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Good Friday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the campus climate at Columbia, where classes resumed for the fall semester this week, as well as the university’s hiring of an assistant dean who backed the Palestinian “indigenous resistance movement confronting settler colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.” We report on Rep. Ro Khanna’s upcoming appearance at a conference that features an array of antisemitic speakers, and cover Sen. Dave McCormick’s call for the Trump administration to respond to the recent decision by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund to divest from Caterpillar and other Israel-linked companies. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Robert Kraft, Mia Ehrenberg, Warren Bass and Sam Sussman.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Marc Rod, Lahav Harkov and Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.

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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: Amb. Leiter: Nature of U.S.-Israel aid may change in coming years; New Humash features Rabbi Sacks’ posthumously published translation; and Negotiations for next U.S.-Israel aid deal faces uphill battle with changing political tides. Print the latest edition here.

Just when it looked like far-left New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was on track to become mayor, in part thanks to persistent divisions among his opposition, there are signs of a possible consolidation of the crowded field.

The New York Times reported that embattled Mayor Eric Adams is considering a job offer from the Trump administration — a position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development or an ambassadorship have been floated — that would entice him to withdraw from the race. The paper is also reporting that Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has also been approached by Trump allies, but Sliwa has remained adamant that he is sticking in the race. 

All told, Trump’s team is doing everything it can behind the scenes to eliminate the structural hurdles for a successful anti-Mamdani coalition, without publicly putting its finger on the scale for the leading Mamdani challenger, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (It’s also notable that Trump, even though it would be in his political interest to use a Mamdani mayoralty as a battering ram against Democrats, is more concerned about the policy consequences of a socialist mayor in his hometown.)

A one-on-one Mamdani-Cuomo general election showdown is still far from a sure thing, but it’s worth noting that the matchup would be quite competitive, according to the available public polling. Even the pro-Mamdani pollster Adam Carlson found in July that Mamdani only led Cuomo by three points among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup, though the lead expanded to double digits when the most likely voters were polled.

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The first day of the new school year on Tuesday at Columbia University was met with a wary sense of relief from Jewish students and faculty, who returned to campus unsure whether recent reforms aimed at combating campus antisemitism would make any difference. Scenes that have become commonplace on Columbia’s campus over the past two years — masked anti-Israel demonstrators barging into classrooms and the library banging on drums and chanting “Free Palestine” or hourslong demonstrations in the center of campus of more than 100 students calling for an “intifada revolution” — were nowhere to be seen. Still, in quieter ways, there were moments behind the tall iron entrance gates reminiscent of the antisemitic turbulence that grew commonplace on the Morningside Heights campus since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

What went down: Three members of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of over 80 university student groups that Instagram banned earlier this year for promoting violence, protested Columbia Hillel’s club fair, distributing fliers urging Jewish students to “drop Hillel” because it “supports genocide.” Elsewhere on campus, an organizer of the 2024 anti-Israel encampment movement, Cameron Jones, paraded a sign that read, “some of your classmates were IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces] criminals committing genocide in Palestine.” Within hours, Columbia announced it had “initiated investigations into incidents that involve potential violations of the University’s Student Anti-Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policies and University Rules.”

Read the full story here.

Columbia University’s new hire for senior associate dean of community and culture was a signatory of a 2021 letter supporting the Palestinian “indigenous resistance movement” and rejecting the “the fiction of a ‘two-sided conflict.’” He is tasked with leading “meaningful dialogue” in his new position. Jonathon Kahn signed on to the “Vassar Community Members’ Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” while a professor of religion at Vassar College, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. “We affirm that the Palestinian struggle is an indigenous resistance movement confronting settler colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing, and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” the letter read.

Now and then: The senior associate dean of community and culture role is a new position, created in the wake of increased antisemitism that has plagued Columbia’s campus since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Kahn, who has no known social media presence, said in a statement sent to the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday regarding the petition that he is “a Zionist” who “believe[s] deeply in Israel’s right to exist and thrive as a Jewish state” and also “deeply value[s] Palestinian life and Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood.” He said, “My beliefs are not fully captured in this letter that was authored more than four years ago.” 

