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Good Friday morning!

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on how candidates are responding to the pro-Israel vote in the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), examine the shifts in the Democratic primary field in the race against Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and preview Tuesday’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We also look at the latest resignation at the Heritage Foundation as its president refuses to disavow the institution’s relationship with Tucker Carlson. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: State Rep. Esther Panitch, Harriet Schleifer and Jonah Platt.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik with an assist from Matthew Kassel. 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: After Mamdani win, socialists look to challenge Democratic incumbents in NYC; Israel’s neighbors have banned the Muslim Brotherhood, but Israel hasn’t. Why not?; and Black and Jewish college students explore shared adversity and allyship at DC-area ‘Unity Dinner.’ Print the latest edition here.

Given the GOP’s sturdy 53-seat majority in the Senate, combined with the increasing rarity of split-ticket voters, the Republican Party’s hold on the upper chamber looked nearly guaranteed, with a map featuring very few true swing-state pickup opportunities for the Democrats.

Indeed, the unlikely pathway for Democrats to win back control of the Senate in 2026 runs through states that have been reliably Republican in recent years — Ohio, Iowa, Texas, Florida and Alaska. To win back a majority, the party would need to win at least two of these red-state races, reversing the yearslong Democratic drought in many of these states — along with winning GOP-held seats in battleground Maine and North Carolina, which is far from assured.

But given the dominant Democratic outcomes from the off-year elections, there’s been renewed attention to the possibility of some red-state upsets in 2026. Already, political strategists from both parties are mulling over which seats are the most likely to get competitive, in preparation for an unpredictable midterm election.

On paper, Ohio looks like it’s the best opportunity for Democrats to play offense. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a populist, battle-tested Democrat won three statewide elections in Ohio even as the state trended in a more conservative direction. He eventually lost in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) by five points, but ran well ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ double-digit defeat in the state.

With the national environment tilting back in the Democrats’ favor, Brown is seeking a comeback against appointed Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), Ohio’s former lieutenant governor. A September poll of the race conducted by the respected Democratic firm Hart Research found Brown narrowly ahead over Husted, 48-45%. Among independents, Brown held a substantial 25-point lead (56-31%).

Of all the five “reach” states for Democrats, Ohio was the closest in the presidential race, with President Donald Trump winning by 11 points. That should make it the best opportunity for Democrats to win a third seat — even as it underscores how many Trump voters Democrats will need to convert in order to win.

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An increasingly crowded race for a coveted House seat in the heart of Manhattan is shaping up to be among the most vigorously contested Democratic primary battles in next year’s midterms, with half a dozen — and counting — contenders now jockeying for the chance to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). In a district home to one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country, the open primary next June is likely to center in part on Israel as the candidates signal where they stand on an issue that has grown intensely charged over the war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. 

Exception to the rule?: Even as the far left now seeks to ride momentum from Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory — which elevated an unabashed socialist to executive office — experts suggested the primary could largely serve as an exception to the anti-Israel sentiments that became a trademark of his stunning rise. The district, which includes the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan, “is more moderate and pro-Israel than” another heavily Jewish House seat in Brooklyn where Mamdani performed well, Chris Coffey, a Democratic strategist who is not involved in the race, told JI on Thursday.

Read the full story here.

The withdrawal of nonprofit executive Jessica Reinmann from the Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District — a top-targeted swing seat currently held by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) — is bringing the top contenders in the wide field into focus. Reinmann, who endorsed military veteran Cait Conley upon her exit from the race, was one of eight — now seven — challengers aiming to take on Lawler in next year’s midterms. A Democratic strategist in the district said he believes Conley, along with Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson and potentially former Briarcliff Manor Mayor Peter Chatzky, comprise the top rung of candidates in the crowded race, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Top three: Those three candidates also led the field by a wide margin in fundraising as of the end of September. Conley had raised $1.3 million, Davidson $1.2 million and Chatzky $1 million. However, the vast majority of Chatzky’s war chest — $750,000 — comprises a personal loan to his campaign. Davidson and Conley were invited to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Candidate Week event in Washington earlier this month, where they received additional training and media preparation — a sign the national party sees the two women as the strongest contenders to take on Lawler. 

