A coalition of more than 50 synagogues, Jewish schools and other Jewish organizations in the Atlanta area joined a letter blasting Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Rafael Warnock (D-GA)  for voting to block tranches of U.S. aid to Israel.

The letter is a sign of the growing Jewish backlash against both Democratic senators for their votes earlier this week, which could pose an electoral hurdle, particularly for Ossoff, who will be up for re-election in 2026.

Some of the remaining Hamas leaders in Gaza may move to Turkey, two Israeli sources told Jewish Insider this week, days after Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was in Ankara.

In addition, at least two senior Hamas officials have left Qatar for Turkey, an Israeli diplomatic source and a senator briefed by Israeli officials told JI. The reports about that development are also sparking frustration on Capitol Hill, including among lawmakers who have spent months advocating for Hamas leaders to be expelled from Qatar.

Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Virginia Foxx (R-NC) announced on Friday that the House Education and Workforce and the House Energy and Commerce Committees are jointly investigating the J. David Gladstone Institutes for its handling of allegedly antisemitic incidents, Jewish Insider has learned.

McMorris Rodgers, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Foxx, who chairs the Education Committee, announced the news in a letter on Friday to Gladstone president Deepak Srivastava, where they requested answers about the institute’s handling of allegations of antisemitism and anti-Israel behavior. The institute is a nonprofit medical research group affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, whose board of regents is set to meet on Friday.

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he intends to nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to serve as his attorney general, hours after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) declined the nomination amid increasing scrutiny of allegations of past sexual misconduct and sex trafficking.

Bondi served as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019 and has been a longtime fixture in Trump’s orbit and the conservative media world, including serving as one of his attorneys in his first impeachment trial and taking a leading role in his efforts to contest the 2020 election results.

Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel is pushing for legislation to require every college and university in the state to publicly designate a coordinator to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — a significant expansion of the coordinator mandate already in place for K-12 public schools in Maryland.

“It’s an issue that I take really personally and seriously, and I have heard from a bunch of college students and parents who are really concerned,” Vogel told Jewish Insider. The bill, introduced earlier this month, comes as U.S. college students have faced a 477% increase in antisemitic attacks on campuses between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Many House Democrats withdrew their support for a bipartisan bill that would make it easier for the federal government to strip nonprofits providing material or financial support to designated terrorist groups, with just 15 House Democrats voting for the legislation on Thursday. 

The declining support among Democrats followed warnings from outside liberal groups, as well as a growing number of liberal and nonpartisan Jewish organizations, that the bill could provide sweeping powers to the incoming Trump administration.

Democratic Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Jewish member of the Georgia Statehouse, said Thursday she was “disheartened that both of our U.S. Senators voted in favor” of resolutions to block U.S. aid to Israel.

Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) both voted for resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to block transfers of tank rounds and mortar shells to Israel; Warnock voted in favor of a third resolution to block bomb guidance kits, which Ossoff opposed.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are condemning the International Criminal Court’s decision on Thursday to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

Republicans in the Senate and House are vowing that passing sanctions targeting the court and its officials — legislation that passed the House on a bipartisan basis but has been blocked in the Democratic-led Senate — will be an early priority for them in the next Congress.