Then-Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Eitan Naeh gives a speech during his first reception in Ankara, Turkey on December 5, 2016.

Less than a month after presenting his credentials to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Israel’s ambassador to Bahrain, Eitan Na’eh, is still marveling at his new surroundings. The longtime Israeli diplomat, who was famously expelled from Turkey in 2018, some days cannot believe that he represents his country in an Arab kingdom that less than two years ago had no formal ties with Israel. “I sit here in Manama and look outside to a beautiful view of the [Persian] Gulf, and I am still pinching myself,” Na’eh told The Circuit’s Ruth Marks Eglash in a recent interview. “I feel lucky to work in these countries.”

Business focus: “From the first day I landed here, I found myself sitting in homes and living rooms with people from all over the region – Iraqis, Saudis, Kuwaitis, Lebanese and Palestinians – and they all told me, ‘Enough, let’s put our political disagreements aside and do business; that in its place will calm things down,’” Na’eh told The Circuit from Manama. While Na’eh, who will be in Bahrain for the long term, is focused on developing economic and trade ties between the two countries, he is also well aware of the kingdom’s regional and geographic value as a country that sits in the Persian Gulf just off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

Gateway to the region: “We are looking at Bahrain as a gateway to the region, to the East, and from the East to Israel,” he said. Aside from the lucrative financial opportunities, including in tourism — Na’eh said direct flights from Tel Aviv to Manama will begin in a few months once the Omicron strain of COVID-19 subsides — Israel has indicated that it would like to see Saudi Arabia, the most powerful country in the region, joining the accords.

Saudi Arabia next: “What I’ve learned since coming here is that Bahrain and Saudi enjoy a very close and amicable relationship, and I hope we will find an opportunity to cooperate with them,” Na’eh said. “Israel is obviously open to such cooperation — economic, financial, trade and investment.” Na’eh told The Circuit that he hears more and more people in the region asking when such relations will be formed between their countries and Israel. It is “bound to happen” eventually, he said of Saudi Arabia.

Read more here.

Massachusetts State Senator Eric Lesser

At the end of the Seder on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, the then-senator said to a group of Jewish staffers at a Pennsylvania Sheraton, “Next year in the White House.” And it happened: For the eight years of Obama’s presidency, those staffers continued to meet in the West Wing for a Seder. But by 2016, the group had grown and changed. Younger staffers like Eric Lesser, one of the Seder’s organizers and Obama’s baggage handler on the campaign, now brought spouses and children. Lesser had finished a stint working in the White House, graduated from Harvard Law School and was serving as a Massachusetts state senator; like a good politician, he showed up to the 2016 seder with something local — shmurah matzah made in Massachusetts. Now, as a candidate for lieutenant governor in Massachusetts, Lesser has more on his plate than handling bags and planning a Seder, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Campaign focus: ”I think that there’s a collective feeling in Massachusetts that it’s a great place to live. People are very proud of Massachusetts and our reputation as being leaders on so many issues,” Lesser, 36,told JIin a recent interview at a café in downtown Boston. “But it’s really hard to live here,” he said, citing the high cost of living. “And that’s going to be the heart of my campaign.”

Survey the field: Lesser, a Western Massachusetts native, enters the race as a four-term state senator, first elected in 2014 at age 29 — then the youngest state senator in Massachusetts. He has joined a crowded field of Democrats vying to become the state’s second-in-command. The Democratic frontrunner for governor is Attorney General Maura Healey, who officially entered the race last week after months of speculation.

Tikkun olam: Growing up, Lesser’s family was active in a local Reform synagogue, and that’s where Lesser’s interest in social justice and political advocacy was kindled. He participated in a Black-Jewish dialogue with a local Baptist church, and as a member of his synagogue’s NFTY youth group, he was involved in campaigns with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. In 2002, as a high school student, he traveled to Washington to join a pro-Israel march on the National Mall that drew tens of thousands of participants at the height of the Second Intifada.

