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Month	Stories	All outlets
February 2026	1	81
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July 2026	0	none collected
August 2026	0	1 (collection gap)
September 2026	0	598

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Democrat39% · 7 pairs
Republican28% · 5 pairs
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Articles served from jta.org

US Senate Democrats seek sanctions on those facilitating controversial West Bank settlement project

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... A slate of U.S. Senate Democrats, led by staunch Israel supporter Chris Coons, is seeking to sanction individuals and businesses linked to a controversial settlement expansion in the West Bank. The massive E1 project, which would add 3,401 housing units e

Sep 24, 2026

US Senate Democrats seek sanctions on those facilitating controversial West Bank settlement project

Sep 24, 2026

US Senate Democrats seek sanctions on those facilitating controversial West Bank settlement project

Sep 24, 2026

Rama Duwaji apologizes for old posts, but not for likes praising Oct. 7 ‘resistance’

A version of this piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Rama Duwaji apologizes for old posts, but not all of them In an interview with the arts magazine Hyperallergic, first lady Rama Duwaji apologized for old, uncovered social media posts, which included language like the n-word and use of the word “gay” in derogatory ways. Duwaji said that being 15 years old at the time “doesn’t excuse it” and that she is “truly sorry.” Duwaji did not, however, address the more recent Instagram posts that she liked which celebrated Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Kathy Hochul doubles down on ‘buffer zone’ legislation Gov. Kathy Hochul once again expressed her support for statewide legislation yesterday that would create 25-foot buffer zones around houses of worship. Hochul’s comments came a couple of weeks after a similar, albeit less aggressive NYC-specific bill passed with a supermajority — and as Mayor Zohran Mamdani weighs whether to veto a bill insulating educational institutions from protests. Hochul announced an additional $70 million in funding for the state’s Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program. The latest in NY-17 In New York’s heavily Jewish 17th Congressional District just outside the city, Bedford County’s Democratic committee endorsed Beth Davidson, the Jewish moderate who has led in recent polls. The Democratic primary’s winner will challenge Rep. Mike Lawler in November. Meanwhile, Westchester Democrats reportedly declined to endorse a candidate because neither Davidson nor Cait Conley, the other frontrunner, received enough votes. Effie Phillips-Staley, the staunchly pro-Palestinian candidate polling third, withdrew her name from committee consideration, citing what she said was an unfairly negative response by the committee to her West Bank trip and interview with Hasan Piker. Progressive Jewish org endorses pro-Palestinian candidates Left-wing organization Jews for Racial and Economic Justice issued five new endorsements yesterday under its political arm, the Jewish Vote. One of its endorsees is David Orkin, a Jewish democratic socialist and immigrant workers’ rights attorney running for State Assembly in the 38th District in Queens. Orkin has been a member of anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, and started the Tuscon, Arizona, chapter back in 2013. He’s running against incumbent candidate Jenifer Rajkumar, an Eric Adams ally who was endorsed by the new group, ActJew. Also among JFREJ’s endorsees is Aber Kawas, a Palestinian-American community organizer who worked with Mamdani’s office while he was in the State Assembly. Kawas, who’s running for Assembly in the 34th District in Queens, helped develop Mamdani’s “Not on our Dime” legislation, a failed bill aimed at blocking nonprofits from funding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Kawas has said she wants to “bring the issue of Palestine into local office.” The group also endorsed Eon Huntley, a retail worker and member of the Democratic Socialists of America who is running for a second time for New York State Assembly in the 56th District in Brooklyn after narrowly losing to Stefani Zinerman in 2024. Brad Lander praises donation from Ms. Rachel Former city comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in his Manhattan and Brooklyn district, praised a $3,500 donation to his campaign by Ms. Rachel, the children’s YouTube personality whose outspoken pro-Palestinian advocacy has drawn criticism from parents and antisemitism watchdogs. Lander, who has attacked Goldman’s support for Israel and ties to AIPAC, called Ms. Rachel the “Mr. Rogers of our time,” adding that he was “really proud to see this donation come in.” “The world needs more Ms. Rachels, radiating kindness & empathy in a time of such darkness & cruelty,” Lander wrote in a post on X. “She’s standing up for children everywhere and fighting for the future that every one of them deserves.” Mahj Madness On June 28th and 29th, our partners at Kveller are hosting the biggest Jewish mah jongg festival ever — and you’re invited. All experience levels are welcome; get tickets and more info here. -- The post Rama Duwaji apologizes for old posts, but not for likes praising Oct. 7 ‘resistance’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Apr 16, 202611 votes

Rama Duwaji apologizes for old posts, but not for likes praising Oct. 7 ‘resistance’

Apr 16, 20269 votes

Jewish protesters arrested outside Schumer’s office while calling for US to ‘stop arming Israel’

