Long-shot Brooklyn Republican House candidate Joel Anabilah-Azumah got a boost last week with an endorsement from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — who hopes to unseat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul with an appeal to fellow New York Jews, particularly those discontented with Democrats’ declining support for Israel.

But Jewish Insider found that Anabilah-Azumah has criticized Zionism while defending a string of antisemitic remarks by rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, who the now-candidate hinted was at risk of assassination by Jewish music industry figures.

Anabilah-Azumah — a rival to 10-term Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) whom Blakeman predicted would “make a great member of Congress” — offered his online apologia following the hip-hop star’s infamous string of social media posts and media hits in late 2022. These saw Ye threaten on Instagram to “go death con 3 [sic] on JEWISH PEOPLE,” praise Adolf Hitler on Alex Jones’ “InfoWars” show, insist to Chris Cuomo that “Jewish Underground media mafia” had attacked him for wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt and rail in a podcast appearance against “Zionist Jews” and claim that Black people are the true descendants of the biblical Israelites.

But Anabilah-Azumah took to social media to assert Ye’s remarks were not in fact broadly antisemitic.

“The people @kanyewest is referencing isn’t the entire Jewish community. It is a specific power structure within music and the media KNOWS this because they are part of it,” wrote Anabilah-Azumah, then recently disqualified as a candidate against then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “Don’t use ‘anti-semitism’ as a shield to ignore predatory systems that manufacture and distribute degeneracy through music. Jewish people that manage these types of systems are not exempt from criticism.”

The politician and small business owner went on to allude to alleged violent and sexual extortions underway in the entertainment business. 

“You don’t want to have a discussion about how many male rappers had to sleep with people to go to the next level,” he wrote, “You want to talk about killing rivals in the music biz? How about blood oaths, including sacrificing people you love?”

The depravity went all the way up to murder, according to Anabilah-Azumah, who suggested only God had protected Ye.

“People do die naming names in the music biz as well,” he wrote, a point he reemphasized in a response to a follower who suggested they knew the identities of the people the rapper referenced. “Probably the same people that invited him into a certain ‘organization’ that he seemed to have left. Typically, they kill people that leave that organization. Short of God’s intervention, that would have already happened.”

In a thread with the same follower about Ye’s comments on Zionists, the candidate further complained that “the meaning of Zionism has mutated over time” and agreed it was possible to separate the political movement for a Jewish state from the Jewish people, though maintained discussion was impossible in “the mainstream media.”

A few weeks later, the NYPD and federal authorities intercepted two men at Penn Station with weapons and a swastika armband, one of whom had posted online about plans to “shoot up a synagogue and die.” But Anabilah-Azumah suggested the arrests were themselves part of a sinister plot, linking it to the public reaction to Ye as well as to then-Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who had promoted an antisemitic tract online.

“Something about this sounds off,” he wrote on Twitter, now X. “Kanye and Kyrie get accused of being anti-Semitic, the black community starts to push back, and now two people get arrested for plotting attacks on the NYC Jewish community after one of their posts were seen online? Not buying it right now.”

Speaking to JI, Anabilah-Azumah declined to distance himself from his past tweets, though he acknowledged some might understand them as an endorsement of Ye’s antisemitism. However, he maintained his own comments did not target Jewish people as a group, but only those Jewish people involved in what he described as a multiethnic “cartel” responsible for “poisoning the youth” with “addictive” rap.

“There are a lot of record companies that are owned by Jewish people. My opinion is that if there are Jewish people doing something wrong, you can’t use their Jewishness to shield them from criticism,” the candidate said in an interview with JI. ”One of the good things about the Jewish community is that they do not allow their children to consume damaging media the way the Black community does.”

“I’m not anti anybody except people who want to drag us into wars for no reason. That’s not a particular race or culture, that’s a mindset,” he added.

The Blakeman campaign did not respond to repeated questions from JI. The county executive, who initially said of Anabilah-Azumah that “we need fighters like that in Congress,” sought to distance himself from the House contender after other posts emerged in which Anabilah-Azumah alleged the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job.” However, Blakeman has yet to formally retract his endorsement.

Ye, for his part, renounced his own antisemitic tirades earlier this year and blamed them on his struggles with bipolar disorder.

Boosted by an endorsement from President Donald Trump and a preelection rally from the state’s leading Republican figures, Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) survived a challenge from Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) to win the GOP nomination for her late brother’s Senate seat.

“I continue to miss Lindsey every day, and there is still a big hole in my heart, but I know he’s looking down, very proud,” Graham said in her victory speech Tuesday night. 

Graham prevailed narrowly (52%-48%) despite facing serious questions about her experience and readiness for a full term in the Senate during the compressed campaign. She expressed ignorance about foreign policy in the race’s lone debate when asked about her thoughts about Taiwan’s security. She had also said she wouldn’t be as focused on foreign policy as her brother, whose hawkish national security record defined his political legacy. 

Norman, a hard-line fiscal conservative, proved to be a lackluster opponent, winning in his home base in northwestern South Carolina but losing across the rest of the state. He alienated Republican leaders by initially opposing Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024 (he was one of Nikki Haley’s leading endorsees) and holding out support of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) during the 2023 House GOP leadership fight. 

Norman wasn’t able to offer a generational contrast, either — at 73, he would have been one of the oldest freshman senators in recent memory. He was badly outspent in the race by Graham and allied groups, including Trump’s well-financed super PAC, which hasn’t gotten involved in many races this cycle. 

“His policies are good, I never understood why he got in this race … it is what it is. I’ll accept it,” Norman said in his concession speech of the president’s involvement.

Graham’s victory means that Trump holds a near-perfect record with his Senate primary endorsements during his political career, even as some of his gubernatorial and House picks have fallen short this year. Trump’s decision to spend valuable political capital — both in time and money — clearly played a pivotal role in the competitive runoff. 

Graham herself offered a nod to Trump’s influence, saying in her election night speech, “South Carolina is truly Trump country.”

In November, Graham will face pediatrician Annie Andrews, a Democrat who has been a strong fundraiser, especially given the challenges the party faces in winning South Carolina, a solidly conservative state that backed Trump by 18 points in the 2024 presidential election. 

Today’s special election GOP runoff for Senate in South Carolina between appointed Sen. Darline Graham and five-term Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) will be a clear test over just how much juice President Donald Trump’s endorsement carries within the Republican Party, at a time when his overall political standing has been on the decline. 

Graham has struggled through the shortened campaign to fill the seat of her late brother, dodging the media spotlight (unlike her brother) and sticking to generic talking points in talking about the issues. She faced blowback after admitting she didn’t know enough about foreign policy to answer a debate question about Taiwan — underscoring how much of a novice she is on an issue that defined Lindsey Graham’s legacy. 

But Trump has been a loyal backer, holding a rally last Friday for her campaign, which featured appearances from the state’s Republican leadership, including Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is also the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. 

Norman also hardly fits the profile of the up-and-coming challenger. He’s 73 and would be one of the oldest freshman senators in recent memory. And for more-moderate Republicans, his record of antagonism towards House Republican leadership and support for declaring martial law in the days leading up to President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration make him a deeply flawed choice. 

For national security hawks, Norman’s votes against several Israel aid packages and opposition to Ukraine assistance are also some notable red flags that make Darline Graham the candidate more aligned with her brother’s worldview. 

Trump’s endorsement record has been mixed this year, initially backing the losing gubernatorial candidate (Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette) in South Carolina — while endorsing unsuccessful candidates for governor in Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota and Wyoming. All told, he’s backed 10 unsuccessful candidates in primaries this cycle. But the president’s record in Senate races this year is still perfect, having successfully backed insurgent challengers to Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and John Cornyn (R-TX). 

In fact, only three of Trump’s Senate endorsees throughout his political career have lost in primaries (Alabama GOP Sen. Luther Strange in 2017; West Virginia Senate candidate Evan Jenkins in 2018; Utah Senate candidate Trent Staggs in 2024).  

Graham is hoping to avoid joining that club, and despite her flubs, she’s still got a strong chance of prevailing. She won the first round of balloting with 33% of the vote — eight points ahead of Norman — and finished a respectable second place in the northeastern corner of the state that makes up Rep. Russell Fry’s (R-SC) home base. (Fry endorsed Graham’s candidacy after finishing in third place in the primary.)

But if Graham falls short, it would not just be a sign that South Carolina voters were wary of her policy inexperience. It would be an indication that the Trump endorsement, while still valuable in Republican primaries, isn’t the automatic ticket to victory that it was for so long.

Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), a moderate Michigan lawmaker representing a swing district, broke with most other Democratic members of the Michigan congressional delegation in declining to offer an explicit endorsement of Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed as of Wednesday afternoon, after offering strident criticism of him during the primary campaign.

“Congratulations to everyone who participated in Michigan’s hard-fought primary elections last night, and thank you to every voter who made your voice heard. In these close elections, we want you to know — you are HEARD,” Scholten said in a statement that did not mention El-Sayed. “Now our focus turns forward. I’ve always said I’ll work with anyone committed to lowering costs, expanding affordable health care, creating more opportunity, and fighting corruption. I mean that.”

A Scholten spokesperson did not respond to a request for clarification on whether this constituted an endorsement of El-Sayed.

Scholten said that she is a “proud, commonsense Democrat” and said that she’s focused on helping to elect “similar candidates around the country.”

During the campaign, as a vocal supporter of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Scholten suggested she might struggle to support El-Sayed in the general election.

“I will not stand beside someone who has allowed distinctly anti-American sentiment to enter our public dialogue,” she said in one interview.

In another, she criticized El-Sayed for campaigning with antisemitic and anti-Israel influencer Hasan Piker. 

“To campaign with Hasan Piker, who said America deserved Sept. 11 — sure, he went on to disavow those comments, but I’m telling you, nobody on my team would ever, you know, come even close to making a comment like that,” she said. “I think that condoning behavior like this from candidates like Abdul El-Sayed is taking us in a direction that we don’t want to go as a party.”

Other Democratic moderates, with the exception of maverick Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), are largely keeping their heads down following the election, with several contacted by JI declining to comment or not responding to requests. 

Other Democrats are backing El-Sayed.

“He worked hard. People in Michigan had their word last night, and I imagine he’s going to work really hard over the next 90 days to win this race, and it’s obviously a critical one,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said. “If we’re going to fix some of the problems created by this president, we’ve got to win back the Senate.”

Asked whether he believes the narrow margin of victory for El-Sayed might imperil his chances in November, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who had supported Stevens in the primary, offered a short response: “Yeah, he could win. Definitely.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said he hasn’t met El-Sayed but noted that Stevens had endorsed him and “my sense is that whatever divisiveness there might have been because of the primary, they’re … past it.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) declined to comment on El-Sayed’s history or his decision to campaign with Piker, and said that he doesn’t think “generalizations are possible from one race” about the direction of the party, “whether it’s in Brooklyn or Michigan.”

With less than two weeks until Michigan’s contentious Democratic Senate primary, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) on Friday, offering a burst of momentum to the moderate Democrat’s campaign against progressive, anti-Israel firebrand Abdul El-Sayed. 

“Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for people in Michigan, and we need her now more than ever,” Whitmer said in a video announcing the endorsement. 

Whitmer had conspicuously avoided making an endorsement in the race, which until weeks ago was a three-way contest between Stevens, El-Sayed and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. After McMorrow dropped out, the race between Stevens and El-Sayed tightened. 

El-Sayed has made opposition to Israel a core tenet of his campaign, targeting Stevens for receiving backing from AIPAC and for supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship. 

In the endorsement video, Whitmer did not mention El-Sayed; she talked about Stevens as a candidate who will “get things done.”

“She knows what Michigan families are going through, and that’s how I know she will always put Michigan first,” Whitmer said.

Connie Chan, a progressive member of the San Francisco board of supervisors running to succeed retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), claimed an endorsement on Tuesday from Track AIPAC, a virulently anti-Israel group that has faced accusations of spreading antisemitism.

In a statement posted to social media, Track AIPAC said Chan had completed its candidate questionnaire “affirming that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people and that Congress must end U.S. complicity in it and hold those responsible to account.”

Additionally, the group said, Chan vowed to back “a total arms embargo on Israel,” reject “support from AIPAC and the rest of the Israel lobby” and push for the pro-Israel group to register as a foreign agent — a spurious claim that has drawn scrutiny as a cover for invoking antisemitic tropes concerning dual loyalty.

While Chan had already expressed her alignment with several of the commitments she made in the questionnaire, Track AIPAC had apparently been skeptical of her candidacy until relatively recently.

Chan is also supported by a number of Democrats who have been endorsed by AIPAC, including Pelosi, the former House speaker, and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), among others in California and beyond.

