U.N. showdown looms with Palestinian state recognition
Plus, Tucker Carlson’s antisemitic tropes in Kirk eulogy
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the fallout from a series of Palestinian statehood recognitions and highlight a letter drafted by a group of House Democrats calling on U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to request a peacekeeping operation to secure Gaza aid convoys. We cover Tucker Carlson’s eulogy for Charlie Kirk, whose assassination he compared to the killing of Jesus, and report on the investigation into the shooting at a country club in New Hampshire on Saturday night. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mike Waltz, Jocelyn Benson and Edan Alexander.
Ed. note: In observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Daily Kickoff will be back in your inboxes on Thursday. For our premium subscribers, the Daily Overtime will return Thursday as well. Shana tovah!
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Diplomats from around the world are en route to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, which officially begins tomorrow.
- On the sidelines of the UNGA, France and Saudi Arabia are chairing a summit calling for a two-state solution. More below on diplomatic moves by Paris, Ottawa, Canberra and Lisbon to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
- Also this morning, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and retired Gen. David Petraeus will take part in a fireside discussion on democracy, security and geopolitical risk at the Concordia Annual Summit.
- Eleven members of the Syrian Jewish community in New York attended a meeting with al-Sharaa last night.
- U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack, who is serving as special envoy to Syria, and Counselor of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Morgan Ortagus will also participate in a discussion at the Concordia summit this afternoon on diplomacy and America’s role in the world.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S TAMARA ZIEVE AND LAHAV HARKOV
In a move that has sent ripples through diplomatic circles and sparked outrage in Jerusalem, multiple countries officially recognized a Palestinian state yesterday. The coordinated announcements by the U.K., Canada, Australia and Portugal, with more to come, mark a significant shift in the West’s posture — one that, while largely symbolic, underlines concerns about growing efforts to isolate Israel diplomatically.
“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognizes the State of Palestine,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
While Starmer said that the move toward a two-state solution “is not a reward for Hamas, because it means Hamas can have no future,” the terror group hailed it as “a gesture to the struggle, steadfastness and sacrifices of our people on the path to liberation and return.”
In President Donald Trump’s meeting with Starmer last week, Trump described the statehood push as “one of our few disagreements.”
The chain of Palestinian statehood recognition is unlikely to bring any immediate changes on the ground. As U.K. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said yesterday in an interview with Sky News, “any decision to recognize a Palestinian state … does not make a Palestinian state happen overnight. That has to be part of a peace process, it has to be based on 1967 borders, it has to be based on a shared capital in Jerusalem.”
Israel and many of its supporters have slammed the move as rewarding terrorism, as the country continues its war against Hamas in Gaza, where 48 hostages kidnapped during the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attacks remain in captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has “a clear message to the leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the terrible massacre of Oct. 7: You are giving a massive prize to terror. … It will not happen. There will not be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.” Netanyahu hinted that Israel will increase settlement activity in response. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and several other coalition members went a step further by calling for annexation of the West Bank, which Saudi Arabia has reportedly said would have “major implications.” Read more on Netanyahu’s reaction and upcoming UNGA speech here.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) delivered a scathing assessment of the statehood development, writing on X: “80 years after the end of WWII, where over 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis for simply being Jewish, the so-called civilized world is rewarding modern day religious Nazis with an arbitrary Palestinian state designation,” pointing to the lack of defined borders, leadership, and security arrangements.
GROWING PRESSURE
Israel battles proposed EU sanctions
Israel’s Foreign Ministry and Economy Ministry, which oversees foreign trade, have been pushing back against proposed European Union sanctions over the war in Gaza. The European Commission proposed the roll-back of relations between the bloc and Israel after it “found that actions taken by the Israeli government represent a breach of essential elements relating to respect for human rights” given “the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza following the military intervention of Israel, the blockade of humanitarian aid, the intensifying of military operations and the decision of the Israeli authorities to advance the settlement plan in the so-called E1 area of the West Bank, which further undermines the two-state solution,” Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
What’s at stake: The proposal, if accepted, would suspend free trade between Israel and the European Union, its largest trade partner. A source in Brussels estimated that the move would cost Israel 227 million Euros ($266 million) in customs duties per year. A date has not yet been set for voting on the suspension of free trade, which requires a qualified majority, also known as a “double majority,” meaning 55% of member states, and states representing 65% of the EU population, with at least four states opposed. Hungary and the Czech Republic said they would oppose the proposal, following calls between their foreign ministers and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Soccer scramble: The Israel Football Association is reportedly working to thwart a Qatar-led effort to expel it from Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) events.
