Daily Kickoff: Wesley Bell ousts Cori Bush from office (2024)

Good Wednesday morning.

In today’sDaily Kickoff, we covertheHarris-Walzticket’s debutrallyin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Gov.Josh Shapiro’s address to the crowd and the role played by an activist leftist campaign against his veepstakes bid.We also report onWesley Bell’s defeat of Rep.Cori Bushin the Missouri primary and a vandalism attack against theAIPAC headquartersin Washington. Also in today’sDaily Kickoff:Shabbos Kestenbaum,Trey YingstandAmit Elor.

• Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwarwasnamedthe successor to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an explosion in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound in Tehran last week. The U.K.’sJewish Chroniclereportedthat Haniyeh was killed by a bomb planted nine hours prior by IRGC officials who had been recruited by the Mossad.
• The Black Hat 2024cybersecurity event series kicks off today in Las Vegas. Speakers today include: Nadav Adir, Alon Dankner, Hillai Ben-Sasson, Sagi Tzadik, Noam Moshe, Ori David, Alon Leviev, Yakir Kadkoda, Michael Katchinskiy and Ofek Itach.
• Former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Shermanwill talk about her time in the Biden administration in aWashington PostLive this morning at 11:30.
• State Department antisemitism envoy Ambassador Deborah Lipstadtis scheduled to sit down with Jewish and Israeli reporters this afternoon at the State Department.

The last 24 hours have offered some clarity on the state of the anti-Israel leftin American politics:It makes up enough of a small, outspoken faction within the Democratic Party to play a role in stunting Gov. Josh Shapiro’s veepstakes chances, but doesn’t have the numbers to win in most congressional districts across the country,Jewish InsiderEditor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.

The juxtaposition of Shapiro being bypassed as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mateon Tuesday morning, followed by Wesley Bell’svictory over Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO)in Tuesday night’s Missouri Democratic primary doesn’t offer a clear black-and-white narrative.

It demonstrates that pockets of anti-Israel activism within the partyare now a factor that any Democrat (Jewish or not) has to confront — in a way that the late Sen. Joe Lieberman never did during his 2000 vice-presidential campaign. But it also shows that these radical voices, disproportionately represented among young Americans, are still a small minority within the party.

Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as vice presidentis a good illustration of these conflicting impulses within the party. His overall record — both in Congress and as governor — has been supportive of Israel. He spoke admiringly towards the Jewish state at AIPAC’s conference in 2010,stood by Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks,defended Jewish students facing harassment at anti-Israel campus protests, andcalled the failure to recognize Israel as a Jewish state was antisemitic.

At the same time,he hasencouraged political outreachto the largely anti-Israel “uncommitted” voters, who made up a notable 18% share of his state’s Democratic presidential primary electorate, and has spoken favorably of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the most outspoken anti-Israel lawmakers with a history of engaging in antisemitic rhetoric.

All told, Walz’s record is the portrait of a progressive-minded pro-Israel politicianlooking to keep his party united. Harris and Walz are trying to keep an ideologically divided Democratic Party together, even if that means indulging anti-Israel radicals that were once viewed as out of the party’s mainstream.

Walz’s willingness to reach out to the left-wing elements of the party— and ideological evolution leftward during his political career — is one reason that has made him more palatable to progressive Democrats. Even as he won support from all corners of the Democratic Party, it wasn’t a coincidence that members of the Squad wereamong the first to cheer for his veepstakes victory.

As the Democratic Party has moved leftward, so has Walz. He’s evolved from a moderate congressman in a rural, conservative district into a progressive governor whose political base is in the liberal Twin Cities. That evolution raises legitimate concerns among pro-Israel voters who worry that as the party becomes a bit less supportive of the Jewish state, a potential Harris-Walz administation could follow suit.

Indeed, the fact that Shapiro felt obligated to declarehe was “proud of my faith” at Tuesday’s Harris-Walz rally in Philadelphia is a sign of the increasingly inhospitable environment for proudly Jewish politicians. This isn’t Joe Lieberman’s Democratic Party anymore.

The Democratic convention this month will reveal how much the party has changed.Will the party speak out about rising antisemitism at its convention? Will it remember the hostages being held in Gaza? Republicans spent part of a night bringing up the scourge of antisemitism and support for Israel at their convention; an absence of similar sentiments in Chicago would speak volumes.