Representatives for Pelosi and Schiff did not return requests for comment about Chan’s friendly rapport with the anti-Israel group, which has drawn criticism for backing extreme candidates, demonizing Zionism and using flawed methodology to distinguish among differing Israel advocacy groups such as J Street and Democratic Majority for Israel. 

Both Pelosi and Schiff have been targeted by Track AIPAC for contributions from pro-Israel sources.

The new endorsement, however, comes amid recent tensions between Pelosi and AIPAC, whose political action committee last week chose to remove language from its online endorsement portal that had thanked the veteran congresswoman for her “ongoing support for the U.S.-Israel relationship,” after she voted along with more than 100 House Democrats to end U.S. aid to the Jewish state.

In the top-two primary election last month, Track AIPAC had backed Chan’s far-left opponent, Saikat Chakrabarti, who came in a distant third place. He has since endorsed Chan, who came in second with 30% of the vote — trailing state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Jewish Democrat, by 11 points.

Like Chan, Wiener has said he supports the Block the Bombs Act, which would impose sweeping conditions on weapons sales or transfers to Israel, but carves out an exception for U.S. assistance to help fortify Israel’s defensive systems. 

Even as Wiener has also echoed Chan in accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza in an effort to placate the far left in California’s deeply progressive 11th Congressional District, he has continued to face harrassment from anti-Israel activists. Most recently, the veteran lawmaker was chased from a trans rights march in San Francisco by protesters who called him “terrible on Gaza” and said he had “Zionist handlers,” in an incident that drew national media attention.

While Chan broadly condemned the episode, which was captured on video, her statement made no direct mention of Wiener and she did not join local political leaders in signing a community letter denouncing the harassment.

In its statement, Track AIPAC argued that Wiener’s positions on Israel “have been continuously unclear, and where he has taken a stance, he has stopped well short of what accountability requires.” The group also stated that Wiener “has not taken” the opportunity to respond to its candidate questionnaire.

Wiener did not return a request for comment.

Chan’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the endorsement from Track AIPAC, which operates a political arm called Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption.

“In Congress, we will oppose any aid to Israel and do everything in our power to stop their government’s genocidal actions against the Palestinian people,” Chan said in a statement to The Intercept. “We are proud to stand with groups like End Citizens United and Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption to fight to fix our democracy.”

Days after 104 members of Congress voted in favor of a measure that sought to end U.S. aid to Israel, AIPAC will no longer allow donations through its political action committee to 18 lawmakers it endorsed who voted in favor of the legislation. 

The group did not announce the change. But the endorsement page on AIPAC’s political giving portal — where supporters can donate to candidates who have been endorsed by AIPAC — removed the option for individuals to route money to those lawmakers. 

AIPAC now allows its supporters to donate to 72 Democratic candidates in the House and Senate, compared to 178 Republican candidates — meaning 71% of the candidates the group is now actively supporting are Republicans, and just 29% are Democrats. 

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), an anti-Israel Republican who was defeated this year in a GOP primary, introduced the amendment to a State Department funding bill knowing it would fail, which it did: 314 members voted against it.  

He was the only Republican to support it, along with 103 Democrats. Ten Democrats voted present on the amendment, which would have eliminated the $3.3 billion in annual foreign military financing provided by the U.S. to Israel, according to the terms of the 2016 memorandum of understanding between the two countries. 

The 18 AIPAC endorsees who voted in favor of the measure were Reps. Gabe Amo (D-RI), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Josh Harder (D-CA), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Julie Johnson (D-TX), Bill Keating (D-MA), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Richard Neal (D-MA), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), Pat Ryan (D-NY) and Adam Smith (D-WA). 

On its website, AIPAC delineates retiring lawmakers, who are no longer raising money, with a brief explanation thanking them for their “ongoing support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.” On the profiles of retiring Reps. Brownley, Pelosi and Johnson, AIPAC removed the line expressing thanks. 

Three AIPAC-endorsed lawmakers — Reps. Shontel Brown (D-OH), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) and Chris Pappas (D-NH) — voted “present” on the measure. AIPAC is still supporting them. 

The group did not formally rescind its endorsement of any lawmakers after the vote, according to an AIPAC source, even though they are no longer going to receive financial support from the organization. 

An AIPAC spokesperson declined to comment.

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) said that he no longer wants AIPAC’s endorsement and would be “returning the funds” the group’s PAC had sent his campaign, following his vote on Wednesday, along with 102 other Democrats, to cut off all aid to Israel. The New York Democrat also said he would refund individual donors who had previously supported his campaign if they made the request.

“I expect groups like AIPAC will not support me in my future elections and frankly, I don’t want their support,” he wrote in a social media post explaining his vote, saying he would no longer back $3.3 billion in annual military aid to “a corrupt and increasingly dangerous Netanyahu regime.” 

In a separate post responding to a question from AIPAC Tracker, an extremist account accused of fomenting antisemitism, Ryan confirmed he did not want AIPAC’s endorsement and would be “returning the funds” sent to his campaign. 

A spokesperson for Ryan clarified that Ryan is returning AIPAC’s “PAC funds.” Ryan added, “I am grateful for any individual donor who has supported my campaign. My position is clear and if an individual requests a refund, I will happily provide it.”

Ryan, a mainstream Democrat who holds a swing seat in New York’s Hudson Valley home to a sizable Jewish voting constituency, has cultivated a profile as a moderate economic populist. At the same time, he has been building ties to a growing range of leading left-wing Israel detractors such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and congressional nominee Brad Lander, who last month defeated a pro-Israel House Democrat in a district spanning Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan.

Ryan’s about-face, and his broader recent evolution on Middle East policy, illustrates the extent to which even moderate Democrats are now spurning Israel as well as AIPAC amid a marked shift in voter sentiment against the Jewish state in the wake of the Gaza war. It also demonstrates the rising popularity of the far-left flank of the Democratic Party scoring several notable victories in a string of congressional primaries this election cycle.

Deryn Sousa, a spokesperson for AIPAC, said on Thursday it was “unfortunate” that “Ryan has turned his disagreement with this Israeli government into an attack on American citizens, vilifying their beliefs and participation in our democracy.”

“We trust he’ll uphold his word and immediately refund all the support he has received from many individual AIPAC members since he first ran for Congress,” she told Jewish Insider in a statement.

In a statement to JI, Ryan said his vote “does not represent an abandonment of the state of Israel or the Jewish people. It does not deny the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization. It does not neglect the profound grief of Oct. 7, nor the devastation in the years that followed.”  

“What this vote does represent is a reset,” he continued. “An opportunity to step back and rebuild towards a better future for Israelis, Palestinians and the Middle East and to send a message to Netanyahu’s government that the status quo is unacceptable. I stand ready to work with an allied Israeli government that recommits itself to democratic values and meaningful progress toward a two-state solution.”

Ryan was still listed as an AIPAC endorsee on the group’s online political portal as of Thursday night, but the option to donate to his campaign had been deactivated.

The late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) understood the value of staying in President Donald Trump’s good graces — both to advance his top legislative priorities and to shield himself from challenges on his right flank.

In the wake of Graham’s sudden death, the candidates vying to succeed him have absorbed a central lesson of his career: the most decisive factor in the Republican primary will almost certainly be who wins Trump’s endorsement.

Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), who ousted a sitting GOP lawmaker with Trump’s endorsement in 2022, is emerging as one of the leading contenders and someone who has an inside track to receive the president’s blessing. Fry’s defeat of former Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), who was one of the few Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment in 2021, allowed him to build early relationships with Trump’s political circle. 

Fry has been making calls to White House officials about a possible run this week, a source familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider. 

Asked on Monday evening about the possibility of endorsing Fry if he launched a bid for a full term in Graham’s seat, Trump told Newsmax that Fry is “somebody you can watch out for” as a rising Republican star and did not deny he was considering backing the House lawmaker if he enters the race.

Fry, who became an ally of Graham’s while they served in Congress together, was one of the Republicans who had reached out to the White House about a possible interim appointment to the seat. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ultimately announced on Monday that he was appointing Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC), Graham’s younger sister, to serve out the remainder of her older brother’s Senate term, which expires next January.

“Russell Fry, a young congressman, is outstanding. That could happen. I could see that happening,” Trump said of an endorsement. “I think he’s a very, very talented person. … I mean, he’s doing much better than the person that preceded him. He’s been very popular in the state.”

Reached for comment, a White House official told JI about the president potentially endorsing Fry that, “Until the president makes an announcement, any speculation is just speculation.”

Fry has been a reliably conservative and party-line vote in the House since elected, and also holds a solidly pro-Israel voting record. AIPAC congratulated him on his primary victory in 2024.

Graham’s GOP replacement on the November ballot will be chosen in a special election scheduled for Aug. 11. Candidates can file to run for the seat starting on July 21, in accordance with the timeline required by state law, and several others are also looking to throw their hats in the ring. 

Among the other Republicans who have reportedly been lobbying the White House and considering jumping into the race are Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC); Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC); former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a Fox News host and close ally of National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. Tim Scott; and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who lost to the state’s Attorney General Alan Wilson in a runoff of South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial primary in June.

Mark Lynch, who lost to Graham in last month’s primary by 30 points, said on Monday that he would enter the special election and committed $5 million to his campaign. During the campaign, Trump called him a “lunatic” who “would be a DISASTER for the Republican Party,” which came in response to Lynch blaming the U.S. war in Iran on Graham by arguing that the senator had convinced the president to start the conflict. Graham had criticized Lynch, a South Carolina businessman, for employing staffers with records of making antisemitic statements,  

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who was also floated for a possible interim appointment, said on Sunday that he was committed to staying in the House to protect Republicans’ slim majority in the lower chamber. He has not divulged if he is considering entering the special election. 

Rep. William Timmons (R-SC) said late Tuesday that he would not enter the race to replace Graham, adding in the announcement that he would not support Noman or Mace’s candidacies.

Regardless of who the nominee is, Republicans are confident that they will hold the Senate seat in November. Trump carried South Carolina in the 2024 presidential election by 18 points, 58-40%.

The Democratic nominee in the race is Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who handily won her primary. A political outsider who challenged Mace unsuccessfully in 2022, Andrews has drawn attention for her effective fundraising against Graham, outraising the incumbent in the last two quarters. National Democrats, however, have so far declined to prioritize the race, citing the need to use those resources in battleground states. 

The Cook Political Report grades the race as solid Republican.

A national Democratic campaign source told JI that this is not expected to change unless Republicans were to nominate a weak candidate with a record of extremism or concerning accusations about their personal background, such as accusations of criminal activity or assault. 

“If you remember back to [former Democratic National Committee Chair] Jaime Harrison’s campaign [in 2020], he was the head of the South Carolina Democratic Party and raised over $100 million and still got blown out,” Dr. Gibbs Knotts, a professor of political science at Coastal Carolina University, told JI. “South Carolina has not dipped its toe into that purple state category for two to three decades.”

“Whoever gets this [Republican] nomination, to state the obvious, is very likely to be the next senator.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) announced last week that he had been endorsed by the anti-Israel group TrackAIPAC, which has faced widespread accusations of antisemitism, after he became the first politician or candidate to sign a new “pledge” promulgated by the group.

TrackAIPAC has garnered ongoing accusations of antisemitism for its targeting of individual Jewish donors with, in some cases, distant or long-ago ties to pro-Israel organizations, fueling accusations that the group aims to broadly stigmatize Jewish political participation. Its inconsistent methodology and practices for determining which politicians it labels as “pro-Israel” have also generated criticism. 

The group faced further scrutiny for endorsing antisemitic Texas Democratic candidate Maureen Galindo, though it belatedly revoked its endorsement after her antisemitic stances gained widespread national attention.

The “PEACE Pledge” requires signatories to reject any support from AIPAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, Republican Jewish Coalition, Christians United for Israel “or similar organizations and large donor networks promoting unconditional support for Israel” and to “reject spending and funds routed by groups like AIPAC and their allies through intermediary organizations or coordinated donor activity.”

The pledge is “pretty common sense. It means that we shouldn’t be sending our tax dollar money for foreign wars overseas. We should be spending it here at home,” Khanna said in a video before signing it. “It says that we shouldn’t be taking money from AIPAC or all of its affiliate PACs or bundled money from those organizations, and that we have to recognize the genocide that took place in Gaza.”

“I am proud to be the first Democrat to take this pledge to reject money from AIPAC and affiliated groups, recognize the genocide in Gaza and oppose aid to Israel and military sales that kill civilians,” he added.

Khanna has recently increased his national profile through vocal criticism of Israel, ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run. He joins Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) as the third potential 2028 presidential candidate endorsed by TrackAIPAC, which has faced persistent accusations of antisemitism.

TrackAIPAC has in some cases previously labeled J Street support as verboten pro-Israel funding, as well as targeted individual donors who have previously had ties to pro-Israel groups, even if their donations are not given in connection to those groups.

