Democratic leaders coalesced around calls for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race on Monday following a Politico report in which an ex-girlfriend of Platner’s accused the Democrat of sexual assault, an account the outlet backed up with her correspondence and other interviews.

Platner denied the allegation outright but said in a video statement that he’s “mindful of the political reality it will inflict” and would be “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.” If Platner voluntarily drops out by July 13, the Maine Democratic Party would have until July 27 to pick a replacement to appear on the ballot. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a joint statement that Platner should withdraw, and that the DSCC would not invest financially in the Maine Senate race if Platner remained the nominee.

“The allegations reported today are incredibly disturbing — violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable,” Schumer and Gillibrand said. “Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins.”

Schumer and Gillibrand had offered tepid support for Platner in the wake of previous scandals he has weathered on the campaign trail.

Senate Majority PAC, the Senate Democratic super PAC, said in a statement that Platner should withdraw and that the PAC would be “redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race.” The group said the race would be winnable “if Platner is not on the ballot.”

The Maine Democratic Party’s leadership also called on Platner to end his candidacy.

“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” party leaders said in a statement. “Maine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.”

The party leaders said it’s “essential that we refocus this campaign” on defeating Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and the Trump administration.

Maine Statehouse Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat, also called on Platner to drop out, saying it’s clear that he cannot win the seat.

Several prominent progressives who had previously defended and supported Platner, even through his previous scandals and controversies — including his now-covered Nazi tattoo and domestic abuse allegations — also said that the latest sexual assault allegations were a breaking point.

Sen. Elizbeth Warren (D-MA) said that there can be “no tolerance for sexual assault” and that “the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside.”

“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said on Monday evening.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) called the allegations “troubling and deeply serious” and likewise rescinded his endorsement.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said, “The allegations reported against Graham Platner are deeply disturbing and must be taken seriously. I cannot support his candidacy.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) similarly rescinded his endorsement and called for Platner to step aside.

Some of Platner’s prominent media boosters also said that they wanted to see him pull out of the race or otherwise criticized him.

“Platner needs to drop out ASAP — these are awful, credible allegations,” said Jon Favreau, co-host of “Pod Save America.” “It’s now abundantly clear that he just hasn’t been honest about his past and can’t be trusted as a candidate for office.”

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), one of Platner’s most prominent progressive backers, has not yet addressed the latest allegations.

The End Citizens United PAC also pulled its support for Platner, as did the Sanders-linked Our Revolution, though the group warned “the Democratic establishment: this is not your opening.” TrackAIPAC also pulled its endorsement of Platner.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, also condemned Platner, who campaigned alongside her primary rival, Abdul El-Sayed. 

“The allegations against Graham Platner are extremely troubling and completely unacceptable,” Stevens said. “There should be no room for this conduct in the U.S. Senate or any public office. Graham Platner must step aside.”

Numerous other Democratic Senate candidates followed her. El-Sayed, in a statement, did not unequivocally call for Platner to withdraw.

Speculation has already turned to who might replace Platner on the ballot, with many pointing to logger and former state Senate President Troy Jackson, a former gubernatorial candidate who finished third in the 2026 primary, as an alternative choice with a similar background and politics to Platner.

Jackson also campaigned alongside and supported Platner, something that could hinder his electoral prospects.

Jackson was endorsed by the Maine Democratic Socialists of America in his gubernatorial bid.

Former acting Centers for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah, who finished second in the primary, has also been floated as a potential replacement and has reportedly expressed interest.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, the favored candidate of the Democratic establishment who suspended her campaign for the seat before the primary, could also see a second wind.

A recent poll also tested “Grey’s Anatomy” star and Maine resident Patrick Dempsey’s popularity in the state, as well as Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who also ran in the gubernatorial primary;  state Sen. Joe Baldacci; former House candidate Jordan Wood; Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME); former state Rep. Sara Gideon, who lost to Collins in 2020; former Rep. John Baldacci (D-ME); Attorney General Aaron Frey; and former Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME).

State Sen. Baldacci said that the party “can’t handpick a replacement candidate without some process involving all Democrats” in the state.

Retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who had been eyed by Democrats as a potential recruit for the seat, said last month that he was not interested in replacing Platner on the ballot.

Ron Klain, the former chief of staff to President Joe Biden, defended Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner’s tattoo of a Nazi symbol in a comment responding to the Republican Jewish Coalition on Instagram.

The RJC, after Platner’s victory in Tuesday’s primary election, called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to rescind his support for Platner. Klain, in a comment on the RJC’s Instagram post, declared, “This is just a partisan attack. The tattoo was a skull and crossbones to remember his fallen comrades from his service in Afghanistan.” Platner was deployed to Iraq, not Afghanistan, when he got the tattoo.

Platner has denied that he knew what the symbol was until late last year, when the campaign was contacted by media about it, but has not claimed, as Klain did, that it was intended to memorialize fallen comrades.

Klain, now the chief legal officer at Airbnb, has reportedly been quietly backing and advising Platner’s campaign, as well as several other prominent progressives, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, potential presidential candidate Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, New York congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).

But he had previously declined to comment to Politico last week on his political activities, and had otherwise not discussed his involvement with Platner.

Platner’s former romantic partner, Lyndsey Fifield, who has accused him of domestic abuse, has said that he described the tattoo to her as “my Totenkopf” and would joke about it being a Nazi symbol. She said that Platner told her that he and his Marine colleagues chose the symbol because they saw a parallel between themselves and the Nazi SS as a “death unit.”

Fifield shared text messages with The New York Times showing that she had informed friends that Platner had a tattoo of a Nazi symbol in August 2025, months before it became public knowledge.

The RJC said on X that “Klain’s pathetic rationalization of a clear Nazi symbol is a total disgrace,” and that, as a former U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum board member, “Klain absolutely knows better.”

“Every Jewish family in America knows what the insignia of the Nazi SS — the unit that ran the death camps — looks like and Klain knows exactly what it is too,” the group said.

Following his victory in Maine’s primaries on Tuesday, some Senate Democrats who appeared wary of Platner after the domestic abuse allegations once again appear to be rallying around him.

“I think Graham showed a great deal of support in the primary, and I think … that’s going to build momentum and will assure that we win Maine,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told CNN.

Senate Democrats sounded wary of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner after the latest revelations that he had engaged in sexual conversations with numerous women while married, but most aren’t calling for him to leave the race, or throwing their support behind Gov. Janet Mills, who still remains on the primary ballot even after suspending her campaign.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who recruited Mills to run for the seat to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) but got behind Platner after Mills dropped out, met with Platner in Washington on Tuesday and repeatedly offered a terse response when asked about Platner at a press conference, offering neither effusive support for nor criticism of the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,” Schumer said.

Asked whether he was standing behind Platner or whether Mills should restart her campaign, Schumer again said, “We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” He repeated the same answer two additional times in response to subsequent questions.

Asked whether he’s still endorsing Platner, Schumer offered nearly the same line once again, while noting that he had “endorsed” Platner.

Other Senate Democrats are keeping Platner at arm’s length.

“He has to answer those questions, directly and forthrightly. They’re fair questions and that’s going to be on him to answer that and it’s going to be up to the voters of Maine to decide,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) said on Monday. 

Welch said that Platner’s electability is “going to depend on how he handles it.”

Welch joined several other Senate Democrats who met with Platner at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee offices on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting ran for more than an hour and a half, but Platner avoided reporters while entering and exiting the building, dashing from a side exit to an awaiting car on his way out, pursued by a throng of press.

“I oppose inappropriate sexual behavior no matter who does it, but it’s up to the voters of Maine to decide,” Sen. Jeanne Shaneen (D-NH) said.

Asked if she thinks Platner can still win, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) told JI, “I’ll work with whoever wins.”

Sens. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) both said they’d been focused on other matters — the ongoing demonstrations outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New Jersey and a trip to Ukraine, respectively — and hadn’t been keeping up with the latest on Platner.

Sen. Angus King (I-ME) declined to comment, saying he never gets involved in campaigns involving any sitting colleagues, regardless of party.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who said months ago he planned to stay out of the race but has been directly attacked by Platner several times, offered the harshest criticism of the candidate, and suggested he would be eager for a direct confrontation with him.

“I’d be happy to [meet him.] I’d love to. He’s a tough guy. When I was growing up, if someone had a Nazi tattoo, you could pretty much assume he’s a Nazi sympathizer,” Fetterman said, and referred to several of the scandals plaguing Platner’s campaign. “If you describe an American soldier, a Purple Heart recipient, as a dumb motherf***** that doesn’t deserve to live — who describes the U.S. Army as absolutely trash? Who joins a disgusting platform like Kik and puts a [topless] picture — what are you looking for? He’s expressed frustration [with] how I dress, and this a****** is on Kik and sexting to a dozen women and dressing like this.”

He told JI that his Democratic colleagues could be endangering the party’s chances of taking the seat by sticking by Platner, but said it’s ultimately their decision and that of Maine voters.

“The last time a lot of [Democrats] defended someone who was sexting and saying inappropriate things to women, that was Swalwell,” Fetterman said, referring to former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) who resigned amid a flurry of sexual harassment and assault allegations. “If they want to carry water for that, they’re entitled to that. I don’t live in Maine, I’m not a voter. Whoever Maine decides for that.”

Platner’s strongest supporters are standing firmly behind him.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) told JI that he is still confident that Platner can win the seat.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), asked about the latest scandals, offered a similar response multiple times during the day on Tuesday, deflecting by discussing Republican megadonors’ spending plans in the state.

“There are some concerns that some of the wealthiest people in this country [backing] Republican super PACs are planning to spend $100 million in the state of Maine,” Sanders said. “Why do you think that Republicans super PACs controlled by billionaires want to spend a troubling amount of money to defeat Graham Platner?”

A group of people — at least one of them a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee — gathered outside of the DSCC headquarters during Platner’s meeting chanting through a bullhorn and holding signs referencing Platner’s various scandals and, without evidence, accusing him of pedophilia.

A handful of them, including the NRSC staffer, were shirtless wearing towels wrapped around their waists, mimicking Platner’s profile photo on the messaging app Kik, where he communicated with other women.

Following the meeting with Democratic senators, Platner canceled a planned appearance with the campaign group VoteVets and left Washington, D.C. early because reporters had visited his in-laws’ home and his family’s restaurant, according to NOTUS.

For the fifth time, the Senate rejected an effort by Democrats to force the administration to end the war in Iran, with the partisan battle lines on the issue remaining firmly unchanged from previous iterations of the vote.

“Democrats will continue to force votes on war powers resolutions every week until Republicans decide to put the American people over Donald Trump and end this war,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said ahead of the vote. 

The vote failed 51-46, with Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and David McCormick (R-PA) not voting, and Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) voting with the opposing party.

Democrats have already introduced eight other similar resolutions that will be eligible for votes in the coming days and weeks, giving them plenty of runway to continue such efforts for the foreseeable future.

In the House, Reps. Greg Meeks (D-NY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) also introduced new war powers resolutions on Iran, after previous efforts narrowly failed. The Congressional Progressive Caucus reportedly plans to force votes on such resolutions frequently next month.

Though they haven’t broken openly with the president, dynamics for at least some Senate Republicans could begin to shift toward the end of the month; under the War Powers Act, the administration can only carry on military operations without congressional approval for 60 days, with an additional 30-day drawdown period.

Though some Republicans have said Congress and the administration should disregard that deadline, others say that some form of action will be necessary at that point, and some hope that the war will be over before then.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) who has been working with other senators on crafting an Authorization for Use of Military Force on the war, told Jewish Insider on Wednesday, “we’ve been having some good conversations, and we’re going to continue them.” She said the goal of the AUMF is to have “greater disclosure, greater transparency” about the war.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said earlier this week, ahead of the U.S. extension of the ceasefire, that he believed the president was “trending in a direction of ‘let’s end this without further involvement, including even further strikes’” and said that he hopes the war is over before the 60-day mark.

He told JI that he hasn’t been working with Murkowski on her AUMF, but said that the effort “makes sense since we’re approaching the 60-day deadline.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told JI he would “give the administration the benefit of the doubt that they will respond accordingly, in compliance with that” 60-day deadline “and if not, then we’ll have to have some discussions” around further congressional involvement through an AUMF or other avenue.

Still, other Republicans seem comfortable overlooking the 60-day deadline.

“I think the president has the authority to protect us, so we should let the president protect us,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) did not directly address whether the degradation of Iran’s military infrastructure should be viewed as a positive outcome, instead emphasizing the war’s potential economic and geopolitical consequences. 

Over the course of the past week, U.S. officials have indicated that Iran’s military capabilities have been severely weakened. President Donald Trump has described Iran’s military as “decimated,” and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified at a congressional hearing this past week that the Iranian regime was “largely degraded.” 

When asked by MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough on Monday’s edition of “Morning Joe” whether that degradation was a “good thing,” Schumer called the question “premature.” 

“You can’t [answer that question] because it’s a premature question,” Schumer said. “What is going to happen in the next several months? Is it worth it? Will the world economy collapse?”

