🗳️ He runs: Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, has announced the start of his 2024 presidential campaign and called on former President Donald Trump to drop out of the race.
📄 On the hill: Bipartisan groups of senators and members of the House have reintroduced legislation aimed at providing grants for joint US-Israel PTSD research.
🇺🇸 Blurred Lines: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said CNN’s Christiane Amanpour said he discussed with the Biden administration the possibility of “reversing some of the measures taken by the Trump administration in the final weeks of the Trump administration that blurred the lines between Israel and the West Bank in terms of conducting US policy.” “
🪧 Protest Push: Several American Jewish leaders have launched a new organization to support the ongoing protests in Iran, offering funding for various initiatives organized by members of the Iranian diaspora and by Iranian activists based outside the Islamic Republic. eJewishPhilanthropy reports.
🕌 Community News: Three mosques in Astoria’s Queens neighborhood are sounding the call to prayer after receiving the first permits to do so from the borough.
🛫 Problems with foreigners: in The Wall Street JournalJames E. Lieber and Peter Spiro Call for Change in US Expatriate Voting Policy.
👨 All about Altman: New York Times and Wall Street Journal feature interviews with Open AI head Sam Altman, whose ChatGPT quickly gained widespread popularity and raised questions about the future of artificial intelligence.
👗 Coming soon: A new exhibition about the French fashion company Chloé and its founder Gabi Aghion will open at the Jewish Museum in the fall.
💎 Amazing support: Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has reportedly asked the Treasury Department to lift its sanctions against Israeli businessman Dan Gertler.
📚 Bookshelf: The Financial Times‘ Michael Skapinker reviews Saskia Koenen Snyder’s book Shining Commodity: Diamonds and Jews in a Modern Settingabout how Jews became central to the global diamond industry.
👋 The output of Tishbi: Noah Tishbyannounced his official dismissal as Israel’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of Israel, a few months after the appointment officially ended.
🕵️ Mixed messages: New York Times reported a secret contract between a US government front company and the US affiliate of Israeli firm NSO, which provided a government agency with the use of its spyware after the White House blacklisted the company.
👨⚖️ Leifer Verdict: Malka Leifer, the former principal of an Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne, Australia, was found guilty in the Victorian District Court of 18 offenses of sexually abusing two former students.
⚖️ Call to Action: New York Times editorial board called for “continued” pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from “Israelis and from Israel’s true friends, especially the United States,” following Netanyahu’s pause in moving forward with proposed judicial reforms.
🥃 L’Chaim: The World Whiskeys Awards named Tel Aviv’s M&H whiskey the best single malt in the world.
🚑 Clashes on the West Coast: Israeli troops reportedly killed two Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Nablus this morning in clashes during the arrest of two Palestinians suspected of shooting at soldiers in Huwara in March.
🇵🇰 Disclaimer: Pakistan yesterday denied having trade relations with Israel after Pakistani Jewish businessman Fishel Benckhald tweeted about his first kosher shipment to the Jewish state.
👴 Law of Return: National Unity Party leader Avi Maoz, the party’s sole representative in the Knesset, has introduced legislation to repeal Israel’s “grandfather clause,” which entitles anyone whose grandparents are Jewish to Israeli citizenship.
👮 National Guard: The Israeli government yesterday approved the formation of a national guard to be headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was promised the new body would be created in exchange for his support for freezing the judicial reform legislation.
💵 Money trail: The The Washington Post is disputing a story that Russian President Vladimir Putin bought a Tel Aviv apartment for his former teacher, reporting newly obtained financial documents that show the property was purchased by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
🛥️ Alert for Iran: Iran’s state media agency reports that the Iranian navy has alerted a US reconnaissance aircraft near the Gulf of Oman.
☢️ Saudi attractions: New York Timesexamines Saudi Arabia’s engagement with the US and China in Riyadh’s ongoing efforts to achieve nuclear power.
🛢️ New cuts: A group of oil producers led by Riyadh announced plans to cut oil production by more than a million barrels a day starting next month.
👶 Mazal Tov: The Jewish community in Tehran celebrates three British miles yesterday, conducted by Iran’s Chief Rabbi Yehuda Gerami.
🕯️ Remember: Seymour Stein, the entrepreneur and music mogul who discovered Madonna, has died at 80. Songwriter Keith Reid, whose lyrics for the rock band Procol Harum included “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” has died at 76.