? Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we speak to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and look at his campaign to hold onto his Senate seat in Georgia and spotlight a bipartisan effort to push Secretary of State Tony Blinken to investigate instances of antisemitism at the State Department. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Bari Weiss, Amb. Dennis Ross and Boris Epshteyn.
President Joe Biden will host Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House next Wednesday, marking Herzog’s first trip to Washington, where his older brother serves as ambassador, since assuming the presidency.
At least four people, including a pregnant woman and her husband, were killed in Kyiv on Monday as Russia deployed Iranian-made drones across the Ukrainian capital. Tehran had long denied supplying Russia with the weapons, despite claims from Ukraine that Moscow has ordered 2,400 drones, as well as social media posts linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that boasted of the sales. Ukrainian officials said more than three dozen of the drones were fired by Russia, the majority of which were intercepted by Ukrainian air-defense systems.
Meanwhile, IRGC drone trainers have been deployed to Crimea to troubleshoot issues with the shipment and to train Russian forces to operate the weapons. Following the attack, a U.S. official said that the Biden administration is considering a further crack down on Iran, a move that is likely to include additional sanctions.
The increased cooperation between Moscow and Tehran has heightened concerns in Israel, which has so far refrained from providing military assistance to Ukraine, the Associated Press reported this morning. Israeli Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai took a hard line against Russia over the weekend, posting on Twitter that Jerusalem should provide military assistance to Kyiv. “There is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict,” he tweeted.
Israeli Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” the morning after the attacks, criticized Iran, calling the country “perhaps the preeminent terrorist state of our time.” Netanyahu, whose memoir hit bookshelves yesterday, warned that the fighting between Russia and Ukraine poses a global threat. “The greatest danger is that this conflict would unravel to a global conflict with ominous proportions and the possible use of nuclear weapons.”
Former President Donald Trump spoke with artist Kanye West following controversies in which both were charged with employing antisemitic stereotypes in social media posts. In a post on his social media site Truth Social, the former president suggested that American Jews should “get their act together” before “it is too late.” West, for his part, drew criticism for comments made on a resurfaced episode of the “Drink Champs” podcast.
The two reportedly discussed West’s recent acquisition of the conservative social media platform Parler, which is under the umbrella of Parlement Technologies. Parlement’s CEO, George Farmer, is married to conservative activist Candace Owens, who has appeared with West in recent weeks and defended his comments.
Read More: Interview with Raphael Warnock + Antisemitism inside State Dept.