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👋 Good Wednesday morning!

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report from Hanukkah receptions at the White House, on Capitol Hill and in New York, and cover concerns from U.S. lawmakers over Canberra’s failure to address concerns from Australia’s Jewish community prior to Sunday’s deadly attack in Sydney. We report on the Coast Guard’s quiet moves to reverse its policy on swastikas, and talk to Rep. Zach Nunn about his legislative work aimed at expanding the U.S.-Israel relationship. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Mark Zuckerberg and Galia Lahav.

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

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As Jewish communities are marking Hanukkah under the shadow of the deadly terror attack in Sydney that marred the beginning of the Jewish holiday, leaders in Washington and New York addressed growing concerns about antisemitism at several Hanukkah events held yesterday.

President Donald Trump warned that Israel and the “Jewish lobby” have lost their influence in Washington and that Congress is “becoming antisemitic,” in a holiday message delivered to attendees at the White House’s annual Hanukkah party.

Speaking from the East Room to a gathering of lawmakers and prominent Jewish figures ahead of a ceremonial menorah lighting, the president repeatedly cautioned that the Jewish community and its allies “have to be very careful because bad things are happening” to Jewish people and to Israel’s global standing, citing the shooting in Sydney and the ongoing denials of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, speaking at a Hanukkah reception hosted by Israel’s U.N. mission at The Jewish Museum in Manhattan, said the U.S. “can and will confront antisemitism without apology, without hesitation and will do so everywhere around the world, including right here in the halls of the U.N.” Read the full story here.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-FL) annual Hanukkah party featured remarks by Shira Gvili, sister of Ran Gvili, the last hostage in Gaza, JI’s Marc Rod reports. Gvili highlighted that her brother had always dreamed of being a police officer and ran into the fight on Oct. 7 — when he was killed — despite waiting for surgery for a broken shoulder. She also noted that he volunteered to support Holocaust survivors.

“On this celebration of light, of heroes, as we do on Hanukkah, Ran is not only my hero, he is our hero. For everyone lighting a candle tonight, may the glow of the menorah [brighten] the darkened moments. May the glow of the menorah’s light bring Ran home tonight,” Gvili continued.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also delivered remarks, and nearly 40 lawmakers — a majority of them Democrats — stopped through the gathering. These included Reps. Ed Case (D-HI), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Daniel Goldman (D-NY), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), David Kustoff (R-TN), George Latimer (D-NY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), April McClain Delaney (D-MD), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Grace Meng (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Don Davis (D-NC). 

Jeffries said that, after the attack in Australia, "it's incumbent on all of us as leaders not just to, of course, authentically express our thoughts and prayers on behalf and directed at those families who have suffered from this unconscionable, unthinkable, unspeakable tragedy, but to make it clear that we all have a responsibility to combat antisemitism whenever and wherever it's found, and make sure that no matter what it takes, we're committed, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to bury antisemitism in the ground never to rise again."

Jeffries continued, "At the same time, we'll also make clear that we will continue to stand up for Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and Democratic state and a homeland for the Jewish people."

Daily Overtime brings you what we’re tracking at the end of the day — and what’s coming next.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, multiple Jewish lawmakers emphasized that the Sunday massacre that killed at least 15 at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, came after many warnings from the Australian Jewish community, and Jewish communities around the world, about the rising violent threats they face —  warnings that have often gone ignored, the lawmakers said, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Notable quotable: “That threat, those warnings, have fallen on deaf ears, and we are living with those consequences now,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said. "I hope that this tragedy is the wake-up call that world leaders need to truly stand up and protect their Jewish communities from antisemitism, whether that manifests online or in person. … Lives are at stake. This is not pretend. These enemies of the Jewish people are not playing games. They mean to end our existence as a people.” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), a co-chair of the Congressional Jewish Caucus, emphasized that the attack was “not predicted” but “it was predictable,” adding, “For too long, the Jewish community in Australia was saying to the authorities, saying to the government, ‘Antisemitism is a cancer eating away at the soul of the nation, and it’s going to result in the death of Jews in the land,’ and that’s what we saw on Sunday.” 

Read the full story here.

Exclusive: The co-chairs of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism urged Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to act more forcefully to protect Australia’s Jewish community and implement months-old recommendations from the country’s antisemitism envoy. They likewise highlighted the string of “warning signs” that preceded the attack.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, after Netanyahu linked the terror attack in which 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, to Canberra’s support for a Palestinian state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

What he said: Sanders issued a statement in response on Tuesday: “No, Mr. Netanyahu. Speaking out on behalf of the Palestinian people is not antisemitic. Opposing the disgraceful policies of your extremist government is not antisemitic. Condemning your genocidal war, which has killed more than 70,000 people — mostly women and children — is not antisemitic. Demanding that your government stop bombing hospitals and starving children is not antisemitic.”

