Several top Jewish Democrats are expressing concerns about the ideological direction of a newly revived foreign policy group now aiming to shape the party’s approach to Israel in the 2028 presidential election as well as a future Democratic administration.

National Security Action, an influential Democratic foreign policy organization that launched in 2018 and helped staff the Biden administration, is returning to the political arena with a new leader, Maher Bitar, who has served in high-level defense and intelligence roles on Capitol Hill and in the White House, the group confirmed on Sunday.

Bitar, a deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and coordinator for intelligence and defense policy at the National Security Council who most recently served as chief counsel and national security advisor to Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), has faced scrutiny over his past record of anti-Israel activism.

During his time in the Biden administration, Bitar, who is Palestinian American, drew criticism from Republican lawmakers who alleged that he had demonstrated bias against Israel, citing, among other things, his past board membership with Students for Justice in Palestine while attending Georgetown University. As a student, he had also helped organize a pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions conference and was shown in a university yearbook performing a dance in front of a banner that called to “divest from Israeli apartheid.”

Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security advisor in the Obama administration who is now a leading left-wing critic of Israel, co-founded NSA with Jake Sullivan, most recently Biden’s national security advisor. Sullivan drew headlines last year when he came out in support of withholding arms to Israel, an argument he reiterated last month on “Real Time With Bill Maher” while defending the majority of Senate Democrats who had recently voted to block some weapons sales to the Jewish state.

Both sit on NSA’s board and will be involved in the group, Rhodes told Axios, saying he is invested in building a “pipeline” to help “populate a Democratic administration” as well as crafting “ideas that can form a progressive or Democratic foreign policy going forward.”

“The center of gravity has shifted on the relationship with Israel, and there will be a debate about the nature of the relationship going forward,” Sullivan told the outlet.

“We urge National Security Action to continue to be an honest convener about these important issues,” Brian Romick, the president of Democratic Majority for Israel, told Jewish Insider. “There is a strong majority of Americans, including Democratic primary voters, who support the U.S.-Israel relationship because they understand that doing so is in the best interest of the United States. 

“DMFI is proud to advocate for those voices and we recognize they have a major role to play in choosing our 2028 nominee,” Romick said.

Bitar told Axios, which first reported his role, that NSA would be a “big-tent” organization seeking to unite the party. “We are not excluding anyone,” he said, noting that the group will serve as a “hub” to discuss Democratic foreign policy “to be ready for 2028 and beyond.”

A former senior foreign policy official in the Biden administration, who was granted anonymity to address a sensitive issue, told JI that Bitar “was part of a small cohort of senior White House advisors who worked to actively undermine President Biden’s policy preferences by inserting their own anti-Israel ideology, especially” following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

“National Security Action exists to help empower our leaders and broad community of stakeholders to communicate effectively about foreign policy and bring together a wide range of perspectives,” David McGonigal, a spokesperson for the group, said in a statement to JI. 

“Maher’s deep relationships across the national security community and the outpouring of support for his appointment — including from members of Congress and organizations such as J Street, the Jewish Democratic Council of America and the Nexus Project — underscore how National Security Action is uniquely positioned to carry out this important mission.”

Ethan Wolf, a Democratic strategist who previously worked as a communications director for Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), told JI he was “concerned National Security Action is rewriting everything they’ve ever stood for and putting their pen in the hand of a ‘Pod Save America’ bro,” referring to Rhodes’ association with the left-wing political podcast hosted by former Obama officials who have grown increasingly hostile to Israel.

DMFI, for its part, also alluded to Rhodes and the podcast in a heated social media post on Monday. “Democrats and Americans do not want Pod Save America hosts dictating our future national security platform,” the group wrote.

Despite other reservations over Bitar’s new role, some Jewish Democrats voiced positive views about his extensive resume.

“Maher has held multiple high-level national security positions in government — in the House, in the Senate and in the Biden and Obama administrations — where he was deeply respected for his pragmatism, depth and expertise,” said Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “I enjoyed working with Maher in the Obama administration and think National Security Action is lucky to have him at the helm.”

Daniel Shapiro, a U.S. ambassador to Israel in the Obama administration who served as a top defense official in the Biden administration, said he had worked with Bitar “in various capacities for over a decade, and know him to be a thoughtful and talented national security professional.”

“When we agree and when we disagree — and we do both — Maher has always been dedicated to pursuing smart, strategic, productive policy in the national interest,” Shapiro told JI. “I am confident we will continue to have a productive dialogue. And I completely reject the prejudiced attacks against him based on his Palestinian-American identity.”

In an unsolicited statement shared by a spokesperson for Schiff, the senator said Bitar “has been devoted to addressing the country’s most complex foreign policy challenges while upholding our values and protecting America’s national security interests.”  

“In this new role with National Security Action, I know Maher will continue to provide the great insights and leadership we need to get through these turbulent times,” Schiff told JI.

Joel Rubin, a progressive strategist involved in Jewish and pro-Israel causes, acknowledged what he called a “freak-out” among some Jewish leaders over Bitar, but expressed optimism that the new NSA head would be open to constructive dialogue on a divisive issue.

“As long as multiple voices are included at the table, and I have no reason to believe they won’t be, this is the reality of the Democratic Party,” said Rubin, who is releasing a new book on Democratic foreign policy this week. 

Michael Makovsky, the president and CEO of the hawkish Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said, “Given the recent anti-Israel statements and actions of possible Democratic presidential candidates, even historically pro-Israel ones such as Rahm” Emanuel “and centrist former officials like Jake Sullivan, it will be interesting to see if the big tent the organization says it’s seeking will include real pro-Israel voices.”

NSA is also hiring an associate director for polling and outreach to “support its work advancing a smart, principled vision of U.S. foreign policy, while pushing back on the Trump administration’s reckless national security policies,” according to a job listing posted to its website.

The group’s previous executive director, Caroline Tess, a former National Security Council official in the Obama administration, stepped down in 2025.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, a likely Democratic presidential candidate, on Friday signaled his backing for Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who has drawn scrutiny over his far-left views and decades-old Nazi tattoo that he recently covered up.

“I would hope at this point in the process he understands what a Nazi symbol is,” Emanuel said. “He’s going to have to make his way. And the Democrats — he’ll be the nominee — should support his candidacy,” Emanuel told CNN’s Kasie Hunt. 

Asked by Hunt if he was personally backing Platner, Emanuel said, “If he’s the Democratic nominee, I’m going to help him if he wants my help, absolutely.” 

“You have to put an end to Donald Trump,” Emanuel added.

Emanuel, who served as mayor of Chicago from 2011-2019, later quipped about a meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel, after Mamdani’s election as mayor. “I told him when I first met him, I said, ‘I don’t know who’s going to hate this meeting more, my rabbi or AOC,’ but we had an honest meeting … an honest discussion about what to face as mayor,” he said. 

Platner is now the expected Democratic nominee against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) after the Democratic establishment’s favored candidate, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, dropped out of the race on Thursday. Mills, despite holding a strong political track record, consistently trailed Platner in primary polling since launching her campaign. 

Over the weekend, Platner’s campaign also drew support from another unexpected voice: far-right podcaster Tucker Carlson. 

In a lengthy interview with The New York Times, Carlson said he “appreciated” Platner’s foreign policy views, and plans to meet with the candidate. “I appreciate how different [his foreign policy views] are from everybody else in his party,” Carlson said.

Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has taken donations from a deep-pocketed activist whose group spearheaded the pro-Hamas protests that targeted a Queens synagogue in January — while the far-left candidate has at the same time paid tens of thousands in campaign funds to her son, Jewish Insider has found.

The latest Federal Election Commission filings show El-Sayed has received a total of $7,000 from Amani Barakat, the chair of Al-Awda-Palestinian Right of Return Coalition and a promoter of antisemitic conspiracy theories linking Jewish people to the Illuminati. 

It’s part of $33,550 that El-Sayed has taken in total from the Barakat family, a Palestinian-American real estate dynasty based in Southern California.

But records show the money has flowed both ways, as El-Sayed’s committee has given $10,000 a month since December to a newly formed consulting firm belonging to Barakat’s son, a philanthropy advisor with no apparent background in campaign work.

As Jewish Insider previously reported, Amani Barakat chairs the group Al-Awda, which also uses the names Palestinian Right of Return Coalition and Palestinian Assembly for Liberation. 

The group greeted Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks with a statement sending “their highest salutations to the Palestinian Resistance, the Freedom Fighters and Defenders of the indigenous Palestinian people,” and it has collaborated with numerous radical groups, including the People’s Forum, CODEPINK and Samidoun — the latter of which the Treasury Department has identified as “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.”

Amani Barakat’s social media history is consistent with her organization’s extremism. She shared her organization’s Oct. 7 statement on her personal Facebook account, and made multiple celebratory posts on the day of the atrocities, including one in English reading, “When people are occupied, Resistance is justified” accompanied by the hashtags “#longlivetheresistance” and “#feepalestine” [sic].

Another in Arabic translates to “Hail, my people! My people, hail!” A third English language post declares, “This is a fight for freedom.” 

Also on Oct. 7, Amani Barakat shared a video of since-killed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh justifying the attack, and a drawing celebrating the assault as a battle between a Palestinian David and Israeli Goliath. 

Amani Barakat also has an extensive history of social media posts amplifying or applauding terrorist leaders and activities: she has repeatedly shared videos by a Beirut-based TikTok user named Muhammad Kawtharani, who has served as a Hezbollah spokesman (though is distinct from the group’s commander of the same name); posted PFLP-branded content and celebrated its founders; and shared memes and material supportive of Hamas officials and fighters.

She has also repeatedly defended and applauded Khaled Barakat, the Canadian-based co-founder of Samidoun who was identified by both the U.S. and Canada as part of the leadership of the PFLP, which pioneered skyjacking in the 1970s and participated in the Oct. 7 assault, among other massacres. Amani Barakat and Khaled Barakat have exchanged greetings on Facebook, with Amani Barakat even suggesting they might meet up in the West Bank.

Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli military conflict with Iran, Amani Barakat has openly cheerleaded the regime in Tehran, posting an “I Stand with Iran” image, an image eulogizing assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with a Quranic verse and news of a defiant statement from the Iranian foreign minister with emojis illustrating her support.

