The bipartisan legislation would seize and repurpose assets of Iranian government officials and support efforts to create and disseminate technology to Iranian citizens to help evade internet blackouts
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Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) leaves the House Republicans' caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleReps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), the chair and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, are set to introduce a bill on Monday to disrupt the finances of the Iranian regime and its allies and expand internet access in Iran.
The Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom and Accountability Act would create a dedicated “Iran Kleptocracy Initiative” unit within the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau within the Treasury Department.
The office would be charged with identifying assets of Iranian government officials and their family members; coordinating with the Department of State to freeze and confiscate those assets; to “repurpose” seized assets to support Iranian dissidents where possible; to coordinate with various federal agencies to pursue civil and criminal prosecutions of individuals connected to these financial networks; and to create a reward system for those who assist in identifying such assets and prosecuting related individuals.
The bill would allow congressional leaders to demand that the administration assess whether specific Iranian individuals meet the standards to be sanctioned for supporting the regime’s human rights abuses, censorship and repression.
To expand internet access, it directs the Defense Innovation Unit and the Defense Acquisition University to “support the development of of low-cost, easily scalable, and rapidly deployable technologies to counter internet shutdowns or limitations in Iran,” including seeking out and backing existing or developing technologies that can evade internet blackouts by the Iranian government and working with industry and academia to quickly develop, deploy and test those technologies,
The bill proposes providing $2 million annually for those efforts through 2030. It also proposes increased funding for the internet freedom grants for Iran from to $30 million annually through 2030, doubling the proposed funding levels currently laid out in federal statute.
The legislation urges the administration to utilize U.S. international broadcasting systems — which some lawmakers have criticized for staying on the sidelines during the latest protests — to provide accurate information to Iranian civilians and support independent Iranian journalists.
It further directs the administration to assemble a report on senior “foreign political figures and oligarchs in Iran” and parastatal entities in Iran, the various business ties and assets held by those individuals, entities and their family members and the impacts of imposing sanctions and other restrictions on them.
And it instructs the administration to report to Congress on the feasibility of certain technologies to expand internet access, an analysis of potential obstacles and a summary of telecommunications providers active in Iran and their ownership.
“The Iranian regime fears one thing above all else: a connected, informed population. That’s why it shuts down the internet, censors dissent, and jails journalists,” Lawler said in a statement. “Comprehensive legislation is needed to expand internet freedom and target the financial networks of corrupt officials. We must increase pressure where it belongs and support with all of our might those fighting for freedom and democracy.”
“Despite the absolute brutality they continue to endure at the hands of this murderous regime, the Iranian people are bravely continuing to fight for their freedom,” Sherman said in a statement. “I’m proud to join my colleague Congressman Lawler in introducing legislation to stand with these brave protesters by creating a new, whole-of-government strategy to take down this regime. The Islamic Republic is weaker than it ever has been, and we must seize the moment. I know in our lifetimes, we will see a free Iran.”
The legislation is being supported by AIPAC, which is hosting a conference for activists in Washington next week and has meetings set with more than 400 congressional offices.
“This critical legislation expresses support for the fundamental freedoms of the Iranian people, promotes secure access to the internet, and advances efforts to hold oppressors accountable for human rights abuses,” AIPAC spokesperson Deryn Sousa said in a statement. “AIPAC urges Congress to pass this bipartisan measure to stand with the people of Iran and reinforce America’s commitment to human rights and digital freedom.”
Speaking at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Republican and Democratic lawmakers highlighted ongoing abuses by the Syrian government
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Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.
House members on both sides of the aisle raised concerns about the new Syrian government’s recent moves against minority groups, particularly the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, in some cases questioning whether Damascus is complying with lawmakers’ expectations after the Caesar Act sanctions on Syria were lifted.
Speaking at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Republican and Democratic lawmakers highlighted ongoing abuses by the Syrian government, with some appearing to argue that there might be cause to revisit the imposition of U.S. sanctions on Syria. Some, particularly Republicans, had been hesitant to back full sanctions repeal, but did so under pressure from the Trump administration.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the committee chair, said that no one expected the transition away from the Assad regime to be seamless, “but we’ve already seen too many incidents, in my opinion, too many incidents of sectarian violence against religious and ethnic minorities.”
He called the Syrian government’s advances against U.S. allies in the SDF “unacceptable” and criticized Russia’s ongoing presence in Syria. He said the recent ceasefire agreement between the government and the SDF is a positive step but emphasized that several such agreements have been signed and not enforced in the past.
Mast said the country is “nowhere near where it needs to be today” and he is “not satisfied with the progress that [Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa] has made yet” and sees “many of his actions as steps backward.”
