Rubio meets with Bibi in Israel
Plus, Yossi Cohen talks to JI about political ambitions
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Israel this week and interview former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen who is releasing a new book tomorrow amid talk that he may enter the political arena. We report on the retirement of Rep. Michael McCaul and highlight antisemitic, white nationalist views expressed by the suspected shooter who critically injured two students at Evergreen High School in Colorado last week. We also report on the anti-Israel views of state Rep. Chris Rabb, who is running in the Democratic primary race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gov. Wes Moore, David Rubenstein and Esther Safran Foer.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with assists from Marc Rod and Melissa Weiss. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to attend the inauguration of the Pilgrim’s Road in the City of David in Jerusalem this evening after meeting earlier today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. More below on Rubio’s visit to Israel.
- Seb Gorka, the White House’s senior director for counterterrorism and a deputy assistant to the president, is also in Israel this week. After landing at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday, he wrote on X, “Utterly sobering to see the pictures of all the innocent hostages still being held by Hamas for more than 700 days lining the walkway to passport control.”
- Also in Israel is a delegation of nearly 250 state lawmakers from around the U.S., organized by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- A summit of Arab and Muslim leaders is being held in Doha, Qatar, today to denounce Israel’s strike on Hamas officials hosted by the Gulf state. Ahead of the gathering, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Qatari counterpart in Doha yesterday …
- Stateside, RJC board member Eric Levine is holding a fundraiser for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The invite to the event, co-hosted by James Baker, Wayne Berman, Jeff Cohen, Steve Sall, RJC PAC and the NRSC, said the fundraiser will help Senate Republicans maintain their majority and “stand against the tide of communism and antisemitism overtaking the Democratic Party.”
- The Academic Engagement Network is hosting a three-day symposium for college administrators for the launch of its fifth annual Signature Seminar Series. The gathering, taking place in Washington, will focus on how administrations can meaningfully address antisemitism on college campuses.
- The Eradicate Hate Global Summit begins in Pittsburgh today.
- Today is the five-year anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
Over the weekend, the California State Assembly passed a bill that is intended to address what Jewish community advocates describe as crisis levels of antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools.
The bill passed despite the objections of the powerful California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, which had stalled the legislation in July, claiming that efforts to combat antisemitism could impinge on teachers’ academic freedom when it came to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It was just one of several examples of influential state and national teachers’ unions presenting a roadblock against efforts to fight antisemitism in public schools, where discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students has skyrocketed over the past two years — even though many of those efforts have broad support from within the Jewish community, and from outside it, too.
In California, the CTA and anti-Israel groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations were on one side of the issue, facing a diverse coalition of the bill’s backers that included the legislature’s Jewish, Black, Latino and Asian American and Pacific Islander caucuses. In an effort to appease the CTA during negotiations, some parts of the bill were removed, including language that would’ve defined what constituted an antisemitic learning environment.
But the union never changed course.
MOSSAD MEMOIR
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen talks covert missions, Oct. 7 failures in new book
Like any former Mossad chief, Yossi Cohen has long been a relatively elusive figure in Israeli public life. So his recent embrace of the spotlight has left Israeli politicos wondering whether he will run for prime minister in the next election. Cohen received attention for commanding ambitious Mossad operations, such as smuggling Iran’s nuclear archive to Israel, and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly naming him as one of his possible heirs, but he rarely gave interviews — until now. Cohen has been on a Hebrew media blitz ahead of Tuesday’s release of his new book, The Sword of Freedom: Israel, Mossad and the Secret War, in Hebrew and English. It reads, in many ways, like the kind of book a politician would publish before a big run, to let potential voters get to know him — albeit with the much more exciting elements of spycraft. Yet, in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov last week at his office in a Tel Aviv high-rise, where Cohen’s day job is representing the Japanese investment holding company SoftBank in Israel, he dismissed the idea that his book was the first step in a political campaign.
A question of timing: “That was not the reason for me to write the book,” he said. “I started writing the book something like three years ago, much earlier. I decided to [publish the book] now, because I believe that now is the time … Since I started the book we had the judicial reform, the seventh of October, a war against Hezbollah and the Iranian events. Each of those chapters had to be updated.” Still, Cohen added, “I can’t say that one day it will not serve my political goals if I will decide to go into politics.” Thus far, Cohen has kept politics as an “if.” In the past, it was a “no,” he said, but now, he’s thinking about it.
ENDURING FRIENDSHIP
Rubio starts Israel visit with prayer at Western Wall
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday, at the start of a five-day trip to Israel and the U.K. Rubio began the visit with prayers at the Western Wall, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Premier praise: During a tour of the Western Wall Tunnels, Netanyahu called Rubio an “extraordinary friend of the State of Israel.” Netanyahu said, “The Israeli-American alliance is as strong and as durable as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched. Under President [Donald] Trump and Secretary Rubio and their entire team, this alliance has never been stronger, and we deeply appreciate it.” Rubio’s visit comes days after Israel’s attempted strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, which the secretary said he was “not happy” about.
stepping down
Michael McCaul, prominent GOP voice on foreign policy and homeland security, to retire
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees, announced Sunday that he will retire from Congress at the end of next year, after 11 terms in office, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Foreign policy focus: McCaul, 63, has been a critical voice for traditional conservative internationalism at a time of rising isolationist sentiment among some factions of the GOP; he’s seen as a key leader who helped drive the passage of supplemental aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in the House last year. The Texas congressman has been a staunch supporter of Israel and an Iran hawk in the House and has also been a lead Republican voice in support of expanded funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps protect Jewish and other vulnerable nonprofits.
