Daily Kickoff
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2026
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s statement on the Oct. 7 terror attacks and the backlash it provoked from both legislators and Jewish leaders for its criticism of Israel, look at infighting among Republicans over a pro-Israel provision in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act and cover University of Michigan Hillel’s announced break with national Israel advocacy organizations. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Eli Sharabi, Rep. Haley Stevens and Andy Schor.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Tamara Zieve.
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Today's Agenda
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is slated to hold a press conference with New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin this morning on nonprofits. The press conference comes the morning after mayor’s widely panned statement on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack. More below.
Speaking at a UJA-Federation of New York event last night, Menin — without naming Mamdani or the other far-left officials and candidates who offered similar statements — said, “Today should be a day about only one thing and that is honoring and remembering the 1,200 people who were murdered by Hamas terrorists. That’s what October 7th is about. … This is a very, very difficult day for the Jewish community. And I think to say anything but that is not OK.”
An Oct. 7 vigil last night attended by Mamdani and organized by the left-wing Israelis for Peace was disrupted by anti-Israel protesters, some of whom wore green Hamas headbands and carried Hezbollah flags. The demonstrators screamed into megaphones and banged on drums, accusing Mamdani of being a “sellout,” “coward,” “traitor” and helping to facilitate genocide while the mayor stood silently and listened to remarks from speakers that were repeatedly drowned out by the demonstrators.
In Michigan, former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers and Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed will participate in a debate tonight hosted by WOOD TV8.
In Jerusalem, Israeli President Isaac Herzog will present the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism today to six people who helped thwart the attempted hijacking of the FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Sept. 30: Tali Manes, Zvika Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, Shota Musayev, Asaf Rajuan and Or Pardilov.
Israel and the U.K. reached an agreement ahead of today’s deadline to close the U.K.’s consulate in east Jerusalem, which serves Palestinians, following a row between the countries over London’s decision to ban products from West Bank settlements. U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said that the building would be redesignated as a mission and would continue to provide services with a pared-down staff, following a flurry of diplomatic activity — including a quiet trip to Israel last week by U.K. National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell — in an attempt to find a resolution after Israel said it would shutter the facility.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is set to arrive in San Diego today, after a more than 10-month deployment, the bulk of which was in the Middle East…
One Thing to Know
By Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs
A provision in the draft 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that aims to coordinate and enhance cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli militaries has proven to be a significant source of controversy among Democrats, with even some senior lawmakers who defended the provision on its merits flipping against it under pressure.
And, as Congress will have only weeks to pass the NDAA when it returns from recess after the November elections, the provision is facing some resistance from Republican lawmakers as well — an indication of skepticism of the U.S.-Israel partnership building among the GOP base as part of the debate between hawks and isolationists.
The Big Reads
city hall criticism
Mamdani’s Oct. 7 statement assailing ‘genocide in Gaza’ provokes outrage from Jewish groups
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani observed the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel with a statement that opened with a denunciation of Hamas and the “horrific war crimes” it committed that day, but spent most of its length excoriating the Israeli response — drawing fierce criticism from mainstream Jewish organizations, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. “We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss,” the top of the statement concludes — before launching into the main body of his remarks attacking Israel. "The suffering did not begin nor end that day."
UJA-Federation of New York said in statement that Mamdani "chose to respond to the grief of Jewish New Yorkers by advancing false and inflammatory attacks against Israel — not only inappropriately shifting the focus away from the victims of Hamas’s cruelty, but also placing Jewish New Yorkers at risk."
Catching heat: Several Democratic lawmakers blasted Mamdani for his Oct. 7 statement, including Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Dan Goldman (D-NY), and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), JI’s Marc Rod reports.
no comment
Rogers honors Oct. 7 anniversary and bashes El-Sayed, as El-Sayed remains silent
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Michigan Republican nominee for Senate, issued a statement Wednesday commemorating the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and bashing his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, while El-Sayed remained silent, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to multiple inquiries from JI about whether he planned to issue a statement on the Oct. 7 anniversary, and has not shared any such statement publicly. Rogers said, “Three years ago today, the world witnessed in horror the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. This dark day is a sad reminder that evil exists all around us. And how we respond to evil determines how much it grows.”
Not on board: Lansing, Mich., Mayor Andy Schor told CNN that he’s not currently supporting El-Sayed, and is not willing to consider backing him without a conversation with El-Sayed about the nominee’s rhetoric around Israel and antisemitism.
Go Blue, but blue and white?
Michigan Hillel’s break with Israel advocacy groups raises questions about where it stands
University of Michigan Hillel is ending its formal affiliations with student groups and national organizations engaged in Israel advocacy, lobbying or political organizing, while insisting that the policy does not represent a retreat from its support for Israel, Jewish Insider's Haley Cohen reports.
The policy, announced by interim Executive Director Cindy Hughey in a message to students at the start of the academic year last month, is part of what Michigan Hillel described as a renewed focus on Jewish life, learning and community. University of Michigan Hillel said it will “no longer formally affiliate with national organizations or student groups whose primary work involves Israel-related advocacy, lobbying, or political organizing,” but it will continue to offer Israel education, cultural programming and discussions about Israel.
The Rundown
The rest of today’s original stories from Jewish Insider — full stories, all published on the site.
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Speaking at a campaign rally in Texas, President Donald Trump doubled down on comments made earlier this week that Iran could target San Diego and Los Angeles, telling a crowd in San Antonio, “You want to see trauma? You want to see problems? And I said it the other day, let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles on the way”...
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in Greece this week, reiterated the Trump administration’s position that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Simple, period, end of story.”