She has also lauded antisemitic podcaster Tucker Carlson for his “brave, principled journalism,” and signal-boosted antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming “Zionists” are responsible for wildfires in Argentina and naming “Illuminati and other secret Jewish and Zionist societies as the real powers running the world and fueling the ongoing war in Iran.”

The Al-Awda leader, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, has also shared multiple posts from El-Sayed. Her $7,000 in contributions amounts to a small portion of the total funds the wealthy and sprawling Barakat family has mobilized for the Senate contender — a financial effort that also includes $4,300 from her son, Jamal. 

But records suggest that the younger Barakat has received far more from the El-Sayed campaign than he or his mother have given. The disclosures show that El-Sayed has paid at least $40,000 since December for “political consulting” to The Commonwealth Project, a firm formed in late November 2025 in Wyoming.

State incorporation documents show that Jamal Barakat created this firm in conjunction with education technology entrepreneur John R. Hall, with whom he serves as an executive at Bayan Islamic Graduate School, a theological institution with campuses in Los Angeles and Chicago.

There is no record of any other campaign ever hiring the newly formed Commonwealth Project, and Jamal Barakat’s LinkedIn profile shows extensive background in the education and philanthropy sectors — but no experience in politics.

Jamal Barakat and Hall did not respond to emailed questions from Jewish Insider about how they came to work for the El-Sayed campaign. Hall also did not respond to any queries, while Jamal Barakat hastily said “no comment” and hung up when a JI reporter introduced himself.

El-Sayed, who has labeled both the Israeli government and Hamas as equally “evil,” did not respond to questions about his relationship with the Barakat family, or he came to hire their scion’s firm.

This contrasts with how El-Sayed reacted when JI notified him that a donor and self-identified fundraiser for his campaign posted antisemitic sentiments and shared tweets on X including denial of the Holocaust.

User @Niavaran555 described themselves as a fundraiser for El-Sayed and invited Jenin Younes, the national legal director for the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, to join a fundraiser for El-Sayed in Washington in the coming weeks or months. Niavaran said separately that they gave the “max” to El-Sayed.

After JI inquired to El-Sayed’s campaign about the Niavaran account, the user made his posts private.

“Abdul’s campaign had no knowledge of this person’s anonymous online account. Abdul condemns any and all antisemitic or racist comments made, no matter who or where they come from,” spokesperson Sophie Pollock told JI, and said that the campaign refunded in full a donation from the apparent owner of the account.

They shared a post that appeared to question whether the Nazis used gas chambers to kill Jews during the Holocaust. “1944 Hitler introducing a ‘gas chamber’…. (Topic forbidden to question/debate)….” the post reads, in reference to Israel’s new death penalty law for Palestinian terrorists.

They reposted an X post saying that “Jewish n***** treating genocide like New Years Eve,” referencing a countdown on an Israeli television news channel for a deadline Trump provided to Iran.

Niavaran also reposted a meme urging now-deceased Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to “BUILD THE NUKE RETARD.”

Numerous biographical details shared by Niavaran online point to the account being owned by Sam Zia, a travel consultant based in Washington, D.C. Niavaran said they “ran a speaker series in oxford (OxSpeaks)” and Zia was a co-founder of the group in 2023. Zia is also based in Washington, D.C., based on his LinkedIn profile.

Niavaran also said he wrote his thesis on former Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh; Zia used a picture of Mossadegh as his Instagram profile picture. Zia had donated $2750, to El-Sayed’s campaign as of the most recent FEC filings.

A former Democratic Socialists of America organizer has been a top advisor to independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn and Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.

Daniel Moraff was a longtime DSA member, including acting as a local and national DSA organizer and leader in the mid-to-late 2010s, though he said his membership lapsed in 2019 because his local chapter became too focused on internal matters. He argued in a now-deleted 2017 article that the best way for socialists to gain political power and achieve elective office would be by running in Democratic primaries.

He subsequently recruited now-Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), among the farthest-left and most anti-Israel members of the House, to run for the Pennsylvania Statehouse, and served as her campaign manager.

Moraff reportedly helped recruit Osborn into the Nebraska Senate race in 2024 and has continued to serve as a consultant for Osborn. Campaign disclosures show that Osborn’s wife, Megan Osborn, has received compensation from Moraff’s firm for work on her husband’s current Senate campaign.

Osborn has cultivated an image as a heterodox populist, seeking to appeal to moderate and Republican voters, by adopting center-right views on border security and government spending while maintaining progressive views on abortion rights and unions. 

Osborn was also recently endorsed by the anti-Israel group A New Policy. 

“Daniel Moraff has advised candidates across the country who seek to give the working class a voice in our politics. The fact those candidates have diverse backgrounds and beliefs is not a story,” an Osborn spokesperson said in a statement to Jewish Insider.

Amid a reshuffle of Platner’s campaign — he shed staff as revelations emerged about his tattoo of a Nazi symbol and extreme prior social media posts — Moraff reportedly served as Platner’s de-facto campaign manager.

Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Moraff personally.

In addition to his DSA ties, as a Brown University student in 2012, Moraff was an undergraduate representative on an advisory committee on investment practices, responsible for “dialogue” with Brown Students for Justice in Palestine over its push for Brown to divest from Israeli-linked companies.

The committee, with Moraff as a signatory, said in a letter to Brown’s president that “the documented abuses of Palestinian citizens by the Israeli Defense Force in the Occupied Territories are deeply troubling” and “Israel is indisputably engaged in ongoing systemic abuses of human rights and violations of international law, as documented by the United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice.”

The committee said that Brown University may be invested “in firms whose products and services are being used to commit human rights violations in Palestine” and recommended further discussions over divestment.

The House narrowly voted to block a Democratic resolution to force an end to the war in Iran by a vote of 214-213-1, with all but one of the four Democrats who opposed a similar effort in March changing their votes to support it on Thursday.

Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had held off on calling a vote on the resolution in hopes that he would be able to win over enough Democratic holdouts and Republican defectors to pass the legislation.

Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Juan Vargas (D-CA) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who voted last month against a similar resolution, flipped their votes to support the war powers effort. But Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who is retiring at the end of his term, voted no again.

On the Republican side, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who voted for the war powers resolution last time, switched his vote to “present.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican who voted for the resolution.

A small number of Republicans who have expressed skepticism about the war effort and could have been potential swing votes, including Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), did not vote.

Golden said in a statement that the war powers resolution would “weaken our hand” in negotiations with Iran.

“I believe we must maintain a strong negotiation position over Iran’s nuclear program, freedom of movement in the international waters at the Strait of Hormuz, and how to achieve a durable peace between our two nations,” Golden said in a statement.

A prominent moderate Democratic think tank is continuing to call out Democratic candidates for being “too cozy” with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, who has been embraced by several left-wing Democrats in recent months.

In his latest statement, Jonathan Cowan, president of Third Way, condemned Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed for his upcoming rallies with Piker, first reported by Politico, set to take place on April 7 at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan alongside Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA).

“It is morally repugnant and strategically self-defeating for Democrats like Abdul El-Sayed and Members of Congress like Summer Lee to cozy up to antisemitic extremists like Hasan Piker,” Cowan said. “Anyone eager to campaign with Hasan Piker is, at best, comfortable overlooking his antisemitic and anti-American extremism and, at worst, endorsing it.”

Cowan referenced a Wall Street Journal editorial he co-authored with Third Way’s Lily Cohen last week, titled “Democrats Are Too Cozy With Hasan Piker,” in which the two urged Democrats to follow the lead of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in calling out antisemitism in their own party.

“Piker’s depravity rivals that of far-right bigots. We will not defeat the surge of antisemitism in America without taking on its most influential proponents on our own side,” Cowan’s statement continued. “Embracing extreme bigots like Piker, who, for starters, has called religious Jews ‘inbred’ and said ‘America deserved 9/11,’ is not only dangerous and wrong, but antithetical to the urgent work of winning over the middle and defeating Trumpism.”

Other Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), have also embraced Piker, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently pledged to appear on Piker’s popular Twitch stream.

Following a Republican convening this week focused on combating right-wing antisemitism, a prominent moderate Democratic group urged fellow Democrats to follow the lead of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in calling out antisemitism within their own party. 

“We certainly believe that Cruz was right and our side has a real antisemitism problem too that too many Democrats are failing to face squarely,” Matt Bennett, executive vice president for public affairs at the center-left think tank Third Way, told Jewish Insider on Thursday.

His comments came after Lily Cohen, a press advisor at the organization, shared a post highlighting Cruz’s comments at the Republican Jewish Coalition confab and said she “would love to see more Dems calling out antisemitism on their own side with the same fervor.” 

Cohen specifically mentioned Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the far-left, antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker. 

“We do believe that Platner has not remotely done enough to explain why he had a Nazi tattoo for 20 years,” said Bennett.

Cohen’s comments inadvertently spotlighted — and even ignited — the growing feud within the Democratic Party over Israel and antisemitism. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a progressive lawmaker who has been a frequent critic of Israel and pro-Israel activists in the U.S., responded to Cohen’s post by saying he stands with Platner, Mamdani and even Piker.

“The problem is with the neocons in our party who blundered into Iraq, 20 years in Afghanistan, Libya, Gaza, & now support the Iran war. Out with the old guard. We need a new moral direction,” Khanna wrote — prompting Bennett to call on Khanna directly to do more to oppose antisemitism. 

“We do not support the Iran War — we have publicly and strenuously opposed it. But we do stand against antisemitism. It would be good if you did, too,” Bennett wrote. 

When Khanna posted a message on X condemning Thursday’s active shooter attack at a suburban Detroit synagogue, Jim Kessler, another senior Third Way official, offered a verbal eye-roll. 

“Yadda, yadda, yadda…” Kessler wrote.

In a low-profile electoral upset that defied the difficult national political environment facing the GOP, a Republican candidate declared victory this week in a down-ballot race for a seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in Virginia — for the first time in nearly 40 years.

But while Republicans are now rejoicing over their narrow win, it otherwise largely demonstrated how Democratic leaders effectively sacrificed the seat to the GOP rather than elevate an extremist member of their own party who had claimed the nomination.

