Good Thursday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the Democratic Socialists of America’s efforts to boost affiliated candidates in New York City’s congressional primaries next month, and talk to the State Department’s Sarah Rogers about the Trump administration’s moves to fight antisemitism while preserving free speech protections. We report on NY-15 candidate Michael Blake’s endorsement from a group that attacked incumbent Rep. Ritchie Torres over his “Jewish donors,” and cover President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he may not agree to a deal to end the war with Iran absent commitments from Gulf states to join the Abraham Accords. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Eyal Shani, Ron Baron and Tali Farhadian.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI 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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We reported earlier this month on the series of vacancies in key ambassador-level posts throughout the Middle East — in countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq and Kuwait. A senior State Department post overseeing Middle East issues also remains vacant, after the previous nominee was blocked by lawmakers.

At this point, time is running short for President Donald Trump to fill any of those vacant posts before the confirmation process potentially becomes more difficult in the Senate after the midterm elections. 

Processing the nominations will take time: The chamber is set to be out of session for significant portions of the next few months. And there will be various other critical bills — including government funding, the annual defense bill and a potential third reconciliation package, to process on the Senate floor. Even ahead of floor proceedings, the vetting process in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can, itself, take months before nominees appear for a confirmation hearing.

If Trump seeks to fill these posts, it will likely be in the administration’s interest to do so before the end of the current Congress, as GOP control of the Senate for the final two years of Trump’s term is not assured, and even if Republicans retain the majority, it could be with an even smaller margin.

It’s not just Democrats who have proven to be an obstacle to some of the administration’s picks. Amer Ghalib, Trump’s original nominee to be ambassador to Kuwait, was blocked by Republicans over his history of antisemitism, among other issues. And Joel Rayburn, tapped for a top Middle East job in the State Department, was blocked by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who also slowed down proceedings for U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz.

That said, it’s not clear whether the administration will prioritize filling these vacancies. Earlier this month, experts told Jewish Insider that the White House has seemed content to vest responsibility for broad Middle East portfolios within a tight circle of personal allies of the president, including White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack — whose role has particularly concerned some Republicans. Many experts have argued that leaving the positions open is unwise and risks harming U.S. influence and diplomacy in the region.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told JI that “the department has confidence in our ability to communicate with our counterparts around the world and advance the national interest." 

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

As an emboldened socialist wing of the Democratic Party gains traction across New York City in the aftermath of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory, Jewish leaders and moderate officials are bracing for the possibility of multiple upsets in key House races that could reshape the ideological orientation of the state’s congressional delegation, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

State of play: Three races have drawn heightened attention in recent weeks, including a marquee House contest playing out largely in progressive Brooklyn where Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) is seeking to fend off a serious challenge from former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. Meanwhile, in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) is facing what looks like an increasingly credible challenge from an anti-Israel organizer. And in the race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), her favored primary candidate is struggling to compete against a democratic socialist endorsed by Mamdani.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), a moderate Democrat running for Minnesota’s open Senate seat, said on Wednesday that she would not seek the support of the state Democratic Party at its convention being held this weekend — effectively ceding that endorsement to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, her left-wing opponent, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

What she said: Craig, who will still run in the Aug. 11 primary, said “the DFL endorsement process just doesn’t reflect the full scope of the party that we are and the purple state that we have become,” referring to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Minnesota’s Democratic affiliate, which was already expected to back Flanagan.

Read the full story here.

President Donald Trump signaled on Wednesday that he may not agree to a deal to end the war with Iran if Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the region do not join the Abraham Accords, arguing that the Gulf nations “owe that to us,” Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

Deal or no deal: The president made the comments while taking questions from reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, where he was asked if he would accept a peace agreement with Iran that did not address uranium enrichment. Trump responded that he would agree to a deal that allows for continued negotiations on some issues, though he repeatedly said he would not allow for “a crummy agreement.”

Read the full story here.

Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, maintained that the Trump administration’s commitment to free speech, including for extreme views, does not take away from its opposition to antisemitism, telling Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs in a wide-ranging interview that “the Nazis may have the right to post, but also the Nazis are bad and sick and stupid.”

Also, and: “I don’t see this as a line-drawing exercise between opposed priorities,” Rogers said. “There’s really no conflict between opposing antisemitism on the one hand and opposing censorship on the other. America has a proud history of opposing both. Censorship has not kept antisemites out of power, it has been deployed by antisemites who gain power.”

Read the full interview here.

In a fiery keynote address opening the Re-Charging Reform Judaism conference on Wednesday morning, Ammiel Hirsch, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s senior rabbi, denounced Reform religious seminaries that ordain anti-Zionist clergy members and doubled down on the importance of Jewish particularism, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports.

What he said: “We cannot succumb to those who preach a false philosophy of Jewish universalism that camouflages disdain for Jewish particularism under the guise of a sometimes sweeping, self-righteous, sanctimonious and suffocating misunderstanding of tikkun olam,” said Hirsch, to wide applause. “Any seminary that either in word or deed, in principle or impression, acquires the reputation of being hostile to Zionism – a seminary that ordains anti-Zionist clergy – has no future in America,” he said, also to wide applause. 

