Current Commissioner and Former Mayor of Broward County, Florida, Dale V.C. Holness speaks at a candlelight vigil presented by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, at Sunshine Cathedral MCC, honoring the millions of individuals who have died from COVID-19, on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness touts a number of advantages that should strongly position him in the crowded special House primary in Florida’s 20th congressional district to replace the late Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, including what he claims is a posthumous endorsement from Hastings himself. Though Hastings never publicized his support, nor does he appear to have put it in writing, Holness, 64, says the congressman, whom he described as a mentor, “was ready to get his voice out there” before he died in April. “I certainly have great shoes to fill,” Holness said in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel. “Not saying that I’ll fill them, but I’ll do everything I can.”

Eye on Israel: For Holness, that means upholding the congressman’s commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship. If elected, “I will continue his leadership and follow in his footsteps,” Holness writes in an Israel position paper, explaining his support for the country through the prism of advancing Black-Jewish relations — a cause to which Hastings was also dedicated. “Jewish Americans and African Americans share histories of slavery and emancipation,” says Holness, a Jamaican-born real estate broker and longtime county commissioner. “Similarly, the United States and Israel have shared histories of being places of refuge.”

Trade mission: Holness visited Israel in 2019 on a trade mission during his tenure as vice mayor of Broward County, noting that he read Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle in preparation for the trip. “Folks might not realize how Jews and Muslims and Arabs live side by side in Israel unless you go and see that,” he told JI. “Not saying that the Palestinians don’t have some serious issues in terms of the difficult conditions in which they live. But part of that, I believe, goes through leadership.”

On the issues: Holness rejected the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, and supports public efforts to divest from companies that engage in the practice, such as Florida’s recent decision to enforce anti-BDS legislation by placing Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, on a list of “scrutinized companies that boycott Israel.” He also supports the continuation of U.S. military assistance to Israel, and supports legislation giving Israel $1 billion in supplemental aid to replenish its Iron Dome missile-defense system.

Voter outreach: Holness leads the 11-way field in outside campaign contributions, so far pulling in $575,000, according to a campaign spokesperson, and he argues that his on-the-ground voter-engagement strategy remains unmatched in the 20th Congressional District, which includes Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. “I believe that’s how the race will be won,” he said. “It will be won with who has the most outreach directly to the people, and we’re there. I mean, I’m in church every Sunday. I’ve been to the Chabad. I’m reaching out across all lines.”

Read the full interview here.

The former residence of the Israeli ambassador to the United States

When Israel’s new ambassador to the United States lands in Washington early next month, he will be greeted by a vacant lot where the official Israeli residence once stood. Incoming Ambassador Michael Herzog will move into a rental property in Washington, D.C., close to the Israeli embassy, a source with knowledge of the arrangement told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch and Ruth Eglash.

More than a house: The official residence on Chesapeake Street Northwest, in the Forest Hills neighborhood, owned by the Israeli government, is in a prime location near the residences of ambassadors from countries including Kuwait, Iraq and Italy. It was also a historic building that housed every Israeli ambassador since the 1960s, including Yitzhak Rabin. The house was abandoned in 2013, when former Ambassador Michael Oren returned to Israel, and in recent years was torn down. ​​“The ambassador’s residence is not a house, it is a facility. It is a crucial facility that is in constant use to host attaches, diplomats, members of the administration and the press,” Oren told JI on Tuesday.

Termites in the walls: But Oren described the house as being “in decrepit condition.” “There were termites and mold,” he said, recalling waking up one morning to an entire floor covered in termite larvae. “Walls would crack and a terrible smell would emanate from inside, part of the roof caved in.” According to Ynet, Oren’s replacement, the Sabbath-observant Ron Dermer, requested not to live in the residence, partly because it was too small to house his five children and also because he wanted a place closer to an Orthodox synagogue in Maryland. Oren said it was also because of the state of the house. “He was afraid for his kids’ health.”