The result underscored the extent to which local Democrats had swiftly mobilized to oppose their own nominee, Muhammed Casim, who faced backlash over a series of recently uncovered past social media comments in which he used racist, misogynistic and antisemitic language. The posts, written more than a decade ago, used the n-word as well as demeaning rhetoric targeting women. He also accused Israel of genocide and promoted a conspiratorial post about U.S. financial assistance to the Jewish state, among other extreme comments.

More broadly, the outcome is an atypical example of how the Democratic Party worked to meaningfully confront extremism within its own ranks, even if its efforts came at the expense of an easily winnable local seat that instead flipped to Republicans for the first time in decades. 

Casim apologized for his comments but refused bipartisan calls to drop out of the race, which had motivated a Democratic challenger to launch a write-in campaign that ultimately helped siphon votes away from his embattled bid. He lost to Republican Jeannie LaCroix by a margin of 258 votes. Write-in candidates pulled in 744 votes — a relatively sizable total that appeared to have made a difference in the closely contested race.

“Opposing antisemitism, racism or misogyny isn’t a partisan position,” Marc Broklawski, a Jewish vice chair of the Virginia Democratic Party, told Jewish Insider on Wednesday. “It’s a floor, not a ceiling, and the least we should expect from any party, official candidate or voter. When Democrats hold that floor even when it’s costly, that’s something to be proud of. When we don’t, voters notice that too.”

Casim’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Though some prominent Democrats have sought to reject radicalism in their party, many Jewish party activists have begun to express a growing sense of unease about whether their longtime political home will remain welcoming, amid rising hostility toward Israel that has frequently crossed into antisemitism while producing alliances with controversial figures.

This week, for instance, leading Jewish groups spoke out against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s decision to host Mahmoud Khalil, the campus anti-Israel activist facing deportation who had justified Hamas’ terror attacks, for dinner at his official residence, while Democratic officials largely stayed silent. 

Likewise, a mounting number of Senate Democrats have endorsed Graham Platner in his insurgent bid for Senate in Maine, brushing aside concerns about a recently covered Nazi tattoo whose provenance he has struggled to explain as well as associations with antisemitic conspiracy theorists that have continued to raise alarms among many Jewish party members.

And in Virginia, Jewish Democrats have denounced an anti-Israel state legislator, Sam Rasoul, who has called Zionism “evil” and a “supremacist ideology,” even as high-ranking state party officials have been reluctant to weigh in on his incendiary commentary.

By contrast, several Jewish activists and party strategists said they were encouraged that most Democratic leaders had enforced red lines in the Virginia supervisor election. Even if the party had been forced to endure a short-term hit in losing the seat, they suggested, it was healthy to set standards — particularly in a time of rising extremism on both sides of the aisle.

“Virginia Democratic leaders were clearly repulsed by Muhammed Casim’s racist, misogynistic and antisemitic social media posts,” Sara Forman, a Jewish party strategist who previously worked in the state, told JI. “Their actions, including calling Casim out publicly, should send a strong signal nationally that the entirety of the Democratic Party has not capitulated to the leftist narrative entirely.”

Such opposition was not unanimous, however, as the local party accepted Casim’s apology and said it would stand behind his campaign. “There’s a lesson in there about the integrity of voters and the lack of integrity — and therefore weakened legacy — among some Dem leaders,” Shannon Watts, a gun control activist who has also criticized Platner, wrote in an X post on Wednesday.

“Leadership means speaking out clearly and consistently against antisemitism, racism, misogyny, and not only when it is easy, but especially when it is not — and from whomever,” Eileen Filler-Corn, a Jewish Democrat and former speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, told JI. “These values should unite us. We can disagree on policy and politics, but standing against hate and discrimination in all forms should never be up for debate. Our credibility with voters depends on our willingness to apply that standard fairly and without hesitation.”

Still, with most Democratic elected officials in the county refusing to support Casim after his posts had surfaced near the end of the race, nonpartisan Jewish leaders and members of both parties voiced satisfaction regarding the strong show of resistance.

“We think it is imperative that both parties call out the fringe and hateful elements in their own parties, so we’re certainly glad to see the Democratic Party do it in this instance — especially when it was hard and cost them a seat,” Vicki Fishman, the director of Virginia government and community relations at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told JI. “It’s an important lesson for everybody that hate is hate, and when you see the ugly rhetoric in your own house for what it is, it’s important to call it out.”

Gary Katz, a Jewish Republican activist in nearby Loudoun County, said he was “encouraged by the outcome” of Tuesday’s race, “where principled voices within the Democratic Party chose to reject a nominee whose past comments reflected racism, misogyny and antisemitism — even at the risk of losing the seat to a Republican.”

He said the dynamic “mirrors efforts we’ve seen in the GOP, such as in Fairfax County, to keep hateful elements from gaining leadership roles,” referring to a recent election where Republicans beat back an extreme candidate for county chair who had spread antisemitic conspiracy theories. 

“It’s a reminder that combating the rising scourge of antisemitism requires people of good conscience in both parties to prioritize our shared values over partisan wins,” Katz told JI on Wednesday. “We need more of this vigilance to ensure that extreme fringes on either side never hold power, and that we support responsible leadership, even when we disagree politically, rather than those who align with us but betray our core principles.”

Voters are casting ballots today in the special election for the ruby-red House seat previously held by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), but the final outcome will likely remain uncertain for another month. 

With 17 candidates on the all-party ballot, the race is expected to go to a runoff — unless any candidate receives 50% or more of the vote, making today’s race effectively a competition over which two candidates are likely to finish with the most support. 

On the GOP side, the race is dominated by two candidates. The first is Clay Fuller, a local district attorney, veteran and former White House fellow who is backed by President Donald Trump. 

The second, former state Sen. Colton Moore, a hard-line conservative rabble-rouser often at odds with his own party’s leadership, is running as the anti-establishment populist — a profile that more closely matches Greene’s. 

The district is one of the most Republican in the country: Trump carried the district by 37 percentage points in 2024, and paid a visit to the district in late February to throw his support behind Fuller.

A third Republican candidate, Brian Stover, a local businessman, has raised a significant amount of campaign cash and is a wild card. 

On the Democratic side, the likely leader is Army veteran Shawn Harris, who lost to Greene in 2024 by nearly 30 points. He’s pulled in $4.2 million from Democrats outraged by Greene and who’ve been attracted by a far-fetched pitch that he can flip the seat. But he’s likely to secure a runoff spot, given how many Republican candidates are on the ballot.

Fuller’s campaign has been touting Trump’s endorsement, and his own military service. Fuller’s Air Force career included work on counterterrorism operations, and he was deployed in 2024 to the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar supporting U.S. Central Command operations. He also has the support of the conservative Club for Growth.

He has backed the U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran, and expressed support for Israel. “President Trump tried the peace route with Iran not once, not twice, but THREE separate times—and they refused. He’s the peace President, but you can’t negotiate with a death cult,” Fuller said, emphasizing he had supported operations against Iran and that the regime and its proxies had killed many Americans.

Despite not receiving Trump’s support, Moore is also trying to tie himself closely to the president, describing himself on his campaign website as “Trump’s #1 Defender” and “a Proven Warrior for President Trump” — pointing to his vocal efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election and opposition to subsequent investigations of Trump and his allies — and using the campaign slogan, “God. Guns. Trump.”

Moore has repeatedly found himself at odds with Georgia’s GOP establishment, having been expelled from the Republican caucus, banned from the Statehouse floor and arrested when he tried to enter the 2025 State of the State address.

Moore doesn’t appear to have addressed the war in Iran, but said, days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, “The Jewish people are the indigenous people of Israel.” And according to a candidate questionnaire from 2022, he is a longtime supporter of Israel, having attended AIPAC conferences and, as a college student, having served as co-chair of the University of Georgia AIPAC chapter. “There is no Palestinian land, it is all the land of Israel,” he said in the questionnaire.

So despite his MAGA bona fides, his record appears decidedly more supportive of Israel than Greene, who has advanced antisemitic conspiracy theories and became one of the few anti-Israel Republicans in Congress.

However, Moore was also the only Republican member of the state Senate to vote against a bill in 2024 codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism — echoing Greene’s stance on the Antisemitism Awareness Act in the same year.

As of Feb. 18, Stover had raised $940,000 (around two-thirds of that was in the form of a personal loan to his campaign), Fuller $787,000 and Moore $342,000.

The normally voluble Greene has stayed on the sidelines in the race to replace her, not endorsing or rallying for any of the candidates, as she continues to air her disappointment with Trump and the GOP leadership.

A day after Republican senators blocked a vote to end the U.S.-Israeli operations in Iran, the House voted 219-212 to defeat a similar war powers resolution, with four Democrats breaking with their party to oppose an immediate end to the war, and two Republicans voting with other Democrats to oppose military action.

Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Jared Golden (D-ME), Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) were ultimately the only Democrats to vote against the resolution, which was led by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY). Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who said they would oppose the resolution before the war began, ultimately voted in favor.

On the Republican side, Massie and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), both of whom have isolationist leanings, were the only members of the GOP to support the resolution.

Moskowitz had argued before the war that voting preemptively on the resolution would remove U.S. leverage in negotiations, but argued that the situation has since changed and that the U.S. is now in a full-scale war.

“I didn’t flip at all,” Moskowitz told Jewish Insider. “Circumstances have changed since my first statement two weeks ago.”

In a statement, he condemned Iran and its regime, saying he is “happy that [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] is no longer able to reign terror on his country,” but added, “Regardless of how one feels about this war, or this President, Congress’s constitutional role in any declaration of war is a completely separate issue,” expressing concern at the erosion of congressional war powers over the past year. 

“We must reestablish our Article I authority which grants Congress all legislative powers,” Moskowitz said, adding that he did not believe the resolution would prevent continued efforts to protect U.S. bases and personnel nor intelligence sharing with allies.

Gottheimer emphasized in a statement that the U.S. “simply can’t afford to get this wrong — we must win and crush” the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, emphasizing that he is not, in principle, opposed to military action against Iran and that the regime “deserves the punishment they’re receiving.

“With the defeat of the War Powers Resolution in the Senate, the vote in the House today shifted from an unacceptable call that could put our troops in harm’s way to a clear call for this Administration to articulate the goals for the mission, the end game, and their plan to avoid a protracted conflict,” Gottheimer continued — suggesting that he voted for the resolution because it was, in essence, symbolic given that it did not pass the Senate.