AID ISSUE
House Democrats call for U.N. peacekeepers to protect Gaza aid convoys
Citing United Nations statistics showing that the vast majority of U.N. aid convoys are diverted or looted before reaching their intended destination, a group of House Democrats is set to call on U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this week to request a peacekeeping operation to secure those convoys, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Draft letter: “We write to you with an urgent call to request a resolution from the United Nations Security Council authorizing the deployment of a UN Peacekeeping operation to secure your aid convoys in Gaza, ensuring their safe passage,” a group of 15 Democrats, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), wrote in a draft letter obtained by JI. “Please do not continue to allow aid trucks to be robbed by Hamas while civilians struggle to get food. As we know, Hamas diverts and sells aid and is not focused on feeding innocent Palestinian families and children.” The letter will continue to circulate for additional signatures until later in the day Monday.
SCOOP
Republicans urge allies to reconsider ‘dangerous’ decision to recognize Palestinian state
A group of 28 Republican lawmakers in the Senate and House wrote last week to the leaders of Australia, Canada, France and the U.K. ahead of their moves to recognize a Palestinian state this month, threatening potential retaliation if they proceeded, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What they said: “This is a reckless policy that undermines prospects for peace. It sets the dangerous precedent that violence, not diplomacy, is the most expedient means for terrorist groups like Hamas to achieve their political aims,” the Republicans, led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), wrote. “Accordingly, we respectfully request that you reconsider your decision, especially as Hamas continues to hold Israeli citizens hostage while still refusing to agree to a ceasefire.”
MEMORABLE MEMORIAL
In charged eulogy, Tucker Carlson ties Kirk’s assassination to killing of Jesus
Right-wing political commentator Tucker Carlson, who has hosted Holocaust deniers and antisemitic influencers on his podcast, used his address at the memorial for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday to compare Kirk’s assassination to the killing of Jesus, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. The former Fox News host began his remarks to the more than 70,000 people in attendance at State Farm Stadium in Glendale by noting that the political engagement brought on by Kirk’s killing “actually reminds me of my favorite story ever,” before offering an account of how Jesus was killed in Jerusalem.
Tucker’s talk: While he never brought up the Jewish people by name, he made references to Jewish culture to suggest that he was referring to the antisemitic trope that Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus. “It’s about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem and Jesus shows up, and he starts talking about the people in power, and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do: just telling the truth about people, and they hate it, and they just go bonkers. They hate it, and they become obsessed with making him stop. ‘This guy’s got to stop talking. We’ve got to shut this guy up,’” Carlson said. “I can just sort of picture the scene in a lamp-lit room with a bunch of guys sitting around eating hummus, thinking about, ‘What do we do about this guy telling the truth about us?’”
NEW HAMPSHIRE ATTACK
N.H. shooting suspect yelled ‘Free Palestine,’ witnesses said
Authorities said on Sunday that they believe the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting at a country club in New Hampshire on Saturday night shouted “Free Palestine” in order to “create chaos” at the scene, suggesting they do not view the case as motivated by antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Details: Hunter Nadeau, a 23-year-old Nashua, N.H., resident, was apprehended and taken into custody near the Sky Meadow Country Club on Saturday. Shortly before, Robert Steven DeCesare, 59, was killed in the shooting while attending dinner at the club, located about 40 miles north of Boston, and two other adults, another restaurant patron and an employee were injured. The employee was in stable but critical condition as of Sunday, Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke said. Four other restaurant patrons were wounded as a result of the chaos as people tried to escape the shooting.
CONFIRMATION COMPLETE
Waltz confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Friday to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, capping off a monthslong confirmation process that was marred by delays with just days before the start of the U.N. General Assembly this week, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
For and against: Waltz, a former congressman from Florida and a Green Beret, was confirmed by a 47-43 vote in the Senate on Friday afternoon, with three Democrats and one Republican crossing party lines. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Fetterman (D-PA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) voted in favor of Waltz’s nomination, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican to oppose.
