Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on yesterday’s House vote in which 103 Democrats backed an amendment from GOP Rep. Thomas Massie calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel, and cover Vice President JD Vance’s comments to Joe Rogan alleging an Israeli influence campaign that was “manipulating” U.S. opinion on the Iran war. We have the scoop on a series of meetings this week between Board of Peace officials and congressional offices as the Trump-backed group seeks to raise $200 million for a peacekeeping force, and look at the race in South Carolina to succeed Sen. Lindsey Graham. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Robert Kraft, Robert O’Brien and Harry Stebbings.
We have also launched a new on-demand Live Briefing that you can access throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and on our website.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
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- President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) today at 9:30 a.m. ET in the Oval Office, two days after she was sworn in to her late brother’s seat. Tonight, Trump will give a prime-time address at 9 p.m. that is expected to include allegations that China meddled in the 2020 elections.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not planning to travel to Washington next week, following reports that Lindsey Graham's funeral, which had been rumored to be scheduled for Tuesday, will take place later in July. The Prime Minister's Office said that Netanyahu will now travel to Washington at the end of the month.
- This morning at the Aspen Security Forum, Jordanian Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi is slated to sit for a fireside chat with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.
- Following their conversation, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), American Global Strategies’ Rob Greenway and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Karim Sadjadpour will join a panel on Iran, followed by a panel on Israel featuring American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and Israeli pollster Dahlia Scheindlin.
- The forum’s afternoon sessions will focus on geopolitics and emerging technologies, with Andreessen Horowitz partner Anne Neuberger, who served as the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology in the Biden administration, set to join a panel on AI’s impact on national security.
- Immediately after, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel — newly returned from his trip to Israel last week — will speak on a panel on the Indo-Pacific. Focus then shifts to the Middle East, with former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad joining a panel on finding middle ground in the region.
- The American Federation of Teachers’ biennial convention kicks off this morning in Washington.
- In Maine, local news outlet News Center Maine is hosting a debate for eight of the Democrats seeking to replace former Senate candidate Graham Platner on the ballot following his withdrawal from the race. The debate comes as Maine Democrats find themselves split over whom to support at the party’s nominating convention later this month, in which hundreds of yet-to-be-selected state party delegates will choose a candidate to replace Platner, who withdrew earlier this month after a former romantic partner accused him of rape.
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A QUICK WORD WITH JI'S MARC ROD |
More than 100 House Democrats — just under half of the party’s caucus — voted to cut off all U.S. aid to Israel on Wednesday, marking another flashpoint in the party’s growing disillusionment with the Jewish state. It’s a result that would have been almost unimaginable even a year ago.
The fact that the number of anti-Israel votes included several longtime pro-Israel Democrats who had previously been endorsed by AIPAC — like Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) and Pat Ryan (D-NY) — is a sign that even some members in the mainstream wing of the party are running scared of a potential primary threat from the left.
Combined with the Senate vote earlier this year in which 40 Democrats voted for a measure led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to block shipments of some weapons to the Jewish state, the message is clear: Israel can no longer count on reliable support from the Democratic Party.
And voting for the equivalent of a wrecking ball to the U.S.-Israel relationship — an amendment that even vocal critics of Israel described as flawed and a calculated political stunt by Republicans — is no longer a nonstarter for congressional Democrats. With a more carefully crafted amendment presented by a member without Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) baggage, the margin in support could have been greater.
Despite the significance of the Democratic defections on Israel, it’s also notable that nearly all of the Democrats in swing districts or running in closely watched battleground Senate races stood by their support of Israel and voted against the amendment.
Only two of the 16 House Democrats facing the most competitive races — districts the Cook Political Report rates as “Lean Democratic,” “Toss Up” or favoring Republicans — voted for the Massie amendment.
Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.
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Vance alleges Israeli influence campaigns ‘manipulating’ American opinion on Iran war |
Vice President JD Vance told podcaster Joe Rogan on Wednesday that he is worried American politicians are being swayed by Israeli “influence campaigns.” In the three-hour interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Vance warned of a “very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign” to derail negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What he said: “[Israel is] a country of 9 million people. We have 330 million people. And so, of course, they’re going to try to persuade Americans. They’re going to try to move Americans in one direction or another,” Vance told Rogan. He noted that Israel’s efforts to influence American foreign policy are not themselves suspect — “a lot of other countries do [it],” Vance said — but, rather, that American officials will act in ways that do not serve the American public as a result of Israel’s urging.