Man on hand: “He was upbeat, positive, friendly, obviously bright and inquiring,” David Axelrod, a senior advisor and close friend to Obama, who hired Lesser as an assistant when Obama became president, told JI. “He always got our bags to the right place at the right time, so I figured he could probably get me to the right place at the right time in the White House.” His job was to make sure Axelrod could keep everything together. Not infrequently, he had to draw upon his knowledge of stain removal. “I’m not the most fastidious person in the world. I’m famous for spilling stuff on myself,” Axelrod admitted. “Eric always kept club soda nearby. He would race in there like a volunteer fire department, because I’d have to go on TV or I’d have to be somewhere and, you know, having a big block of oatmeal on my jacket was not desirable.”

Fighting intolerance: Combating hate crimes and bias incidents has been a priority for Lesser, who helped create a nonprofit security grant program in Massachusetts, modeled off a similar program at the federal level. The program began with $100,000 in 2018. Four years later, the program has $2.1 million to award to “nonprofits at risk of terrorist or hate violence: LGBTQ organizations, African American churches, mosques, synagogues and religious centers,” he explained.

Read the full interview here.

In the background the Israeli Iron Dome missile defence system (L) intercepts rockets (R) fired by the Hamas movement towards southern Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, and on foreground tens of other intercepts rockets (RR) fired by the Hamas while the Iron Dome is busy with the first rockets, as seen in the sky above the Gaza Strip overnight on May 16, 2021.

With the next government funding deadline just weeks away, a bipartisan group of 106 House members is pushing to ensure that supplemental Iron Dome funding is included in any final spending package, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Applying pressure: The lawmakers penned a letter, obtained by Jewish Insider, to Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX) urging them to ensure that the $1 billion Iron Dome supplement — which the Senate has proposed including in the 2022 defense appropriations legislation — remains in the final bill negotiated by the House and Senate. The letter comes amid difficulties passing the supplement as a standalone bill.

Stay the course: “We strongly support providing the full $1 billion for the Iron Dome replenishment,” the letter, organized by Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), reads. “We hope that as you negotiate with the Senate on FY2022 appropriations, the $1 billion in supplemental funding that the Senate included is maintained.”

Making tweaks: The letter also requests that language be added “to ensure U.S. co-production is employed to the maximum extent practicable.” The Iron Dome missile-defense system is jointly produced by the U.S. and Israel, and similar language is included in the defense funding bill relating to the $500 million in missile-defense aid set to be provided to Israel in 2022.

Read more here.

Elsewhere: Former House candidate Evelyn Farkas, a Department of Defense official under former President Barack Obama, suggested to Politico that the Biden administration “equip the Ukrainians with an Iron Dome defense system or Patriot missiles” as protection against a potential Russian invasion.

Reps. John Katko (L) and Bill Pascrell (R)

Following the recent hostage standoff at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, members of the House are making a renewed push for increased funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and John Katko (R-NY) are asking fellow lawmakers to sign onto a letter requesting increased funding for the NSGP, which provides nonprofits with financial support to improve their security, according to a copy of the request and letter obtained by JI.

Quotable: “As you finalize the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, we respectfully ask you to fund NSGP at a level that reflects increased risks to the nonprofit sector,” the letter reads. “[Charities and faith-based organizations] often cannot alone shoulder the investments required to deter, detect, and prevent violent extremist attacks. For this reason, and in recognition of the increased threat environment under which these organizations must navigate, we respectfully encourage you to increase the NSGP funding in FY2022.”

Joining forces: The letter, addressed to Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX) as well as Homeland Security Subcommittee Chair Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Ranking Member Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), follows a similar one sent Friday by five senators to the leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Pushing ahead: “What happened in Texas last week was one more blaring alarm bell to the five-alarm fire of antisemitism. It is one of the pillars of our country that our neighbors will be absolutely secure in their houses of worship, and we must help Jewish Americans feel safe today in their synagogues,” Pascrell told JI. “For years we have been pushing to provide greater resources to nonprofit institutions across America and have been successful growing the pot from $10 million to $180 million. But we must redouble our efforts because the threat of domestic terrorism has not abated but grown. This funding will save lives and secure houses of worship.”

Rewind: Pascrell and Katko brought together 145 members for a letter in May 2021 that supported $360 million in funding for the program for 2022, double the current funding level. This new letter does not offer a specific funding recommendation.

Read the full story here.