Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the Trump administration’s plan to transfer the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice, and talk to Senate Republicans about their skepticism that Iran will follow through with any nuclear commitments it makes to the U.S. We scoop the launch of former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer’s new strategic advisory firm, and cover President Donald Trump’s comments on Qatar and Iran on the sidelines of the G7 in France. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Amir Tibon, Ken Marcus and Noa Kirel.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve. Have a tip? Email us here.
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- We’re awaiting the White House's release of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran hours after Bloomberg published what it said was the 14-point draft MOU.
- President Donald Trump said earlier today that the U.S. would resume military activity against Iran if he didnt like the MOU, the text of which he noted was not final. “It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their heads. I don’t like it if they don’t behave. We’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head,” Trump said in France.
- Trump, who is returning to Washington later today, announced on Truth Social the postponement of the confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to be director of national intelligence, which had been slated to take place this afternoon before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump said that before Clayton could be confirmed, the Senate needed to confirm Sullivan & Cromwell partner Jamie McDonald as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
- The Senate Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing for a number of Trump administration nominations this morning, including Cameron Hamilton to be the administrator of FEMA.
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding its markup on a number of pieces of legislation, including the Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom, and Accountability Act, the Eastern Mediterranean Gateway Act, the BANNED in Latin America Act targeting Hezbollah and Iran’s activities in the Western Hemisphere, and the Preventing External Aggression and Conflict Escalation in Sudan Act. The SFRC will also mark up legislation repealing some Syria sanctions.
- This afternoon on Capitol Hill, Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) is holding a press conference with former Columbia University anti-Israel activist Mohsen Mahdawi.
- The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is convening a daylong summit for more than 50 leading litigators and legal experts at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington on Wednesday to address the legal challenges of defending Jewish students and employees. More below.
- The Atlantic Council is holding an event this afternoon with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) focused on next month’s NATO summit in Turkey.
- In New York, the Children's Museum of Manhattan is holding a ticker tape celebration for kids to celebrate the New York Knicks’ NBA championship win over the weekend. Actor Amy Schumer and author Jessica Seinfeld are set to serve as the parade’s grand marshals.
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A QUICK WORD WITH JI'S GABBY DEUTCH AND MARC ROD |
Voters in Washington, D.C., appeared poised to elect Councilmember Janeese Lewis George to be their Democratic nominee for mayor, all but guaranteeing, come November, that she will be elected in November to replace Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is not seeking another term after 12 years in office. The race has not been called, but Lewis George leads by more than 15,000 votes with 64% of the votes counted.
Lewis George, a 38-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America, ran a campaign powered by local labor unions that was focused on cost-of-living issues and countering President Donald Trump. She is on track to defeat Kenyan McDuffie, a former councilmember who ran on a more pragmatic platform that eschewed DSA’s brand of radical politics.
The candidates’ views on Israel did not define the race, but they were a throughline in the background. Lewis George filled out a DSA endorsement questionnaire early in the campaign in which she pledged to avoid engaging with “the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups.” Later, she promised to stand firm in fighting antisemitism while also supporting Palestinian human rights. McDuffie tried to use the comments to appeal to anti-DSA voters and Jewish Washingtonians.
Lewis George will represent a shift from Bowser, a moderate Democrat who in 2019 led a trade mission to Israel and who regularly addressed the annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington before AIPAC canceled the event after 2020.
Meanwhile, it was a short night in Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) quickly claimed victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley in a Senate primary runoff. Collins picked up a last-minute endorsement from President Donald Trump, while Dooley’s backing by Gov. Brian Kemp wasn’t enough to push him to victory.
Collins ultimately finished the race around 10 points ahead of Dooley, a similar margin as in the primary election earlier this year. Dooley was widely seen as the more moderate and more electable of the two Republicans, as compared to Collins, who has been trailed by a series of scandals. Republicans may struggle to reclaim the seat from Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) with Collins as their standard-bearer in the race.
Read the rest of 'What You Should Know' here.