Read the full story here.
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Robert O’Brien: U.S. should target Kharg Island and other Iranian oil infrastructure |
Robert O’Brien, who served as national security advisor during President Donald Trump’s first term, said on Wednesday that the U.S. should target Iran’s oil infrastructure with the goal of choking off its economy — and predicted that the president is moving in that direction, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports from the Aspen Security Forum.
Security strategy: The former national security advisor said on a panel that Trump had been “very, very generous” with Iran but he believes that Trump’s “patience” with Iran is running thin. The next steps, he predicted, would be for the U.S. to “hit them hard” and “finish the job” by targeting sites connected with Iran’s oil infrastructure, including the facilities at Kharg Island, in order to deprive Iran of its ability to produce and export oil.
Read the full story here.
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Board of Peace officials lobby Capitol Hill for peacekeeping funds |
Three senior U.S. officials connected to the Board of Peace, the Trump-led body created to resolve the conflict in Gaza, have been meeting with congressional offices this week to request $200 million for a peacekeeping force, according to two people with knowledge of the meetings. The meetings mark the first time that Board of Peace representatives have approached Congress with a funding request, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Who’s involved: Jasper Jeffers, an American military officer serving as commander of the International Stabilization Force, the United Nations-mandated peacekeeping force created in last year’s ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas; Board of Peace senior advisor Josh Gruenbaum; and retired Gen. Mark Schwartz, a former U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority who is now the Board of Peace’s security lead, spoke at the Capitol Hill meetings.
Read the full story here.
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Rep. Russell Fry, a Trump loyalist, emerging as front-runner in race to succeed Graham |
In the wake of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) sudden death, the candidates vying to succeed him have absorbed a central lesson of his career: the most decisive factor in the Republican primary will almost certainly be who wins President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), who ousted a sitting GOP lawmaker with Trump’s endorsement in 2022, is emerging as one of the leading contenders and someone who has an inside track to receive the president’s blessing, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Laying the groundwork: Fry’s defeat of former Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), who was one of the few Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment in 2021, allowed him to build early relationships with Trump’s political circle. Fry has been making calls to White House officials about a possible run this week, a source familiar with the matter told JI. Asked on Monday evening about the possibility of endorsing Fry if he launched a bid for a full term in Graham’s seat, Trump told Newsmax that Fry is “somebody you can watch out for” as a rising Republican star and did not deny he was considering backing the House lawmaker if he enters the race.
Read the full story here.
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Blue Square Alliance finds increasing apathy towards antisemitism |
Most Americans say they are concerned about antisemitism in the country, yet more than half are unaware of recent major attacks targeting Jews, such as last December’s Bondi Beach terror attack in Sydney, Australia, a new survey from Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate found, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Survey says: Underscoring this lack of awareness, the number of Americans who identify as allies of the Jewish community continued to shrink, according to the anti-hate group’s semiannual survey on U.S. antisemitism. The report, drawn from a survey of more than 7,000 online respondents from March 4 to April 3, is titled “Worse Than Before: Antisemitic Attitudes Reach New Levels Across the U.S.,” and indicates that responses to antisemitism among the American public are less forceful than they were in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel.
Read the full story here.
