Good Thursday morning. 

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on President Donald Trump’s nixing of Israeli plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, and look at a possible matchup between Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Lawler in New York’s GOP gubernatorial primary. We also interview Jake Rakov, a former staffer for Rep. Brad Sherman who is challenging his one-time boss, and report on the Overseas Press Club’s decision to honor The Washington Post’s controversial Israel-Hamas war reporting. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: John Ondrasik, Noa Argamani and Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz.

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One of the most alarming aspects of left-wing identity politics is that it robs individuals of any agency, draining nuance out of any situation. People are either part of an oppressor or oppressed class. Institutions are condemned for not conforming to the political fads of the moment. Individuals are held responsible for the sins of their ancestors, even those without any connection to the country’s past. 

As the late esteemed Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks put it in his 2007 book The Home We Build Together, such identitarian thinking empowers three toxic Gs: groupthink, guilt and grievance, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.

The excesses in identity politics can be seen clearly in the Trump administration’s efforts to expunge antisemitism from campuses through its deportations of anti-Israel foreign students and its threats to withhold billions of federal funds from elite colleges that fail to follow its prescriptions dealing with discrimination against Jewish students on campus.

The cause of combating antisemitism and support for terrorism on campuses is a noble one, and it’s a credit to the Trump administration that it has made it a priority. Universities have for too long tolerated and indulged anti-Israel activism that goes far beyond merely criticizing the Jewish state, and sometimes veers into the justification of terrorism or even outright support for American-designated terrorist groups, like Hamas and Hezbollah. Their inaction against Jewish discrimination — and the passivity from too many political leaders — led to this moment. 

But the administration has also used the fight against antisemitism to pursue illiberal policies that go well beyond the worthy goals of combating discrimination on campus. The overreach has led even sympathetic conservative outlets like the Wall Street Journal editorial page and National Review to speak out against policies with which it might otherwise be sympathetic.

Part of the Trump administration’s challenge is rooted in its own version of identity politics — placing disfavored groups and individuals in the same category, no matter the specific details of the situations. 

A Columbia University student, Mohsen Mahdawi, who was the apparent “ringleader” of the most and who praised terrorist groups on multiple occasions, is treated the same way as Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts student on a student visa who is being detained for co-writing an op-ed critical of Israel in her student newspaper and didn’t even appear to be involved in anti-Israel protests.

The administration is on much firmer ground — legally and politically — deporting a key organizer of anti-Israel protests who has expressed sympathy for terrorist groups than someone simply expressing their anti-Israel views in an editorial.  

The same lack of nuance is apparent in the administration’s aggressive moves against elite universities. The administration’s demands against Harvard, for instance, go well beyond fighting antisemitism and involve the government mandating a role in determining Harvard’s admissions and hiring policies. As the Wall Street Journal editorial Wednesday put it: “There are good reasons to oppose this unprecedented attempt by government to micromanage a private university.”

That overreach made it easy for Harvard to reject such demands, and mobilize a larger fight against any reforms — which could make it harder to accomplish the kind of constructive changes that were already taking place. When even some of the Harvard leaders on the front lines against antisemitism are raising concerns about the administration’s policies — from Rabbi David Wolpe to Hillel leader Jacob Miller — it’s going to be hard to maintain a united front when it’s badly needed.

Indeed, there seems to be a parallel fight taking place in the Trump administration between the antisemitism task force’s goals and a more influential set of officials who see the opportunity to go after higher education and foreign students, more broadly.

In his 2007 book, Sacks wrote about three I-words to counter the scourge of identitarianism that was  just beginning to seep through the culture: individualism, ideas and improvement. Sacks’ wisdom should lead policymakers to incentivize those seeking to improve campus life through pluralism — the debate of good ideas — rather than nihilism in its burning the whole enterprise down altogether.

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Faced with fault lines inside his own administration over Iran policy, President Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan, which would have required American backing and potential U.S. involvement, to strike Iran’s nuclear program as soon as May, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Both the news itself and the leak are sparking concern in Washington.

Security concerns: Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that this leak could undermine efforts to forcefully negotiate with Iran. “There is no deal that permanently halts Iran’s nuclear weapons program without a credible military threat,” Dubowitz told JI. “It’s a serious error to signal — especially in outlets like The New York Times — that military plans may be off the table, even temporarily. Unless Iran’s leaders believe their regime is at risk, they will never agree to a deal that truly ends the nuclear threat.” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), a pro-Israel Democrat, blasted the Trump administration for rejecting the Israeli plan against Iran. “If Joe Biden had done this, Republicans would be outraged. Also this leak jeopardizes Israel’s security. There should be no deal with Iran until their nuclear program is gone,” Moskowitz said.

Read the full story here.