Bush’s defeat Tuesday night offered Democrats another reminderof the limited purchase for radical anti-Israel views — even in a deep-blue St. Louis district where Jews only make up a small constituency. She’s now the second of nine Squad lawmakers to lose a primary this year. But it shouldn’t require a well-organized, well-funded effort from pro-Israel groups to push lawmakers holding extreme views — likedeclining to call Hamas a terrorist groupordenying terrorist atrocities— out of respectable political life.

There’s a fight for the soul of the Democratic Party going on in real time. The pro-Israel forces within the party are often prevailing, but they’re also facing a tougher environment than ever before.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro loomed large over Vice President Kamala Harris’ debut event yesterday with her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz,on Shapiro’s home turf in Philadelphia. Both Harris and Walz opened their remarks with effusive praise for Shapiro, the runner-up for the vice-presidential slot and whose support they’ll likely rely on to win Pennsylvania. And Shapiro, speaking just ahead of Harris and Walz, declared pride in his Jewish faith, to roars of approval from the crowd,Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports from Philadelphia.

Warm words:Harris said that Shapiro is a “dear, dear friend and an extraordinary leader,” adding that she’s “so, so invested in our friendship, in doing this together. Because together with Josh Shapiro, we will win Pennsylvania.” Walz said that Shapiro is a “treasure” to Pennsylvania. “This is a visionary leader,” Walz said. “Everybody in America knows when you need a bridge fixed, call that guy… [He] cares so deeply about his family. He’s a man of compassion and vision. And I have to tell you, I know this from experience, there is no one you would rather go to a Springsteen concert in Jersey with.”

Read the full story here.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the Republican nominee for vice president, said yesterday morning that if Vice President Kamala Harris did not select Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, then the decision would be due to what he identified as antisemitism within the Democratic Party,Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

What he said:“If it’s not Josh Shapiro,”Vance told radio host Hugh Hewitthours before Harris announced she had chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “I think they will have not picked Shapiro, frankly, out of antisemitism in their own caucus and in their own party. I think it’s disgraceful the Democrats have gotten to this point where it’s even an open conversation.”

Read the full story here.

Bonus:The New York Times’ Jonathan Weismansuggestedthat Harris’ selection of Walz over Shapiro “may well have created a new point of friction with Jewish voters leery of a lurch to the left from the Democratic Party.” Meanwhile,The Bulwark’s Marc Caputoreportedthat the Trump campaign amplified and fed the leftist campaign against Shapiro, viewing him as a tougher opponent than Walz.

Wesley Bell defeated Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) on Tuesday in a closely watched primary, becoming the second Democratic challenger of the cycle to unseat a Squad-aligned incumbent. Bell, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, prevailed over Bush, a two-term congresswoman, in an upset that followed Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-NY) loss to Westchester County Executive George Latimer in June. Bell won the race by a comfortable five-point margin over Bush, 51-46%,Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Pro-Israel position:Pro-Israel groups invested heavily in the race to boost Bell’s campaign against Bush, whose hostile views toward Israel faced backlash in the district. The super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, United Democracy Project, was by far the biggest spender, dropping more than $8.5 million into a race that became one of the most expensive elections of the cycle. “AIPAC congratulates Wesley Bell for his consequential victory over an incumbent anti-Israel detractor,” the group said in a statement. “Once again, a progressive pro-Israel Democrat has prevailed over a candidate who represents the extremist fringe that is hostile to the Jewish state.”

Read the full story here.

The Washington, D.C., headquarters of AIPAC was vandalized early Monday morning with red spray paint and the words “F*** Israel” scrawled onto the front and side of the building. Video footage obtained by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department shows three masked suspects defacing the building exterior and destroying property at approximately 12:41 a.m. The department said in a statement that the investigation is ongoing and is “asking for the community’s help to identify the suspects involved in a Destruction of Property offense in Northwest,”eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports forJewish Insider.

Claiming responsibility:Palestine Action, a global network of groups that destroys property that has ties to Israel, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the vandalism. Marshall Wittmann, an AIPAC spokesperson, told JI, “We will not be deterred by the illegal actions of fringe, anti-Israel extremists in our efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

Read the full story here.