But a Khanna campaign spokesperson said that the pledge does not require Khanna to reject support from J Street or from individual pro-Israel donors.

“Ro believes strongly in the political participation of the Jewish American community. He is proud to be endorsed by J Street and engages with many synagogues and leaders, including those who may not share all his views,” the spokesperson said.

The pledge also demands that signatories recognize the war in Gaza as a genocide and support legislation to that effect; oppose any military aid to “any country whose security forces are committing gross violations of human rights, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, genocide”; and oppose sanctions on the International Criminal Court, among other measures.

It appears to demand that signatories not support anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions legislation, as well as legislation addressing anti-Zionism as a manifestation of antisemitism: “I pledge that I will oppose all measures to restrict protected First Amendment speech and assembly, including the exercise of longstanding economic tools of expression, including by opposing measures that aim to limit these freedoms through the conflation of criticism of a foreign country with any form of bigotry.”

“The pledge does not require support for BDS and Ro has not supported it. It says that you cannot criminalize BDS, which has always been Ro’s position as a supporter of the First Amendment,” the Khanna spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also noted that Khanna “believes in dialogue and engagement to bring peace,” and noted that he recently met with leaders from the Bay Area Jewish Coalition — who have described Khanna as actively hostile to and endangering the Jewish community — as well as the local Jewish Community Relations Council and Jewish federation.

The spokesperson said he has also met with AIPAC members. And, the spokesperson noted, Khanna recently scored a decisive primary victory. Khanna’s challenger had sought to cultivate support among Jewish voters.

Tali Klima, a spokesperson for the Bay Area Jewish Coalition, said in a statement following the initial publication of this story that the group “reluctantly” met with Khanna following the recent primary, but had asked his office not to publicize the meeting.

“Despite assurances, Khanna has once again chosen to leverage a private meeting for his agenda and to insinuate that he is open to dialogue and inclusion of our perspectives. We are disappointed but not surprised by his team’s actions,” Klima said.

Klima said that during the meeting, her group and other Jewish leaders “reiterated how his rhetoric and political agenda hurt our community. Indeed, we gave him examples of recent antisemitic attacks against children right in his district.”

“Although he promised to ‘tone down’ his rhetoric, he has since proceeded with business as usual, for example, by signing the ridiculous anti-AIPAC pledge,” Klima continued. “We will not accept his attempts to excuse vile anti-Israel propaganda that fuels prejudice, harassment and assaults against us.”

J Street, the progressive Israel advocacy group, is for now withholding an endorsement of Graham Platner, the scandal-plagued Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, underscoring the extent to which even some left-wing Jewish activists appear skeptical of his insurgent campaign.

A spokesperson for J Street told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that the group did not “have anything to share at this time” about a Platner endorsement but would provide more information “if that changes.”

The spokesperson declined to confirm if J Street, which this cycle has backed a handful of Democratic Senate candidates vying for open seats or challenging Republican incumbents, had considered whether it will make an endorsement. The group had told JI in early May that it did “not currently have a position in the race.”

In a statement to JI on Thursday, the spokesperson said that it “is incorrect to frame J Street as actively withholding an endorsement from Graham Platner.” 

The group “evaluates candidates and makes endorsement decisions on a rolling basis,” and its “endorsement process is ongoing,” the spokesperson said. “The timing of endorsement decisions does not reflect judgment about any individual candidate.”

J Street’s response came after Platner had clinched the nomination on Tuesday to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), in a high-profile race Democrats see as crucial to reclaiming control of the upper chamber.

Platner won the Democratic primary decisively even as he has faced a mounting series of controversies over alleged “toxic” relationships with past girlfriends, sexual messages he sent to women while married and deleted Reddit comments expressing a range of incendiary views.

He also weathered a scandal relating to a Nazi tattoo on his chest for nearly two decades that he covered up last October. Platner has insisted that he did not recognize its imagery, despite claims to the contrary from a former girlfriend who first spoke with JI last year, shortly after he had announced his campaign.

The tattoo, along with Platner’s hostile criticism of Israel and insistent demonization of AIPAC, have stoked ongoing concerns among Jewish Democrats. Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, has said the group is not ready to endorse Platner.

“We won’t support a Democrat who doesn’t represent the views and values of the vast majority of American Jews,” Soifer said in a statement in late April echoing a sense of discomfort with Platner’s candidacy felt by mainstream Jewish leaders.

JDCA had endorsed Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign amid lackluster fundraising but remained on the ballot Tuesday, pulling in 19% of the vote. Platner won 72%.

Following Tuesday’s win, some prominent Senate Democrats have also declined to endorse Platner as he prepares for a bruising and expensive campaign.

J Street, which has moved to the left in recent years as it has sought to capitalize on growing Democratic frustration with Israel, is in many ways aligned with Platner on Middle East policy, including accusations that Israel committed genocide in its war in Gaza and calls to block U.S. military aid to the Jewish state that are now gaining momentum in Congress.

Still, the group has shown its intolerance for some extreme views that could be seen as antisemitic. In 2024, for instance, J Street revoked its endorsement of former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who was at the time fighting for reelection in a bitterly contested primary he would later lose, saying his inflammatory rhetoric on Israel had crossed a line. 

Even as the group officially stays on the sidelines in Maine’s marquee Senate race, J Street’s state leader, Steven Koltai, who helped organize a Passover Seder with Platner, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency he is “still very much” supporting the oyster farmer and former Marine in spite of recent revelations about his past.

In the statement to JI on Thursday, J Street’s spokesperson said the group “remains steadfast in our commitment to ensuring a pro-Israel, pro-peace majority in the Senate and House come January.”

Michael Blake, the anti-Israel candidate challenging Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) in a Democratic primary in the Bronx, accepted an endorsement on Wednesday from a small progressive group that, in its announcement, attacked Torres for his relationship with “Jewish donors.”

The group, Progressive Voters Network, also maintains an active endorsement of Maureen Galindo, the antisemitic Texas Democratic primary candidate who faced condemnation from across the party and was repudiated even by other far-left groups.

Blake’s campaign shared the Progressive Voters Network endorsement announcement attacking Torres on Blake’s Instagram account.

“This AIPAC puppet has raked in millions from the zionist lobby while our people struggle with rent, groceries, and crumbling NYCHA buildings,” the announcement reads. “Torres prioritizes his Jewish donors over his own Black and Brown constituents, cheerleading genocide and shielding war criminals instead of fighting for affordability and justice.”

The group said Torres “must be crushed” and the Democratic Party must be “purge[d] … of these corporate zionists who value zionist interests and fat checks over our community’s survival.”

In its endorsement of Galindo, posted in February, long before Galindo gained nationwide attention, the group obliquely acknowledged her long-standing controversial rhetoric, saying “her calls for systemic overhaul may scare the faint-hearted, but they rally the bold to action.” 

After Galindo, who lost the Tuesday primary, made further extreme comments, including calling for the imprisonment and castration of American Zionists, other groups like TrackAIPAC pulled their endorsements.

The Progressive Voter Network has endorsed a slew of challengers to incumbent Democrats and Republicans, as well as a handful of sitting progressive Democratic lawmakers.

Blake’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Marty O’Donnell, a Republican candidate in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District recently endorsed by President Donald Trump, hosted a Nazi supporter on his podcast last year, months after filing to run for Congress.

O’Donnell is an outsider candidate who also ran in the district in 2024, placing fourth in the GOP primary. He was best known before his political career as the music composer for the “Halo” video game series. 

But with Trump’s endorsement — as well as backing from the National Republican Congressional Committee’s MAGA Majority program — the unlikely political candidate has become the favorite for the nomination, despite facing a former U.S. ambassador to Iceland, among others.

In August 2025, O’Donnell hosted Charles Cornish-Dale, a popular far-right influencer better known by his online pseudonym “Raw Egg Nationalist,” on his podcast for a friendly discussion. Repeatedly, over the course of multiple years, Cornish-Dale has shared antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on his Raw Egg Nationalist X account.

Those posts include a quote from Mein Kampf alongside a meme featuring a man in a Nazi uniform in front of a swastika flag; a reference to the “zog” — a conspiracy theory claiming Zionist control of the U.S. government and society; the shorthand “HH” — which stands for Heil Hitler; an advertisement for “Blood, Soil and Grass-fed Beef” t-shirts — referencing a Nazi and white nationalist slogan; and various other Nazi-sympathetic posts.

In his introduction to the interview, O’Donnell acknowledged that Cornish-Dale has been “accused of many weird — fascist, nationalist, white nationalist, misogynist, you name it — he’s been accused of everything. And of course I’m being accused of those things too, so I had to talk to him to find out what’s true and what’s not true.” He called the interview “one of those sort of marriages made in heaven.”

“Charles Cornish Dale was booked by Marty’s production team. Marty was unfamiliar with Dale before the interview and was unaware of these posts shared by Jewish Insider until we received the inquiry,” Keith Schipper, a spokesperson for O’Donnell, said in a statement. “Marty’s support of Israel is unequivocal and, as seen in various interviews and online posts, he will not tolerate the rise of anti-semitism in our country. Marty will continue to fight bigotry, misinformation, and hate toward Israel because it is the right and moral thing to do.”

Later in the interview, O’Donnell again dismissed criticisms of Cornish-Dale, including accusations of white nationalism and misogyny, as not credible. Cornish-Dale responded, “Once upon a time you were a Nazi if you held specific political beliefs and worshiped Adolf Hitler and all that, and now you’re just a Nazi if you’re right wing” — glossing over his own past commentary.

O’Donnell’s personal Discord server — The Marty Army — which he has used and promoted for campaign purposes, also contains a number of users who have shared antisemitic, pro-Nazi and anti-Israel sentiments, even as O’Donnell himself has personally debated with and threatened to ban some of those users from the server — and appears to have banned at least one such user.

Some of those comments, including a series of comments deriding the Anti-Defamation League, have been shared in a channel dedicated to O’Donnell’s congressional campaign.

O’Donnell’s friendly interview with Cornish-Dale comes in spite of his own personal history of speaking out against antisemitism and in support of Israel on social media, in the Discord server and in other public forums.

In a recent podcast interview, O’Donnell leaned into the religious and historical connection between Jews and Christians, and emphasized the West’s “Judeo-Christian” heritage.

“These Christian weirdos who are heretics, who say, ‘Oh, well, the Jews killed Jesus.’ Like, no, Jesus said, ‘No one takes my life from me. Amen. I lay down willingly. I’m doing my Father’s will.’ This is the plan for saving humanity, and it’s a Judeo-Christian plan. That’s God’s plan. That’s the people He chose,” O’Donnell said.

He said he believes that politics now is a form of “spiritual warfare,” including against antisemitic figures on the far right.

“How else do you explain Candace Owens? How else do you explain Tucker Carlson? Some evil spirit has clouded their minds, whether they’re just grifting for money or something evil is happening, but it’s spiritual warfare,” he said.

“Antisemitism, or Jew Hatred, is NOT ‘woke right’. Groypers, [Nick] Fuentes, and his followers are as far from the right as any of the godless Marxist progressives are,” he said at another point on X last year.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), a pro-Israel Democrat facing a formidable primary challenge from former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander next month, won a key endorsement on Thursday from the United Federation of Teachers, a union representing around 200,000 members.   

“Dan Goldman has the integrity we need in Washington,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said in a statement. “He fought to curb Trump’s abuses and supported raising taxes on the wealthy — like himself — to level the playing field so all Americans can live with dignity. We are proud to support Dan Goldman for New York’s 10th Congressional District.”

Goldman, a two-term congressman who represents a heavily Jewish district covering parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, has been racking up labor support as he seeks reelection in the June 23 primary against Lander, an outspoken progressive endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

On Monday, Goldman joined New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at a labor rally in Lower Manhattan, where she touted his role as lead prosecutor in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment and called him a “go-to man” in Washington.

Despite such high-profile support, Goldman is still eyeing a tough primary in his progressive-leaning district. A recent poll commissioned by a super PAC backing his campaign, for instance, showed Goldman with 42% of the vote, trailing Lander by five points.

Despite being banned from campus, UCLA’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter is actively lobbying candidates to influence upcoming student government elections, Jewish Insider has learned. 

SJP contacted candidates and asked them to complete an attached questionnaire in order to secure the group’s endorsement, according to an email reviewed by JI. SJP is permitted to endorse in the race as an “external organization” since it is no longer officially recognized on campus, according to the election board’s guidelines. 

“This is more proof that the anti-Jewish movement — even when banned from our campus — continues to break the rules to intimidate their fellow UCLA students,” UCLA Hillel’s executive director, Daniel Gold, told JI. “Student government should honor premier student leaders — and should be free of any influence by those banned for bad behavior.”

