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Good Friday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog about Democrats’ responses to U.S. involvement in last month’s war between Iran and Israel, and report on U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler’s comments at the Aspen Security Forum that a ceasefire is ‘‘closer than it’s been.” We interview Columbia students and alumni about the school’s negotiations with the Trump administration, and have the exclusive on a letter from Jewish House Democrats concerned over the Pentagon’s recent contract with xAI following a series of antisemitic posts by its Grok chatbot. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Daniel Nadler and Deborah Lyons.

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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: The psychology of denial: American Psychological Association struggles to confront antisemitism in its ranks; After Iran strikes, Saudis in no rush to join Abraham Accords, experts say; and Rep. Greg Landsman: Americans are ‘tired’ of partisanship on Iran and foreign policy. Print the latest edition here

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog and other pro-Israel speakers received a warm reception from the crowd at the Aspen Security Forum this week, as they discussed continued efforts to free the hostages in Gaza and the recent strikes on Iran.

However, Herzog told Jewish Insider on the sidelines of the conference that he’s been disappointed by the response to the strikes from Democratic lawmakers in Washington, which has been overwhelmingly negative.

It’s a response that stands in contrast to Herzog’s description of the transition he observed in the Biden administration’s thinking on Iran: going from pushing for a nuclear deal with Iran that Herzog said would have been weaker than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to, by the time President Joe Biden left office, active discussions of strikes on Iran.

Herzog said that efforts to maintain bipartisanship on Israel were a critical element of his ambassadorship and that dialogue with nearly all leaders is critical, but, “I’m saying it carefully because I never interfere in domestic politics here, but from a strategic point of view, I was disappointed by the response of some senior Democrats to the war on Iran.”

Regarding Biden’s team, Herzog told JI: “If you look at the journey the Biden administration took from the initial days when they were rushing to a deal with Iran, to the last few months of the administration where they were talking to us about military options against Iran, they went a long way. … It was too late in the day [to carry out the strikes before Biden left office], but it was a very interesting journey that I noticed.”

Read more from JI senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod’s interview with Mike Herzog on the sidelines at the Aspen Security Forum here.

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U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler said at the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday that there had been “some movement forward” recently toward a hostage-release deal with Hamas. He also addressed criticisms of his direct talks with Hamas, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Status update: “It’s closer than it’s been, and if it doesn’t happen, in my strong opinion it would be continued hard-headedness from Hamas, in which case Israel will continue to take action, as they should,” Boehler, the only Trump administration official to address the conference, said. Asked about his direct negotiations with Hamas, which were controversial especially among Israeli officials who were largely kept out of the loop, Boehler downplayed the extent of the breach. “There was no unilateral deal ever possible. While that’s an American citizen, Edan, we were always working with the Israeli side.”

Read the full story here.

Strategy session: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum that the U.S. should work to exploit frictions between Iran, Russia, China and North Korea, to interfere with their deepening alliances. “I’ve thought this alliance is somewhat weaker than we sometimes would give it credit for, and I’d slam them together and make them deal with their own internal contradictions,” Rice reiterated.

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Speaking on a panel at the Aspen Security Forum, a group of Iran analysts discussed the potential paths forward in nuclear talks with Iran after the American and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the possibility that Iran will attempt to reconstitute its nuclear program covertly and the prospect of regime change in Iran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Analyzing Iran: Former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley laid out three paths forward after the strikes: a continued campaign of Israeli air strikes to “mow the lawn,” while Iran works to try to reestablish its own deterrence; a negotiated agreement with Iran including intrusive inspections that would make it difficult for Iran to construct a covert nuclear program, with provisions addressing Iran’s ballistic missiles and proxies; and the possibility, with an agreement, that Iran decides to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, having spent billions of dollars on the program, alienated the region and still failed to deter a U.S. or Israeli attack. Rachel Bronson, a senior advisor at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said that it’s widely believed Iran has seen a nuclear weapon as a guarantor of regime survival, in the model of North Korea. But she said there’s a chance that Iran wants to go down a different path. “That begs the question whether the Iranians want to live like North Koreans and want to live in a sanctioned regime and in such isolation, which the Iranians demonstrated that they don't want to live that way,” Bronson said.