A Mideast on Edge:InThe Atlantic, Eliot Cohendelves intothe decisions being made by all sides in the Middle East conflict. “For Israeli strategists, the assassinations of Shukr and Haniyeh were part of a campaign aimed at two things: the restoration of Israel’s deterrent reputation, and the rebuilding of battered Israeli morale. The losses inflicted on Hezbollah and Hamas — the Israelis have been systematically attacking the senior ranks of both organizations — undoubtedly make them less effective. But the broader Israeli purpose is also reputational: to make its enemies believe that its intelligence agents are everywhere, that its armed forces are lethally accurate, and that Jerusalem can find them and kill them wherever they are … But Iran cannot sit idly by, either. Its strategic culture values humiliation, something alien to Western military thought, yet it has been humiliated by the Haniyeh assassination. The delay between the blow received and the blow it will deliver has allowed the United States and Israel’s other friends to prepare to parry it. If Iran throws another failed punch, as in the April missile barrage, things will be even worse. It, too, finds itself, in other words, in a strategic trap of its own making.”[Atlantic]

U.S. on the World Stage:The New York Times’ Bret Stephensquestionsthe role the U.S. will take in global affairs under the next president. “When JD Vance said in 2022 that ‘I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,’ he was implicitly suggesting that he was — or was at least close to — rejecting the costs of global primacy. When Kamala Harris said in 2020 that ‘I unequivocally agree with the goal of reducing the defense budget and redirecting funding to communities in need,’ she was, too. Both these statements were foolish when they were made. Now they’re dangerous. Russia, Iran, North Korea and China have joined hands in a vast Axis of Aggression that finds victims from Kharkiv to Tel Aviv to the Spratly Islands off the Philippines. Beijing has doubled its nuclear arsenal in recent years and may double it again by the end of the decade. Tehran’s nuclear breakout time — the time needed to produce a bomb’s worth of weapons-grade uranium, though not a bomb itself — is ‘now probably one or two weeks,’ according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Moscow seems to have pressed pause on its plans to arm the Houthis with missiles, but the threat of it gives the Kremlin leverage elsewhere in the world.”[NYTimes]

Summer of ‘24:InThe Wall Street Journal, Yossi Klein Halevireflectson the mood in Israel as the country braces for another Iranian attack. “Even as we maintain the pretense of daily life, a part of us is permanently alert. We tell ourselves that we’re steady and joke about the apocalypse, because that’s the Israeli way. But during one recent sleepless night, I literally jumped when a passing motorcycle sounded like an explosion. Since the massacre, many of us have entered a state of timelessness. I forget the date, sometimes the month. We recently marked 300 days since the massacre, and Israelis called the anniversary ‘October 300.’ Oct. 7 is our generation’s Tisha b’Av, a tear in the trajectory of the Israeli success story. Tisha b’Av is the black hole of Jewish history, absorbing its great tragedies. The rabbis folded the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem into this one day of mourning. The 1492 edict expelling Jews from Spain, the most glorious diaspora that Jews had known until they found America, was issued on Tisha b’Av. And the Nazis, with their keen sense of irony, chose Tisha b’Av to begin the mass deportation from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka.”[WSJ]

Lessons of the Holocaust:

TheBiden administrationis scrambling to avert a major escalation in theMiddle East,working withofficials in Arab countries to pressure Iran to restrain its looming attack onIsraelandWhite House officialshaveindicatedthatTehranmay be reconsidering its plan, theWashington Postreports…

New York City ComptrollerBrad Lander, a Democrat who launched a campaign to challenge MayorEric Adamslast week, responded on Tuesday to arecent JI storyairing concerns amongJewish leadersover his close ties toanti-Israel activists. “I don’t feel in any way like I’m in a tough spot. The Middle East is in a tough spot,” Landersaid at a press conference, noting that his views on Israelhaven’t changedsince he was in his early 20s…

TheJustice Department chargeda Pakistani man with planning to assassinate top current and former U.S. government officials, including former PresidentDonald Trump…

Afederal judgeisexpectedto decide by early next week whether or not to intervene in a dispute betweenChicago City Halland groups planning a largeprotestover the Israel-Hamas war duringChicago’s Democratic National Conventionlater this month…

TheJewish Telegraphic Agency reviewsTim Walz’s master’s thesis onHolocaust educationand talks toformer studentsfrom a school where he taught and intervened in its controversial approach to Holocaust education…

