Good Monday morning. In today's Daily Kickoff, we report on the latest in the war with Iran, including a missile attack this morning in which at least two people in Israel were killed, and cover a move by Senate Democrats to introduce five additional war powers resolutions after a similar effort last week failed to get enough support. We profile Pennsylvania state Sen. Sharif Street as the pro-Israel Democrat, who is Black and Muslim, mounts a bid for Congress, and report on concerns from members of the House Education & Workforce Committee that Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss, who is running for Congress, "severely downplayed antisemitism" at Northwestern University while in a briefing with committee members. Also in today's Daily Kickoff: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Alon Penzel. Today's Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here. Spread the word! Invite your friends to sign up.π |
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- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to deliver remarks at 9 a.m. ET at a flag-raising ceremony at the State Department commemorating hostages and wrongful detainees.
- House Republicans are holding their annual policy retreat in Doral, Fla., with President Donald Trump slated to address the gathering at 5 p.m. ET. Also slated to speak at the retreat are Ben Shapiro and CNN's Scott Jennings.
- EU Council President Antonio Costa and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are holding a call today with Middle East leaders to discuss the ongoing war in the region.
- Team Israel faces off against the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic at noon ET today in Miami. The Israeli team, which lost 11-3 on Saturday against Venezuela, came back to beat Nicaragua 5-0 on Sunday.
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A QUICK WORD WITH JI'S MELISSA WEISS |
Recent days have offered a tale of two New York public officials' wives and a revealing look at inconsistent standards from some mainstream media outlets on how they scrutinize the families of elected officials depending on the political viewpoints expressed. The first was a New York Times story focused on the pro-Israel social media posts of Rep. Dan Goldman's (D-NY) wife. Under the headline "Congressman Faces Questions About Wife's Social Media Stances on Israel," the Times wrote of the instances — believed to be 10 in all — that Corinne Goldman, who served as treasurer on her husband's campaign, liked posts related to the Israel-Hamas war in the weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, including one comparing "Jews for Palestine" to "Chickens for KFC." Days later, Jewish Insider uncovered the social media activity of Rama Duwaji, the Syrian-American wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in the days after the attacks. That activity included liking posts that unambiguously celebrated Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — as they were underway — and included still images from the attacks, in which more than 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage. In his first public statement addressing JI's reporting, Mamdani said his wife — who less than a month ago was the subject of a cover profile and photo shoot for The Cut — was a "private person." It was a response that was unsatisfactory to some. Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration's special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, responded to Mamdani's statement by rhetorically asking, "But Jessica Tisch has to apologize when her brother says something?" — referring to the NYPD commissioner's recent apology over her brother's assertion that Mamdani was an "enemy of the Jewish people." The Times, which covered Mamdani's response, changed its headline on the story at least twice after publication, from "Mamdani Says His Wife's Views on Gaza Are No One's Business," to "Mamdani Defends Wife Amid Criticism of her Support for Palestinian Cause," before eventually landing on "After Social Media Scrutiny, Mamdani Says His Wife Is a 'Private Person.'" In response to the second headline, Tel Aviv-based research analyst Daniel Paul Rubenstein wrote on X that he "did not expect to see the New York Times refer to the October 7 Massacre as an expression of the 'Palestinian Cause' – but here we are." Read the rest of 'What You Should Know' here. |
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π Evening intelligence, exclusively for subscribers. |
Daily Overtime brings you what we're tracking at the end of the day — and what's coming next. |
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| Iranian missile kills two in central Israel as war continues |
Two people were killed in an Iranian missile attack that struck a construction site in the city of Yehud in central Israel, volunteer emergency service Magen David Adom reported on Monday. MDA pronounced one of the victims, a man who appeared to be about 40 years old, dead at the scene. Another man, believed to be around the same age, was evacuated to the nearest hospital in serious and unstable condition, and later pronounced dead. Both were foreign workers, Jewish Insider's Lahav Harkov reports. Northern front: In Lebanon, two IDF soldiers were killed over the weekend by a missile fired by Hezbollah. The soldiers were retrieving a vehicle from a position in southern Lebanon at the time they were killed, the IDF Spokesperson's Office said. One soldier, combat engineer Maher Hatar, 38, was the first Druze soldier killed in the war. The second soldier's identity has not been cleared for publication. Read the full story here. On the bench: President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back on Saturday against reports that they were working with Kurdish leaders to launch a ground invasion of Iran, Jewish Insider's Lahav Harkov reports. |
