Daily Kickoff
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2026
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover Vice President JD Vance’s speech yesterday to the Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as his campaign rally in Michigan, where he called the state’s Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed “very, very evil.” We report on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s call for Jewish voters to put “the needs of the world” above their own survival, and talk to pollsters about voters’ considerations in the upcoming Israeli election. We also speak with former White House officials and regional analysts about whether Washington’s economic campaign and naval blockade against Iran are yielding dividends. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Leo Terrell, Josh Kushner and Ambassador Marcy Grossman.
Curated by Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Today's Agenda
It’s primary Election Day in Massachusetts, where Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is hoping to fend off a challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who has called for generational change in the race.
This morning, a House Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee is holding a hearing on the threat posed by the Houthi terror group to U.S. interests in the Red Sea.
Finance ministers from the G-20 countries are wrapping up a summit in Asheville, N.C., where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters yesterday he’s aiming in his meetings to shore up support for the U.S.’ economic isolation campaign against Iran.
Meanwhile, the leaders of China, Russia, India, Iran and several other countries are in Kyrgyzstan wrapping up their own meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group meant to counter U.S. global influence.
From there, Chinese President Xi Jinping is headed on a three-day state visit to Cairo, his first in a decade, as the two countries mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations and as Egypt increasingly balances its long-standing ties to Washington against a deepening partnership with Beijing, now its largest trading partner.
One Thing to Know
By Gili Cohen
The countdown to Israel’s October elections has begun, bringing with it a central question: Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who, against all odds, remains in office three years after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks took place under his tenure — remain Israel’s leader?
Israeli governments have often faced political upheaval after major wars or security crises, but Netanyahu’s current government completed a full term — the first time a government has done so in nearly four decades. But Netanyahu is not out of the woods yet.
"Oct. 7 serves primarily as a reminder that the stakes are genuinely high. Israel is a country where elections are fought over matters of life and death in the most literal sense," Shmuel Rosner, a pollster and analyst for Israel's Channel 13, told Jewish Insider.
The Big Reads
COURTING SKEPTICS
Vance speaks out against antisemitism, avoids controversy in RJC remarks
Vice President JD Vance stuck to a pro-Israel line and rejected antisemitism in remarks on Monday to the Republican Jewish Coalition, avoiding any new controversies while not being pressed directly about some of his past comments and affiliations, including with Tucker Carlson, that have most concerned Jewish Republicans, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports from the conference in Las Vegas. Attendees at the closed-door meeting, with some exceptions, largely said that the speech helped Vance reassure skeptical Jewish and pro-Israel Republicans and boost his support with the RJC crowd ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid.
Also at the RJC: Ron Dermer, Israel’s former strategic affairs minister and close advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, praised Vance on Monday, saying he had played a “critical role” in the 12-day war against Iran in June 2025, “and particularly the first day, where that element of surprise was so critical to our success. And I will be forever grateful for the role that he played at that critical moment.”
CAMPAIGN CLASH
Vance slams Senate hopeful El-Sayed as ‘very, very evil’ at Michigan rally
Vice President JD Vance laid into Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Monday during a campaign rally held in the state, calling him “very, very evil” and an apologist “for the worst people in the world and America’s enemies all over the globe,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. Speaking at the event in Sterling Heights organized by a pro-Trump super PAC, Vance accused El-Sayed of sympathizing with the assailant who carried out a terrorist attack against a synagogue outside of Detroit in March and associating with the antisemitic Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who had claimed that America deserved 9/11. In a statement after the rally, El-Sayed said in response: “Evil is ripping healthcare away from working people in exchange for tax breaks for billionaires. Evil is making people pay more for groceries and gas while pushing for trade wars and actual war. Evil is dividing people for your own gain. Evil is selling out your morals for a little bit of power.”
Safety aside: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, encouraged Jewish voters on Sunday to put aside concerns about their safety “in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity,” in a stark reference to the choices facing Jewish Democrats in the closely contested Senate election this November.
MONEY MATTERS
Six months into the Iran war, is Trump’s economic pressure campaign yielding dividends?