Read the full story here.

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) wrote to top trade officials in the Trump administration urging them to take action to respond to the decision by the Norges Bank Investment Fund, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, to divest from U.S. equipment firm Caterpillar because of the Israeli military’s use of its products in the West Bank and Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. McCormick served from 2020-2022 as CEO of Bridgewater Associates, which manages portions of Norges' portfolio.

What he said: “As the Trump Administration continues to take bold action to rebalance global trade, I urge you to also address the disturbing politicization of sovereign wealth fund investment decisions against American companies,” McCormick said in a letter, sent Thursday, to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. He called on the administration to take Norges’ moves against American companies into account in ongoing trade negotiations with Norway, calling the effort a “form of economic warfare directed by a foreign government against the U.S. economy.”

Read the full story here.

Flashback: Bridgewater CIO Greg Jensen addressed Norges' 2024 investment conference.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is set to speak later this month at ArabCon, an annual convention hosted by the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, joining a lineup that includes numerous speakers with records of support for terrorism and antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Speaker list: Among the controversial speakers on the ArabCon lineup are Electronic Intifada Executive Director Ali Abunimah, CAIR San Francisco Executive Director Zahra Billoo and activist Linda Sarsour. “I have never been to a conference where I agree with every speaker, but speaking at ArabCon is important,” Khanna said in a statement to JI. “I will discuss my efforts to recognize a Palestinian state without Hamas as part of a two state solution. Recognition of Palestinian statehood — alongside continued efforts to secure Israel’s safety and guarantee its future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people — is essential to achieving peace.”

Read the full story here.

United Airlines announced Thursday it plans to resume direct flights to Israel from Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles international airports for the first time since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. Flights from Chicago are set to commence Nov. 1 and will operate four times per week, and flights from Washington are scheduled to begin Nov. 2 and will operate three times per week, according to the airline. 

Direct choice: Currently no other airline offers direct flights to Israel from Chicago or Washington. United and Delta offer daily flights between Israel and the New York area. “The resumption of these flights underscores United’s longstanding commitment to Tel Aviv,” Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, said in a statement. 

Read the full story here.

Congregants of a Hindu temple on Long Island that was vandalized last year and worshippers of a Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, who last year put on a musical production of “Fiddler on the Roof” to learn about Jewish culture, may not appear to have much in common. But this Sunday, both houses of worship — together with an expected crowd of nearly 1 million congregants around the country — will join forces for the inaugural “Stand Up Sunday,” a show of force in the fight against antisemitism and all faith-based violence, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Show of solidarity: As part of the effort, spearheaded by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism and the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, founded by Rabbi Arthur Schneier, organizers said each congregation “will dedicate their services to raising awareness about the sharp increase of antisemitism and all forms of hate against religious communities in the United States by standing together on September 7.” FCAS’ Blue Square pins will be distributed to attendees “as a visible display of solidarity across faiths,” the group said. Congregational leaders will deliver remarks on antisemitism and faith-based hate in their sermons and houses of worship will place signs and posters throughout their buildings. 

Read the full story here.

Kim or Khamenei?: In Foreign Affairs, Vipin Narang and Pranay Vaddi of MIT’s Center for Nuclear Security Policy posit that as a result of the damage inflicted to Iran’s nuclear program during the 12-day Israel-Iran war, North Korea will become a model for rogue states looking to advance their nuclear programs. “In contrast to Tehran, Pyongyang largely avoided delays in weaponizing its program; it made steady progress toward a bomb, using periodic engagement to test U.S. resolve over possible agreements, routinely relied on feints and stalling tactics, and weathered tremendous diplomatic and economic pressure along the way. When diplomacy broke down, North Korea rapidly advanced its program so its Kim regime was prepared to approach any future engagement from a position of greater strength. … For would-be proliferator states, the lessons are dangerously clear: do not wait to get the bomb, assume major powers will attack, and do not trust that diplomacy is within reach. In other words, be like Kim, not like Khamenei.” [ForeignAffairs]