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TRANSFERRING RESPONSIBILITIES |
Education Department to hand civil rights investigations to Justice Department |
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will transfer many of the responsibilities of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, the division that investigates civil rights violations at American schools and universities, to the Justice Department, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What it means: The move marks a major step in the White House’s efforts to dismantle the Education Department and significantly reduce or distribute its work. The formal agreement hands to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division the core of OCR's work: investigating and attempting to resolve discrimination complaints against schools and universities. It leaves OCR with the authority to refer cases out and sign off on the results, but has DOJ handling nearly every aspect of the investigation.
Read the full story here.
Exclusive: In an interview with JI’s Haley Cohen ahead of the National Legal Strategy Summit, Ken Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center said, “We’re looking forward to getting the Justice Department perspective because coordination between the government and private organizations are so important.”
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Republicans doubt Iran will follow through on nuclear commitments |
Republican senators said on Tuesday that they’re skeptical that Iran will hold to any commitments it has made or may make in negotiations with the U.S., and urged the administration to release the terms of the memorandum of understanding announced on Sunday. The administration has not yet communicated any specific plans to brief Congress on the deal, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
Senators say: “Rather than an end to the activities in Iran, I think it's more of an intermission,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters. “We still haven't seen what the documents look like, and regardless of what they look like, I don't think you can trust the Iranian regime.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) emphasized that the U.S. has been in similar positions with Iran before, and that they have not resulted in a viable long-term agreement. He told JI that he thinks it’s “generous to call it a deal, it sounds like it’s a deal in progress … and if we’re making progress, that’s good.”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. John Kennedy (R-LA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).
Trump talk: Trump said on Tuesday during a meeting with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France that he was hopeful that a full deal with Iran would come soon because, he asserted, U.S.-Iranian ties had improved “and the relationship is now normalized,” JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.
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Trump criticizes Netanyahu’s handling of Lebanon war |
President Donald Trump expressed disappointment on Tuesday with Israel’s recent military actions in response to Hezbollah, criticizing a strike on a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut as “vicious” and suggesting that Israel step back and let Syria handle the fight against the Iranian-backed terror group, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
What he said: Speaking with the Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, Trump said, “I didn’t like that he [Netanyahu] did an attack based on … a very minor little thing with some drones that were released,” Trump said, referring to a Hezbollah drone strike on northern Israeli communities on Sunday. “I saw that [Israeli] attack, I saw where that bomb went. That was vicious, that was too much.”
Read the full story here.
Reactions: Senators and Middle East policy experts expressed skepticism regarding Trump’s suggestion on Tuesday that Syria should handle Hezbollah in Lebanon, JI’s Marc Rod, Matthew Shea and Emily Jacobs report.
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Senate defense bill calls for strict new conditions on funding for Lebanese Armed Forces |
The Senate’s version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act proposes sweeping new conditions on U.S. support for the Lebanese Armed Forces. The proposed restrictions come after top Senate lawmakers publicly expressed frustration in recent months with the LAF’s failure to take concrete steps to fully disarm Hezbollah, and argued that the U.S. should not provide unconditional funding for the LAF, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Terms and conditions: Support for the LAF, which would be limited to no more than $36 million, is conditioned on the LAF’s work to disarm Hezbollah. No more than 5% of that funding can be provided until the administration certifies to Congress that Lebanon has outlawed Hezbollah's activities and that the LAF is actively working to disarm Hezbollah, prevent the Iranian-backed group’s rearmament and prevent attacks on Lebanon’s neighbors — including Israel.
Read the full story here.
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Alma Hernandez sounds alarm over antisemitism in her Arizona Senate race |
Alma Hernandez, a Jewish Democrat and Arizona representative now running for an open state Senate seat in Tucson, is raising alarms about rhetoric from her primary opponent that she and other Jewish leaders claim has crossed a line into antisemitism — with no pushback from local elected officials. Hernandez, who is term-limited in Arizona’s House, identifies as a “proud Zionist,” fueling tensions with some Democratic colleagues, particularly on the left, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Israel angle: Hernandez’s left-wing rival in the state’s July 21 primary election, Rocque Perez, a former Tucson city council member, has throughout his campaign fixated to an unusual degree on her pro-Israel views and frequently cast Hernandez as influenced by “foreign” and “overseas interests” in a thinly veiled allusion to Israel, saying that he is vying “to unseat” an “Israel-First Dem tied to big money.” Hernandez said in an interview with JI, “At the end of the day, I consider this guy to be an antisemite, and someone who is so obsessed that this is all he talks about.”
