Daily Kickoff
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2026
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the arrests of 10 settlers in connection with extremist attacks over the weekend on a journalist and European diplomats in the West Bank, do a deep dive into Israel’s electoral math and the challenging path for the anti-Netanyahu bloc to form a coalition, and cover the condemnation of far-left streamer Hasan Piker by Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Angie Craig ahead of Piker’s upcoming campaign trail appearance in Minnesota alongside Rep. Ilhan Omar. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gov. Josh Shapiro, John Paulson and Amar'e Stoudemire.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik, Lahav Harkov and Tamara Zieve.
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Today's Agenda
The Israel Police said 10 people were arrested earlier today following an incident on Friday in which settlers attacked a U.S.-born Washington Post photographer in the West Bank and a separate incident on Saturday in which settlers assaulted European diplomats.
The arrests come after U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee blasted the “despicable act of terror” in which Heidi Levine suffered multiple fractures and underwent surgery for a severe injury to her finger. The assailants, Huckabee said, “should spend YRS in prison. We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to whoever participated in this.” Huckabee wrote on X that the arrests were "a very positive development."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, told reporters that the U.S. was “very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing” and has “asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff.”
Huckabee made his first public appearance since the attacks at the inaugural Judea Conference, a show of support for Israeli settlers in the West Bank, on Sunday night. Huckabee, who delivered the conference’s keynote address, did not address the attack, focusing his remarks on the Christian connection to the Biblical stories that took place in the region.
We’re also keeping an eye on the aftermath of the anti-government protests that roiled Paris and other cities in France over the weekend. In Paris, a synagogue in the city’s 19th arrondissement was reportedly vandalized amid the violence.
One Thing to Know
By Lahav Harkov
One of the key features of this Israeli election cycle is that the math, as the meme goes, ain't mathing.
In the average of last week's polls, the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wins 54 Knesset seats and the Gadi Eisenkot-led bloc receives 50. Even with the Reservists and Economic Party, who got an average of three seats in last week's polls and have not aligned with either Netanyahu or Eisenkot, neither bloc would reach the needed 61-seat majority to establish a stable coalition.
Then there are the Joint List and Ra'am, two mostly Arab parties, with the latter being more moderate and willing to work within the system. They average a total of 13 seats, enough to bring either side to a majority.
The problem is that Eisenkot isn't bringing in 50 Knesset seats on his own. There are three other parties in his bloc, and one emphasized repeatedly last week that relying on the Arab parties is a red line.
The Big Reads
presidential endorsement
Trump gives Netanyahu ‘complete and total endorsement’
President Donald Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, ahead of the Knesset election set for Oct. 27, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. Addressing a Truth Social post to “the great people of Israel,” Trump called Netanyahu “a great warrior prime minister and an even greater partner for peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Trump said that “if Israel has the wrong leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work [of finishing the war against Iran] ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so.”
ripple effect
New York’s suburban Dems face a Mamdani dilemma
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist wave swamped his fellow Democrats last November and again in June. Now, some fear it could wash out the prospects of moderate members of his party in swing districts next month — especially in those with large Jewish populations, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. Citywide, the mayor still coasts on a 60% approval rating and a swelling entourage of allies at the state and federal level, while Democrats nationally look to ride a tide of discontent with President Donald Trump. But a recent Quinnipiac poll put Mamdani’s support in the New York suburbs at 39%, and a Siena College survey in September found nearly two-thirds of Jewish voters in the Empire State view him negatively.
dfl discord
Amy Klobuchar, Angie Craig condemn Hasan Piker ahead of planned Minneapolis event with Ilhan Omar
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) condemned far-left streamer Hasan Piker over the weekend ahead of a planned Oct. 26 Minneapolis event with Piker, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and democratic socialist state Sen. Omar Fateh, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. “The Senator believes that a number of the statements he has made are reckless and unacceptable,” a spokesperson for Klobuchar’s gubernatorial campaign told JI. Craig issued a statement on X on Saturday, the first public sign of what a source told JI is growing discontent inside state Democratic circles about the event. The source said that some Democratic leaders and party officials have been privately urging Omar and Fateh to call off the event.
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.
CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said that Iran-backed militias around the Middle East are sending money to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as Tehran faces financial struggles as a result of the U.S.’ economic isolation campaign…
Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi was approved by the Iranian parliament to be the Islamic Republic’s next defense minister, replacing Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed during the opening salvos of the war with Israel and the U.S. in February; Ketabchi, who has close ties with the IRGC, is one of the architects of the country’s missile program…
The Wall Street Journal reports that Iran has given its Houthi proxies targeting and intelligence assistance that the terror group in Yemen has used in its attacks on Saudi Arabia…
Wall Street executives are reportedly reconsidering traveling to Saudi Arabia next week for the annual Future Investment Initiative conference, known as “Davos in the Desert,” due to ongoing Houthi attacks…
Egypt, meanwhile, said it was prepared to assist Riyadh with support to defend against the attacks…
Agence France-Presse reports that all of the contenders to succeed Antรณnio Guterres as U.N. secretary-general received at least one veto from permanent U.N. Security Council members in an informal straw poll last week, including leading candidate Rebeca Grynspan, who received two; the U.S. had previously indicated that it doesn’t back any of the current candidates…
Hedge fund manager John Paulson announced a $250 million gift to Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Saturday night, the largest donation in the school’s 101-year history, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Justin Hayet reports; the university will rename its Mount Scopus campus in honor of Paulson and his wife, Alina…
Former congressional candidate Elijah Manley, who earlier this year fell short in his primary challenge to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), was arrested on charges that he threatened Facebook users who did not support Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the efforts of Democratic donors Sue and Steve Mandel to reshape the party through their newly formed Majority Democrats group that aims to pivot away from the far-left’s growing hold on the party…
The New Yorker does a deep dive into the Democratic Socialists of America's evolution from a fringe activist group to a growing electoral force...
