Your Daily Phil: As antisemitism rocks the U.K., Israeli First Lady Michal Herzog pays solidarity visit
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In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we cover Israeli First Lady Michal Herzog’s recent solidarity trip to the United Kingdom, amid a rise in violent antisemitism in the country. We report on the appointment of Ilan Shohat as CEO of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, and on the passage of a new bill requiring transparency in foreign donations to K-12 schools in Georgia. We feature an opinion piece by academic Natalia Mehlman Petrzela with advice for maintaining intellectual integrity and Jewish visibility on campus, and one by Michelle Shapiro Abraham about the importance of keeping accessibility in mind even as organizations pursue whatever is the new shiny technological innovation of our time. Also in this issue: David E. Bernstein, Dr. Alan Kadish and Heidi Kallen and Nika Greenberg.
Today’s Your Daily Phil was curated by eJP Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross, Opinion Editor Rachel Kohn and Israel Editor Justin Hayet. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
King Charles III and Queen Camilla are traveling to New York City today, where they’ll visit the 9/11 Memorial at One World Trade Center and meet with families of 9/11 victims and first responders ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks later this year.
Elluminate is concluding its inaugural two-day Global Jewish Women’s Network Summit today in New York City.
The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition three-day annual conference continues today in DC.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
Israeli First Lady Michal Herzog returned to Israel yesterday after a two-day solidarity trip to the United Kingdom, which has seen a major rise in antisemitic attacks in recent months, including an apparent targeted stabbing attack in the heavily Jewish northern London suburb of Golders Green earlier today.
Two Jewish men with stab wounds — one in his 70s and one in his 30s — were treated by Hatzolah medics and were said to be in stable condition, and police have apprehended the assailant, local Jewish security groups said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer swiftly condemned the attack, calling it “utterly appalling.” The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded to Starmer, demanding that his government take greater action amid rising antisemitism. “Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statements are no substitute for confronting the roots of antisemitism festering across United Kingdom,” the ministry wrote on X. “Enough words. The UK must act decisively and urgently.”
During Herzog’s trip on Monday and Tuesday, she visited a Manchester synagogue that was the site of a deadly terror attack in October, meeting with British Jewish students and visiting the car park in Golders Green where Hatzolah ambulances were set ablaze in an arson attack last month.
In both Manchester and London, Herzog oversaw donations of ambulances to Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service, which facilitated her trip. In London, Herzog also served as the guest of honor at an award ceremony hosted by the U.K. branch of Magen David Adom.
Speaking to reporters outside the event, Herzog decried the rising antisemitism in the U.K. and warned of what it portends. “We look with great worry about what’s happening. I think what we must do is look in the eyes of leaders so that [they] will understand that it may begin with the Jews, but it never ends with the Jews,” she said. “Antisemitism may be first, but it’s never last.”
In Manchester, two ambulances were donated in honor of the two victims of the attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. “It is an honour to be dedicating these two emergency response vehicles in the names of Melvin and Adrian. Two emergency medical vehicles to Magen David Adom so that countless other lives will be saved,” she said.
TRANSITIONS
KKL-JNF appoints Ilan Shohat as CEO, ending three-year search
The board of directors of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund appointed Ilan Shohat, a former mayor and top civil servant, as its next CEO on Tuesday, ending a nearly three-year search, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Peripheral vision: Shohat comes to the role with particular experience in running major projects in the country’s geographic periphery. In addition to his 10-year term as mayor of Tzfat — then the country’s youngest mayor — and time as director-general of the Ministry of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, Shohat has also served in top roles in regional nonprofits and public-benefit corporations. “This is especially important at this time, as KKL–JNF leads the rehabilitation and development of the Galilee and the Negev, with a focus on northern border communities. Ilan Shohat is the right person to advance the Board’s policies at this critical moment,” Ostrinsky said.
Policy shift: Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund announced that it is halting most of its programs in the West Bank after a Haaretz investigation found that they were being used to bring at-risk Israeli youth to illegal outposts, which were connected to a number of extremist attacks on Palestinians.
PEACH STATE PIONEERS
Georgia passes landmark transparency law for foreign funding in universities, K-12 schools
Following a report spotlighting Qatari funding in Georgia public schools, the state’s General Assembly became the first in the country to pass legislation requiring the disclosure of foreign government funding in statewide K-12 schools, reports Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Details: The Foreign Funding Transparency and Accountability Act, HB 1379, requires public school districts, public universities and technical colleges to report funding of $10,000 or more from foreign countries or entities, naming specifically Qatar and Saudi Arabia — the two largest foreign funders of American universities. The bill — which passed both chambers of the Assembly earlier this month and now awaits Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature — was spearheaded by Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Jewish member of the Georgia Statehouse, as well as Rep. Houston Gaines and the pro-Israel Georgia Solidarity Network.