“Unlike some of my colleagues who are opposed to combatting the Iranian regime, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, I’m supporting this resolution to send a clear message to the Administration: the American people deserve a coherent explanation of what precipitated this war, what success looks like, and how we will know when the mission has been achieved,” he continued, criticizing “shifting justifications and objectives” from the administration. “I’m not opposed to taking action against Iran. I believe that steps to address the persistent threats are merited and necessary to protect our broader national security interests.”

He pledged to make sure the military has sufficient resources, signaling that he may support supplemental funding for the mission if and when requested.

The beginning of combat operations, the loss of some American soldiers and the administration’s inconsistent messaging and strategy — as well as an aggressive push from Democratic leadership — likely helped Democrats close ranks on the war powers resolution.

After the vote, Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he would call up another war powers resolution 60 days from the start of the war, the limit under which an administration can conduct military operations without congressional authorization under the War Powers Act.

“Members who voted against today’s WPR on the assumption that Trump’s war will be swift or limited will not have that excuse once we’ve entered the third month of open-ended hostilities,” Meeks said.

Like Moskowitz and Gottheimer, a handful of other Democrats who have offered a degree of support for the U.S. operations in Iran ultimately voted for the resolution. Some have pointed to concerns about constitutional process and the administration’s failure to seek congressional approval for the war, rather than opposition to the war in general.

“I will vote for the war powers resolution because I cannot support unchecked authority for the administration to engage, indefinitely, in an already deadly war with unknown size and scope, especially considering Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth’s suggestion that he is willing to” use ground troops in the operation, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), a moderate House Democrat, said.

At the same time, Suozzi said that “Iran is weaker and the regime’s leadership has been decimated — those are good things. If these operations make the region more secure and America safer, those would also be good things.” He added that the war powers resolution would not prevent Congress from authorizing the use of force in Iran “if necessary and properly presented to Congress.”

Davidson, one of the two Republicans who voted for the resolution. said on the House floor on Wednesday that operations against Iran were just, and potentially necessary, but unconstitutional.

“For some this debate will be about whether we should even be fighting in Iran. For me, the debate is more fundamental: is the president of the United States, regardless of the person holding the office, empowered to do whatever he wants?” Davidson said. “That’s not what our Constitution says. … I rise in support of this war powers resolution today because the moral hazard posed by a government no longer constrained by our Constitution is a grave threat.”

Davidson argued that his Republican colleagues were ignoring the clear definition of what constitutes a war, and repudiating Trump’s campaign promises.

The House resolution, unlike the Senate version, included no specific protections to allow for continued U.S. intelligence sharing with Israel and other allies, and defensive operations to protect allies like Israel and U.S. forces.

Earlier this week, Gottheimer, Landsman, Suozzi, Cuellar, Golden and Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) and Adam Gray (D-CA) had introduced an alternative resolution that would give the administration 30 days from the start of the war to wind down operations in Iran, rather than demanding an immediate halt, while banning any ground operations.

Gottheimer said in his statement he plans to call up his resolution during the week of March 23, but he hopes that, “Between now and then, I hope either the conflict has reached its objectives or the Administration has made a strong case to Congress and the American people for why this mission must continue.”

But most ultimately voted for the Massie-Khanna resolution.

Suozzi said that the Gottheimer resolution “would prevent a reckless and potentially unsafe removal of our forces and allow us to continue to protect American troops and our allies in the region during this perilous time,” a seeming indictment of the war powers resolution he nevertheless supported.

Top lawmakers supporting the war powers resolution have largely failed to articulate what the implications of immediately ending operations would be, with some claiming, in spite of the resolution’s language, that U.S. forces would be allowed to finish their mission and wind down.

Some former Democratic officials argued that Gottheimer’s alternative effort would be a more prudent path, with U.S. forces and embassies under fire from Iran, and that any realistic and safe withdrawal would take time. One also argued that the resolution, if brought to a vote, might pick up enough Republican support to pass.

Daniel Silverberg, a former advisor to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), emphasized that a similar effort to cut off the U.S.’ Libya operations led by “one of the most ardent anti-war activists in the House,” then-Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), included a 15-day wind-down provision.

“The Massie-Khanna resolution lacks it. The notion that Democrats would not, at a minimum, support that amendment to allow for a responsible withdrawal of forces is problematic from a national security perspective and from a messaging perspective,” Silverberg said.

Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff at the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency under the Obama administration, told JI that the Khanna-Massie resolution “requires [a] very strange outcome” that would be “dangerous for our troops” and that it was not “credible” because it lacked any buffer period.

Democratic lawmakers speaking at the Monday evening gala of J Street’s Washington conference argued that the joint U.S.-Israel operation that killed many top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would ultimately make Iranians, Israelis and the United States less safe.

“I do not believe that the United States or Israel should be leading a regime change operation in Iran. It will not bring safety or security to the people of Iran, to the region or to the United States, and it’s important that all of us here in this room continue to stand up and say that,” Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) said. “We’ve lived through this before. Regime change often backfires. It creates power vacuums, leads to even harder-line leaders and civil wars and failed states.”

She also argued the U.S. set Iran on the path toward the current regime’s leadership by backing the 1953 overthrow of the Mossadegh government in Iran.

Expressing her support for the war powers resolution vote taking place in the House later this week, Jacobs said, “We can’t be equivocal, that we have to say strongly and clearly that what is happening is not OK, and it is not making Jews in Israel or here in the United States any safer.”

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said that he does not mourn Khamenei nor the other Iranian leaders who have been killed, “but we have not just cut off the head of the snake. We have almost certainly kicked up a hornet’s nest, one with remaining capabilities and appetite for revenge. Now we ask, what comes next?”

He said that the administration entered into the operation without any clear plan to effect the regime change it appears to desire, nor how to protect and support the Iranian civilians the Trump administration has urged to rise up against the regime.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), the lead sponsor of the war powers resolution set for a vote this week in the Senate, made the case for his legislation, saying, “That vote in front of the American people is a way of clarifying what’s at stake and deciding if the mission is so important that we should risk our own kids’ lives.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that the “vote is not about whether we should go in or not. The vote is that you cannot go in unless Congress gives you the [authority],” framing the vote as an affirmation of Congress’ constitutional power to declare war.

Kaine emphasized that J Street’s influence within the Democratic Party has grown, saying that “virtually all” Democratic senators now seek the group’s endorsement.

Throughout the Purim-themed evening, speakers repeatedly drew comparisons between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of Trump’s administration and Haman, the villain of the Purim story.

“This is a moment not unlike the scenes that gave us the story of Purim: a hedonistic king less interested in justice than in his own pride and pleasure. A ruler flanked by evil advisors, his toxic grip on power unleashing danger and violence,” Schiff said. “It is all too reminiscent of the plots against the Jews driven by him.”

And in an unusual moment, Kaine capped off his remarks with a sing-along rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” playing his harmonica through the choruses.

Democratic members of Congress addressing J Street’s national convention in Washington on Monday used the occasion to rally support for long-shot resolutions coming before the House and Senate this week that will attempt to end U.S. military strikes against Iran. 

“The president’s refusal to pursue consent from Congress, as required by the Constitution, is perhaps his most grievous assault on democracy, and we should not let it stand,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said to the 1,500 activists gathered at J Street’s morning plenary. 

Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) told the crowd that he expects to see “very robust, possibly unanimous support” from congressional Democrats on the measures, which would put an immediate end to U.S. operations against Iran. 

“I’m not the whip, but certainly the caucus seems to be very on board with asserting their constitutional authority,” Casten said. Even some hawkish Democrats, like Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), are expected to vote in support of the measure, although a handful of Democrats, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), have already said they will oppose it. 

Casten was speaking alongside Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), both of whom had recently returned from a J Street-sponsored trip to Israel and the West Bank. Dean said President Donald Trump should have used his State of the Union address last week to more directly discuss the coming attacks on Iran.

“Wouldn’t that have been the time, at least by then, to begin messaging to the American people what the vision and the mission was — if he was going to take this extraordinary military action, and of course, to message it to Congress, to say to Congress, ‘I recognize your role’?” Dean said. “We are a constitutional democracy. We are supposed to actually make sure that the people closest to the ground, closest to the people, have some say.”

The war powers resolutions are likely to fail, given Republicans’ control of Congress and their overall support for the military action ordered by Trump over the weekend. Even if passed, they would need two-thirds support to override an inevitable presidential veto.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) told the audience that even if the war powers resolutions are defeated, Congress still has a role to play in further authorizing U.S. military strikes against Iran.

“Republicans defeating the resolution is not a war authorization. The law is clear: Congress needs to explicitly authorize war through an authorization of the use of military force,” said Schatz. “Congress has a duty not just to check a reckless and lawless president, but also to represent the will of the people. And the people want nothing to do with this.”

On Tuesday, J Street members will go to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers to oppose the strikes and to vote in support of the war powers resolutions. 

“Elected officials are elected for a reason: to put themselves on the record at important moments, and this is one of those moments,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami told reporters on Monday. “We urge senators and congressmen to vote in favor of a war powers resolution when it comes to the floor.”

Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) and 25 Democratic co-sponsors introduced a bill on Monday that would implement wide-ranging new conditions and restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel.

The Ceasefire Compliance Act would require the administration to assess and report to Congress every 90 days on whether Israel is complying with the October 2025 ceasefire agreement in Gaza, including halting military operations and bombing campaigns.

The legislation does not appear to contain exceptions for the strikes Israel has taken in retaliation for Hamas’ own violations of the ceasefire deal, nor mention its targeting of individual Hamas leaders.

Under the terms of the legislation, if Israel does not meet the conditions included in the law, the U.S. would be banned from selling or transferring any U.S. military systems to Israel for use in Gaza or the West Bank, any further transfers would be subject to a specific agreement by Israel that the weapons would not be used in Gaza or the West Bank and the administration would be required to reach an agreement with Israel that U.S.-origin systems already in Israel’s possession would also be banned from use in Gaza or the West Bank.

Those restrictions would remain in effect until Israel is in compliance with all conditions. The legislation establishes an end-use monitoring group within the administration to monitor whether U.S.-provided systems are in use in Gaza or the West Bank.

The legislation includes language guaranteeing that U.S. defensive assistance to and intelligence sharing with Israel, as well as provision of missile-defense systems to Israel, are exempt from the conditions. The bill would sunset after five years.

