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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the ideological divisions in New York’s 7th Congressional District race as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani backs a Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidate and outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez throws her support behind Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. We report on the White House’s addition of the Hamas-sympathetic Drop Site News to the official press corps rotation, and talk to senators about upcoming talks between the U.S. and Iran. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Deborah Lipstadt, Carol Obando-Derstine and IDF Maj. Ella Waweya.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

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Ohio was once a perennial swing state but, as Democrats have lost ground with working-class voters, it has been a Republican stronghold over the last decade. But it could once again emerge as a political bellwether in 2026, as a test of whether Democrats can make inroads in rebuilding a coalition that can win back national power.

If Democrats want to have hope of regaining the confidence of the silent majority that propelled President Donald Trump to victory in 2024, they’ll need to be able to compete in the Buckeye State. And if Democrats hope to have any outside shot at retaking a Senate majority, the path runs through Ohio as well. 

The state is holding two major races: appointed Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) is facing off against former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who lost his reelection in 2024. Early polling shows the race is competitive. Of note: Brown significantly outraised Husted in fundraising over the last three months of the year, $7.3 million to $1.5 million, and already has more cash-on-hand than the sitting senator.

Brown had been the only statewide Democratic politician to maintain some support with the blue-collar voters that drifted away from the party in the Trump era. Husted, the state’s former lieutenant governor and secretary of state, is a traditional Republican politician with a party-line voting record but is facing the prospect of rough political headwinds this year for the GOP.

And in an open gubernatorial race to succeed the term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, Democrat Amy Acton is facing off against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, two candidates whose time spent in public service and politics have been quite polarizing.  

Acton, who was head of the state’s Department of Health during the COVID pandemic, ended up leaving the role early amid a chorus of conservative complaints about her heavy-handed approach to coronavirus regulations and safety protocols. Acton, who is Jewish, is hoping her medical background and role as a political outsider will matter more than the polarizing public health controversies. 

Ramaswamy, who made an unlikely jump to presidential politics in 2024 after a career as a biotech entrepreneur, alienated a number of Republicans for his anti-establishment and isolationist messaging during the campaign. But his gubernatorial campaign has tacked more to the center, as he has spoken out against white nationalists within the GOP during his campaign.  His newfound pragmatism helped him receive this month the endorsement of DeWine, who had been an occasional critic. 

Read the rest of 'What You Should Know' here.

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

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his allies in the Democratic Socialists of America are set on contesting congressional turf home to one of the city’s biggest Hasidic Jewish communities — setting up a battle royale in the 7th Congressional District that could either blunt Mamdani’s brand of socialist politics, or bolster the new mayor and his far-left supporters, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.

Endorsements: Mamdani was only days into his term when he endorsed New York state Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who, like Mamdani, is a DSA member, to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), whose district delivered Mamdani’s strongest primary margins last year and contains most of the so-called “commie corridor”: a chain of trendy, gentrifying Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods where socialist support runs strong. Velázquez, meanwhile, has backed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to be her successor, and some community and labor organizations have aligned behind him, pitting Mamdani’s hard-left bloc against the older progressive establishment.

Read the full story here.

In her first week on the job last year, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that she planned to shake up the establishment-oriented press corps by creating a seat at White House press briefings reserved for new media outlets — a broad category that would include “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators,” she said. One recent pick for the daily new media seat in the rotation stood out: Drop Site News, a publication founded in the summer of 2024 to offer reporting explicitly hostile to Israel over the war in Gaza and the U.S. response to it, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Who they are: The far-left Drop Site’s inclusion among the outlets in Sunday’s press rotation — the group of TV, radio and print outlets selected to travel with and report on the president for the day — was a marked contrast to the mostly right-wing outlets including The Federalist and Gateway Pundit that are usually selected. Drop Site launched in July 2024 with an 8,000-word interview with two senior Hamas leaders in an article described as an “exclusive” conversation with officials from the terrorist group about “their motivations, political objectives and the human costs of their armed uprising against Israel.” Since then, the outlet has gained a reputation of credulously reporting on Hamas’ claims and repeating the group’s propaganda. In September 2025, Drop Site promoted a fundraiser to "help the journalists in Gaza City evacuate safely."

Read the full story here.

Despite the Trump administration’s willingness to diplomatically engage with Iranian officials, leading Middle East experts told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea on Monday that military action against Tehran still remains a very real possibility. 

On the table: “Military intervention remains likely in light of President Trump’s demonstrated willingness to use force and the U.S. military buildup in the region,” said Michael Koplow, chief policy officer at the Israel Policy Forum. “Given the gulf between the American and Iranian positions and the general hard-line position of the Iranian regime on nuclear issues, it is hard to tag a nuclear deal as a likely outcome,” he said. Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JI that a strike does remain on the table. She said that a deal could be difficult to reach and the upcoming meeting in Istanbul is unlikely to yield meaningful results or concessions from Iran. “The planned meeting is likely a diplomatic box-checking exercise and smokescreen to enable a continued U.S. military buildup before Trump authorizes strikes,” Stricker said. 

