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Good Wednesday morning!

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on comments from former staff and an acquaintance of Graham Platner who said the Maine Senate candidate lied about knowing the meaning behind his chest tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol, and cover Vice President JD Vance’s comments, made yesterday in Israel, that Hamas will be “obliterated” if it does not disarm. We report on Paul Ingrassia’s withdrawal from consideration to head the Office of Special Counsel over recently revealed racist and antisemitic texts, and cover yesterday’s Senate hearing on Hezbollah’s operations in Venezuela. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Tzachi Hanegbi, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Rev. Johnnie Moore.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve. Have a tip? Email us here.

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One of the defining characteristics of our age is the utter lack of institutional gatekeepers and red lines against hate in our politics and culture. Extremist rhetoric, antisemitism, racism and approval of political violence are all becoming commonplace in our discourse, to the point where Americans have become numb to the crazy. 

Just take a look at the headlines over the last month of scandals that have captured national attention — and would have been unthinkable not long ago. 

Paul Ingrassia, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, withdrew himself from consideration yesterday after belated backlash over his history of racist and antisemitic comments — including a recently revealed text message chain where he said he has a “Nazi streak.” We reported on Ingrassia’s extremist record in May, revealing a string of antisemitic and racist public social media posts, including this shocking comment on X days after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack: “I think we could all admit at this stage that Israel/Palestine, much like Ukraine before it, and BLM before that, and covid/vaccine before that, was yet another psyop.”

Ingrassia also has been an ally of Nick Fuentes, a virulently antisemitic podcast host and far-right influencer who has long trafficked in Holocaust denial. He attended a rally in 2024 for Fuentes, and in 2023 defended Fuentes after he was banned from Twitter.

Ample documentation of Ingrassia’s bigotry didn’t stunt his nomination, though the new shocking revelations from the private text chain caused key Republicans — most notably, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rick Scott (R-FL) and James Lankford (R-OK) — to withdraw their support and end his chances of getting confirmed.  

But the fact that he got as close as he did to receiving a hearing for the plum role shows just how much antisemitism is becoming normalized.

Graham Platner, the embattled far-left candidate in Maine’s Senate race, already under scrutiny over social media posts declaring himself a communist and calling the police “bastards,” acknowledged he has a skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his chest that his just-departed political director characterized as “anti-Semitic.” A former acquaintance of Platner’s said he called the tattoo “my Totkenpof," referring to a symbol adopted by a Nazi SS unit.

Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills, the favorite of the party establishment (for good reason) in the Democratic Senate primary. Platner has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), praised by several progressive senators and backed by a number of leading labor unions, including the UAW.

Despite Platner’s remarkable baggage and Nazi-themed tattoo, Sanders still is standing behind him. ”I personally think he is an excellent candidate. We don't have enough candidates in this country who are prepared to take on the powers to be and fight for the working class,” Sanders said Tuesday, when pressed by reporters about the tattoo allegations.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

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Graham Platner, a far-left Democratic candidate running for Senate in Maine who has captured the enthusiasm of the party’s grassroots base, sought to preempt rumors circulating in recent weeks that a black skull-and-cross bones tattoo on his chest is a Nazi symbol, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. On a podcast earlier this week, Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer in Maine who has faced scrutiny over past online posts, confirmed the existence of the tattoo, seen in a video he shared displaying his bare chest, but suggested that his opponents in the race have been spreading claims that the symbol is affiliated with Nazism, which he forcefully denied.

Conflicting accounts: “I am not a secret Nazi. Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments, I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general,” said Platner, 41. But according to a person who socialized with Platner when he was living in Washington, D.C., more than a decade ago, Platner had specifically acknowledged that the tattoo was a Totenkopf, the “death’s head” symbol adopted by an infamous Nazi SS unit that guarded concentration camps in World War II. “He said, ‘Oh, this is my Totenkopf,’” the former acquaintance told JI recently. “He said it in a cutesy little way.” Platner’s former political director, Genevieve McDonald, who resigned from his campaign last week over her objection to his recently unearthed incendiary Reddit comments, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that “Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest.” McDonald wrote in the post, “He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.”

Read the full story here.

Paul Ingrassia announced on Tuesday he was withdrawing his embattled nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel amid growing GOP opposition to his recently unearthed antisemitic and racist text messages, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Matthew Shea report. Ingrassia, 30, currently serves as the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to that role, he briefly served as the liaison to the Department of Justice at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, but was reassigned after clashing with the DOJ’s chief of staff.

Paul’s post: “I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC [Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee] hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” Ingrassia wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to serve President Trump and this administration to Make America Great Again!”

Read the full story here.

Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and fifth-generation Kentucky farmer, launched his bid on Tuesday to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) after being urged by President Donald Trump to challenge the renegade, anti-Israel congressman in the GOP primary, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. Gallrein’s campaign launch comes four days after Trump declared that the Kentucky native was his preferred candidate to take on Massie, whom Trump had soured on over his growing antagonism towards the White House's agenda. Massie was one of the only congressional Republicans to oppose Trump’s landmark “big, beautiful” spending bill and has worked with Democrats to force a floor vote to release Justice Department documents on Jeffrey Epstein. 