Other conditions would require Israel to work to implement President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan; allow humanitarian aid into Gaza; cooperate in the establishment of a temporary Palestinian government and ultimately a Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank; take “material steps” to prevent settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank; and ban any forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, annexation of Gaza or “de facto or de jure annexation” of any part of the West Bank.

The Israeli government, and a broad swath of Israeli society, oppose the establishment of a Palestinian Authority government in Gaza given the group’s ongoing payments to the families of terrorists, among a raft of other concerns.

“As one of the United States’ most important allies, Israel must ensure that its policies and the use of U.S. military assistance align with American values, interests, and the law,” Casten said in a statement. “That starts with requiring compliance with the October 10, 2025, ceasefire agreement and the steps laid out in the 20-point plan, curbing settler violence, and rejecting annexation in the West Bank.”

The legislation includes a limited presidential waiver of the conditions for transfers and sales “vital to the national security of the United States.” The president would be required to provide a detailed justification to Congress 15 days before invoking such a waiver explaining why it is necessary and unavoidable.

“This bill redefines the system of US military aid to Israel, transforming it from a blank check to an accountability-based system that advances US strategic interests in the Middle East, aligns with American values, enhances Israel’s security, and protects Palestinian civilians,” a release by Casten’s office about the bill states. “Through thorough oversight and tough enforcement mechanisms, it makes clear that actions undermining shared U.S. and Israeli interests and values will have consequences.”

The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Becca Balint (D-VT), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Don Beyer (D-VA), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Valerie Foushee (D-NC), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Derek Tran (D-CA), Emily Randall (D-WA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Mark Takano (D-CA), Troy Carter (D-LA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Joaquin Castro (D-TX).

The legislation also includes specific language emphasizing that the administration has no authority to transfer U.S. funds to the Board of Peace — after Trump pledged a $10 billion U.S. commitment last week — or to provide the Board of Peace with authorities that “[supersede] the role or authorities of the United Nations.”

One source familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider that J Street, which is backing the bill alongside New Jewish Narrative and Foreign Policy for America, is making the legislation its top priority. The group is holding a conference in Washington later this month.

“The Ceasefire Compliance Act puts into law the common sense principle that American weapons cannot be used by the Israeli government in Gaza and the West Bank in ways that fundamentally violate American values and directly contravene U.S. interests,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement. “US assistance — whether aid or arms — should never come as a blank check. The CCA will ensure the Israeli government is held to agreements it has signed and abides by the ceasefire, allows a Palestinian governing council to take control of Gaza, and cannot annex the West Bank.”

Though the bill is unlikely to pass Congress under Republican control, it could provide a model for Democrats critical of Israel shy of the terms of the Block the Bombs Act and other efforts to impose a full offensive arms embargo on the Jewish state.

A prominent Jewish Chicago-area Democratic donor and philanthropist lamented rising anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism after a progressive Illinois congressional candidate issued a public statement saying he would reject the donor’s contribution to his campaign due to his ties to AIPAC.

Union organizer Anthony Driver Jr. is running in Illinois’s 7th Congressional District, on a platform critical of Israel and in opposition to AIPAC. He said in a statement that he would return a contribution by Michael Sacks, a local Jewish, pro-Israel philanthropist and Democratic donor who had been a prominent supporter of former President Barack Obama and close ally to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Sacks also chaired the 2024 Democratic National Convention host committee and raised nearly $100 million to put on the convention.

“Michael Sacks has supported community violence intervention work in Chicago for years. I served nearly four years as President of the Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, helping advance real public safety reform,” Driver said. “The first time I heard about any link between Michael Sacks and AIPAC was on the debate stage. As I said on that same stage, I will return the contribution.”

Sacks, in response, pointed to public anti-Israel and antisemitic currents as pushing Driver, who has been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, to take such a position.

“It is truly sad there is so much anti-Israel sentiment and outright Jew hate that Anthony found himself in this position,” Sacks said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. “I can only hope that the electorate rejects hate in all forms.”

Sacks said he asked Driver to contribute the donations to a community violence prevention group of his choosing, calling Driver a “pragmatic [progressive]” and praising his work on violence reduction.

On the campaign trail, Driver has railed against AIPAC and spending by its super PAC, supporting one of his rivals, Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. Conyears-Ervin faced attacks by several of her opponents about her support from AIPAC’s super PAC during a candidate forum last week.

Driver also states on his campaign website that he supports efforts to restrict offensive weapons transfers to Israel, including the Block the Bombs Act, and the recognition of Palestinian right of return.

Driver’s unwillingness to even accept support from a pro-Israel donor underscores the deepening hostility to Israel and its supporters in certain Democratic circles. As part of their anti-Israel campaign, progressives are working to make campaign contributions from individuals who have supported pro-Israel causes unacceptable — even if they haven’t been directly connected with AIPAC. 

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) rescinded her endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who is running in a Democratic congressional primary in Illinois’ 2nd District, over support Miller is reportedly receiving from AIPAC-aligned forces.

Miller has not been endorsed by AIPAC and neither the group nor its super PAC are publicly spending any money in the district. But it’s widely rumored in the Chicagoland area that pro-Israel forces are backing a new group, Affordable Chicago Now, that’s spending about $900,000 on behalf of Miller’s campaign. Schakowsky also said Miller is accepting individual donations from AIPAC supporters.

Schakowsky’s reversal is a notable step in a campaign by progressives to make even perceived ties to AIPAC or any individual donors who have supported the pro-Israel group toxic within the Democratic Party — even if their support for a candidate isn’t coming through AIPAC.

“Illinois deserves leaders who put voters first, not AIPAC or out-of-state Trump donors,” Schakowsky said in a statement. “I cannot support any candidate who is funded by these outside interests.”

It’s not clear how much influence Schakowsky’s endorsement will have outside her district, given her limited profile in a majority-Black district — as opposed to her wealthy, progressive Lakefront constituency. But it comes amid a broader campaign by left-wing activists in the Democratic Party to turn AIPAC and its donors into a burden for Democratic candidates.

The Illinois primaries are set to be a major test of pro-Israel donors’ influence and political instincts after a high-profile fumble in New Jersey, in which the group’s spending was seen as helping to elevate a far-left anti-Israel candidate.

Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), the target of AIPAC’s spending in New Jersey, in an op-ed released on Thursday, said that Democratic leaders should “collectively … refuse [AIPAC’s] support” and reject its endorsements and assistance — arguing that the group’s biggest donors are Republicans, even while acknowledging most AIPAC members are Democrats.

Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss, a Democratic congressional candidate, on Monday defended his decision in 2024 to withhold police support requested by Northwestern University to clear an anti-Israel encampment on the school’s campus.

The lack of police support, according to internal communications released by the House Education and Workforce Committee last month as part of an inquiry to Biss, forced the university to reach an agreement with the encampment, lacking the necessary law enforcement personnel to disperse and arrest the encampment members. 

Jewish community members said the deal rewarded antisemitic behavior.

Biss, who is running for Congress in Illinois’ 11th Congressional District, asserted that the Evanston police department did not determine that the encampment posed a threat to students or the community, and that police officials had been concerned that forcibly clearing the encampment would worsen the situation.

“I did not, and would not, direct the Evanston Police Department to disperse a protest or arrest protesters against the advice of department leadership,” Biss wrote in a letter to Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), the chairman of the committee, on Monday. “Doing so would unnecessarily endanger officers, improperly suppress constitutionally protected speech, and substitute political judgement for the expertise of public safety professionals.”

Facing a federal investigation, Northwestern agreed to pay the Trump administration $75 million and cancel the agreement with the encampment participants.

Walberg also accused Biss of publicizing his refusal to provide police support as a means of burnishing his progressive political credentials. In his response letter, Biss denied this.

“Antisemitism is a dangerous and growing problem in our country and around the world, and one that I have taken seriously throughout my career,” Biss wrote. “In addition to its voluminous inquiries into universities, businesses, local municipalities, and other entities, I encourage the committee to also examine the rise of antisemitic rhetoric originating from within the federal government,” he continued, pointing to reported antisemitic comments by Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino

Biss said he would provide a briefing to the committee, as requested by Walberg, on his decisions surrounding the Northwestern encampment, at a time to be determined.

New Jersey’s Democratic congressional delegation has fully lined up behind progressive activist and congressional candidate Analilia Mejia — with the exception of Rep. Josh Gottheimer.

After both of the state’s senators and several members of the congressional delegation endorsed Mejia earlier this week, most of the remaining Democratic holdouts, including Reps. Donald Norcorss, Frank Pallone and Nellie Pou, joined their colleagues on Thursday in a joint statement endorsing Mejia in both the April special general election and the June regular primary.

Gottheimer, in a statement to the New Jersey Globe, said, “Analilia and I have been in touch and I congratulated her on her win. I’m looking forward to sitting down with her and discussing issues important to Jersey and the families I represent,” but did not go as far as to offer his endorsement.

He did not provide comment to Jewish Insider.

Gottheimer is a prominent moderate and supporter of Israel, while Mejia has accused Israel of genocide.

In the joint statement shared by the Globe, the remaining New Jersey Democrats said, “Analilia Mejia is running for Congress to build an economy that works for working families, not just the billionaires and big corporations lining the Trump family’s pockets.”

The Associated Press called the race for Mejia on Thursday afternoon. She narrowly defeated former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), with former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill finishing a distant third and fourth, respectively.

The near-unified support for Mejia from Democratic leaders in the state will make it increasingly difficult for any other Democrat to challenge her in the June primary, which pro-Israel advocates have seen as their last chance to stop the progressive from winning a full term in Congress.

Way is reportedly considering another run in June.

Democratic New Jersey Assemblymember Rosaura Bagolie has decided not to run against progressive activist Analilia Mejia in the 11th Congressional District primary in June, making it increasingly likely that Mejia, who has accused Israel of genocide, may not face any competition for a full term in Congress.

Bagolie, who is Jewish, first floated a run on Monday in an interview with Politico, but backed off those plans on Wednesday, after a slew of top political leaders in the state lined up behind Mejia’s campaign, both in the April special general election and the June regular primary election.