Worthy Reads
The Conspiracies Around Kirk: In The Free Press, Matthew Schmitz puts forth a theory as to why antisemitism conspiracy theories abounded in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing. “The term antisemitic, like racist, has lost its sting for many people. Indeed, an idea’s association with antisemitism now gives it a strange appeal on those parts of the right that are most eager to seem independent of and opposed to the establishment. In order to build their audiences, independent media figures must distinguish themselves from established institutions. One way to do this is to discuss the supposed truths that ‘they’ want to hide from you. For this reason, independent media tend to traffic in what the political scientist Michael Barkun calls ‘stigmatized knowledge’: claims that are regarded as having truth value precisely because they are denied by institutional authorities. … For a person who instinctively mistrusts official knowledge, and tends to believe whatever the authorities deny, the very fact that antisemitic claims are subject to public condemnation makes them worth considering. This is why, as Barkun notes, some members of the UFO subculture, which initially had nothing to do with Jews, have ended up claiming The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are true.” [FreePress]
What College Can Still Do: In The Atlantic, Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock posits that higher education has a continued important role to play in society, even as universities lose public trust and AI changes the face of information. “Despite the reforms that our institutions of higher education must embark on to ensure that we are teaching our students how to think — and not what to think — a four-year residential-college experience remains one of the most powerful human environments for cultivating human qualities. As Dartmouth’s president, I see this up close. Our small, tight-knit academic community promotes interdisciplinary collaboration in ways that are both intentional and serendipitous. For more than 20 years, our faculty in Jewish and Middle Eastern studies have co-taught classes and built deep trust with one another and their students. It was this trust that allowed them to hold difficult, sometimes painful, but ultimately enlightening conversations about the heinous terrorist attacks of October 7 and the brutal war in Gaza that has followed. This type of dialogue is virtually impossible to produce in online environments that are fragmented and hostile, on platforms engineered to reward outrage, where it is far too easy to dehumanize those with whom we disagree.” [TheAtlantic]
No Pardon for Amnesty: The Free Press’ Charles Lane exposes Amnesty International infighting over a long-delayed report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, which some staff members are arguing against publishing in the coming weeks. “‘Our concern is about timing and impact,’ Usman Hamid, the section director for Amnesty in Indonesia, emailed the organization’s top officials on August 8. ‘The situation in Gaza is at a peak of humanitarian crisis, famine is unfolding, and the Israeli security cabinet has just approved plans for full occupation. In this climate, there is a real risk the report could be used to divert attention from the current crisis or justify ongoing genocide.’ Such blatant politicization of what is supposedly an impartial human rights reporting process stunned even critics who have long seen anti-Israel bias in Amnesty’s coverage of the Middle East. The group has produced a 2022 report finding Israel guilty of apartheid and another in 2024 accusing it of genocide in Gaza.” [FreePress]
The Reign in Spain: Journalist Éamann Mac Donnchada explores Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s “fundamentally pragmatic” anti-Israel turn in “The Almagro School” Substack. “His government faces significant political challenges that help explain this strategic pivot. His coalition lacks a reliable parliamentary majority, making him dependent on various regional and leftist parties for survival. With the autumn and winter parliamentary session beginning, he needs to relaunch his government and energise his political base. The Palestinian cause offers an apparently low-cost way to mobilise left-wing voters while positioning himself as a principled international leader. … Supporting Palestinian rights allows the Spanish left to position itself as a champion of the oppressed while ignoring Spain’s own complicity in ongoing oppression closer to home. It also has modest economic costs, while confrontation with Morocco would threaten Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s north African enclaves, and exacerbate irregular immigration.” [Substack]
Word on the Street
The White House is seeking authorization from congressional leadership to proceed with a nearly $6 billion arms sale to Israel, including 30 Apache helicopters and over 3,000 infantry assault vehicles…
The Trump administration announced new guidelines for journalists covering the Pentagon, threatening to revoke the press credentials of reporters who gather information that hasn’t been expressly authorized for public release, even if it is unclassified…
President Donald Trump is set to meet with a group of Arab and Muslim leaders tomorrow on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York to discuss ways to end the war in Gaza, Axios reports…
During Rosh Hashanah tomorrow, when Israeli officials will be observing the Jewish high holiday, the U.N. Security Council will hold a critical meeting on the Gaza war…