Read the full story here.

President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday in a meeting that experts told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea is expected to move forward a U.S.-Saudi defense pact and sale of F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom — yet normalization with Israel, once tied to the prospect of such deals, remains elusive. U.S. and Saudi officials have been holding intense negotiations to finalize a defense agreement ahead of the visit, according to reports. 

Security assurances: Since an Iranian attack on Saudi oil refineries in 2019, Riyadh has sought to formalize American security guarantees, according to Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Saudi Arabia is an important American security partner,” said Brad Bowman, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “The United States and Saudi Arabia have been working toward a regional security architecture for years.” The agreement is expected to be modeled after the assurances Trump gave to Qatar in a September executive order, which stated that the U.S. will regard “any armed attack” on Qatar “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.” 

Read the full story here.

Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, resigned on Thursday from his position as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation in response to the organization’s president refusing to disavow Tucker Carlson for his platforming of neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

Tipping point: In an email to Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and John Malcolm, director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at Heritage, Mossoff cited Roberts’ Oct. 30 video lashing out at Carlson’s critics and his “subsequent interviews, videos, and commentary” on the subject as the reason for his resignation from the Meese Center. Mossoff wrote in the email, obtained by JI late Thursday, that the video, in which Roberts called out the “venomous coalition attacking” Carlson, and the Heritage president’s comments after the fact “reflects a fundamental ethical lapse and failure of moral leadership that has irrevocably damaged the well-deserved reputation of Heritage as ‘the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement’ (your words in your October 30 video).”

Read the full story here.

Paul Ingrassia, the Department of Homeland Security’s White House liaison who withdrew his nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel late last month after antisemitic and racist text messages of his were unearthed, has been appointed to serve as deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration. Ingrassia, 30, has served in multiple roles in the second Trump administration. Prior to his most recent role at DHS, Ingrassia briefly served as the liaison to the Department of Justice but was reassigned after clashing with the DOJ’s chief of staff, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. 

New role: The “far-right” activist revealed his new position in an email to fellow DHS staff on Thursday announcing his departure. Ingrassia wrote in the email, obtained by Politico, that Trump had called him into the Oval Office on Wednesday evening to offer him the job. Reached by JI, a White House official confirmed that Ingrassia had taken on the deputy general counsel role at GSA, but did not provide additional comment. The official told Politico that Ingrassia was a “very helpful addition to GSA and will successfully execute President Trump’s America First policies.”

Read the full story here.

The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, a union representing over 3,000 legal workers, has acknowledged “inappropriate” communication around Israel and antisemitism as part of a settlement reached on Thursday brought on behalf of three union members who sued to block an anti-Israel resolution proposed weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Under the agreement: ALAA, part of Local 2325 of the United Auto Workers, will pay the plaintiffs $315,000 in monetary damages and will refer all disciplinary charges brought against members to the union’s outside counsel for review. The union also agreed to implement mandatory training for its executive board to understand its obligation to ensure its members rights are being protected. “The training is not on antisemitism per se, but the expectation is that there will be discussions about how discriminatory animus could motivate violations of union members’ bill of rights,” Rory Lancman, director of corporate initiatives and senior counsel at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told JI.

Read the full story here.

Scoop: More than 60 attorneys and heads of Jewish legal organizations gathered on Monday in Manhattan for an inaugural legal summit, hosted by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, to discuss questions including: how to effectively present a case to a judge that may not have experience with antisemitism or anti-Israel issues; how to determine when free speech turns into harmful conduct; and how lawsuits might change now that the Israel-Hamas war has ended, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.  