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Pro-Israel Muslim Democrat walks political tightrope in Philly primary |
Sharif Street is walking a unique political path. The Pennsylvania state senator running for a House seat in the heart of deep-blue Philadelphia is Black and Muslim, and has staked out positions largely supportive of Israel, Jewish Insider's Marc Rod reports. What he said: Street traveled to Israel with the American Jewish Committee in 2017 "to gain some understanding" of the complexities facing Israelis and Palestinians. He has indicated that he would not support conditions on U.S. aid to Israel, saying that the two allies need an "open dialogue," yet he refers to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a war criminal. Street's nuances on Israel — he backs a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, while also urging a compassionate approach to the Palestinians — offer a sharp contrast with his most prominent rival in the Democratic primary, a strident antagonist of Israel. Street also argues that media portrayals have flattened the American Muslim community and failed to accurately portray their diverse views on the Middle East and relationships with the Jewish community. Read the full story here. |
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Texas GOP candidate Brandon Herrera discussed owning a copy of Mein Kampf on podcast |
Brandon Herrera, the presumptive Republican nominee in Texas' 23rd Congressional District, spoke on a podcast in 2024 — after his first run for the House — about owning a copy of Mein Kampf, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's manifesto, earning him a fresh rebuke from the Republican Jewish Coalition, Jewish Insider's Marc Rod reports. Podcast playback: During a 2024 appearance on the "Unsubscribe" podcast, another guest joked that he had been deeply involved in communism until he had read another book, producing a copy of Mein Kampf. Herrera, who appeared to immediately recognize the book when others on the podcast did not, promptly turned to his phone to produce a picture of his own copy of the Nazi manifesto. "That's my copy at my house next to a bunch of the German stick grenades," Herrera said. "I got the 1939 edition printed in English just because I thought it was wild that you couldn't buy it on Amazon but you could buy The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital," he added, making a confused face. Read the full story here. |
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Senate Dems introduce series of new war powers resolutions on Iran |
Senate Democrats introduced a series of five new war powers resolutions seeking to block military action in Iran on Thursday, a day after the Senate voted along mostly partisan lines to block an effort to immediately halt the operation, Jewish Insider's Marc Rod reports. The latest: Having a series of war powers resolutions already introduced could allow Democrats to continue teeing up a series of votes on the war, or allow them to have several resolutions in reserve to vote on as the situation in Iran evolves. War powers resolutions are subject to a 10-day waiting period between their introduction and when senators can force votes on them. Read the full story here. |
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House Education Committee, in briefing, says Daniel Biss 'severely downplayed antisemitism' |
In a briefing for the House Education & Workforce Committee on his response to the anti-Israel protest encampment at Northwestern University in 2024, Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss "severely downplayed" the situation on that campus and antisemitism across the country, the committee said, Jewish Insider's Marc Rod reports. Readout: "In his briefing with the Committee today, Mr. Biss severely downplayed antisemitism at Northwestern after October 7th. He told the Committee that the great majority of his Jewish friends in the Northwestern community had no concerns about it," a committee spokesperson told JI. "He further stated that Northwestern should not have received an F on the Anti-Defamation League's college report card. He even accused the Committee of alarmism that is not warranted by the facts when it comes to antisemitism at the university after the October 7th attacks." Biss, meanwhile, has dismissed the committee's questioning of him as a smear campaign. "From the start, this 'briefing' was a flimsy attempt to weaponize the very real threat of antisemitism to attack me and support my opponent. It failed," Biss said in a statement. Read the full story here. |
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Independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn touted endorsement from anti-Israel group |