Former NBA All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire, who earlier this year became the first Israeli citizen inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, is beginning a career in law enforcement, following his graduation earlier this month from the Miami Dade College School of Justice Basic Law Enforcement Academy; Stoudemire will now train with the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department…
The U.K.’s Metropolitan Police determined no action would be taken against the wife of National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell, who voiced support online for the Palestine Action activist group that last year was designated by London as a terror group…
At least a dozen fans of Croatia’s Hajduk Split soccer team were arrested after an antisemitic rally ahead of a match last week and subsequent disruption of a game against Amsterdam’s Ajax team, which is associated with the Dutch Jewish community…
The IDF published what it says is an internal Hamas document, written in April 2024, detailing plans to plant explosive devices near displaced-person camps in the Gaza Strip to try to protect its leaders and operatives during the war between Israel and Hamas…
Eitan Danon and Joshua Kram are joining The Washington Institute for Near East Policy as adjunct senior fellows with a focus on Middle East geoeconomics…
Zipora Shlifkovitz Zucker, a longtime educator at Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, which she helped to found, died at 99…
Actor and director Alan Mandell, best known for his roles in Samuel Beckett’s plays, died at 98…
JI Live Briefing · Free preview
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Larry’s List: In Air Mail, Larry David pens a tongue-in-cheek list of proposals he called on the Democratic Socialists of America to adopt. “In addition, Jews will no longer be allowed to refer to themselves as ‘the Chosen People.’ Henceforth, their new nickname will be ‘the Bagel People.’ We strongly believe in a two-state solution. To this end, we propose that Palestinians should be given all the land currently occupied by Israel and that Israel should be given Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, where the weather is beautiful and grapefruits are aplenty. We think the Bagel People will be very happy there.” [AirMail]
Progressive Pitfalls: In The New York Times, Bernard Avishai addresses what he sees as the shortcomings of American progressives’ views on Israel and Zionism. “They don’t see, in short, that a democratic Hebrew Republic, while not yet fully realized, is plausible, or that Israelis advancing the political and religious Zionist ideas that Americans default to continue to obstruct it. The tragedy of this lack of understanding of cultural Zionism is that instead of American progressives expressing fellow feeling for Israeli progressives, they assume that the latter, owing to their Zionism, cannot exist.” [NYTimes]
Saudi Struggles: Former Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House examines the challenges facing Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Houthi attacks and limited international support. “When we look back on this war, almost certainly the Saudis will be seen as the big loser, with the U.S. coming second. Both have been shown unable to triumph over far lesser powers. The U.S. has squandered global alliances that took decades to build. The clear winner is China. Beijing is bleeding U.S. munition supplies, tying down its naval carriers, which will need years to be ready for new deployment, and exhausting the patience of Americans for another war.” [WSJ]
Picture of the Day
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor (left) and Stephan Harbarth, president of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, laid roses at the "Track 17" memorial during an event on Sunday commemorating the 85th anniversary of the start of the Nazi deportations of Jews from Berlin during WWII. Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images
Birthdays
Jon Favreau, award-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter, known for his involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, turns 60
PRESLEY ANN/GETTY IMAGES FOR LUCAS MUSEUM OF NARRATIVE ART
Kenneth Harrison Keller, professor emeritus and first-ever Jewish president of the University of Minnesota, turns 92
Joseph Neubauer, former CEO of Aramark Corporation for more than 30 years, he is a past chairman of the University of Chicago’s Board of Trustees, turns 85
Paul Binder, founder and former ringmaster of the Big Apple Circus, turns 84
Kenneth L. Toppell, pulmonologist in Plano, Texas, he is also the author of six mystery novels, turns 84
Yoram Ettinger, writer, scholar and former Israeli ambassador, turns 81
Lawrence D. Platt, obstetrician and gynecologist at the Center for Fetal Medicine in Los Angeles
Michelle Fischler, retired hospitality executive
Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and former director of the journalism program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, turns 72
Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, a leading opponent of all tax increases, turns 70
David Cera, retired supervisor for Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency
Nir Barkat, Israel's minister of the economy and former mayor of Jerusalem for 10 years, both positions following a successful high-tech career, turns 67
Avram Glazer, co-owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and English soccer club Manchester United, he is a son of the late Malcolm Glazer, turns 66
Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and professor at New York University focused on the psychology of morality and moral emotions, turns 63
David Cynamon, Canadian business executive and board member of Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, turns 63
Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, one of two chief rabbis of Ukraine, turns 62
Jay Footlik, founder of Global Policy Associates where he is now an advisory board member, he was the White House Jewish liaison in the Clinton administration
Shira Moses, ritual coordinator at Congregation Emanu El in Houston
Ethan King Strimling, former mayor of Portland, Maine, now a non-profit executive, turns 59
Joshua Topolsky, technology journalist and record producer, turns 49
Jason R. Reitman, film director, screenwriter and producer, turns 49
Evan Majzner, executive director of JDC Entwine
David Ochs, executive at Nefco
Lindsay Applebaum, Pittsburgh-based founder and head of brand of Mamalux
Elie Litvin, founder of iTrade[dot]TV, equities trader and financial marketer
Zack Gelof, infielder in the Athletics organization, he played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, turns 27
Jim Vespe
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