A UCLA student affairs spokesperson told JI, “Students for Justice in Palestine is not recognized as an official organization at UCLA nor receives any university resources. We want to make clear that candidates for student government may choose to ignore questions as they see fit.” 

UCLA banned SJP as a campus organization indefinitely in March 2025 after the group led a demonstration outside the home of UC Regent Jay Sures, who is Jewish. SJP members left red handprints on Sures’ garage door, accusing him of having “blood on his hands” amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Last month, UCLA’s student government condemned a campus event featuring former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, labeling the speaker selection as “selective platforming of narratives that obscure the broader reality of ongoing state violence” and “a troubling disregard for Palestinian life.”   

Sures, who is also vice chairman of United Talent Agency, told JI at the time that UCLA’s student government was “shortsighted, antisemitic or both,” and called its members “lunatics” for condemning Shem Tov’s speech. 

Rep. Al Green (D-TX), a vocal critic of Israel competing in a closely contested runoff against a fellow House Democrat later this month, announced in social media posts on Monday that he had received a coveted endorsement from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the powerful former House speaker.

Jewish community leaders in the Houston area were surprised to see Pelosi’s endorsement, especially as it appeared to break with her precedent of declining to engage in member-on-member races.

It also fueled ongoing frustrations with Green’s alleged lack of outreach to Houston’s sizable Jewish community — a potentially critical constituency in what is expected to be a close election.

The endorsement wasn’t straightforward — by Tuesday afternoon, Green’s original post had been removed, raising questions about his claim. Neither Pelosi nor her team had confirmed the purported endorsement before it was suddenly deleted without explanation.

On Wednesday, however, the endorsement had been reposted across Green’s social media accounts, albeit with slightly altered imagery.

“Speaker Pelosi is a leader I have stood beside through the most consequential fights of our time,” Green said on Wednesday. “Her endorsement of our campaign is a profound honor. We carry this moment forward, together, for the people of New CD 18 and the country we love.”

The message was accompanied by a graphic that featured an image of Pelosi differing from the photo used in the initial post. “The honorable Nancy Pelosi endorses,” it said. “Proven fighter. Real results. Vote Al Green in the runoff election.”

Ian Krager, a spokesperson for Pelosi, confirmed to Jewish Insider on Wednesday that Green’s new post was official, saying that her endorsement was “based in loyalty” to a longstanding colleague. Pelosi, who is set to retire at the end of her term, has traditionally avoided taking sides in House races between sitting members of her own party.

Krager declined to comment on why the original posts had been deleted. Green’s campaign also would not comment on the initial posts, only directing JI to his social media platforms “where you can find the endorsement from Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.” 

The confusion underscored some of the intraparty sensitivities surrounding the May 26 runoff election between two incumbents — Green, 78, and freshman Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX), 38 — now vying for a Houston-area House seat in a bitter fight caused by the state’s recent Republican redistricting.

While some House colleagues are supporting Green, according to his campaign site, Pelosi’s backing is a major pickup for the outspoken, 11-term lawmaker seeking reelection in Texas’ newly consolidated 18th Congressional District, redrawn to favor Democrats.

It also marks something of a change in their relationship — Green had publicly clashed with Pelosi during her time as speaker over his efforts in 2019 to impeach President Donald Trump, which she had opposed.

In the March primary election, neither candidate claimed more than 50% of the vote required to win the nomination outright and avoid a runoff. Green secured 44%, two points short of Menefee, a former Harris County attorney who took office in February after winning a special election runoff to fill the seat held by Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-TX) until his death last year.

Art Pronin, a Jewish Democratic leader who lives in the district, echoed others who have said that Green has all but disengaged from the Jewish community in recent years — contributing to a strained relationship with the veteran congressman.

Since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, Green has also taken a noticeably hostile turn against Israel in his votes and public statements, local Jewish leaders say. Weeks after the attacks, for instance, Green was among just 10 House lawmakers who opposed a bill voicing support for Israel while condemning Hamas. He has otherwise supported House legislation calling the war in Gaza a genocide and consistently voted to cut military aid to Israel, among other moves seen as antagonistic. 

“Regardless of the rhetoric, showing up” to Jewish community functions “is really important,” especially in a tight race, Pronin told JI on Tuesday. “We don’t see him breaking bread.” Green’s long absence “could cost him the race,” Pronin suggested. “It’s going to be close, and I think that we’re in a situation where a lot of the community is feeling alienated from Green,” he said.

With a few weeks until the runoff, Pronin said he is leaning toward voting for Menefee because the new congressman has been a more active presence in the Jewish community, showing up at several events like a Passover Seder sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston last month. Meanwhile, Menefee has expressed a more “balanced view” with regard to Israel and Gaza, Pronin told JI, even as he has made only a limited number of public statements clarifying his own views on Middle East policy while in office.

During a tense debate on Monday, Menefee said he believed that Israel had committed “atrocities” and “war crimes” in Gaza, while acknowledging that Oct. 7 was “absolutely horrific.” He understood, he told the audience, “why a nation would want to wage war against a terrorist organization.”

Green, for his part, reiterated his charge that Israel had committed a genocide and accused Menefee of avoiding the term because, he alleged, his opponent is beholden to the pro-Israel advocacy group AIPAC. “He didn’t say genocide,” Green noted. “AIPAC won’t allow that.”

AIPAC, however, has not issued an endorsement in the race.

The Republican Jewish Coalition announced Tuesday that it is endorsing four Republican Senate candidates for open seats: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme in Montana and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley in North Carolina.

The group also announced endorsements of sitting Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Jon Husted (R-OH), all of whom are up for reelection in November.

“All eight of these incumbent Senators and candidates exemplify what it means to be a true conservative fighter for the American people,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks and National Chairman Norm Coleman said in a statement. “Each has stood firmly against the rising tide of antisemitism, in support of the US-Israel alliance, and for our shared values. The Republican Jewish Coalition knows that these leaders will deliver on the issues of primary concern to the American Jewish community, and we are proud to endorse them.”

The two said that the “frontlines” of the fight to keep the Senate in Republican hands “are in these eight key states” — highlighting the expanding battleground in this November’s Senate contests.

The RJC, in a statement, particularly highlighted Whatley’s work to support Israel and the Jewish community following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, describing him as “outspoken in his support for our greatest ally [who] forcefully condemned Hamas terrorism, and reaffirmed the Republican Party’s unwavering backing of Israel’s right to defend itself.”

RJC was a key backer of Rogers in the 2024 Senate race, and is expected to be strongly involved again in the Michigan race. 

As Washington, D.C., voters get ready to elect their first new mayor in more than a decade, the two leading candidates — former colleagues on the Council of the District of Columbia — are proposing drastically different visions for the city’s future: political moderation or democratic socialism.

In an interview with Jewish Insider this week at his campaign headquarters in Northeast Washington, former Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie drew a direct contrast between his campaign and that of his Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed rival, Janeese Lewis George. 

“I didn’t seek, nor would I accept, the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America, or any organization, for that matter, that requires some sort of divisive pledge to exclude people that are a part of the fabric of the community of the District of Columbia,” McDuffie said.

He was referring to a DSA endorsement questionnaire that asked candidates not to engage with “the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups.” Lewis George, a longtime DSA member, vowed not to attend events that promote Zionism when she filled out the questionnaire, which earned her the DSA endorsement. 

Lewis George’s responses sparked concern among many in the Jewish community, and she apologized in a closed-door meeting with rabbis in March. But she has not offered any public remorse. 

“I think it’s important for elected officials to have the courage to say in public things that they say in private,” McDuffie said. “Any message that depends on taking a pledge to exclude entire communities as a condition of a political endorsement is extraordinarily divisive and disturbing.” 

Amid the controversy surrounding her DSA questionnaire and the meeting with rabbis, Lewis George released a statement last month pledging to stand firm in both her opposition to antisemitism and her support for “Palestinian human rights.” McDuffie told JI that he did not see the mayoral race as a place to litigate debates about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I think a mayor’s responsibility is to look out for all of its residents, particularly our most vulnerable residents,” said McDuffie. “At a time where the Jewish community is seeing rising antisemitism worldwide, and even the District of Columbia, it’s important that they understand that their elected officials are going to use every tool possible to protect them.” 

“I didn’t bring those issues into this race. My opponent did it when she sought the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America,” McDuffie said. “I’m not running for Congress. I’m not engaging in the crafting of foreign policy. I’m running for mayor of Washington, D.C., the most beautifully diverse city in America, and I’m running to fight and deliver for all D.C.”

McDuffie is actively courting votes in the Jewish community. He will appear next week at a meet-and-greet with Jewish young professionals in the District. 

“I think a mayor’s responsibility is to look out for all of its residents, particularly our most vulnerable residents,” said McDuffie. “At a time where the Jewish community is seeing rising antisemitism worldwide, and even the District of Columbia, it’s important that they understand that their elected officials are going to use every tool possible to protect them.” 

McDuffie pledged to speak out against antisemitic violence and rhetoric so that the District’s Jewish residents “understand that they have a mayor and elected leadership who’s going to strongly oppose those kinds of activities and threats and do everything humanly possible to protect them.” He called the city’s nonprofit security grant program, which provides funding to several local synagogues to pay for security expenses, a “nonnegotiable,” even if the city faces other budget challenges. 

Born and raised in Northeast Washington, McDuffie entered politics circuitously. He worked as a mail carrier for the USPS before ultimately going to college and law school, in a career pivot he said was inspired by witnessing the death of two friends to the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. He spent a few years as a prosecutor, in Maryland and at the Justice Department, before running for Council in 2013. McDuffie represented Ward 5, which includes the neighborhoods Bloomingdale, Eckington, Brookland and Fort Totten, until being elected to a citywide at-large position in 2022 where he served until January.

His message now is about affordability, a buzzword brought into style last year by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member like Lewis George. The way to make the city more affordable, according to McDuffie, is “economic growth with guardrails” — a contrast to the sweeping changes promised by Lewis George, the viability of which McDuffie has questioned.

“They want experience. They want vision. They want bold. They want change. What they don’t want is more empty promises,” said McDuffie. “What they don’t want is rhetoric that isn’t supported by an actual plan. What they don’t want is somebody who engages with organizations seeking to divide residents, and what we think we have as an advantage is both a vision that is about building a big tent and inviting people in and a record.” 

“We’re the nation’s capital. We can walk and chew gum,” McDuffie said. “I think that’s important for people to understand, that we can have innovative, transformational policies at the same time that we’re delivering core services on time and within a budget that doesn’t default to raising taxes on hard-working residents.” 

McDuffie seemed to recognize that pushing a vision of pragmatism may not be as seductive as promises powered by major spending increases. For instance, both Lewis George and McDuffie want to build new housing in the city, but Lewis George has promised to build 72,000 new units compared to 12,000 suggested by McDuffie, The Washington Post reported. But McDuffie argued that voters want honesty.

“They want experience. They want vision. They want bold. They want change. What they don’t want is more empty promises,” said McDuffie. “What they don’t want is rhetoric that isn’t supported by an actual plan. What they don’t want is somebody who engages with organizations seeking to divide residents, and what we think we have as an advantage is both a vision that is about building a big tent and inviting people in and a record.” 

Though McDuffie and Lewis George are widely viewed as the frontrunners in the race, they are not the only candidates running in the Democratic primary which, in deep blue Washington, will almost certainly decide the eventual victor. Other candidates in the June 16 primary include real estate developer Gary Goodweather and former Councilmember Vincent Orange.

The Michigan arm of the powerful SEIU labor union announced on Tuesday that it had rescinded its endorsement of Amir Makled, an attorney running for the University of Michigan board of regents, in light of Makled’s deleted social media posts praising the terrorist group Hezbollah. 

“This decision follows new information that was not available at the time our endorsement was made,” the statement read. “As an organization, we hold our endorsed candidates to a high standard and expect alignment with our values and the interests of our members.”

Makled is a Dearborn trial lawyer who represented an anti-Israel protester who was arrested during the 2024 anti-Israel encampments at UM’s flagship Ann Arbor campus. A Detroit News report found that Makled had deleted posts praising Hezbollah’s leaders and retweets of antisemitic messages from the far-right influencer Candace Owens. Makled did not comment on the matter in the Detroit News report, and he did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Jewish Insider on Tuesday.

Makled is running an insurgent campaign to be one of two Democratic nominees for UM regent. Two seats are up for election in 2026, and both of them are held by Democrats — Jordan Acker and Paul Brown — who were first elected in 2018. Makled is singling out Acker, who is Jewish and has faced antisemitic attacks from anti-Israel activists at the university. The regents play a key governing role for the university, including on matters including student protests and divestment. 