JVP protesters arrested outside Schumer and Gillibrand’s offices Roughly 300 New Yorkers protested outside the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand yesterday, calling for the U.S. government to “stop arming Israel.” Over 90 were taken into police custody. The protest, led by anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, was held as the U.S. Senate is expected to vote later this week on a Bernie Sanders-led resolution that the Vermont senator said would halt the sale of “nearly half a billion dollars worth of bombs and bulldozers to the Israeli military.” Among the protesters were NY-13 congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who was also a Columbia encampment organizer, and Jewish actress Hari Nef. Sneako takes Greenwich Village Sneako, the streamer who is sharply critical of Israel and sang “Heil Hitler” during a video with Nick Fuentes, was filmed in the West Village reciting a chant used by Hamas. The chant, “Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud,” has been used at anti-Israel demonstrations, and recalls a series of 7th-century battles fought between Muslims and the Jewish community of Khaybar. Lander endorsed by IfNotNow Brad Lander, who’s running for Congress in NY-10, was endorsed yesterday by IfNotNow, the left-wing American Jewish organization that works to “end U.S. support for Israel’s apartheid system and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis.” “I am proud to receive the support of @IfNotNowOrg, which has been a clear, bold advocate for peace in Israel and Palestine,” Lander wrote. The group’s endorsement of Lander, who is Jewish, comes as the former city comptroller has hardened his stance on Israel, saying he would vote against Iron Dome funding. Survivors speak To commemorate Yom HaShoah, Yad Vashem USA Foundation and the Blue Card, a Holocaust survivor charity, are hosting a series called “Sip and Listen,” where Holocaust survivors tell their stories at cafes in different neighborhoods. Survivor Adrienne Petrook shared her story at Cafe Aronne on the Upper East Side yesterday, and will do so again at Patis Bakery on the Upper West Side today at 4:30 p.m. Welcome to the Hall The Manhattan Jewish Historical initiative will induct 11 new members to its Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame, in a ceremony held at Bryant Park on May 5. This year’s inductees include Council Speaker Julie Menin and entrepreneur Ari Ackerman. Speaking of Menin… The Jewish Council speaker and Mayor Zohran Mamdani have “been stoking an increasingly contentious feud that could end up hampering the mayor’s agenda,” Politico reports. Last month, Menin’s bill insulating houses of worship from protests passed with a supermajority, meaning Mamdani — who has expressed some concerns about the legislation — cannot veto it. -- The post Jewish protesters arrested outside Schumer’s office while calling for US to ‘stop arming Israel’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Apr 14, 202613 votes

Jewish protesters arrested outside Schumer’s office while calling for US to ‘stop arming Israel’

Apr 14, 20268 votes

Woman fired for calling Israelis ‘baby killers’ in Times Square raises $32K from fans

A version of this piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Hochul endorses Lasher Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Micah Lasher, the Upper West Side State Assembly member, in his run for Congress in the heavily Jewish district of NY-12. Following the Park East Synagogue protest last November, Lasher, who is Jewish, has led the charge on statewide “buffer zone” legislation, which Hochul has backed. The latest polls, which came more than a month ago, have Lasher in third and fourth place. Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s “100% half-Jewish” grandson, led in both. Nurse who yelled at Israelis gets online support Jennifer Koonings, the nurse who was fired after she filmed herself yelling at Israelis in Times Square, has now crowdfunded more than $32,000 since last week. The crowdfunding campaign, titled “support Jen’s free speech,” has drawn donations from 1,000+ supporters of Koonings, who called the men “baby killers” and “worse than Nazis.” Rosenberg v. Mr. Met Sid Rosenberg, the Jewish, right-wing firebrand radio host, has leveled accusations of antisemitism at a beloved public figure: Mr. Met, the New York Mets’ mascot whose head is a giant baseball. Rosenberg launched his attack on Mr. Met after Mamdani, whom Rosenberg has previously called a “cockroach,” posed for a photograph with the mascot. “Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse we found out today that Mr. Met is a raging antisemite!” Rosenberg wrote on X. No from Brad on Iron Dome After declining to give a definitive answer last week, Brad Lander said that he would vote against all military aid to Israel, including defensive aid for the Iron Dome. The pivot from Lander, who’s running for Congress in NY-10, came a week after progressive Congress members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna declared they’d vote against sending funding for the Iron Dome. In an interview with the New York Editorial Board, an informal group of veteran journalists, Lander also discussed the rise of antisemitism and attacks like the failed one on Temple Israel in Michigan, which he said he feels “really deeply.” One of the rabbis at Temple Israel was Lander’s co-counselor at a Jewish summer camp. days Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave his 100-day address Sunday evening, highlighting his early accomplishments on issues like childcare and filling potholes, and announcing new initiatives such as the first of five promised city-owned grocery stores. The event had a party-like vibe, according to our reporter Joseph Strauss, who was on the scene at the Knockdown Center, a concert venue in Queens. Attendees represented all manner of progressive groups, including Jewish organizations Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace. There were also attendees from the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg. The loudest applause of the night came at the surprise appearance of Bernie Sanders, the Jewish Vermont senator and democratic socialist, who joined Mamdani onstage to the sound of AC/DC and chants of “Bernie!” and “DSA!” Mamdani and Sanders’ remarks focused a fair bit on socialism, and how the word “socialist” is often used disparagingly. “Some say this is a radical idea,” Sanders said, referring to Mamdani’s city-run grocery store announcement. But Sanders pushed back, and alluded to the war in Iran in doing so. “What’s radical is starting a terrible war — that’s radical,” Sanders said. We remember Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, begins tonight. Congregations and communities around the city will hold commemorative events. Meanwhile, a global Holocaust film series is being held throughout this week, with screenings in all five boroughs of New York City, organized by the Claims Conference and the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Tonight at 7 p.m., our editor-at-large Andrew Silow-Carroll is moderating a virtual conversation with author Charlie Scheidt to discuss his memoir, “Inheritance: Love, Loss, and the Legacy of the Holocaust,” co-written with Kat Rohrer. Farewell Eliot Engel, a Jewish New York Democrat who served more than three decades in Congress and became one of the most prominent pro-Israel voices on Capitol Hill, died on Friday at 79. -- The post Woman fired for calling Israelis ‘baby killers’ in Times Square raises $32K from fans appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Apr 13, 202622 votes