MBS in the Oval: Jason Greenblatt, Middle East envoy in the first Trump administration, writes in Newsweek that the upcoming White House visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a “pivotal moment for U.S.–Saudi relations and the future of the Middle East.” “Together, [the U.S. and Saudi Arabia] safeguard the Red Sea and Arabian (Persian) Gulf, counter drone and missile attacks from Iran-backed militias and help prevent nuclear proliferation. A formal defense pact — linking U.S. technology and intelligence with Saudi reach and resources — would cement this cooperation for the long-term. It would show that Riyadh is ready to share the burden of regional security and that Washington remains a reliable ally. … For Israel, a secure and forward-looking Saudi Arabia is especially significant. It reduces tensions and opens the door to deeper cooperation in intelligence, missile defense and maritime security. For the rest of the region, it helps maintain balance and sustain diplomatic and economic progress. When the U.S.–Saudi partnership is strong, the entire region benefits.” [Newsweek]

Tending Your Garden: Conservative Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen argues that conservatives must “keep our own house in order” and reject figures like neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes to constitute an effective opposition to the political left. “As for the argument that we should focus our attention on the left, we can’t effectively oppose the left if we don’t keep our own house in order. Conservatives can’t complain that Democrats call us fascists if we let actual fascists into our movement. If we want to persuade the American people to support our cause, then we need to be clear about what conservatism stands for — and what it does not. That requires we keep out Nazis, along with their enablers. These cranks want to hijack the MAGA movement for their own vile purposes. We need to stop them from doing so. There can and should be vigorous debate among different factions inside the conservative tent. But we must draw a line somewhere — and it should be self-evident that fascism is over that line. If conservatives can’t agree on that, then we will end up like the left — beholden to antisemites in our midst.” [WaPo]

Fever Pitch: Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz draws the connection between antisemitism and anti-Zionism through antisemitic rhetoric used by protesters at last week’s soccer match in Birmingham, England, between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. “The fact is, however, that if the prime, or in most cases the only, focus of your human rights activism is to target Israel — if you don’t take to the streets in support, for instance, of Gazans being murdered by Hamas, or masses being slaughtered in Sudan or any other of the world’s innumerable combat zones, and, needless to say, would not dream of taking a placard onto the streets in support of Jews and other Israelis being slaughtered by Hamas — then, that’s antisemitism. … The ‘If you see a Zionist, call the anti-terror hotline’ slogan does more than equate Zionism with terrorism; it seeks to legitimize the targeting of all who live in and love Israel, by branding us all terrorists. Its dissemination, largely unremarked upon, its malevolent, incendiary rebranding of Zionism as a force of evil, crosses yet another red line in the international effort to achieve Israel’s demise. And it will doubtless reappear along with ever more vicious anti-Zionist, anti-Israel, and, yes, antisemitic words. And deeds.” [TOI]

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Israel is seeking a new 20-year memorandum of understanding with the U.S. when the current 10-year one expires in 2028, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios, including new propositions meant to emphasize U.S.-Israel cooperation and make the deal more attractive to the “America First” GOP…

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that Israel “prefer[s] that Turkey not receive F-35 [fighter jets]s from the U.S,” but said that “there’s no indication that Israel’s qualitative edge will be compromised” if Saudi Arabia were to acquire them…

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations philanthropic organization gave the left-wing media organization Drop Site News $250,000 last year, the Washington Free Beacon reports, for it to establish a Middle East desk to “bridge a critical information gap in independent journalism”; over the past year, Drop Site has repeatedly produced anti-Israel coverage, including a series of interviews with Hamas leaders to provide “deeper insight” into the terror group’s decision to launch the Oct. 7 terror attacks…

A group of 25 Senate Republicans led by Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) urged the State Department to “ensure that [the U.N. Relief and Works Agency] play[s] no role in any efforts to stabilize, govern, and rebuild Gaza,” given UNRWA’s ties to terrorism, and urged the U.S. to work instead with trusted international and regional partners and NGOs…

Indonesia’s defense minister said the country has trained up 20,000 troops for health and construction-related tasks as part of the proposed international stabilization force for postwar Gaza…

The body of Meny Godard, who was killed and kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, was returned to Israel on Thursday night…

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was hospitalized after suffering a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up” and subsequent fall and face injuries, but is doing well, his spokesperson reported…

The anti-Israel IMEMU Policy Project organization is running an ad targeting Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who is visiting New Hampshire today, criticizing him for appearing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year and for voting against blocking arms sales to Israel…