“I can ask that question,” Scarborough replied. “I’m simply asking on the military side: Is it good — regardless of whether we agree with going in or not — is it good that Iran’s military infrastructure has been seriously degraded?” 

Schumer again asserted that it could not be answered without understanding the full implications of the current conflict.

“In all due respect, if you ask the American people, if you have the choice of degrading the military structure in Iran, but having gasoline be $6 a gallon and our economy falling into a deep recession where millions lose their job, what do you think?”

Schumer ultimately signaled agreement with that underlying point, while maintaining his broader concerns. 

“The fact that the leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei is gone, no one regrets that. The fact that Iran has less ability to create military trouble [is a good thing], no one disputes that. But you have to look at the consequences.” 

Schumer argued that Congress would have had a clearer understanding of the potential economic and geopolitical consequences had lawmakers passed one of several war powers resolutions  — an effort that has been voted down by House and Senate Republicans with several Democrats joining them on several instances within the past month.  

“If Republicans had voted with us on the War Powers Act, all these questions would have been asked ahead of time instead of Donald Trump’s willy-nilly — one day yes, one day no,” Schumer said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged President Donald Trump on Tuesday to explain to the public his goals in the accelerating pressure campaign and military buildup targeting Iran, following a classified briefing earlier in the day for senior congressional leaders by Cabinet officials on the developing situation in Iran.

Several other lawmakers offered similarly sober responses to the briefing.

“It’s very serious and the president has an obligation to make his goals public,” Schumer told Jewish Insider after the briefing.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, similarly called on the administration to lay out “what our country’s goals are, what our country’s interests are and how we’re going to protect American interests in the region.” 

Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was “very concerned” and warned that “wars in the Middle East don’t go well for presidents, for the country, and we have not heard articulated a single good reason for why now is the moment to launch yet another war in the Middle East.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said the administration is “giving a lot of thought to the situation. And I appreciate where they’re coming from.”

Good Tuesday afternoon!

This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.

It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.

📡On Our Radar

Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking

Previewing his State of the Union address tonight, where it remains to be seen if he will make any announcements on Iran, President Donald Trump told reporters, “Iran wants to make a deal more than I do, but they just won’t say the sacred phrase: ‘We won’t build nuclear weapons,’” signaling that the two sides are still at an impasse ahead of the third round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the congressional Gang of Eight, the bipartisan set of leaders advised on classified matters by the executive branch, this afternoon to provide an update on Iran, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly joining the discussion. The White House did not brief the group before striking Iran last June, drawing ire from Democrats…

Ahead of the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told C-SPAN about potential Iran strikes, “Closed-door briefings are fine, but the administration has to make its case to the American people on something as important as this”…

Around a dozen U.S. F-22 stealth fighter jets departed from the U.K. today to be deployed at an Israeli Air Force base in the south of the country, as over 150 aircraft are being moved to the region. Military experts told The Washington Post that the “assets being assembled are indicative of a multiday campaign without a ground invasion”…

The Coast Guard is investigating a swastika drawn at its primary recruit training center in New Jersey, where Coast Guard commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday quickly flew to address recruits and staff about the incident. Lunday recently came under fire from Congress, and had his confirmation delayed, over a change in Coast Guard policy that downgraded the swastika from a prohibited hate symbol to “potentially divisive,” which was eventually walked back.

Regarding the recent incident, Lunday said in a statement to The Washington Post, “Anyone who adheres to or advances hate or extremist ideology — get out. Leave. You don’t belong in the United States Coast Guard and we reject you”…

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) is pushing for legislation to require an affirmative congressional vote prior to the U.S. reaching any nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, following a notification from the administration to Congress indicating that it is moving toward a deal that could allow Riyadh to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

The notification procedures, which do not include specific terms of a potential deal, suggest that Saudi Arabia will not be required to agree to more intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspections or “gold standard” safeguards — which would require Saudi Arabia to agree not to enrich or reprocess nuclear material — used for the U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates…

The Justice Department sued the University of California today under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination, alleging that the UCLA campus created a “hostile work environment against Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff.” 

During campus anti-Israel protests in 2024, the DOJ said, “the University allowed antisemitic harassment to continue unabated for days” and “has ignored, and continues to ignore, gross and repeated violations” of time, place and manner restrictions on student protest. The department further claimed Jewish and Israeli faculty at the school have been physically threatened, ostracized, harassed, forced to take leave and assaulted…

The New York Times details efforts by New York’s business community and Democratic establishment to organize and promote the moderate wing of the party in response to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rise to power. Some of the individuals involved, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo allies Phil Singer and Steven Cohen, are considering forming PACs, watchdog groups, lobbying campaigns and more…

New York’s Working Families Party endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) yesterday over Mamdani’s objections. The mayor has been backing Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who, like Mamdani, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a vocal critic of Israel, and he had lobbied the WFP to endorse her or to stay out of the race. WFP’s director, Jasmine Gripper, told the Times, “At the end of the day, Zohran is an individual who gets to weigh in as an individual”…

A new poll from the University of New Hampshire found oyster farmer Graham Platner with a commanding lead among likely Senate Democratic primary voters, outdistancing Gov. Janet Mills by 34 points, with the primary less than four months away. In a general election matchup with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Platner leads Collins by 11 points, while Mills and Collins are neck-and-neck…

Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Ohio branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), testified at the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee last week against a bill to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, where he claimed that Israel operates the world’s largest human skin bank and harvests the skin from deceased Palestinians. “And if I call them Nazis,” Turaani continued, “your law is going to punish me.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s Ohio River Valley office condemned Turaani’s speech, saying that the “antisemitic organ harvesting myth plays on the blood libel trope, which has spurred the torture, murder, and expulsion of Jews for centuries”…

The U.S. Embassy in Israel announced that, as part of the government’s “efforts to reach all Americans,” the embassy will be providing consular services for one day only at several locations across Israel and the West Bank, including Ramallah and the Jewish settlement of Efrat…

⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today

An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead

Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for the highlights from President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, taking place at 9 p.m. ET tonight, as all eyes are on possible U.S. military action against Iran.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Israel tomorrow, where he will be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before addressing the Knesset. In the evening, the two leaders will have dinner at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. Read JI’s interview on Modi’s visit with Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar.

The New York City Council will hold its first hearing on Council Speaker Julie Menin’s bill aiming to create “buffer zones” around houses of worship to protect from disruptive protests. The bill’s language was updated last night to remove the original 100-foot figure, which had reportedly emerged as a point of concern for the NYPD.

Congressional candidates from Illinois’ 9th District, where pro-Israel spending is boosting state Sen. Laura Fine and attacking Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, will hold a debate on local news. 

Stories You May Have Missed

SHIFTING STANCE

Sue Altman pivoting on Israel as she runs in safely Democratic N.J. district

The progressive activist ran as a pro-Israel candidate in a neighboring swing district, but is now walking back her support as she runs to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman

Read more

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

PRAIRIE STATE OF PLAY

Raja Krishnamoorthi emerging as the strongest ally of Jewish voters in Illinois Senate race

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton seems to be running to the congressman’s left on Israel, even as Rep. Robin Kelly is the most outspoken critic of Israel in the race

Read more

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

A group of eight leading Senate Democrats released a statement on Tuesday evening urging President Donald Trump to “clearly reinforce the opposition of the U.S. government to Israeli government actions that set the conditions for irreversible annexation” of the West Bank when he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday.

The statement emphasizes Senate Democrats’ opposition to Israel expanding its control over settlements in the West Bank, which Israel’s Security Cabinet approved measures to help facilitate on Sunday ahead of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week.

“We are deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s decision to blatantly consolidate administrative control over and set the conditions to expand settlements into the West Bank,” the senators wrote. “The Israeli government’s actions contravene decades of bipartisan United States policy, including that expressed by President Trump, which asserts the United States supports a two-state solution and that it is not in the U.S. national security interest to support annexation of the West Bank.”

“We have long expressed our concern that these reckless moves make the possibility of a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security, further out of reach,” the statement continued. 

The group said they “urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to reverse course. When President Trump meets with Prime Minister Netanyahu this week, we also urge the President to clearly reinforce the opposition of the U.S. government to Israeli government actions that set the conditions for irreversible annexation.”

The statement was signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senate Democratic whip; and Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI),  Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH),  Mark Warner (D-VA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Patty Murray (D-WA). The senators who joined Schumer and Durbin are, respectively, the ranking members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Intelligence Committee, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Trump has held firm on his opposition to Israeli settlement expansion since saying last September that he would “not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.” Trump reiterated this position in an interview with Axios on Tuesday. 

He said following a meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., in late December that the two were still on separate sides of the issue, but expressed confidence that all parties would reach “a conclusion,” though he declined to offer specifics.

“Well, we have had a discussion, big discussion, for a long time on the West Bank. And I wouldn’t say we agree on the West Bank 100%, but we will come to a conclusion on the West Bank,” Trump said at the time. “It’ll be announced at an appropriate time, but [Netanyahu] will do the right thing. I know that. I know him very well. He will do the right thing.”

Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday to move quickly to advance a legislative package that would address rising antisemitism and religious hate generally — something Congress has repeatedly struggled and failed to do since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

In a letter to the Senate leaders, Lankford and Rosen, who co-chair the chamber’s antisemitism task force, called for a bipartisan legislative package including funding increases for security assistance to religious institutions and improved training, prevention and prosecution efforts. The letter comes days after an arson attack at the largest synagogue in Mississippi, which is mentioned in the letter.

The letter does not mention high-profile bills addressing antisemitism specifically — such as the Antisemitism Awareness Act — which have previously proven difficult to pass amid growing objections on both sides of the aisle. The letter takes a broader approach, focusing on faith communities generally and the attacks that both Jewish and non-Jewish religious institutions have faced.

“As Senators committed to safeguarding Americans’ fundamental freedom to worship without fear, we write to express deep concern about the rising tide of violence, intimidation, and vandalism targeting faith-based institutions across our country,” Lankford and Rosen wrote. “As we begin the new year, threats to churches, synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras, temples, and schools have not abated. That is why we believe Congress must act swiftly to protect houses of worship, faith-based schools, and the communities they serve.”

The letter calls for legislation to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and to make sure funds are disbursed quickly; to clarify eligible uses for grant funding to include security contractors, physical security measures, emergency communication tools and security cameras; and to direct the administration to process NSGP applications quickly and provide free technical assistance to institutions applying for grants.

These calls follow and come in response to a year of delays and frustration with NSGP implementation by the administration. Grants for 2025 still have not been awarded or disbursed and the timeline for doing so remains unclear, with lawmakers saying they’ve been left in the dark by the administration.

Lankford and Rosen also called for the proposed legislative package to direct federal law enforcement to improve information sharing with religious community security groups, including implementing channels for the government to quickly share threat information and for religious communities to report suspicious activity, as well as to fund “scalable training” for community professionals and volunteers.

They said the Senate should pass the Pray Safe Act — the only specific pending legislation mentioned within the letter. The bipartisan and largely noncontroversial bill, which has nonetheless languished for multiple congressional sessions, would create a federal database on security best practices, training information and potential federal funding opportunities.

And they urged the Senate to provide additional resources to prosecute violence and property crimes against religious communities, to improve federal coordination with state and local law enforcement and to improve data collection and sharing on such incidents.

Emphasizing the urgency to protect impacted communities, the lawmakers said that they are “prepared to work” with the Senate leaders’ teams “immediately to translate the items above into text that can move quickly.”

They also said that they want to see the package include “near-term funding and implementation directives” in addition to any longer-term policy and programmatic changes.

“This package of priorities reflects our shared obligation — rooted in the First Amendment and our national character — to ensure that Americans can pray, learn, celebrate, and mourn in safety,” the lawmakers said. “We also recognize that the federal government cannot substitute for local leadership, nor for the resilience and vigilance of faith communities themselves. But Congress can and should ensure that federal resources are timely, accessible, and proportional to risk, and that our national security enterprise treats attacks on houses of worship with the seriousness they warrant.”

A Lankford spokesperson praised Thune’s engagement on the issue. Before taking office as the Senate majority leader, Thune pledged to take action on antisemitism, though efforts to advance the Antisemitism Awareness Act stalled last year.
“The Senate, under Sen. Thune’s leadership, has been clear about the seriousness of the violence and intimidation facing Jewish Americans and other faith communities,” the Lankford spokesperson told Jewish Insider. “Sen. Lankford appreciates Leader Thune’s engagement on combatting antisemitism and ensuring Americans can worship without fear.”

👋 Good Thursday morning!