In rallies taking on Israel, a defiant Hasan Piker boosts Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Outside, in a line that stretched around the block, the hundreds of people who turned out for Abdul el-Sayed’s campaign rally with Hasan Piker gave a range of reasons for showing up. Some said they liked el-Sayed’s message of Medicare for All, a key plank of the former county health executive’s bid for an open Senate seat. Some were furious about the war in Iran, which the candidate has angrily denounced. Others just liked the guy. “He’s a really great speaker and a really passionate person,” Natalie Gould, a master’s candidate in public health who had worked with el-Sayed in Detroit, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Inside, though, one issue made the crowd roar louder than any other: any time a speaker, from el-Sayed to Piker to the newly elected student body president, accused Israel of genocide. The progressive movement in which Piker has styled himself a kingmaker, one that is ardently pro-Palestinian while largely dismissive of any claims of antisemitism, was coalescing. “In the beginning it was a lot lonelier when we spoke out. They used the same exact heinous smear: They said, ‘You’re antisemitic,’” Piker told the crowd. “And back then I felt a lot lonelier. But I don’t feel lonely anymore.” Piker, the leftist Twitch streamer with millions of followers, was the evening’s biggest draw — and its biggest lightning rod. After el-Sayed announced the two would hold a pair of campaign stops together Tuesday, the streamer’s past clips and comments about Jews and Israel led numerous Jewish leaders and both of el-Sayed’s opponents to denounce the events. Some compared Piker to Nick Fuentes, the openly antisemitic far-right streamer who has divided Republicans. Leading Democrats called for the party to distance itself from Piker altogether. Hasan Piker looks on as U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed delivers a stump speech in Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 7, 2026. Piker, a popular Twitch streamer accused of antisemitism, prompted controversy for campaigning with El-Sayed. (Andrew Lapin/JTA) Pushback continued until just before the events started. An hour before the first rally, at Michigan State University, that school’s president and governing board issued a joint statement affirming their campus free speech principles while also condemning antisemitism. The school’s Hillel chapter had already called Piker a “known antisemite,” expressing concern about his appearance. At the next stop at the University of Michigan, el-Sayed told the crowd that the campus pro-Israel club Students Supporting Israel had planned to protest the event. But the group wasn’t visible outside the building, and the club’s Instagram page announced that its “March Against Extremism” had been “postponed,” which the group attributed to “extenuating circumstances” that it did not explain. El-Sayed leaned into the energy, embracing Piker onstage and mocking the negative attention the rally had received. The rally overlapped with President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to make concessions or “a whole civilization will die,” which led to a temporary ceasefire in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. “Apparently, the most important thing happening on Twitter was whether or not we were going to campaign with Hasan,” he told the crowd. “Somehow Fox News found it fit to cover this rally six f–king times and not talk about the fact the president wants to commit a genocide in Iran.” Also leaning in were the night’s other speakers, who were all being showcased on Piker’s livestream — where, during downtime in-between speeches, he bemoaned what he described as a bad-faith campaign to paint him as antisemitic. (He also said he’d been hoping to eat at Zingerman’s, a famous Jewish-style gourmet deli in Ann Arbor.) “I told Piker just now, I was like, ‘You’re never going to be canceled up in Michigan,’” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the House’s fiercest critic of Israel, said during her own stump speech. Rep. Summer Lee, of Pennsylvania, also delivered a speech, and Rep. Debbie Dingell, of Michigan, attended but did not speak. Candidates for local office also stood next to Piker, including Amir Makled, a candidate for the university’s Board of Regents who was the legal defense for the school’s student pro-Palestinian encampment movement. The crowd was young and diverse in age and race. While Piker received cheers when he shouted out his fans, some of the attendees told JTA they were more mixed on him, while others had little familiarity with his streams. But they all agreed he had juiced El-Sayed’s campaign. “I mean, there’s tons of people here,” Ann Arbor resident Joey Ryan said while queuing up for the over-capacity rally outside, gesturing behind him. “I remember the Joe Biden Michigan stuff, and it was not like this. I remember the Bernie Sanders rally in early 2020, and it was more like this.” Ryan said