Announcement: “I’ve dedicated my life to serving my country, and I’m ready to answer the call again. This district is Trump Country,” Gallrein said in a statement announcing his bid. “The president doesn’t need obstacles in Congress — he needs backup. I’ll defeat Thomas Massie, stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, and deliver the America First results Kentuckians voted for. Thomas Massie has become one of the biggest roadblocks to President Trump’s America First agenda. When Trump fought for historic tax cuts, Massie voted no. When Trump tried to fully fund border security, Massie stood in the way. President Trump endorsed me because Kentuckians deserve a congressman who will stand with our president, not against him.”

Read the full story here.

Visiting the new U.S.-run Civilian Military Cooperation Center in southern Israel, Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that he is “very optimistic” about the advancement of the peace plan, but warned that Hamas must disarm and cooperate with international interlocutors, or else it would be “obliterated.” The vice president’s comments came shortly after President Donald Trump, in a post on his Truth Social site, threatened Hamas with “elimination” should the terror group continue to carry out violence in Gaza and violate the terms of the peace deal, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov and Matthew Shea report.

Veep’s speech: “Hamas has to disarm,” Vance said. “They’re not going to be able to kill their fellow Palestinians. … If Hamas doesn’t cooperate, as the president of the United States said, Hamas will be obliterated. But I’m not going to do what the president of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult … In order for us to give it a chance to succeed, we’ve got to be a little bit flexible.”

Read the full story here.

Every Senate Democrat except for Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) wrote to President Donald Trump on Tuesday urging him to “reinforce” the White House’s pledge to oppose Israeli annexation of the West Bank, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

What they said: In a letter led by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the senators offered their “support for your comments opposing any efforts by the Government of Israel to annex territory in the West Bank and to urge your Administration to promote steps to preserve the viability of a two-state solution and the success of the Abraham Accords.” The missive was sent weeks after Trump vowed publicly to not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, telling reporters in the Oval Office in late September that, “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, nope, I will not allow it. It’s not gonna happen.”

Read the full story here.

The first congressional hearing on Hezbollah’s malign activities in the Western Hemisphere in a decade took place this week, highlighting Venezuela’s embrace of Iran as a geopolitical partner and the Maduro regime’s efforts to transform the country into a regional hub for narcoterrorism, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. 

Who, when, what: The bipartisan Senate International Narcotics Control Caucus convened the hearing, titled “Global Gangsters: Hezbollah’s Latin American Drug Trafficking Operations,” on Tuesday, to explore how Hezbollah’s influence in the region had expanded and determine the most effective ways for the U.S. to respond. Witnesses included Ambassador Nathan Sales, who served as the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator in the first Trump administration; Marshall Billingslea, the special envoy for arms control and a former Treasury official during President Donald Trump’s first term; Matthew Levitt, the director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and Robert Clifford, a former FBI official who worked in the counterterrorism space.

Read the full story here.

Threat Assessment: In The Wall Street Journal, Elisha Wiesel raises concerns about what a potential victory by New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani could mean for the city’s Jewish community. “Mr. Mamdani’s messaging has made class war and hatred of Jews great again. Smiling, polished, articulate, Mr. Mamdani lies. He lies about Israel as easily as he lies that he can freeze rent and offer free goods through higher taxes, as though the corporations and billionaires he targets can’t relocate. New Yorkers aren’t dumb, but we’re busy. Mr. Mamdani is lying to those too busy to learn the truth. His attack points: ‘occupation,’ ‘apartheid,’ ‘genocide.’ The casualties: truth, friendships, coexistence for New York’s Jews. Unlike Andrew Cuomo, he seeks to ‘other’ us and divide the city. Mr. Mamdani blamed Hamas’s butchery on the ‘occupation’ on Oct. 8, while Israel was reeling. He omitted that Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005 and that Hamas built rockets and tunnels with billions in aid.” [WSJ]

The Two Gazas: In The Washington Post, Palestinian lawyer and former Hamas political prisoner Moumen Al-Natour warns of the threat that Hamas’ continued governance poses for the areas of the Gaza Strip it still controls. “I have been deeply involved in Gaza’s underground civil society movement for many years, much of which was spent preparing for an unknown moment where we would have a chance to be free of Hamas’s cruel domination and break the cycle of war with Israel. That moment is now here, and I am certain that this is the chance for which I spent my life protesting, organizing and suffering. It was worth the scars and the terror to see that there can be a different future here. But on the other side of the yellow line exists another Gaza that will do anything to prevent this from happening. Over there the war continues, albeit not between Israel and Hamas but between Hamas and Gaza itself.” [WashPost]