As the conflict between the United States and Iran passes the six-month mark, former White House officials and regional analysts remain divided over whether Washington’s economic campaign and naval blockade are meaningfully changing the strategic landscape, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Alexander Gray, former chief of staff on the National Security Council during President Donald Trump’s first term, expressed confidence in the administration’s trajectory, arguing U.S. leverage is “only growing.” However, other former White House officials warned that Iran could turn the tide. “His policy is working right now, but the enemy gets a vote,” Elliott Abrams, a former U.S. special representative for Iran during the first Trump administration, told JI.
The Rundown
The rest of today’s original stories from Jewish Insider — full stories, all published on the site.
ADDRESSING ANTISEMITISM
Ramaswamy: Antisemitism is an attack on success, meritocracy and capitalism
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.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation to President Donald Trump and is expected to step down in the coming days, which will leave the Army without any Senate-confirmed civilian or military leadership…
Trump told Fox News on Monday that the U.S. will respond to Iran’s attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan on Sunday: “We’re going to hit them hard. There will be a response,” he said…
CENTCOM and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have proposed to Trump a campaign of limited strikes around the Strait of Hormuz to prevent Iran from rebuilding its radar and missile capacities, U.S. officials told Axios, a plan that may draw the president’s approval following the renewed hostilities over the weekend…
A new alliance between the Houthis and the al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab group, brokered in part by a Somali arms fixer killed in a U.S. airstrike in February, is now working to disrupt Israel's presence in Somaliland, whose independence Jerusalem recognized last year, according to The Wall Street Journal…
The campaign of Michigan Senate Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed is working to hire a Jewish community liaison, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports, as he seeks to make inroads with the state’s Jewish community following his apology for equivocating on a violent terrorist attack targeting a Michigan synagogue in March…
Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer, whose organization has not endorsed El-Sayed, said in a statement that the candidate’s apology to the Jewish community was “a good first step” but added that “building trust with Jewish voters will take additional work.” She said El-Sayed will have to show a commitment to Jewish security that goes beyond rhetoric and denounce antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker to have a shot at winning the group’s support…
Politico speaks with Detroit-area Arab American leaders who helped rally their community to support Trump in the 2024 campaign, many of whom are now souring on the GOP amid the war in Iran and his attacks on El-Sayed…
San Francisco congressional candidate Connie Chan endorsed the “Oakland People’s Arms Embargo,” an activist movement seeking to halt what it claims are arms shipments out of Oakland Airport heading to Israel, as she seeks to best state Sen. Scott Wiener in the Democrat-on-Democrat race with the backing of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)...
Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner broke his silence about his unsuccessful bid to help launch FIFA Forward Enterprise, a proposed commercial subsidiary of soccer's global governing body, telling Axios in a statement: “While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to … Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved”...
The Israeli government has launched a NIS 5 million ($1.67 million) program to recruit AI experts and entrepreneurs from abroad…
Israeli Arab party Ra’am announced on Monday that former police commander Yoav Segalovitz, who recently left the Yesh Atid party, will run on its Knesset slate, making him the first Jewish candidate to be included on the Islamist party’s list. Segalovitz is expected to be given the No. 2 slot, behind MK Mansour Abbas…
The IDF said it carried out strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday “in order to remove threats to the security forces,” following local reports that an Israeli-backed anti-Hamas Palestinian militia conducted a raid in Gaza City. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel arrested a senior Hamas terrorist, while Hamas-run media reported three were killed in the strikes, including a woman and a child, and several others were wounded…
The American Jewish Committee announced on Tuesday that Ambassador Marcy Grossman is the new director of AJC Abu Dhabi. Grossman served as Canada’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2019 to 2022, during which the Abraham Accords were signed...
JI Live Briefing · Free preview
You’re seeing a snippet of the Live Briefing.
The Live Briefing is JI’s real-time feed — breaking news, notable content from across the web, video clips, images and more, all day. The items above are just a taste.
