Netanyahu’s Gaza plan faces heat at home and abroad
Plus, Maxwell Frost's cold shoulder to Israel
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed actions in Gaza are prompting criticism from some of Israel’s most reliable supporters, and report on Rep. Maxwell Frost’s 180-degree pivot from his campaign pledges regarding Israel. We cover a push by dozens of House members in support of maintaining the U.S. ban on exporting advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, and talk to Rich Goldberg about his monthslong stint in the Trump administration as the senior counselor for the White House’s new National Energy Dominance Council. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Stephen Miran, Katie Miller and Tony Blinken.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Maxwell Frost reneges on pro-Israel pledges; Lessons from Gaza disengagement remain relevant 20 years later; and James Walkinshaw sounds more supportive of Israel than his former boss. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- We’re keeping an eye on IDF moves in Gaza this weekend, following a late-night Israeli Security Cabinet vote to move forward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take over Gaza City. More below.
- Vice President JD Vance is in Kent, England, today, where he is slated to meet with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are in Washington for meetings with senior Trump administration officials, including a trilateral meeting with the president this afternoon during which time the leaders will sign a peace deal ending decades of conflict. Yesterday, Aliyev met with Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff.
- The Jewish National Fund’s Our Jewish Roots conference kicks off today in Carlsbad, Calif.
- Hadassah’s National Conference begins on Sunday in Aventura, Fla.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Thursday that Israel plans to take control of additional parts of the Gaza Strip before handing it over to an unspecified Arab governing authority is being met with hesitation from even some of Israel’s most stalwart defenders. The Security Cabinet voted early this morning to take over Gaza City, stopping short of the full occupation of the Strip previously discussed.
Throughout much of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli public broadly supported the military effort, even as progressive lawmakers such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) painted the war as “Netanyahu’s war,” and the Israeli prime minister as the bogeyman-in-chief.
But in recent months, public sentiment in Israel has shifted noticeably. With most of Hamas’ senior military leadership eliminated, growing numbers of Israelis have begun to question the feasibility of Netanyahu’s goal of “total victory” over Hamas, given the terror group’s hold on the Gazan population and a lack of clarity on what’s left to accomplish militarily. Instead, polling shows that a large majority of Israelis prefer prioritizing a diplomatic resolution that secures the release of the remaining hostages, rather than expanding the military occupation of Gaza in hopes of complete surrender.
Netanyahu’s plan this week to take over more of Gaza has begun to sap Israel’s political capital even among some of its closest allies on Capitol Hill, not to mention the isolation the Jewish state is facing from less-friendly European capitals. Even within the American Jewish community, as the war drags on into its 23rd month and with mounting IDF fatalities and no living hostages having been released since May, splits have emerged over the wisdom of Netanyahu’s double-down strategy.
Indeed, while the official Israeli position on its war against Hamas in Gaza has hardened, the approach in the Diaspora, both from Jewish groups and leaders and elected officials, has also shifted — in the opposite direction.
hill reactions
Pro-Israel Democrats criticize Netanyahu’s Gaza takeover gambit
Pro-Israel Democrats are criticizing the Israeli government’s plans to expand its operations and take control of additional parts of Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The Israeli Security Cabinet early Friday approved plans to take over Gaza City, though it stopped short of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement earlier Thursday that Israel plans to take over the entire Gaza Strip.
State of play: The plan seems to be aggravating the growing friction between the Israeli government and some of the Jewish state’s most vocal liberal backers in the United States over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said that Israel is ultimately responsible for making its own decisions, but said he’d advise the Israeli government to seek an end to the war once it frees the hostages. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) questioned Netanyahu’s suggestions that Arab forces would be available and willing to take over Gaza in the long term.
FROSTY OUTLOOK
Maxwell Frost reneges on pro-Israel pledges
Jewish and pro-Israel leaders are expressing some buyer’s remorse over their previous support for Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who as a sophomore legislator has embraced positions that put him at odds with his past commitments, fueling frustration among those who had believed he would be a more dependable ally on key issues concerning Israel, Jewish Insider‘s Matthew Kassel reports.