Read the full story here.

Sanctions push: A group of Senate Republicans sent a letter to French, German and U.K. officials this week urging them to immediately reimpose U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran for the regime’s violations of the 2015 nuclear deal and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

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As Jewish students and alumni at Columbia University await the final details of the university’s prospective deal with the Trump administration, some are expressing skepticism that a list of commitments announced by the school this week to address antisemitism on campus would have a significant impact on protecting Jewish students, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. The steps were publicized Tuesday by Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, as the school works to reach a deal with the Trump administration to restore some $400 million in federal funding that was cut by the government in March due to the university’s record dealing with antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel. 

Student reactions: According to a draft deal, Columbia would be required to pay a $200 million fine and commit to releasing admissions and staffing data to the federal government. “The deal as it stands now lets Columbia off the hook relatively without a scratch,” Inbar Brand, who graduated in the spring from Columbia’s dual-degree program with Tel Aviv University, told JI. “The school gets its money back without resolving the core issues in its governance and administrative structure that allowed for antisemitism to fester openly for so long on campus.” Noa Fay, a graduate student entering her last year in Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, described the university’s latest commitments and prospective deal as “an immense disappointment.” 

Read the full story here.

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The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee drafted a new memo on Thursday alleging that federal funding granted to USAID and nongovernmental organizations under the Biden administration was given to Palestinian nonprofits with ties to proscribed terror groups, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

The allegations: “Oversight conducted by the Committee reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s neglect and misuse of taxpayer dollars through USAID, the State Department, and other federal agencies, which were used to directly and indirectly fund the efforts of anti-Netanyahu organizations and terrorist groups,” the memo sent to committee members, which was obtained by JI, states. Judiciary Committee Republicans also revealed in the memo that they were “expanding” their investigation “to include additional American and Israeli NGOs that may be involved in funneling U.S. government funds with the purpose of undermining the Israeli government or for the support or fiscal sponsorship of terrorist groups.”

Read the full story here.

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Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), in a private meeting with House Democrats in Washington on Wednesday, avoided confronting Zohran Mamdani, the far-left Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, over his controversial defense of calls to “globalize the intifada” and fierce opposition to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

No objections: Gottheimer, an outspoken pro-Israel Democrat, has not been shy about calling out members of his party when disagreements over Israel and antisemitism have arisen. But during the meeting, Gottheimer did not bring up his objections to the 33-year-old democratic socialist, according to a House aide familiar with the matter, even as his views on Israel have raised alarms among Jewish voters and faced pushback from Democratic leaders who have so far withheld their endorsements.

Read the full story here.

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A group of Jewish House Democrats led by Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) raised questions on Friday about the Pentagon’s decision to announce a $200 million contract with Elon Musk’s company xAI to utilize a version of its Grok artificial intelligence, days after the chatbot posted antisemitic and violent screeds on X, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

What they said: The lawmakers said that the contract raises questions about Musk’s potential personal influence over or access to the version of Grok that the Defense Department will use, and that the issues that produced the antisemitic meltdown might recur in its use of the program. And they alleged that the contract fits “a broader and increasingly visible pattern of the department turning a blind eye to antisemitism in its own ranks,” including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s defense of Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson against accusations of antisemitism.

Read the full story here.

Protect the Druze: In Newsweek, Druze-Israeli diplomat Sawsan Natour-Hasson, who serves as minister for public diplomacy at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, calls for global condemnation of the attacks against members of the Syrian Druze community. “The atrocities of October 7 in Israel did not occur in a vacuum. We have warned the world for years about this growing wave of radical extremism. It has targeted the Yazidis in Iraq, the Alawites in Syria, Christians across the Levant — and now, it is butchering innocent Druze civilians: women, children, and the elderly. Homes are being shelled, families displaced, hospitals are being bombed, and religious sites and symbols desecrated, led by the Syrian regime with the blessing of President Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. And yet once again — the world has remained largely silent in the face of the genocide taking place against my people.” [Newsweek]

