Daily Kickoff
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2026
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we spotlight Rep. Hillary Scholten, one of the few Democratic lawmakers in Michigan taking a public stance against the rhetoric of Hasan Piker and Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and look at the anti-Israel donors who contributed to far-right antisemitic candidates ahead of last week’s primaries in Florida. We report on new U.S. sanctions targeting the U.K.-based Palestine Action group, and cover the 96% drop in liquefied natural gas exports out of Qatar since the start of the Iran war. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rabbi Shmuel Silber, Matt Little and Dana Nessel.
Curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod.
Today's Agenda
Tthe Milken Institute Hamptons Dialogues kicks off today and runs through Sunday.
Elsewhere in New York, Israeli singer Ishay Ribo is slated to perform tonight with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at Radio City Music Hall.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is in Iran today, the latest senior official from the region to travel to the Islamic Republic this week, following Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir’s trip on Monday and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi’s visit the following day.
Iran and Oman have reached a potential agreement that, according to Iran’s deputy foreign minister, would forbid military ships from transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. The news comes amid reports of a run on supplies inside Iran, where mounting economic pressure sunk the rial to a new record low earlier this week.
In Washington, a group of Senate Democrats led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is expected to introduce a resolution forcing the Trump administration to provide an accounting of Israeli human rights practices in the West Bank.
One Thing to Know
Examining the campaign finance reports of neo-Nazi influencer Dan Bilzerian prompts the question of who exactly would want to be associated with the hate-mongering candidate, who was badly defeated last week in his primary bid against Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), who is Jewish. The next question is who would want to be associated with his associates.
In an age of dog whistles, Bilzerian leads a blaring Wagnerian orchestra of antisemitism. He made his name as an online influencer who dabbled in Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories about a Jewish role in everything from the John F. Kennedy assassination to 9/11. He capped his congressional campaign with an ad praising Adolf Hitler and featuring AI images of his opponent “the fat Jew Randy” sprouting horns.
The donor list of the campaign and two supporting committees reveal the “America First, Israel Never” candidate enjoyed a kind of crossover appeal: not so much across the aisle as around the political horseshoe.
The Big Reads
standing firm
The moderate Michigan Democrat holding the line against Hasan Piker
Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) has emerged in recent weeks as one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken voices against antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker — but Jewish Michiganders who have worked with her say she’s long been close with and supportive of the community, and that she’s been deeply and personally disturbed by rising antisemitism and rhetoric from Piker and Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. David Kramer, a prominent Jewish Democratic leader in the Detroit area, said Scholten is “someone who has a very strong sense of self and what she thinks is right and wrong, and she has a history of speaking up, even if it’s unpopular.” At an event earlier this week, Scholten said that Piker’s antisemitic comments “don’t have any place in the Democratic Party or in the United States of America,” while a day later, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) accused Republicans of stoking Democratic divisions over Piker.
Worthy listen: Appearing on The Atlantic’s “David Frum Show,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, addressed concerns among Jewish Democrats in the state over El-Sayed’s rhetoric and refusal to withdraw his equivocal comments responding to a violent attack in March on a synagogue in suburban Detroit.
terror tag
U.S. sanctions Palestine Action, PFLP-linked group as global terrorists
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned several far-left organizations on Wednesday, including the U.K.-based Palestine Action and transnational group Masar Badil, which is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. The designation — the first known case of British left-wing activist groups being targeted by American counterterrorism sanctions — places the entities in the same category as Hamas, al-Qaida and ISIS, and could bar foreign supporters from entering the United States.
gas pains
Qatar’s LNG exports plunge 96%, costing Doha $24 billion
Six months into the military conflict between the U.S. and Iran, a Reuters analysis found that Qatar’s liquefied natural gas exports have plunged 96%, resulting in approximately $24 billion in lost revenue, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Doha has been forced to halt much of its LNG production — its primary driver of export earnings — due to attacks on energy infrastructure and inability to physically move it to customers, wiping out the equivalent of roughly five months of Qatari government revenue and establishing the state as one of the chief economic casualties of the war.
The Rundown
The rest of today’s original stories from Jewish Insider — full stories, all published on the site.
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly visited CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday for briefings on Iran…
The U.S. is planning to resurrect Civil War-era prize courts that would allow the government to fast-track efforts to seize and claim oil and other cargo taken from enemy vessels…
The New York Times does a deep dive into the operations of Iran’s largest bank — Bank Melli — after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said each of its branches around the world “must be shuttered and dark”...
Politico spotlights the increasing calls from lawmakers from both parties for the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Chinese financial institutions that do business with Iran…
Jewish officials in Colorado are calling for Democratic congressional nominee Melat Kiros, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who has accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, to engage with the community over their concerns about rising antisemitism…
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) announced her engagement to attorney Jason Turkish; the couple got engaged while vacationing in Italy and will travel to Israel, where Turkish's father was born...
