Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined Jewish Insider’s “Limited Liability Podcast” co-hosts Richard Goldberg and Jarrod Bernstein to discuss the state of U.S foreign policy, including the withdrawal from Afghanistan, negotiations with Iran and the Biden administration’s plans to reopen a consulate in Jerusalem to handle Palestinian affairs.

Defending Taliban negotiations: Pompeo, who served as the country’s top diplomat from 2018-2021, defended the Trump administration’s Afghanistan policy, arguing that negotiations with the Taliban were aimed at forming a common understanding, not signing a binding document. “We did that all the time, knowing that a piece of paper mattered as a guidepost, but not as an operational document,” Pompeo said, “As we began to deliver on President [Donald] Trump’s commitment to draw down our uniformed military personnel there in Afghanistan, we were always mindful we had multiple objectives, not the least of which was to ensure that the United States wasn’t attacked from that place again.”

Religious organization: Asked if the Iranian regime is a “rational actor,” Pompeo pointed to the fundamentalist rhetoric employed by the government. “This is a religious organization. They are on a religious jihad for the destruction of the State of Israel and the big devil [the U.S.] as well. The leaders are evil. This is ideological,” he responded.

Appeasement: “It is difficult to discern precisely what their [Middle East] policy is,” Pompeo said of the Biden administration. “You have to default to the idea that this administration, just like the Obama administration, actually believes that they can convince Iran to be a stabilizing influence in the Middle East. I think that’s crazy….Their policy looks to be that same one of appeasement, we can just buy them off, we’ll send them money and they’ll slow their nuclear program down. That is very dangerous for the State of Israel and is a danger for the Gulf state coalition that we built alongside of Israel to isolate Iran in a way that [it] had never been isolated before.”

Abraham Accords: Pompeo, who helped oversee the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020, said the Trump administration was close to convincing more countries to join before leaving office. “What will it take for the next nation to make that decision? For a capable leader to make the right choice for his country. They have to know that America is going to be supportive of that effort. And I don’t see the conditions for that today. We just talked about this administration’s Iran policy. It would be increasingly difficult for another country to sign onto the Abraham Accords, conceptually, when the United States is playing footsie with Israel’s archenemy.”

Palace intrigue: Asked about reported calls between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and a top Chinese military official in the closing weeks of the Trump administration, Pompeo described the calls as “nothing, per se, troubling.” But the former secretary of state characterized Milley’s admission that he would warn Beijing if the Trump administration decided to launch an attack as “mind-boggling,” adding, “If he undermined the president of the United States that way, he’s got to be fired, he should certainly resign himself. We need more clarity about what’s actually said.

Bonus: Favorite Yiddish word? “I think my son would tell you, it is kvetch.” How many bottles of ‘Pompeo’ wine [created for him by an Israeli winemaker] has he consumed? “I can’t tell you how much it meant to me. Because the State of Israel is such an important part of my life as a Christian evangelical. To think that someone would honor me in this way is just, you know, for me, that’s really something.”

Read more here and listen to the full episode here.

October could be a fateful month for the organized Jewish community as the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), the quasi-governmental organization with a budget of nearly $400 million that makes funding decisions on some of the thorniest issues in Jewish life, is slated to select its next executive chairperson. The politically charged race for the sensitive post of bridge-builder between Judaism’s often warring religious and political factions is already heating up, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.

Fierce competition: The previous head, Isaac Herzog, stepped down last July to become Israel’s 11th president, and the battle for his replacement is fierce, with a crowded and competitive field of nine candidates currently in the running. Jewish Insider spoke to each candidate about their vision and why they want to head the 91-year-old agency.

Prime minister of the Jewish world: “The head of the Jewish Agency for Israel is basically the prime minister of the Jewish world,” Michael Jankelowitz, a commentator on world Jewish affairs and JAFI’s former international media spokesman, told JI. “It is the most prestigious position after being president or prime minister of the State of Israel.”

Who decides? Deciding who will lead the agency, which was founded in 1929 with the aim of assisting and encouraging Jews worldwide to help develop and settle Israel, and take on the biggest challenges facing world Jewry today, is a 10-member selection committee representing the three factions that make up JAFI – the World Zionist Organization (WZO), the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and Keren Heyesod.

Jewish politics: “This is Jewish politics of the highest order,” observed Jankelowitz. “The Jewish Agency has changed a lot since its inception. It is no longer just about aliyah, but about recognition and acceptance of all the streams of Judaism, as well as unity of the Jewish people in every corner of the globe.” The post is also about being an effective fundraiser and manager of an often bureaucratic and bloated organization as it addresses the most potent challenges facing world Jewry. Whoever becomes the chairperson will be responsible for a core budget of some $365 million, including vast assets in Israel and abroad, as well as additional sums from the Israeli government for various targeted projects run jointly.

Read the full story and see a rundown of the candidates here.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) questions Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the CARES Act, at the Hart Senate Office Building on September 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.

A bill providing $1 billion in supplemental funding for Israel’s Iron Dome failed to progress in the Senate on Monday afternoon, after an extended exchange between Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rand Paul (R-KY) over Paul’s proposed amendment that would fund the replenishment with aid that had been originally designated for Afghanistan, Jewish Insider‘s Marc Rod reports.

Clash: On the Senate floor on Monday, Menendez requested unanimous consent on the bill — a procedure that would have fast-tracked the legislation, which passed the House on Sept. 23 by a vote of 420-9, with two “present” votes. Paul blocked the effort, which requires the unanimous support of the full Senate, insisting on an amendment to the bill that would see the funding come out of the $6 billion originally intended for Afghanistan. “There is no conceivable reason why anyone in this chamber, on either side of the aisle, should stand in the way of U.S. support for this life-saving defense to be fully ready for the next attack,” Menendez said, introducing the measure.

Flip side: “I think the American taxpayer dollars that pay for it should come from money that could go to the Taliban,” Paul said. “Only an economically strong United States can be a militarily strong ally of Israel.” Menendez objected to Paul’s amendment, arguing that U.S. aid would not go to a Taliban-controlled government and that the support would instead be provided through “highly vetted” non-governmental partners, among other programs.

Backlash: A range of pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC, Christians United for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) criticized the Kentucky Republican’s move. “Senator Paul, who is a friend of Israel, is objecting not because he doesn’t support the critical work of Iron Dome but because he wants to see additional budget cuts to offset the cost,” RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks told Jewish Insider. “We have communicated to the senator that we recognize his concerns, but no roadblocks should be put up to slow this critical funding for the life-saving Iron Dome.”

Gridlock: With neither resolution receiving unanimous consent, Senate Democratic leadership will now have to schedule floor time and a final vote on the bill, a move that could be delayed by the Senate’s ongoing standoff over the federal debt ceiling and scheduled recess next week. Senate Republicans are attempting to force Democrats to employ reconciliation — a procedure to circumvent the filibuster that requires significant debate time — to raise the debt limit. The government is expected to hit the debt ceiling on Oct. 18.

Read more here.

Bonus: Asked about her “present” vote on Iron Dome funding, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said the Democratic leadership’s messaging on the issue “sent many, many, many of our constituents into a panic” and that the quick process “created a very volatile environment back in the district.” She added that she felt her present vote “created a window of opportunity” in her district to discuss the issue. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), the only “Squad” member who voted in favor of Iron Dome funding, reportedly told a Jewish community leader that “in addition to it being a defensive system, he was concerned that a vote against the Iron Dome could be interpreted as license to kill Jews.”