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to Jewish leaders in New York City about Julie Menin’s election to be city council speaker and look at how New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s staffing decisions signal how he’ll work with the city’s Jewish community. We talk to legislators about the possibility of the U.S. recognizing Somaliland, and have the scoop on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s meeting today with survivors of the Bondi Beach terror attack in Sydney, Australia. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: MK Dan Illouz, Tony Dokoupil and Marc Molinaro.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

What We’re Watching

• It’s the first day of New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin’s term after yesterday’s unanimous council vote. Menin, a centrist Democrat representing the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island, is expected to serve as an ideological counterweight to elements of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s agenda. More below.
• The Senate will vote today on a war powers resolution that would limit U.S. military action in Venezuela without congressional authorization.
• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will meet today with survivors of the Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, Australia. More below.
• Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) will officially announce his plan to retire from Congress in a floor speech today. The 86-year-old Hoyer, who served as House majority leader from 2007-2011 and 2019-2023, told The Washington Post that he “did not want to be one of those members who clearly stayed, outstayed his or her ability to do the job.”
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — who kicked off his 2026 reelection bid this morning — and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis are slated to speak today in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
• The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York City is hosting a screening this evening of “The Road Between Us,” a documentary about the efforts of Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon to rescue his son, journalist Amir Tibon, and Amir’s family from Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. Read our interview with Noam Tibon and director Barry Avrich, who will speak at the screening, here.
• In Beirut, Lebanese Armed Forces commander Rudolph Haikal is scheduled to brief Lebanese legislators on efforts to disarm Hezbollah in the southern region of the country, along Israel’s border. Lebanon’s army announced that it had completed the disarmament of Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, with the exception of small areas under Israeli control. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office called the efforts “an encouraging beginning, but they are far from sufficient, as evidenced by Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm and rebuild its terror infrastructure with Iranian support.”

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

As New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani draws increased scrutiny for picking some top appointees whose past incendiary social media comments have provoked controversy and raised questions over his vetting process, Jewish community leaders are now watching closely for signs of how the administration will make staffing decisions on key issues connected to Israel and antisemitism.

One person to keep an eye on is Josh Binderman, who served as Mamdani’s Jewish outreach director during the campaign and transition. He has largely maintained a low profile in his time working for the candidate and now mayor, garnering just a small handful of mentions in the press, despite his critical position leading engagement with a community that in many ways remains deeply skeptical of Mamdani’s hostile stances on Israel and commitment to implementing a clear strategy to counter rising antisemitism.

Binderman, most recently a communications manager for New Deal Strategies, an influential progressive consulting firm, served until 2024 as a PAC manager and a senior associate for J Street, the progressive Israel advocacy group, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

While Mamdani notably refused to work with the organization when he led a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine as an undergraduate student at Bowdoin College, the mayor has since developed a friendlier rapport with J Street, which has defended him amid charges that he tapped transition advisors who engaged in anti-Zionist activism that crossed a line into antisemitism.

Mamdani’s decision to employ a former top J Street staffer during the election suggests he could follow a similar approach to key Jewish community posts for his developing administration. If so, it could help to at least dampen some concerns from Jewish leaders who fear the mayor will end up hiring even harder-left members in his coalition such as activists associated with Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Israel advocacy group that aggressively promotes boycotts targeting the Jewish state.

It is still an open question, however, how Mamdani will move forward on such issues. His decision last week to revoke two executive orders linked to Israel and antisemitism was widely seen as a discouraging maneuver that eroded goodwill among mainstream Jewish leaders — even as Binderman had reportedly given some advance warning to leaders about the effort before the inauguration.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

MENIN’S MOMENT

New York Jewish leaders hope Menin will serve as check against Mamdani

Julie Menin’s election on Wednesday as speaker of the New York City Council was a reassuring sign to Jewish leaders who have long seen the 58-year-old centrist Democrat as a key ally and believe that she will act as a check on Mayor Zohran Mamdani with regard to issues involving Israel and antisemitism, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Track record: Yeruchim Silber, director of New York government relations at Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox advocacy group, said that Menin “has a long history of working with the Jewish community,” calling her “an important part of the [former New York Mayor Bill] de Blasio administration,” when she led efforts to promote Jewish participation in the 2020 census. He told JI he was “confident she will be able to work collaboratively with” Mamdani’s administration “on all issues important to the community.”

Read the full story here.

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

FLASHPOINT AHEAD

Mamdani tested by planned protests targeting Jewish communities

A radical anti-Israel activist group responsible for the disruptive November protest outside of a historic synagogue in Manhattan announced it will hold a similar demonstration on Thursday, marking the first major test Mayor Zohran Mamdani will face in protecting the city’s Jewish community since he was inaugurated last week, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Details: The group, Palestinian Assembly for Liberation [PAL]-Awda, initially announced two demonstrations against Israeli immigration events in New York City this week. “Nefesh B’Nfesh settler recruitment fair on Wednesday at 7 pm in Manhattan and illegal Stolen Palestinian Land sale on Thursday at 6:30 in Queens,” the group wrote Tuesday on social media, adding that it would disclose event locations on Wednesday. The group, which never posted the location of the Nefesh B’ Nefesh event, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday evening, less than an hour before the event started, that “our planned action tonight to protest the settler recruitment event is being cancelled.” Thursday’s demonstration, which PAL-Awda said it is still planning to hold, is protesting an event held by CapitIL, a Jerusalem-based real estate agency. 

Read the full story here.

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

SAUDI SPOTLIGHT

U.S. lawmakers weigh in on fears of Saudi Arabia accommodating Islamists

Lawmakers in Washington are largely downplaying recent developments suggesting that Saudi Arabia is pivoting away from moderation and entertaining more hard-line Islamism, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, who came away from the meeting indicating that potential disputes or shifts in the kingdom had been overstated.

In the room: Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) — who has been critical of Saudi Arabia in the past — told JI that Prince Faisal, in the meeting, sought to directly rebut claims that Saudi Arabia was pivoting away from a position of moderation. The overall message from Prince Faisal, Sherman said, was “the Saudis claim that they are anti-[Muslim] Brotherhood and that the disputes with the UAE are tactical, not ideological.”

Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mark Warner (D-VA), John Kennedy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL).

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

SOMALILAND STRATEGY

Fetterman joins call for Somaliland independence, but many lawmakers remain wary

Some Republicans and at least one Democrat on Capitol Hill are voicing their support for the U.S. to follow Israel’s lead in recognizing Somaliland — but many lawmakers, even some who have supported expanded U.S.-Somaliland ties in the past, say such a step would be premature, if not misguided, at this point, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod, Emily Jacobs and Matthew Shea report.

The latest: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), one of the most vocal pro-Israel Democrats in Congress, said in a statement to JI that he’s in favor of U.S. recognition of Somaliland, making him the first member of his party to do so publicly. “As an unapologetic friend of Israel, I fully support their decision on Somaliland. I support the U.S. doing the same,” Fetterman told JI. But others on both sides of the aisle — even some who have pushed for expanded U.S.-Somaliland ties in the past — are more reluctant, calling recognition either premature or a mistake entirely.

Read the full story here with additional comments from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), James Lankford (R-OK), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ).

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

RED TAPE

Jewish House Democrats urge Noem to rescind new conditions on security grants

The members of the Congressional Jewish Caucus — every Jewish House Democrat — wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Wednesday urging her to rescind new conditions — presumably related to immigration enforcement and diversity programs — instituted earlier this year on recipients of Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Notable quotable: “[W]e reject any efforts to force Jewish and other houses of worship and institutions to choose between vital security funding and expression of their core religious freedoms, as well as their faith teachings and values,” the lawmakers wrote. “In this time of increased hate crimes against minorities, and in particular rising antisemitism, we believe it is crucial that NSGP remains a critical resource accessible to all communities in need and free from partisan politicization.”

Read the full story here.

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

SCOOP

Schumer to meet with survivors of Bondi Beach terror attack

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will meet at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday morning with two survivors of the deadly terrorist attack during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, Jewish Insider has learned. The two survivors are Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi, and Ahmed al Ahmed, the civilian who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen during the attack. Ulman hosted the Hanukkah event where 15 people were killed, including his son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.

On the agenda: Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd, the country’s former two-term prime minister, will also be in attendance. A source familiar with the matter told JI that the Senate minority leader will “listen to their stories and discuss the work that he and the Australian government are doing respectively to combat antisemitism.”

Read the full story here.

Bonus: Al Ahmed was honored last night at Colel Chabad annual dinner in New York City, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim reports.

SHARE

Share options

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Telegram
• 
  LinkedIn
• 
  WhatsApp
• 
  Reddit

Add JewishInsider on Google

Worthy Reads

From Foggy Bottom to the Hill: Politico’s Jordain Carney spotlights Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s positioning on Capitol Hill, where he served as a senator for 14 years, as the point person for the Trump administration’s recent foreign policy moves. “Secretary of State Marco Rubio worked the phones in the wee hours of the morning and, in the days since, has played an outsize role in not only formulating the administration’s strategy in Venezuela but explaining it to skeptical lawmakers wary of a protracted military commitment. That outreach has been to his former Republican colleagues as well as Democrats, including those who see him as a rare Trump official with whom they can maintain a trusted and respectful relationship amid profound policy disputes. ‘Although I may disagree with him on a day-to-day or hour-to-hour basis … he has shown extraordinary competence,’ Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democratic leader, said in an interview. ‘I voted for him in this position; I still have confidence in his abilities.’” [Politico]

Silenced on Venezuela: The Atlantic’s David Graham considers the reticence of Vice President JD Vance and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom come from the isolationist camp, to give vocal backing to the White House’s arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. “What all of these figures understand is the importance of staying on Trump’s good side. [Steve] Bannon was exiled from the first Trump White House; he has since mastered the art of diverging just enough from the president that he sometimes takes flak but never gets banished from the fold entirely. Gabbard already saw the dangers of getting crosswise with the president when she implicitly warned against the bombing of Iran this past summer, before quickly falling back in line. One more break might get her sacked. No one has as much to lose as Vance, though. … Vance may not like what’s going on in Venezuela, though unless he says so, no one knows. Until then, his willingness to keep his mouth shut speaks loudly. For Vance, deeply held principles are fine, but staying in power is even more alluring.” [TheAtlantic]

States’ Rights: In The Wall Street Journal, Guy Goldstein and Daniel Arbess argue that Israel’s recognition of Somaliland is in line with the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States that lays out the parameters for statehood — which the Palestinian Authority falls short of meeting. “[Somaliland] has a permanent population, a defined territory, effective government and the capacity to conduct foreign relations — the four tests of the 1933 Montevideo Convention. … Israel’s recognition of Somaliland affirms something deeply offensive to the professional virtue-signaling ‘peace’ industry. The entire regional narrative collapses once the Montevideo criteria are taken seriously. Somaliland passes. Kurdistan passes. South Yemen is close. Puntland isn’t far behind. The one project that dominates every United Nations agenda, every campus protest, every moral lecture, does not. Israel’s move isn’t a rejection of the two-state idea; it is a return of that idea to reality. It is what happens when you stop rewarding dysfunction and start recognizing good behavior.” [WSJ]

Word on the Street

President Donald Trump is expected to announce the members of the newly created Board of Peace next week amid efforts to move into the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas; Nikolay Mladenov, a former U.N. envoy to the Middle East, will serve as the board’s representative on the ground…

The White House announced its withdrawal from dozens of international organizations, including the Global Counterterrorism Forum, Global Forum on Cyber Expertise and more than 30 U.N.-affiliated groups…

The Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a resolution condemning the rise in ideologically motivated attacks against American Jews and condemning antisemitism…

FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro, who represented upstate New York in the House from 2023-2025, is mulling a run for the state’s 21st Congressional District, a seat being vacated by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) at the end of this year…

Qatar is the top country donating foreign funds to American universities, and Cornell University is its leading recipient, according to a new dashboard from the Department of Education that displays foreign gifts and contracts provided to U.S. educational institutions, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…

The board of Warner Bros. Discovery recommended that shareholders reject a hostile bid by David Ellison’s Skydance Paramount, which had amended a previous bid in an effort to sway Warner Bros. from moving forward with a deal with Netflix…

People interviews Tony Dokoupil about his new role anchoring “CBS Evening News”…

The Richmond, Calif., City Council refused to take up an emergency resolution censuring the city’s mayor, Eduardo Martinez, for sharing conspiracies about the terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, on social media…

The foreign desk chief of Spanish daily El País apologized for the newspaper’s characterization of Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is presiding over the trial of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro; the paper described Hellerstein as having “made efforts to maintain an impartial stance despite being a well-known member of the Jewish community,” a clause that was later deleted from the online version…

Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage called allegations from numerous former classmates that he engaged in antisemitic and racist bullying as a teenager “complete made-up fantasies”…

Iranian army chief Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami threatened preemptive military action, days after Trump cautioned that the U.S. could act in Iran if protesters in the country were killed…

Iran said it executed a man convicted of spying on behalf of the Mossad, as the Islamic Republic continues its crackdown on alleged spies following the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025…

Deqa Qasim, the director of the political department in Somaliland’s Foreign Ministry, told Israel’s N12 that Jerusalem and Hargeisa are discussing setting up an Israeli military base in the African territory, contradicting a previous denial that such an agreement was on the table… 

Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz, in a speech to the Knesset on Monday, warned the American right about the dangers of rising antisemitism within its ranks, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…

The New York Solidarity Networkannounced that Sara Forman, the group’s inaugural executive director since 2022, will step down at the end of the month…

Josh Hammer is joining the David Horowitz Freedom Center as a Shillman Fellow… 

Jay Stein, whose development of Universal Studios’ tram tour turned the company into an empire that competed with Disney, died at 88…

Swiss film producer Arthur Cohn, who won six Oscars for his films, including Best Documentary Feature for “One Day in September,” about the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, died at 98…

Rabbi Uri Lupolianski, the first Haredi mayor of Jerusalem and founder of Yad Sarah, died at 74…

Pic of the Day

Guillaume Cardy, the chief of the French National Police’s elite unit RAID (Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence), paid his respects on Monday at Paris’ Hypercacher supermarket during a ceremony commemorating the 11th anniversary of the deadly Islamist attacks on the kosher market as well as the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper.