Read the full story here.

Several Republican senators expressed skepticism that the Iranian regime would negotiate in good faith with the United States on its nuclear program or on its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, as the administration pursues a diplomatic approach with Tehran following threats of military action, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.

What they’re saying: Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) expressed skepticism that the Iranians would engage sincerely or willingly give up their nuclear program in talks with the U.S., reported to be taking place in Turkey on Friday. “Wouldn’t that be great? It’d be great if they did. It’d be great if they got rid of their nuclear weapons,” Scott told JI. “Do I actually believe they’re gonna negotiate in good faith? I don’t.” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) agreed, saying the regime, “would love to deceive us. … I wish [Trump] the best. I think he's right in trying to do [make a deal]. I think that's what we should be trying to do, but I don't, I just don't think we're going to have much success.”

Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), John Kennedy (R-LA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).

Fundraising reports for the fourth quarter of 2025, released on Sunday, brought the state of the race in several hotly contested Chicago-area Democratic primaries into focus, with pro-Israel candidates putting up strong showings in several House seats, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

State of play: In the 9th Congressional District, state Sen. Laura Fine led the field with $1.2 million raised and ended the quarter with a narrow cash-on-hand lead, at $1.4 million in the bank. In the 8th District, former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) solidified her spot as front-runner by raising $772,000, ending the quarter with more than $1 million on hand, followed by anti-Israel challenger Junaid Ahmed, who raised $360,000 and ended the quarter with $836,000 on hand. In the 7th District, Jason Friedman, a real estate developer and leader in the local Jewish community, cemented his place as a leading candidate, ending the quarter with $1.3 million on hand and $1.8 million raised over the course of the race, having raised $296,000 in the quarter.

Read the full story here.

Carol Obando-Derstine is hoping support from the former Democratic incumbent, her Latina immigrant background, her experience in politics and activism and her expertise in energy will help her stand out in the competitive field of Democrats vying to unseat Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) in the upcoming midterms, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Israel outlook: Though she didn’t speak at length on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Obando-Derstine is taking a pro-Israel approach on the campaign trail, telling JI, “America has a special relationship with Israel … and I will ensure that we continue to have [that] … there's a deep connection between our two countries that spans generations.” She said she supports continued aid to Israel and rejected characterizations of the war in Gaza as a genocide. She also called for the U.S. to continue to pursue a two-state solution.

Read the full interview here.

The Saudi Shift: Bloomberg’s Ethan Bronner looks at the dwindling odds of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia as Riyadh takes an increasingly antagonistic approach to Israel. “Israeli officials are weighing whether the shifts are temporary or Saudi Arabia is permanently redrawing the balance of power in the region in a way that would make normalization impossible. While little has been said publicly inside Israel, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an Israeli diplomat both said the concern is real. … Adding to Israel’s concerns are what some see as an increasingly anti-Israeli tone from Saudi Arabia. The Anti-Defamation League in New York last month said it was ‘alarmed by the increasing frequency and volume of prominent Saudi voices — analysts, journalists, and preachers — using openly antisemitic dog whistles and aggressively pushing anti-Abraham Accords rhetoric.’” [Bloomberg]

War Dividend: The Washington Post’s Shira Rubin spotlights Israeli military-tech startups that have seen surging interest in their products, which were developed and improved over the course of two years of war and real-world battle testing. “By the time the Israeli start-up Kela opened its doors in 2024, its employees had already been serving as reservists on Israel’s battlefields. Once in the office, the team at the military tech firm began experimenting with solutions for overcoming the kinds of problems they’d personally seen drones encounter in war zones like Lebanon, including electronic jamming and signal loss. … Israel’s success in carrying out devastating pager attacks in 2024 against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, intelligence operations in Iran during the 12-day war last year and commando raids to rescue hostages in Gaza have stoked foreign demand for the weapons and other technology used by Israeli troops.” [WashPost]

Doomed to Fail: In a longform post on X, former Sky News Arabia General Manager Nadim Koteich explains why talks between the U.S. and Iran are unlikely to produce a resolution palatable to both the Trump administration and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Totalitarian systems inevitably suffer from catastrophic informational feedback loops. Khamenei’s reality is filtered through a sycophantic intelligence apparatus that interprets genuine domestic fury as the product of CIA machinations. To a man who views 47 years of systemic failure as a ‘foreign conspiracy,’ the concessions [White House Senior Advisor Steve] Witkoff seeks are not terms of a deal, they are ‘nonsense.’ The tragedy of the Islamic Republic is its structural inability to evolve. It is a brittle system that has mistaken rigidity for strength. When Khamenei says the American demands are impossible, we should believe him. The regime he has spent a lifetime fortifying is designed to break, not to bend.” [X]