Then: Despite some initial concerns about his history of involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations as well as relationships with anti-Israel activists, Frost had circulated a lengthy Middle East position paper in consultation, in part, with a top pro-Israel group that largely assuaged lingering reservations among Jewish community leaders over the sincerity of his views. In the paper as well as a candidate questionnaire solicited by JI during his first primary, the young progressive organizer, describing himself as both “pro-Israel” and “pro-Palestinian,” voiced opposition to conditioning aid to Israel — arguing that the security threats facing the Jewish state are “far too grave” to enact such measures.
Now: The most recent move to draw scrutiny from Jewish and pro-Israel leaders is a letter Frost signed urging the Trump administration to recognize a Palestinian state over growing concerns with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In addition to the letter — which followed a similar resolution he co-sponsored in 2023 during his first term — Frost in May joined legislation to place unprecedented new conditions on aid to Israel by withholding offensive weapons over its alleged violations of international law. Last year, he also voted against a widely approved bill to provide supplemental aid to Israel six months after Hamas’ attacks. In a statement explaining his thinking at the time, Frost wrote that he was “only able to justify aid for defense, not offense, and this legislation did not allow me to separate the two,” as the war “has claimed the lives of countless innocent Palestinian civilians and brought us no closer to the return of innocent Israeli hostages held by Hamas.”
SPANBERGER SPEAKS
Under pressure from Jewish leaders, Spanberger responds to Va. Dem’s anti-Israel posts
Facing pressure from the Virginia Jewish community to speak out against recent anti-Zionist social media posts from state Del. Sam Rasoul, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, addressed concerns about antisemitism without specifically referencing Rasoul, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
What she said: “This war continues to unleash heartbreak and tragedy as we witness civilian deaths, starving families, and hostages still held by Hamas. These horrors rightly compel so many to advocate for the mass delivery of aid, the release of all Israeli hostages, and a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel,” Spanberger told the Virginia Scope, a political newsletter, in response to a question about Rasoul, who chairs the Education Committee in the House of Delegates. “However, one can and must denounce these tragedies without using antisemitic language, whether intentional or not.” She did not specify whether she identified Rasoul’s rhetoric as antisemitic. Spanberger’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment from JI.
laying down the law
Prosecutors announce hate crimes charges against D.C. museum shooter
Authorities in the District of Columbia announced on Thursday that they filed federal hate crime charges against Elias Rodriguez, the suspect in the fatal shooting in May of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. The indictment on nine counts, filed on Wednesday, includes a charge relating to a hate crime resulting in death and comes more than two months after Rodriguez was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the murder of foreign officials, causing death with a firearm and discharging a firearm in a violent crime for the May 21 attack, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Pirro’s presser: Speaking at a press conference on Thursday morning about the new charges, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said, “A D.C. grand jury has charged in this indictment two hate crimes, alleging that he murdered Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim because of his bias against the people of Israel. He demonstrated this hatred through his words, ‘Death to Israel,’ and his violent actions against Yaron and Sarah and their co-workers from the Israeli Embassy,” Pirro said.
ADMINISTRATION INSIGHT
Rich Goldberg reflects on Trump administration service on Energy Dominance Council
Rich Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, this week concluded a monthslong stint in the Trump administration as the senior counselor for the White House’s new National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) and a senior advisor to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Looking back: Goldberg helped launch the NEDC, which he compared in an interview with JI this week to a “[National Security Council], only for energy,” coordinating with the White House, Burgum and Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright to build domestic production of energy and exploitation of oil, gas, coal and nuclear resources, as well as critical minerals. Goldberg discussed the administration’s efforts to counter Iran and its proxies, push forward AI development and build a new energy and shipping infrastructure in the Middle East, as well as its decision to strike Iran and the path forward in Gaza.
MILITARY MATTERS
40 House members urge administration to refuse F-35 sales to Turkey
A bipartisan group of 40 House members is urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to maintain the U.S. ban on exporting advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, amid ongoing reports that the U.S. and Turkey are negotiating to allow the sale of the jets, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
The argument: “Turkey still possesses S-400 systems and has shown no willingness to comply with U.S. law. This behavior cannot be rewarded,” the letter to Rubio reads. “Lifting sanctions or allowing Turkey back into the F-35 program without first removing its S-400s would jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems; expose U.S. military secrets to Russian intelligence; undermine our defense industrial base and allied confidence in purchasing future U.S. platforms; and disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet recently announced by the Administration.”