Birthdays

Member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a guitarist and founding member of the Doors, Robby Krieger turns 80…  

Sociologist at the American Enterprise Institute, Charles Murray turns 83… Senior U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Florida, now on inactive status, Alan Stephen Gold turns 82… Moscow-born classical pianist, living in the U.S. since 1987, Vladimir Feltsman turns 74… Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning composer, he is a professor of music composition at Yale, David Lang turns 69… Founder and chief investment officer of Pzena Investment Management, Richard “Rich” Pzena turns 67… Israel’s ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Rafael Harpaz turns 64… Co-founder of Pizza Shuttle in Milwaukee, Mark Gold… Violinist and composer best known for her klezmer music, Alicia Svigals turns 63… VP of wealth services at the Alera Group, he was an NFL tight end for the Bears and Vikings, Brent Novoselsky turns 60… Founder and president of DC-based Professionals in the City, Michael Karlan turns 58… Lobbyist, attorney, patron of contemporary art and philanthropist, Heather Miller Podesta turns 56… Anthropologist and epidemiologist, she is a professor of pediatrics at UCSF, Janet Wojcicki turns 56… Former state senator in Maine (2008-2016), Justin Loring Alfond turns 51… Singer-songwriter, musician, and actress, she was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis turns 50… Former director of U.S. public policy programs for Meta / Facebook, now a partner in Lev Collective, Avra Siegel… Editor, investigative reporter and screenwriter, Ross M. Schneiderman… Actor, screenwriter and director, he is a son of film director Barry Levinson, Sam Levinson turns 41… Retired professional soccer player, he is now a partner in Columbus, Ohio-based Main + High Investments, Ross Benjamin Friedman turns 34… Principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, Skylar Paley Brandt turns 33…

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will meet at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday morning with two survivors of the deadly terrorist attack during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, Jewish Insider has learned.

The two survivors are Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi, and Ahmed al Ahmed, the civilian who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen during the attack. Ulman hosted the Hanukkah event where 15 people were killed, including his son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger.

Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd, the country’s former two-term prime minister, will also be in attendance.

A source familiar with the matter told JI that the Senate minority leader will “listen to their stories and discuss the work that he and the Australian government are doing respectively to combat antisemitism.”

Ulman and al Ahmed are currently in the U.S. together for a joint trip. Ulman brought al Ahmed to Queens, N.Y., on Tuesday to pray together and pay respects at the gravesite of the Lubavitcher rebbe. Ulman said the trip was an opportunity for the American Jewish community to express their gratitude to al Ahmed, a Syrian-born Muslim, for his heroic actions last month.

“Ahmed did what he did that day because he believed that God placed him at the scene for a reason, and that’s what gave him the strength to save lives,” Ulman said from the gravesite. “This is something people from all walks of life can and must learn from.”

Al Ahmed suffered two gunshot wounds while taking down one of the two gunmen during the Hanukkah massacre, which also left more than 40 people injured, later undergoing a successful surgery.

Democrats and Republicans gathered for a rare moment of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill on Wednesday at the pre-Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremony hosted by congressional leadership. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) hosted the gathering alongside Chabad Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), who led the prayer portions of the program and helped light the menorah candles. 

Over a dozen lawmakers from across the political spectrum mingled with rabbis and Jewish political operatives while noshing on sufganiyot and Star of David-shaped sugar cookies and sipping coffee and soft drinks at the annual gathering, which the three congressional leaders organized for the first time two months after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Johnson was forced to miss the beginning of the event to oversee a dispute unfolding between several of his members on the House floor over the National Defense Authorization Act, but arrived in time to participate in the end of the menorah lighting.

Among the lawmakers in attendance were Reps. Randy Fine (R-FL), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), David Taylor (R-OH), Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Melanie Stansbury (D-NM).

Also present were Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the Trump administration’s nominee to be the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition; Paul Teller, executive director of Advancing American Freedom; and Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America.

Absent from the ceremony was Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict, according to a source familiar with the matter.

All three congressional leaders noted in their respective speeches the bipartisanship that the event had engendered, and all used their remarks to reiterate their commitment to fighting antisemitism and standing with the American Jewish community. 

“We do share this in common, that we support Israel, obviously, and the Jewish people,” Johnson said of Jeffries, whom the House speaker called “my good friend and my colleague.”

Johnson said he was glad to see “all of our many colleagues and friends who have joined us here for this meaningful occasion” and specifically pointed out Craig Goldman and Fine as “two of my favorite colleagues down here who have joined us and proudly represent Jewish people in Congress.”

“It’s a special time of year, and we like to do this,” Johnson remarked. 

Jeffries complimented Shemtov for “always committing to bringing us together, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans.”

Shemtov said that his “message for today” was how the branches of the menorah diverge in different directions but originate “from the base facing towards that middle, which is moderation.” 

“I think that there are two ways to look at people who go out from the base into different directions,” Shemtov said. “We can focus on the differences and worry about conflict, or we can focus on the variety that brings unity.”

Shemtov praised Johnson and Jeffries specifically for their leadership on Jewish issues, prompting the room to applaud for both men.

“I don’t get involved in their opinions on political issues. That’s not my role. But one thing I will say is the two gentlemen on my left are strong and perhaps the best friends of Israel and the Jewish people either side of the aisle has ever seen,” Shemtov said of the House leaders. “I go to sleep easier at night knowing that at the helm of our nation and this institution of Congress are people who recognize the value we give this nation.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and nearly all Senate Democrats are set to introduce a resolution on Monday condemning neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson for hosting Fuentes on his show. 

The legislation also highlights that Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts defended Carlson and Fuentes and notes that the Trump administration nominated an official who expressed affinity for the Nazis, referring to Paul Ingrassia.

The resolution comes weeks after Carlson’s friendly sit-down with Fuentes prompted a reckoning in the conservative movement over antisemitism on the far right and its normalization in certain circles. Schumer reportedly sought Republican backing for the resolution, but no Republicans have signed on at this point.

The resolution outlines Fuentes’ long history of overt antisemitic activity, as well as the series of antisemitic comments that Fuentes repeated on Carlson’s podcast. It highlights Carlson’s failure to “push back on or reject the claims made by Fuentes” and that Carlson “at times even validat[ed] his framing.” It also notes that Carlson was a keynote speaker at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

The legislation states that the Senate “strongly rejects the views of and platforming of Nick Fuentes” and “condemns the effort by Tucker Carlson to platform and mainstream Nick Fuentes.”

The resolution also specifically highlights that Roberts posted a video defending Carlson and attacking those criticizing him — accusing Roberts of employing “antisemitic dog whistles” — as well as for refusing to take down the video even as he as apologized for portions of it.

It calls on “all elected officials, thought leaders and community leaders to reject and condemn white supremacy and antisemitism whenever and wherever they occur.”

And it highlights that President Donald Trump nominated Paul Ingrassia — who said in an unearthed group chat that he has a “Nazi streak in me from time to time” — for an administration post and has since named him to a different role in the administration after his nomination was withdrawn. The resolution does not specifically name Ingrassia.

The resolution is being sponsored by every Senate Democrat.

The legislation has been supported by a series of Democratic-affiliated and progressive-minded Jewish groups, including Democratic Majority for Israel, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Jewish Women International, the Union for Reform Judaism, Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women.

“The platforming of individuals who promote hateful, antisemitic, and white supremacist rhetoric is dangerous and entirely at odds with American values,” JWI CEO Meredith Jacobs said in a statement. She said that Congress “must forcefully condemn any attempt to mainstream antisemitism” and other hatred and “the fact that such condemnation is not universal underscores the very real and present danger that these ideologies are gaining ground in our society.”

JCPA CEO Amy Spitalnick said that antisemitic and white supremacist extremism “threatens every single one of our communities and the core of our democracy – yet we’ve seen political leaders continue to embrace and platform this deadly hate and those who peddle it, like Nick Fuentes” and urged all senators to support the resolution.

DMFI urged the Senate to “send a powerful message that there is no place for these hateful ideologies in our society by passing this measure.”

Halie Soifer, the CEO of JDCA, condemned Republicans for not signing onto the resolution.

“This issue should not be partisan, yet not one Republican has joined this resolution, and the President of the United States has refused to condemn Fuentes, Tucker Carlson’s platforming of Fuentes, and the hate they’ve espoused,” Soifer said in a statement. “We’re deeply concerned about Republicans placing politics above efforts like this one to combat white nationalism, antisemitism, and hate, and strongly encourage them to join this effort.”

UPDATE: This article was updated to reflect that the legislation’s findings highlight Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts’s defense of Carlson and Fuentes but the resolution does not specifically condemn him.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced on Thursday that he will introduce a resolution condemning neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes and his white supremacist views after President Donald Trump declined to condemn Fuentes or Tucker Carlson’s platforming of him. 

Schumer announced the move while criticizing Trump’s comments from over the weekend, in which the president noted that Carlson has “said good things about me over the years” and defended his decision to host Fuentes on his show. 

After calling Trump’s remarks “disgusting, Schumer warned that antisemitism in the U.S. has “reached a dangerous tipping point. Jewish Americans are facing threats, harassment and violence at levels we have not seen in generations.”

“For Donald Trump to continue to excuse and protect the spread of Nick Fuentes’ ideology, confirms what many of us have long said: white supremacy and antisemitism are taking deep roots, unfortunately, within the Republican Party,” Schumer said from the Senate floor on Thursday.

“Just as we saw from the leaked texts from Young Republicans, just as we saw from text messages of administration officials, the Nick Fuentes saga on the right reveals that antisemitism and white supremacy have been growing with disturbing currency within the right wing,” he continued. “I know this is not true of everyone on the Republican side, especially not for many Republicans in this chamber.”

Schumer said that his resolution will be focused on “rejecting Nick Fuentes and his white supremacist views, condemning Carlson’s platforming of hate, and condemning antisemitism and white supremacy wherever and whenever it occurs.” He added that he plans to lobby senators on both sides of the aisle to consider supporting the resolution.

“I hope my Republican colleagues will join me in this effort and co-sponsor this resolution. Calling out antisemitism should not be a partisan issue,” Schumer said. “When we refuse to condemn antisemitism, we stay silent and fail to reject antisemitic rhetoric, when we normalize hateful figures spewing disgusting antisemitism, that is when antisemitism spreads throughout society like a poisonous wildfire.”

“Americans don’t want to see that happen, so my resolution will give every single senator a chance to make an important stand against hatred,” he continued. “The country must see us unite and fight this awful form of bigotry.”

Several Senate Democrats told Jewish Insider on Monday that calls to “globalize the intifada” are unacceptable and must be condemned, amid concerns from Jewish leaders and organizations over presumptive New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s defense of the slogan.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has thus far not endorsed Mamdani, told JI he plans to meet with Mamdani in a few weeks, when asked about Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan.

“Sen. Schumer condemns the phrase ‘Globalize the Intifada’ and believes it should not be used because it has such dangerous implications. As Senator Schumer said after the death of Karen Diamond, the attack in Boulder continues to serve as a grave reminder of the deadly consequences of the rise in antisemitism,” a spokesperson for Schumer told JI.

“I don’t know what [Mamdani’s] position is on it, but I certainly think that the call to spread the intifada is the kind of incitement that can lead to extremist violence,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told JI.

Blumenthal added that he is “an advocate of increasing the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which protects against terrorist hate crimes to synagogues, mosques, churches and similar community institutions, and so I’m deeply concerned about incitement and hate speech that can lead to hate crimes.”

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said calls to globalize the intifada must be condemned.

“At a time when antisemitism is rising at alarming rates in the U.S., leaders of both parties have an obligation to stand up, speak clearly, and unequivocally condemn hatred and bigotry in every form,” Rosen said in a statement to JI. “The intifadas were periods marked by unspeakable violence and terror against innocent Israelis, and it should not be a difficult decision for anyone to condemn the antisemitic call to globalize these violent attacks. Our words matter — and in moments like this, silence is not an option.”

“I’m not a member of the Jewish community or a NYC voter. Personally, I would never use or defend this deeply troubling phrase,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said in a statement to JI. 

Some other Senate Democrats declined to comment or said they hadn’t been following Mamdani’s remarks.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who thus far has declined to endorse Mamdani, said in response to a listener call on WNYC last week that constituents she has spoken to are “alarmed” by Mamdani’s past comments.

