The Dem candidates standing with Israel
Plus, Mike Johnson’s first Israel trip as House speaker ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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In today’s Daily Kickoff we look at the split in the Democratic Party over Senate resolutions to block military sales to Israel and talk to Maryland Jewish community leaders who are disappointed with Sen. Angela Alsobrooks’ flip-flop on the issue. We talk to Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman about his call for Qatar to detain Hamas leaders and report on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s current visit to Israel. We also interview former Israeli diplomat Emmanuel Nahshon about the mounting isolation of Israeli academia. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Aaron Parnas, Loretta Rothschild, and Janet Huckabee and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
What We’re Watching
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and a group of House Republicans are visiting Israel this week, in Johnson’s first international trip and first visit to Israel since becoming speaker. More below.
- Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is on a trade mission to Israel and the United Arab Emirates this week, currently on the first leg of the mission, “to meet with government officials and business leaders and deepen Arkansas’ economic ties.”
- Former college football coach Derek Dooley jumped into the Georgia Senate race against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) today, a development that shakes up the race. Dooley, who was recruited into the race by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, will be facing Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Mike Collins (R-GA) in the GOP primary. We’re keeping a close eye on whether President Donald Trump chooses a favorite.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
After a majority of Senate Democrats voted last week to cut off some military sales to Israel, the issue has emerged as a dividing line in some key Senate primaries. The votes have become a pivotal test in determining which members have maintained their support for Israel, and those who are responding to the political pressure from the party’s progressive activist base.
All told, most of the leading recruits — from former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) to Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) — have said they would have voted with the pro-Israel wing of the party against the two resolutions sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). But there are some notable divisions that are emerging in key races.
Here’s a quick overview of the Democratic candidates’ views in the key open seat races:
MI-SEN: Stevens, a pro-Israel stalwart, said she would have voted against the Sanders resolutions on cutting off military aid, as the state’s delegation was divided on the vote. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) voted against it, but newly elected Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who missed the vote to appear on Stephen Colbert’s talk show, said she would have supported the anti-Israel measure.
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who earlier this year had been meeting with Jewish groups to reassure them of her pro-Israel bona fides, publicly broke with her past positions. “The United States has to stop providing Netanyahu with offensive weapons that do nothing but continue to extend this war,” she said. At a campaign event last Wednesday, she slammed the Israeli prime minister further: “We cannot let this man tell us that what we are seeing with our own eyes is not what is actually happening.”
MARYLAND MOOD
Sen. Alsobrooks flip-flops from pledge to maintain aid to Israel during Senate campaign
Maryland Jewish leaders are expressing disappointment over Sen. Angela Alsobrooks’ (D-MD) decision to support both of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) resolutions blocking U.S. arms sales to Israel despite vowing to oppose such efforts when she campaigned for the Senate last year. In a statement on her decision, the Maryland senator said she was joining the “voices of so many who feel the moral imperative to demand change. To witness the inhumanity of starving children and say nothing is not just a dereliction of duty but of conscience,” Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Jewish community reaction: Ron Halber, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said that the JCRC planned to request a meeting with Alsobrooks to “try and figure out what her thoughts were on this matter and express our concern” about her votes on Wednesday. Halber predicted that Alsobrooks was “probably swayed by the humanitarian disaster that has unfolded” in Gaza, pointing out her comments during the campaign and her votes against the April resolutions. He also noted that Alsobrooks was “speaking publicly at JCRC forums and speaking as recently as our legislative breakfast in December of last year” about her support for continued aid to Israel.
QATAR CALL
Landsman calls on Qatar to detain Hamas leaders until hostages are freed
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) called on Qatar last week to step up more forcefully to pressure Hamas and bring about a hostage-release and ceasefire deal in Gaza, including taking into custody the Hamas leaders who have long enjoyed safe haven in Doha, in a lengthy X thread about the conflict in Gaza. “It’s time to call the question on everybody, including the Qataris. There are legitimate questions about whether or not they should be doing more, they could be doing more,” Landsman said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod. “[Hamas] just refuses to engage anymore.”
Leaving no stone unturned: In light of that situation, Landsman argued that every potential lever to change Hamas’ calculus must be explored and pursued. He said that Qatar, as “the entity that has the most influence” over Hamas at this point, “has to feel way more pressure from the international community to do everything in their power” to get to a deal. The status quo of Hamas leaders living lavish lives in Qatar “should absolutely be questioned,” Landsman said. He said he’s heard from Israeli officials and others involved in the hostage talks that the Qataris are “not seen as a trusted partner in this effort to end the war.”
SPEAKER’S SOJOURN
House Speaker Mike Johnson arrives in Israel
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and a group of House Republicans arrived in Israel on Sunday, in Johnson’s first international trip and first visit to Israel since becoming speaker. Johnson was set to visit Israel in June to address the Knesset, but postponed his visit after the war between Israel and Iran began. He will not be addressing the Knesset on this visit, a source familiar with his plans told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod.