Read the full story here and sign up for eJP’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.

Michael Blake, the anti-Israel candidate challenging Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) in a Democratic primary in the Bronx, accepted an endorsement on Wednesday from a small progressive group that, in its announcement, attacked Torres for his relationship with “Jewish donors,” Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The group, Progressive Voters Network, also maintains an active endorsement of Maureen Galindo, the antisemitic Texas Democratic primary candidate who faced condemnation from across the party and was repudiated even by other far-left groups.

What they said: “This AIPAC puppet has raked in millions from the zionist lobby while our people struggle with rent, groceries, and crumbling NYCHA buildings,” the announcement reads. “Torres prioritizes his Jewish donors over his own Black and Brown constituents, cheerleading genocide and shielding war criminals instead of fighting for affordability and justice.”

Read the full story here.

Denial: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) political spokesperson denied on Wednesday allegations that Johnson was involved in boosting Galindo.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters: The Free Press’ Eli Lake profiles the Pentagon’s Elbridge Colby, as the under secretary of defense for policy, an opponent of military action against Iran, finds himself defending the Trump administration’s policies vis-a-vis Iran. “The perception inside Washington in the early months of the second Trump presidency was that Colby and the Pentagon bureaucracy would slow-walk military plans for Iran. The hawks may still have sway in Congress, but the populist restrainers were taking over the national security state. That’s not what happened. Instead, the military provided Trump with war plans for Iran, and the president approved them. … What emerges is a man caught between the contradictions of Trump’s second-term foreign policy. ‘The president is not with him when it comes to Iran,’ one administration official told me.” [FreePress]

Undoing UNRWA: In The Wall Street Journal, Eugene Kontorovich considers how President Donald Trump could effectively shutter the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which he describes as the “front office” of Hamas. “Mr. Trump cut Unrwa’s funding in 2018 and again in 2025, citing revelations that a dozen employees participated in the Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But U.N. agencies, and Unrwa especially, are designed to be insulated from accountability. Unrwa was created by the General Assembly in 1949 as a temporary mechanism to assist Arabs displaced during Israel’s War of Independence. While it can be closed only by the General Assembly, strategically applied pressure from the U.S. could go a long way.” [WSJ]

Tea Party for Dems: Semafor’s Burgess Everett, Nicholas Wu and David Weigel talk to Democratic officials about the growing concerns around statewide nominating conventions, which in a number of cases this cycle have served to amplify ideological rifts within the party. “The role of party conventions and assemblies is sparking heated debate in the Democratic Party as it seeks to both capitalize on anti-Trump sentiment and anoint candidates who can win general elections. Some Democrats see closed, activist-driven state party events as opportunities to tap into powerful grassroots energy, but others worry that the functions are brewing a liberal version of the anti-establishment tea party.” [Semafor]

A Path Out of Isolation: In The New York Times, RAND’s Shira Efron considers how Israel’s upcoming elections provide an opportunity to reverse Israel’s deepening global isolation. “The task ahead is twofold: to protect Israelis from real dangers, and to persuade the wider world that Israel’s security and its democratic character are not mutually exclusive. The coming elections may not answer everything the international community asks for, but they can stop the slide into isolation, rebuild some trust and allow pragmatic steps that make Israel less alone, and more secure.” [NYTimes]

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A new Emerson College national poll finds that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, if he runs for president in 2028, would be statistically tied with Vice President JD Vance; the poll finds Vance winning 36% of the GOP vote (down from 52% in February), with Rubio tallying 35% (up from 20%)...

The poll also finds former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leading the field of prospective Democratic presidential candidates with 18% of the vote; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro landed in fourth place with 10% of the vote, one of his strongest showings in any national poll to date...

Politico reports on NY-12 congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg’s recent comments to a private group at New York’s Harmonie Club, in which he diverged from some of his recent, critical positions on Israel, telling attendees he was “a stronger supporter of Israel than I ever thought I would be”; in a series of X posts responding to Politico, Schlossberg claimed the article “isn’t true” and was “written in bad faith”...

Chicago Jewish leaders raised concerns about Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan, released Tuesday, for the city to combat hate crimes; Alderwoman Debra Silverstein, the only Jewish member of Chicago’s City Council, called Johnson’s plan “a watered-down version” of a proposal recommended by the city’s Commission on Human Relations…

The Washington Jewish Week endorsed former D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie in the capital’s Democratic mayoral primary, arguing that “Washington deserves better” than Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who earlier in the campaign vowed to avoid events that “promote Zionism” and campaigned with a Washington legislator who accused Jews of controlling the weather…

The Wall Street Journal profiles Baron Capital’s Ron Baron, the longtime tech skeptic who has in recent years made significant investments in Elon Musk’s ventures, including X and SpaceX…

The New York Times reports on what Jewish students and faculty at Harvard University describe as a changed campus climate in the two years since anti-Israel and antisemitic activity at the school garnered national attention during the 2023-2024 academic year…

Israeli chef Eyal Shani opened an outpost of his restaurant chain Miznon at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center…

The American Jewish Committee is selling its longtime Manhattan headquarters to real estate developer Gary Barnett’s Extell Development for $39 million, eJewishPhilanthropy's Judah Ari Gross reports...