“After thoughtful consideration, I have decided that now is not the time for a congressional run in the June primary,” Bagolie said in a statement first shared with the New Jersey Globe. “I will continue to serve my constituents in the 27th [legislative] district with the same level of dedication, mindful of the trust you have placed in me.”

The AIPAC-backed United Democracy Project super PAC, which many in the state see as having inadvertently contributed to Mejia’s narrow surprise victory over Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) in the primary last week, had said following the election that it had “anticipated” a potential Mejia victory but its “focus remains on who will serve the next full term in Congress.”

But now, the pro-Israel community may be left without any challenger to back against Mejia in June. The most credible possible challenger appears to be the candidate it preferred in the special election, former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who has not indicated whether she will be running for the seat again.

However, the New Jersey Globe reported on Wednesday that Way is actively considering a second run in the primary. Way was endorsed by Democratic Majority for Israel, and was seen as AIPAC’s favored candidate in the February race, though it did not endorse her or run any ads supporting her campaign.

Way, who is poised to finish with around 17% of the vote in the special election primary, would have an uphill battle to defeat the ascendant progressive, especially now that Mejia has consolidated support from many Democratic power brokers in the state, including moderate leaders.

Way’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment since primary day, including a question from Jewish Insider about the Globe’s reporting on Wednesday.

Republican and Democratic senators urged senior UBS executives in a hearing on Tuesday to reconsider the Swiss banking giant’s continued refusal to hand over more than 150 documents to an investigator probing Credit Suisse’s support for Nazi Germany during and after World War II.

At the heart of the dispute is UBS’s decision to withhold key documents from the investigation into Credit Suisse’s wartime actions, citing potential legal risks stemming from a 1998 settlement. Lawmakers are pressing the bank to release the files, arguing that withholding them is an attempt to avoid accountability for its historical role in aiding Nazi operations. The documents in question are believed to contain critical information that could further illuminate Credit Suisse’s involvement with Nazi officials, and senators are pushing UBS to cooperate fully in order to ensure transparency and justice for Holocaust survivors and their families.

Senators pressed Robert Karofsky, president of UBS Americas, and Barbara Levi, UBS Group’s general counsel, to reverse course on the bank’s opposition to sharing with attorney Neil Barofsky and Congress the remaining files on the yearslong investigation into the ways that Credit Suisse, which UBS acquired in 2023, aided Adolf Hitler’s war efforts. 

Karofsky and Levi testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that UBS could not provide the documents until the New York judge that approved a $1.25 billion settlement in 1998 between multiple Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse, and Holocaust survivors issued an order affirming that the deal would cover any future claims. 

Among those testifying was Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who accused UBS of “actively blocking important aspects of Mr. Barofsky’s work” and alleged that the bank was seeking to silence the Jewish organization.

In his opening statement, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the committee’s chairman, accused UBS of taking “legal action against a Jewish human rights organization” to “block” the Simon Wiesenthal Center “from fully speaking on all Holocaust issues,” after SWC accused Credit Suisse in 2020 of not fully disclosing its Nazi ties. Grassley also said the bank has been attempting “to limit” the ability of Neil Barofsky, the independent ombudsman the bank hired to oversee the probe, to testify before the committee.

“These efforts, if successful, would have frustrated this committee’s public hearing. UBS’ conduct is absurd and a historic shame that’ll outlive today’s hearing. Before UBS’ recent obstructive efforts, the investigation yielded new information,” Grassley said. 

The UBS executives told the committee that threats of litigation from SWC and other Jewish organizations for additional compensation beyond the $1.25 billion settlement had prompted them to request an updated order from the judge, which senators rejected as an attempt to skirt accountability. 

“That’s what this is all about, you don’t want to pay any more money,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Karofsky.

“Yes,” Karofsky replied.

“If you owe more money, then by God, pay it,” the Louisiana senator said in response. 

The bank’s request that the judge bar SWC and other Jewish groups from commenting publicly on any new revelations from the 150 documents or the bank’s financial obligations was also poorly received by senators.

“UBS, the successor to Credit Suisse, has gone to court not to disclose what was concealed, but to seek an order that would silence discussion of these crimes by Jewish organizations demanding accountability,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said. “That is not closure. It is the continuation of the wrongdoing this time through the courts.”

After Levi told Cruz that UBS has “no intention to sue” SWC, the Texas senator responded, “Yet as you sit here today, UBS has a motion pending before a federal court in New York seeking to enjoin the Simon Wiesenthal Center and over a dozen other Jewish organizations in America from ever researching, speaking or publishing any content related to ‘The Holocaust, World War II and its prelude and aftermath, victims or targets of Nazi persecution and transactions with or actions of the Nazi regime.’”

Cruz then mused that it was “bizarre that UBS has expressed its commitment to pursuing the truth but is actively seeking court orders to silence it.”

“Jewish families sought refuge in Swiss banks, believing in the promise of neutrality. That refuge proved illusory. That promise proved hollow. Accounts vanished, records dissolved. Then came the cattle cars bound for camps with no return. Economic annihilation was the prerequisite. Mass extermination was the goal,” Cruz continued.

Levi repeatedly defended the request UBS had made to the judge in New York, asking senators in response to a question from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA): “Where is the incentive for financial institutions to investigate or cooperate when they’re certain to face litigation and possible legal liability?”

Levi said that should the judge issue the requested order, the bank would hand over the final files to Barofsky. UBS fired Barofsky in 2022 but rehired him to continue his work in 2023 after Grassley, who was then the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who chaired the Budget Committee during that time, launched an investigation into his dismissal. 

Barofsky, who also appeared before the committee on Tuesday, testified that UBS had been cooperative with his investigation from the time of his rehiring until November of last year, as both sides reached a stalemate on the 150 documents. The files, Barofsky said, appear to go to “the heart of our investigation,” which has seen UBS turn over more than 16 million documents. 

Several revelations were made during the hearing, a pronouncement from Grassley that his probe had uncovered 890 previously undisclosed Credit Suisse accounts with potential Nazi links and that Argentine President Javier Milei had provided investigators with archival records of the “ratlines” used by prominent Nazis who escaped justice by fleeing to Argentina. Barofsky shared as part of a 73-page update on his investigation that Credit Suisse helped to finance the “ratlines” and was a landlord for an office in Bern, Germany, that oversaw the process by which Nazi officials bribed their way onto flights out of the country. 

“A lengthy saga it has been, but it is also a saga that has demonstrated what good bipartisan congressional oversight can achieve,” Whitehouse said in his opening statement. “Chairman Grassley has long been a dogged champion of congressional oversight, and for that, I admire him. That is one of the reasons we partnered on this investigation. Elected officials working across the aisle to expose wrongdoing, malfeasance and misconduct is essential to advancing transparency, promoting accountability, guaranteeing public trust in private institutions, and I would add in public institutions as well, and pursuing justice.”

In a statement following the hearing, SWC CEO Jim Berk said, “Transparency is not about rewriting history; it is about completing it. We are proud of our role in initiating this independent investigative process with our own initial findings and then zealously pursuing complete accountability. Ensuring access to the full historical record is a core part of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s mission and essential for survivors and their families, for public trust, and for preserving the integrity of Holocaust memory.”

The organization said that it “applauds” the committee “for its continued oversight and commitment to ensuring that the historical record of the Holocaust and its aftermath are examined thoroughly and responsibly, including by demanding answers from those who would prefer the truth to remain hidden.”

“Today’s hearing is an important moment in ensuring that remaining questions about Holocaust-era assets continue to be examined, and that the investigation into Credit Suisse initiated by the Simon Wiesenthal Center is allowed to proceed without interference.”

Fundraising reports for the fourth quarter of 2025, released on Sunday, brought the state of the race in several hotly contested Chicago-area Democratic congressional primaries into focus, with pro-Israel candidates putting up strong showings in several seats.

In the 9th District, state Sen. Laura Fine led the field with $1.2 million raised and ended the quarter with a narrow cash-on-hand lead, at $1.4 million in the bank. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, an Israel critic, raised $659,000 and had $1.37 million on hand at the end of the quarter, and far-left influencer Kat Abugazaleh raised $1.1 million, but spent $1.4 million, leaving her with $811,000 in her war chest.

With her substantial fundraising, Fine has been the only candidate in the district to air advertisements on network television, while other candidates are advertising on cable.

Though publicly released polling has shown Biss and Abugazaleh at the top of the field and Fine trailing, Chicago political strategist Frank Calabrese emphasized to Jewish Insider that — with the large number of candidates in the race and Fine’s fundraising and momentum — she remains a leading contender.

On the other hand, he said that Biss, who previously ran for governor, and Abugazaleh, with her substantial online presence, are likely the most recognizable candidates, giving them a built-in advantage in a crowded field.  

Calabrese also stressed that the fundraising data shows Abugazaleh is a serious and competitive candidate — despite some having written her off earlier in the race — and she is likely to pick up significant support among younger and more transient voters.

Calabrese predicted that an ad blitz against Biss — which the AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project is rumored to be considering — could ultimately redound to Abughazaleh’s benefit, rather than sending Biss voters toward Fine’s campaign.

UDP has said it has not yet made any decisions about the race.

One Jewish community activist in the district expressed concerns to JI in recent weeks about such a scenario, arguing that AIPAC and other Jewish community affiliated groups should be focused on stopping Abughazaleh above all else, and that they should agree to get behind either Biss or Fine, depending on which candidate polling shows has the best chance of beating Abughazaleh.

But others in the pro-Israel community have raised significant concerns about Biss’ own stance on Israel policy, which includes support for an offensive weapons ban on Israel.

Calabrese said that Phil Andrew, a former FBI hostage negotiator who closed the quarter with almost $1 million on hand — including $400,000 in self-funding — could be a wild-card candidate.

Calabrese explained that Bruce Leon, a prominent member of the local Orthodox Jewish community community who recently left the race, had thrown his support behind Andrew, following a spat with Fine and AIPAC, potentially pushing the Orthodox Jewish community toward Andrew and away from Fine.

In the 8th Congressional District, former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) solidified her spot as  front-runner by raising $772,000, ending the quarter with more than $1 million on hand, followed by anti-Israel challenger Junaid Ahmed, who raised $360,000 and ended the quarter with $836,000 on hand.

Businessman Neil Khot finished the quarter with $573,000 on hand, having provided $765,000 to his own campaign during the cycle, which has made him the only candidate in that race to run network television ads. But he received just $58,000 in the last quarter in donations.