Elsewhere on the Hill: Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the co-chairs of the Senate antisemitism task force, highlighted concerns about the latest FBI hate crimes statistics showing a record-high level of antisemitic hate crimes in 2024, and called for further action, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Worthy Reads
Gloom in Khartoum: Reporting from Sudan, The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum examines how the myriad challenges facing the country have brought about the “end of the liberal world order” in the war-torn African nation. “Turkish, Egyptian, Saudi, Emirati, Qatari, Russian, Iranian, and Ukrainian interests intersect and overlap on this final layer of cellophane, helping make Sudan, like Yemen and Libya, a place where antagonists from around the planet fund violent proxy wars, at the expense of the people who live there. … Meanwhile, the countries that might once have banded together to stop the fighting have lost interest or capacity. The institutions that might once have helped broker a cease-fire are too weak, and can’t or won’t help. ‘We live in a very interesting, many people call it, new world order,’ [Abdalla] Hamdok, the former Sudanese prime minister, told me. ‘The world we got to know — the consensus, the Pax Americana, the post–Second World War consensus — is just no more.’” [TheAtlantic]
Not Joe’s Party: In the New York Daily News, Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, reflects on the Democratic Party’s shift away from the previously “mainstream” positions of “foreign policy hawkishness and outspoken support for Israel” in the 25 years since Sen. Joe Lieberman, then a Democrat, was announced as former Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 running mate. “This is a stunning change for a party that elevated and embraced Lieberman 25 years ago. Could it happen again today? Many American Jews wondered as much when Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was under consideration to be [Vice President Kamala] Harris’ VP. We will never know why Harris didn’t pick Shapiro, but we all saw the concerted antisemitic campaign against him in social media and the press. … The Democratic Party once drew Jews to its cause because it was seen as the party of tolerance and equal opportunity. This was a natural home base for immigrant Jews fleeing the ghettos and pogroms of Europe. Today, the Democratic Party is battling to redefine itself in the wake of its failures in the 2024 election. A growing portion of the left wants it to be a party Lieberman could no longer call home.” [NYDN]
Saving Navalny: In a piece adapted from their upcoming book SWAP: A Secret History of the New Cold War, Wall Street Journal reporters Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson look at the efforts to free Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in February 2024. “To this day, a debate continues over whether the U.S. missed a chance to save Navalny, or whether back-channel efforts to free him inadvertently precipitated his demise. One camp believes he could have been exchanged if the Biden administration had moved faster, before he was sent to the harsh arctic prison in Dec. 2023. They place particular blame on Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, who was simultaneously assembling a complex, multinational agreement to save Navalny and jailed Americans and juggling an unmanageable set of geopolitical threats, including wars in Ukraine and Gaza.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denied as “total fake news” an NBC News report that a conversation with President Donald Trump about concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza “devolved into shouting.” …
The U.S. facilitated a meeting between Gaza Humanitarian Foundation head Johnnie Moore and senior U.N. aid officials; Morgan Ortagus, who joined the U.S. mission at the U.N. in June, was reportedly part of the meeting, the first direct engagement between the international body and the GHF since it began operations in May…
The Treasury Department announced sanctions against 18 entities and individuals tied to Iranian sanctions evasion and revenue generation…
Trump plans to nominate Stephen Miran, the head of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, to the vacant seat on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors…
Katie Miller, who served as a senior advisor to Elon Musk during and after his time in the Trump administration, is departing her role and plans to launch a podcast focused on reaching conservative women…
Former Secretary of State Tony Blinken is joining the Center for American Progress’ board of directors…
Florida Republicans are hoping to redraw three congressional districts in their favor, according to Punchbowl News, targeting two of the most pro-Israel Democrats in Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), as part of the partisan redistricting effort…
Puck’s Julia Ioffe examines the growing divide in the Republican Party over support for Israel…