Read the full story here.
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Ron Dermer to launch a strategic advisory firm |
Former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is launching the Dermer Consulting Group (DCG), a Jerusalem-based strategic advisory firm focusing on the U.S., Israel and the Middle East, Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss has learned.
Transition: Dermer, who has long been a part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, officially departed the Israeli government in November, after twice extending his tenure. Dermer previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., leaving the posting in 2021 after eight years. He was named strategic affairs minister the following year. Yarden Golan, who previously served as Dermer’s chief of staff, is a co-founder of the firm and will serve as managing director.
Read the full story here.
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Still Joined at the Hip: In The Washington Post, Michael Singh, the managing director and a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, suggests that the relationship between Washington and Jerusalem remains strong amid reports of clashes between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump. “It is the rare state that is not only capable but willing to act in America’s stead, projecting power far more effectively than U.S. allies with gross domestic products many times Israel’s. The Jewish state’s capability is the product of a unique mix of societal factors, but is also in part the product of a decades-long, bipartisan strategy of building up Israel’s capabilities and its interoperability with the U.S. military.” [WashPost]
War Wound: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens posits that Iran has emerged from the war with the U.S. and Israel as the victor. “War is a contest of wills. And in that contest, the hard men of Tehran appear to have scored a decisive victory over the vain man of Washington. … There’s a word for this: debacle. Not because the war, for all its costs or errors of execution, was a mistake. It’s because this pretense of a peace is an act of geopolitical self-harm that will haunt our standing in the world for years to come.” [NYTimes]
Hardliners’ Lament: The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour reports on anger over the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran among Iran’s hardliners who view the agreement as a capitulation. “Faced with the onslaught, Iranian officials led by Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to the head of the negotiating team, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, mounted a detailed rebuttal in an audio message insisting the deal would end the war, including Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, and that Tehran has not been required to make any new commitments on its nuclear programme, leaving the means of disposal of its highly enriched uranium – including down-blending inside Iran – to future discussions lasting 60 days. Mohammadi also said that by referring to ‘Iranian arrangements,’ the text would allow Iran and Oman to charge fees for passage through the strait of Hormuz, and would even prevent Israeli commercial ships using the waterway.” [TheGuardian]
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In his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, Vice President JD Vance writes that TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed at a campus event in September, had raised concerns to Vance shortly before his death that some young conservatives “were going from legitimate disagreement with the Israeli government to antisemitism”...
In a review of the book, Wall Street Journal columnist Barton Swaim criticized what he called Communion’s “egregious sloppiness,” noting that portions of the book about accountability for the circumstances of Vance’s upbringing differ widely from similar components of his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy…
The U.S. is reportedly in talks with the Palestinian Authority to deepen the strained relations between Washington and Ramallah; The Times of Israel reports that Saudi Arabia is assisting the PA in its reform efforts…
Despite having previously approved a similar motion, the Senate on Tuesday narrowly defeated a procedural vote on a war powers resolution to prevent further military action against Iran, as the administration moves forward in negotiations with Tehran, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
The FBI announced on Tuesday that it had disrupted a sophisticated attack targeting the UFC fight on the White House lawn on Sunday, with Fox News reporting that one suspect allegedly told investigators that the attack was targeting “capitalist elites,” “billionaires” and politicians who received donations from AIPAC, JI’s Marc Rod reports…
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said he requested an "immediate" classified briefing on the attempted attack, calling on “every leader in every party" to reject political violence and saying, "the temperature must come down”...
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who while in Congress was a member of The Squad and a strident critic of Israel, in her comeback bid against Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO)...