that Piker, like other streamers, operated in the “attention economy” space, where “saying inflammatory things sometimes can get you attention.” But, he said, “I also think it’s been blown completely out of proportion when you have the president of the United States calling Iranians non-human, as an example, to bomb them, and that includes the synagogue that was blown up in Iran today. Like, there are Jews in Iran as well. Is that not antisemitism?” “Some of the stuff he says is kind of crazy. I’m not going to lie, there’s some stuff he said that I disagree with,” another attendee, a current University of Michigan student who declined to give her name, said of Piker. Content creators, the student said, can “get out over their skis.” If anything, Piker and el-Sayed became more honed in on Israel as the day went on. At their first East Lansing stop, both made only a handful of comments about Israel and AIPAC. By the time they reached Ann Arbor that evening, the headliners had amped up their broadsides, with Piker referencing a new Pew Research Center study showing that 84% of Democrats under 49 have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Israel. “There’s only a handful of Democrats that are actually outspoken on this atrocity, outspoken on the relationship that we have with a foreign country that we simply always have to send unlimited billions of dollars to — a country that has health care, mind you,” Piker said. “You do not, but Israel has free health care.” The crowd booed at this line. (L-r) U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker pose during a rally for El-Sayed, April 7, 2026. (Andrew Lapin/JTA) As another rallying cry, he told them, “When you feel really sad, when you feel really angry, remind yourself of the worst fascist that you know. It could be Donald Trump, it could be Rabbi Shmuley. They’re going to be very excited if you stop fighting.” (Piker later told JTA that he was referring to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a pro-Israel Twitter gadfly who Piker said was “pro-genocide.”) The candidate, too, amped up his criticisms of AIPAC in particular. The pro-Israel lobby, which has poured millions of dollars into congressional elections, is facing a resolution of opposition from the Democratic National Committee this week. “AIPAC tells us that the number one goal of our foreign policy is to align with a foreign government,” el-Sayed said, to boos. “You know, when I talk about AIPAC, everybody says, ‘Well, it’s because you’re Arab Muslim.’ No it’s not. It’s because I’m f–king from Michigan, and I want my tax dollars back in Michigan.” He also joked that AIPAC ads against him might finally give him something he’s dreamed about. “The one thing you’re supposed to have, as an American Muslim, is a nice beard,” he said. “And I was never gifted with that. But for three months this summer, AIPAC’s going to give me the beard of my dreams.” At both campaign stops, El-Sayed, who grew up in a heavily Jewish Detroit suburb not far from Temple Israel, the synagogue that was attacked last month, also said he welcomed Jews to his movement. “All of us love and revere Jewish folk, our Jewish neighbors, the faith of Judaism,” he said in Ann Arbor, to applause. “Trust me, nobody will fight harder against antisemitism than somebody who intimately understands what it’s like to be discriminated against because of how I look.” He reiterated the point in an interview after the event. Supporters of Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed cheer Rep. Rashida Tlaib as she denounces Israel during a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that also featured Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, April 7, 2026. (Andrew Lapin/JTA) “I am so grateful I’ve grown up in a community with a large proportion of Jewish Americans. I learned a lot from the Jewish tradition. I’m grateful to have been invited to bar and bat mitzvahs and to be invited to Seders and to be invited to spend time at shul,” el-Sayed told JTA. “I stand deeply and profoundly against antisemitism in the same way that I stand deeply and profoundly against Islamophobia,” he added. “Those two things always run together. It is not antisemitic to criticize a foreign government, and it’s not antisemitic to criticize a super PAC that is intent on aligning our interests with the foreign government.” In the interview, the candidate also reiterated the sentiment behind his own statement on the Temple Israel attack, in which he had referenced the Israeli war in Lebanon. “I also think it’s just critical for us to understand that hurt people do hurt people, and the circumstances happening 6000 miles away can affect the lives that we live here,” el-Sayed said Tuesday. At the end of the rally, Piker climbed back onto the stage with El-Sayed to a standing ovation. The two men embraced, then posed for a selfie with the crowd behind them. -- The post In rallies taking on Israel, a defiant Hasan Piker boosts Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Apr 8, 202616 votes