Mast, who was one of the final obstacles to full repeal of the Caesar Act sanctions, said that al-Sharaa “does not have a blank check from the United States of America” and that the repeal came with an expectation — albeit not formally binding — that Syria would meet various conditions, including protecting minorities.
Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the committee, said he is “optimistic in support of the Syrian people working toward the future,” but also “deeply concerned” by the ongoing sectarian violence and the Syrian government’s attacks against the SDF. He said al-Sharaa needs to show a commitment to implementing the January deal with the Kurds and to stop abuses by elements of his government.
“While I stand for Syrian people and turning the page toward a new future, we must see President al-Sharaa keep to his word of being a president for all Syrians and ensure Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities are safe and fully represented,” Meeks said.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the former committee chair, said that, while he wanted to see al-Sharaa succeed, the Syrian government has not complied with the conditions attached to the repeal of the Caesar sanctions. He said that the images emerging from the Syrian government-aligned forces’ attacks on the Druze echoed those of ISIS-controlled areas of Syria a decade ago.
McCaul said he was particularly concerned that the Syrian government offensive led to ISIS prisoners being released from SDF-guarded prison camps in eastern Syria, some of whom remain unaccounted for. “That is a nightmare scenario, from a national security perspective,” McCaul, who also previously chaired the Homeland Security Committee, said.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who had pushed for specific binding conditions on sanctions relief, said in a statement following the hearing, “The United States lifted sanctions on Syria to give al-Sharaa a chance to prove where he stands, despite his terrorist ties,” adding that the non-binding provisions in the final sanctions repeal bill, “were not met, and the trajectory of Syria under al-Sharaa is deeply concerning.”
Following the hearing, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) also said he’s not prepared to normalize relations with Syria and is open to leveraging U.S. economic pressure.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) praised Mast for pushing to include reporting measures and non-binding conditions in the final repeal legislation, criticizing the administration for its push for unconditional sanctions relief.
“When the White House and Senate leadership pushed a hand to Damascus a clean, unconditional sanctions lift, you pushed back and insisted the repeal come with at least some benchmarks and reporting requirements, and at least a skeleton accountability, which I think is critical,” Schneider said. “I want the record to reflect that this committee, on a bipartisan basis, rejected the administration’s reckless instinct to give away our leverage for nothing in return.”
Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) highlighted a recent op-ed by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that criticized the U.S. for tacitly allowing the Syrian offensive against the SDF, described Trump as overly optimistic about al-Sharaa and criticized the administration’s push to remove sanctions.
“It seems to me that there’s just such a rush to somehow having another peace agreement there that [Trump] is overlooking what the former secretary said, quite strongly, was it’s overly optimistic. And, to take all the sanctions, not using the sanctions as leverage going forward is a mistake,” Keating said.
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) said she was also “not in such a big hurry to take away some of the sanctions and the [terrorist] status of the president when he transitioned from so-called terrorist to so-called leader of all the Syrians.”
Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-MD) highlighted concerns about changes to the Syrian education system, which has “removed references to women, to love, to pre Islamic culture and to even human evolution, sending a chill message to religious and ethnic minorities,” adding that Syria “can’t replace one form of intolerance with another.”
Multiple Republicans also cast doubt on whether al-Sharaa had actually reformed, characterizing him as still being a committed Islamist terrorist, who is now pretending to be a moderate reformer for Western audiences.
“I think I’m hopeful that something great can happen with Syria in the United States ought to be part of that, but giving all our leverage in advance, to me, doesn’t seem a good idea and a good way to make sure that happens,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) said.
“I generally believe that once a Muslim terrorist, always a Muslim terrorist,” Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) added.
Several lawmakers raised particular concerns about Turkey’s influence in Syria. Some linked the Syrian government’s offensive against the SDF to Turkey’s longtime enmity toward the Kurds, and others said that they see Syria as the first step in an attempt by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to build a regional empire.
“Right now in Turkey, they are increasingly an Islamic dictatorship. The chief opponent to Erdoğan is in jail. He will not get out prior to the elections, I don’t believe,” Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) said. “Erdoğan is overturning the secular state that Atatürk set up, and I think that that is going to set up, between Turkey and Israel, a future conflict.”
Self said he thinks Turkey aims to replace Iran as a regional power in the Middle East.
Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) highlighted that Erdoğan publicly aspires to restore the Ottoman Empire, which, he noted, requires “driving all the way to Jerusalem,” and said that al-Sharaa has not appeared to cross Turkey at any point.
“My real belief is that Erdoğan’s desire to have a re-establishment of the Ottoman Empire, that al-Sharaa is not being fully truthful to what his real goal is,” Brecheen said. “My great concern is that we are enabling the prosperity of Turkey, we are enabling the prosperity of Russia, and al-Sharaa is not being truthful to us. And that years down the road, if prosperity comes — it’s not going to change the jihadist mentality.”