“They are alarmed by past public statements. They are alarmed by past positions, particularly references to global jihad,” Gillibrand said. “This is a very serious issue because people that glorify the slaughter of Jews create fear in our communities. The global intifada is a statement that means ‘destroy Israel and kill all the Jews.’”

She emphasized that Mamdani needs to understand and accept that “globalize the intifada” is viewed by the Jewish community as, inherently, a call for violence against Jews.

“It doesn’t matter what meaning you have in your brain,” Gillibrand said, when pressed on Mamdani’s claims that he does not view the statement as a call for violence. “It is not how the word is received. When you use a word like ‘intifada’ to many Jewish Americans and Jewish New Yorkers, that means you are permissive for violence against Jews.”

“It is a harmful, hurtful, inappropriate word for anyone who wants to represent a city as diverse as New York City with 8 million people, and I would be very specific in these words, and I would say, ‘You may not use them again if you expect to represent everyone ever again because they are received as hateful and divisive and harmful, and that’s it,’” she continued. 

She said that Mamdani, if elected, will “need to assure all New Yorkers that he will protect all Jews and protect houses of worship and protect funding for not-for-profits that meet the needs of these communities.”

She said she had spoken to Mamdani about Jewish community security issues last week, and said that he “agreed to work with me on this and to protect all residents. …  I will work with him when he gets elected, if he gets elected, to make sure everyone is protected.”

Speaking on CNN on Monday, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) called the intifada slogan “deeply offensive” and said that “every elected official, without exception, should condemn it.”

Torres said that condemning the language was not the same as criminalizing it, responding to Mamdani’s own comments saying he did not believe he should “police” speech: “No one‘s advocating for imprisonment. I mean, every elected official has an obligation to condemn hatred, whether it‘s antisemitism or Islamophobia,” the New York congressman said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) congratulated Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday for his presumed victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary but stopped short of endorsing the far-left state assemblyman’s candidacy in the general election.

Schumer wrote on X that he spoke with Mamdani on Wednesday morning and was “looking forward to getting together soon,” but did not offer an endorsement while praising the 33-year-old democratic socialist  assemblyman’s campaign. 

“I have known @ZohranKMamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria. He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity,” Schumer said. 

A spokesperson for the Senate minority leader declined to comment when asked by Jewish Insider for Schumer’s thoughts on Mamdani’s long history of anti-Israel activism. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), also praised Mamdani’s campaign operation, telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he “clearly outworked, outorganized, and outcommunicated the opposition. And when someone is successful in being able to do all three things at the same time, it’s usually going to work out for them.”

Speaking to The Independent on Wednesday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she had a “lovely call” with Mamdani after his win, but similarly declined to offer her immediate endorsement. 

“We talked about how he inspired voters to support him because of his laser-like focus on affordability, and I asked for a meeting to … talk about some issues that I have that I want to talk through,” Gillibrand said. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) finds himself in an awkward bind: The self-dubbed “Shomer Yisrael” — “guardian of the people of Israel” — is now the “Shomer of the Democratic Party” — guardian of a caucus that has drifted increasingly leftward, especially when it comes to its support for Israel and aggressive action to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

When he had the opportunity earlier this month to take a clean shot at President Donald Trump for not being tough enough against Iran — over reports the administration was working on a deal allowing Iran to maintain enrichment — he played to his history of hawkishness on Iran, taunting Trump for “folding” and “let[ting] Iran get away with everything,” facing backlash from some on the left in the process. 

But when Trump made the decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites last weekend, Schumer sided against a handful of pro-Israel stalwarts in his party and leading Jewish communal organizations, who praised the move as advancing peace in the region. Instead, he joined the majority of congressional Democrats, who blasted the administration for not seeking congressional authorization. 

“No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy,” Schumer said Saturday. “Confronting Iran’s ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression demands strength, resolve, and strategic clarity. The danger of wider, longer, and more devastating war has now dramatically increased.”

Schumer’s turnaround is raising eyebrows among Jewish and pro-Israel leaders, and his focus on congressional procedure is frustrating some in the pro-Israel community who wanted to see him support Trump’s efforts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program.

“If your argument is leading with a technicality over war powers, you know you’re losing the broader debate,” a former Biden administration official told JI. “This wasn’t an open-ended military campaign — these were limited U.S. airstrikes. Every president in modern times has done it this way for limited airstrikes, and this isn’t any different.”

“I would like it to be that whoever does the right thing, no matter who they are or how much you otherwise dislike them, that at least certain truths can be recognized by everyone,” Democratic Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch said. “One of those being that Iran’s nuclear program needed to stop. … We all need to take a step back and acknowledge that Trump did a good thing, even if we can’t stand him otherwise.”

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan wrote on X, “When President Trump strikes Iran’s nuclear sites to stop a regime openly calling for Israel’s destruction (and responsible for the [murder] of many many Americans), Schumer’s only reaction is… complaining about congressional procedure? Seriously, Chuck? Don’t you have anything positive to say about removing an existential threat from Israel and the free world?”

Democratic Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch, who has been outspoken in criticizing members of her own party over lukewarm support for, or criticism of, Israel, said that Schumer’s position would appear to be one of “blind partisanship,” if he hadn’t expressed the same criticisms of Democratic presidents’ own unilateral military actions.

“I would like it to be that whoever does the right thing, no matter who they are or how much you otherwise dislike them, that at least certain truths can be recognized by everyone,” Panitch said. “One of those being that Iran’s nuclear program needed to stop. … We all need to take a step back and acknowledge that Trump did a good thing, even if we can’t stand him otherwise.”

Panitch was the only Democrat in the Georgia House to join a letter with Republicans backing the Iran strikes.

Schumer’s spokesperson, Angelo Roefaro, told JI, “Senator Schumer has long said Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and he voted against his own party when he didn’t think President Obama’s Iran deal went far enough.” 

“He’s also long said that the executive branch cannot ignore the role of Congress when it comes to taking military action(s), yet that is exactly what is happening right now, and that is unacceptable when the stakes are so high and when key questions, including how the administration will prevent Iran in the long-term from obtaining a nuclear weapon, remain unanswered,” Roefaro continued.

“He has got tremendous pressures facing him,” Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic consultant told JI. “There are people in New York who would want him to be much more vociferous in support of the attack on Iran … but his party isn’t in that place.”

Publicly, Schumer has also been critical of the administration for failing to brief him and other lawmakers to show the necessity of the strikes, or that they accomplished the administration’s intended goal. He’s suggested that’s a sign that the strikes were not successful, as one leaked intelligence report has indicated.

“This last-minute postponement is outrageous, evasive, and derelict. Senators deserve full transparency, and the administration has a legal obligation to inform Congress precisely about what is happening. What is the administration so afraid of?” Schumer said in a new statement Tuesday. “Such obstruction undermines the very principles of accountability and oversight that safeguard our democracy.”

One analyst argued that Schumer’s position as Democratic leader places him in a politically difficult bind.

“He has got tremendous pressures facing him,” Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic consultant told JI. “There are people in New York who would want him to be much more vociferous in support of the attack on Iran … but his party isn’t in that place.”

He argued that Schumer, as the leader of a minority party, needs to focus on attracting younger voters back to the party, and in protecting the coalition he does have — both groups that largely oppose the strikes.

Sheinkopf also said Schumer’s stance is “absolutely a product of internal caucus politics. … The minority party’s job is to be on the other side of the president and the leadership, and that’s what they’re doing. So it should not be surprising, and Sen. Schumer’s positioning should not be surprising at all.”

Schumer’s comments over the weekend echo the stance he took in 2020 on potential military action against Iran, when he backed similar legislation following the strike that killed Quds Force head Gen. Qassem Soleimani. He also backed a bill that would withhold funding for war with Iran.

“Congress, unequivocally, must hold the president accountable and assert our authority over matters of war and peace,” Schumer said at the time, remarks to which Schumer’s office referred JI. He also criticized the administration for failing to provide “a clear picture … about our strategy in the region.”

Schumer has said he regretted his vote to authorize the Iraq War and has pushed, including during the Biden administration, for repeal of the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force undergirding the war on terrorism, arguing that Congress needed to reassert war powers and prevent another inadvertent war in the Middle East.

But he didn’t publicly offer the same direct and pointed opposition to strikes undertaken by previous Democratic administrations without congressional authorization in places such as Libya and Yemen.

Schumer’s office also referred JI to his past opposition to Iran’s nuclear program and opposition to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as well as his support for the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which requires the administration to submit for congressional review any nuclear agreement with Iran.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized President Donald Trump for carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities without congressional authorization, a voice of opposition that was echoed by many leading Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Jeffries said in a statement less than two hours after Trump announced the strikes that Trump “misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.”

He said that the Trump administration must explain to the country why it carried out the strikes and brief Congress.

“Donald Trump shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action,” Jeffries continued.

Schumer, in a similarly critical statement, said that “no president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy” and said he would be urging all lawmakers to support war powers legislation to block further military action against Iran, and called for an immediate vote.

He said Trump must explain his actions to the American people.

“Confronting Iran’s ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression demands strength, resolve, and strategic clarity,” Schumer said. “The danger of wider, longer, and more devastating war has now dramatically increased.”

Senior congressional Democrats were largely left out of the loop about the strikes before they occurred, while Republican leaders have said they were briefed.

Administration officials traditionally brief “Gang of Eight” officials — the top Republican and Democrat in each chamber and the chairs and ranking members of the Intelligence Committees — before carrying out major sensitive operations.

Sources familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider that Jeffries received a notification after the operation was likely already underway, but had not been fully briefed, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was not briefed prior to the strikes.

Sources familiar with the situation told JI that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR) were briefed before the strikes.

Johnson pushed back on claims that the administration had illegally sidestepped Congress, saying, “Leaders in Congress were aware of the urgency of this situation and the Commander-in-Chief evaluated that the imminent danger outweighed the time it would take for Congress to act.”

“The President fully respects the Article I power of Congress, and tonight’s necessary, limited, and targeted strike follows the history and tradition of similar military actions under presidents of both parties,” Johnson continued.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called Jeffries’ statement “an embarrassment,” saying Trump had prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Many Democrats in both chambers have gone further than Jeffries in their responses, explicitly describing the strikes as unconstitutional.

“The power to declare war resides solely with Congress. Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to attack Iran is unauthorized and unconstitutional,” Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), the House minority whip, said. “In doing so, the President has exposed our military and diplomatic personnel in the region to the risk of further escalation. The American people, our men and women in uniform, and their families deserve answers.”

Some Democrats have also raised the prospect of impeaching Trump over the action. 

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

Several pro-Israel Democrats, like Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) have fully backed the strike.

“We don’t yet know what this means for the regime’s nuclear work or ambitions, but it absolutely means that the regime has been further weakened — which is good for those who want peace,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) said.

“It’s time for the Iranian regime to agree to the removal of all enriched uranium, comprehensive, around-the-clock inspections, and the full dismantling of their terror armies from Hamas to Hezbollah and the Houthis. That will end this conflict, and put the entire region on the path to a real and sustainable peace.”

“Iran is a terrorist nation, and we must do everything we can to stop it from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) said. “Debates will now ensue about presidential authority and the President working with Congress. The President should work with Congress, especially those of us who recognize how important it is to finally stop Iran.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said that Iran should immediately end its nuclear program and stop funding terrorism, but also called for Congress to repeal the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force “so that the American public can get an open & thorough debate on war-making.”

Jewish Insider Congressional correspondent Emily Jacobs contributed to this report

Asserting that President Donald Trump “owes Congress and the American people a strategy for U.S. engagement” in the Middle East, top Senate Democrats on Wednesday cautioned against potential U.S. strikes on Iran and argued that the president would need congressional authorization to conduct such an operation.

The signatories to the statement include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrats on several key Senate committees and subcommittees. The statement suggests that a direct U.S. military intervention in Iran would see little support among Senate Democrats.

Trump has indicated that he is considering carrying out strikes inside Iran but has yet to make a final decision.

“​​Intensifying military actions between Israel and Iran represent a dangerous escalation that risks igniting a broader regional war,” the statement reads. “As President Trump reportedly considers expanding U.S. engagement in the war, we are deeply concerned about a lack of preparation, strategy, and clearly defined objectives, and the enormous risk to Americans and civilians in the region.”

The lawmakers said they are “alarmed by the Trump administration’s failure to provide answers to fundamental questions” and demanded that the president seek authorization from Congress “if he is considering taking the country to war.” 

“Congress has not provided authorization for military action against Iran – we will not rubberstamp military intervention that puts the United States at risk,” the Democrats said. “Our foremost duty is to safeguard American citizens wherever they reside and to protect our troops serving on the front lines. The United States cannot sleepwalk into a third war in as many decades. Congress has a critical role to play in this moment.” 

Legislation has been introduced in the Senate to bar military action against Iran, which could come up for a vote as soon as next week.

“[Trump] owes Congress and the American people a strategy for U.S. engagement in the region. We need a clear, detailed plan outlining the goals, risks, cost, and timeline for any proposed mission, as well as how he will ensure the safe evacuation of Americans in harm’s way all across the region,” they continued. “We demand immediate, detailed answers on these and other urgent matters to determine the way forward.