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
CAMPUS SCENE
We don’t have to choose between moral courage and open inquiry
“Higher education is in crisis, and little has made that more clear than the conversation about campus antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023,” writes Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a professor of history at The New School and the lead scholar on the New York City Department of Education’s Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “As a Jewish professor, the last two-and-a-half years have clearly revealed that many of the problems that allow antisemitism to fester can be addressed in ways that will create more intellectually rigorous and inclusive educational environments for everyone, not just Jews.”
For instance: “Education should deliberately encompass experience both outside the classroom and beyond our own identities. It is common to hear people introduce themselves with a statement of their position (‘As a Jewish woman, I…’), but this framing too often presents identity as an implicit justification for only being able to see things one certain way. What if we valorized the learning experience of seeing beyond one’s own perspective, rather than stopping there?”
Read the full piece here.
ACCESS AND INNOVATION
A reflection on technology and belonging
“Jewish tradition teaches that we should keep one note in each pocket: one that says, ‘For my sake the world was created’ (Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5) and the other, ‘I am but dust and ashes’ (Genesis 18:27),” writes Michelle Shapiro Abraham, executive director of JBI Library, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “When we feel alone or afraid, we take out the first. When we feel overly certain of our own importance, we take out the second. The teaching is simple and profound: our tradition calls us to live in tension, to hold competing truths and to resist the urge to collapse them into something easier.”
Balancing act: “We are living through a moment defined by accelerating technological transformation. Artificial intelligence, automation and rapidly evolving digital tools are not only changing how we work, but how we learn, connect and participate in community. For those of us committed to expanding access to Jewish life, this moment brings both extraordinary possibility and profound responsibility. I find myself imagining a new pair of notes for our time: in one pocket, ‘Technology is a gift — use it to expand what is possible.’ In the other, ‘Not everything meaningful is new — keep it simple enough for people to enter.’ The work is not choosing one over the other, but learning how to hold them both with intention.”
Worthy Reads
Wedge Issue: In The Times of Israel, David E. Bernstein (not to be confused with David L. Bernstein of the North American Values Institute) contends that the erosion of bipartisan support for Israel stems less from specific leadership and instead is a byproduct of the polarization of American politics. “His central argument is not that Israel lost Democratic support because of any one war, settlement announcement, or even because of Benjamin Netanyahu’s long and increasingly open alliance with Republicans. Rather, he argues that Israel became trapped inside the broader ‘great sort’ of American politics, the decades-long process by which nearly every politically salient issue gets absorbed into partisan identity… None of this means the old bipartisan consensus is likely to return in full… But the future is not necessarily one of total polarization either. Political coalitions shift. Leaders change. Moral boundaries still exist.” [TOI]
Merge, Baby, Merge: In the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Alex Daniels explores how nonprofit mergers are becoming a vital strategy for long-term sustainability and impact as competition for limited funding intensifies. “Consolidation can be a sensible choice, [Margot Brandenburg, a senior program officer at the Ford Foundation,] said, because the field of potential grantees has grown in the two decades since she became interested in impact investing, but the pool of available philanthropic funds has remained stagnant….Fewer charities — there are more than 1.9 million nonprofits and foundations in the United States — would mean less competition for donations and grants. That competition has become more intense over the past year as many charities that depend on federal support have seen those grants cut or reduced.” [ChroniclesofPhilanthropy]
Word on the Street
A “Concert for Hope and Unity” to aid Bondi Beach attack victims was scrapped after the Australian Hellenic Choir refused to perform alongside a Jewish choral group…
Internal Israel Defense Forces data shared with Haaretz reveal a spike in suicides among active-duty and reserve soldiers, leading to sharp criticism of the military’s decision to scale back psychological debriefing programs…
Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Politico’s parent company, Axel Springer, doubled down in defense of the German publishing giant’s corporate values while addressing criticism from Politico‘s editorial staff on Monday, suggesting to journalists that if they do not feel fully comfortable with a mission statement that includes support for Israel’s right to exist and other principles known as “the essentials,” they should find work elsewhere, according to audio of the discussion obtained by Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel…
A federal judge has granted the University of Pennsylvania a temporary stay blocking an EEOC subpoena that required the university to submit names and contact information of Jewish employees…
U.S. News & World Report interviewed Dr. Alan Kadish, president of Touro University, to discuss the recent launch of the school’s Antisemitism Institute…
Cleveland Jewish News reports that Yeshiva Derech HaTorah, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Cleveland Heights, has submitted a $7.5 million “stalking horse” bid to acquire the defunct Notre Dame College campus in South Euclid…