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is preparing to run either for president or for U.S. Senate in 2028, according to Axios, as she holds town halls and rallies outside her district, raises significant funds and has hired former senior advisors to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is still unsure whether to endorse New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, sources told The New York Times, weighing his responsibility in helping elect Democrats across the country as well as donors’ disapproval of Mamdani’s stance on Israel, among other considerations…
New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs told Politico that he will resign if Gov. Kathy Hochul requests it, after she endorsed Mamdani and he declined to do so…
New York magazine charts a potential path to victory for Andrew Cuomo in his battle against frontrunner Mamdani to be New York City mayor…
The Congressional Progressive Caucus voted to endorse the “Block the Bombs Act,” which places severe restrictions on many offensive weapons transfers to Israel. To endorse legislation, the caucus requires a simple-majority vote of its nearly 100 members. The bill currently has 50 sponsors…
Edan Alexander, the Israeli American former hostage who was released from Hamas captivity in May, announced he will return to IDF service next month…
The IDF said this morning that it had killed Iyad Abu Yusuf, deputy commander of Hamas’ naval police, who participated in the Oct. 7 massacres, in a strike in central Gaza…
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the county’s first Jewish mayor, is coming under intense pressure to divest the county from its $151 million portfolio of Israel bonds, including from her son, organizer Ted Cava. “I decided to kind of take our family disagreement public,” he told the Miami Herald, “knowing that some of her opponents could use it in bad faith against her”…
The Wall Street Journal reviews Mark Mazower’s new book On Antisemitism…
The Canadian government is planning to propose legislation criminalizing the display of designated terror and hate symbols in public…
“Riefenstahl,” a new play at the Avalon Theater in Washington, explores the life, legacy and complicity of Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, using 700 boxes of her newly uncovered personal artifacts…
Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank arrested a man wanted in connection with a 1982 bombing of a Jewish deli in Paris, in which six people, including two Americans, were killed…
Pic of the Day
The newly remodeled Samantha Woll Center at the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit hosted the 10th annual Jewish Expat Reception over the weekend. The gathering drew former Detroiters and community leaders including Detroit City Council President and mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield, Secretary of State of Michigan and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson (pictured addressing the gathering), investor-philanthropist Roger Ehrenberg and philanthropic advisor Kari Alterman.
Birthdays
President of Israel since 2021, Isaac “Bougie” Herzog turns 65…
Brooklyn, N.Y., resident, Jay Kanter… Former president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles for 16 years, now a consultant at the L.A.-based Diane and Guilford Glazer Philanthropies, John Fishel… Research laboratory director, biochemist and professor in medicine based in Jerusalem, Yosef Gruenbaum turns 76… Professor of journalism at Columbia University and a former reporter for The New York Times, Ari L. Goldman turns 76… Former publisher of The New York Times, Arthur Ochs “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr. turns 74… Senior political analyst at CNN from 2007 until 2024, Gloria Borger turns 73… Clarinetist who performs klezmer, jazz, classical music and avant-garde improvisation, David Krakauer turns 69… U.S. Ambassador to Romania during the Trump 45 administration, Adrian Zuckerman turns 69… Nobel Prize laureate in 2011, astrophysicist and professor at UC-Berkeley, Saul Perlmutter turns 66… Director of development at the Los Angeles Conservancy, Elizabeth “Liz” Leshin… Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg turns 60… Former member of the Knesset for Likud, Osnat Hila Mark turns 58… Senior writer and historian for the Jewish Federations of North America, he is the author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli, Ted Merwin… Founder and CEO of Terravet Real Estate Solutions, Daniel Eisenstadt… Founder and CEO at P3 Media, he has won three Emmys, a Peabody Award and a Polk Award, Adam Ciralsky turns 54… Arlington, Virginia resident, Karen Elyse Simpson… Journalist and screenwriter, she has reported for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and is the author of Chasing Hillary, Amy Chozick turns 47… Former minister of defense of Georgia, now an entrepreneur in the U.K., Davit Kezerashvili turns 47… Actress and theater director, she is best known for her role as Quinn Perkins in the ABC political drama series “Scandal,” Katie Lowes turns 43… Film director, producer, screenwriter and television director, Jordan Charles Vogt-Roberts turns 41… Hungarian politician who once served as a member of the European Parliament, Csanád Szegedi turns 43… Founder and CEO of Henry PR, Bryan Leib… Founder of Golda, a Jewish lifestyle newsletter, Stephanie Taylor Butnick… Former entertainment reporter, journalist and fashion designer, now a VP at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Baruch Yehudah Shemtov turns 38… Partner at Winning Tuesday, a political marketing agency, Jared Sichel… Associate director for antisemitism policy at AJC Global, Alyssa Weiner Sandler… Co-founder of Leman Mercer, Kyle Price…