The Department of Education announced an investigation into Baltimore City Public Schools following a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League that numerous schools in the district failed to act to address antisemitism in classrooms…
Police in Baltimore County are investigating the vandalism of a kitchen design store that displayed Israeli and American flags at its entrance…
Actress Gina Carano settled a lawsuit against Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Co. after she was fired from “The Mandalorian” in 2021 over a social media post comparing the treatment of conservatives in America to Jews in Nazi Germany…
U.K. officials arrested two men in connection with an incident in Manchester in which the men allegedly used water guns to spray a visibly Jewish man and children walking down a street in the city; video of the incident posted by one of the alleged assailants, which went viral, was paired with a rendition of “Hava Negila”…
Israel’s NewMed Energy announced that the partners in Israel’s Leviathan offshore oil field signed a $35 billion deal to supply natural gas to Egypt through 2040; the agreement marks the largest export deal in Israeli history…
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin will halt future arms sales to Israel following the Israeli government’s plan to take over Gaza City…
As American Jewry overall has experienced an increase in Jewish engagement in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks, in what has been deemed “The Surge,” the largest rise has been seen among those connected to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, outpacing all other denominations and among unaffiliated Jews, according to survey data from Jewish Federations of North America that were provided exclusively to eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross…
Pic of the Day
Yarden Bibas (second from right) and Dana Silberman-Sitton (far right), respectively the husband and sister of Shiri Bibas, on Thursday cut the ribbon outside the Bibas Family Playroom at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel. The children’s room, a project of Toys for Hospitalized Children, was dedicated to the memories of Shiri, as well as her sons Ariel and Kfir, who were killed by their captors in Gaza after being taken hostage from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023.
Bibas wore a shirt with the Batman logo in homage to Ariel’s love of the superhero, while the ribbon he and Silberman-Sitton cut was orange in tribute to the boys’ hair color.
Read eJewishPhilanthropy’s coverage of the efforts to build the center here.
Birthdays
Israeli actor, best known for his role as Yanky Shapiro in the 2020 Netflix miniseries “Unorthodox,” Amit Rahav turns 30 on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Actor and director, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1980 for “Kramer vs. Kramer” and in 1989 for “Rain Man,” Dustin Hoffman turns 88… Arlington Heights, Ill., resident, Elizabeth Gordon… Dutch diplomat and politician, he served as the speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives, Frans Weisglas turns 79… Greenwood Village, Colo., resident, Robert M. Schwartz… Tampa, Fla., resident, Roy D. Pulliam… Retired U.S. Army four-star general, who then served as the secretary of defense during the Biden administration, Lloyd James Austin III turns 72… Vancouver, Wash., resident, Juliana E. Miles Bagherpour… Former U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Melech Friedman turns 67… Former CEO of BusinessGhost, Michael Graubart Levin turns 67… Managing general partner of MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, Stuart L. Sternberg turns 66… Chess grandmaster, once ranked eighth in the world, he is the director of the Brooklyn Chess Academy, Leonid Yudasin turns 66… White House chief of staff for the first two years of the Biden administration, Ron Klain turns 64… Film director whose works include nine Disney films, Jon Turteltaub turns 62… Chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court until earlier this year, she continues to serve as a justice, Elissa F. Cadish turns 61… Digital strategist, he is the founding partner of Fuse consultancy, Jonah Seiger… Director of Jewish media, publications and editorial communications for the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Gil Ofer Student turns 53… Lead guitarist of the mathcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan, also playing rhythm guitar with the crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, Benjamin A. Weinman turns 50… Film and television actress, Lindsay Sloane turns 48… MLB pitcher for 13 seasons and now chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox, Craig Breslow turns 45… Author, freelance writer and editor, she is a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, Sophie Flack turns 42… Managing principal at Rocktower Capital, Bara Lane… Canadian film, television and stage actor, Jacob Benjamin “Jake” Goldsbie turns 37… Director of operations and strategy at UNC Chapel Hill’s Winston Center, Sarah Garfinkel… Founder and managing partner at Avid Ventures, Addie Lerner Katz… Director of marketing and communications at Alpha Epsilon Pi, Zachary Pellish… Creative producer for Airbnb, Morgan Furlong… Internet celebrity and fitness model, Jennifer Leigh “Jen” Selter turns 32… Jack Baum… Rob Schwartz…