The New Axis Powers: In The New York Times, the Center for a New American Security’s Richard Fontaine and Andrea Kendall-Taylor caution that this week’s summit in Beijing with the leaders of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran signals a growing threat to the U.S.-led world order. “Though they may occasionally come to one another’s aid — like the North Korean soldiers who joined their Russian allies in battle against Ukrainian forces — that is not the point. The group has a much more ambitious objective. It seeks, like the World War II era Axis Powers of Germany, Italy and Japan, “a new order of things,” in which each country can claim “its own proper place.” Discontented with an international system they believe denies them the status and freedom of action they deserve by virtue of their power and civilizations, they are united in the desire to change it. … Indeed, the gathering in Beijing suggests that the axis, rather than withering following the war in Iran in June, has momentum. Its members sense an opportunity.” [NYTimes]

Laying Blame: In The Times of Israel, Menachem Rosensaft, who teaches a genocide law course at Cornell Law School, pushes back against the International Association of Genocide Scholars’ recent passage of a resolution labeling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. “Nowhere in the IAGS resolution is there even an allusion to, let alone explicit mention of, the facts that it is Hamas, not Israel, that has used Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including children, as human shields; that it was Hamas, not Israel, that established military installations behind schools and hospitals, making them legitimate targets in Israel’s wholly legitimate efforts to eliminate the threat posed by such military installations; that by all reliable accounts, Hamas bears more than its fair share of responsibility for preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.” [TOI]

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The State Department announced sanctions on Al Haq, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights over the groups’ legal moves against Israel at the International Criminal Court…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he had advised European countries against their push for Palestinian statehood, saying that such a move would cause “reciprocal actions” — such as Israeli annexation moves — and “would make a ceasefire [in Gaza] harder”; Rubio’s comments came as Finland joined the group of European nations that issued a declaration in support of a two-state solution following a French- and Saudi-led conference in July on the issue…

The U.S. is mulling restrictions on diplomats from several countries, including Brazil, Iran and Sudan, who are traveling to New York later this month for the U.N. General Assembly; among the restrictions under consideration is banning Iranian diplomats from shopping at big-box stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club…

President Donald Trump hosted tech leaders, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google co-founder Sergey Brin on Thursday at the White House; Brin was later photographed with Trump in the Oval Office…

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the tensions between Trump and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has opposed key pieces of the president’s legislative agenda and increasingly finds himself at odds with GOP leadership…

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) filed a resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for "promoting and cheering on terrorism and antisemitism at the People's Conference for Palestine." Carter is a candidate for Senate in Georgia…

Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) is weighing a congressional bid in Florida’s 19th District, as Rep. Byron Daniels (R-FL) vacates the seat to run for governor…

Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, pleaded not guilty to a series of felony charges related to the May attack…

The New York Times profiles author Sam Sussman, whose soon-to-be-released novel Boy from the North Country mirrors his own life as the potential son of singer Bob Dylan…

Argentinian prosecutors filed charges against the daughter and son-in-law of a senior Nazi official who served as financial advisor to Adolf Hitler before fleeing to Argentina with looted artwork; the couple was charged with hiding the looted “Portrait of a Lady” by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi, as well as nearly two dozen Matisse works…

In a new interview with the popular Israeli Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to a question asking if Israel could announce the war over in Rafah and allow civilians back into the city, saying, “It’s a good idea and it’s not theoretical … We are doing work on the ground”; Netanyahu declined to respond to whether the war would end before Israel’s next election, which is set for over a year from now could take place earlier in 2026… 

Israel’s national basketball team fell short in its EuroBasket tournament matchup against Slovenia; the team, led by Deni Avdija, will next face Italy or Greece… 