Words at the Wall: Johnson and those in his delegation — Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Michael Cloud (R-TX) — have prayed at the Western Wall and met with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. “We’re so grateful to be in Israel, particularly on this day, recognizing the destruction of the two Temples … it is such a moving time for us to be here at the Wailing Wall. We’ve offered our prayers, we’ve put our notes into the wall,” Johnson said in brief video remarks from the Kotel, which he visited on Tisha B’Av. “We’re so moved by the hospitality of the people and the great love of Israel.”
DEM DIVIDE
Illinois Senate field splits over resolutions to block Israel aid
A divide is emerging in the Democratic Senate primary in Illinois over resolutions the Senate voted on earlier this week to block certain arms sales to Israel,Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Split paths: Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s campaign and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi told JI on Friday that they wouldn’t have supported the resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), even as they condemned the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) announced earlier in the day that she would have voted for the resolutions if she’d been in the Senate. The split could help shape the potentially crucial Jewish community vote in the upcoming Senate primary.
FLIP-FLOP
Klobuchar explains her flip against Israel in supporting cutoff to military aid
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said that she voted, for the first time, for resolutions blocking U.S. arms sales to Israel last week to send a message to the Israeli government of disapproval for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, even as she acknowledged that the vote might not make much of an impact, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Explaining: “I just think it’s really important for people to speak out when they can, even if it’s on a vote that isn’t probably going to make all the difference right now. And it doesn’t mean I’m going to be hard-stop against aid for Israel in the future,” Klobuchar told Punchbowl News. “At some point, you’ve got to seek change. And I think this is one way you can do it,” she continued. “I have supported Israel’s right to defend itself, I always will. But they aren’t changing.”
Tar Heel take: North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper, the state’s former governor, meanwhile, rejected efforts to withhold U.S. aid to Israel. A Cooper spokesperson told JI’s Marc Rod: “The Governor believes it’s urgent for the United States to use other means of pressure on the Israeli government to step up now and find ways to get food to people who desperately need it and return the hostages. He would consider the specific text of any bills that came before the Senate, but generally does not believe we should withhold aid from a critical ally like Israel when they have to defend themselves against countries like Iran.”
Q&A
‘It’s the slow strangling of the Israeli academic world,’ former envoy warns amid EU sanctions debate
As several European countries moved to recognize a Palestinian state last week, the EU debated suspending Israel from Horizon Europe — its $109.2 billion science and innovation program — citing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The proposed partial suspension, which could cost Israeli startups over $11.4 million, failed to pass after Germany and Italy reportedly blocked the move, though talks will continue. Former Israeli diplomat Emmanuel Nahshon, now the coordinator for combating academic boycotts on behalf of the Israeli Association of Universities, warned in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov that Israeli academia is facing mounting isolation and long-term damage in the wake of the Gaza war.
Snowball effect: “It’s a slippery slope. The more it happens, the more it is bound to happen. Universities copy one another. On top of that, we have the silent, covert boycott. It’s like Voldemort [from ‘Harry Potter’], no one is saying its name, but it is there and we feel it all the bloody time. Israeli lecturers are not invited to international events anymore; articles are rejected; Israelis are not invited to take part in science and research consortia, etc. If it continues for a year or two, we may face dire consequences,” Nahshon said. “It’s the slow strangling of the Israeli academic world. We cannot function without contact with the outside world. Israel is too small a country to be able to have its own, internal academic world. We need contact with …the Ivy League and Western European universities.”