The two Democratic nominees for the statewide position will be decided at a Michigan Democratic Party convention in Detroit on April 19.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his endorsement of Brandon Herrera, the far-right social media influencer who is the presumptive Republican nominee in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District.

Herrera has faced condemnation for videos he posted that featured imagery, music and jokes related to the Nazis and the Holocaust. He also spoke on a podcast last year about owning a copy of Mein Kampf, though he said he does not share the views expressed in Adolf Hitler’s manifesto.

Trump previously backed Herrera’s opponent, incumbent Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who dropped out of the race last week amid an escalating scandal.

“Brandon is strongly supported by many Highly Respected MAGA Warriors in Texas, and Republicans in the U.S. House,” Trump said on Truth Social on Wednesday. Herrera has been backed by the House Freedom Caucus’ affiliated PAC.

“As your next Congressman, he will work tirelessly to advance our MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN Agenda,” Trump continued. “Brandon Herrera has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Representative from Texas’ 23rd Congressional District — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Trump’s endorsement of Herrera marks a sharp turnabout for the president. Just a month ago, a lawyer for the president sent Herrera a cease-and-desist demanding he stop using Trump’s image in campaign advertisements, calling the ads misleading in light of Trump’s then-endorsement of Gonzales.

Herrera, who has generally taken an anti-interventionist stance on foreign policy issues, including opposing supplemental aid to Israel in 2024, said at the start of the U.S. strikes on Iran that he hopes that “If there must be military action, let it be QUICK, effective, and please God keep our service members safe.”

He said on X in June 2025, the day before the start of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which the U.S. eventually joined, “I don’t want to go to war with Iran. I don’t want to be involved in the Middle East. But if you decide to f*** with us (like they did last time), I wish you a very happy sunk Navy.” 

Herrera has faced condemnation and opposition in the past from groups including the Republican Jewish Coalition. Asked last week about Herrera’s comments that resurfaced last week about Mein Kampf, the RJC affirmed its continued opposition to Herrera.

“The RJC has a long-standing policy of speaking out against those who traffic in Nazi ideology, and this is another case,” spokesperson Sam Markstein told Jewish Insider. “The RJC opposed Mr. Herrera in 2024, and he will not get our support now.” 

Dan Osborn, a Democratic-aligned independent candidate running for Senate in Nebraska, received and touted an endorsement from an anti-Israel group.

The group, A New Policy PAC, is a campaign and lobbying group that aims to alter U.S. policy toward Israel, in part by electing candidates critical of the U.S.-Israel relationship. The group’s endorsements — just nine so far — include high-profile far-left critics of Israel, including congressional candidates Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Graham Platner in Maine, Kat Abughazaleh in Illinois, Robert Peters in Illinois, Frederick Haynes III in Texas and Adam Hamawy in New Jersey.

The PAC was founded by Josh Paul, a former State Department official who left government in protest of U.S. support for Israel after Oct. 7, 2023, and since joined the anti-Israel group DAWN and become a vocal critic of Israel.

A New Policy’s advocacy arm has accused Israel of genocide, urges cutting off and conditioning U.S. aid to Israel; supported efforts to block certain arms transfers to Israel; urges direct American support for the Palestinian Authority, which is currently illegal under U.S. law; calls for eliminating barries to support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; and opposes a host of pro-Israel legislation.

The group also opposes the Antisemitism Awareness Act and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

Paul also argued that the U.S.-Israel relationship is not in U.S. interests, and said “AIPAC puts Israel first, and makes our own elected officials do the same.”

Osborn said in a statement last month he was “happy to receive the endorsement of A New Policy PAC.”

“We deserve a foreign policy that honors the decency and moral center of the American people,” Osborn, who has not previously spoken extensively about Israel policy, said. “Right now our priorities are out of whack. Americans go bankrupt from unplanned hospital visits while their tax dollars pay for bombs that knock over hospitals in other countries.”

“‘Made in the USA’ should be a point of pride, not a point of shame when it’s written on bombs that kill kids,” he continued. “Every child born in this world deserves a shot at a future. That belief should be at the heart of our foreign policy. That’s why I’m proud to stand with A New Policy PAC in that calling.”

Asked by Jewish Insider about the endorsement and the group’s positions, Osborn told JI, “I will always stand against anti-Semitism, and completely agree we cannot allow a nuclear Iran.” 

“Right now, I do have concerns about the United States participating in an unpopular conflict with Iran that may draw us into another open-ended, costly war in the Middle East during a moment where large swaths of our citizens, including veterans, can’t afford groceries or medicine,” Osborn continued.

A New Policy’s co-founder, Tariq Habash, said in a statement that Osborn “deeply understands both the economic and moral weight of our foreign policy; he knows that ‘Made in the USA’ should be a source of pride, not a label on weapons used against Palestinian families. In Washington, Dan will be a fearless advocate for Americans and our values.”

Osborn, who is making his second run for the seat, with tacit support from Democrats, has said little about his views on the U.S.-Israel relationship.

This week, he criticized the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, saying “I think there’s something else going on.” In a 2024 debate, he expressed support for Israel, according to a local news channel.

“Hamas is a terrorist group and Dan thinks Israel’s response [to the Oct. 7 attacks] was justified. At this point, Dan is concerned about mounting casualties and thinks America should do whatever it can to assist in bringing about a resolution and resume the long, hard road to stability,” an Osborn spokesperson told The American Prospect in April 2024.

Running in 2024 against Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Osborn lost by seven points in a state President Donald Trump carried by more than 20 points. He now faces Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE). An early February poll by Osborn’s campaign shows them essentially tied.

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.

Brian Varela, a businessman running in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, picked up an endorsement on Monday from Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka, a sign of Varela’s increasing outreach to progressive voters.

Baraka’s progressive candidacy in last year’s New Jersey gubernatorial race raised concerns in the Jewish community, in part because Baraka, in the early 2000s, appeared alongside Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a long record of antisemitism, and applauded violent rhetoric by the controversial preacher. Baraka also faced scrutiny over his record on Israel and antisemitism.

“Brian is proud to have Mayor Baraka’s endorsement and grateful for his support,” Emmett Shell, a spokesperson for Varela’s campaign, said. “Mayor Baraka has joined north of 50 people across the ideological spectrum that point to Brian’s ability to build a wide-tent coalition.”

“That said, Brian wants to be unequivocal on the underlying issue: He entirely condemns Louis Farrakhan and the violent rhetoric Farrakhan has promoted,” Shell continued. “There is no place for that kind of rhetoric in this country, full stop. Brian has consistently denounced antisemitism in all its forms throughout his campaign and throughout his life, and that position will never waver. Antisemitism is a poison, and Brian will always stand firmly against it, regardless of who is in the room.”

The Baraka endorsement is an additional sign that Varela, who told Jewish Insider last summer, “I consider myself more of a moderate,” has pivoted in a more progressive direction as he faces off against candidates including military veteran Rebecca Bennett, who is running a campaign focused on more moderate messages.

The New Jersey Globe on Monday highlighted the Baraka endorsement as part of “Varela’s quest to claim the progressive mantle in the Democratic primary,” pointing to a series of progressive stances that Varela is taking and his other progressive endorsements.

He’s also staking out a progressive stance on immigration issues, describing himself as the “most vocal ICE critic” in the Garden State and one of the first candidates in the country to call for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment.

Asked whether he now considers himself a moderate or progressive, the Varela spokesperson said, “Brian would push back a little on the framing, because at the end of the day, voters in NJ-07 aren’t asking whether their representative is a moderate or a progressive.”

“They’re asking who is going to deliver on the issues that matter to their families. Brian looks at each policy on its own merits, whether that policy is going to strengthen the economy and raise the standard of living for people in this district,” he continued. “Sometimes that puts him in a more progressive lane, sometimes a more moderate one. The label doesn’t drive the policy. It’s the ability to change people’s lives for the better that moves Brian towards solutions.”

Varela has gone through a unique political evolution over the years, starting as a press intern for Republican Gov. Chris Christie in 2010, later running as an anti-machine candidate against now-Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and later leading the New Jersey chapter of the Forward Party, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s centrist third party.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is also seeking to paint Varela as far left, describing him in recent press releases as “dangerously radical” and the “pick of the radical left.”

Baraka also endorsed progressive Analilia Mejia in the special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, and is set to endorse Michael Blake, one of the progressive challengers to Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). Mejia has the backing of various prominent progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

“Analilia has dedicated her career to fighting for the rights of all people and will continue to do so,” Mejia campaign spokesperson Elon Glickman said. “As an Afro-Latina, whose own family has faced bigotry and hate, she understands that Antisemitism, racism and anti-Blackness are cut from the same cloth and we must stand together in fighting it.”

Blake’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Democratic Majority for Israel on Thursday announced its endorsements of Reps. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Angie Craig (D-MN) and Chris Pappas (D-NH) and former Gov. Roy Cooper as they seek the Senate seats in their respective states.

Stevens faces a particularly competitive primary against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed, both of whom have sided with the far left on Israel issues and publicly rejected pro-Israel backing. El-Sayed has attacked Stevens over her pro-Israel stance. 

DMFI’s endorsement marks the first formal involvement by a pro-Israel group in the race. AIPAC’s PAC and super PAC, which have previously provided significant support for Stevens, have not yet issued an endorsement.

Craig, another moderate pro-Israel Democrat, also faces a left-wing opponent critical of Israel in Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanangan. Cooper and Pappas, both moderates who have been supportive of Israel, are seen as the clear frontrunners in their primaries.

“Chris Pappas, Haley Stevens, Angie Craig, and Roy Cooper are battle-tested leaders who know how to win tough races, hold the Trump administration accountable, and deliver real results for working families. They’ve stood firm against extremism, antisemitism, and efforts to undermine America’s alliances,” DMFI PAC Chair Brian Romick said in a statement. 

“Each is a champion of the U.S.-Israel relationship and a clear-eyed advocate for Israel’s security and the region’s long-term stability.”

“DMFI PAC is proud to support these exceptional candidates, and we’re firmly committed to helping them win their races,” he added.

Stevens, in a statement thanked DMFI for its support.

“I’m honored to have DMFI PAC’s endorsement in this race. As a proud pro-Israel Democrat, I believe America is stronger when we stand with our democratic allies, confront antisemitism and extremism, and keep our promises to our friends abroad and our working families here at home,” Stevens said in a statement. “In the Senate, I’ll keep fighting to protect our democracy, support Israel’s security, ensure the ceasefire holds in Gaza, and deliver for Michiganders in every corner of our state.”

President Donald Trump on Friday night publicly disavowed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), once one of the president’s closest and most committed allies on Capitol Hill, saying he was withdrawing his endorsement of Greene and is prepared to support a primary challenger to the far-right Georgia congresswoman.

Greene, long dogged by controversy for her record of promoting antisemitic and otherwise fringe conspiracy theories, has emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of Israel on the right, accusing the country of genocide and leading efforts attempting to cut off U.S. aid to the Jewish state.

She has also repeatedly publicly criticized Trump’s policies and Republican leadership on Capitol Hill since the start of the government shutdown, earning Trump’s ire. Her breaks with the GOP have made her into a budding star in liberal media circles, where her ongoing promotion of conspiracy theories has increasingly been overlooked.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he has heard that “wonderful, Conservative people are thinking about primarying Marjorie” and that “if the right person runs, they will have my Complete and Unyielding Support,” accusing her of having “gone Far Left.”

Greene’s district is among the most heavily Republican in the country, and losing Trump’s support could prove a significant blow to the congresswoman.

“All I see ‘Wacky’ Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” Trump wrote, adding that Greene’s criticism began after he showed her statewide polling that placed her at just 12% support and discouraged her from running for Senate or governor, both positions Greene had been eyeing.

According to NOTUS, Greene is discussing a presidential run in 2028, though she denied that to the publication.

“[Greene] has told many people that she is upset that I don’t return her phone calls anymore, but with 219 Congressmen/women, 53 U.S. Senators, 24 Cabinet Members, almost 200 Counties, and an otherwise normal life to lead, I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day,” Trump continued in his post.

He later called Greene a “Traitor” and a “disgrace to our GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY!”

Greene responded on X, saying Trump had lied to her and claiming that two recent text messages about files related to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had “sent him over the edge,” saying it is “astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out.”

Greene is one of a small number of Republicans cosponsoring a measure to force a vote, over Republicans’ objections on files related to Epstein. Trump, an associate of Epstein, has sought to prevent the full release of those files, calling the push for further disclosure “the Epstein hoax.”

“Most Americans wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America who are fed up with foreign wars and foreign causes, are going broke trying to feed their families, and are losing hope of ever achieving the American dream,” Greene said. “I have supported President Trump with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him. But I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump.”