At the same time, the statement describes Iran as a threat to the U.S. and its allies that “must not be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon.” 

“The United States stands firm in our support for the continued defense of Israel, our partner and ally,” they said. “Our commitment to Israel remains ironclad and we urge the administration to defend Israel against the barrage of Iranian airstrikes, including through the provision of additional air defense capabilities.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stood strongly behind Israel in his first public comments on its strikes on Iran and its nuclear program on Friday afternoon — a response that was notably more forceful in its support for Israel than those of many prominent members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

“The United States’ commitment to Israel’s security and defense must be ironclad as they prepare for Iran’s response,” Schumer said in a statement first shared with Jewish Insider. “The Iranian regime’s stated policy has long been to destroy Israel and Jewish communities around the world. I have long said that Israel has a right to defend itself and that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Ensuring they never obtain one must remain a top national security priority.”

Schumer, who has recently been critical of President Donald Trump’s negotiations with Iran, said “the preferred path to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran and for supporting security and stability in the region has always been a strong, unrelenting diplomatic effort backed by meaningful leverage, and every effort must be made to move toward the path of a diplomatic solution.”

Schumer noted that Iran was just censured by the International Atomic Energy Agency “for systematically deceiving the world about its nuclear program,” that it is “the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism” and it “has sought to expand its influence in the Middle East, exporting terror and violence across the region.”

He said he is “praying for the safety of American citizens and servicemembers in the region and for enduring stability and security in the region.”

Israel’s strikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets are prompting fractured responses from Senate Democrats, with a few offering full support for Israel and others forcefully condemning the strikes, while some have sought to carve out a path somewhere in the middle.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), one of the most vocal pro-Israel Democrats in the Senate, offered her first comments on the strike Friday morning, saying that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and is “closer than ever” to developing one, as reflected in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s recent report that Iran had violated its nonproliferation commitments.

“The Iranian regime and its proxies have been very public about their commitment to the destruction of Israel and Jewish communities around the world. We should take them at their word,” Rosen said. “Israel acted in self-defense against an attack from Iran, and the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment.”

She also emphasized the need to protect U.S. troops in the region.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), long a proponent of strikes on Iran, was the first Senate Democrat to offer support for the operation.

On the other side of the spectrum, progressives have been loudly denouncing the strikes. 

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the strikes are “an escalation that is deeply concerning and will inevitably invite counterattacks.”

She added that they endanger nuclear talks and U.S. servicemembers.

“I agree with President Trump’s instinct to distance the U.S. from Israel’s actions, but Iran and its proxies are unlikely to differentiate the U.S. from Israel. This is not the time to tie our hands by reducing our diplomatic presence and resourcing as the State Department and OMB [Office of Management and Budget] plan to do,” Shaheen said. “This is a dangerous moment for the region and world. The Trump Administration must quickly move to de-escalate the situation.”

Other progressive Senate Democrats have tried to accuse Israel of undermining President Trump’s wishes, even though Trump himself has publicly expressed support for the attacks in statements and media interviews into Friday morning.

“This strike by Iran is clearly a stick in the eye for the American president because in addition to striking nuclear facilities and at least one of their top research scientists, reportedly Israel also killed the chief negotiator who was negotiating with the United States of America and so it’s pretty transparent that this was an effort to submarine, to undermine our diplomacy,” Sen. Chis Murphy (D-CT) said on Friday morning on “Morning Joe.” “Now, it looks as if diplomacy has no chance.”

A handful of other Democrats have sought some path between those two poles, acknowledging Israel’s right to defend itself while pushing for deescalation and averting a concerted regional war.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, emphasized the need to “avoid steps that will cause further escalation across the region,” while also stating, “Iran has threatened the safety of Israel and the region and Israel has an undeniable right to defend itself and its citizens.”

He said that his “foremost concern” is protecting U.S. personnel in the Middle East.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said that the details, justification and consequences of the operation are unknown, while emphasizing that the U.S. had made clear that Israel acted alone and the administration continues to pursue peace.

“I have long believed that the world cannot tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran and that Iran and its proxies pose a serious threat to American interests. I am deeply concerned by the IAEA Board of Governors’ determination earlier today that Iran has failed to comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Iran’s defiant subsequent declaration of a new underground enrichment facility,” Coons said. “Even so, tonight’s actions have the potential to lead to dangerous escalation and a full-scale regional war. I am following developments closely tonight and am urging restraint.”

“Everyone’s goal must now be the prevention of a full-blown regional war,” Coons continued. “The Trump administration and our regional partners must work together to reduce the risks of escalation and work towards a path forward that provides safety and stability for the entire region.”

As of Friday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the top Senate Democrat, was the only one of the top four congressional leaders who had yet to speak out about the attacks.

Schumer attended the Friday morning funeral of former Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) where he delivered a eulogy, and was expected to receive a briefing on the strikes afterward, according to a source familiar with his plans. Schumer was expected to issue a statement after the briefing.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will announce on Monday that he is launching “an all-out push to shore up” $500 million in the fiscal year 2026 budget for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in response to a spate of recent antisemitic terrorist attacks, he revealed to Jewish Insider in an interview on Thursday.

He said that key Senate Republicans have appeared amenable to that request and called the administration’s proposal for flat funding for the program a nonstarter.

“The attack in Colorado, the shooting in Washington, the arson in Pennsylvania [of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home] have one thing in common: they have cited anti-Israel sentiment as a justification for their violence. In other words, they’ve used the actions of the Israeli government they don’t like to justify violence against Jewish Americans here at home,” Schumer said. 

“We’re witnessing — unfortunately, in real time — the resurgence of collective blame against the Jewish people,” he continued. “Collective blame is traditionally one of the most nasty, dangerous forms of antisemitism, and so if we don’t confront it clearly, unequivocally together, we risk opening the door to even darker days.”

Schumer emphasized that criticism and peaceful protest of the Israeli government is not antisemitic, “but there’s a profound and dangerous difference between criticizing a government and condemning an entire people,” he continued. 

He told JI that he had spoken to key Republicans about the funding level, and they seemed amenable. He argued that enhanced security provided through the grants could “stop a lot of these attacks.”

“We’ve had discussions with the members of the Appropriations Committee,” Schumer said. “They seemed open to it. The NSGP has always had bipartisan support, and our leading Republican has been Sen. [James] Lankford of Oklahoma.”

Lankford was the lead Republican on a recent bipartisan Senate letter requesting $500 million in funding. Thirty-two other senators, including one other Republican, also signed that request.

A Schumer spokesperson told JI that the Democratic leader believes $500 million should be attainable under the current administration. Schumer had initially pushed for an additional $1 billion for the program in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

The administration’s flat funding request for $274.5 million, which Schumer called “unacceptable” in the interview, would amount to an effective funding cut, given that funding was supplemented in 2024 by $180 million provided through the national security supplemental bill, the senator argued. An additional $220 million in supplemental funds remain in limbo — institutions applied last year, but have not yet been notified if their applications were accepted, — on top of the $274.5 million that will be available through regular appropriations this year.

The top Senate Democrat said threats against synagogues and Jewish day schools have surged further following the attacks in Washington and Boulder, Colo. He said he had been in contact with the FBI about the potential for “copycat” attacks. 

“This is not new. In Boulder and in so many other places there have been threats against synagogues, against Jews, etc., and if it is not confronted strongly and directly, it then leads to even death, to people being killed,” Schumer said. 

He said the FBI was “very open” to his warning and had clearly received the message.

In 2024, when the program had a total of $454.5 million available, just 43% of funding requests were fulfilled. Supporters of the program in the House and Senate have urged Appropriations Committee leaders and the administration to allocate $500 million for the program, while Jewish groups asked for $1 billion in the wake of the D.C. murders.

In addition to the $500 million for FY 2026, Schumer will push for the 2026 funding bill to include funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which manages NSGP, to provide technical assistance to smaller institutions to apply for grants, a process some lack the expertise or staff to navigate.

“They don’t have the consultants or the wherewithal on their own,” Schumer said.

Schumer told JI he also wants the administration to promptly open applications for the 2025 cycle, which usually open in May. “We passed this last year and the deadline was May 14, but now the money has to start flowing,” he said.

And he called on Americans broadly to “confront and disavow antisemitism … across the nation.”

Kingsley Wilson, a deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense who has come under fire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Jewish communal organizations for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, has been promoted to serve as the department’s press secretary, the Pentagon announced on Friday. 

“Kingsley’s leadership has been integral to the DoD’s success & we look forward to her continued service to President [Donald] Trump,” Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman and a senior advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, posted on X on Friday. 

When Wilson was named deputy press secretary in March, she faced widespread condemnation for dozens of tweets viewed as antisemitic and racist. On two different occasions, she attacked the Anti-Defamation League for sharing its origin story — the organization was founded after the lynching of Leo Frank, an Atlanta Jew widely believed to have been wrongly convicted of raping and murdering a white child over a century ago. 

“Leo Frank raped and murdered a 13-year-old girl,” Wilson wrote in 2023 in response to a post from the ADL, and repeated the claim a year later. “He also tried to frame a black man for his crime. The ADL is despicable.” (The tweet has not been deleted.) 

Wilson has also called Confederate General Robert E. Lee “one of the greatest Americans to ever live” and regularly promoted the antisemitic “Great Replacement Theory.” 

Her appointment in March drew bipartisan criticism. “Obviously I don’t agree with her comments. I trust the Pentagon will address this,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told Jewish Insider at the time. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for her firing. 

Spokespeople for the Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. 

Antisemitic violence struck at the heart of the nation’s capital on Wednesday evening when an assailant shot and killed two Israeli embassy employees outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum for young diplomats and Jewish professionals hosted by the American Jewish Committee.

“Two staff members of the Israeli embassy were shot this evening at close range while attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC,” embassy spokesperson Tal Naim Cohen said in a statement. “We have full faith in law enforcement authorities on both the local and federal levels to apprehend the shooter and protect Israel’s representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States.”

Officials said there was no ongoing threat to public safety and that a suspect had been arrested.

“American Jewish Committee (AJC) can confirm that we hosted an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. this evening,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement. “We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue. At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.”

President Donald Trump said in a statement, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said that a man and woman were killed in the incident. Israeli Ambassador Michael Leiter said that the two victims were a young couple and embassy employees who were planning to get engaged next week in Jerusalem — the man purchased a ring earlier this week.

Eyewitness Paige Siegel, who was a guest at the event, told Jewish Insider that she heard two sets of multiple shots ring out, and then an individual, who police have since identified as suspected shooter Elias Rodriguez, entered the building appearing disoriented and panicked, seconds after the shooting ended. She said security allowed the man in, as well as two other women separately.

Siegel said she spoke to the man, asking him if he had been shot. He appeared panicked and was mumbling and repeatedly told bystanders to call the police. Siegel said that she felt the man was suspicious.

JoJo Drake Kalin, a member of AJC’s DC Young Professional Board and an organizer of the event, also told JI the man appeared disheveled and out of breath when he entered the building. Kalin assumed he had been a bystander to the shooting who needed assistance and she handed him a glass of water.

Siegel said that the man was sitting in the building in a state of distress for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, and she and a friend engaged him in conversation, informing him that he was in the Jewish museum.

After Siegel said that, she said the man started screaming, “I did it, I did it. Free Palestine. I did it for Gaza,” and opened a backpack, withdrawing a red Keffiyeh. She said that an officer, who had already arrived, detained the man and took him outside. She said that she subsequently saw security footage of Rodriguez shooting the female and identified the shooter as the same individual. Kalin said that some attendees stayed for several hours at the museum into the night to be debriefed by police.

A short video obtained by JI showed an individual in the lobby of the museum chanting “Free, free Palestine” being detained by police and removed from the building.

A video obtained by Jewish Insider shows the suspected shooter, identified by police as Elias Rodriguez, in the lobby of the Capital Jewish Museum chanting “free, free Palestine” as he is detained by police and removed from the building.

Full story: https://t.co/ZGZBj9agQx pic.twitter.com/zZUbTvovFm

— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) May 22, 2025

Smith said in a press conference that the suspect, Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago, opened fire on a group of four outside the museum, and then entered the building and was detained by event security. Smith said that Rodriguez, once in custody, implied that he carried out the shooting and chanted “free, free Palestine.”

Smith said Rodriguez had been pacing outside the event before the altercation.

Leiter said that he had spoken to President Donald Trump, who vowed that the administration would do everything it can to fight antisemitism and demonization and delegitimization of Israel.

“We’ll stand together tall and firm and confront this moral depravity without fear,” Leiter said.

Smith said that police would coordinate with local Jewish organizations to ensure sufficient security. She said police had not received any intelligence warning of the attack.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “we will not tolerate antisemitism,” and said the city would continue to assist Jewish organizations with security grants.

FBI officials and Attorney General Pam Bondi and interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro joined the response alongside D.C. police.

“We are a resilient people. The people of Israel are a resilient people. The people of the United States of America are a resilient people. Together, we won’t be afraid. Together we will stand and overcome moral depravity of people who think they’re going to achieve political gains through murder,” Leiter said. 