Worthy Reads
Losing the French: The New York Times’ David French, a pro-Israel, anti-Trump conservative, calls on Israel’s allies “to stage an intervention” in order to protect the U.S.-Israel alliance. “The Israeli government has gone too far. It has engineered a staggering humanitarian crisis, and that crisis is both a moral atrocity and a long-term threat to Israel itself. … Hamas’s war crimes — including its murders, its hostage taking and its concealment among civilians and civilian buildings — do not relieve Israel of its own moral and legal obligations. … No nation — not even the United States — can thrive without allies, and Israel (despite its nuclear weapons) is far more vulnerable and dependent on international friendship than the United States or Britain or France. If Israel creates a lasting rift with its European allies and shatters the longstanding bipartisan American consensus on aiding Israel, then the long-term consequences could be grave. … Israel’s friends must speak with one voice: End the famine in Gaza. Drop any talk of annexation. Protect the civilian population. Defeating Hamas does not require starving a single child.” [NYTimes]
Gaza, 20 Years After: Israeli journalist Amit Segal argues in Israel Hayom that opponents of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza 2005 were right. “It’s trendy these days to pin messianic thinking on the right. Fair enough. But the truth is that two messianic movements crashed head-on in Gaza: the religious-nationalist right that wanted to annex the Gaza Strip and pretended two million Palestinians didn’t exist because ‘it’s our land,’ and the less talked-about secular-liberal left that believed pulling out would create a Gaza Riviera with high-tech and Singapore-style beach clubs. … The whole point was to pay a steep price at home to get better security, not end up with the same nightmare. Unless better security was never really the goal, because no sane group with hundreds of years of military experience would think running away from terrorists would make them put down their guns. Maybe the real goal was always to crush internal opposition in Israeli society. You know: the operation failed, but at least the patient died.” [IsraelHayom]
The Luigi Effect: Jesse Arm, vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, writes in City Journal about the rise of “Luigism,” evidenced by those celebrating the murder of Blackstone executive and Jewish philanthropist Wesley LePatner on social media. “This grotesque display is part of a broader trend of class rage and Internet nihilism that justifies violence by turning innocent victims into scapegoats for moral fury. The permission structure for such ghoulishness is now fully operational. What were once the disturbing mutterings of the fringe are now public, performative, and proudly cruel. A political movement is testing its power. Call it Luigism. Invoking Luigi Mangione — the Ivy League-educated radical who allegedly assassinated UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December — Luigism is the idea that violence is a legitimate response to the perceived injustices of capitalism. If the victim represents wealth, whiteness, pro-Israel Judaism, or institutional power, the killing can be framed as justified, or even glamorous.” [CityJournal]
TikTok Trend: The Atlantic’s Amogh Dimri explores the rise of TikTok-native news influencers through the lens of Aaron Parnas — a 26-year-old lawyer-turned-political commentator whose rapid-fire video updates have turned him into one of Gen Z’s most influential news sources. “Parnas, who is 26, is a lawyer by trade. He told me that he monitors every court case he deems significant with a legal tracker. He was immersed in politics at an early age. (His father, Lev Parnas, gained brief notoriety as an associate of Rudy Giuliani during Trump’s first term. ‘I love my dad,’ Aaron Parnas has said. ‘And I’m not my dad.’) C-SPAN is on ‘all day every day.’ And he’s enabled X and Truth Social notifications for posts from every member of Congress and major world leader. When he decides that his phone’s alerts are newsworthy, he hits the record button. His rapid-reaction formula for news has made him a one-man media giant: He currently has 4.2 million followers on TikTok. He told me that his videos on the platform have reached more than 100 million American users in the past six months. His Substack newsletter also has the most subscriptions of any in the ‘news’ category, and he recently interviewed Senator Cory Booker, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, and this magazine’s editor in chief.” [Atlantic]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump declined to characterize Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as a genocide yesterday, responding to a reporter saying, “I don’t think it’s that. They’re in a war.” Talking to reporters boarding Air Force One at Lehigh Valley International Airport, Trump said, “We want the people fed. We’re the only country that’s really doing that. We’re putting up money to get the people fed. And [Middle East envoy] Steve Witkoff is doing a great job.” …
Witkoff told hostage families in Tel Aviv on Saturday that the U.S. is now aiming to reach a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas, including ending the war and returning all the remaining hostages, rather than the incremental deals previously attempted…
Hamas released a video of severely emaciated hostage Evyatar David digging his own grave in an underground tunnel in Gaza over the weekend, shortly after the Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video of hostage Rom Braslavski, similarly emaciated and weak…
Several Democratic members of Congress, speaking with CNN, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for declining support of Israel in the party. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said, “I think there’s a recognition that Netanyahu is making Israel and Israelis and Jews unsafe all over the world.” Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) told the outlet, “Netanyahu has to be held accountable”…
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) sent a second letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday asking why 22-year-old Thomas Fugate, a recent college graduate, was tapped to lead the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, a top anti-terrorism role. Stevens chastized Noem for dodging the question in her response to Stevens’ first letter on the issue in July…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the rise of Omar Fateh, the “Mamdani of Minneapolis,” in his mayoral bid, as a reflection of the widening rift in the Democratic Party…
Semafor obtained internal messages from The New York Times illuminating the outlet’s internal debate over the cover photo for a story on malnutrition in Gaza, which ultimately led to the Times clarifying that the child pictured had previous health conditions…
