Austrian police guards are seen outside of the Coburg palace during a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

A bipartisan group of House members, including 12 Democrats, sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday indicating plans to oppose the forthcoming nuclear agreement with Iran and expressing their concerns about some of the publicly reported provisions, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. They’re joined by several other House Democrats who expressed similar concerns about the deal to JI.

Red flags: Writing in the letter, obtained by JI, “from what we currently understand, it is hard to envision supporting an agreement along the lines being publicly discussed,” the members — 12 Democrats and nine Republicans — emphasize their concerns about the possibility of lifting both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and sanctions on members of the Supreme Leader’s inner circle.

Follow-up: The lawmakers requested a briefing from the administration within a week on a series of questions pertinent to the deal, explaining that their “support will be contingent largely on satisfactory answers to [those] questions.” Those questions include whether the deal will be presented to Congress for review, what sanctions will be lifted, what Iran’s breakout time under the agreement would be and whether Russia will gain economic benefits from the agreement. The questions also include whether Russia will be in a position to return Iran’s nuclear material if it determines the deal has been breached and how much money Iran will be able to access under the agreement.

Signing on: The letter was led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Elaine Luria (D-VA) and Tom Reed (R-NY). The other Democratic signatories were Reps. Juan Vargas (D-CA), Darren Soto (D-FL), Jared Golden (D-ME), Haley Stevens (D-MI),Vicente González (D-TX), Jim Costa (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Susie Lee (D-NV), Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY). Eight other Republicans — Reps. Peter Meijer (R-MI), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Don Bacon (R-NE), David Joyce (R-OH), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Fred Upton (R-MI) and Dan Meuser (R-PA) — also joined the letter.

But wait, there’s more: Other House Democrats have also expressed skepticism about the deal to JI. Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Lois Frankel (D-FL) and Kathy Manning (D-NC) have all told JI that they have concerns about reentering the deal as it existed in 2016.

Flip side: Other Democrats are staying mum for now. A spokesperson for Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) — who co-organized a letter from 70 Democrats and 70 Republicans last year calling for a broader agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles, terrorism and human rights violations — told JI on Wednesday that Brown “is looking forward to reviewing the finalized deal from the Biden administration and will have more to say once those details are public.”

Read the full story here.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Israeli President Isaac Herzog was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a military band playing Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikva,” at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 1,150-room presidential palace in Ankara on Wednesday. The visit — the first to the country by an Israeli leader in 14 years — is being touted by both parties as a first step in restoring diplomatic ties, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports from Ankara.

Presidential parley: Upon arriving in Ankara on Wednesday afternoon, Herzog, who was accompanied by his wife, Michal, laid a wreath at the tomb of the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, former President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and was greeted by Erdoğan in a special ceremony at the national palace. Following the official ceremony, the two leaders met privately, reportedly discussing ways to reignite bilateral diplomacy, enhance economic and trade ties between the countries, and also global and regional issues, including how to work together to end the conflict in Ukraine. The two presidents also discussed strategies for avoiding future disputes or tensions between their countries, a source involved in the talks told journalists.

An ‘important moment’: “This is a very important moment in the relations between our countries, and it is a great privilege for both of us to lay the foundations for the development of friendly relations between our countries and our people,” Herzog said. “The relations between our peoples are ancient, with strong historical, religious and cultural roots,” he continued. “A long line of exalted Jewish leaders, rabbis, poets, sages, merchants and entrepreneurs are part of this country’s history.”

U-turn: Arad Nir, foreign affairs commentator for Israel’s Channel 12 News and a longtime Turkey enthusiast, told JI that Herzog’s visit to Ankara was significant. “After years of attacks, accusing Israel of murdering Palestinians and killing Palestinian babies, this is a personal turnaround for Erdoğan,” said Nir. “The world is changing all around and Turkey must now rethink its regional position,” he added. “The Turks have now come to the conclusion that relations with Israel must change, especially because the route from Ankara to Washington goes through Jerusalem.”

Read the full story here.

Samantha Power administrator of USAID addresses representatives of civil society organizations.

The U.S. Agency for International Development announced the first funding grants on Tuesday from the Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, a new funding mechanism approved last year by Congress to provide funding for joint Israeli-Palestinian business ventures and people-to-people projects, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

First out: The first awards, announced in Jerusalem yesterday by USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman, will provide $3.3 million over four years to provide training, funding and mentorship opportunities to established and aspiring businesswomen, as well as $2.2 million over three years to support small and medium business enterprises and their leaders. The latter grant aims to build Israeli-Palestinian business partnerships and support Palestinian and Israeli trade associations.

In other news: Also on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced his selection of Dina Powell McCormick, a former deputy national security advisor to former President Donald Trump, for the 15-member board that advises the fund, which has been filled out over the course of the past several months.

Taking the lead: The board is chaired by George Salem, the co-founder of the Arab American Institute, who held positions in the Reagan and Bush administrations and served as a foreign policy advisor to Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) presidential campaign.

Join the team: The other members of the board, who have been announced over the course of the past eight months, are former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), New York City Central Synagogue Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, longtime GOP foreign policy advisor Elliott Abrams, environmental activist Rabbi Michael Cohen, Israel Education Association founder Heather Johnston, former AIPAC board member Harley Lippman, Taylor Force Act architect and businessman Sander Gerber, Palestinian attorney Hiba Husseini, former ambassador and USAID Administrator Mark Green, former Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and former Defense Department official Jen Stewart.

Read more here.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill March 9, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

Congress’ long-delayed 2022 omnibus government spending package, released and passed by the House on Wednesday, includes $250 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, as well as $1 billion in supplemental funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system, which had been stalled for months, and the Israel Relations Normalization Act, reports Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod.

Moving on up: The NSGP funding represents a boost of $70 million over the $180 million funding level for 2021, which both the House and Senate initially proposed keeping constant for 2022, despite a significant funding shortage in 2021. It falls short, however, of the $360 million Jewish organizations had called for.

Behind the scenes: Three sources, including Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that the $250 million funding level came as a result of a last-minute push on Monday and Tuesday for an additional funding boost. Negotiations, according to Diament, were still ongoing as of midday on Tuesday.  As of last weekend, the sources said, the bill contained between $225 million and $226 million in NSGP funding, which provides money for houses of worship and nonprofits to beef up security.

Key players: Sources said Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), John Hoeven (R-ND) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Lois Frankel (D-FL) and Grace Meng (D-NY) were among the lawmakers particularly involved in the negotiations over the past week.

Unfinished business: Also included in the bill is $1 billion in supplemental Iron Dome funding that had been stalled as a standalone measure in the Senate for months due to opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who had been demanding that funding be reallocated to Iron Dome from Afghanistan aid. The omnibus bill additionally includes the Israel Relations Normalization Act, which seeks to support and expand the normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. That legislation had been tied up in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who objected to language supporting a two-state solution.

Top up: The spending bill grants a significant aid increase to Palestinians, up to at least $219 million — $144 million more than was provided in 2021 and also more than President Joe Biden’s budget request.

Read more here.