iranian assassination efforts; Bolton, who was fired by Trump in 2019, said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the decision…
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An advisory committee at Johns Hopkins University dismissed a proposal to call a Board of Trustees vote on divesting university investments from companies with ties to Israel…
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IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi announced his resignation, effective March 6, citing his “responsibility for the failure of the IDF on October 7” in a letter tendered to Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports; IDF Southern Command head Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelman resigned minutes after Halevi, saying, “According to my conscience and the values that guide me, I decided to finish my role as Southern Command commander and my services in the IDF.…
Air France will resume its flights to Israel beginning Sunday; British Airways and Italian carrier ITA Airways will resume direct flights to Israel on April 1 and Feb. 1, respectively…
Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron, speaking to Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that Israel’s regional relationships will increase stability and promote growth…
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer, whose weekly eponymous column ran in the Village Voice for 44 years, died at 95…
Off-Broadway performer and writer Joel Paley, who wrote the hit “Ruthless!,” died at 69…
Sports photographer George Kalinsky, Madison Square Garden's first official photographer, died at 88… |  courtesy Israeli President Isaac Herzog met on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. |  ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images Music composer and winner of two Academy Awards and two Grammys, Justin Hurwitz turns 40...
Professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, she is regarded as a founder of cancer immunology, Eva Klein turns 100... Co-founder in 1965 of the Japanese video game company Sega, David M. Rosen turns 95... Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry in 2000, he is a professor emeritus at the University of California Santa Barbara, Alan J. Heeger turns 89... Los Angeles resident, Ruth Lynn Kopelove Sobel... Managing director and founder of Brave Warrior Advisors, an investment advisory firm, he is the son of Hall of Fame baseball star Hank Greenberg, Glenn H. Greenberg... Rabbi who has served in New York, New Jersey and California, Mark Samuel Hurvitz... Brooklyn-born conductor, who during his tenure as artistic director of the Kraków Philharmonic became friends with Pope John Paul II for whom he later conducted multiple Papal concerts, Gilbert Levine turns 77... Senior political law counsel and consultant at Akin Gump, Kenneth A. Gross turns 74... Founder and executive director of the Brooklyn-based Bridge Multicultural and Advocacy Project, Mark Meyer Appel... Publisher at Chicago Public Square, Charlie Meyerson... Partner in the Cleveland law firm of Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis, Lisa Arlyn Lowe... Former director-general of the Israeli Defense Ministry, he is a retired major general in the IDF, Ehud "Udi" Adam turns 67... Member of the Knesset for Likud, Katrin (Keti) Shitrit-Peretz turns 65... Justice on the Supreme Court of Israel since 2012, Noam Sohlberg turns 63... Michael S. Marquis... President of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, Gideon Taylor... American-Israeli composer, pianist and music producer, Roy Zu-Arets turns 56... Actor best known for his role as Harvey Specter on the USA Network series "Suits," Gabriel Macht turns 53... Play-by-play broadcaster for the Washington Commanders of the NFL, Bram Weinstein turns 52... Rabbi at the Midway Jewish Center in Syosset, N.Y., Joel Mark Levenson... Director of the Chabad House in Kathmandu, Nepal, Rabbi Yechezkel "Chezki" Lifshitz... News editor at Mishpacha Magazine, Yochonon Donn... Acting project director for the International Rescue Committee, Heidi Rosbe... Managing director at SKDKnickerbocker, Kendra Barkoff Lamy... Financial services editor at Politico, Zachary Warmbrodt... Houston native and philanthropist, Serena Hines Steinberg... Senior advisor at Blue Laurel Advisors and of counsel at Grossman Young & Hammond, Mark Donig... NYC-based managing director at Politico, Jesse Shapiro... Tax reporter for the Washington Post, she is also a professional balloon twister and was a 2018 contestant on “Jeopardy!”, Julie Zauzmer Weil... Israeli singer known by the mononym Netta, she was the winner of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal, Netta Barzilai turns 32... Jewish hockey player, he was a first-round pick of the New York Islanders in 2014, Josh Ho-Sang turns 29... Actress, best known for her role as Nicky Reagan-Boyle in the CBS series Blue Bloods, Sami Gayle Klitzman turns 29... Associate in the Chicago office of Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, Matthew Lustbader... | | | | | |