Rooting for Rogers: Rabbi Asher Lopatin, director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, writing in his personal capacity in The Forward, urges Jewish Democratic Michiganders to vote for GOP nominee Mike Rogers over his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, in the upcoming Senate race. “For me, the disdain that El-Sayed has shown for the Jewish community, especially in his continuing refusal to disavow his relationship with Piker, puts him in the same category as candidates who are openly racist and homophobic. Even the most loyal progressive would reject a racist, even if that meant risking a Republican Senate. To show the Democrats that such candidates should never be nominated, we must show them that such candidates can never win. Such a candidate winning would be a disaster for the most fundamental requirements we have for any candidate of any party.” [Forward]
Out of Bounds: In eJewishPhilanthropy, Menachem Z. Rosensaft, a visiting professor of the practice at Cornell Law School and lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School, condemns Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's statement that the Jewish community has “a moral imperative” to place the needs of the world above its own survival. “Let’s be clear: Jewish safety is not and can never be negotiable or sacrificed for any reason. Jewish survival even less so. Moreover, this is not and should not be a Jewish issue. No group’s safety and no people’s survival should ever be turned into a pragmatic political bargaining chip. Can you imagine the outrage if anyone suggested that Black survival, or Muslim survival, or any other group’s survival, should be put at risk? Nessel’s remarks constitute a new low in contemporary political discourse.” [eJP]
Schumer's Silence: The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board calls on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to publicly condemn Hasan Piker, the Twitch streamer who campaigned for El-Sayed and who suggested American Jews will invite attacks on themselves if they keep signaling support for Israel. “It’s worth watching how Democrats handle Mr. Piker, whom they once thought was their answer to Joe Rogan, but who as a political matter represents the serrated edge of the party’s antisemitic wing. Mr. Schumer has embraced Mr. El-Sayed, though the Michigan nominee has said he won’t vote for Mr. Schumer for Senate leader. Mr. Schumer has taken great pride across his career as an opponent of antisemitism and a (less and less reliable) supporter of Israel. With Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez looking over his shoulder in his 2028 re-election year, Mr. Schumer’s political career may be nearing its end. Why not publicly say Mr. Piker’s brand of antisemitism has no place in the Democratic Party and stand with some honor?” [WSJ]
Picture of the Day
Israeli children attended the first day of the new school year on Tuesday at Shahar Eshkol Elementary School in the Eshkol Regional Council, near the Gaza border in southern Israel. Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90
Birthdays
Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig, fashion designer, businesswoman and writer, she uses only her first and middle names professionally, turns 55
Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Alan Dershowitz, retired Harvard Law School professor and constitutional scholar, turns 88
Leonard Slatkin, conductor, author and composer, turns 82
Shalom Hanoch, Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer, he is often referred to as “The King of Israeli Rock,” turns 80
Esther Safran Foer, former director of Sixth & I historic synagogue, she is the matriarch of a literary family (her sons are Franklin, Jonathan and Joshua), turns 80
Linda Feldman, turns 77
Nadia Ficara, director of donor travel programs at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, turns 70
Susan Berry Miller, national president of NA'AMAT USA, turns 69
Joe Straus, former member and speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, the first Jewish House speaker in Texas, turns 67
Eric Adams, former mayor of New York City, turns 66
Dee Dee Myers, White House press secretary during the first two years of the Clinton administration, turns 65
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and rabbi of Kehillat Etz Chayim synagogue, turns 62
Malca Resnick, former clinical sciences group lead in the global product development group at Pfizer, turns 62
Charlotte Fonrobert, associate professor of religious studies at Stanford specializing in Talmudic literature, turns 61
Elana Broitman, former SVP of public affairs at the Jewish Federations of North America, now principal at the Roosevelt Group, turns 60
Craig Caplan, Capitol Hill producer for C-SPAN, turns 59
Harris Vederman, VP of programs at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, turns 56
Jesse Kellerman, novelist and playwright, his parents, Faye Kellerman and Jonathan Kellerman, are both best-selling authors, turns 48
Samuel Salkin, turns 40
Shauna Ruda, Denver-based therapist, turns 39
Lauren Kiel, head of Bloomberg Media's global community innovation team, turns 37
Itay Milner, spokesperson and consul for media affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York
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