Idit Silman

Israeli Knesset member Idit Silman made national and international headlines on Wednesday after abruptly resigning from her position in an already fragile ruling coalition, raising fears that Israel could soon be thrust into another cycle of parliamentary elections. While those who follow the country’s politics closely might be familiar with Silman, a 41-year-old lawmaker from Rehovot, others are asking about the woman now shaking up Israel’s political scene and what stands behind her decision to seriously weaken, if not topple, the current government, Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash reports.

Short term: Silman was first elected to the Knesset in 2019 as part of the Union of Right-Wing Parties, but quickly lost her seat when then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to form a government. A second election was called months later. In the follow-up vote, Silman’s party merged with a broader alliance of right-wing factions to form the current Yamina party, headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Silman won back a top place on the party’s list ahead of a third election in March 2021. Silman reentered the Knesset last April, going on to serve as the coalition whip, as well as chair of the Knesset’s Health Committee, among other positions.

Mounting pressure: As one of the more right-wing members of what is considered to be Israel’s broadest-ever coalition – the government includes ideologically conflicting parties and political voices – Silman has faced sharp criticism and pressure from the opposition to stand down for ideological reasons. Last November, she told journalists that she had received numerous offers from members of Netanyahu’s Likud party to defect.

At odds: Silman herself has regularly been at odds with decisions and policies promoted by the current coalition. In December, she visited the controversial anti-abortion organization Efrat, after Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, announced policy reforms relating to the abortion process in Israel. She has also been outspoken against the so-called “Western Wall deal,” which aims to create a pluralistic prayer space at the holy site.

Final straw: According to some Israeli media reports, the final straw for Silman came this week after Horowitz ordered hospitals to allow patients and visitors to enter with non-kosher food, or chametz, during the forthcoming Passover holiday. Bennett said Wednesday that Silman had been persecuted and harassed by Netanyahu’s supporters and by ultra-right lawmaker Bezalel Smotrich. “In the end, she broke,” he said.

Read the full story here.

Bonus: Haaretz’s Anshel Pfeffer considers the possible scenarios for Israel’s government following the announcement by MK Idit Silman that she is leaving the coalition.

Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) seen speaking during the American Conservative Union’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, MD.

There are many visits to Mar-a-Lago that offer a thumbs-up and high-wattage smile from former President Donald Trump as he anoints a candidate with a prized endorsement. But one such meeting late last year hosted by Trump at his Palm Beach, Fla., resort was more low-key and led to former Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) leaving without a deal — and a determination to run a U.S. Senate campaign his way. “If it were just about the attention I would probably have Trump’s endorsement,” Walker, who represented Greensboro in the state’s 6th Congressional District from 2015 to 2021, told Jonah Kaplan for Jewish Insider. “I would not be doing this unless there was a definitive path to victory.”

Overview: The 2022 race for the Senate seat to replace the retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), observers say, could be the most expensive Senate contest ever. The state primary itself, however, is already shaping up to be a heavyweight bout between Walker, Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), who represents the 13th Congressional District, former Gov. Pat McCrory and veteran Marjorie K. Eastman. The victor in the May 17 primary will be on the November ballot versus the presumptive Democratic nominee, Cheri Beasley, a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The Trump card: Trump has twice announced his endorsement of Budd, a three-term congressman and gun-shop owner from Winston-Salem. According to Walker, when redistricting combined Budd and Walker’s districts before the 2020 election, he withdrew his candidacy to allow for Budd to remain in Congress – knowing the Senate seat in 2022 would be up for grabs. After Budd announced his own candidacy for the 2022 Senate race, Trump, in a surprise move, announced he would endorse Budd at the 2021 NCGOP convention in June. Several months later, Budd had yet to build a comfortable lead in the polls, leading Trump and his team to think about getting more involved in the race. On Dec. 4, Trump welcomed Walker to Mar-a-Lago and reportedly offered him a deal: drop out of the Senate race and run for Congress instead — and enjoy the full endorsement from Trump and the fundraising that should come with it. Now, four months after that meeting, Walker continues to buck Trump and walk the tightrope of embracing the America First brand while maintaining an aura of independence. Simultaneously, Walker strives to buck polls, which find him in third place behind McCrory and Budd. A new poll from Emerson College released April 5 shows Budd earning support from 38% of respondents, McCrory with 22% and Walker at 9%. “I’ve never done anything in my life just to be the spoiler,” Walker told JI. “I’ve got more important things to do.”

Gotta have faith: As a student of the Bible and a former pastor, Walker maintains he’s well-versed in the significance of the Holy Land, but also claims a deep political and geopolitical understanding of the region. “I’m pretty set on my perspective,” Walker insisted. “To say that there’s as much wrong on the Israeli side as the Palestinian side, well that’s a slippery slope. That sounds like a good political talking point but it’s not factual.” Walker recalled a visit to Israel in 2016 and meetings with then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by a visit to Jericho, in the West Bank, to meet with Palestinian officials, the latter of which Walker said continues to haunt him. “He screamed at us about drinking the Israeli Kool-Aid,” Walker explained. “But when you raise your own children and teach them to hate another group – I’ve got a problem with that. I’ve got a problem with children being taught to be violent, and that should very easily be called out.”