In rallies taking on Israel, a defiant Hasan Piker boosts Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed

Apr 8, 20268 votes

AIPAC is targeting candidates who want to condition aid to Israel. Who has crossed its red line?

The flood of recent spending by a PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee against a Democratic congressional candidate in New Jersey had many observers scratching their heads: Why would the pro-Israel lobby go after someone who describes himself as pro-Israel, when there was a much more strident critic of Israel in the race? The PAC’s answer: Tom Malinowski had expressed openness to conditioning U.S. aid to Israel — and that was now AIPAC’s red line. “We are going to have a focus on stopping candidates who are detractors of Israel or who want to put conditions on aid,” Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, said in an interview. The idea that U.S. aid to Israel should be contingent on Israeli behavior was long anathema to most American politicians, advocated only by the far left. But as the war in Gaza dragged on in 2024 and 2025, with Israel continuing its campaign despite the urging of two subsequent U.S. administrations, more lawmakers began to express openness to the idea. That shift sped up last summer as reports of starvation in Gaza spread, and politicians who’d never previously done so voted to block certain weapons to Israel. Longtime allies in Congress are crossing red lines again and again. The new U.S.-Israel war against Iran is inflaming the discourse once again. Now, with the November elections coming closer, a hobbled AIPAC is weighing which candidates to back across the country, even as an increasing number of politicians pledge not to accept their endorsement or their affiliated PAC’s money. Here’s a rundown of who might find themselves in AIPAC’s crosshairs, why, and what they’re saying about the pro-Israel lobby that’s become increasingly toxic among Democratic voters. Crossing a red line, but open to AIPAC support Rep. Adam Smith was endorsed by AIPAC in his most recent election cycle, but has since declared his support for conditioning aid to Israel. The Democrat from Washington state wrote last summer that the United States should “stop the sale of some offensive weapons systems to Israel as leverage to pressure Israel” if it did not take a handful of concrete measures, including implementing a Gaza ceasefire, stopping expansion of settlements in the West Bank and taking “serious steps” to reduce violence there. Smith, a member of Congress since 1997, will face a nonpartisan primary election in August before a November election between the top two candidates. His opponents include Kshama Sawant, a former Seattle City Council member running as an independent on a “working class, antiwar, anti-genocide” campaign. Sawant is in favor of ending all military aid to Israel, and has called its military campaign in Gaza “a new holocaust.” Smith is walking the tightrope between supporting Israel and criticizing its government and policies — and, by extension, distancing himself from AIPAC. “I don’t know what AIPAC is going to do in my race,” Smith told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a statement sent by his campaign manager. “I have certainly taken votes and positions that are the opposite of what AIPAC wanted. On the other hand, I still support the right of Israel to exist, and understand the threats that Israel continues to face from Iran, the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas among others.” Rep. Adam Smith, seen at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, has taken positions counter to AIPAC’s agenda. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) Smith added that Israel has a right to defend itself against those threats “even if I don’t always agree with how Israel chooses to exercise that right.” While Smith has taken positions counter to AIPAC’s mandate, he said he would still welcome support from its members. “I do have a number of constituents in my district who are active members of AIPAC,” Smith wrote. “I speak with them regularly and yes, I would welcome their support if they choose to offer it even considering where we disagree.” Illinois Rep. Jonathan Jackson is also among the vanishingly few Democrats to say publicly that they would still accept contributions from AIPAC. He also co-sponsored the Block the Bombs to Israel Act last summer, which would restrict the sale of certain U.S.-made weapons to Israel. Tom Malinowski, who served from 2019 to 2023 as a U.S. representative from New Jersey, lost a special election after an AIPAC-affiliated PAC poured millions into a negative ad campaign. (Stefani Reynolds/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Defying AIPAC, and taking their chances The list of politicians with pro-Israel voting records who are veering away from AIPAC’s stance is growing. It includes a number of politicians who haven’t publicly commented on whether they’d accept AIPAC contributions or an endorsement, but could become a target of its super PAC’s spending. Oregon Rep. Maxine Dexter was endorsed by AIPAC and benefited from more than $2 million in UDP spending last election. Nevertheless, she was one of 21 cosponsors of legislation accusing Israel of committing a genocide that was backed by anti-Zionist groups like Codepink and Jewish Voice for Peace. Dexter also cosponsored the unsuccessful Block the Bombs Act last September. In fact, a number of AIPAC’s 2024 endorsees signed onto the bill since it was rolled out in May, including California’s Robert Garcia, Oregon’s Suzanne Bonamici and Andrea Salinas, Sylvia Garcia in Texas and Steven Horsford in Nevada. Congresspeople with pro-Israel records and some past AIPAC involvement also voted yes on the Block the Bombs legislation, including California Rep. Mark Takano, who traveled on an AIPAC-affiliated trip to Israel and the West Bank in 2013; and California Rep. Jared Huffman, who also traveled to Israel in 2013 with AIPAC’s affiliated educational nonprofit. Both have regularly been endorsed by J Street, the liberal pro-Israel lobby, and not AIPAC. Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost voted yes on Block the Bombs, three years after writing in a position paper that conditioning aid to Israel “would undermine Israel’s ability to defend itself against the very serious threats it faces.” Other erstwhile pro-Israel politicians with increasingly critical stances on Israel have seemingly accepted that they, like Malinowski, could become the target of AIPAC’s spending. That includes Sue Altman, who’s running in New Jersey’s nearby 12th district. In 2024, Altman won the Democratic nomination in a different district as a pro-Israel candidate endorsed by Democratic Majority for Israel, a centrist lobbying group that often overlaps in its endorsements with AIPAC. Altman lost to AIPAC-backed Republican Thomas Kean Jr. in the general election. This year, according to audio leaked by Drop Site News, which has an anti-Israel bent, Altman said “a lot has happened” since 2024 and she is “going to be at least as left as Tom [Malinowski], if not more so” on aid to Israel. “And so I can only anticipate that AIPAC, if they did it in 11, they’re going to do it here in 12,” she said, adding that there “might be other PACs too.” Last month, she posted on X, “AIPAC and countless SuperPACs are destroying our democracy by polarizing and misleading the public.” Et tu, Senator? In the Senate, in a landmark indication of shifting sentiment, a majority of Democrats voted in favor of Bernie Sanders-led resolutions last July that would block the sale of certain weapons to Israel. The “yes” votes included eight senators who’d never previously voted to cut any aid to Israel: Jack Reed of Rhode Island; Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois; Patty Murray of Washington; Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware; Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland; Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who called himself “ardently pro-Israel” last year. Reed, who is running for reelection, and Klobuchar, who is mounting a bid for governor, face elections this year. One of Klobuchar’s opponents, community organizer Kobey Layne, says she would prevent the state’s pension systems from “investing in companies facilitating Israeli settlements or military supplies to Israel.” Delaware Sen. Chris Coons voted against Sanders’ resolutions. But Coons, who has previously spoken at AIPAC’s annual policy conference, said at an event last year he would be open to limiting weapons sales to Israel. “If there is no change in direction from the Israeli administration, for the first time I would seriously consider that,” said Coons, who added that he has never “voted to withhold weapons from Israel, from the IDF.” Coons is up for reelection with a primary in September. Meanwhile, not all of the “yes” votes have been seen as necessarily indicating a total shift on Israel. Alsobrooks’ vote to cut aid drew concern from some members of the Jewish community to whom she’d expressed her support for Israel on the campaign trail. But Ron Halber, CEO of the Greater Washington Jewish Community Relations Council, said at the time that he spoke with Alsobrooks and believed she was casting a symbolic vote on a bill that had no real chance of passing. “I don’t believe that this is a precursor to a fundamental shift on support for Israel,” he said. But for AIPAC, voting in favor of one of Sanders’ numerous Israel resolutions is grounds for an attack ad. Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, voted to block certain weapons sales last July, as well as in November 2024. AIPAC released an ad attacking Ossoff, plus other lawmakers who supported Sanders’ November 2024 resolutions. DMFI endorsed Ossoff in 2020, but neither it nor AIPAC has backed any candidate in this year’s race. AIPAC launched an ad campaign targeting a group of senators, including Jon Ossoff, who’d voted in favor of a Bernie Sanders-led resolution to limit weapons sales to Israel. (Screenshot via YouTube) You can’t fire me; I quit Cognizant of AIPAC’s worsening public image, a growing number of moderate Democrats say they’ll refuse any campaign donations from the group. One of those candidates — North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee — eked out a primary win last week by less than 1% of the vote. Foushee had been a prominent recipient of AIPAC support in 2022, benefiting from more than $2 million in spending by UDP. Her opponent, Nida Allam, was a Bernie Sanders-backed politician who accuses Israel of committing genocide. AIPAC’s enemies smell blood in the water. Although Foushee says she will not accept AIPAC contributions during the 2026 campaign, the Working Families Party sent out a fundraising email in February in support of Allam, saying their candidate was “up against AIPAC and crypto billionaires.” (In her 2022 campaign that initially won her the House seat, also against Allam, Foushee was backed by pro-Israel PACs, including AIPAC, and a PAC primarily funded by Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur who has since been convicted of fraud. Foushee beat Allam by more than 9% that year.) Another North Carolina incumbent, Rep. Deborah Ross, has sworn off AIPAC donations for this year after having previously taken them. The same is true for Kentucky Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who said last year, “We no longer take AIPAC money.” Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton has gone a step further, saying he would return his approximately $35,000 in donations from AIPAC. Rep. Robin Kelly, who is running for US Senate in Illinois, swore off AIPAC funds and has shifted to a more critical stance toward Israel, including supporting the Block the Bombs Act and accusing Israel of genocide. Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar, who’s received AIPAC contributions, has done the same as Kelly. Rep. Valerie Foushee, a prominent recipient of AIPAC support in 2022, now says she will not accept AIPAC contributions during the 2026 campaign. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Other Democrats, such as New York Rep. Dan Goldman, have sworn off corporate PAC money altogether, including from AIPAC-affiliated PACs as well as DMFI, which recently released its first round of House candidate endorsements. Goldman has kept his AIPAC ties intact, however, and accepted its endorsement in his campaign against progressive challenger Brad Lander. It remains to be seen whether UDP will spend in districts like Goldman’s. While a candidate can refuse a contribution, independent ad expenditures may be made without coordination with campaigns. In some instances, those ads are positive and encourage viewers to vote for AIPAC’s preferred candidate. In the case of New Jersey, AIPAC’s “Anybody but Malinowski” pitch appeared to backfire when a harsh critic of Israel eked out a victory, and only added to the lobby’s growing sense of embattlement. -- The post AIPAC is targeting candidates who want to condition aid to Israel. Who has crossed its red line? appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Mar 10, 20265 votes