In his first visit to Qatar since Iran launched ballistic missiles at the U.S. air base in Qatar, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Thursday in Doha; Araghchi also met with senior Hamas officials living in Qatar… 

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had downgraded its diplomatic relations with Australia following the expulsion of Tehran’s ambassador to Canberra and three other Iranian diplomats over Iran’s involvement in attacks on Jewish sites in Melbourne and Sydney…

Warren Bass, who previously worked at the Pentagon as director of speechwriting and a senior advisor to former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, is joining The Washington Institute for Near East Policy as director of communications and senior fellow…

Mia Ehrenberg is joining the Democratic National Committee as senior spokesperson…

Holocaust survivor David Schaecter, a co-founder of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, died at 96…

Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, whose most well-known work was a deep dive into Nazi doctors during the Holocaust, died at 99…

Joshua Abram, a co-founder of the NeueHouse coworking space, died at 62…

Philanthropist Harold Matzner, the longtime chair of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, died at 88…

VATICAN MEDIA

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (left) met on Thursday with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. In a readout following the meeting, Herzog said the two discussed, "first and foremost, the need and duty to free the hostages and bring them home."

VICTOR J. BLUE/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

Co-founder and chairman of Murray Hill Properties in NYC, Norman Sturner turns 85 on Saturday... 

FRIDAY: Author, educator, and activist, Jonathan Kozol turns 89... Rabbi emeritus of Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, N.J., and rosh yeshiva of the Torah Academy of Bergen County, Rabbi Yosef Adler turns 74... Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, JoAnne Fishman Kloppenburg turns 72... COO of The New York Public Library, she has been married to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) since 1980, Iris Weinshall turns 72... Principal at Watershed Associates, he is a negotiation consultant, Stuart Shlossman... Heidi Beth Massey... New York-based real estate developer, Jacob Frydman turns 68... Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, for the Southern District of Florida, Laurel Myerson Isicoff turns 68... Investigative journalist, Yevgenia Albats turns 67... Member of the Knesset until 2023, she is the first woman in the IDF promoted to major general (the IDF's second highest rank), Orna Barbivai turns 63... Canadian lawyer, investor and business executive, he is the co-founder and chairman of Israeli AI company Aiola, Mitch Garber turns 61... Nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and a senior editor at Reason magazine, Jacob Z. Sullum turns 60... Chief assistant district attorney in Manhattan until 2021, now a criminal defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo turns 59... Entrepreneur and investor, he is the chairman of Mentored, an education technology platform, Eric Aroesty... Managing editor for politics and legal affairs at USA Today, Holly Rosenkrantz... Senior rabbi of Temple Sholom in Vancouver, B.C., and past chair of Reform Rabbis of Canada, Rabbi Dan Moskovitz turns 55… Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Ari Devon Sandel turns 51... Member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Yulia Malinovsky turns 50... Payroll specialist at Topaz Financial Services, Jeremy C. Frankel... Voice actor for English versions of anime, animation and video games, Maxwell Braden Mittelman turns 35... Director in the D.C. office of Baron Public Affairs LLC, Jeremy Furchtgott... Founder of Bangalore-based Catoff, Anthony (Tony) Klor... NYC-based director of strategic initiatives and director of IPF Atid, both at Israel Policy Forum, Shanie Reichman turns 30... Shoshanna Liebman…