A federal jury recently convicted a neo-Nazi for hate crimes after he mailed antisemitic threats to Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch, the state’s only Jewish legislator, and Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar of Temple Beth Israel after both women publicly supported the passage of legislation codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism…

Puck profiles Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Vice President JD Vance’s longtime friend and Pentagon reformer, as he navigates Washington politics while building a reputation as a rising star…

The New York Times reports that Pakistan spent millions on Trump‑linked lobbyists — including his former business partners and bodyguard — in a high-stakes effort to influence U.S. policy…

Venture capitalist Elad Gil has doubled the target size of his new fund to nearly $3 billion, which, if successful, would be the largest known fund raised by a solo general partner, according to the Information…

Harriet Schleifer, former chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was elected to the board of directors of Democratic Majority for Israel, the group announced…

 LYNN ABESERA

Some 400 people gathered on Wednesday evening at a private estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., for the American Friends of Magen David Adom gala, celebrating the work of MDA — Israel’s national emergency services organization. Actor, singer and writer Jonah Platt hosted the evening’s program, which honored Elizabeth Goldhirsh-Yellin with the Humanitarian Award for her leadership and commitment to the cause of saving lives in Israel. An ambulance was dedicated in memory of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, the two Israeli Embassy staffers who were killed in a terror attack in May outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. Their parents, Nancy and Robert Milgrim and Ruth and Daniel Lischinsky, delivered remarks honoring their children. A second ambulance was dedicated in memory of Sami Liber, a member of the Brentwood community. Carla and Rodney Liber, Sami’s parents, honored her with remarks. 

Pictured, from left: Platt, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. and MDA’s Global President Gilad Erdan, AFMDA CEO Catherine Reed and MDA Director-General Eli Bin.  

MIKE MCGREGOR/GETTY IMAGES FOR CANTOR FITZGERALD

After 15 seasons in the NBA, he became an owner and player for Hapoel Jerusalem and led the team to an Israeli League championship, Amar'e Yehoshafat Stoudemire turns 43 on Sunday…

FRIDAY: Cellist, Natalia Gutman turns 83… Former professional bodybuilder who played for two seasons with the New York Jets, Mike Katz turns 81… Los Angeles businessman, community leader and political activist, Stanley Treitel… Retired member of the U.K.'s House of Lords, Baron Jeremy Beecham turns 81… Former British Labour party MP who resigned in 2019 in protest of Jeremy Corbyn, Dame Louise Joyce Ellman turns 80… Television director and producer, her neurotic text messages to her daughter are the subject of the CrazyJewishMom Instagram page, Kim Friedman turns 76… Editor-at-large for Bloomberg View, Jonathan I. Landman turns 73… Former Democratic member of the New York state Assembly from Brooklyn, his 22-year term was completed at the end of 2022, Steven H. Cymbrowitz turns 72… U.S. secretary of state during the last four years of the Bush 43 administration, now on the faculty of Stanford University and the director of the Hoover Institution, Condoleezza Rice turns 71… Senior advisor to President Barack Obama throughout his eight-year term in the White House, she is now CEO of the Obama Foundation, Valerie Jarrett turns 69… Detroit-based communications consultant, Cynthia Shaw… President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Laurie L. Patton turns 64… Partner at the Santa Monica-based law firm of Murphy Rosen, Edward A. Klein… Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and professor of political science at George Washington University, Sarah A. Binder… Vice chairman of The Atlantic and managing director of media at Emerson Collective, Peter T. Lattman… and his twin brother, SVP at Forman Mills, Brian Lattman, both turn 55… Businessman with interests in real estate, gambling software, payments processing and digital advertising, Teddy Sagi turns 54… Member of the Colorado House of Representatives until last year when she became a Colorado state senator, Dafna Michaelson Jenet turns 53… Former deputy national security advisor for President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes turns 48… Head of public policy and government affairs for Lime, Joshua Meltzer… Actress and comedian best known for her eight years as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” Vanessa Bayer turns 44… Senior advisor at Clarion Strategies, Jacob Freedman turns 43… Rabbi of the Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue in Indonesia, Yaakov Baruch turns 43… Israeli conductor and pianist, he is a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Nimrod David Pfeffer turns 41… Executive director of the One Percent Foundation, Lana Talya Volftsun Fern… Actress and producer, she is a daughter of Bette Midler, Sophie von Haselberg turns 39… First baseman and second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball, he played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Spencer Elliott Horwitz turns 28…