According to an invitation to the event viewed by JI, the event planned to discuss efforts to respond to humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa, including in Gaza.

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, described the shooting as a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told JI, “I’ve been informed of the tragic shooting that occurred outside of the Capitol Jewish Museum tonight in Washington D.C. We are monitoring the situation as more details become known and lifting up the victim’s families in our prayers.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a post, “This sickening shooting seems to be another horrific instance of antisemitism which as we know is all too rampant in our society.”

Richard Priem, the CEO of the Community Security Service, told eJewishPhilanthropy that there are still “so many unknowns” about the shooting, namely if it was a sophisticated attack specifically targeting Israeli Embassy staff or an attack more generally against the Jewish event itself. In any case, the organization called for “increased situational awareness” at Jewish institutions going forward, particularly ahead of Shabbat.

“Anytime there’s an attack, certain people get activated and think, ’Now’s the time,’” Priem said. “But we don’t know yet if there might be a direct correlated threat.”

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross contributed reporting

A group of Jewish Senate Democrats accused President Donald Trump of weaponizing antisemitism as a pretext to withhold funding from and punish colleges and universities, moves they said in a letter on Thursday “undermine the work of combating antisemitism” and ultimately make Jewish students “less safe.”

“We are extremely troubled and disturbed by your broad and extra-legal attacks against universities and higher education institutions as well as members of their communities, which seem to go far beyond combatting antisemitism, using what is a real crisis as a pretext to attack people and institutions who do not agree with you,” the lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), antisemitism task force co-chair Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) wrote to the president.

“It has become abundantly clear that for this administration, the stated goal of fighting antisemitism — which is needed now more than ever, and for which we stand ready to work in a bipartisan way on real solution — is simply a means to an end to attack our nation’s universities and public schools and their ability to function as multifaceted and vital institutions of higher learning and to protect free speech and the civil liberties of their students and employees,” they continued.

The letter points to Trump’s attacks on Harvard University, including the freezing of billions of dollars in funding and threats to revoke its tax-exempt status, as the most prominent examples of the administration’s efforts, which they say “go far beyond constructive and necessary efforts” to support Jewish students.

They said the administration instead appears to be trying to change “the way the university functions” and impose significant penalties “in ways wholly unrelated to combating antisemitism.” The lawmakers instead accused Trump of trying to undermine or destroy these colleges under the “guise” of antisemitism.

“We strongly support efforts to ensure universities uphold their duty to protect students from unlawful discrimination and harassment, but we reject your administration’s policies of defunding and punishing universities out of spite, as they actually undermine the work of combating antisemitism,” the letter continues, “ultimately only making Jews less safe by pitting Jewish safety against other communities and undermining the freedoms and democratic norms that have allowed Jewish communities, and so many others, to thrive in the United States.”

The letter poses a series of questions to the administration, requesting answers by the end of April, including how the administration has chosen the institutions it has targeted, the specific charges made against Harvard, how the “totally disproportionate” penalties are being assessed, how the administration is deciding what funding to cut and what its legal basis is for threatening Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

The lawmakers particularly raised concerns about the impact of cuts to medical research funding, which they say will affect all students, including Jewish students, and why Harvard’s medical school has been targeted.

They also asked why the administration has significantly cut funding and resources for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil rights and how it plans to work with schools to implement reforms and protections for Jewish students going forward, in light of those cuts.

The letter further asks whether the administration has consulted “a broad range” of Jewish students and organizations on remedies for antisemitism and how it will ensure that funding cuts don’t hurt Jewish students or those uninvolved in or victimized by antisemitic activity.

They additionally inquired about the revocation of visas of foreign students and deportation proceedings and whether such actions are being taken based “solely on their expressed views and speech, which the administration has identified as antisemitic.” They asked whether the administration believes that the First Amendment applies to non-citizens and whether any deported or detained students have been charged with any crimes.

A tour around Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) upcoming book, Antisemitism in America, has been postponed as the New York Democrat faces blowback over his recent vote to avert a government shutdown.

An event for Schumer moderated by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), slated for Tuesday night at New York’s Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center, was removed from the center’s events calendar over the weekend. A staffer for the Manhattan venue confirmed the event’s postponement to Jewish Insider on Monday morning.

A spokesperson for Schumer told Punchbowl News later Monday morning that the tour was postponed, citing security concerns.

The first event, originally scheduled for Monday night at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, was set to face protests organized by the far-left group Jewish Voice for Peace. An event at Washington’s Sixth and I synagogue on Wednesday was canceled Monday morning. 

The postponement of the gatherings comes days after Schumer argued against forcing a government shutdown as a negotiating tool, saying it would further empower President Donald Trump and White House advisor Elon Musk. 

Nine other Democrats joined Schumer in voting for a procedural cloture motion to break a filibuster of a GOP government funding bill and prevent a government shutdown. House Democrats vehemently opposed the move. 

After the Senate vote, Torres criticized the Democrats who voted in favor of cloture, saying they “are making a strategic miscalculation that we as a party will live to regret.”

The event was removed from the Streicker Center’s website over the weekend. An archived version of the page saved on March 15 indicates that the event was posted through at least midday Saturday. 

The event was also set to face protests from Jewish activists frustrated by Schumer’s failure to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act in the last Congress.

Jewish Insider’s senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod contributed to this report.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) condemned the “inappropriate and unacceptable” scene at Barnard College on Wednesday night when anti-Israel demonstrators stormed the college’s main administrative building and assaulted a staff member, sending him to the hospital.

“It is inappropriate and unacceptable that masked intruders forcibly stormed a Barnard campus building, assaulted a college worker and blocked classroom access. All this in support of other protestors who are being justifiably disciplined for inappropriately disrupting fellow students from learning in a history class on Israel, while spreading antisemitic flyers that encouraged violence and more,” Schumer said in a statement to Jewish Insider.

“Barnard College must stand firm against this behavior and take prompt action to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for all its students,” the statement continued.

Schumer’s statement came as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began to condemn the violent, six-hour protest, which was held in response to the college’s decision to expel two second-semester seniors who last month disrupted a History of Modern Israel class. 

A spokesperson for the NYPD told JI that a police report has been filed regarding the alleged assault itself, though no arrests have been made as of Thursday and the investigation remains ongoing. 

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Pro-Hamas mobs have NO place on our college campuses. Barnard College & Columbia University must put an end to the antisemitic chaos on campus,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wrote on X.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, wrote on the platform that, “On the same day that the world was mourning the burial of the Bibas family murdered by Hamas terrorists, an antisemitic pro-Hamas mob violently took over Barnard College.”

“Students committing these crimes should be immediately expelled and prosecuted by law enforcement. As President Donald Trump outlined in his executive order, any visa-holding student participating in these antisemitic acts must be stripped of their visa and be deported,” she continued.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY), the Democratic co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, posted on X that, “This violation of university rules and city laws must stop. There should never be demands to follow rules and the law. Universities including Columbia must enforce their own rules so all students feel safe. I look forward to learning what consequences these students face.”

“Actions have consequences. Barnard was right to expel the students who disrupted class & distributed fliers calling for the death of Jews. Negotiating with pro-terror protesters who are breaking campus policies should be out of the question,” the House Education and Workforce Committee stated in a post.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the previous chair of the committee, wrote in a separate post on X: “Expel them all.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called the situation “disgraceful.”

“Pro-Hamas protesters force their way into Barnard College, assaulting an employee in the process. This is not “activism” — it’s lawlessness and intimidation. Every student involved should face serious consequences. No excuses,” he said in a statement. 

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) said in a statement, “This is despicable: hate-filled anti-Israel protestors stormed a school building at Barnard and assaulted a staff member. The university must hold them accountable.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is facing mounting pressure from Jewish leaders and Democratic colleagues who have privately voiced frustrations with the continued delay in moving to advance a major bill aimed at addressing a recent surge in antisemitic activity on college campuses.

Schumer, who has been outspoken against rising antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, had endorsed prior versions of the legislation, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which first passed the Senate in 2016 under unanimous consent. 

But after an initial effort to unanimously fast-track the bill failed last month in the Senate, Schumer has since delayed for weeks in bringing the bill up for a floor vote, even as it is expected to pass comfortably with bipartisan support and has won backing from a large number of Jewish groups.

In a brief interview with Jewish Insider on Thursday afternoon, Schumer, who has rarely addressed the matter publicly, stressed that he is now “looking at every single option to try and get strong, bipartisan legislation passed,” but he did not share a timeline for approving the bill.

“The crusade against antisemitism is in my bones, has been for my whole life,” he said, describing “the goals and aspirations of” the bill as “so important in this fight and to the future.”

Still, the holdup has angered supporters of the bill who allege that Schumer — the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the country — is now slow-walking a floor vote because he is fearful that it will highlight divisions within his caucus while garnering a larger share of Republican backers.

“He is avoiding this at all costs,” said a person familiar with the matter who spoke with JI on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive topic. “The reason why he hates this is because Schumer knows there’s going to be 40 to 45 Republicans who are going to vote for this bill, but there’s only going to be 30 Democrats.”

The bill would enshrine a definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance into federal law and direct the Department of Education to consider the definition — which, among other things, identifies some criticism of Israel as antisemitic — in evaluating complaints of anti-Jewish discrimination on college campuses. That policy has been in place since 2019 under an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.

While the legislation passed the House early last month by a wide margin, it has also drawn opposition from members of both parties, including some progressive and right-wing critics who have raised varying objections to the bill on free speech grounds.

Despite some resistance to the bill in the Senate, however, two of the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in November —  Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) — are each eager for Schumer to call a vote and are urging him to act, according to sources familiar with their outreach. 

A Senate aide confirmed to JI on Tuesday that Casey, who reintroduced the legislation with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) in April, is pushing Schumer to move forward.

“At a time when antisemitism has skyrocketed across the United States in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, particularly on college campuses, I’ve been working with Senator Schumer to advance the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act,” Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said, adding that the majority leader “is looking at every path forward to get this done.”

“The horrific rise in reported incidents of antisemitism is a clarion call for Congress to step up and protect students on campuses across the nation,” Casey said in a statement shared with JI on Thursday. “The need for my Antisemitism Awareness Act has never been greater and I am working with Leader Schumer on all legislative options to pass it as quickly as possible.”

For her part, Rosen, a Jewish Democrat who is the lead sponsor of a separate antisemitism bill that also remains stalled in the Senate, has grown especially frustrated with Schumer’s delay as the summer congressional recess draws closer, said one well-placed source familiar with her thinking.

In a statement to JI, however, Rosen expressed confidence in Schumer’s approach to the bill, which she called “an important step in addressing rising campus antisemitism.”

“At a time when antisemitism has skyrocketed across the United States in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, particularly on college campuses, I’ve been working with Senator Schumer to advance the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act,” she said, adding that the majority leader “is looking at every path forward to get this done.”

Meanwhile, several Jewish leaders who met with Schumer last month to lobby on behalf of the bill indicated in a follow-up letter sent to his office last Friday that their patience has been wearing thin.

In the letter, obtained by JI and written by top officials at a range of major Jewish and pro-Israel groups, the Jewish leaders requested an update from Schumer and “once again” exhorted him to greenlight a vote, emphasizing that in their initial meeting he had “committed to us that there would be movement on the bill within a short timeframe.”

Describing the legislation as “a high priority of the American Jewish community,” the Jewish leaders called on Schumer to move with alacrity before the fall semester begins on campuses, citing “a dramatic increase of antisemitic activity” on college campuses amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“We must ensure that, when students arrive on campus in the fall, we have adequately equipped the agencies tasked with protecting their civil rights,” the signatories elaborated in their letter to Schumer. “The Antisemitism Awareness Act is a key piece of this effort. In light of this unfolding crisis, we urge you to bring the bill to the Senate floor prior to the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year.”

The letter was signed by William Daroff of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Ted Deutch of the American Jewish Committee; Eric Fingerhut of the Jewish Federations of North America; Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League; Howard Kohr of AIPAC; Eric Goldstein of UJA-Federation of New York; and Nathan Diament, executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union.

A source familiar with the situation previously told JI that, during the meeting with Jewish leaders, Schumer had indicated that he is still trying to resolve objections to the bill, which is likely to be a difficult prospect given entrenched opposition from some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who say the legislation limits free speech. The Jewish leaders urged Schumer to bring the bill to a vote.

In comments to JI on Thursday, representatives of some of the Jewish groups that met with Schumer reiterated their support for the bill. “We are eager for the AAA to be voted on by the Senate,” Diament said in a statement, using an acronym for the bill. “It passed the House by an overwhelming margin and we are confident the same will happen in the Senate when brought for a vote.”

Karen Paikin Barall, vice president of government relations at JFNA, echoed that view, calling the Antisemitism Awareness Act “a critical piece of legislation” and voicing “hope it will come to a vote in the Senate as soon as possible. We are confident that it will pass.”