Ben & Jerry’s is planning to name three independent directors to its board after Magnum, which owns the ice cream company, imposed term limits on the board, forcing out several members…
Puck is in advanced talks for an investment by RedBird Capital Partners in a deal that values the news company at $250 million…
CNN interviews former Israeli hostage Evyatar David, nearly a year after he was released from Gaza, about his time in captivity and post-captivity trauma…
Israel is reportedly mulling the expulsion of British officials from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat who have been involved in oversight of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas over London’s criticism of Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories…
Bloomberg looks at Israel’s plans to bolster its Navy, following nearly three years of warfare in which the country’s naval defenses struggled to tackle maritime threats and the inexpensive Houthi drones that largely cut off Israeli shipping routes…
Saudi Arabia is working to reroute its oil exports once again, this time through the costlier Suez Canal, as its ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — itself a backup route to the Strait of Hormuz — have come under attack by the Houthis…
Iranian lawmakers are mulling legislation that would criminalize contact with media organizations considered hostile to the Islamic Republic, with those found guilty facing up to two years in prison…
Rabbi Shmuel Silber was named the executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, nearly a year after the sudden death of Rabbi Moshe Hauer, the OU’s former executive vice president, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports.
Rabbi Josh Joseph, who had served jointly with Hauer as OU’s executive vice president as well as separately as chief operating officer, will assume the newly created role of chief executive officer…
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What Iran War?: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire and Nancy A. Youssef posit that President Donald Trump is forgoing short-term military action in Iran out of concern that Republicans could lose both chambers of Congress in the midterms. “If nothing else, the new approach allows the White House to say it’s trying something and then — importantly — to stop talking about the war. Part of the plan, Trump advisers and allies tell us, is to try to push Iran to the background, while hoping that gas prices come down even a little and that Republicans can shift the nation’s focus to more politically palatable topics ahead of the midterms.” [TheAtlantic]
Holding Up a Mirror: In The Guardian, Michael Visontay reflects on Australia’s royal commission to investigate antisemitism in the country as the monthslong hearing concludes this week. “The commission’s signal achievement has been to hold a mirror to the broader Australian community about the breadth and intensity of hostility that has been directed at Jews since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023 and the following war in Gaza. The testimony of lived experience highlighted the extent to which intimidation and victimisation of Jews has permeated virtually every corner of life in this country, from children’s sporting fields to schools and universities, the public service, union movement, arts and entertainment, politics and even the healthcare system.” [TheGuardian]
Palling Around with Piker: Bloomberg Opinion’s David Drucker explores the degree to which antisemitism has permeated the Democratic Party. “Major candidates for Congress have paraded around with [Hasan] Piker, a Twitch streamer with over 3 million followers on the platform, and Democratic voters have nominated primary candidates who are aggressively critical of Israel — and only Israel — and traffic in antisemitic tropes. Their rise is jeopardizing the Democrats’ historically strong bond with Jewish voters, a key component of their liberal coalition.” [Bloomberg]
Picture of the Day
Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun (right), the State Department’s antisemitism envoy, met with Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar this week in Bogota. Bula was appointed to the position last month following the victory of Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella. Credit: X
Birthdays
Danielle Weisberg, co-founder of theSkimm, turns 40
MARLA AUFMUTH/GETTY IMAGES FOR WATERMARK CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN
Ruth Ann Hapner, Chatsworth, Calif., resident
Mark Freedman, board chair for North America at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, turns 75
Michael Wolff, author, essayist and journalist, turns 73
Moshe Shlomo "Vladimir" Sloutsker, co-founder of the Israeli Jewish Congress, he is a former senator in the Russian Federation, turns 70
Martha E. Pollack, president of Cornell University until June 2024, turns 68
Kathy Hochul, governor of New York since 2021, turns 68
Anna Azari, Israel's ambassador to the Czech Republic, turns 67
Gary Cohn, vice chairman at IBM and lead independent director on the board of Apollo Global Management, he was previously the president and COO of Goldman Sachs, turns 66
Nadav Tamir, executive director of J Street Israel, he served as Israel's consul general to New England from 2006 to 2010
Steve Clemons, editor-at-large at The National Interest and the founding editor of Semafor, he is also chairman and CEO of Widehall, turns 64
Neil A. Wallack, private equity investor and a trustee of the Jewish Federations of North America’s board
Daphne Koller, Israeli-born CEO of Insitro, she was a professor at Stanford for 18 years and a 2004 winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship, turns 58
Avril Haines, director of National Intelligence throughout the four years of the Biden administration, she was the first woman to ever hold the DNI position, turns 57
Vanessa Wruble, co-founder of the 2017 Women's March which she eventually left citing concerns over antisemitism, turns 52
Joshua Goldberg, managing partner and founder of NYC-based G2 Investment Partners
Shai Babad, former director-general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, now CEO of the Strauss Group, turns 50
Daniel Biss, mayor of Evanston, Ill., he is the Democratic congressional nominee in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, turns 49
Richard Goldberg, senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, turns 43
Nelson France, outreach manager at the Middle East Forum
Adam Metzger, member of AJR, an indie pop multi-instrumentalist trio, together with his two brothers, turns 36
Michael Weiss
Yuval Sapir, director of the Botanical Garden and senior lecturer, both positions at Tel Aviv University
Talia Rubin
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