SATURDAY: Author of dozens of children's books and young adult fiction, frequent NPR guest, Daniel Pinkwater turns 84… Pianist and conductor, formerly music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim turns 83… Boca Raton, Fla., resident, Stephen Wolff... Former Chairman and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment, Lawrence (Larry) Lotman... NYC-based consultant for nonprofit organizations, Perry Davis turns 77… Retired immigration and nationality attorney in Southern California, Michael D. Ullman… Past president of Gratz College in Melrose Park, Pa., he is the author or editor of more than 50 books, Paul Finkelman turns 76… Executive vice president at Aish and former executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museums of Tolerance, Rabbi Meyer H. May turns 73… Executive producer and director of television programs, including "Friends," one of the most popular TV programs of all time, Kevin S. Bright turns 71… Member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Meir Cohen turns 70… Partner in Toronto-based accounting firm Fuller Landau, he is a past president of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (BAYT), Jeffrey M. Brown... Senior project manager at T-Mobile, Michael A. Lewine… Member of the Florida House of Representatives, Michael Alan Gottlieb turns 57… Former member of Knesset for the Likud party, Nava Boker turns 55… Founder and chairman of Perilune Capital and co-founder of Harspring Capital Management, Carey Robinson Wolchok… Mortgage executive, Joshua Shein… CEO of the Riverdale Y in the Bronx until 2022, she is now a leadership coach, Deann Forman… As a 12-year-old baseball fan in Yankee Stadium, he interfered with a ball batted by Derek Jeter in the 1996 ALCS that was ruled to be a game-tying home run, Jeffrey Maier turns 42… Professional golfer, he won the gold medal at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, Ben Silverman turns 38… Deputy Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press, Zeke Miller… Press secretary for Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Ben Goodman… Talent Acquisition Partner at Engine, Alison Borowsky… Recent graduate at Harvard Law School, now serving as judicial law clerk for a federal judge in California, Micah Rosen… Military legislative assistant in Rep. Wesley Bell’s (D-MO) office, Ethan Sorcher...

SUNDAY: Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada until he retired in 2013, Morris Jacob Fish turns 87… Professor of mathematics and statistics at Concordia University in Montreal, Abraham J. Boyarsky, Ph.D. turns 79… Milwaukee-based founder and co-managing director of A.B. Data, Ltd, he is the past chair of the Pincus Fund for Jewish Education, Bruce A. Arbit turns 71… Director of programs at IKAR, Susan Brooks… Writer and producer for television and film, Jeff Pinkner turns 61… CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Policy Center, Matt Brooks turns 60... TV producer and president of Keshet Studios, Peter Traugott turns 55… Former senior vice president at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, Rabbi Justus Baird turns 53… Israeli singer-songwriter, author and travel documentarian, known professionally as "Passerby," Gilad Segev turns 51… Author of several novels, he was the science fiction and fantasy book columnist for The Washington Post until 2022, Lavie Tidhar turns 49… SVP at The D. E. Shaw Group, he was previously a special assistant to President Obama for energy and economic policy, Michael A. Levi turns 48… 1994 Olympic gold medalist in figure skating, she first discovered that she was Jewish when she was 25 years old, Oksana Baiul turns 48… Stage, film and television actress, Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal turns 48… Israeli actress, model, film producer and TV host, Adi Ezroni turns 47… VP at Jetro Restaurant Depot, he is a former NFL placekicker and punter, Hayden Scott Epstein turns 45… Snowboarder for the U.S. Olympic team in 2014 and 2022, he competes in the halfpipe, Taylor Gold turns 32… Chief of staff at Lightricks, Aaron Kalman...