Presidential Plot: In The Wall Street Journal, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Behnam Ben Taleblu and Saeed Ghasseminejad warn of potential Iranian plots to assassinate President Donald Trump. “Contrary to recent denials by Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, these threats and plots are real. Books about the president’s time in office and on the campaign trail detail the precautions Mr. Trump had to take. U.S. authorities have been tracking, uncovering and, where possible, prosecuting people involved. The feds have disrupted several Iranian plots to assassinate Mr. Trump on U.S. soil.” [WSJ]

The Ties that Bind: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg explores the political bind facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the departure of the United Torah Judaism party from his coalition. “[Netanyahu] can either continue exempting the ultra-Orthodox and anger not just the public and the courts but also his own party, or revoke that exemption and lose the ultra-Orthodox — and with them, his coalition. Of late, Netanyahu has attempted to fudge the issue by pushing through legislation that would create a technical process for drafting the ultra-Orthodox but in practice make the new requirements easy to evade. This effort has met resistance in his party, however, and the bill has not passed — leading to the departure of the ultra-Orthodox parties from the government this week. For now, those parties have said that they won’t vote to force new elections, giving Netanyahu time to try to appease them. But unless he can figure out a way to pass a bill that somehow satisfies the ultra-Orthodox and their critics, it’s merely a matter of time before his erstwhile allies completely switch sides.” [TheAtlantic]

Toxic Workplace: In USA Today, Ken Marcus, the founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, warns that the field of mental health is becoming “steeped” in antisemitism. “In the health care system, research shows that antisemitism has escalated since the Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. Now, 75% of Jewish medical professionals say they have experienced antisemitism at work. No form of hatred is acceptable within our mental health care system – one that is supposedly built on empathy, ethics and compassion. … The proliferation of antisemitism in any space is horrific. But its proliferation in health care – a sacred, professional space brimming with private and sometimes life-threatening information – is especially dangerous.” [USAToday]

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In a letter to Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee warned that he could publicly declare Israel not welcoming to Christian visitors, an escalation in an ongoing diplomatic row over Christian Zionists who have experienced complications traveling to Israel; Arbel, from the Haredi Shas party, has for years clashed with Christian clergy and groups who have sought visas to travel to Israel…

Israel apologized for a strike on a Catholic church in Gaza that killed three people and said it is investigating how “stray ammunition” struck the building; the official statement came following a call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, during which the president reportedly pressured Netanyahu to release a statement…

The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected, in a 422-6 vote, a bid by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to block the $500 million in cooperative missile-defense funding the U.S. provides annually to Israel, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced the "Syria Sanctions Accountability Act" to amend the Caesar Act sanctions legislation that targeted the Assad regime, allowing sanctions relief for the new government conditioned on good behavior — a step short of the full repeal that other lawmakers are advocating. The bill also includes provisions to ensure accountability in Syria and assess other pathways for financial relief…

A former University of Michigan administrator who headed the university’s office of academic multicultural initiatives and was fired following complaints that she had made antisemitic comments at a diversity conference is suing the university, alleging discrimination in the course of the school’s investigation… 

Forbes spotlights Daniel Nadler, who has raised $210 million at a $3.5 billion valuation for his company OpenEvidence, which uses artificial intelligence to help simplify the process for doctors to comb through extensive medical research…

Officials at Cheltenham High School in Pennsylvania, where alum Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is honored in the school’s hall of fame, are meeting today with members of the school’s alumni association to discuss a petition to remove Netanyahu’s photo from the hall of fame…

Deborah Lyons, Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, announced her departure from the role, which she assumed in October 2023…

A mosaic from Pompeii that had been acquired by a Nazi Wehrmacht captain during World War II and was repatriated in 2023 was put on display in a museum near the site of the ancient town, which was destroyed in a volcanic eruption…

An Israeli security officer at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem who had battled Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023, died in a drowning accident while on vacation in Greece…

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren reflects on the “blood covenant” between Israel and its Druze community, following the attacks by Syrian government forces on the Syrian Druze community…

The Wall Street Journal reports on Iran’s efforts to rearm its militias across the region after months in which both Tehran and its proxies suffered significant hits by Israel and the U.S…. 