SATURDAY: Retired 36-year member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Sander Levin  (D-MI) turns 94... CMadelon "Madi" Portugal... Member of the New York State Assembly from 1981 until the end of 2024, Helene Weinstein turns 73... Oncologist and bioethicist, he is the older brother of Rahm and Ari, Ezekiel Jonathan "Zeke" Emanuel turns 68... Co-founder in 2008 of Kol HaNeshamah: The Center for Jewish Life and Enrichment and co-author of a siddur, Dr. Adena Karen Berkowitz... Founding managing director at Olympus Capital, Daniel R. Mintz... Former governor of New Jersey from 2010 until 2018, and two-time candidate for president of the U.S., Chris Christie turns 63... Toronto-based publisher and entrepreneur, she serves on the board of governors of Shalem College, Elisa Morton Palter... Rabbi of Temple Shalom in Louisville, Ky., since 2016, Beth Jacowitz Chottiner turns 61... City treasurer of Southfield, Mich., Irv "Moishe" Lowenberg... Chess Master since age 14, now a FIDE Grandmaster, Ben Finegold turns 56... National director at AIPAC, Joseph S. Richards... Acting president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America until this past July, earlier this week she was named as chief development officer at the Ad Council, Jennifer Mamlet... Chief communications officer at Bloomberg LP, Jason Schechter... Israeli film, television and stage actor, Amos Tamam turns 48... Author, he won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel The Netanyahus, Joshua Cohen turns 45... Former rabbi at Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis for 14 years, now a consultant, Avi S. Olitzky... Senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, he is a veteran of the IDF and an AIPAC alum, Daniel Flesch... Communications director at the William F. Buckley, Jr. Institute at Yale University, Ari Schaffer... Australian-born entrepreneur, now living in NYC, he is the co-founder of two start-ups, Ben Pasternak turns 26... Actor whose career started at 8 years old, Asher Dov Angel turns 23…

SUNDAY: Palm Beach, Fla., resident, the school at the Westchester (N.Y.) Jewish Center bears her name, Beverly Cannold turns 100... Considered one of the "Founding Mothers" of NPR, she is now a special correspondent on NPR's “Morning Edition,” Susan Stamberg turns 87... Member of the U.K.'s House of Lords, Baron Andrew Zelig Stone turns 83... Longtime political columnist for Time magazine and author of the novel Primary Colors, Joe Klein turns 79... Color commentator for New York Yankees radio broadcasts since 2005, Suzyn Waldman turns 79... Former national political editor at the Washington Post, Maralee Schwartz... Owner and CEO of Gristedes Foods, John Catsimatidis turns 77... Pulitzer Prize-winning former national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, now director of literary journalism at UC-Irvine, Barry E. Siegel turns 76... Minneapolis-area school counselor and language arts teacher, Sandra Sevig... Russian-born mathematician, he is a professor emeritus at UCSD, he was formerly a professor at both Yale and University of Chicago, Efim Zelmanov turns 70... Chief rabbi of the U.K., he was knighted by King Charles III as part of the 2023 New Year Honours, Rabbi Sir Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis turns 69... 2023 Nobel Prize laureate in medicine, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Drew Weissman turns 66... Global co-chair of the Israel practice at Latham & Watkins until his retirement in 2023, Stuart Kurlander... President of Hofstra University since 2021, the first woman to hold this position, Susan Poser turns 62... Bahraini ambassador to the U.S. from 2008 until 2013, after the prior four years in the Bahraini Parliament, both firsts for a Jewish woman, Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo turns 61... Personal finance journalist and CEO of the multimedia company HerMoney, Jean Sherman Chatzky turns 61... Vice provost at Yeshiva University, she is the author or co-author of 15 books on leadership, the Torah and spirituality, Erica Brown turns 59... Award-winning special writer at The Wall Street Journal and author of six best-selling books, Gregory Zuckerman turns 59... Part-owner of the NHL's New Jersey Devils, the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NFL's Washington Commanders and MLB's Cleveland Guardians, David S. Blitzer turns 56... Tax partner with RSM US LLP, where he serves as the national family office enterprise markets leader, Benjamin Berger... Screenwriter, producer and director of many successful films and TV shows, Alex Kurtzman turns 52... Author of three New York Times bestsellers and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon turns 52... Rabbi of Baltimore's Congregation Shomrei Emunah since 2009, Rabbi Binyamin Y. Marwick... Deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), Eric B. Kanter...