EXTREMISM IN ACTION
Colorado school shooter expressed antisemitic, white nationalist views
Desmond Holly, the suspected shooter who critically injured two students at Evergreen High School in Colorado on Wednesday, shared antisemitic and white nationalist views online, according to the Denver Post and the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Concerning history: According to the Denver Post, one of Holly’s online accounts used a coded slogan for Holocaust denial and reposted antisemitic videos and other videos showing individuals in Nazi uniforms. The ADL’s Center on Extremism said Friday that Holly’s TikTok accounts were “filled with white supremacist symbolism,” including a reference to the white nationalist “14 words” slogan, and utilized a neo-Nazi symbol in his profile photo. The suspected shooter, like several other recent attackers, was also active in violent online forums and showed a fascination with previous mass killers.
PHILLY FAULTLINES
Philadelphia House race puts spotlight on virulently anti-Israel Democratic candidate
The wide-open primary race for the most Democratic district in the country is highlighting stark divisions in Israel policy among the leading candidates, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Candidate field: The race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District — which includes western Philadelphia, Center City and parts of north Philadelphia — is attracting a host of prominent local officials, as well as some outsider candidates, including state Sen. Sharif Street, who recently resigned as state Democratic Party chair, progressive state Rep. Chris Rabb, state Rep. Morgan Cephas and physician Dr. David Oxman. Dr. Ala Stanford, a local surgeon and activist who gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, is also seen as a likely candidate, and former City Councilman Derek Green may also join the race. Rabb has an extensive history, particularly since Oct. 7, of anti-Israel activism, and has accused Israel of genocide.
DUELING ENDORSEMENT
J Street endorses Hakeem Jeffries for the first time
The progressive Israel advocacy group J Street endorsed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Friday, marking the first time the top Democratic congressional leader accepted an endorsement from the group. With Jeffries endorsed by J Street, the group has now thrown its support behind the entire House Democratic leadership team: Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA). Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar have all also been endorsed by AIPAC, and they have each traveled to Israel on AIPAC-affiliated trips, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Announcement: “J Street is proud to endorse the House Democratic leadership team at such a critical moment in the US-Israel relationship,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement Friday. “After 23 months of war, it is important to endorse Democratic leaders who understand the time has come for a just and lasting peace that brings the remaining hostages home and immediately and permanently surges aid to the people of Gaza.”
Worthy Reads
Loaded Language: Andrew Weinstein, a former U.S. public delegate to the United Nations under the Biden administration, writes in Time magazine about why the use of phrases like “globalize the intifada” are so damaging. “Language doesn’t only reflect intention — it carries the weight of past use, of collective trauma, of coded threats. It has an impact. And so, when a community tells you a phrase evokes existential fear, it’s not enough to say, ‘I didn’t mean it that way.’ To do so is more than just a failure of sensitivity — it’s a failure of solidarity. And this is where so many well-meaning people lose their way. They treat empathy as if it were conditional, or zero-sum. They hear Jewish pain and ask first whether it aligns with their politics, parsing slogans instead of listening to those affected by them. This hurts Jews. But even more than that, it fractures coalitions, pushing away people who, too, strive for collective justice — and driving them toward those who cynically (and capriciously) dangle the carrot of protection.” [Time]
Is Mamdani a Team Player? In The Hill, Amanda Berman, founder and executive director of the Zioness Action fund, pushes back against pressure by supporters of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Democratic leaders to endorse him, highlighting Mamdani’s own recent history during the last presidential campaign. “Mamdani didn’t just fail to support Democratic presidential nominees Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden in last year’s existentially urgent campaign, he spoke out and organized against them. In March of 2024, Mamdani urged voters to withhold their vote from Biden. ‘As proud Democrats and elected officials and New Yorkers,’ Mamdani declared, ‘we endorse the Leave it Blank campaign.’ Last summer, as the world watched the Democrats make history by nominating the first Black woman on a major party ticket, Mamdani proudly platformed the Uncommitted Movement, which protested her convention. This was not passive disagreement. It was an intentional and successful effort to sabotage the Democratic ticket in a general election — when the risks could not have been more clear, when every vote mattered, when Democrats were working tirelessly to defeat an authoritarian megalomaniac who had already incited a violent insurrection to stop the peaceful transfer of power.” [The Hill]
Word on the Street
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, becoming one of the few prominent Democrats in the state to do so, saying, “I didn’t leave my conversations with him aligned on every issue” but the two “discussed the need to combat the rise of antisemitism urgently and unequivocally”…
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is mulling a 2026 challenge to Hochul, responded to the endorsement with a statement accusing Hochul of “embrac[ing] this raging Communist who will destroy New York making it less affordable and more dangerous — once again putting criminals and communists first, and New Yorkers LAST”…