Dan Osborn, a Democratic-aligned independent candidate running for Senate in Nebraska, received and touted an endorsement from a lobbying group that aims to alter U.S. policy toward Israel, in part by electing candidates critical of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Jewish Insider's Marc Rod reports. What happened: A New Policy PAC was founded by Josh Paul, a former State Department official who left government in protest of U.S. support for Israel after Oct. 7, 2023, and since joined the anti-Israel group DAWN and become a vocal critic of Israel. A New Policy's advocacy arm has accused Israel of genocide, urges cutting off and conditioning U.S. aid to Israel; and opposes the Antisemitism Awareness Act and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism. Read the full story here. |
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Risky Business: The Financial Times' Jacob Judah, Bob Haslett and Alan Smith spotlight Iran's dwindling number of "indispensable" ballistic-missile launchers and the crews who man them. "When an Iranian ballistic missile launcher breaks cover to dash towards a firing site, its tiny cabin suddenly becomes one of the world's most perilous places. … Iranian ballistic missile crews are among the most ideologically committed within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They operate from mountain hide-outs known in Iran as 'missile cities' whose cavernous networks of tunnels wind deep underground." [FT] Nobel or Not: In The Wall Street Journal, Joshua Muravchik argues that President Donald Trump's foreign policy legacy could be solidified by his actions against U.S. adversaries, regardless of whether he is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. "Reagan never won the Nobel, but in contrast to Mr. Obama and Carter, he greatly advanced world peace and Americans' safety by bringing low the Soviet Union's 'evil empire.' Mr. Trump could achieve an analogous triumph if he succeeds in undoing the regime in Iran and perhaps the one in Cuba, too. … The downfall of Iran's regime would blow a gaping hole in this anti-American coalition. It would weaken radical Islam everywhere. Socialism, an idea that had bounced around for nearly a century, became a serious force only when Vladimir Lenin turned Russia into the world's first socialist state." [WSJ] Beijing's Bad Bet: In The Washington Post, the Hudson Institute's Miles Yu posits that Beijing's strategy of investing in Iran for more than a decade as it seeks to gain a foothold in the region has "collapsed" amid the U.S. and Israeli war against Tehran. "[Iran's] capacity to destabilize the region on China's behalf has been curtailed. Belt and Road projects tied to Iranian ports, rail corridors and energy infrastructure now face heightened instability and security risk. The vision of a secure overland energy corridor insulated from U.S. naval power has been reduced to uncertainty. China had bet on a confident, defiant and nuclear-ambitious Iran. Instead, it is left with a battered partner whose utility has sharply diminished." [WashPost] |
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In his first comments to the media since the start of the war with Iran, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani said that Tehran's decision to strike Arab countries was a "dangerous miscalculation" and that he felt "a big sense of betrayal" by the move… In a leaked Telegram message, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said that Israel and the United Arab Emirates are "one and the same" and that Tehran's strategy should be to "focus on destroying the bridge between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in order to create real deterrence against mischief in the island"... Russia is reportedly providing intelligence to Iran to target U.S. troops in the Middle East… Azerbaijan said it foiled an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plot to sabotage a number of sites in the country, including the Israeli Embassy in Baku, a synagogue, the leader of a group known as the "Mountain Jews" and the country's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline… Two ships owned by an Iranian company under U.S., European and British sanctions departed the Chinese port in Zhuhai known for its storage of chemicals used to make rocket fuel… The New York Times looks at the concerns of Western officials and nuclear experts over the location and fate of 18-20 canisters of enriched uranium that are believed to still be intact and in Iran… A Pakistani man was convicted in a U.S. federal court of plotting with Iran to assassinate U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump… The U.S. began evacuation flights of U.S. citizens from Israel on Friday, Jewish Insider's Haley Cohen reports… Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Chris Coons (D-DE) released a statement calling on the Department of Defense to "fully and impartially" investigate a strike on an Iranian school on the first day of the war in which more than 100 people, including students, were killed… The move comes as satellite images and footage increasingly indicate that the U.S. struck the school, which was located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps installation, despite Trump's claim that Iran was responsible for the strike… Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, again criticized the administration for bypassing normal congressional review processes to approve a $650 million sale of 20,000 bombs to Israel... Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and 17 Democratic co-sponsors, mostly progressives, introduced legislation requiring stronger oversight of and regular reporting to Congress and the public on the food supply for Palestinians in Gaza... A group of House Democrats —Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Val Hoyle (D-OR), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Norma Torres (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Sam Liccardo (D-CA) — called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to cancel the House's recess this week as long as the war in Iran is ongoing… Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) called out California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading 2028 presidential contender, for recent comments characterizing Israel as an apartheid state and questioning future military aid, Jewish Insider's Marc Rod reports; "Is it really worth throwing Jews under the bus to advance your political ambitions?" Gottheimer said on X this weekend… Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging her office to investigate the death of a 19-year-old Palestinian American man who was killed last month in a confrontation with Israeli settlers in the West Bank… A federal judge nullified a number of actions taken by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, ruling that Kari Lake was unlawfully serving as the agency's head when the decisions, which included mass layoffs, were made… Federal officials will lead the investigation into an incident at a weekend demonstration outside Gracie Mansion in which a homemade explosive device was flung into a crowd of protesters, allegedly by at least once person who told officials they were an ISIS sympathizer… Two Toronto-area synagogues were damaged by gunfire late Friday and early Saturday following an earlier shooting at another area synagogue last week, Jewish Insider's Haley Cohen reports… Police in LiΓ¨ge, Belgium, are investigating an explosion that occurred at a local synagogue this morning, in what a local official called a "violent act of antisemitism"... The U.K.'s Luton Airport apologized and will institute antisemitism awareness training after an incident in which Israeli author Alon Penzel, who was traveling back to Israel, encountered a member of airport security who made disparaging comments to him… Authorities in the U.K. are investigating a report of antisemitism during a soccer match in which supporters of the Thorpe St Andrew School allegedly jeered the players from JFS, the U.K.'s largest Jewish school… |
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KELLY GAVIN/WBCI/MLB PHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES |
Team Israel bested the Nicaraguan national team 5-0 on Sunday in its first-ever shutout game at the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Miami. Former Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis (center) is serving at the team's bench manager. |
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LARRY BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES FOR TIME INC |
Rhodes scholar, Harvard Law graduate, author and political journalist, Michael Kinsley turns 75… President at Adelson Family Foundation since 2007 and a board member of Prizmah, Michael Bohnen turns 79… Sag Harbor, L.I.,-based painter, sculptor and printmaker, Eric Fischl turns 78… Host of Public Radio International's "Science Friday," Ira Flatow turns 77… Member of the Knesset from 1989-2021, he has served in many cabinet roles and as chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries, Amir Peretz turns 74… President and CEO of NYC's flagship public TV station WNET, Neal Shapiro turns 68… Professor emeritus of economics at NYU, nicknamed "Dr. Doom," Nouriel Roubini turns 68… Susan Liebman… NYC-based attorney, Gordon Platt… Private equity and venture capital investor, Howie Fialkov… Founder and head of the Chabad house at Harvard University, Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi… Former Canadian minister of mental health and addictions, Ya'ara Saks turns 53… VP and head of global communications and public affairs for Meta / Facebook, David I. Ginsberg… Senior fellow at Harvard University's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Matthew Vogel… Former CEO of the Trevor Project, now CEO of the Malnutrition Advocacy Fund, Amit Paley… Co-founder and CEO at ImpactTechNation, he is also a co-founder of the political party Wake-Up Jerusalem (Hitorerut B'Yerushalayim), Hanan Rubin… Israeli-born singer, now one-half of the world music duo Shlomit & RebbeSoul, Shlomit Levi turns 43… News editor in the U.S. bureau of Jewish News Syndicate, Menachem Wecker… Partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Bocarsly Emden, Rachel Rosner… Political strategist for the Democratic Party, she is a co-host of "The Five" on the Fox News Channel, Jessica Tarlov turns 42… Senior advisor to North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, Alissa "Sadie" Weiner… CEO at New Orleans-based QED Hospitality, Emery Whalen… Pitcher for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he now plays in the Mexican League, Jared Lakind turns 34… Founding partner of Mothership Strategies, Jacob "Jake" Austin Lipsett… Manager of education and outreach at inSIGHT Through Education, Marla Topiol… First-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, now playing for the NHL's Nashville Predators, Ozzy Wiesblatt turns 24… Stephen Lent... |
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