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Hungary For Change: The Financial Times’ Ben Hall and Marton Dunai look at how Hungarian Prime Minister PΓ©ter Magyar, who defeated Viktor OrbΓ‘n earlier this year, and his Tisza party are rapidly enacting an array of legislative and governing changes since coming to power. “It is strengthening anti-corruption bodies, reinforcing judicial independence, dismantling agencies and foundations controlled by the Fidesz party and removing OrbΓ‘n-era appointees from state energy companies, banks and regulators. The new administration is also turning around Hungary’s foreign policy by restoring co-operation with Brussels after years of obstructionism, mending relations with Ukraine and no longer doing Moscow’s bidding.” [FT]
Brother’s Keeper?: The New York Times’ Andrew Zucker explores the role that WME Group CEO Ari Emanuel — and his Rolodex — could play in the 2028 presidential bid being teased by his brother, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. “There is no guarantee that Ari Emanuel would tip anything in the direction of his brother if he does in fact run for president, which, of course, he has not said he is. Plus, multiple likely Democratic candidates have existing ties to podcasters and influencers, and the bro vote could stay largely in the Republican camp. But with plenty of 2028 hopefuls jockeying for cultural cachet, names in Ari Emanuel’s blue checkmark-filled network will be in high demand.” [NYTimes]
Klee-r and Present Danger: Puck’s Marion Maneker spotlights an exhibition of artist Paul Klee’s work — including pieces inspired by the rise of Nazism across Europe during Klee’s final years — at New York’s Jewish Museum. “The Jewish Museum’s show is a rare opportunity to see the sweep of Klee’s varied, inventive, and nearly indescribable output as an artist, even though the exhibition focuses on the artist’s late work as he struggled with increasing persecution. … Central to the show is a rarely seen suite of drawings that Klee made in direct response to the rise of the Nazis in German life. The stark, delicate, and vulnerable drawings lack the colorful ingenuity and coded criticism of Klee’s best work — but they are, in many ways, the reason for the show.” [Puck]
A larger selection of Worthy Reads is available in our Live Briefing.
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Be featured: Email us to inform the JI readership of your upcoming event, job opening or other communication.
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President Donald Trump announced that Iran freed dual U.S.-Iranian citizen Dena Karari, who had been forbidden to leave the Islamic Republic since December 2024, as a goodwill gesture…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke overnight about American military activity in Iran and Israeli military actions in Syria, Gaza and Lebanon, according to a readout from Katz’s office…
The leadership of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday in Washington; the Israeli diplomat also met with Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee…
A State Department official said that U.S.-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome ended after two days of “productive and positive discussions” during which the parties “agreed on the structure and guidelines for the pilot zone process, to be finalized and implemented in the coming days” as officials move to technical talks…
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who is in Washington this week and met with Trump on Tuesday, reportedly rebuffed pressure from Iranian officials last week — while the Iraqi leader was in Iran attending the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — not to make the U.S. his first overseas trip as prime minister…
The New York Times reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before and during the recent war with Tehran, provided Iranian officials in Washington with information about Iranian detainees in ICE custody who were slated for deportation to the Islamic Republic; the Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations, which were laid out in a lawsuit filed this week by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund…
Iran signaled that it was considering pressuring its Houthi proxies in Yemen to shutter the Bab el-Mandeb waterway that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as a second pressure point amid Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz…
An Iranian national living in Hawaii pleaded guilty to having sent more than $100,000 to Iranians in violation of U.S. sanctions…
Former President Joe Biden announced the upcoming release, slated for Nov. 17, of Promise Me, America, about his time in the White House; Biden had previously teased the memoir during a book event for his wife, who released her own memoir earlier this year…
Former senior White House official Brett McGurk, who during the Biden administration played a key role in efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, will release a book about his time in the administration a day before the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks; in the book, McGurk will reveal details about pre-Oct. 7 normalization efforts between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as well as his working relationship with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff as McGurk handed over the portfolio at the end of Biden’s term…
The House Budget Committee released its blueprint for a third reconciliation bill, including $73 billion for defense and Iran-related matters; the move suggests that congressional Republicans aim to incorporate the Iran-related defense supplemental into the reconciliation package and may let the administration's request for a separate, additional $330 billion in defense funding go by the wayside…
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him against efforts to remove Israel from the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, following reports that Saudi officials are seeking to cut Israel out of the arrangement…
A GOP-aligned super PAC is boosting Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, ahead of next month’s primary in the Badger State; read more about Hong’s recent appearances with far-left commentators who have espoused antisemitic rhetoric here…
The New York Republican Party is launching a campaign to pull in disaffected Jewish Democrats in the state, accusing the Democratic Party of “spiral[ing] into that ugliest and oldest hatred, anti-Semitism” and citing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recent comments in which he referred to AIPAC as “monsters”...