The Free Press also highlighted the Times’ mistake, in an editorial titled, “Mistakes at ‘The New York Times’ Only Go in One Direction,” highlighting the reach of the mistake in comparison with the quiet correction …
Fourteen Democratic senators and House members threatened Harvard with a potential congressional investigation if it agrees to a reported settlement with the Trump administration and cautioned it against “any settlement that undermines its independence or validates the misuse of governmental power for partisan ends.”…
Politico interviews right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer about her role in the Trump administration’s staffing decisions, including continued firings and pulled nominations based on questions of the individual’s loyalty to the president …
The New York Times details four Iranian Americans being detained by Iran, according to human rights groups and lawyers, including a “70-year-old Jewish father and grandfather from New York who has a jewelry business” who is “being questioned about a trip to Israel”…
Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) introduced the SEIZE Act, to allow the U.S. to quickly distribute to partners any weapons seized in transit from Iran to its terrorist proxies…
The New York Times spotlights the outlet Campus Reformand its editor-in-chief, Zachary Marschall, whose longtime coverage of leftist bias on college campuses has resulted in several schools coming under investigation from the federal government…
Brazil announced its withdrawal from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, where it held observer status, last week, in a move that Dani Dayan, president of the IHRA, called “a serious crossing of a red line.” “This is the first time a Western country has subordinated Holocaust remembrance to political considerations,” Dayan said…
Over 600 former Israeli security officials — including former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo and former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon — who make up the Commanders for Israel’s Security group sent a letter to Trump on Sunday asking him to press Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza…
The American Jewish Committee donated $25,000 to help repair the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, which was damaged by errant Israeli munitions last month, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanimreports…
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Friday that its embassy and consulate in the United Arab Emirates remain open and operational, including “ensuring the protection of Israeli diplomats,” after the Israeli National Security Council warned its citizens in the country of heightened terror threats last week and reportedly evacuated some of its diplomats…
The New York Times profiles U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, including his evangelical support for the Jewish state and his long history of visiting the country…
Azerbaijan will export 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year through Turkey to Syria to help Damascus rebuild and stabilize, Vice President Elshad Nasirov of SOCAR, the Azeri state energy company, told Reutersat a ceremony to launch the project on Saturday…
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin told the Forward last week that the fringe group “Return to the Land,” which bars Jews and non-white individuals from living in their community, does not violate state or federal anti-discrimination law…
Ami Eden, CEO of JTA’s parent company 70 Faces Media, identifies himself as the former student-body president at Akiba Hebrew Academy who once bested Josh Shapiro in what Shapiro has described, most recently in an interview with Stephen Colbert, as the only campaign defeat of his life…
Ivanka Trump gave a boost to Loretta Rothschild’s new debut novel, Finding Grace, with a glowing review, posted to her Instagram, of the book that was released last month…
Pic of the Day
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee’s wife, Janet, and daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas, prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Tisha B’Av on Sunday.
Birthdays
Chief political correspondent and host of Fox News’ “Special Report,” Bret Baier turns 55…
Professor emerita of American history at Yeshiva University and Stern College, she is an expert on the history of McCarthyism, Dr. Ellen Wolf Schrecker turns 87… Talmudic scholar and a leader of New York’s Sephardic Jewish community, Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Haim turns 85… President at Salco Mechanical, Michael Salzberg… Rabbi of Centro Israelita de Bogotá and chief rabbi of Colombia, Alfredo Goldschmidt turns 80… Immediate past board chair of the Jewish Funders Network, Marcia Riklis… Frederic Lewis Bloch… Former Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yona Metzger turns 72… Retired professor in Memphis, Sheldon Dan… Longtime member of the Knesset for Likud including multiple ministerial positions, Silvan Shalom turns 67… Executive producer of “Live with Kelly and Mark,” Michael Gelman turns 64…44th president of the United States, Barack Obama turns 64… Mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023, Lori Lightfoot turns 63… Attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison turns 62… Administrative manager at Edelman, Helen Lapkovsky… Global editorial director for PwC and editor-in-chief of PwC’s management magazine strategy+business, Daniel Gross turns 58… Editor-in-chief of “Cuepoint” at Medium, he is known as Shecky Green, Jonathan Miles Shecter turns 57… Congressman (D-NY-8), he is the minority leader of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries turns 55… Emmy Award-winning broadcast meteorologist at WJLA-TV in Washington, Steven Rudin… Washington director of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block… Director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay turns 53… Senior editor at Politico, he writes Politico‘s “Capital City” column, Michael Schaffer… Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party from 2011 through 2012, he is a former White House speechwriter, Andrei Cherny turns 50… Head of PR for Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks, Caren Beth Auchman… CEO of Something Major, a leadership coaching and advisory firm, Randi Braun… Director of corporate growth strategy in the geostrategic business group at EY-Parthenon, Ben-Ari Boukai… CRO and co-founder at Riverside.fm, Jonathan Keyson… Childhood student at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., he is a placekicker for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, Greg Joseph turns 31… TikToker, comedian and influencer, Sabrina Plon Brier turns 31… Natalie Roberts… Evelyn Murphy…
BELATED BIRTHDAY: Representative of the World Zionist Organization Executive in North America, Michal Slawny Cababia (was Thursday)…