In a subsequent post, Greene shared a graphic showing she has not received support from pro-Israel groups alongside another graphic comparing her “Liberty Score” to that of Trump-backed pro-Israel Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). In the post, she wrote: “This and the Epstein files is why I’m being attacked by President Trump. It really makes you wonder what is in those files and who and what country is putting so much pressure on him?”

She also claimed that Trump’s posts are driving a wave of security threats against her.

Trump has also worked to defeat Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), another of the most vocal anti-Israel Republicans The president has endorsed retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, who is challenging Massie in the GOP primary. 

On Friday, Trump called Massie a “LOSER!” in a separate Truth Social post, claiming that “the Polls have him at less than an 8% chance of winning the Election” and mocked his recent remarriage.

Before making public denunciations and rejections of AIPAC an early pillar of his Senate campaign against Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) spent months seeking a promise that the group would endorse him upon the announcement of his Senate campaign, a source familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider.

The source said that Moulton — who has been endorsed by AIPAC in previous races — began courting AIPAC leaders in Massachusetts in the spring this year and then made multiple explicit requests for an endorsement throughout the summer.

AIPAC leaders were ultimately unwilling to provide such a guarantee before the race began, the individual said.

On the second day of his nascent primary campaign, Moulton released an announcement rejecting AIPAC and saying that he would return any donations he had received from its members.

He has continued to hammer the group since then, saying in a recent interview that his break with AIPAC was “a long time coming.”

“AIPAC has made clear to all in Congress that it intends to use its significant resources to influence U.S. elections, and Seth believes that’s all the more reason to engage and push for change from within,” the Moulton campaign said in a statement. “He’s never been afraid to disagree with AIPAC, both privately and in public, but he’s been increasingly and particularly focused on getting them to distance themselves from the Netanyahu government. When it became clear that they would not do so, Seth made the decision to return their contributions.”

The campaign did not deny JI’s reporting that Moulton had made repeated requests for a guarantee of an AIPAC endorsement before announcing his Senate run.

Asked for comment on the situation, AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann referred JI to the group’s original statement on Moulton’s break with AIPAC. That statement highlighted his past relationship with and requests for an endorsement from the group — though it did not explicitly mention outreach in connection with the Senate campaign.

“Rep. Moulton is abandoning his friends to grab a headline, capitulating to the extremes rather than standing on conviction,” Wittmann’s original statement reads. “His statement comes after years of him repeatedly asking for our endorsement and is a clear message to AIPAC members in Massachusetts, and millions of pro-Israel Democrats nationwide, that he rejects their support and will not stand with them.”

The revelation of Moulton’s recent and unsuccessful efforts to secure a guarantee of AIPAC’s support may cast his rejection of the group in a new light.

Many strategists involved in Massachusetts politics said Moulton’s move is an odd strategic choice for a lawmaker known more as a moderate — especially when running against Markey, who holds a strong progressive record and has a deep well of support among progressive voters.

Moulton’s strategy is “all a little head scratching,” a state Democratic official told JI. In some ways, the official said, Moulton’s campaign mirrors his successful line of attack — focused on a generational and anti-establishment argument — against then-Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) in 2014, whom he unseated.

But, the official continued, “on the face of it, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense as a political strategy” for Moulton to try to out-flank Markey from the left. “Maybe he sees something other people [don’t], but it’s an odd thing to make as your signature opening move.”

Moulton, the official continued, would probably be more successful once again focusing on a generational argument and “frankly staying far away from issues like Israel,” which is not likely to be a particularly salient issue in the race.

Anthony Cignoli, a longtime Massachusetts political consultant, said that “it’s clear Moulton is looking for the base of voters that he would need in a primary” — a voting population that’s generally to the left of Moulton’s own track record.

“But here you’ve got the long-standing champ of a lot of these issues, Ed Markey, and Moulton is really trying to find a way to muscle in here,” Cignoli said. “These are not issues he has a track record on.”

In the primary, Cignoli said Moulton needs to “reinvent and reintroduce himself” as a more progressive figure. “It’s hard to change in mid-course from his congressional track record … [and] that’s going to take an awful lot of money.”

He said that he thinks many voters, particularly in the Jewish community, will find Moulton’s sudden U-turn on AIPAC to be disingenuous. And he said that Markey is well-known and highly popular among key Democratic primary constituencies, particularly among the progressives who make up the base of the primary electorate. 

One leader in the Boston Jewish community told JI that Moulton’s rejection of AIPAC has been largely overlooked outside of a highly engaged constituency of Jewish voters.

But, the leader agreed, Moulton’s strategy does not seem to make much sense. In a head-to-head race, they said, Markey will clearly own the left flank of the electorate. Moulton has “actively and aggressively” sought AIPAC’s endorsement in past races, the leader continued, and it’s not likely that many anti-Israel voters will see his recent turn as authentic.

Moulton’s strong rejection of AIPAC could lead Jewish pro-Israel voters in Massachusetts to give a second look to Markey, local observers say.

Particularly in recent years, Markey has been one of the most vocal and consistent critics of Israel in the Senate. He voted in favor of every resolution to block arms transfers to Israel that has come before the chamber in the past year and faced boos for a call for de-escalation between Israel and Hamas at a Jewish communal gathering immediately after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. 

He was also a frequent critic of Israeli policy prior to the war in Gaza.

But despite his record, Markey has a long-running relationship with the state’s Jewish community and has been popular among Jewish Democratic voters during his long career.

“He does have a multi-decade well of support and goodwill. That’s been challenged in recent years … but he’s got a deep well of relationships to call upon and credibility from the past,” the Democratic official said. “That could potentially open an opportunity for new conversations.”

Moulton’s anti-AIPAC blitz is “almost pushing that community into Markey’s arms,” the official continued.

Cignoli said that while Markey may face some challenges in the Jewish community, Moulton appears to be effectively surrendering that territory.

It remains unknown whether other candidates, such as Squad member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), will join the race. A Pressley candidacy in particular could prompt Jewish voters to unite around an alternative to block her ascension.

How strong supporters of Israel end up voting remains an open question, the Boston Jewish leader said — highly dependent on the ultimate shape of the race.

The Democratic official said that whether Pressley enters the race is currently one of the most-watched dynamics in Massachusetts politics — “the person that everybody is waiting for is Ayanna” — and that she is believed to be considering a campaign, though time could be running short.

“If Ayanna is in, that definitely changes the calculus for the [pro-]Israel community. Maybe people would rather have Markey at that point,” the official said.

Cignoli was somewhat skeptical that any others would enter the race, given that they’d likely split the anti-incumbent vote with Moulton, potentially to Markey’s benefit, and might struggle to qualify for the ballot.

“Pressley against the incumbent is one thing, but Pressley with another challenger out there who’s aggressive in his election style, campaign style, it makes it more difficult,” Cignoli said. “She would be a more significant candidate [against Markey] but with Moulton in, not as much.”

Pressley, he added, might have a stronger chance of winning a Senate seat if she waits until one of the incumbents retires. She could retain her safe House seat until then, or potentially find herself in line for a House Democratic leadership position, gain a spot in a future Democratic administration or run for another office.

Another potential challenge for Moulton could be locking down the necessary 15% support at the state’s Democratic convention — from local Democratic activists and officials, who are well to the left of the average Democratic voter and not Moulton’s natural constituency — to appear on the ballot next year.

Markey already has sufficient support and Pressley would likely be able to rally it, but “I don’t see where Seth gets his 15% from,” the official said.

Cignoli also said he’s unclear on how Moulton plans to meet that 15% threshold.

Jewish Insider’s Congressional correspondent Emily Jacobs contributed reporting.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said on Tuesday, just days before early voting starts in the New York City mayoral race, that he is still not ready to endorse Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, as he hasn’t seen the candidate assuage Jewish communal concerns.

Appearing on CNN, Goldman said he wasn’t sure if he would vote for Mamdani or his rival, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and that he’s “trying to work through” outstanding issues he has with the candidates.

“You know, I’m a Democrat at heart and I believe in the Democratic Party. I am very concerned about some of the rhetoric coming from Zohran Mamdani, and I can tell you as a Jew in New York who was in Israel on Oct. 7, I and many other people are legitimately scared because there has been violence in the name of anti-Israel, anti-Zionism,” said Goldman, a pro-Israel Democrat whose House district, covering Lower Manhattan and a swath of Brooklyn, leans heavily to the left.

“I’ve asked [Mamdani] to speak out on that and to condemn that and I frankly haven’t really seen him do much on that. And I believe, for my personal reasons as well as my professional reasons as a representative of New York City, that it is my duty to make sure that everybody, including the Jewish community, feels safe here, and many in the Jewish community do not feel safe right now,” the congressman continued.

“And I hope that Mr. Mamdani takes that to heart and takes some action to make the Jewish community understand that he will keep us safe and secure,” he concluded.

Goldman is one of several Democratic New York lawmakers who have refused to endorse their party’s candidate for Gracie Mansion, including swing district Reps. Laura Gillen (D-NY) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) as well as George Latimer (D-NY).

Other prominent New York Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have met with Mamdani but have held back endorsements.

Only five New York City Democratic lawmakers in the state’s congressional delegation have endorsed Mamdani: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY),Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY). 

The progressive Israel advocacy group J Street endorsed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Friday, marking the first time the top Democratic congressional leader accepted an endorsement from the group. 

With Jeffries endorsed by J Street, the group has now thrown its support behind the entire House Democratic leadership team: Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA). 

Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar have all also been endorsed by AIPAC, and they have each traveled to Israel on AIPAC-affiliated trips. 

“J Street is proud to endorse the House Democratic leadership team at such a critical moment in the US-Israel relationship,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement Friday. “After 23 months of war, it is important to endorse Democratic leaders who understand the time has come for a just and lasting peace that brings the remaining hostages home and immediately and permanently surges aid to the people of Gaza.” 

In recent months, J Street has taken an increasingly critical line toward Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza. The organization has supported measures to withhold or condition American military aid to Israel, a position AIPAC vehemently opposes. Ben-Ami said last month that he has been convinced Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to a genocide.

“Hakeem Jeffries is a pro-Israel leader and a champion for strengthening and expanding America’s partnership with our democratic ally, none of which J Street supports,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann told Jewish Insider on Friday.

A spokesperson for Jeffries did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), a swing-district Democrat representing parts of the Hudson Valley, announced his endorsement on Wednesday of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. 

With the endorsement, Ryan becomes the first New York Democratic lawmaker outside of New York City to support the 33-year-old democratic socialist and Queens assemblyman.

“Public service is all about one thing: who do you fight for?” Ryan said in a social media post. “Zohran Mamdani fights for the PEOPLE.”

He also took a swipe at former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was soundly defeated by Mamdani in the June Democratic primary and is now running as an independent, calling him “a selfish POS who only fights for himself and other corrupt elites.”

“I know whose side I’m on,” Ryan added. “I’m with the people. I’m with Zohran.”

Mamdani, who is leading all polls in the divided race, returned the compliment in a social media post, saying Ryan “fights for the people, too: he’s stood up to the utilities ripping off his constituents and taken on monopoly power in Congress.”

He called it “a true honor to earn” Ryan’s support.

The two-term congressman, who had initially been reluctant to comment publicly on Mamdani’s candidacy, joins a handful of Democratic House colleagues in New York who have endorsed the nominee since the primary, including Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY).

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), whom Ryan has also praised, had endorsed Mamdani before the primary.

Even as pressure has recently been mounting for Democrats to get behind Mamdani as the November election nears, the party’s leaders — including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) —  have all so far withheld endorsements.

Other holdouts include Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Laura Gillen (D-NY) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who have raised concerns about Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric. 

Shortly after Ryan publicized his endorsement Wednesday, the House Republican campaign arm, which is targeting the congressman in the election next year, quickly pounced on the news, providing an early glimpse of how the GOP is seeking to link Mamdani’s far-left views to the broader Democratic brand.

“Pat Ryan made it official: His agenda and Zohran Mamdani’s are one and the same,” Maureen O’Toole, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement. “Together, they want to destroy New York City, making it unsafe and unaffordable for anyone to live, work or travel there. Let that sink in.”

A spokesperson for Ryan did not immediately return a request for comment.      

After a video surfaced last week of Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), the House minority whip, referring to Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, Clark walked back the remark on Monday — and maintained her endorsement from AIPAC amid the controversy, a spokesperson for the group told Jewish Insider. 

“Last week, while attending an event in my district, I repeated the word ‘genocide’ in response to a question,” Clark told the Jewish News Syndicate on Monday. “I want to be clear that I am not accusing Israel of genocide. … We all need to work with urgency to bring the remaining hostages home, surge aid to Palestinians and oppose their involuntary relocation, remove Hamas from power and end the war.” 

AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann told JI on Monday that the organization will stick by Clark, the second highest-ranked Democrat in the House.