Rotten structure: Asked why the process of repairing or rebuilding the residence has taken so long, Oren said it was a symbol of how the Israeli Foreign Ministry operates. “The rot in the walls of the residence mirrors the rot in the structure of the Foreign Ministry.” A 2017 Haaretz report said Israeli government officials eventually concurred with Oren, deeming the house uninhabitable, but it took three years after he left for the Israeli government to file a request for demolition with the Washington, D.C., government, and the process remains incomplete. The house has now been demolished, and a new one is expected to be constructed within the year. “It’s not good to have a razed building,” said Aviva Kempner, a Jewish film producer who lives a few blocks from the official residence. “But more importantly, it’s good for the status of Israel to be there with all the countries that are in that area.”

Read more here.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is seen in the Senate Reception Room before the fifth day of the Senate Impeachment trials for former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill on February 13, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

Senate Democrats have included $1 billion in supplemental aid to Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system in their proposed 2022 defense appropriations bill released on Monday afternoon, an alternative path to passing the Iron Dome funding amid stalled efforts to pass it independently, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Backup plan: A source close to the Senate Appropriations Committee members told Jewish Insider that the appropriations process is a “backup plan” to efforts to pass the funding on the floor, and does not foreclose the possibility of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) filing cloture on the bill — a process to limit debate and move toward a vote on a measure — to push past Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) objection and hold a floor vote. But, the individual said, Democrats believe the appropriations legislation will put further pressure on Republicans to push Paul to lift his hold and allow the funding to pass more quickly. A Senate floor source told JI that Democrats will be “taking the [Republicans’] temperature this week” following this announcement.

Alternatives: “If Senator Paul continues blocking swift passage of the Iron Dome supplemental, we will pursue other means, including the appropriations process to get it done,” Schumer explained to JI.

On the clock: Neither the cloture path nor the appropriations path would be speedy. Cloture consumes floor time, and Democrats are facing looming deadlines on several high-priority measures including infrastructure, social spending, government funding and the debt ceiling. It’s unclear when or if the defense appropriations bill will come to a vote, given the Senate’s packed schedule for the remainder of the year and Republican opposition to the Democrats’ government funding plans.

Crackdown: Like the House, the Senate proposal places a raft of new conditions on U.S. aid to Egypt, tying $300 million of the more than $1.4 billion in proposed aid to steps to improve human rights in the country. While the secretary of state can waive the conditions on most of this aid, $75 million is tied to conditions related to curtailing arbitrary detentions and prisoner mistreatment that the secretary cannot waive.

Read more here.

Senators stand and applaud support staff before the final vote on the Senate version of the COVID-19 relief bill in the Senate on March 6, 2021.

Senate Democratic leaders followed the House’s lead in holding Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) funding steady at its 2021 level and increasing Palestinian aid by $150 million in 2022 budget proposals released Monday afternoon, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Holding: The NSGP — which provides nonprofits and religious groups with funding to enhance their security — received $180 million in 2021. The decision to maintain the current level comes even though the program was able to fund less than half of the grant applications received in 2021, and amid a spike in hate crimes over the last year.

Not giving up: Advocates for increased funding — who had largely coalesced around $360 million as the appropriate funding level for 2022 — say they’ll keep pushing for more. “I will continue to work with Senate leadership to ensure that Congress allocates increased and robust resources for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program this year,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) told Jewish Insider. “As made clear by the alarming uptick in antisemitic incidents in recent months, there is an urgent need to provide vulnerable Jewish institutions with physical security enhancements.”

Not over yet: A source close to the appropriations process told JI that the funding level could be increased in final negotiations between the House and Senate, but that ensuring the NSGP received funding in both the House and Senate bills was a critical first step.

Read more here.

Looking abroad: The Palestinian aid proposal is $40 million more than President Joe Biden’s budget request, but well short of the $1 billion for Gaza alone that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) requested in a recent letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Also included: The Senate also included a new oversight provision, supported by J Street, requiring that the secretary of state meet with countries receiving U.S. military aid to ensure compliance with U.S. law and national security policy. The provision has been framed by some proponents as an initial step toward limiting the ways in which Israel uses U.S. aid, although opponents of conditioning aid dispute that premise.

Read more here.