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said the New York City mayoral race, in which Mamdani is the front-runner, “has really no impact on my life.” Fetterman also said Hamas and Iran are to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza: “It is hell on earth. Why do some people blame Israel for that? I blame Hamas and Iran for that,” he said…
The Washington Post reports that the Mossad declined to implement a ground operation in Doha, Qatar, last week to assassinate senior Hamas officials in the Gulf nation over concerns that such a move would damage ties with Doha as it acts as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. As a result, Israel instead carried out an airstrike that looks like it failed to kill the top targets …
CENTCOM head Bradley Cooper, joined by U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack, met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus…
Antisemitic conspiracy theories proliferated online in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Anti-Defamation League found, with over 10,000 posts on X that include the phrase “Israel killed Charlie Kirk” posted in the two days after his murder…
Republican officials are considering an effort to persuade former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to drop his bid for Senate, as he pursues Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) seat upon his retirement, and instead challenge Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Politico reports…
“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” a documentary about Oct. 7, won the People’s Choice Award for best documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival, after originally being canceled due to the festival’s concern that Hamas footage had not been approved for use…
Among several actors who used their platform at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles last night to criticize Israel, Hannah Einbinder called to “Free Palestine” and Javier Bardem wore a keffiyeh while calling for a “commercial and diplomatic blockade” on Israel…
The Wall Street Journal profiles billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, as he backs a bid for Paramount, headed by his son David, to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and The Free Press…
Nika Soon-Shiong, daughter of the Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, has been tapped as the publisher of Drop Site News, a far-left anti-Israel outlet. She told Semafor that she was inspired by the site’s coverage of the war in Gaza…
The Vuelta a Espana bike race in Madrid was called off during its finale on Sunday after anti-Israel protesters occupied the route and overturned barriers…
Police in London arrested and charged a 37-year-old homeless man with smearing feces on synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the city…
Holocaust survivor Fania Fainer, known for the heart-shaped booklet of birthday wishes she was gifted by fellow prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 — an object she preserved throughout death marches and the war and that went on to become the subject of a film and a book, died at 100…
Pic of the Day
Several hundred people gathered on Sunday evening at the French Embassy in Washington for the Capital Jewish Museum’s second annual gala, in service of a simple theme: “preserving history and building bridges,” Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. The gala honored the investor and philanthropist David Rubenstein and Esther Safran Foer, the former longtime CEO of Sixth & I Synagogue and the Capital Jewish Museum’s founding board president. Speaking at the event, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland decried rising antisemitism in the United States and, in particular, the killing of Israeli Embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the museum in May. Read more here.
Birthdays
Film executive, she produced “The Hunger Games” film series, Nina Jacobson turns 60…
Founder and former CEO of Elektra Records, he is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Jac Holzman turns 94… Professor at the Hebrew University and a leading scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Emanuel Tov turns 84… Chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, known as the “Disco Rabbi,” Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman turns 79… Professor emerita of education at Boston University’s Wheelock College, Diane Elizabeth Levin turns 78… NYC-based composer and multi-instrument musician, Ned Rothenberg turns 69… Television comedy writer, he served as a showrunner, writer, and producer for “The Simpsons” and co-created the animated series “The Critic,” Michael L. Reiss turns 66… Business litigator in the Miami office of Gunster, Aron U. Raskas… Managing partner and chief technology officer at Differential Ventures in Philadelphia, he is also the founder of a series of kosher restaurants, David Magerman… NPR’s media correspondent, David Folkenflik turns 56… Actor, best known for his roles on “Sports Night” and “The Good Wife,” Josh Charles turns 54… Comedian, writer and actress, Kira Soltanovich turns 52… VP of leadership at the Anti-Defamation League until earlier this year, Deborah Leipzig… Customer success manager at Screencastify, event organizer and fundraiser, Shayla Rosen… Author and longtime education correspondent at NPR, Anya Kamenetz turns 45… Data scientist, economist and author of the 2017 New York Times bestseller Everybody Lies, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz turns 43… Screenwriter, film producer and director, often in collaboration with his childhood friend Seth Rogen, Evan D. Goldberg turns 43… Model and Israeli beauty pageant winner, Yael Markovich turns 41… Partner in CHW Strategic Advisors and CEO of Harmon Face Values, Jonah Raskas… CFO at Israel on Campus Coalition, Tomer Zvi Elias… Chief strategy officer at PW Communications, Amanda Bresler… Reporter at The New York Times, Eliza Shapiro… Singer and actress, she was the 2009 winner of the Israeli version of “A Star is Born,” Roni Dalumi turns 34… Beauty pageant titleholder, she was crowned Miss Israel 2012, Shani Hazan turns 33…