Support system: North Carolina’s primary would have been held on March 8, if not for an order from the state Supreme Court, which halted candidate filing and ordered the General Assembly to redraw legislative districts amid concerns of gerrymandering. The added time has opened the floodgates for more spending, with Club For Growth, a political action committee supporting Budd, intending to spend up to $10 million in ads ahead of the rescheduled primary. McCrory, who initially led in polls but now trails Budd, is the only one of the four candidates to have won a statewide election (though he lost reelection in 2016 with Trump on the ballot). Mark Walker’s endorsements, according to his campaign, include Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. “We’re fully committed to this,” Walker said. “The polls don’t bother me and I’m not going to sit at a desk asking people for money. It matters for people to show up where they are, and I’m daggum proud to do it.”

Read the full interview here.

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, speaks on Iran negotiations on Capitol Hill, April 06, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

Eighteen House Democrats came together in a joint statement and press conference on Wednesday to voice concerns about the ongoing talks with Iran over its nuclear program, but left unclear whether they would all vote against a deal if or when it comes before Congress, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Welcome to the party: Two members of the group — Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) and Val Demings (D-FL) — had not previously expressed criticisms of the anticipated deal. Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) have separately expressed concerns about the deal to JI, bringing the total number of House Democrats who have publicly raised concerns about the agreement to 20.

Quotable: “As a 27-year law enforcement officer and chief of police, I know a habitual offender when I see one. Iran’s corrupt leaders are habitual offenders, sponsors of terror and a threat to U.S. national security, Israel and stability around the world,” Demings, who is running for Senate in Florida, said in a written statement. “I continue to support all efforts to destroy the Iranian government’s terror networks, break up their ballistic missile program, disrupt their meddling in Latin America and gut their nuclear program.”

Up in the air: It’s unclear, however, whether all 20 would vote against a deal. The five members who attended the press conference — Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Elaine Luria (D-VA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Juan Vargas (D-CA) and Dean Phillips (D-MN) — emphasized that the group of 18 is not all in agreement. “As a group we have a variety of concerns, everywhere from concern about the negotiations all the way to on the spectrum of outright opposition to reentering the deal,” Luria said. “We understand that while the recent negotiations have not concluded, we feel that we can’t stay quiet about the unacceptable and deeply troubling turn that these talks have reportedly taken.” Phillips added, “This isn’t a whip operation. This is not a group trying to generate opposition to the deal by any stretch of the imagination.”

Question marks: Some other members who opposed the deal in 2015 are staying mum for now. “I’m in regular communication with the administration. It looks like they’re in a waiting period,” Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) said. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), declined to comment on the talks, citing a lack of knowledge of what the draft deal entails, and referred JI to his 23-page analysis of the original deal published in 2015.

Other side: Around 15 House Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee held their own press conference on Wednesday opposing the deal and calling for continued “maximum pressure” sanctions. The Republicans dodged questions about whether they’ve coordinated with the House Democrats in criticizing the negotiations or whether they think they could rally the two-thirds majority needed to block the deal. Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX) said Republicans are drafting a measure to bring to the House floor legislation that seeks to guarantee congressional review of a new deal.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Dan Bishop, (R-NC), speaks as Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor testifies before a House Committee on Homeland Security meeting on Capitol Hill, July 22, 2020, in Washington, D.C.

The House Judiciary Committee approved the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act on Wednesday following a heated, lengthy partisan debate involving vaccination mandates and school boards, despite the legislation previously having received bipartisan support, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Background: The legislation, which passed out of the committee by a vote of 21-17 and is backed by Jewish groups including the Anti-Defamation League, the Orthodox Union and the Jewish Democratic Council of America, targets the rising threat of white supremacist, Neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist violence in the United States.

In the mud: Partisan disputes over the legislation dragged the committee’s debate across three separate committee meetings. Republicans tied their objections primarily to concerns relating to school board protests and vaccination mandates. The bill has the support of 205 House Democrats and three Republicans. In 2020, similar legislation passed the House by a voice vote — indicating there was little opposition from Republicans — with 180 Democratic sponsors, but stalled in the Senate.

Pushback: “This legislation recently enjoyed bipartisan support because we didn’t know that you meant something different by domestic terrorism than we thought you meant, but if you mean parents of school children are domestic terrorists and we can’t get a clear answer on whether you’re going to pursue that or not, the questions get harder to answer,” Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), one of the bill’s most outspoken opponents, said. “It really serves to emphasize that this bill is rotten under the circumstances.”

Lamenting: Outside groups backing the legislation decried the direction of the debate. “The bipartisan bill is carefully crafted [and] would legislate important and useful measures to combat domestic terrorism and violence. That’s why it’s had bipartisan support — and the support of the OU and other nonpartisan groups concerned about the safety of the Jewish community and American society more broadly,” OU Advocacy Center Executive Director Nathan Diament told JI. “Given the threats that are out there and endanger people’s lives, we hope that extraneous issues don’t derail the overdue passage of this legislation.” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told JI he was “disappointed by efforts of certain members to derail the [Judiciary Committee meeting] by focusing on tangential or blatantly false digressions.”

Read more here.