Gabriel Scheinmann, who had previously served as executive director of the Alexander Hamilton Society, was tapped to be chief of staff to U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco Charles Kushner…

Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who in 2012 broke a world record for his jump from the stratosphere, died in a paragliding accident at 56…

Writer and photographer Laura Ben-David died at 56…

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Israeli actor Gal Gadot was honored last night with Hadassah’s Power of Our Dreams Award at the opening ceremony of the Jerusalem Film Festival in Jerusalem.

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First-ever Orthodox Jewish player selected in the MLB Draft, picked No. 77 overall in 2021, now on the minor league disabled list, Jacob Steinmetz turns 22 on Saturday...

FRIDAY: Israeli nuclear physicist and professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University, Jonas Alster turns 92... Theoretical chemist, 1981 Nobel laureate in chemistry, he has also published plays and poetry, born Roald Safran, Roald Hoffmann turns 88... Founding partner of NYC-based law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, he was one of 20 people on Nixon's “Enemies List,” Sidney Davidoff turns 86... President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County, Jan Meisels Allen... Former three-term mayor of Edmonton, Alberta, Stephen Mandel turns 80... Former prime minister of Peru, Yehude Simon Munaro turns 78... Executive director of the MLB Players Association for 26 years and then the same post at the NHL Players Association for 12 additional years, Donald Fehr turns 77... Beverly Hills resident, Felisa Bluwal Pivko... Finance, real estate and nursing home executive, Leonard Grunstein turns 73... Antisemitism scholar and one of the authors of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, he is the COO of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, Mark Weitzman... Former Israeli Police spokesman, he is now a senior national radio broadcaster in Israel and an international talk-show host, Elihu Ben-Onn turns 71... Seattle-area consultant, Elihu Rubin... Former finance chairman of the RNC, Elliott B. Broidy turns 68... Former minister for congressional affairs at the Embassy of Israel to the U.S., he was previously the Israeli ambassador to Belarus, Martin Peled-Flax turns 67... Partner at Clifford Chance, Philip Wagman... CEO and co-founder at Let's Bench, a publisher of customized keepsake prayer books and benchers, Yitz Woolf... Associate professor of cybersecurity law at the U.S. Naval Academy and formerly an attorney at Covington & Burling, Jeffrey Michael Kosseff turns 47... Deputy director of the White House National Economic Council until 2022, now a professor at NYU law school, David Kamin... Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alexander Ryvchin turns 42... Reporter for “NBC Nightly News” and “Today,” Gadi Schwartz turns 42... Editor of Kveller and Hey Alma, Molly Tolsky... Lauren Friedlander... CEO of Moving Traditions, Shuli Karkowsky... Senior spokesperson at the U.S. Treasury until 2023, now the head of U.S. public affairs at Coinbase, Julia Krieger... Senior manager of content strategy at Gauntlet, Philip Rosenstein... Foil fencer who competed for the U.S. at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympic Games, she won a team gold medal at the 2024 games, Jacqueline Dubrovich turns 31... Director of Hillel at Queen's University of Canada, he is the incoming director of campus and youth impact at CJPAC, Yosef Tarshish... Istanbul resident, Izi Doenyas... Ted Rosenberg… Dog enthusiast, N.R. Gross…