Sheila Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, who attended the meeting with Schumer last month, said in an interview with JI that “passing legislation to combat antisemitism is a top priority” for the Senate leader. “Once again,” she said, “he has mobilized to ensure critical legislation to combat antisemitism moves forward. He is doing this in a thoughtful and strategic way by actively working with multiple stakeholders and Jewish organizations.”

The ADL has been “working closely with” Schumer and his team, said Dan Granot, the group’s director of government relations, “and as we have discussed multiple times, now is the time for Congress to step up and meet this moment of rising antisemitism.”

Julie Fishman Rayman, the managing director of policy and political affairs at the AJC, called Schumer “a committed ally of the American Jewish community” and said he “knows that it is in the best interest of the community to get a bill that defines and counters antisemitism passed by the Senate before the end of this congressional session.”

On Thursday, some Jewish leaders also came to his defense.

Sheila Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, who attended the meeting with Schumer last month, said in an interview with JI that “passing legislation to combat antisemitism is a top priority” for the Senate leader. “Once again,” she said, “he has mobilized to ensure critical legislation to combat antisemitism moves forward. He is doing this in a thoughtful and strategic way by actively working with multiple stakeholders and Jewish organizations.”

But while NCJW supports the IHRA definition as “an educational tool,” as the group states on its website, it does “not recommend this be codified into law or used to prohibit freedom of speech in any way.” Katz clarified to JI that NCJW “has been focused on advocating for” another bill that Schumer has co-sponsored called the Countering Antisemitism Act, which was introduced in April by Rosen and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), but noted that “we do not oppose the AAA.”

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said that Schumer’s “commitment to addressing the crisis of antisemitism is crystal clear.” 

Her group, she told JI, is also working with the senator’s team on “a legislative path forward” for such bills as the Countering Antisemitism Act, which seeks to codify and expand on the Biden administration’s national strategy to combat antisemitism and is endorsed by a broad swath of the Jewish community. 

The JCPA, however, has “not taken a position” on the Antisemitism Awareness Act, according to Spitalnick. 

The White House declined to comment directly on the bill, noting instead that the Countering Antisemitism Act “is aligned with the administration’s national strategy to counter antisemitism in important ways.” President Joe Biden “welcomes congressional action in this fight,” Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, told JI on Thursday.  

In a sign of brewing frustration with Schumer across the Jewish denominational spectrum, a sizable coalition of Orthodox rabbis issued a joint statement last week accusing the majority leader of “obstructing” a handful of bills concerning the Jewish community, including the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which now has 31 co-sponsors almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

With the bill continuing to languish in the upper chamber, some critics are skeptical of Schumer’s commitment to advancing what they see as urgently needed legislation to counter a rise in antisemitism that has riven college campuses in recent months.

The majority leader has given some notable floor remarks where he has condemned antisemitism, including a landmark speech last November in which he argued that anti-Israel animus “in the wake of Oct. 7 is all too often crossing into brazen and widespread antisemitism, the likes of which we haven’t seen for generations in this country.”

“By all accounts, the success or failure of the Antisemitism Awareness Act now depends almost entirely on the decision of one man: Majority Leader Schumer,” Kenneth Marcus, the founder and president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, said in an email to JI this week.

More recently, Schumer took to the Senate floor earlier this month to speak out against a widely denounced pro-Hamas demonstration at an exhibit in downtown Manhattan honoring the victims of the Nova music festival massacre. 

But Schumer’s more cautious approach to legislation addressing antisemitism has recently drawn scrutiny, particularly as he has also faced backlash from some Jewish and pro-Israel groups over his sharply worded speech in March calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an obstacle to peace and advocating for new elections to replace the Israeli leader.

“By all accounts, the success or failure of the Antisemitism Awareness Act now depends almost entirely on the decision of one man: Majority Leader Schumer,” Kenneth Marcus, the founder and president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, said in an email to JI this week.

Marcus, who relied on the IHRA definition while overseeing anti-Jewish discrimination cases as the head of the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in the Trump administration, said that Schumer “need only call the bill to a vote, and it will probably pass.”

“The problem is that a roll call vote could expose fissures within both parties, with far greater problems among the Democrats,” he suggested. 

Even as Schumer vowed to explore all available avenues to pass the bill, he emphasized in his comments to JI that “beating back antisemitism also involves public education and fervent voices to say things like I said in my own speech on antisemitism and so many times afterwards, as recently as this week.”

“As I continue to meet with other senators, Jewish groups and other stakeholders,” Schumer added, “my North Star is always going to be the Jewish values I hold and the history we as Jews have learned.”

Following Elizabeth Magill’s resignation as the president of the University of Pennsylvania, public attention is now focusing on Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which are facing calls to unseat their own presidents. But Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth are thus far facing less in-state political pressure for their resignations.

Pressure from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro played a role in Magill’s ouster; other Pennsylvania political figures, such as Senate candidate David McCormick and Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) were also critical of the former Penn president. But such calls have been less prevalent so far from within Massachusetts.

“Strong, moral leadership should be qualification number one for the president of the world’s leading university, but as a tireless advocate for ending the ‘cancel culture’ so pervasive at Harvard over the past decade, I’m not going to rush to cancel the president,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a Harvard alum, said in a statement to Jewish Insider on Monday. “That’s a decision the university’s governing boards should consider carefully.”

Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said Friday, “I would say that in the last two months, Dr. Gay has been making a lot of second and third statements when she should have gotten it right the first time. Genocide is unacceptable, period,” but said he’d leave the decision of her resignation to the school’s board.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said last week, “If you can’t lead, if you can’t stand up and say what’s right and wrong — very much in the extreme cases, and these are the extreme cases — then you’ve got a problem,” but didn’t respond to a question from JI on Monday about whether the schools’ boards should ask their presidents to resign.

Neither did Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) or Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat.

Gay came under increased scrutiny over the weekend over accusations she plagiarized portions of her doctoral thesis, which she has denied.

Several prominent Harvard alums in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), also did not respond to requests for comment.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who led the questioning at a House hearing last week that fueled outrage toward the three college leaders, renewed her calls on Monday for Gay and Kornbluth to be fired.

“As clear evidence of the vastness of the moral rot at every level of these schools, this earthquake has revealed that Harvard and MIT are totally unable to grasp this grave question of moral clarity at this historic moment as the world is watching in horror and disgust. It is pathetic and abhorrent,” Stefanik said in a statement. “The leadership at these universities is totally unfit and untenable.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who led a letter with Stefanik and other Republican Harvard alums in October raising concerns about the treatment of Jewish students on campus, said on his podcast on Monday, “I think we could easily see all three of these college presidents lose their jobs because of this testimony.”

“Both those institutions are hoping this just blows over,” Cruz continued. “They’re defending them in essence by not firing them right away after they witnessed this testimony.”

Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Cori Bush (D-MO) blamed U.S. military aid to Israel for contributing to the massive Hamas terror attack on Israel yesterday, which has left more than 700 Israelis dead. Tlaib also described Hamas’ actions as “resistance” to Israeli “apartheid.”

The comments come as most U.S. lawmakers have offered strong support to Israel in the conflict, without many of the typical calls for cease-fires and de-escalation by both sides in the hours following the onset of the attack. The exception to this has been members of the far-left Squad and a handful of other lawmakers aligned with them.

“I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity,” Tlaib said in a statement on Sunday. “The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.”

Tlaib added that “as long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”

Bush, in a similar statement on Saturday, said she was “heartbroken” by the violence and loss of life, “following attacks by Hamas militants on Israeli border towns and Israeli military bombardment of Gaza.”

“As part of achieving a just and lasting peace, we must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid,” Bush continued.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) condemned the comments by his colleagues.

“U.S. aid to Israel is and should be unconditional, and never more so than in this moment of critical need,” Torres told Jewish Insider in a statement. “Shame on anyone who glorifies as ‘resistance’ the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. It is reprehensible and repulsive.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) highlighted the barbarism committed by Hamas terrorists in his own response.

“Two of my colleagues called for America to end assistance to Israel, despite the countless images of Israeli children, women, men, and elderly, including Americans, murdered by radical Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists,” Gottheimer told JI. “It sickens me that while Israelis clean the blood of their family members shot in their homes, they believe Congress should strip U.S. funding to our democratic ally and allow innocent civilians to suffer.”

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who serves in the Michigan delegation with Tlaib, distanced herself from Tlaib’s comments in a statement to JI.

“We must continue to come together as a Congress and a country to disavow terrorism and support the Jewish state, our democratic ally, Israel,” Stevens said. “Israel has a right to exist and defend herself.”

None of the other Democratic members of Michigan’s House delegation responded to requests for comment.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog responded directly to Tlaib, in an impassioned statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“How much more blood needs to be spilled for you to overcome your prejudice and unequivocally condemn Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization?” Herzog wrote. “Hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians massacred in cold blood on a holy day. Babies kidnapped from their mother’s arms and taken to Gaza. An 85-year-old woman in a wheelchair and a Holocaust survivor taken hostage. Is that not enough, @RashidaTlaib?”

At the same time, a number of New York Democrats condemned a Democratic Socialists of America rally on Sunday in New York’s Times Square expressing “solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the rally “ill-timed” and “cold-hearted.”

“We’ve seen unprecedented viciousness coming from Hamas aimed at innocent families and children,” Schumer said. “Everyone — no matter your views — should condemn this brutal act.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said, “The NYC-DSA is revealing itself for what it truly is — a deep rot of antisemitism.”

He added, “There is a special place in hell for those who glorify the cold blooded murder of civilians and children… The DSA should be universally condemned for its genocidal celebration of Israel’s destruction.”

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) called the rally “an absolute disgrace” and “blatant antisemitism.”

“These actions are an insult to the memories of the innocent men, women, and children brutally murdered,” Ryan continued.

Through a spokesperson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also condemned the rally.

“Leader Hakeem Jeffries strongly and unequivocally condemns the hate-filled rally held by the DSA in [NYC] and any effort to support the barbaric, inhumane and despicable terrorist attack by Hamas on the State of Israel and its citizens,” spokesperson Andy Eichar said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the rally was “abhorrent and morally repugnant.”

Former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), who is currently running for a House seat in the New York City suburbs, said that “no one should support terrorist attacks against Israel” and that “today’s rally by the NYC DSA is despicable.” He added that “Hamas alone is responsible for this heinous violence.”

Brad Lander, the left-wing NYC comptroller who has in the past called for conditioning U.S. aid to Israel — and is affiliated with the DSA — disavowed the group’s rally.

“Today’s DSA rally — which effectively celebrated Hamas’ murder & kidnapping of hundreds of Israeli civilians, including children & grandparents — was abominable,” Lander said. “There is no place for glorifying terror, left, center, or right.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on the Biden administration on Thursday to address a range of issues in addition to Iran’s nuclear program in its negotiations with Tehran during a virtual event with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

Schumer emphasized that he opposed both the 2015 nuclear deal when it was signed as well as the Trump administration’s withdrawal from it three years later, which he said “isolated the U.S., instead of Iran.” 

“Today Iran has a greater ability — they’re closer to producing a nuclear weapon — than they were the day Trump pulled out of the agreement or the day Obama signed the agreement,” Schumer said.

The longtime New York senator indicated that he would like to see a broader deal with Iran addressing a range of issues including terrorism, ballistic missiles, human rights and hostage-taking, rather than focusing on the nuclear issue alone.

“I understand why the current administration is in negotiations and I don’t have any problem with them sitting down and talking, but I also believe… we have to follow through on all of these issues,” Schumer said. “It’s not that we shouldn’t sit down, because if we don’t sit down, Iran could just go forward and produce a nuclear weapon… but when we do sit down we have to make sure there are a lot of issues on the table.”

The Senate majority leader also said he plans to push for $360 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) for fiscal year 2022. In 2020, the House approved $360 million in funding, while the Senate only approved $90 million; the chambers compromised at $180 million.

“I wanted $360 [million]. I was only minority leader in December. I got it doubled to $180 [million], now we’re going to try to get the full $360 [million] a year, which is very much needed and has broad support, so I’m very optimistic,” Schumer said.

Last week, a group of House members — roughly one-third of the legislative body — expressed support for $360 million in NSGP funding for 2022, which is also the target amount for a number of Jewish community organizations lobbying on the issue.

In recent weeks, however, several senators who had been vocal supporters of the NSGP program declined to provide to JI a specific target level for 2022 NSGP funding.

Earlier on Thursday, Schumer paid a shiva call to the family of Pinchas Menachem Knoblowitz, who died in the stampede at a Lag B’Omer gathering at Israel’s Mount Meron last weekend that killed 45 people. Schumer told the family he has “a deep faith in Hashem.” 

“I have a Jewish heart — a neshamah,” Schumer said. “I have a deep faith in God. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be in this job.”

Also Thursday, the New York senator stopped by Junior’s in Times Square, digging into a slice of the restaurant’s famous cheesecake, to celebrate the location’s reopening.

“If there’s an iconic place on the planet that tells the toil of COVID, it’s Times Square,” Schumer said. “All of Times Square is coming back. And we’re here to say now that in Times Square there is light, there is liveliness, and there is cheesecake.”