Others, including Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison and Hanover Park Trustee Yasmeen Bankole, an Israel critic, trailed further behind, with $233,000 and $170,000 on hand, respectively, though Calabrese emphasized that Morrison enjoys substantial support from local officials. Veteran Dan Tully ended the quarter with $412,00 on hand, but may see a boost from outside spending by pro-veteran groups.

Calabrese said that Bean, given her defined public image and name recognition, is the front-runner, but noted that Ahmed has been building a strong base of support in the Muslim community. He said Bean, as a conventional moderate Democrat, also stands out among a series of other candidates trying to define themselves as more liberal or progressive, and will likely benefit from those other candidates dividing the field.

“Everyone agrees the favorite is Melissa Bean, and if someone tells you otherwise, they’re lying to you,” Calabrese said.

In the 7th Congressional District, Jason Friedman, a real estate developer and leader in the local Jewish community, cemented his place as a leading candidate, ending the quarter with $1.3 million on hand and $1.8 million raised over the course of the race, including $296,000 in the quarter.

Calabrese said that Friedman “has a very decent shot at winning” if he’s able to lock down the upper-income downtown area, while other candidates compete for votes in the district’s Black community. Friedman also has substantial support from the Jewish community, Calabrese added.

He said that Friedman’s chances have been underestimated by some in the area who have failed to recognize the demographic changes in the once Black-dominated district over time, but also said the race could be a “jump ball” among any of several candidates in the running.

Friedman’s war chest gives him a substantial lead over the rest of the field, but his fourth quarter fundraising was comparable to that of Dr. Thomas Fisher, an emergency medicine doctor, who raised $243,000 and finished with $455,000 on hand.

State Rep. LaShawn Ford, the handpicked successor of retiring Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), raised $145,000 and closed the quarter with $308,000 on hand, and Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin raised $112,000 and finished with $217,000 on hand. Anthony Driver, a former leader of the Chicago police oversight board and a local union leader, raised just $73,000 in the quarter, but is likely to receive significant outside backing from union groups, Calabrese said.

Anti-Israel progressive Kina Collins, making her third run for the seat, still had not filed her quarterly report as of Monday evening, leaving her status somewhat unclear.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller dominated the field in fundraising, raising $1.1 million and closing the quarter with nearly $1 million on hand, followed by anti-Israel state Sen. Robert Peters, who raised $210,000 and closed the quarter with $263,000 on hand. Peters has raised $900,000 over the course of the race, but burned through the majority of his reserves and outspent what he raised in the last quarter.

Calabrese said he was “extremely surprised” by the poor fundraising performance of former Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), who raised $85,000 in the fourth quarter and finished the quarter with just $90,000 on hand, despite being a local political celebrity and enjoying substantial institutional support. 

Nevertheless, internal polling by other campaigns has shown Jackson in the lead with around 25% support, and Calabrese argued that it’s still his race to lose. With his local reputation and endorsements, he may not need to spend as much to get his message out, Calabrese noted.

“Donna Miller has the money advantage. But is it enough? I don’t think so, but I could be wrong,” Calabrese said.

The progressive Peters is a poor fit for the district, Calabrese argued. “He’s trying to run as a university, campus-centric progressive, and it’s just not the district,” he said. “It’s a very work-a-day district.”

Democrat Crystal Rhoades, the district court clerk of Douglas County, Neb., is running for Congress in the state’s 2nd District on an unapologetically pro-Israel platform, with the explicit goal of blocking a progressive, whose record on Israel has attracted scrutiny in the pro-Israel community, from becoming the party’s nominee in the critical swing district.

Asked by Jewish Insider in an interview last week why she’s running for Congress, Rhoades answered simply, “to stop John Cavanaugh,” referring to the Democratic state senator seen as the front-runner in the race.

Rhoades, who said she’s been involved in Democratic politics in the area for two decades, during which she has held three elective offices and served as the county Democratic chair, said that “it was just not a good idea to allow him to emerge as the nominee” in the swing district. “What’s best for this district is for someone other than John Cavanaugh to represent it.”

“With everything that is happening right now, with the Trump administration, there’s too much risk in his candidacy,” she continued, noting that if Cavanaugh wins, the state’s Republican governor would appoint his replacement in the state Senate, potentially giving Nebraska Republicans enough votes to redraw the district and move to a winner-take-all system in the presidential election, rather the current arrangement in which the state’s two congressional districts are allocated separate electoral votes.

The Omaha-area 2nd district has, in recent presidential elections, voted with Democrats.

“That, combined with his position on Israel — which I find to be abhorrent, and frankly, very inconsistent with American values and national security — were strong motivators for me to get into the race, because I do have a long history of service here. I’m well known to these voters, and the only one that can compete with his family legacy,” Rhoades said.

Cavanaugh is a progressive state senator who hails from a Nebraska political dynasty. He was one of only a handful of lawmakers who declined to sign on to a letter in the state Senate expressing support for Israel on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, and at a recent candidate forum swore off accepting any support from AIPAC or Democratic Majority for Israel.

“I support Israel and believe Israel has a right to exist. And I also believe a two-state solution is the only way to secure lasting peace,” Cavanaugh said in a statement to JI in response to Rhoades. “Democrats in NE-02 want a candidate who will fight the Trump agenda and bring positive ideas to fix our economy, lower health care costs, and end the corruption we see from Trump and Washington. That’s why I’m running for Congress.”

In her interview with JI and a position paper she authored on Israel, Rhoades expressed a deep commitment to the Jewish state, its security and the U.S.-Israel relationship, and offered significant criticism for fellow Democrats who are critical of Israel.

She traced her support for the Jewish state to her time as a teenager working in a nursing home, where she helped take care of a Holocaust survivor and first learned about his story, antisemitism and the Holocaust.

“For me, this is very cut and dry and not at all controversial or confusing,” Rhoades said. “I just fundamentally disagree with the position that some of the members of the party have taken [against Israel]. … It’s really sad and it makes me quite angry.”

“I knew someone who described unspeakable evil and horror. This was a man who, in the ‘90s, was still hiding [extra] food,” a practice he took up in the concentration camps, Rhoades said. “It’s really difficult for me to express how much of an impression it actually made, but it was an incredibly powerful experience, knowing a survivor and having the opportunity to talk with them about what had happened.”

She saved her money from that job and used it for a trip to Europe, during which she visited a concentration camp. She went on to study terrorism in college in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, which she said further enhanced her understanding of the threat of global terrorism and Israel’s stabilizing presence in the Middle East.

“For me, this is very cut and dry and not at all controversial or confusing,” Rhoades said. “I just fundamentally disagree with the position that some of the members of the party have taken [against Israel]. … It’s really sad and it makes me quite angry.”

She said that she believes fellow Democrats are falling for misleading or false narratives pushed by online algorithms. She added that those who would support divestment from Israel, cutting off U.S. support or anti-Israel slogans like “from the river to the sea” have a fundamental lack of understanding of Israel’s role in the world and in combating terrorism.

“It is, quite frankly, shocking to me that so many people are taking this position,” she continued. “I really can’t make sense of it. I just do not understand it.”

In her position paper, Rhoades argued that Democrats who aren’t standing with Israel are betraying Democratic values and vowed not to cave to anti-Israel pressures in the party.

“These principles: democracy, equality, and freedom from persecution, are supposed to be the foundation of our core values as Democrats,” Rhoades wrote. “So why are so many ignoring them when it comes to Israel? I won’t bend my values to appease a social media mob. I won’t apologize for standing up for our ally. And I won’t stop calling out double standards when I see them. That’s not weakness … it’s leadership.”

She said that she hopes her first trip as a member of Congress would be to Israel, a signal “to my colleagues and my constituents that these issues are of moral importance to me.”

Rhoades told JI she believes the U.S.-Israel relationship has helped prevent terrorist incidents at home and elsewhere, and benefitted the U.S. in a variety of other ways — in technology, commerce, defense and intelligence.

She also emphasized that it’s the only democracy in the Middle East and the only country in the region where women, LGBTQ people and minorities enjoy equal rights.

Rhoades said she hopes the ceasefire in Gaza holds, and that a two-state solution can eventually be reached, but that it must be negotiated between the parties and that Hamas cannot be allowed to continue to hold any authority.

She emphasized in her paper that the “eradication of Hamas” was the only reasonable response to the Oct. 7 attacks and that a two-state solution must guarantee Israel’s security, demilitarize any future Palestinian state and end support for terrorism.

“While compassion for Gazan civilians is well-intentioned, it too often misses the point that they are oppressed by the same terrorist regime that insists on harming their own civilians to try to turn public opinion globally against Israel,” she said in the position paper. “All leaders, but particularly Democratic leaders, should be calling that out as a betrayal of our core values.”

Rhoades also expressed deep skepticism of the Palestinian Authority, writing that its “weakness and corruption facilitated Hamas’s ascension.” She called for “permanent enforcement,” on an international basis, of the Taylor Force Act — which bars U.S. support for the PA until the governing body ends its payments to terrorists.

Rhoades did not attend a candidate forum in January where most candidates, including Cavanaugh, swore off pro-Israel support and several said they would have voted against a government funding package that included funding to Israel and maintained a ban on funding for UNRWA. 

She told JI that if she had been there, she would have pushed back on the premise of the questions posed by audience members, which she said provided a “fundamental misframing of the issue,” and conflated anger with Israel’s leadership with all Israeli and Jewish people.

She vowed to vote in support of any and all resources Israel needs to defend itself, and oppose any legislation imposing new conditions on aid to Israel.

Rhoades told JI she would have supported the U.S. strikes on Iran last summer, but emphasized that the Trump administration should be consulting Congress before engaging in military operations in foreign countries. If presented to her for a vote as a member of Congress, she said she would have supported the U.S. operation.

Looking ahead, she said that Congress should be involved in any decisions regarding further action against Iran, but that she is “very supportive of looking for ways to help the Iranian people, who, very clearly, are unhappy with their leadership.”

“The problem is that people conflate [Israel and Jews], and in doing so, it always kind of ends up being antisemitic. The idea that Israel does not have the right to exist, in my mind, is just inherently antisemitic,” Rhoades told JI.