Warsh of Wall Street: The Wall Street Journal’s Gregory Zuckerman explores the relationship between incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and his former boss, Stanley Druckenmiller, following President Donald Trump’s announcement on Friday that he was appointing Warsh to the position. “Druckenmiller and Warsh spent over a decade working together at Druckenmiller’s firm, discussing the economy, markets and more, according to people close to the men. Warsh’s relationship with Druckenmiller is one reason Wall Street largely appears comfortable that he will continue the central bank’s tradition of independence, despite pressure from Trump to lower interest rates. … Druckenmiller had made it clear to some on Wall Street that he hoped Warsh would get the job. Trump mentioned that Warsh worked for Druckenmiller in his Truth Social posting announcing his choice.” [WSJ]

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Following a New York Times report on Monday that the Trump administration had dropped its demand for Harvard to agree to a $200 million settlement, President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social site that he is seeking “One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University”...

A whistleblower complaint filed against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been stalled for eight months as her office refuses to move forward and share the complaint with Congress, saying that the disclosure of its contents could result in “grave damage to national security”...

Outgoing Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) endorsed Peggy Flanagan to be her successor, choosing Minnesota’s lieutenant governor over Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) in this year’s high-profile Democratic primary…

Democratic strategist Morris Katz, who played a key role in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory last year, is pushing progressive groups to back Micah Lasher’s congressional run as the state assemblymember makes a bid in the crowded primary to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)...

Deborah Lipstadt, the former State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, was named the recipient of this year’s Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize for Outstanding Achievement as a Public Intellectual at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, named for the late U.K. chief rabbi and leading Jewish thinker…

Officials in France issued warrants for two dual French-Israeli citizens who participated in efforts to block trucks carrying humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip…

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza technocratic group set up to oversee the reconstruction of the enclave changed its logo to that of a Palestinian Authority symbol; in response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the original logo that had been presented to Israeli officials was “entirely different from the one published this evening” and that “Israel will not accept the use of a Palestinian Authority symbol,” adding that the PA “will have no part in the administration of Gaza”...

Iranian state media is facing criticism after the political satire show “Khat-Khati” aired a segment mocking Iranians killed in the country’s recent protests…

The IDF announced Maj. Ella Waweya as the army’s next Arabic-language spokesperson, replacing Col. Avichay Adraee…

YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a Knesset plenum on Monday marking the 77th anniversary of the first session of the body. 

Monday’s assembly was boycotted by opposition members over Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana’s decision not to invite Supreme Court President Isaac Amit to the plenum. The sole member of the opposition in attendance, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, railed against Netanyahu for excluding Amit from the session, amid a growing rift between the government and judiciary.

NOAM GALAI/WIREIMAGE

Australian actor and author, Isla Fisher turns 50… 

Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1993-2001, Arthur Levitt Jr. turns 95… President and CEO of clothing manufacturer Warnaco Group from 1986 to 2001, at one time she was the only woman CEO of a Fortune 500 industrial company, Linda J. Wachner turns 80… Chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. for almost the full eight years of the Obama administration, formerly president of the Lillian Vernon Corporation, Fred Hochberg turns 74… Partner at Shipman & Goodwin, following 18 years as a justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, Joette Katz turns 73… Singer-songwriter, best known for composing "From a Distance," a big hit for Bette Midler and winner of the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991, Julie Gold turns 70… Retired member of both houses of the Utah Legislature, she was a co-president of the National Association of Jewish Legislators, Patrice M. Arent turns 70… Former head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Biden administration, now a professor at MIT and Harvard, Eric Steven Lander turns 69… Former CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times, prior to which he was an alderman of the 43rd Ward of Chicago, Edwin Eisendrath turns 68… Steven F. Schlafer… Member of the Knesset for the National Unity party, Michael Biton turns 56… General counsel of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Diana Hartstein Beinart… French actor with more than 50 film credits and a number of television shows, Vincent Elbaz turns 55… Record producer and music critic, known by her nickname Ultragrrrl, Sarah Lewitinn turns 46… Journalist and television host, best known for her 13-year tenure at CBS News Los Angeles, Brittney Hopper turns 44… Senior director at the GeoEconomics Center of the Atlantic Council, Josh Lipsky… Professional poker player, he won $12.1 million in the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2023, Daniel Weinman turns 38… Senior associate program director at CSS/Community Security Service, Joshua Keyak… One of Israel's most popular singers, his religiously themed music has become popular in Israeli secular culture, Ishay Ribo turns 37… Director at strategic counsel and communications firm Joele Frank, Noam Safier… Director for J Street U at J Street, Erin Beiner… Forward for Ironi Ness Ziona of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, during the 2021-22 season while at Yeshiva University he was the top scorer in all divisions of college basketball, Ryan Turell turns 27… Vice president for advocacy and innovation at the American Jewish Committee and regional director of AJC Atlanta, Dov Wilker…