“We appreciate that the congresswoman clarified her remarks, as Israel is fighting a just and moral war against a barbaric terrorist enemy. Our endorsement is unchanged and based upon her long standing support for the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Wittmann said. 

In a video from an event hosted on Thursday by the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Cambridge, Mass., Clark made a passing reference to Israel’s actions in Gaza. “We each have to continue to have an open heart about how we do this, how we do it effectively, and how we take action in time to make a difference, whether that is stopping the starvation and genocide and destruction of Gaza, or whether that means we are working together to stop the redistricting that is going on, taking away the vote from people in order to retain power,” said Clark.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A new coalition of pro-Israel LGBTQ activists is backing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as its first choice in a ranked slate of candidate endorsements for New York City mayor, according to a statement shared exclusively with Jewish Insider on Thursday.

“Amidst the unprecedented rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment and activity within our city, we, LGBTQ Zionists of New York, feel a deep responsibility to share our endorsements for the Democratic primaries,” the group said in its announcement. “We believe it is essential to elect champions of both the gay community and of Zionists — those who support the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and the existence of the State of Israel.”

The group cited Cuomo’s “longstanding support for LGBTQ rights and plan to address antisemitism in the city,” which includes, among other things, a vow to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into city law.

Cuomo, the Democratic front-runner who often touts his support for Israel and has called rising antisemitism “the most important issue” in the race, has been consolidating support from Jewish leaders in recent weeks, amid concerns over the increasing favorability of his top rival, Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens who has repeatedly refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and described himself as an anti-Zionist.

In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, many Jewish and pro-Israel activists have increasingly felt unwelcome expressing their Zionism in LGBTQ spaces — where the ongoing war in Gaza has fueled rising anti-Israel sentiment that has also shaped the June 24 mayoral primary in New York.

“New York City is home to the largest LGBTQ community in America and the largest Jewish population outside of Israel,” the group said. “The stakes of this election are beyond historic — they’re personal. As we enter Pride Month, we are grateful for our selected candidates’ work thus far. We stand with immense pride as New Yorkers, as LGBTQ Jews, and as Zionists, and we will advocate for a future where we are seen, heard and celebrated for all that we are — and nothing less.”

In addition to Cuomo, the coalition ranked Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund executive who has been outspoken in his support for Israel and his criticism of rising antisemitism, as its second pick for mayor. Brad Lander, the Jewish city comptroller who has long identified as a “progressive Zionist,” is its third choice, followed by Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn, and Scott Stringer, a former comptroller who is also Jewish.

The coalition represents hundreds of LGBTQ activists in New York City from a broad range of organizations, a spokesperson told JI. The group, which says it plans to engage in get-out-the-vote efforts in the final leg of the race, is led by Roniel Tessler and Alex Kaufman, who were motivated to pursue grassroots LGBTQ Zionist organizing following the Oct. 7 attacks.

The group also endorsed several downballot candidates, including Mark Levine, the Jewish Manhattan borough president now running for comptroller; Jenifer Rajkumar, a Queens state assemblywoman hoping to unseat Jumaane Williams in the race for public advocate; and Patrick Timmins, who is mounting a campaign against the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg.

In a heated City Council race in Park Slope, the group threw its support behind Maya Kornberg, a Jewish political scientist now challenging Shahana Hanif, the incumbent, who has faced backlash from Jewish voters over her harsh criticism of Israel and alleged insensitivity to antisemitic incidents in her district.

“We are endorsing candidates who will confront, condemn and work to resolve the dangerous rise of antisemitism in our city, and ensure Jewish, LGBTQ and Zionist voices are protected and respected,” the group said in its statement on Thursday.

Good Thursday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the departure of deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus from her role reporting to Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and cover Sen. Jim Risch’s pessimism toward a potential new nuclear deal with Iran. We also report on the Trump administration’s tapping of Defense Priorities alum Justin Overbaugh for a senior Pentagon role, and scoop a major Jewish communal endorsement for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ahead of New York City’s upcoming Democratic mayoral primary. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Jason Isaacman, Rep. Elise Stefanik and Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai.

What We’re Watching

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is meeting with President Donald Trump today at the White House.
• Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Randy Fine (R-FL) are speaking at a Sephardic Heritage International DC event this evening on Capitol Hill commemorating the anniversary of the Farhud pogrom that took place in Iraq in 1941.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH ji’s MATThEW KASSEL

With just under three weeks until New York City’s mayoral primary on June 24, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is slowly but surely securing commitments from a range of key leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community, a large and politically influential voting base whose widespread support is seen as crucial to his pathway to the Democratic nomination.

In the coming days, Cuomo is expected to garner endorsements from several prominent Orthodox leaders in Brooklyn and Queens, including major Hasidic sects in Borough Park and Williamsburg that can traditionally turn out thousands of votes, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to address private plans.

But as most top Orthodox leaders have not historically taken sides until relatively late in the primary season, some Jewish community activists are voicing anxiety about their continued delay in publicly backing Cuomo — as he increasingly faces competition to his far left from Zohran Mamdani, a Queens state assemblyman whose fierce opposition to Israel has drawn mounting accusations of fueling antisemitism.

“Now that the race has been essentially a two-man race for the past few months, what are they waiting for?” one Jewish leader, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Jewish Insider. “Are they considering Mamdani?”

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

ORTAGUS OUT

Deputy Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus to leave post under Witkoff

Morgan Ortagus, a key member of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s team, is departing his office, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch and Emily Jacobs have learned. Ortagus, the deputy special envoy, has been removed from her portfolio in the special envoy’s office, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to JI. Ortagus had been overseeing the Trump administration’s Lebanon policy and had wanted to take over the Syria file, but was unsuccessful in doing so. 

Context: Ortagus’ departure comes less than two weeks after Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw a widespread purge of officials at the NSC, including those overseeing the Middle East and Israel and Iran portfolios. This followed Trump’s decision to pull former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, another Iran hawk in the administration, from his role and instead nominate him to be his ambassador to the United Nations.

Read the full story here.

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DEFENSE DYNAMICS

Another Koch-funded think tank affiliate on track for top Defense job

Justin Overbaugh is on track to be the latest affiliate of the Koch-backed Defense Priorities think tank to be placed in a top post at the Defense Department, approaching confirmation as the deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

About the nominee: Overbaugh lacks the extensive public record of other Defense Priorities alumni in the administration — who have called for the U.S. to curtail its role in the Middle East — and his nomination has attracted little public attention or controversy. “I believe that we do not have the resources to cover all threats simultaneously, therefore we must be deliberate and discerning about the capabilities we pursue to defend our Nation and deter, or if necessary, defeat, our adversaries,” Overbaugh said in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Read the full story here.

Nomination reservations: Multiple Senate Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that they plan to scrutinize President Donald Trump’s nomination of Paul Ingrassia, a far-right figure picked last week to lead the Office of Special Counsel, charged with fighting corruption and fighting federal whistleblowers, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.

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Risch’s reservations

Sen. Risch: ‘I’m not particularly optimistic’ about a deal with Iran

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Wednesday in remarks at the Hudson Institute that he is “not particularly optimistic” that a deal with Iran that stops it from enriching uranium can be reached, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Israeli threat: Risch added that if Iran does not agree to a deal, “Israel is going to do something about that.” “I’ve sat across the table from [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, I don’t know how many times, and he has looked me in the eye and said, ‘Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,’” the top Senate Republican said. “And you know what? I believe him, and I think that’s a case for the United States to be in the exact same position.”

Read the full story here.

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ACCREDIATION ESCALATION

Trump admin warns Columbia University at risk of losing accreditation

The Trump administration’s battle with higher education escalated on Wednesday with the announcement that Columbia University is at risk of losing accreditation for violation of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.

What is said: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights “determined that Columbia University acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students, thereby violating Title VI,”  the Education Department said in a statement, noting that the Ivy League institution “no longer appears to meet the Commission’s [sic] accreditation standards.” 

Read the full story here.

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SCOOP

Influential Queens Orthodox coalition backs Cuomo for mayor

An influential coalition of Orthodox Jewish leaders in Far Rockaway, Queens, is endorsing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel has learned, the first official demonstration of support from a major Orthodox group in the race. In a lengthy statement first shared with JI on Wednesday night, leaders of the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance wrote that the “Jewish community in New York — particularly the frum community — faces a political crisis of historic proportions,” and urged voters to move past their lingering resentment over Cuomo’s COVID policies, which community members recall as discriminatory. 

Now and then: “We still feel the pain of the unfair red zones imposed by Cuomo in 2020, which targeted our communities and restricted our way of life with heavy-handed measures,” the leaders acknowledged. “That wound lingers, a reminder of how quickly our freedoms can be curtailed. Yet, despite this pain, we must look forward and consider our future as Jews in New York City, where new threats loom larger than past grievances.”

Read the full story here.

Elsewhere in Gotham: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary.

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COALITION CHAOS

Haredi leaders threaten to bring down Israeli government as effort to revive draft exemptions stalls

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition was thrown into disarray on Wednesday night after the spiritual leaders of Haredi factions threatened to bring about an early election if penalties for yeshiva students avoiding military service are not canceled, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.

From bad to worse: The leading rabbis of Agudat Yisrael, the Hasidic party of United Torah Judaism, told party leader Yitzchak Goldknopf on Tuesday to move forward with a vote next week on a bill to dissolve the Knesset, prompting an election, because Netanyahu did not keep a promise to pass a bill exempting young Haredi men from military service by Shavuot, a holiday that was observed on Monday in Israel. On Wednesday morning, the other part of United Torah Judaism, Degel Hatorah, received a similar directive from the senior rabbis of the “Litvak” non-Hasidic Haredi community, Dov Lando and New York native Moshe Hillel Hirsch. Still, Netanyahu’s 68-seat coalition would retain a narrow majority in the Knesset even if he lost those Haredi parties’ seven seats. The political threat became more acute on Wednesday evening, when Sephardic Haredi party Shas, which has 11 seats in the Knesset, supported UTJ’s move to call an election. Israeli media reported that Shas’ spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef told the party’s lead negotiator, former minister Ariel Atias, to tell Netanyahu that he will not have a government if agreements are not reached with the Haredi parties.

Read the full story here.

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Worthy Reads

Full-Court Press: In the Baltimore Sun, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan calls for “moral clarity” in the face of rising antisemitism in the U.S. “When innocent people are attacked for their faith or identity, neutrality is not courage. It is cowardice. People are hungry for real leadership. Not performative outrage. Not partisan talking points. Real leadership, rooted in principle and courage. That is what communities expect from their elected officials, civic organizations, media institutions and universities. They want to know that when a synagogue is firebombed or a Jewish student is harassed, someone will speak up. When extremists target a faith community, there should not be silence or spin. There must be action.” [BaltSun]

Choppy Waters: The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Kalin and Shelby Holliday look at how the maritime warfare perpetuated by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has reshaped the U.S. response to threats in the region. “Officials are now dissecting how a scrappy adversary was able to test the world’s most capable surface fleet. The Houthis proved to be a surprisingly difficult foe, engaging the Navy in its fiercest battles since World War II despite fighting from primitive quarters and caves in one of the world’s poorest countries. The Houthis benefited from the proliferation of cheap missile and drone technology from Iran. They fired antiship ballistic missiles, the first-ever combat use of the Cold War-era weapon, and they innovated how they deployed their weaponry. The latest technologies have transformed maritime warfare, much the way they have rewritten the script for land wars in Ukraine — forcing militaries to adapt in real time.” [WSJ]

The Show Must Go On: The Washington Post’s Marc Fisher reflects on his recent visit to a new LGBTQ exhibition at the Capital Jewish Museum, which opened on the same day the museum reopened following an attack the week prior in which two Israeli Embassy officials were killed. “Jewish museums chronicle the centuries-long tension among Jews between insisting on belonging to the culture where they live and accepting the outsider status foisted upon them by dominant forces in their society. …  The exhibit confronts contradictions, which are at the heart of Judaism. People like the shooter cannot bear such nuance; to them, it somehow makes sense to take out one’s wrath toward Israel against a Jewish American institution — one that barely mentions Israel. The museum, like all good encounters with history, cherishes clashes between past and present, but the shooter can only see the binary: us and them.” [WashPost]

Word on the Street

President Donald Trump announced last night that citizens of 12 countries will be barred entry to the United States, while citizens of seven other countries will face restrictions. The planned executive order was scooped yesterday by Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch…

Jason Isaacman, an ally of Elon Musk who had been the Trump administration’s pick to head NASA until his nomination was pulled last month, reportedly told associates that he believes that Musk’s departure from the White House gave the administration an opportunity to rescind the nomination; White House officials said the nod was pulled over Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats, which Isaacman disputed, saying the White House was aware of the donations…

Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will release a book later this year about her time in the Biden administration and departure from the Democratic Party…

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) launched the Save New York PAC to boost GOP candidates running in local races across the state…

Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Bill Keating (D-MA), Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and Becca Balint (D-VT) are leading more than 90 Democrats on a resolution calling on the administration to “urgently use all diplomatic tools” to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza, as well as release the hostages and end the war in Gaza; Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) is leading similar legislation in the Senate with the support of nearly all Democrats…

A group of lawmakers from more than 30 countries came together on Wednesday to discuss ways that the Abraham Accords can be leveraged to address energy security issues in the Middle East, the Caspian Sea Basin and the Eastern Mediterranean, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod has learned…

Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX) and Randy Fine (R-FL) introduced a resolution condemning the antisemitic attack on a hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., and calling for congressional action “to secure the border and deport migrants who overstay their visas”…

The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war without conditioning a ceasefire on the release of the remaining hostages; the other 14 members of the council voted in favor…

The IDF found and returned the bodies of U.S.-Israeli citizens Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai, who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports…

The Wall Street Journal interviews victims and witnesses of the terror attack on marchers at a Boulder, Colo., walk on Sunday to call attention to the plight of the hostages in Gaza…

A federal judge issued an order barring the deportation of the wife and children of the Egyptian national accused of attacking the Boulder hostage march…

Germany’s Federal Research and Information Point for Antisemitism said that antisemitic incidents in the country had nearly doubled between 2023 and 2024, finding 8,627 incidents of violence, vandalism and threats targeting Jews last year…

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suspended operations for a second day, as both the foundation and Israeli officials address safety concerns tied to a series of deadly incidents near distribution sites in recent days…

Israeli officials said the country exported a record $14.8 billion in weapons in 2024, an increase of $1.8 billion from the year prior…

Stu Sandler is joining the office of Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) as chief of staff; Sandler was previously  the deputy director of the Republican Jewish Coalition…

Aaron Bandler is joining the Jewish News Syndicate as U.S. national reporter, based out of Los Angeles…

Pic of the Day

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spoke on Wednesday at a vigil held at the site of the weekend terror attack targeting a hostage-awareness march in Boulder, Colo., in which 15 people, including a Holocaust survivor, were injured.

Birthdays

Actor, voice actor, comedian, writer and producer, Nicholas Kroll turns 47…

Lithuanian-born Holocaust survivor, co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Va., known for his ever-present cowboy hat, Jay M. Ipson turns 90… Training director and broker associate of the Santa Monica, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services branch, Saul Bubis… Owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots, Robert Kraft turns 84… The first woman to serve as international president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Judy Yudof turns 81… Senior project manager in the AI field, Dan Yurman… Israeli politician, diplomat and businessperson, he served as consul general of Israel in Philadelphia from 1988 to 1992, Israel Peleg turns 76… VP of new business development at Maresco & Partners, Linda Greenfield… Author of 11 personal finance books, financial advisor, motivational speaker and television host, Susan Lynn “Suze” Orman turns 74… Staff member at Burbank Temple Emanu El, Audrey Freedman-Habush… Portrait photographer and visual anthropologist, she is the author of The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of the Diaspora, Penny Diane Wolin turns 72… Former commissioner on the U.S. International Trade Commission, now a consultant, Dean A. Pinkert turns 69… Best-selling instrumental musician, the saxophonist “Kenny G,” Kenneth Bruce Gorelick turns 69… Columnist for the New York Post, Andrea Peyser turns 66… Senior associate general counsel at Compass real estate, Sam Kraemer… EVP and managing director at DC’s Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), Michael Heimowitz… Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for eight years until 2022, Gila Deborah Martow turns 64… VP of government affairs at Invenergy, Mark S. Weprin turns 64… First-ever Jewish speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, she served from 2020 until 2022, Eileen R. Filler-Corn turns 61… Manager of the Jeff Astor Legacy Fund, Beth Astor Freeman… Member of Congress (D-PA-6), her father is a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Poland, Christina Jampoler Houlahan turns 58… Member of the British House of Commons for 15 years, now a member of the House of Lords, Baron Ed Vaizey turns 57… Entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, he holds more than 100 granted and pending patents, Nova Spivack turns 56… Professor of Israel studies at UCLA, Dov Morris Waxman turns 51… Film and television actress, she has a recurring role in the Fox series “The Cleaning Lady,” Liza Rebecca Weil turns 48… Co-founder of BlueLabs and director of analytics for the campaigns of both Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2012, his father and grandfather were both rabbis, Elan Alter Kriegel… Research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, he was previously a member of the New Hampshire state Legislature, Jason Bedrick turns 42… Humorist, novelist and screenwriter, Simon Rich turns 41… Partner relationship manager at Voyant, Arielle Levy Marschark… Account director on the corporate PR team at M Booth, Maya Bronstein… Clara Moskowitz… Susan Stein…

An influential coalition of Orthodox Jewish leaders in Far Rockaway, Queens, is endorsing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City, Jewish Insider has learned, the first official demonstration of support from a major Orthodox group in the race.

In a lengthy statement first shared with JI on Wednesday night, leaders of the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance wrote that the “Jewish community in New York — particularly the frum community — faces a political crisis of historic proportions,” and urged voters to move past their lingering resentment over Cuomo’s COVID policies, which community members recall as discriminatory. 

“We still feel the pain of the unfair red zones imposed by Cuomo in 2020, which targeted our communities and restricted our way of life with heavy-handed measures,” the leaders acknowledged. “That wound lingers, a reminder of how quickly our freedoms can be curtailed. Yet, despite this pain, we must look forward and consider our future as Jews in New York City, where new threats loom larger than past grievances.”

The leaders, who represent a key voting bloc in Queens, suggested their support for Cuomo was motivated almost singularly by concerns with his top rival, Zohran Mandani, a Queens state assemblyman whose fierce opposition to Israel and close alliance with the Democratic Socialists of America have raised alarms in the Jewish community.

“If Zohran Mamdani and the movement behind him succeed, we risk losing everything we’ve built,” they write. “This isn’t a mere policy disagreement or politics as usual. Mamdani and his allies, backed by the DSA, have made their intentions clear: they aim to defund our yeshivas, strip our neighborhoods of police protection, and vilify support for Israel as a disqualifying offense. These aren’t empty threats. They’re drafting laws, redirecting budgets, and winning elections — all while projecting a facade of goodwill.”

The alliance members who signed the statement include Elkanah Adelman, Richard Altabe, Shalom Becker, Boruch Ber Bender, Rabbi Zvi Bloom, Jack Brach, Mordechai Zvi Dicker, Ruchie Dunn, Joel Kaplan, Moshe Lazar, Moishe Mishkowitz, Chaim Rapfogel, Baruch Rothman and Aaron Zupnick, according to the announcement.

“Cuomo is no tzaddik, and no one claims he is,” they write. “But we’re not choosing a rebbe — we’re choosing a shield. If we don’t seize the shield before us, we’ll be left utterly defenseless. The reality is stark: in the voting booth, only two candidates can win — Andrew Cuomo or Zohran Mamdani. No one else is close.”

Their new endorsement comes as Cuomo has sought to mend relationships in the Orthodox community that had soured during the COVID pandemic. As polling has shown a tightening race against Mandani, such support could prove crucial, promising to turn out thousands of votes.

In the coming days, Cuomo is also expected to win further endorsements from major Hasidic sects in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Borough Park, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Choosing not to vote for Cuomo isn’t neutrality — it’s handing Mamdani a victory,” the Queens leaders said in their own new endorsement. “That’s a risk our community cannot take. This moment demands action. If we fail to resist this radical, anti-Torah movement, we won’t be debating policies in ten years — we’ll be debating whether we can still live here at all. We cannot stay silent. We cannot stay home. Not now.”

“This isn’t about Cuomo,” they conclude. “It’s about us.”

Leon Goldenberg, a prominent Orthodox Jewish leader in Brooklyn, is endorsing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor, he confirmed exclusively to Jewish Insider on Friday.

“I am fully endorsing Gov. Cuomo,” Goldenberg said. “I think he’s the best candidate by far. He’s accomplished for the city and the state. We need somebody who’s going to get things accomplished and who’s going to fight antisemitism as a major issue.”

Goldenberg, who is an executive board member of the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition, said that he was backing Cuomo in his personal capacity, but he anticipated his group would also endorse the former governor after the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which concludes on Tuesday evening.

His early endorsement is among the first major signs of formal Orthodox support for Cuomo with just over three weeks until the June 24 Democratic primary. The former governor has in recent weeks engaged in proactive outreach to Orthodox leaders who represent sizable voting blocs that could prove crucial in the increasingly competitive race.

While polling has shown Cuomo leading the crowded primary field, his comfortable margin has narrowed as Zohran Mamdani, a far-left state assemblyman in Queens, has recently come within eight points of the former governor in the final round of ranked-choice voting, according to an independent survey released earlier this week.

Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel who is the only candidate in the primary to publicly back the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, has voiced rhetoric that has raised alarms among many Jewish leaders as his campaign continues to surge. 

Recently, Mamdani faced scrutiny for declining to recognize Israel as a Jewish state while speaking at a town hall last week hosted by the UJA-Federation of New York. He also stirred controversy this week over his comments to a mosque in Queens in which he denounced Israel’s pager attack last year against Hezbollah in Lebanon without mentioning it had been aimed at the terror group’s operatives rather than civilians.

Goldenberg said his lone endorsement of Cuomo was in many ways meant to raise awareness about the stakes of what appears to have become a two-person race. 

“We’re trying to get the message out about how important it is to support Cuomo,” Goldenberg said. “Mamdani, who will do very well in ranked-choice voting where Cuomo will not do as well, is really gaining a lot of ground.”

Cuomo has also notched support from Sam Berger, an Orthodox state assemblyman from Queens who has accused Mamdani of stoking antisemitism. But leading Orthodox groups, whose endorsements can traditionally yield thousands of votes that have helped tipped the scales in close elections, have yet to weigh in on the primary.

In recent weeks, Cuomo has met privately with a range of Orthodox leaders to mend relationships that deteriorated over restrictions he implemented at the height of the COVID pandemic, which many community members still recall as discriminatory.

The former governor has voiced regret for creating “the impression that the community was targeted,” which he said was not his intention, and recognized that he “could have done more” to address concerns at the time.

Though Orthodox leaders have been receptive to his outreach, constituents are still bitter about Cuomo’s COVID record, even as he has expressed contrition, according to people familiar with the conversations.

For his part, Goldenberg, whose group in Flatbush met with Cuomo this month, said that he had been satisfied with Cuomo’s response to criticism during their discussion, but emphasized he is now engaging in outreach to younger voters who may not be closely following the primary. 

Mamdani “is not going to be a friend of the Jews,” Goldenberg told JI. “That’s the message that just has to get out more and more forcefully, especially in the Orthodox community, which is still incensed about COVID.”

Even as Mamdani has also sought to engage with the community, a recent poll showed his support at 0% among Orthodox voters, while faring better with other Jewish denominations. Cuomo, meanwhile, performs strongest in the Orthodox community, claiming 41% of the vote, according to the poll.

In the broader Jewish community, Cuomo, who has frequently touted his support for Israel while calling antisemitism “the most important issue” in the race, is leading the field with a relatively small plurality of the vote, recent polls suggest.

Despite leading all publicly available polls, Cuomo also holds high unfavorability ratings stemming in large part from his resignation as governor amid allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies.

In a tight race, the Orthodox community could help close the margins for Cuomo, as previous primaries have shown. Mayor Eric Adams, now running as an independent, narrowly won the nomination in 2021 with critical support from Orthodox leaders, whose communities tend to vote as a bloc.

“The Orthodox community can make a difference,” said Goldenberg, whose group endorsed Adams last cycle. “If we come out forcefully.” 

He estimated there are at least 100,000 Orthodox voters in Flatbush alone, but was unable to share a party breakdown. “We have been pushing people to register as Democrats, and have had some success,” he told JI. “We’ll keep pushing it.”

In the meantime, Goldbenberg said he expects other Orthodox leaders will also soon fall behind Cuomo. “I think it really has to happen across the board,” he told JI. “So many others are holding back, but I think we have to get the momentum.”

“Sometimes there’s a choice and you’re wavering until you get near the end,” he said, but dismissed the other candidates as unviable. “There’s no other choice today.”

One Orthodox leader, who spoke anonymously to address private discussions, suggested that “by the end of next week” endorsements would likely begin to roll in. 

A major Satmar faction in Williamsburg, home to the largest Hasidic community in New York City, is currently planning to endorse Cuomo the week after next, according to a community leader familiar with the matter.

“Nothing is final until final,” the community leader clarified on Friday, “but that’s the expectation.”