Fear Factor: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens urges his readers to pause for thought as he lays out the reasons why many Jewish New Yorkers harbor fears concerning the views of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “What does it mean for Jewish New Yorkers that a mayoral candidate who pledges to fight antisemitism also proudly avows the very ideology that is the source of so much of the hatred Jews now face? Why, right after Oct. 7, could he do no better than to issue a mealy-mouthed acknowledgment that Jews had died the day before? Why couldn’t he even denounce the perpetrators of the most murderous antisemitic rampage in the past 80 years? … In the long, sorry tale of anti-Jewish politics, it hasn’t just been the prejudice of a few that’s led Jews to grief. It’s been the supine indifference of the many. That’s what frightens Jews like me.” [NYTimes]

Restraining the Hard Right: The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg cautions that while President Donald Trump’s new Gaza agreement earned cheers in Israel, it has begun to restrain the Israeli hard‑right’s settlement ambitions — a dynamic that could determine whether his peace deal endures and that will impact Israel’s path forward. “According to the agreement, in the early stages of the current deal, Israel will remain in control of much of Gaza’s uninhabited territory until Hamas is disarmed and displaced. These are precisely the areas that the far right hopes to settle and even annex to Israel. Hamas is dragging its feet on releasing the bodies of dead Israeli hostages, publicly executing Palestinians opposed to its rule, and showing no sign that it intends to give up its weapons. The Israeli army and Hamas are still skirmishing along the cease-fire line. Even if none of this is enough to capsize the accord, it will likely delay further implementation and provide a window for the settlers and their political allies to try to insinuate themselves into those parts of Gaza. Only Trump can stop this from happening — at least until Israel holds new elections next year that could boot Netanyahu and his partners from power.” [TheAtlantic]

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The Trump administration is nearing an agreement with the University of Virginia — the first public university to settle with the federal government — after months of negotiations amid a broader crackdown by the White House on college campuses that included the removal of the school’s president earlier this year…

Efforts to establish a multinational peacekeeping force in Gaza are facing hurdles as countries hesitate to send troops to the enclave due to Hamas’ continued control across broad swaths of the Gaza Strip…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi following media reports of disagreements between the two over Israel’s military strategy; Hanegbi, following his firing, said that the events of Oct. 7, 2023, “must be thoroughly investigated to ensure that the necessary lessons are learned and to help restore the public trust that has been shaken”...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Rep. David Trone (D-MD) are co-chairing a new national campaign aimed at implementing congressional term limits to curb the degree to which Capitol Hill is “dominated by career politicians, buoyed by re-election rates that routinely exceed 90 percent, who seem more concerned with clinging to power than serving the public”... 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will announce her future political plans following next month’s vote on California redistricting…

State senators in North Carolina approved a new congressional map that would give the GOP an extra seat in the Tarheel State, amid a broader push by the Trump administration for mid-decade redistricting that would secure additional seats…

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, widely viewed as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender, plans to publish a memoir early next year, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports...

The Federman family is transferring control of its 29% stake in Maccabi Tel Aviv to Mark, Zyg and Leonard Wilf, and will continue as limited partners in the team…

OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved is transitioning to a new role as the company’s chair following his diagnosis of ALS…

Israel received the bodies of Kibbutz Nir Oz residents Tamir Adar and Arie Zalmanowicz from Gaza; Adar was killed during the Oct. 7 attacks, while Zalmanowicz, one of the kibbutz’s founders, was injured when he was taken hostage, and is believed to have died in Hamas captivity in November 2023…

The Financial Times looks at Iran’s efforts to speed up production of solar energy projects as the Islamic Republic faces energy shortages due to international sanctions and aging infrastructure…

Former Gaza Humanitarian Foundation head Rev. Johnnie Moore is joining Pepperdine University as its vice chancellor in Washington, D.C., and managing director of the school’s master of Middle East policy studies program in its school of public policy...

The body of Bipin Joshi, a Nepalese kibbutz worker who was taken hostage by Hamas and killed in captivity, was cremated in a funeral ceremony in Nepal after his remains were repatriated earlier this week after being turned over by the terror group in Gaza…

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, the author of The Freedom Seder, died at 92…

JUDAH ARI GROSS/EJEWISHPHILANTHROPY

Eli Taher, the chairman of Yad L’Banim, which commemorates fallen soldiers, planted a tree yesterday in honor of his son, Yossi Taher, who was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, in the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund’s “Iron Swords Forest,” which was inaugurated yesterday outside Kibbutz Beeri. In his speech at the ceremony, Taher, whose brother and another son were also killed while serving in the military, discussed his struggles to overcome his grief. 

“Every day when I wake up, at 5 a.m., I set for myself a hill to climb. I imagine my two boys sitting on that hill, with a bonfire and a bottle of beer. And every day, I climb that hill. I fall, I get hurt, I yell, I cry, I laugh, but at the end of every day, I drink that beer with my kids. Every day, I overcome that loss and destruction,” Taher said. “Like a tree can grow, so can we, bereaved families, continue to grow despite the pain and loss.”

Read more in eJewishPhilanthropy here.

FAYE SADOU/MEDIAPUNCH/IPX

Actor and producer, best known for his roles as a child actor starting at age 6, Jonathan Lipnicki turns 35...

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