SATURDAY: Retired Israeli airline pilot, he successfully thwarted an in-flight hijacking by Leila Khaled in 1970, Uri Bar-Lev turns 94... Interactive designer, author and artist, in 1986 he married Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late JFK, Edwin Arthur "Ed" Schlossberg turns 80... Retired professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University, he served in the Dutch Senate and then as the minister of foreign affairs of the Netherlands, Uriel "Uri" Rosenthal turns 80... Hotelier and real estate developer, the creator of the boutique hotel concept, he was the co-founder of NYC's Studio 54 in 1977, Ian Schrager turns 79... Co-founder of Limmud FSU, she co-founded UJA-Federation of New York's Women's Executive Circle, Sandra F. Cahn... Former co-chairman of the Federation for Jewish Philanthropy of Upper Fairfield County, Conn., Linda Meyer Russ... Sportswriter for The Athletic and author of three books on baseball, Jayson Stark turns 74... Former CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, he owned the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics from 2001 to 2006, Howard Schultz turns 72... Retired judicial assistant at the Montgomery County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas, Deenie Silow... Rabbi of Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, N.J., and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University in NYC, Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger turns 70... Head of the Kollel at Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Rabbi Ezra D. Neuberger turns 68... Former chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings (owner of retailers Sears and Kmart), Edward Scott "Eddie" Lampert turns 63... Israel's ambassador to Canada until 2023, Ronen Pinchas Hoffman turns 62... Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter until 2017 and author of The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men, Eric Lichtblau turns 60... Israeli actress, model and film producer, Yael Abecassis turns 58... Spokesperson to the Arab media in the Israel Prime Minister's Office from 2010 until 2023, now a consultant, Ofir Gendelman turns 54... Member of Congress (D-IL), running in 2026 to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Raja Krishnamoorthi turns 52... Co-chairman and CEO of CheckAlt, Shai Stern... Senior writer and NBA Insider for ESPN, Ramona Leor Shelburne turns 46... Former soccer star at the University of Virginia, recently a director of administrative operations at Hopscotch Health, Chad Prince turns 46... Former deputy mayor of the city of Haifa, now a real estate developer, Shai Abuhatsira turns 45... Ultra-marathon runner, he performs as a mentalist and magician, Oz Pearlman turns 43... Associate partner at McKinsey & Company, Alexis Blair Wolfer... President of Clever Bee Academy in Hewlett, N.Y., Ezra David Beren... Israel editor at Jewish Insider, Tamara Zieve... Director of operations at Tide Realty Capital, Yanky Schorr... National political reporter for The Washington Post, Isaac Arnsdorf... Venue coordinator at JW3 London, Caroline Mendelsohn Lawrence... Former EVP and CEO of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, Dr. George Ban... Zach Houghton…

SUNDAY: Retired U.S. senator (D-MD), Barbara Mikulski turns 89... Retired president of the National Endowment for Democracy, Carl Gershman turns 82... Longtime Israeli diplomat, he served as Israel's ambassador to Germany, Yoram Ben-Zeev turns 81... Former commissioner on the Civil Rights Commission, assistant secretary of HUD in the Clinton administration, presently vice chair of the Bank of San Francisco, Roberta Achtenberg turns 75... Senior U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts, Judge Patti B. Saris turns 74... New York Times columnist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Thomas Loren Friedman turns 72... Molecular geneticist at NYC-based Rockefeller University and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Jeffrey M. Friedman turns 71... Broadcast and digital media executive, Farrell Meisel... Professor of sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Barbara Risman turns 69... Past president of the Women's Department at the Jewish Federation of Detroit, Marcie Hermelin Orley... Los Angeles-based wardrobe consultant, Linleigh Ayn Richker... Public policy expert and author, Jane S. Hoffman turns 61... Former member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, she is a brigadier general in the IDF (reserves), Nira Shpak turns 59... Member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, Yitzhak Ze'ev Pindrus turns 54... Attorney, Jack Achiezer Guggenheim... SVP, Washington bureau chief and political director of CNN, David Marc Chalian turns 52... Co-author of Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame, he is a staff writer at The Atlantic, Franklin Foer turns 51... Southern states director at AIPAC, David Fox... Singer who burst on the scene as a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol, Efraym Elliott Yamin turns 47... Commissioner of the community affairs unit for NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Fred Kreizman... Co-founder and managing partner of Main+Rose, Beth Doane... Co-founder and co-executive director of the progressive Indivisible movement, Ezra Levin turns 40... Former MLB player, he was a third baseman for Team Israel in 2023, Ty Kelly turns 37... Comedian and regular player on “Saturday Night Live,” Chloe Fineman turns 37... Software engineer at Home Chef, Ashley Abramowicz Gibbs... Anesthesiologist, Dr. Sheila Ganjian Navi... VP of business development and operations at Thyme Care, Etan Raskas... SVP and head of investor relations at Vintage Investment Partners, Jonathan Tamir Alden... Actor and comedian, Joey Bragg turns 29... Associate in the trademarks and copyrights practice group at Ballard Spahr, she was president of USC Hillel as a college senior, Goldie Fields...