Speaking in Athens yesterday, Rubio praised Western civilization, drawing a contrast between the Iranian regime, which he cast as a “cult of death” that glorifies martyrdom, and the West’s tradition of loyalty and sacrifice…
The Department of Defense instructed U.S. Central Command to prepare for a potential resumption of strikes targeting Iran, which according to Israeli and U.S. officials could take place before the midterms…
At least 81 U.S. military aircraft and drones have been damaged or destroyed since the war with Iran began in February, according to a new Congressional Research Service report; the losses include 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones and 12 F-15E fighter jets…
A tanker near the coast of Qatar was struck on Wednesday, the first reported strike on a vessel in the Gulf in nearly a month…
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) released a short documentary she made about the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, compiled from interviews with survivors; Stevens said she “wanted people to hear directly from those who lived through it, to see their humanity, their grief, and their resilience”...
A Haverford College professor was charged with cyberstalking and taken into federal custody over threatening and antisemitic messages sent to a co-worker; Guangtian Ha, whom the college has placed on leave, reportedly used anonymous social media accounts to post the home address of his colleague, and sent messages including one that warned that “The FΓΌhrer is coming, rats”...
The co-pilot who attempted to hijack and crash a FlyDubai flight reportedly told investigators he had sought out roles at airlines that would bring him to Israel and considered carrying out his attack in July, stating he was motivated to do so over the war in Gaza; he reportedly changed his mind because a friend was among the crew on the July flight…
The U.K.’s Metropolitan Police arrested 11 individuals at anti-Israel marches coinciding with the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, including five at a “spontaneous protest” outside the Camden headquarters of the Board of Deputies, the representative body of British Jews…
French Foreign Minister Jean-NoΓ«l Barrot visited Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and Kibbutz Be’eri on the anniversary of the attacks, saying in a statement that France “will never forget” the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks…
Three people were killed and dozens wounded in Houthi attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Wednesday, escalating the conflict between Riyadh and the Iran-backed terror group in Yemen…
Hezbollah reportedly received $200 million from Iran to support Lebanese displaced by the war with Iran; the State Department denied the transfer of funds, saying that the Iran-backed terror group was “trying to save face with fake stories about cash influxes from Iran”...
French-Jewish scientist Henri Kagan, a Holocaust survivor, won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, alongside Japan’s Kenso Soai, for their work on homochirality, building off the 19th-century research of Louis Pasteur; Kagan, 95, is the third-oldest winner of a Nobel Prize…
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Back Home, For Now: In The Atlantic, Amir Tibon, whose family survived the Oct. 7 attacks in their Nahal Oz home, ties his decision to permanently relocate back to the kibbutz to the outcome of the upcoming elections. “Emigration, of course, is always easier to imagine than to execute, and there are many people in this land who would suffer if this government returns to power but who have nowhere to go. … Yet for many Israelis who do have options abroad, starting over somewhere else, with all of its difficulties, seems a better choice than four more years of Netanyahu’s corruption, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s extremism, and the ultra-Orthodox parties’ shameless plunder of public funds, all amid a regional ‘forever war’ with no end in sight.” [TheAtlantic]
Mamdani’s Message: In The Free Press, Eli Lake weighs in on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s statement on the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, which drew bipartisan criticism for its focus on Israel’s war in Gaza. “These are not the errant ravings of a fringe activist or edgy podcaster. This is the mayor of New York sounding like the hate-filled radicals that swarmed American campuses in 2023 and 2024. One should have grace for the youth and the terminally online. But the mayor is a civic leader. When he spreads this poison, he mainstreams it.” [FreePress]
No Direction Home: In eJewishPhilanthropy, the Hadar Institute’s Rabbi Avi Killip reflects on the feeling of political homelessness increasingly felt by American Jews. “Those who once felt comfortable on the left are facing the antisemitism that has been there for years but now become impossible to overlook or excuse. Those who found a home on the right, grateful for leaders willing to acknowledge and defend Israel and Israelis, have watched that support waffle and wane with the winds of the moment.” [eJP]
Picture of the Day
Former hostage Eli Sharabi co-hosted the October 7 Families’ National Memorial Ceremony alongside actress Shani Cohen on Wednesday night in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park. At the end of the ceremony, Sharabi delivered a monologue dedicated to the memory of his wife, Lianne, and two teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, who were killed in their home in Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7. Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Birthdays
Yaakov "Kobi" Marimi, singer and actor, he represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, turns 35
JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images
Isadore Sharp, founder and chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, author and philanthropist, turns 95
Agustin Estrada, general surgeon in Tempe, Ariz.
Rona Barrett, gossip columnist and businesswoman, turns 90
R. L. Stine, author of more than 330 horror novels, turns 83
Brian E. Frosh, attorney general of Maryland from 2015 to 2023, turns 80
Stephen Shore, director of the photography department at Bard College since 1982, more than 25 books of his photographs have been published, turns 79
Edward Zwick, Academy Award-winning film producer and director, turns 74
Jonathan Kessler, AIPAC senior staffer for 18 years and now CEO of Heart of a Nation
Shira Piven, movie and theater director, writer and filmmaker, turns 65
David Kustoff, member of the House of Representatives (R-TN-8), one of four Jewish Republican congressmen, turns 60
Stefan Simchowitz, Los Angeles-based art collector, art curator and art advisor, turns 56
Rabbi Menachem Creditor, scholar-in-residence at UJA-Federation of New York
Ben Lyons, entertainment reporter and sports commentator, turns 45
Ilana Blitzer Snider, magazine editor and daughter of CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, turns 45
Aliyana Traison, N.Y.-based therapist
Adina Lichtman, founder of Knock Knock, Give a Sock, an organization that collects socks for the homeless
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