👋 Good Tuesday morning!
Blissful recent 12 months! Welcome back and we hope you benefit from the first 2023 edition of the Each day Kickoff. In today’s edition, we confer with hip-hop artist Mahogany Jones about her recent trip to Israel with the State Department, and have a look at joint Israeli-Jordanian efforts to handle climate change. Also in today’s Each day Kickoff, outgoing Rep. Elaine Luria, Art Spiegelman and former Rep. Steve Israel.
The brand new Congress will convene at noon today in Washington, ushering in a slate of 74 newly elected House members and 7 recent senators. The 2 big items on our radar this week: the election for House speaker, and the way the brand new Congress will address lingering allegations that Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY) fabricated extensive portions of his biography. The 2 are intrinsically connected, a minimum of for the primary few days of the brand new Congress, as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) works to shore up support from the handful of Republican legislators critical to his bid for the speakership.
McCarthy spent the vacations attempting to secure the crucial votes amongst GOP legislators, including granting some concessions to the conservative faction of the party. He met with several dozen congressional Republicans last night in Washington, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who had previously said he wouldn’t back McCarthy for speaker. As he walked into the speaker’s office last night, Gaetz was accompanied by Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Scott Perry (R-PA) — each of whom are opposing McCarthy’s bid — and teased, “We could also be on the verge of a Latest 12 months’s miracle.”
If McCarthy doesn’t win the speakership outright, House members will move to a second ballot — the primary time in a century that has happened. It’s also unclear who might emerge because the speaker if McCarthy is unable to muster the crucial 218 votes. Republican Majority Leader-designate Steve Scalise (R-LA) is one potential fallback, but Republican moderates have floated the thought of working with Democrats to elect retiring Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). Santos, for his part, has pledged to back McCarthy for speaker.
While House GOP leadership — including McCarthy — has remained muted on the Santos allegations, the heightened scrutiny of the Latest York Republican’s business dealings and background has drawn criticism from some members of the state’s congressional delegation. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) said Santos deployed “a colossal lack of judgment that has now put the conference in a really difficult position.” Rep.-elect Nick LaLota (R-NY), who won Long Island’s other congressional race, said that “Latest Yorkers deserve the reality and House Republicans deserve a chance to control without distraction.” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) went further, calling for Santos’ resignation in an appearance on CNN over the weekend. “So far as I’m concerned,” Torres said, “he’s a sociopath who has essentially defrauded the voters of Latest York State.”
Santos, meanwhile, spent the vacations attempting damage control in a series of interviews, including one with Fox News through which he again said that his “heritage is Jewish” — despite having no familial links to the community. The heightened scrutiny isn’t limited to the U.S. — Brazilian officials are planning to revive fraud charges against Santos, who in 2008 was accused of using checks stolen from his mother’s employer.
In Israel on Thursday, the Knesset ratified the brand new government under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving premier, bringing Netanyahu to power for an unprecedented third time. Sixteen of the 30 ministers in the brand new government are from Netanyahu’s Likud party, including Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Education Minister Yoav Kisch. Likud MK Amir Ohana became Israel’s first openly gay Knesset speaker.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer can be joining Netanyahu’s government, where he’ll helm the Strategic Affairs Ministry, which had been dissolved by the previous government. Under Dermer, who served in Washington from 2013-2021, the ministry will shift its focus to working with the White House and expanding the Abraham Accords, a departure from its previous iteration, which was led by now-U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who focused his efforts on combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. That mantle might be taken up by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who announced yesterday that the ministry will change its name to the Diaspora Affairs and Combat Antisemitism Ministry.
The transitions come weeks after a gathering between U.S. Jewish leaders and Shuli Davidovich, who heads the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s diaspora bureau, on the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Jewish leaders, in line with Axios, raised concerns about a few of the floated policies of the incoming Israeli government.
Finance Minister and minister within the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionist Party, penned an op-ed within the Wall Street Journal last week in a bid to allay fears concerning the recent government, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Jewish Power) stoked tensions with a visit to the Temple Mount this morning, after Palestinian Authority officials warned that the trip could lead on to an escalation in the realm. Shortly after the visit, Ben-Gvir called the realm “crucial site for the Jewish people” and said Israel will preserve “freedom of movement” at the positioning. Jordanian King Abdullah II told CNN last week that he’s prepared for conflict should the status of Jerusalem’s holy sites change.
Despite the vacation season, top Israeli and U.S. officials connected to debate a variety of issues. Cohen called Secretary of State Tony Blinken yesterday, the Israeli foreign minister’s second day on the job. Blinken congratulated Cohen on his appointment and underscored america’ abiding commitment to the U.S.-Israel partnership and to Israel’s security, in line with statements released by each offices. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is anticipated to travel to Israel in mid-January for meetings with members of the brand new government.
In his first speech to Foreign Ministry staff, Cohen stressed that Israel’s relationship with its closest ally, the U.S., is a priority, while saying that the brand new Israeli government might be more muted about Ukraine issues, though it would proceed humanitarian aid to the country. Cohen is scheduled to talk today to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Cohen’s comments were met with criticism from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who tweeted that the “concept that Israel should speak less about Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine is a bit unnerving. I hope Mr. Cohen understands that when he speaks to Russia’s Lavrov, he’s talking to a representative of a war criminal regime that commits war crimes on an industrial scale each day.”