In her position paper, Rhoades said that Iran cannot maintain any nuclear weapons or enrichment capacity, and additionally emphasized the need to work with other U.S. partners to “snuff out” Iran’s proxy forces.

She also argued that the debate over whether anti-Zionism is antisemitic “is the wrong debate” and that in practice, anti-Zionist rhetoric veers into antisemitism “almost immediately.” She said “it is insane” that the idea that Israel has a right to exist in safety could be considered controversial.

“The problem is that people conflate [Israel and Jews], and in doing so, it always kind of ends up being antisemitic. The idea that Israel does not have the right to exist, in my mind, is just inherently antisemitic,” she told JI.

When political leaders endorse or refuse to condemn rhetoric like “globalize the intifada” or “from the river to the sea,” Rhoades said that she sees those officials as empowering antisemitism.

She expressed strong support for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and for the Antisemitism Awareness Act that would codify the use of that definition in education.

“I’m not at all interested in any other definition,” Rhoades told JI, warning that spikes in antisemitism like the one currently happening in the U.S. have historically presaged authoritarian and oppressive regimes.

The 2nd District is currently represented by moderate Republican Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), himself an outspoken supporter of Israel and prominent voice against antisemitism. Bacon, who has managed to fend off a series of Democratic challengers, is not running for reelection, and the Cook Political Report rates the district as “Lean Democratic.”

Internal polling by Rhoades’ campaign has put her in second behind Cavanaugh, 25%-17% with 53% undecided, but there are also several other candidates in the race. Polling by Cavanaugh’s campaign in mid-January had him with a commanding lead, with 43% to Rhoades’ 15%.

Rhoades said she’s the only candidate in the race from a working-class background, and understands the challenges that voters who have been disillusioned with the Democratic Party face. She said she thinks she can bring those voters back to the Democratic Party.

Outside of Israel policy, Rhoades said her top priorities include implementing mandatory retirement ages for members of Congress, eliminating gerrymandering and strengthening checks and balances; investing in infrastructure to provide economic stimulus and better-paying jobs; and helping to lower health-care costs, including by de-linking health insurance from the workplace.

Kelly Neumann, a prominent Michigan Democratic fundraiser who is supporting several major Democratic candidates in the state, shared a social media post on Veterans Day in 2024 honoring her grandfather, who served in the Nazi regime’s army in World War II.

The post includes multiple photos of Neumann’s grandfather in Nazi regalia, including what appears to be an officer’s uniform.

“Happy Veterans Day to all my family and friends who serve/served! Without you, America would not be here today,” the post, shared on Facebook and Instagram by Neumann, a local attorney, reads. The Facebook post, which remained online as of initial publication of this story, was subsequently deleted. “Interesting story, I do not talk much about but my Grandfather, Albert Neumann was on the German side in WWI & WWII.  He escaped to Brazil with my Father after Germany lost in WWII and then made their way to Detroit where they spoke no English and worked their way up to provide a stable life for their family.”

Neumann went on to say that her grandfather “was one of my best friends. He was one of the first people in my life that accepted me as gay when I was nervous and scared. I’ll never forget him embracing me and loving me for who I am.”

“His story is a true testament that people can change and love indeed can win,” Neumann concluded.

Neumann is serving as a co-chair of the finance committees for state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who is running for U.S. Senate, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor. Neumann has co-hosted several fundraisers for McMorrow’s campaign, as recently as last Friday, as well as multiple fundraisers for Benson’s campaign.

In March 2025, Neumann also hosted a $50,000 fundraiser for Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), now running for Senate against McMorrow, and is a member of Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet’s (D-MI) fundraising “cabinet.” She hosted a December fundraiser for state Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Jewish, pro-Israel Democratic candidate for the House.

Neumann appears to be well-connected in Democratic politics¸ having hosted events alongside various other prominent Michigan Democrats. She has also shared photos with former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and professed to being in personal contact with multiple Democratic senators — albeit prior to the 2024 Veterans Day post.

FEC records indicate she has never personally donated directly to Stevens or Moss’ campaigns, and she’s been critical of Stevens during her Senate candidacy.

Arik Wolk, a spokesperson for Stevens’ campaign, distanced her from Neumann. “Haley rejects antisemitism in all forms, and has spent her career standing up to and calling out hate. Had Haley seen the post celebrating Ms. Neumann’s grandfather’s service to the SS, Ms. Neumann would not have hosted that event,” Wolk said.

Neumann, and the other candidates whom she is supporting this cycle, did not provide comment.

Two Democratic candidates running in the crowded special election to replace New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, including the state’s current secretary of state and lieutenant governor, criticized the state Assembly for failing to pass legislation codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

Their comments came during a virtual forum hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America on Tuesday evening with most of the candidates in the race for the northern New Jersey House district, though some including Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, the likely front-runner, were missing; Gill was expected to join but organizers said he had unexpected family obligations.

“I, too, take offense that my own state did not adopt IHRA, and I will definitely move this forward as your congresswoman,” New Jersey’s lieutenant governor and secretary of state, Tahesha Way, said.

Multiple sources blamed the state’s governor and other senior Democratic officials for killing the bill due to concerns about political blowback from progressives targeting Democratic lawmakers who would vote for it.

Way issued a statement expressing similar support last week after the legislation failed to move forward in the legislature. “As we witness an alarming rise in antisemitism across our country, we must be unequivocal: hate has no place in our society. I will always stand by the Jewish community, and I support legislation adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in the New Jersey Assembly and will wholeheartedly support similar federal legislation if elected to Congress.”

Candidate Jeff Grayzel, the deputy mayor of Morris Township and a local Jewish leader who testified before the New Jersey Assembly in support of the bill, also expressed frustration that the legislation had failed, when similar legislation has passed in a majority of states.

“It is pathetic that in the state with the fourth largest Jewish population in the United States, we don’t have that,” Grayzel said.

In addition to her comments on the IHRA legislation, Way also emphasized her work with the New Jersey-Israel Commission, which falls under her purview as secretary of state, to address campus antisemitism, and said she would back efforts to “streamline access” to Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding.

She said that her trip with an American Jewish Committee delegation to Israel in 2019 “really underscored … the strong alliance between the U.S. and Israel,” and emphasized the need to rebuild Gaza without Hamas and to expand the Abraham Accords, as well as pursue a two-state solution.

Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), viewed as another top contender in the field, said that leaders need to police antisemitism on their own sides, while arguing that the far left “hates our leadership” and that the far right leads the GOP. He also called for proper resources and funding to combat domestic extremism, an effort he said is being undermined by shifting federal resources to immigration enforcement, and called for regulation of social media.

He said that he had a “perfect pro-Israel voting record in Congress as a pro-Israel Democrat,” while accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging the war in Gaza out for his own interests, and calling for more pressure on both sides to continue the ceasefire agreement.

Grayzel, in his opening statement, described himself as a “proud Jew and a proud Zionist” and declared unequivocally that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” adding that he is running for Congress in part to stand up for the Jewish people. 

He pushed back on suggestions from a fellow candidate that Israel is depriving members of its Arab population of equal rights, and emphasized his support for unconditional aid to the Jewish state.

Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett noted that he had spent a year living in Israel studying at Hebrew University, experiencing the daily security threats that Israelis face. He said that he supports the continued U.S.-Israel relationship and rejected “arbitrary distinctions between offensive and defensive weapons.”

“I recognize the relationship between the United States and Israel as fundamental and rooted in shared democratic values. I’ve also heard loud and clear from you, your kids and your rabbis that families need to feel safe right here in New Jersey again. You can count on me to be a consistent and outspoken ally in Congress,” Bartlett said.

He also condemned those who are targeting the Jewish community over political differences with Israel, and said that he supports the IHRA working definition and the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

Army veteran and venture capitalist Zach Beecher noted that his wife is Jewish and they are raising their son Jewish, and highlighting his experience in combat in the Middle East. He called for expanded NSGP funding and greater Holocaust education.

He said he “categorically support[s] security assistance and the right of Israel to defend itself” following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

Other candidates took a more hesitant stance toward support for Israel while expressing support for its right to exist.

Analilia Mejia, who leads a progressive advocacy group, said, “Israel has the responsibility to ensure freedom for all those who live within it,” and said U.S. funding should go “towards peace” and defensive systems “and not bombs.”

Community advocate Anna Lee Williams said, “I’m someone who really promotes peacebuilding and long-term diplomatic strategies so that we can properly support that. I think that’s the main thing — I just want to move forward in terms of, how do we use our partnership to value human rights and make sure that we are holding the Israeli government accountable when they are hurting people.”

Attorney J-L Cauvin, who has gone viral for his impersonations of President Donald Trump, said Netanyahu is “something of a monster,” and had “spit in the face of Joe Biden and is dragging America’s moral authority through the gutter.” Cauvin said that he wants to see less U.S. aid flowing to Israel.

On antisemitism, Cauvin highlighted his own experience with discrimination as the son of an immigrant and as a mixed-race person, arguing that he knows “how to fight it probably better than most people in this race.” He said that he had personally broken with a friend over his “disgusting” reaction to Oct. 7. He largely blamed Trump for the rise in antisemitism, saying he had given a “license to discriminate and speak horribly.”

Williams said her longtime partner is Jewish, and that they have had conversations about the fear that the Jewish community is feeling. She called for steps to make the Jewish community feel safe, to combat antisemitism online and in AI and to improve education.

Throughout the event, several of the candidates described the Trump administration’s policies, particularly its deportation efforts, as fascist and drew comparisons to the Nazi regime.

Grayzel said that the Jewish community “knows where fascism leads. We have an experience of what happened in Germany, and what happened in Minnesota last week is the next step in that fascist process,” referring to the killing of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

“We all know how the Nazis terrorized Jews in Germany, and ICE is now terrorizing our immigrants here in this country,” Grayzel said. “But I am so scared, so, so scared as a Jew of where this country is headed and how ICE is treating people and terrorizing them. It absolutely needs to stop.”

Malinowski agreed, describing the ICE arrests as “proto-fascist operations that we’re seeing on our street.”

Williams said, of recent ICE raids, “For those of us who are part of the Jewish community, and for anyone who studies history, alarm bells should be going off.”

Beecher alleged that a slogan displayed behind Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a news event this week echoed SS rhetoric, a characterization disputed by historians.