TheTexans for Israelgroup, alongside several American Jewish residents of Israel,filed a lawsuitinfederal courtin Texas against theBiden administration‘s decision tosanctioncertainsettlerswhom it has accused of “undermining peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.” …

TheAthletic spotlightsIsraeli-American Olympic wrestlerAmit Elor, who won gold this week while representingTeam USAin the Paris Games…

Anti-Israel activists in the U.K.broke intoanElbit R&Dand manufacturing facility and damaged equipment inside…

Forty-eight of the roughly 900Haredi drafteeswho received their call-up notices from the IDFreportedto the military’s induction center and dozens ofHaredi protesters broke intotheTel Hashomer army baseyesterday in an effort to disrupt the enlistment process…

TheWall Street Journal reports onhow alleged abuse byIDF soldiersagainst aPalestinian prisonerat theSde Teimandetention center in southern Israel was uncovered…

Jordan, QatarandSaudi ArabiareportedlyrejectedaU.S. requestto send troops toGazaas part of a multinational Arab peacekeeping force in Gaza…

Hezbollah headHassan Nasrallah pledgedto retaliate —with or without assistance from its allies in the region —against Israel for the strike that killed senior Hezbollah officialFuad Shukrlast week…

TheWall Street Journalreports on Israel’s efforts to expand itsair-defense systemsin preparation for a potential coordinated attack byIranand its proxies…

Manyairlinesarecanceling flightsin and out ofMiddle Eastern countriesin anticipation of an escalation in the region.

Fox News’Trey Yingstwas promotedto chief foreign correspondent; Yingst alsoannouncedthe upcoming publication of his book,Black Saturday: An unfiltered account of the October 7th attack on Israel and war in Gaza…

Jewish American wrestler Amit Elor of the U.S. celebrated yesterday with the American flag after beating Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the women’s freestyle 68kg gold-medal match on Day 11 of the Summer Games at Champs-de-Mars Arena in Paris.

Television cook, YouTuber, restaurateur and cookbook author, known as Sam the Cooking Guy,Samuel D. Zienturns 65…

Brooklyn resident,Esther Holler… Former U.S. trade representative and then U.S. secretary of commerce,Michael (“Mickey”) Kantorturns 85… Co-founder of the worldwide chain of Hard Rock Café, his father founded the Morton’s Steakhouse chain,Peter Mortonturns 77… Retired lieutenant general in the Israeli Air Force, he also served as chief of staff of the IDF,Dan Halutzturns 76… Former PR director for the New York Yankees and author of more than 20 books,Marty Appelturns 76… President of private equity firm Palisades Associates, former CEO of Empire Kosher Poultry,Greg Rosenbaumturns 72… Former U.S. intelligence analyst, he pled guilty to espionage in 1987 and was released from prison in 2015 and moved to Israel in 2020,Jonathan Pollardturns 70… Spiritual leader of Agudas Israel of St. Louis since 1986, RabbiMenachem Greenblatt… Founder of the Cayton Children’s Museum in Santa Monica,Esther Netter… Professor of computational biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,Liran Carmelturns 53… CEO at Capital Camps & Retreat Center,Havi Arbeter Goldscher… U.S. representative (D-VA-7) since 2019, she is running to become governor of Virginia,Abigail Spanbergerturns 45… Financial news anchor for CNBC,Sara Aliza Eisenturns 40… Emmy Award-winning political reporter forThe New York Times,Jonathan Swanturns 39… Public address announcer for both MLB’s Oakland Athletics and AHL’s San Jose Barracuda,Amelia Schimmel… Former MLB catcher, he batted .350 with two home runs for Team Israel at the 2020 Olympics,Ryan Lavarnwayturns 37… Podcast host and head of product at Thesis,Estee Goldschmidt… Professional Super Smash Bros. player, known as Dabuz,Samuel Robert Buzbyturns 31… Goalkeeper for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer, he played for the U.S. in the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel,Zac MacMathturns 33… Founder of Love For Our Elders, a global nonprofit organization with 60,000 volunteers,Jacob Cramerturns 24… Scott Harrison… Director of research at Metiv: Israel Psychotrauma Center and clinical psychologist,Anna Harwood-Gross…