Related?: Three senior Pentagon officials — including two aides to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chief of staff to the DoD's deputy defense secretary — were put on administrative leave on Tuesday and Wednesday during an investigation into possible leaks.

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The New York Republican gubernatorial primary could pit two lawmakers popular in the Jewish community — Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) — against each other, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Lawler has long been seen as a likely GOP candidate, but Stefanik’s potential entry comes as more of a surprise, weeks after President Donald Trump asked her to withdraw her nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

What they’re saying: Stefanik appeared to lean into the speculation — first raised in an NBC News article on Wednesday and confirmed by other outlets — with a campaign press release attacking New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and highlighting a poll showing a majority of New Yorkers do not want Hochul to seek reelection. Lawler did not rule out the possibility of a primary against Stefanik, but also praised her. “Elise Stefanik has been a powerful leader in the House, where she maintains a strong and important role in leading our conference. We both agree that Kathy Hochul is the worst Governor in America, bar none,” Lawler said in a statement to JI. “In the coming months the process will play out to ensure that Republicans have the strongest candidate possible.”

Read the full story here.

COURTESY

Jake Rakov, a former congressional staffer for Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) who is now challenging Sherman for his Los Angeles-area congressional seat, has plenty of criticism aimed at his old boss. But one issue on which they appear largely in step is support for the U.S.-Israel relationship. Rakov, 37, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod in an interview that the Democratic Party needs “a new generation to step up if we want to get anything done in Washington.” He’s one of a series of young insurgent candidates delivering a similar message as they challenge longtime Democratic incumbents whom they characterize as complacent and disconnected.

On Israel: Sherman, who is Jewish, represents one of the most heavily Jewish districts in the country and is a vocal and relatively hawkish supporter of Israel. Rakov, whose husband is Jewish, did not indicate any significant breaks with his former boss on that issue. “I’m a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. I understand the need to maintain that relationship, and I would also be a proactive advocate in Congress for continuing to strengthen the vital allyship between our two countries,” Rakov said. “I see the need of that, especially in the state of the Middle East right now, for having such a close ally in the region.” He said that he supports continued U.S. aid to Israel, explaining that Israel “has the right to defend itself against terrorists and those who want to attack it.”

Read the full interview here.

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The man accused of setting fire to the governor’s residence in Harrisburg, Pa., hours after Gov. Josh Shapiro hosted a Passover Seder there for family and friends did so to protest Shapiro’s stance toward the Palestinians, according to a police search warrant, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. Cody Balmer, the suspect, allegedly threw homemade explosives into the mansion in the middle of the night, igniting a fire that caused severe damage to the home. On a 911 call, Balmer said that Shapiro “needs to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,’” the warrant says. 

Proudly Jewish: In a press conference on Wednesday, Shapiro declined to say whether he believed he was targeted for practicing his faith, or whether Balmer should face hate crime charges. “The prosecutors will ultimately determine what motivated this — the district attorney, the Department of Justice can comment on that further,” said Shapiro, noting that his family still had a Seder on Sunday evening for the second night of Passover, though not specifying where. “But right now I think what we’re trying to do is find the good in society, not be deterred from our work, not be deterred from practicing our faith proudly and to continue to move forward as parents and continue to move forward as governor and first lady.”

Read the full story here.

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The Overseas Press Club is facing scrutiny over its decision to give an award to The Washington Post for its reporting on the Israel-Hamas war, even as the paper has drawn criticism for major factual errors and accusations of institutional bias around its handling of the conflict in Gaza. The paper is set to be honored at the Overseas Press Club’s annual awards dinner in New York City on Thursday, when it will receive the Shireen Abu Akleh Award, named for the Palestinian journalist mistakenly killed by Israel in 2022, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Questionable record: The inaugural award, which highlights the “best reporting on a continuing international conflict or crisis in any medium,” cites seven Post stories that, the judges wrote, “tore at official narratives through accountability journalism that centered the human costs of Israel’s war in Gaza.” But one respected Middle East analyst is challenging the decision to reward the Post in light of its errors while reporting on the war. Rob Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told JI the award “says more about the Overseas Press Club than about The Washington Post,” whose record “speaks for itself.”

Read the full story here.

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Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called out Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s comments earlier this week suggesting that the U.S. could allow Iran to retain some nuclear enrichment capacity, in a letter sent directly to Witkoff on Wednesday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Quotable: Lawler’s letter comes after Witkoff publicly walked back those comments, but is the most direct and open rebuke of Witkoff’s original remarks from a GOP lawmaker thus far. Lawler specifically cited Witkoff’s Monday comments on Fox News, during which Witkoff indicated that the U.S. could allow Iran to enrich uranium up to 3.67% and implement a verification regime to monitor the nuclear program. “This idea is all too familiar and calls back to President Obama’s Iran Deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which allowed for similar enrichment levels as well as monitoring and verification provisions,” Lawler continued. “Plain and simple, the JCPOA was a disaster. And any revert back to a similar deal will have the same detrimental effects.”