The New York Yankees are in advanced talks with Marc Rowan’s Apollo Global Management that would see the baseball team receive some $3 billion in financing, some of which would go to refinance existing debt…
More than two dozen Jewish camps will be auctioned off after Simad Holdings, which owns or co-owns 30 across the East Coast, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
A new poll commissioned by the Council for a Secure America found that a majority of Israelis support normalization agreements with Saudi Arabia (78%), Lebanon (74%) and Syria (62%); the survey, conducted last month, found 81% support among Israelis for the Abraham Accords…
Israeli NeuroAI company Hemispheric, founded by Hagai Lalazar and Gidi Littwin, emerged from six years of stealth with $52 million as it launches its new medical AI model Descartes…
20VC founder Harry Stebbings announced the London firm’s first lead investment in an Israeli company, saying that 20VC acquired a 15% ownership stake in the unnamed company that Stebbings said was led by “two of Israel's greatest operators”…
Town & Country spotlights the nuptials of Julia Allison and Noah Feldman, who first held a small ceremony at Harvard University, where he works, followed by a five-day celebration in Bali; Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) co-officiated the ceremony alongside Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer…
Jamie Kirchick is joining The Atlantic as a contributing writer…
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CHRISTINA SHER/JEWISH INSIDER
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Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), right, spoke on Wednesday morning at a fireside chat with the Hudson Institute’s Joel Rayburn focused on the future of American strategy in the Middle East.
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JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES
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Israeli former professional tennis player, in 2003 she was ranked 15th in the world, Anna Smashnova turns 50...
One of the three co-founders of Comcast Corporation, he served as its chief financial officer and vice chairman, Julian A. Brodsky turns 93... Senior U.S. district court judge for the Southern District of New York, Judge Sidney H. Stein turns 81... World-renowned violinist, violist and conductor, Pinchas Zukerman turns 78... President of an eponymous communications firm, public speaker and coach, Betsy R. Sheerr... Co-creator of the first-ever spreadsheet program (VisiCalc), he currently serves as the chief technology officer of Alpha Software, Daniel Singer "Dan" Bricklin turns 75... Former high-ranking civilian official in the Pentagon during the Bush 43 administration, now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, Douglas J. Feith turns 73... Senior rabbi since 1997 at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., Rabbi Keith Stern... Los Angeles-based attorney, she is the president emerita of the LA chapter of the Jewish National Fund, Alyse Golden Berkley... Past vice chair of the board of trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America, Cynthia D. Shapira... British solicitor, he represented Princess Diana in her divorce and Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt in a libel case, Anthony Julius turns 70... Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Tony Kushner turns 70... U.S. ambassador to the EU in the Trump 45 administration, Gordon David Sondland turns 69... Former airline executive at Northwest and Delta, Andrea Fischer Newman... Former president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, Douglas Alan Herzog turns 67... Businessman and philanthropist, owner of interests in many Israeli firms including IKEA Israel, Matthew Bronfman turns 67... Canadian journalist, he worked for CNN International for 30 years, Jonathan Mann turns 66... Former Israeli minister of science and technology, now a venture capitalist, Yizhar Nitzan Shai turns 63... Chief of staff of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Jim Rosenberg... Chicago-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Victoria Rivka Zell... Former NFL offensive lineman, Ariel Mace Solomon turns 58... Senior scholar at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center Yeshiva, Rabbi Joshua Kulp turns 56... Founder of Pinkitzel, a cupcake cafe, candy boutique and gift store, Jonathan Jantz... U.S. senator (R-IN), Jim Banks turns 47... National political correspondent for The New York Times, Shane Goldmacher... Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Meteorite and Health Action Alliance, Steven Max Levine... White House liaison to the Jewish community in the Bush 43 administration, now managing partner at Arogeti Endeavors, Scott Raymond Arogeti... Features reporter for Jewish Insider, Matthew Kassel... Founder and managing partner at Vine Ventures, Eric M. Reiner... Registered nurse and an internationally board-certified lactation consultant, Chantal Low Katz... Executive producer of "Blind Spot," a documentary on campus antisemitism, Leonard Gold...
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