The Anti-Defamation League filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of a Boulder middle-school student whom the ADL said faced years of antisemitic harassment, alleging that teachers and administrators at a Boulder school did not address the situation…
The Wall Street Journal looks at how Iranian Americans in Los Angeles — where the Iranian national team played against New Zealand this week — are viewing Iran’s World Cup presence with a mix of emotions…
A new poll released by the Council for a Secure America found that a majority of Lebanese and Syrians have negative views of Hezbollah, with 68% of Syrians polled saying that the Iranian-backed group’s presence in Syria has been negative, and 59% of Lebanese surveyed saying Hezbollah has had a negative impact on Lebanon…
U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government had asked the country’s Advertising Standards Authority to probe whether a recent event at a London synagogue promoting home sales in Israel — which sparked large-scale protests in the synagogue’s vicinity — involved the sale or promotion of properties in the West Bank…
Israeli journalist Amir Tibon was awarded the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature on Tuesday for The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands, his harrowing account of survival on Oct. 7, 2023, JI’s Christina Sher reports…
Project Shema, which focuses on antisemitism in progressive spaces, relaunched as an independent 501(c)3 organization, four years after first beginning its activities, which included workshops and trainings, with the support of grants and workshop revenue, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he had invalidated parts of the 1997 Hebron Agreement that gave construction and planning powers to Palestinian officials; Smotrich said that decision-making powers over the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the adjoining Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque now fall to Israeli authorities…
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Noa Kirel teamed up with her mother, Ilana, for a duet in the Israeli pop star’s latest song, “Iconic Woman,” which dropped on YouTube on Tuesday, in honor of Pride month, alongside an AI-generated music video featuring both women.
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DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE MET MUSEUM/VOGUE
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Fashion designer, daughter of Reva Schapira, Tory Burch turns 60...
Diplomat and attorney, undersecretary of state for international security affairs in the Carter administration, former longtime U.N. special representative, Matthew Nimetz turns 87... Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, professor at Georgetown and UC Berkeley, he is married to former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, George Akerlof turns 86... One of the world's best-selling singer-songwriters over the course of seven decades, born Barry Alan Pincus, Barry Manilow turns 83... Former member of the Knesset for the Zionist Union and Labor party, Eitan Broshi turns 76... Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission during the Obama administration, Jonathan David ("Jon") Leibowitz turns 68... Deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration during the first two years of the Biden administration, Stephanie Pollack turns 66... President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors until January 2025, Aaron Dan Peskin turns 62... Singer and composer, a pioneer of the Turkish and Arab music genres in Israel, Ofer Yoel Levy turns 62... Active in interfaith peace initiatives between Judaism and Islam and in encounters for Jews with Eastern religions, Rabbi Yakov Meir Nagen (born Genack) turns 59... Founder and chairman of Shavei Israel, Michael Freund turns 58... British historian, columnist and musician, Dominic Green, Ph.D. turns 56... Comedian, actor, director, writer and producer, Michael Showalter turns 56... International human rights attorney who serves as managing director of the law firm Perseus Strategies, Jared Matthew Genser turns 54... Screenwriter, television producer, director and voice actor, Matthew Ian Senreich turns 52... Advocacy, philanthropic and political counsel and founding partner at LAVA Strategies, David Elliot Horwich... SVP for the economic program at Third Way, a center-left think tank advancing a pro-growth economic agenda, Gabe Horwitz... Chief philanthropy officer of Jewish Federation of Broward County, Keith Mark Goldmann... VP of government affairs for the Conservation Lands Foundation, David Eric Feinman... Former rabbi of the Elmora Hills Minyan in Union County, N.J., now an LCSW therapist in private practice, Rabbi Michael Bleicher... NYC-based senior editor for The Hollywood Reporter, Alexander Weprin... Professional surfer and musician, his family owns Banzai Bagels on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Makua Rothman turns 42... Founder and executive director of the Zioness Movement, designed to empower progressive Zionists, Amanda Berman... Director of national outreach for the East at the New Israel Fund, Alexander Willick... Award-winning college football and basketball analyst for NBC Sports and SiriusXM, Nicole Auerbach... Former member of the U.S. Ski Team's alpine program, he competed for the USA in both the 2014 (Sochi) and 2018 (PyeongChang) Winter Olympics, Jared Goldberg turns 35... Senior art director at Business Insider, Rebecca Zisser... Shortstop for Team Israel at the 2020 Olympics, Scott Burcham turns 33... Actor known for her roles in the CBS series “Fam,” the Netflix series “Grand Army,” the HBO series “I Love LA,” and the film “Marty Supreme,” Odessa Zion Segall Adlon turns 26... D.C.-based real estate agent, Mounira Al Hmoud...
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