Read the full story here.

U.S. v. Harvard: The Financial Times’ Guy Chazan and Andrew Jack look at the Trump administration's hard-line approach to university reform amid its deepening battle with Harvard University. “If the confrontation lands in court, experts say Harvard has a good case. Even some conservatives say the demand for viewpoint diversity could violate the free speech protections enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. ‘Anything that reaches into the classroom is going to be very hard for the government to sustain,’ said Adam Kissel, an education expert at the rightwing Heritage Foundation. ‘It becomes very challenging to address [any individual utterance] without violating the First Amendment.’ But others say that even if the White House fails in court, it will have succeeded in its main objective — cutting America’s Ivy League universities down to size and weakening their almost magical hold over the country’s imagination.” [FT]

New Power on the Block: In The New York Times, Aaron David Miller and Steven Simon posit that the balance of power in the Middle East has shifted in Israel’s favor since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, and that the Trump administration could use Jerusalem’s newfound hegemony as it seeks to reshape the region. “Enabled by the United States, its Arab treaty partners and key Persian Gulf states, the Israelis have broken the Hamas-Hezbollah ring of opposition and revealed the vulnerability and weakness of their patron in Tehran while also degrading Iran’s air defenses and missile production. Israel has expanded its occupation of Syrian territory, taken control of areas of Lebanon just north of its border and undertaken aggressive tactics in the West Bank not seen since the second intifada, which ended 20 years ago. Israel has benefited from the weakness of surrounding states, much as Iran did while it was, until very recently, vying to be the top dog. Lebanese leaders remain preoccupied by internal rivalries while Syria’s new government faces enormous economic, political and security challenges. … Perhaps more than any other president in the last 50 years, Mr. Trump inherits opportunities in a Middle East region where, more often than not, U.S. ideas on war and peacemaking have gone to die.” [NYTimes]

Join us May 15 at 92NY for the launch of the SAPIR debates! Moderated by Bret Stephens, Rahm Emanuel and Jason Greenblatt will square off on the question “Is Donald Trump Good for the Jews?” Buy in-person or streaming tickets here.

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President Donald Trump appointed Adam Boehler special envoy for hostage response; the appointment comes weeks after Boehler withdrew his nomination to the Senate-confirmed position of special presidential envoy for hostage affairs following an uproar over his direct negotiations with Hamas and his positive characterizations of senior Hamas officials in subsequent interviews; Boehler told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that it was "possible" he would again engage in direct talks with Hamas in an effort to free the remaining hostages…

The State Department shuttered its Global Engagement Center, which monitors misinformation and disinformation operations from malign actors, including Russia, China and Iran; Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleged that the center’s closure was due to its efforts to stifle free speech in the U.S. and abroad…

A group of Democratic senators led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) sent a new letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles requesting more information about if and how the Trump administration is investigating how senior officials handled classified information related to U.S. strikes on Houthi targets in a Signal group chat, and reports of similar instances where classified materials were potentially mishandled. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, were among the co-signers…

Former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani was named one of Time magazine’s Most Influential People of 2025; former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who wrote her passage, praised her “bravery,” which he said “has embodied Jewish resilience and strength even in the worst moments.” Scarlett Johansson, Rashida Jones, Adrien Brody, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Lorne Michaels, Mark Zuckerberg, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, Nikki Glaser, Larry Fink, Wendy Freedman and Josh Kosloff were also named to the list…

The leadership bodies of the major non-Orthodox Jewish denominations — Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist — released a statement criticizing the Trump administration’s approach to campus antisemitism. “It is both possible and necessary to fight antisemitism—on campus, in our communities, and across the country—without abandoning the democratic values that have allowed Jews, and so many other vulnerable minorities, to thrive,” the organizations wrote, alongside the National Council of Jewish Women, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and HIAS... 

The IRS is mulling plans to rescind Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, after the school said it would not comply with the Trump administration’s demands to reform the university…

The Department of Homeland Security cut $2.7 million in grants to Harvard and is threatening to cancel all visas for foreign students if the school doesn’t provide DHS with “detailed records” on Harvard’s foreign students…

Georgetown University and the Qatar Foundation inked an agreement to renew its ongoing partnership for another 10 years; Qatari royal Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, the CEO of the Qatar Foundation who signed the agreement on behalf, was awarded the Georgetown University President’s Medal…

Authorities in Chicago charged an Illinois man with multiple offenses, including aggravated battery and hate crimes, in connection with an attack on two Jewish students at DePaul University last year; a second suspect remains at large…

Bloomberg spotlights Corey Metzman and Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz’s startup Chapter, a Medicare broker that recently closed a $75 million funding round at a $1.5 billion valuation and counts Vice President JD Vance and Peter Thiel as previous backers…

Dozens of members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews signed on to a letter raising concerns about the Israeli government’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, handling of West Bank issues and moves to reform the country’s judiciary…

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with released Israeli hostages Sasha Troufanov, Yelena Trufanova and Sapir Cohen in Moscow; during the meeting, Putin suggested that the returned hostages “need to express words of gratitude to the leadership of the political wing of Hamas for cooperating with us and carrying out this humanitarian act”...