Read the full story here.

Weeks after the Coast Guard commandant personally called lawmakers to reassure them that swastikas and nooses would remain banned hate symbols within the service, the Guard quietly broke its pledge and diminished the severity of such displays as “potentially divisive” instead — the very language that had prompted outrage from lawmakers and the Jewish community, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. 

The latest: Leading Democrats erupted in outrage on the news of the Coast Guard’s policy shift, while Republicans have thus far been silent. Several Republicans who spoke out against the initial policy change did not respond to JI’s requests for comment on the latest development on Tuesday. "The shocking news from the Coast Guard exposes a crisis of conscience enabled by the Trump administration's stunning lack of moral clarity,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told JI. “The Trump Administration lied right to the American people’s faces when they indicated last month that they weren’t going through with this policy change,” Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) said.

Read the full story here.

With backing from both moderate Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), firefighter union leader Bob Brooks has emerged as a front-runner in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, a critical swing district that Democrats are aggressively contesting for next year’s midterms, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Endorsement insights: Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, said that Brooks’ background brings elements that appeal to various elements of the Democratic coalition, perhaps explaining his support from both sides of the party: his time as a leader in organized labor with a history on workers’ rights issues should resonate with progressive voters, while his “personal narrative fits if you’re trying to win over white working-class voters that might be more moderate or socially conservative.”

Read the full story here.

At a time when an increasingly vocal minority on the right is questioning the future and the benefits of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) led a pair of amendments to the 2026 defense policy bill aiming to expand the relationship, with a particular focus on new technologies. Asked how he responds to those on the right who question the value of the relationship, Nunn, the chair of the Republican Study Committee’s national security task force, said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod, "Israel is the lone bastion of democracy, freedom and Western values in a region where the U.S. has vital national security interests. For decades, Israel has been a strategic partner in kinetic and non-kinetic action against bad actors like Iran.” 

Tech talk: Nunn added that programs such as the ones he championed would prepare the U.S. for all manner of challenges. "As our adversaries embrace low-cost options like drones and cyberwarfare, it's more important than ever that we not only coordinate closely on joint security, but also on the underlying technologies that will define the next generation of conflict,” the Iowa lawmaker  continued. “My amendments are about ensuring that partnership continues to evolve. They are strategic investments that strengthen American security, deter our adversaries and deliver real returns for U.S. taxpayers.”

Read the full interview here.

⚠️ Shoulder to Shoulder: In The Times of Israel, Israeli President Isaac Herzog reflects on the Sydney terror attack and the meaning of Hanukkah. “Yet as we reflect on the miracle of the return home of our brothers and sisters, we also confront a deeply troubling reality beyond Israel’s borders. As the October 7th massacre in southern Israel was still ongoing, Jewish communities around the world began to experience a vicious wave of hatred. Institutional antisemitism, Holocaust inversion, conspiracies left and right, Jew-hatred platformed on social media, and moral bankruptcy masquerading as social justice have all disturbingly increased across the Western world. The deadly terror attack in Sydney this week demonstrates where these dangerous trends can lead.” [TOI]

👮 ‘Forever Changed’: In The New York Times, Alex Ryvchin, the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, mourns those killed in Sunday’s terror attack in Sydney, as well as the sense of communal security that no longer exists for Australian Jews. “Now we have suffered a loss that is impossible to measure or articulate. It is a loss felt nationally for a country that is forever changed. It is a loss felt communally for a way of life defined by pride and open observance that no longer exists. And it is a loss we feel individually for the friends and relatives who died in our arms from hideous wounds inflicted by high-powered shells used for hunting game. … My community will never recover from this, I am sure. My rabbi, my friend, Eli Schlanger lived by a mission of being proud of who he was as a Jew. The annual Hanukkah event he hosted on the beach was the ultimate evidence of our acceptance, the proof that we were safe in our acts of community pride. That is all gone now. And with it, a man who had shown us the way.” [NYTimes]

⚖️ After Bondi: In the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood posits that governments need to take serious, tangible actions that go beyond antisemitism education to address threats to the Jewish community. “With an attack like this, the only effective response is the zealous prosecution of anyone who planned or supported it, and the protection of those who might be targeted in similar attacks in the future. Museum education is nice, but if an attack is under way, a police officer with a rifle has more stopping power. Self-study to determine whether Jews are systematically excluded or vilified is worthwhile but will take time. Restrictions on speech are another matter, and a distraction from real police work. It should not be a crime to inquire about the whereabouts of Jews, or even to say you wish to gas them. But if you spray-paint a Jewish school or set a car on fire, a government with its resources properly ordered will find and charge you before you graduate to violent crime.” [TheAtlantic]

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