Blake Masters speaking with attendees at a “Save America” rally at Country Thunder Arizona in Florence, Arizona.

Blake Masters, a venture capitalist now seeking the GOP Senate nomination in Arizona, has cast himself as an outspoken immigration hawk who inveighs against “open borders,” “illegal aliens” and drugs that “pour into” the state from Mexico. “Not on my watch,” he declares on his campaign site, vowing to “finish the wall” and “triple” the Border Patrol, while fighting “to end illegal immigration and secure” the border. Such hardline policy objectives, however, are strikingly at odds with sentiments Masters expressed in the mid-aughts as an undergraduate at Stanford University, according to a cache of online writings recently uncovered by Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel.

Border backtracking: In a series of short, polemical blog posts, Masters once suggested that “illegal immigration is an ethical contradiction in terms,” argued that “‘unrestricted’ immigration is the only choice” and commended U.S. service members who had participated in a drug trafficking ring as “heroes,” among other things. The posts, published to a LiveJournal account in 2005, when Masters was 19, have not previously been reported. The account was operated under a pseudonym, but a person familiar with the entries — who asked to remain anonymous — confirmed that Masters had written them. A spokesperson for Masters’ campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment from JI.

Unvarnished insight: Masters, now 35, composed the entries nearly 17 years ago, when he identified as something of a libertarian purist whose deep skepticism of state power appears to have influenced a proudly laissez-faire approach to drug legalization, military authority, unfettered immigration and even the pretense of national borders themselves. The blog posts provide unique and seemingly unvarnished insight into the mind of an opinionated young political activist, once steeped in libertarian thought, who is now gaining traction in his first bid for public office while promoting a completely different message.

‘Hero’ smugglers: In one representative entry, Masters applauded U.S. law enforcement officers involved in a widespread criminal conspiracy — uncovered by an FBI sting operation known as Operation Lively Green — to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. from Mexico. The drug bust had gotten it “backwards,” Masters insisted. “For seeking a profit while conducting trade between groups of consenting adults, in the face of government oppression, these men and women arrested in the latest cocaine sting are heroes.”

Policy puzzle: Even as Masters claims to have evolved in recent years, his older writings suggest a deeper penchant for extreme and often contrarian views that seem to be a defining feature of his political self-conception. That he is given to significant ideological shifts could raise more immediate questions over the positions he is likely to adopt if elected to the Senate. Masters, who notched a coveted endorsement from former President Donald Trump last week, has also faced scrutiny for a provocative essay, published in 2006, where he referenced a “poignant quotation” from Nazi leader Hermann Goering while arguing that “the U.S. hasn’t been involved in a just war in over 140 years.”

Read the full story here.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are welcomed by then-Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) of the US Embassy in London, Yael Lempert, on their arrival at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England on June 9, 2021, ahead of the three-day G7 Summit.

A top American diplomat laid out the Biden administration’s vision for engagement with the Middle East in a speech on Tuesday and contested the widely held belief that Washington has sought to distance itself from the region in favor of engagement with Asia, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Still here: Speaking virtually to an Atlantic Council event in Rome, Yael Lempert, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, argued that Washington remains deeply engaged in the region — and, more bluntly, insisted that only the United States, rather than China or Russia, can offer both economic advantages and a commitment to democracy.

Values driven: A “regrettably pervasive” narrative “has emerged in some corners that the United States is leaving the Middle East and North Africa,” said Lempert. “That narrative is wholly incorrect, as becomes abundantly clear upon reviewing the breadth of American engagement throughout the region.” What Washington offers, Lempert argued, is “support for a rules-based international order, a dynamic global economy and respect for democracy and human rights.” Rather than being separate from concerns over security, putting human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy in the region is actually good for global security, Lempert said.

Diplomatic core: At the heart of the U.S. approach to regional security in the Middle East and North Africa is diplomacy, Lempert argued. She highlighted several areas where the Biden administration has focused its attention: the United Nations-facilitated peace process in Yemen, Syria, Libya and the Western Sahara; expanding the Abraham Accords; and reentering the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Pick me: Lempert’s address to the Washington-based think tank seemed designed to reach both skeptics in Washington and allies in the region who might be considering closer ties with China and Russia. “In an age of strategic competition, we want partners to look to Washington,” she noted, and pointed out that U.S. financial investment in the region still surpasses that of China — although China is rapidly catching up. U.S. allies should not think only about the financial benefits, although, she argued, the U.S. hopes to expand trade with the region.

Read more here.

State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during a news conference at the State Department, March 10, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

A report released on Tuesday by a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that blamed Israel for recent tensions in the region drew criticism from the State Department for its targeting of Israel, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Still opposed: The State Department “firmly oppose[s]” the “open-ended and vaguely defined” Commission of Inquiry, a State Department spokesperson told JI. “The Commission released its first report today, and its content gives us no reason to re-evaluate our position on this COI.”

Remaining concerns: The COI “represents a one-sided, biased approach that does nothing to advance the prospects for peace,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a separate public statement. “The report of the Commission, released today, does nothing to alleviate our concerns.”

Background: The report was the first released by the Commission of Inquiry, which was established last year following last May’s 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. It criticized Israel for seeking “complete control” over the “occupied Palestinian territory,” and said that “ending the occupation of lands by Israel…remains essential in ending the persistent cycle of violence.”

Read more here.

Bonus: A group of House Democrats released a joint statement calling the Commission “unquestionably just another attempt by the United Nations Human Rights Council to unjustifiably target Israel.” The statement reads, “We look forward to working with the Administration to end this one-sided COI and reform the Human Rights Council.”

Bat Ella

If music can serve as a bridge between communities, or be a balm for “those in need of healing,” in the words of the “Mi Shebeirach” prayer, Israeli musician Bat Ella might just have all the right tunes. A veteran folk singer and recording artist, Bat Ella spent more than a decade living and working in the U.S., where she forged a close professional relationship with celebrated Jewish-American singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman, whose musical setting of “Mi Shebeirach” is perhaps her most beloved musical arrangement. Bat Ella recently spoke to Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash about her efforts to bridge the divide between Israeli and American Jews.

Continuing legacy: On June 14, Bat Ella will be the featured performer in a New York tribute concert to honor the legendary musician, who died in 2011 from pneumonia complications. “I want to take her torch and continue her legacy,” Bat Ella told JI. “I want to use her music to build a bridge between Israel and American Jewry,” she added, referring to two groups that are pulling apart and may very well be in need of a source of healing.

Inspiring a community: “Debbie had this ability to take prayers out of the synagogue and make them relevant to day-to-day life,” noted Bat Ella, 55, who regularly performed with Friedman in the U.S. and Europe. “She changed the whole concept of prayer and service in synagogues,” continued Bat Ella, describing how Friedman inspired community singing and revolutionized the place of the female voice in Jewish prayer.

Unlikely connection: Born to immigrant parents from Iran and Syria, Bat Ella’s deep connection to modern liturgical music so familiar to many American Jews is an unlikely one for someone who was raised in a secular household and never entered a synagogue as a child. “Sometimes life surprises you,” shrugged the singer as she told JI how she was introduced to Friedman’s music during her first trip to the U.S. as a teenager in 1983, as part of the Israeli Tzofim Friendship Caravan. “We traveled around the camps and the Jewish communities and congregations, and I started to hear Debbie,” recalled Bat Ella, adding, “As I got more familiar with her songs, I also learned that there are all kinds of Judaism, and that there is more than one way to be a Jew.”

Read the full interview here.