In an interview with The New York Times, former Israeli American hostage Keith Siegel recounts the physical and mental abuse he and other hostages suffered in Hamas captivity…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli forces would remain in security and buffer zones in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip indefinitely…

Hamas is running low on funds to pay the salaries of its members, as Israel scales up efforts to target funding sources, including money changers, financiers and smuggling operations… 

Lebanon’s army said it had detained a number of Palestinians and Lebanese accused of participating in attacks against Israel last month…

The Trump administration is considering a withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria as it weighs how to approach the new government in Damascus led by former Al-Qaida member President Ahmed al-Sharaa…

Philanthropist Elaine Wynn, who with her ex-husband, Steve Wynn, co-founded Mirage Resorts and Wynn Resorts Ltd, died at 92…

WESTERN WALL HERITAGE FOUNDATION

Singer John Ondrasik, known as Five for Fighting, released a new version of his 2000 hit “Superman” in collaboration with the family of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, who is still captive in Gaza. 

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Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Avriel "Avi" Benjamin Kaplan turns 36... 

Short story writer, novelist and essayist, Cynthia Ozick turns 97... Retired Los Angeles cardiologist and active Yiddish enthusiast, Dr. Martin Bobrowsky turns 85... NYU professor and noted legal scholar, he spent 38 years on the faculty of University of Chicago Law School, Richard Allen Epstein turns 82... Affiliate of Tel Aviv law firm Guy, Bachar & Co., Barry Schreiber... Official historian for Major League Baseball since 2011, he was born in a DP camp in Germany following World War II, John Abraham Thorn turns 78... Talk radio host best known for his work on NYC's sports radio station WFAN, his nickname is "The Schmoozer," Steve Somers turns 78... Rebbe and leader of the Pupa Hasidic group, Rabbi Yaakov Yechezkiya Greenwald turns 77... CEO of B'nai B'rith International, Daniel S. Mariaschin turns 76... Dean of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J., one of the largest yeshivas in the world with more than 9,000 students, Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler turns 74... French businessman, based in Geneva, he and his brother own the House of Chanel perfume company as well as holdings in vineyards and a thoroughbred horse racing stable, Gérard Wertheimer turns 74... Member of the Rhode Island Senate since 2007, Joshua Miller turns 71... Elizabeth H. Scheuer... Israeli journalist for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Ben-Dror Yemini turns 71... Rabbi emerita, after 39 years, of Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wis., her brother is the former U.S. senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, Dena Feingold... Co-founder and CEO of United Talent Agency (UTA), Jeremy Zimmer turns 67... Actress, screenwriter and film director, Daphna Kastner turns 64... Winner of two Super Bowl rings during his career with the San Francisco 49ers, he is now a physician and an inductee in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Dr. John E. Frank turns 63... Director of Rutgers University Press since 2016, following 15 years at Temple University Press, Micah Kleit turns 55... Professor of politics at NYU and longtime co-author of “The Monkey Cage” blog at The Washington Post, Joshua A. Tucker turns 54... Congressional editor for The New York Times, she is also a political analyst for CNN, Julie Hirschfeld Davis turns 50... Member of the Alaska Legislature, first in the Assembly and then in the state Senate, Jesse Kiehl turns 49... Executive director at Morgan Stanley, Nadya Belenkiy... Managing editor of global business at Bloomberg News, Shelly Banjo... Southern California-based regional director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Ora Miriam ("Miri") Katz Belsky... Press secretary for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Angelo Roefaro... Israeli actor, musician, director and television presenter, Ido Mosseri turns 47… Wikipedia editor since 2004, having made at least one edit to one-third of all English Wikipedia articles, Steven Pruitt turns 41... Senior communications manager at the Center for Responsible Lending, Matt Kravitz... Partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, Alex Kellner... Former deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting for then-VPOTUS Kamala Harris, Dean Lieberman... Member of the Baltimore City Council, Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer turns 36... Deputy general counsel at the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Brian T. Earll turns 33... Offensive lineman for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers for seven seasons, he retired in 2022 and is now pursuing a doctorate in psychology, Alexander "Ali" Marpet turns 32... Judicial law clerk at the U.S. District Court of Maryland, Ahuva Neuberger...