Authorities in London determined that a fire at a kosher grocery store in the heavily Jewish suburb of Golders Green, an area that has faced several arson attacks in recent months, was “non-suspicious”...

The British Museum postponed an event slated for today to celebrate Jewish Culture Month, saying that “a significant proportion of registered attendees were individuals intending to deliberately disrupt the event, preventing others from participating in good faith and undermining the purpose of the programme”; the museum said it intended to reschedule the event “when it can take place in an environment that properly safeguards both the audience experience and the integrity of the programme itself”...

Yad Vashem announced plans to open a Holocaust education center in Munich, which will be the museum’s first international educational center…

An IDF soldier in the Givati Brigade’s Rotem battalion was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack along Israel’s border with Lebanon; two reservists were injured by a second explosive, one seriously…

The Wall Street Journal reports on the “elaborate deception” effort in which sanctioned Iranian oil is transferred between ships at sea to obscure the cargo’s origin and enter markets…

Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara intends to file an indictment against Yonatan Urich, an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in connection with the leak of classified documents to German newspaper Bild…

Iran expanded its restrictions on international news organizations operating in the country that would ban the outlets from sharing material with Israeli media as well as Farsi-language media outside of the Islamic Republic…

The U.K.’s Jewish Chronicle interviews Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi about relations between Hargeisa and Jerusalem following Israel’s recognition of the East African nation; Abdullahi said he plans to visit Israel later this year as the countries build “links in security, the economy, trade and diplomacy”…

Former federal prosecutor Tali Farhadian was named the CEO of New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage…

The Heritage Foundation announced that Mollie Hemingway, Yoram Hazony, J.C. Huizenga and Lawrence Blanford are joining the think tank’s board of trustees…

ISRAELI PMO

Reps. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), left, and Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), who are in Israel this week while the House is in recess, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem. The two GOP legislators also met with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and visited the Western Wall complex, where they met with Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites.

JAMIE MCCARTHY/THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER VIA GETTY IMAGES

Fashion designer and the founder of WeWoreWhat, Danielle Bernstein turns 34... 

American oncologist whose work has contributed to major developments in childhood leukemia treatment, he was the president of the Judea Reform Congregation in Durham, N.C., John Laszlo turns 95... Founding rabbi of both Lincoln Square Synagogue in NYC and later Efrat, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin turns 86... Director of UCSF's Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, he won the 1997 Nobel Prize in medicine, Stanley Benjamin Prusiner M.D. turns 84... Executive director of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Jerome H. Kadden... Former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani turns 82... Former mayor of Toronto, John Howard Tory turns 72... Author of 14 novels and a children's book, Millions of Maxes, Meg Wolitzer turns 67... Winnipeg-born attorney, previous campaign chair for Winnipeg's Combined Jewish Appeal and governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Gail Sheryl Asper turns 66... British comedian, screenwriter and singer, he is the author of a 2021 book on antisemitism, Jews Don't Count, David Lionel Baddiel turns 62... Secretary of state of the United States, he is also serving as acting national security advisor, Marco Rubio turns 55... Four-time U.S. national fencing champion and a two-time Olympian, then an attorney who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Eric Oliver "Nick" Bravin turns 55... Longtime member of the Knesset on behalf of the Likud party, now serving as Israel's consul general to New York, Ofir Akunis turns 53... Guitarist, composer and leader of the bands Rashanim and Zion80, Jon Madof turns 52... Rabbi of Boston's South Shore Congregation Sha'aray Shalom, Eric M. Berk... Dancer and choreographer, Brian L. Friedman turns 49... Senior manager in the executive office at The Pew Charitable Trusts since 2015, Lauren Mandelker... Singer-songwriter, artist and filmmaker, Adam Green turns 45... Entrepreneur focused on real estate, technology, media, consumer products and manufacturing, he is a member of the Pritzker family of Hyatt Hotels, Matthew Pritzker turns 44... Former Jewish liaison for New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, he is now the managing principal of Asher Strategies, David A. Lobl... Founder and CEO of At The Well, a women's wellness organization rooted in Jewish spirituality and women's health, Sarah Michal Waxman... Founder and CEO at Vista Nexum, Adelle Malka Nazarian... Freelance journalist writing about culture, she was previously an associate editor for The Forward, Thea Glassman... Named for his father, a Wall Street Journal bureau chief who was kidnapped and murdered by Pakistani terrorists a few months before he was born, Adam Daniel Pearl turns 24... Israeli swimmer, she competed in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Aviv Barzelay turns 24... Irwin Weiss...