Lewis George pledged not to exclude Jews ‘based on your opinions or feelings on matters here and across the world'
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
D.C. City Councilmember Janeese Lewis George speaks at a "Lox and Legislators" breakfast held by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington on Dec. 18, 2025
After Janeese Lewis George met last week with Washington rabbis and other local Jewish leaders who were concerned about her views on Israel and antisemitism, the Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate released a statement pledging to stand firm in both her opposition to antisemitism and her support for the Palestinian cause.
“Those two things are not in conflict,” Lewis George, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, wrote in a statement that was posted to her campaign website on Wednesday.
Her campaign has not publicly acknowledged the meeting at Congregation Ohev Sholom, where Lewis George discussed a DSA questionnaire she filled out in which she pledged to avoid events that promote “Zionism and apartheid” and took issue with local Jewish groups’ approach to fighting antisemitism, according to attendees who spoke to Jewish Insider.
At the meeting, Lewis George apologized for the language she used in the questionnaire and attributed it to a staff member. She said she would have responded differently if she had written the answers herself. A spokesperson for Lewis George did not respond to requests for comment from JI about the meeting.
“To the Jewish community in DC: I will not be a mayor who includes or excludes you based on your opinions or feelings on matters here and across the world. I will always protect your freedom, safety, and sense of belonging,” Lewis George, a D.C. councilmember, wrote in the statement. She described going to synagogues when she was growing up and working with Jewish organizers in Washington.
“As Ward 4 Councilmember, I worked with Jewish organizations and neighbors to secure security grants for our schools and synagogues,” Lewis George wrote. “Antisemitism is morally wrong and unacceptable, and it is spreading. It is part of the same machinery of division and fear used against Black people, immigrant communities and others. We must work together to stop it.”
Lewis George then noted that she was one of the first councilmembers in the District to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and that she met with students at George Washington University who were advocating for a ceasefire.
“Together, we mourned the innocent lives that have been lost in Israel as well as in Gaza and the West Bank. I will continue to stand up against efforts to silence local pro-Palestinian speech and organizing,” Lewis George wrote. “I have no problem voicing my disagreement, loudly, when it is needed. I do not shy away from standing by my values in front of all audiences.”
Plus, Tucker Carlson and associates dominate Doha Forum
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
A law enforcement vehicle sits near the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on January 16, 2022 in Colleyville, Texas.
👋 Good Friday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview this weekend’s Doha Forum and its lineup of speakers who are sharply critical of Israel, and report on the backlash from the Jewish community to recent comments by Sen. Chris Van Hollen attacking the head of the Washington JCRC as an “apologist” for the Israeli government. We cover the legislative push for “buffer zones” outside of places of worship following recent incidents in New York and Los Angeles, and spotlight Benjamin Landa, the Trump administration’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Hungary. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mitchell Silk, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun and Cornelia Foss.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve with an assist from Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump will attend the World Cup draw this morning in Washington. Also attending is the head of Iran’s national team, which previously said it would boycott the draw over the U.S.’ refusal to grant visas to some members of the team.
- The two-day Reagan National Defense Forum kicks off today at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. This year’s speakers include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Rick Scott (R-FL); Reps. Ken Calvert (R-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Adam Smith (D-WA) and Rob Wittman (R-VA); JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, 8VC’s Joe Lonsdale, Palantir’s Mike Gallagher (formerly a Republican congressman from Wisconsin), former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster; former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong.
- The Doha Forum begins tomorrow morning in Qatar. More below on the two-day confab’s speakers, including the recent addition of Tucker Carlson.
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog is traveling to the U.S. this weekend for a series of events taking place over the next week. On Sunday, he’ll be honored at Yeshiva University’s 101st Annual Hanukkah Dinner in New York. He’s also slated to attend the American Zionist Movement’s Biennial National Assembly, which is taking place this weekend in New York City.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will arrive in Israel this weekend for meetings with senior officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Merz’s trip, his first official visit since becoming chancellor in May, will also include a visit to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem and a meeting with Herzog before the president heads to the U.S.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
As the holiday season gets underway, Jewish Washington is abuzz with a bipartisan tradition: gossiping about who got invited to the White House Hanukkah party — and how those who did not make the list can still score an invitation.
This year, there’s another conversation as well, in group chats of people who were invited to a Hanukkah party at the Naval Observatory, hosted by Vice President JD Vance: What’s with the Christmas branding on the invitation?
The top of the green-and-gold virtual invitation reads, “The Golden Noel: Celebrating 50 years of Christmas at the Vice President’s residence.” The invitation to President Donald Trump’s White House Hanukkah party, in contrast, looks, well, like a Hanukkah invitation — royal blue background, with white text.
“Would I have preferred something to be a little more Hanukkah-like? Perhaps, but I don’t see it as a very big deal,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad). Shemtov oversees kashrut at the White House Hanukkah celebration, whether it is hosted by a Democrat or a Republican.
Several people who received the invitation told Jewish Insider they found the decoration puzzling. Ultimately, though, they aren’t concerned. Many Jewish Republicans are pleased that Vance is hosting a Hanukkah celebration at all.
“Noticed that as well, but haven’t heard any complaints,” said one Republican who was invited to the party. “I’m happy he’s having one.”
Marquee Moment
Among the most high-profile speakers at this weekend’s Doha Forum in the Qatari capital are Tucker Carlson, his business partner Neil Patel and investor Omeed Malik — a lineup raising eyebrows given Carlson’s recent track record of credulously hosting antisemitic and Holocaust-denying guests on his right-wing podcast. The conference, which is co-sponsored by a panoply of elite institutions from CNN to the Atlantic Council, will bring together Trump administration officials, ambassadors, politicians and philanthropists alongside figures who hold fringe or hostile views of Israel and U.S. Middle East policy, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
What this means: The forum’s layout elevates voices aligned with Doha’s regional agenda while pairing them with Western political, philanthropic and corporate leaders — a mix that lends legitimacy to speakers with out-of-the-mainstream views. Carlson’s interview on the Doha Forum stage on Sunday will take place in conversation with the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, an indication of his prominence at the confab.












































































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