Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) have been circulating a resolution among lawmakers condemning Hezbollah for its “repeated violations of ceasefire agreements” through its attacks against Israel and calling for the terrorist group to be disarmed, Jewish Insider has learned.

The resolution calls on the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces to “ensure Lebanese Hezbollah immediately ceases all attacks and disarms in accordance with the ceasefire” that the U.S. brokered between Israel and Lebanon as the Lebanese terror group continues to threaten the deal. 

The long love affair between Israelis and President Donald Trump, on the rocks over the last few weeks as the U.S. and Iran hammered out an end to the war, appears to be over, with humiliations mounting for Jerusalem. “I call all the shots,” not Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said earlier this month. More recently, the Israeli leader’s bombing campaign in Beirut was “vicious,” Trump said. And perhaps most humiliating of all, Trump suggested that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa could better take care of Hezbollah than the IDF.

The Israeli public — the spurned lover who once hailed the U.S. president with billboards hung in the center of Tel Aviv reading “Thank you God & Donald Trump” — is not taking it well. Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog told JI, “President Trump, who has been a hero to many Israelis, is now openly criticized from within the Israeli government, including Netanyahu’s close circle.”

Jewish Republican donors and activists are voicing their strong disappointment with President Donald Trump’s newly announced memorandum of understanding with Iran, which has been met with criticism from GOP lawmakers as well as influential hawkish conservatives.

Trump has fiercely defended the deal to end the war with Iran, the text of which was released Wednesday, claiming it is superior to the nuclear agreement with Tehran that was reached by former President Barack Obama in 2015.

Jewish communal groups are at loggerheads over the possibility of merging two related but distinct State Department offices: the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism and special envoy for Holocaust issues.

Some Jewish groups recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in support of the concept of merging the two offices, while others have sent letters in recent  months opposing such a move.

J Street is slated to host a virtual briefing for congressional staff on the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding with Iran featuring former Biden administration special envoy for Iran Rob Malley, who was suspended from his State Department role amid an investigation over his handling of classified materials.

The event, scheduled for next Tuesday, will feature Malley alongside Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. It’s being co-organized by the Center for International Policy and Win Without War.

The Department of Energy is leaning on Israel’s offshore gas resources and cybersecurity prowess to help an emerging Eastern Mediterranean energy alliance, with officials telling Jewish Insider that Israeli participation uniquely “strengthens” the newly formed coalition.

Earlier this month, the U.S., Cyprus, Greece and Israel formalized the partnership, announcing the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center (EMEC) on the campus of Rice University in Houston. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed a declaration of intent alongside Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Cypriot Energy Minister Michael Damianos and Greek Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou. 

Senate Republicans continued on Thursday to air concerns about the U.S. memorandum of understanding with Iran, in some cases fueled further by Vice President JD Vance’s comments dismissing the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions and lambasting Israeli government officials who have objected to the deal.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) — the chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services — issued a statement ripping into the agreement, saying he’s “concerned [it] negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.” Wicker had for days told reporters he was “withholding comment” on the MOU.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Thursday blamed Iran for what he described as “ruthless” cyberattacks, warning that Tehran has sowed unrest and amplified false information about environmental protests over a new luxury development project in the country from President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner. 

Kushner’s investment firm has moved forward with a luxury project in Albania that includes a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area — a wildlife reserve — and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan. The project has yet to be approved and has not obtained building permits, but has drawn fierce backlash and sparked daily protests from thousands of demonstrators outside Rama’s office due to environmental concerns.