AIPAC is targeting candidates who want to condition aid to Israel. Who has crossed its red line?

Mar 10, 202613 votes

AIPAC is targeting candidates who want to condition aid to Israel. Who has crossed its red line?

Mar 10, 20269 votes

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Jewish figures on the far right are increasingly expressing concerns about President Donald Trump’s handling of an antisemitism rift among the Republican party, after its instigator Tucker Carlson reportedly visited the White House for the third time in weeks on Monday. The visit, reported by Punchbowl News journalist Jake Sherman, came days after his combative interview with Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, ignited antisemitism allegations and a diplomatic row with Arab leaders. After the interview Carlson also appeared on Saudi state-owned TV, during which he called Israel’s Gaza war a “land grab” and repeated his past claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “evil and destructive.” Carlson has ties with both Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where he has said he intends to buy property and has hosted high-profile events. Laura Loomer, a far-right Jewish activist, has staked out a warpath against Carlson’s continued welcome in the Trump administration.. “It seems like a suicide mission for any Christian or Jew who doesn’t idolize Hitler to keep donating to the GOP,” Loomer tweeted late Monday. In a follow-up, she wrote, “It’s like I woke up one day and 90% of the people I’ve come to know on the right over the last 10 years have morphed into different people.” Loomer’s explosion of anger and angst is significant because she has boasted of close ties to Trump and has appeared to hold some sway over White House hiring. In the past, when she has targeted administration staffers or potential hires, many have been spiked quickly. Now, as she raises alarms about Carlson and antisemitism on the right, the White House has remained silent. “It’s shocking that I have to say this, but the GOP has a major identity crisis right now, the GOP has a growing Jew hate and foreign influence problem, and the party seems to be in a struggle session with Neo Nazis who they aren’t explicitly rejecting,” Loomer tweeted. “My advice is for people to not donate at this time till we get clarity from the party on what the party’s position is on these issues.” Other Jewish figures on the far right, including radio host Mark Levin and pro-Israel activist Sloan Rachmuth, sided with Loomer against Carlson. “He should be condemned by the White House, not invited to it,” Levin tweeted. Carlson’s reported White House visit was one of several he has made since increasingly using his show to lean into friendly interviews with conspiracy theorists and white nationalists, including Nick Fuentes. Seen as a bellwether of conservative influence with close ties to Vice President JD Vance, Carlson’s broadsides against Israel and increasing embrace of antisemitic talking points have paralleled a similar rise in such sentiments among younger GOP voters, and caused serious concern among many Jewish conservatives. Huckabee himself, in damage control following his comments in the interview, has publicly urged the Trump administration to cut ties with his former Fox News colleague. “I hope they quit letting him into the White House because, quite frankly, this is a person who is doing serious, significant damage to President Trump and to the administration,” the ambassador told the Christian Broadcasting Network, hours before Carlson was spotted at the White House. At least one other Trump appointee has also spoken out to defend Huckabee and condemn Carlson. “Am I the ONLY member of the Trump’s [sic] Administration defending AND supporting Ambassador Huckabee?” Leo Terrell, chair of the Trump administration’s antisemitism task force, tweeted Monday. Following the Huckabee interview, the influential Israeli-American conservative activist Yoram Hazony said Carlson’s earlier visits to the White House had come at the invitation of Trump, who Carlson said was worried that the burgeoning antisemitism rift would drive voters to the Democrats in the midterm elections this fall. Hazony, whom Carlson mentioned in the video of his Huckabee interview, said Carlson had asked him for help mending fences but that he had come away unconvinced that Carlson wanted to make any changes. “I explained to him that I can’t do much to help him, because just about every Jew I know believes he’s been waging a savage campaign against Jews, Judaism, and Israel for the past 18 months — and that most think his aim is to drive Jews and Zionist Christians out of the Trump coalition and out of the Republican party,” Hazony wrote on X. Carlson requested Hazony set up a meeting with Netanyahu, Hazony claimed; he declined to do so. While at first Hazony said he was open to conversing with Carlson in the name of “building coalitions,” he has changed his mind. “In Tucker’s case, the private person turns out to be exactly who we’ve been seeing in public,” he wrote. “Whatever his motives for turning his podcast into what seems to be a circus of anti-Jewish messaging, right now that project is clearly more important to him than helping the administration keep its coalition together so it can govern effectively and win elections in 2026 and 2028.” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, condemned Carlson and praised Huckabee on Monday. He had previously said Carlson should not be invited to the White House. “Tucker Carlson has a long history of peddling antisemitic conspiracy theories and lies about Jews and the Jewish state,” Greenblatt tweeted. “His recent interviews continue to amplify hate and launder falsehoods. None of this is new. It’s just pathetic. I appreciate Ambassador @GovMikeHuckabee’s effort to engage in good faith and set the record straight. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised at the outcome.” Some non-Jewish GOP lawmakers have started to join their Jewish colleagues on the right in condemning Carlson, or antisemitism more forcefully. “I used to respect Tucker Carlson but after watching his interview of @GovMikeHuckabee I am appalled,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana wrote on X. “Tucker gave ample platform and time to Nick Fuentes to share his anti-Semitic vitriol, but constantly interrupted, was impatient, disingenuous, argumentative and disrespectful to Huckabee.” Stutzman added, “Carlson suggesting all ‘Jews’ do a DNA test in order to live in Israel is repulsive and smacks of ignorance regarding the oldest faith practice in the world combined with the worst kind of exclusionary prejudice and elitism.” In a slightly more coded message, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt tweeted Monday, “We must continue to call out and condemn antisemitism at every turn. Proud to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters at home and abroad.” Britt did not mention Carlson or Huckabee by name. By contrast, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, an established foe of Carlson’s who was also on the receiving end of a tough interview over Israel, has retweeted several pro-Huckabee and anti-Carlson posts following the interview. The Trump administration has not commented publicly on the interview or its backlash. Trump staffers have reportedly been working behind the scenes to assure Arab leaders that Huckabee’s comments during the interview, in which he suggested Israel has a divine right to much of the Middle East, do not represent official administration policy. The drama has raised a range of issues beyond the antisemitism rift, including the fact that Carlson’s son works for Vance and about Carlson’s relationships with Saudi Arabia and Russia, both of which are promoting interviews on state media about Carlson’s criticism of the Trump administration. Carlson is keeping up his streak elevating fringe GOP figures amid the controversy, posting a new interview Monday with outsider Iowa gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn. “We have a Christian form of government, but we have elected people that are not following that custom and religion in Christianity,” Lahn told Carlson in the interview. “And so you’re going to have a constitutional crisis. You’re going to have fraud all over the place.” For Loomer, the moment is existential for right wing-Jews. “The GOP has made it very clear over the last few years that Jewish voters on the right are not welcome, we are not appreciated, and we will not be given basic respect,” she tweeted. “There’s some elected officials in the GOP who would be ok with seeing Jews mass murdered,” Loomer continued, without naming names. “As a lifelong Republican, this is very alarming to me.” -- The post Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Feb 24, 20266 votes

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Feb 24, 20268 votes

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Feb 24, 202614 votes

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Feb 24, 202624 votes

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Feb 24, 202616 votes

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Feb 24, 20266 votes

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AIPAC is targeting candidates who want to condition aid to Israel. Who has crossed its red line?

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AIPAC is targeting candidates who want to condition aid to Israel. Who has crossed its red line?

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access

Laura Loomer and other Jewish conservatives sound alarm over Tucker Carlson’s White House access