SATURDAY: Prominent Sephardic rabbi in Tel Aviv, he was a member of the Knesset for the Shas party, Rabbi Moshe Maya turns 87… Physicist and venture capitalist, co-founder and general partner emeritus of New Markets Venture Partners, Donald M. “Don” Spero, Ph.D. turns 86… Comedian, actor, writer, director and author, son of a rabbi, he appeared 130 times on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” David Steinberg turns 83… Romance novelist with 22 books on the NYT bestseller lists, Barbara Delinsky (born Barbara Ruth Greenberg) turns 80… Author of 36 Jewish themed books and an ordained rabbi, Seymour Rossel turns 80… Telecommunications consultant based in Chattanooga, Tenn., Mark Shapiro turns 79… Psychologist and bestselling suspense novelist, Jonathan Kellerman turns 76… Southern California resident, Faith Schames… Brigadier general (IDF reserves) in the Israeli Air Force, Amir Abraham Haskel turns 72… Executive director of the Steinhardt Family Foundation in Israel and deputy chair of WZO, Tova Dorfman… U.S. senator (R-KS), Roger Marshall, M.D. turns 65… Member of the Minnesota State Senate since 2007, Ronald Steven “Ron” Latz turns 62… Professor of French at Yale University, he is the inaugural director of the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, Maurice Samuels turns 57… Chief of staff for Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) for 25 years, she started a consulting practice in 2024, Amy Beth Rutkin… Founder and CEO of AFC Gamma and Sunrise Realty Trust, Leonard M. Tannenbaum turns 54… Two-time Grammy Award-winning operatic soprano, songwriter and actress, Hila Plitmann turns 52… Assistant secretary for inter-departmental data integration for the Maryland Department of Human Services, Kirill Reznik turns 51… Reporter in the Washington bureau of The New York Times, Kenneth P. Vogel turns 50… Democratic political strategist, Rebecca Kirszner Katz… Chair of JEWELS (Jewish Education Where Every Level Student Succeeds), Jules Friedman turns 50… Drummer, popular on YouTube with 361 million views, Meytal Cohen turns 42… CEO of the Israel on Campus Coalition since 2013, Jacob Baime… Real estate investor based in Cleveland, Amanda Isaacson… Associate at Ropes & Gray LLP, Isaac Lederman… SVP at Dezenhall Resources, he was previously communications director for the Republican Jewish Coalition and an RNC alum, Fred Brown… Elise Aronson… Dan Zimerman…
SUNDAY: CEO at Royal Health Services in Beverly Hills, Robert N. Feldman… Professor of biochemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Shimon Schuldiner turns 79… NYC-based real estate developer, he is the founder and principal of Clipper Equity, David Bistricer turns 76… Former Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, the first woman to hold that position, Gill Marcus turns 76… Conservative rabbi who served as president of the Interfaith Alliance, Rabbi Jack Moline turns 73… Retired co-leader of the securities litigation practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, he is the co-president of NYC’s Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, Joseph S. Allerhand… Certified registered nurse anesthetist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Edward Salkind… Author, media consultant and former film critic for The New York Post and The New York Daily News, Jami Bernard turns 69… Former director of the Jewish Museum of Vienna, Austria, she was a founder of the German-language magazine Nu devoted to Jewish politics and culture, Danielle Spera turns 68… Member of the California state Senate until this past November, Steven Mitchell Glazer turns 68… Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel and Rishon LeZion since 2024, Rabbi David Yosef turns 68… Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-MI-9), now a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Andy Levin turns 65… Professor of physics and astronomy at Tel Aviv University, Yaron Oz turns 61… Tech entrepreneur, he served as a Washington State senator until 2023, Reuven Michael Carlyle turns 60… Former member of the Florida State Senate, he authored a book about his time as one of the first employees of Yahoo, Jeremy Ring turns 55… Deputy attorney general of Israel, Sharon Afek turns 55… Regional chief technology officer in the South Texas office of Technologent, Jason P. Reyes… Senior director of development for the NYC-based Tikvah Fund, Eytan Sosnovich… Senior group manager of social media and influencer marketing at Eventbrite, Sophie Vershbow… SVP of commodities compliance at Citibank, Jacob Cohen…