Anne Arundel County (Md.) Executive Steuart Pittman has declined to fund a security program intended to provide protection for synagogues and other religious institutions…
In a Jerusalem Post opinion piece, Gael Grunewald, vice chairman of the World Zionist Organization, responds to Haggai Segal’s “traitor” label for American Jews, contending that aliyah must be fostered through mutual respect and partnership rather than insults or ultimatums. Read more about the controversy here…
A coalition of pro-Palestinian organizations filed a formal complaint with the Canada Revenue Agency, targeting 11 Jewish day schools in Toronto and Montreal over their alleged ties to the Israeli military…
Globes reports that Israel’s Ministry of Transport has dropped its requirement for Wizz Air to operate during emergencies in hopes of incentivizing the airline to establish a permanent flight hub at Ben Gurion Airport…
In advance of Jewish American Heritage Month in May, the Center for Jewish-Inclusive Learning, a division of The Jewish Education Project, launched a digital portal to offer K-12 educators in public and independent schools a resource for teaching about the Jewish experience…
Ittai Gradel, the Israeli-born antiquities dealer who exposed the major theft scandal at the British Museum, died at 61…
Rabbi Leibel Alevsky, a major Chabad figure who established a network of over 20 Jewish outreach centers in Cleveland, died last Monday at 86…
Norman Cohn, chairman emeritus of the Advertising Specialty Institute, who helped shape the modern promotional products industry, died on Friday at 93…
Major Gifts
Harvard Hillel received a $1 million donation to support its Harvard College Israel Trek program; half of the gift has already been paid, the rest will be paid out over the next five years, the organization told eJewishPhilanthropy…
The Harold Grinspoon Foundation, in partnership with Big Y and the Davis Foundation, has awarded grants of up to $2,500 to 128 Western Massachusetts farmers. This brings the program’s total regional investment to over $2 million for essential infrastructure and equipment upgrades…
Pharmaceutical executive Marvin Samson pledged $1 million to the Temple University School of Pharmacy to establish the Marvin Samson Scholars Program. This initiative will provide $25,000 annual scholarships to high-achieving pharmacy students with demonstrated financial need.
Transitions
Deganit Sanker-Lange is returning as director-general of Israel’s Immigration and Absorption Ministry, after serving in the role in 2022-2023…
Rotem Rosenzweig Sima was named chief operating officer at 8400 The Health Network…
Pic of the Day
Representatives from EarlyJ, the Bay Area-based Jewish early childhood education program, present a $15,000 check on Friday to Heidi Kallen, an educator and gardening specialist at Gan Ilan Preschool at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, Calif.
Kallen received the prize, alongside Nika Greenberg, the senior director of early childhood education at Temple Emanu-El Preschool in San Francisco, as part of EarlyJ’s annual Impact Award, which will be officially presented at a ceremony on May 12. The $15,000 prize is split, with $10,000 going to each educator directly and $5,000 allocated for an initiative at their preschool.
Birthdays
Israeli-born, NYC resident, stand-up comedian, actor and sometimes chazzan, Modi Rosenfeld turns 56…
Nobel Prize-winning economist, professor emeritus at MIT, known for his analysis of Social Security policy, Peter Diamond turns 86… Co-founder of the NYSE-traded homebuilding company Toll Brothers, Bruce E. Toll turns 83… Retired U.S. senator (D-MI), she completed her 24 years in the Senate in 2025, Debbie Stabenow turns 76… Marcy Smith… Comedian, actor, writer, producer and director, he is best known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the sitcom “Seinfeld,” Jerry Seinfeld turns 72… London-born actor with three Academy Awards for best actor, knighted at Buckingham Palace in 2014, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis turns 69… Sportscaster, best known as the radio and television play-by-play announcer for MLB’s New York Mets, Gary Cohen turns 68… Co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, Marc Bernays Randolph turns 68… Israeli diplomat, she was Israel’s ambassador to Latvia and then to Ireland, Lironne Bar Sadeh turns 67… Former NYC comptroller, he ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 2021 and 2025, Scott M. Stringer turns 66… CEO and chairman of 20th Century Fox until its acquisition by Disney, Stacey Snider turns 65… CEO of the United Democracy Project, Rob Bassin… Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, he is the author of many books including Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely turns 59… NY-based award-winning artist who works with sound, kinetics, optics, magnetism and other materials to make sculptures and photographs, Julianne Swartz turns 59… Film and television actor, Paul Adelstein turns 57… Executive at a NYC-based investment management firm, Bennett J. Schachter turns 51… Former minister of environmental protection in Israel, Tamar “Tami” Zandberg turns 50… SVP of the Leon Levine Foundation and director of operations for the Levine family office, Justin Steinschriber… Israeli model and actress, she has appeared in many American movies, TV shows and advertisements, Bar Paly turns 44… Director of the office of government relations at the Smithsonian Institution, Anne Brachman… Commercial, industrial and residential real estate developer in the Mid-Atlantic region, Samuel A. Neuberger… Leader of public affairs for New York at Success Academy Charter Schools, Daniel Mitzner… Head of growth at Cyberint, a Check Point company, Gemma Goldstein…. Baseball pitcher for Team Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Jonathan de Marte turns 33… Surfer, she represented Israel at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, Anat Lelior turns 26…