He suggested that he does not believe that Amb. Tom Barrack, who serves as the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, should be serving simultaneously as the U.S. envoy to Syria, to ensure that the U.S. can “play hardball in Syria” while Barrack maintains good relations with Turkey.
Nadine Maenza, the former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that she does not believe that Barrack’s dual role is serving the U.S. well and emphasized that the State Department appears to be deferring to Barrack on Syria policy. She also said the U.S., and Barrack, should not “reward” the Syrian government with economic deals after atrocities by government-aligned forces.
Witnesses who testified before the committee were divided, with some witnesses urging pressure on the Syrian government to ensure it implements and sustains protections for the Kurds and other minorities and suggesting the U.S. continue to align most closely with its longtime partners in the SDF, while others defended al-Sharaa as an imperfect but reliable partner who had covertly worked with the United States for years.
The administration announced a $6 billion arms sale to Israel on Friday, in a move Meeks said ‘blatantly ignored long-standing Congressional prerogatives’
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-NY) prepares for a House Foreign Affairs Committee markup in Rayburn Building
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, alleged on Friday that the Trump administration sidestepped standard congressional review procedures to fast-track a $6 billion arms sale to Israel.
“Just one hour before doing so, the Trump Administration informed me it would disregard Congressional oversight and years of standing practice, and immediately notify over $6 billion dollars in arms sales to Israel,” Meeks said in a statement.
Traditionally, the top members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are given advance notice of arms sales and are able to informally place holds on them before formal notification of such sales is sent to Congress. Meeks has, at times, temporarily placed such holds on sales to Israel during the war in Gaza, seeking additional information or assurances.
“Shamefully, this is now the second time the Trump Administration has blatantly ignored long-standing Congressional prerogatives while also refusing to engage Congress on critical questions about the next steps in Gaza and broader U.S.-Israel policy,” Meeks said.
He added that the administration has refused to provide the committee with briefings with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff or other senior administration officials and failed to provide a reason for bypassing standard procedures.
“In the United States we do not have kings — we are a democracy rooted in the Constitution, governed by laws,” Meeks continued. “Our founding fathers enshrined Congress’ role first in our Constitution — in Article I. Through his actions, President Trump has again made abundantly clear his disregard for Congress as a coequal branch of government and for the American people we represent.”
He also criticized Republican colleagues for not speaking out about the Trump administration’s moves.
The sale to Israel, announced by the administration on Friday, includes dozens of Apache attack helicopters, light utility helicopters, more than 3,000 light tactical vehicles and power packs for Namer armored personnel carriers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“The proposed sale will enhance Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend Israel’s borders, vital infrastructure, and population centers,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement. “This proposed sale will increase interoperability with U.S. forces and conveys U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and armed forces modernization. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”
The Pentagon said the sale “will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
The administration also notified Congress of a $9 billion sale of Patriot interceptor missiles planned to Saudi Arabia.
The weapons in question would likely not be delivered to either country for multiple years.
Plus, Trump favors strikes on Iran over diplomacy
Russell Yip/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
California State Senator Scott Wiener addresses the SF Chronicle Editorial Board on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 in San Francisco, Calif.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
The suspect in the arson attack that destroyed Mississippi’s largest synagogue early Saturday morning confessed to targeting the building because of its “Jewish ties,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
In an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi more than 48 hours after the attack, the FBI said the suspect, Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, admitted to starting the blaze at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., due to “the building’s Jewish ties” and referred to the institution as the “synagogue of Satan” in an interview with the Jackson Fire Department. Pittman was charged with “maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive”…
President Donald Trump said Iranian officials made contact with the U.S. over the weekend and proposed restarting nuclear negotiations, telling reporters, “A meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting,” referring to the U.S. potentially taking military action in Iran over its violent crackdown on protesters around the country.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also spoke with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days about the protests, Axios reports; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today that an Iranian government official who spoke to Witkoff “express[ed] a far different tone than what you’re seeing publicly.”
Trump is currently leaning toward authorizing military strikes rather than engaging in diplomacy, The Wall Street Journal reports, and he is scheduled to hold a briefing tomorrow with advisors, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, to make a determination…
California Jewish communal organizations released a joint statement today condemning state Sen. Scott Wiener’s remarks on Israel, after the Jewish House candidate said in a video statement yesterday that he is changing his position and will now call Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
“We recognize that Senator Wiener has been a strong supporter of the Jewish community throughout the Israel-Hamas war and his many years of public service, and that he has directly experienced antisemitic attacks simply for being Jewish. Unfortunately, Senator Wiener’s newly stated position is both incorrect and lacks moral clarity. … We call on the Senator and our elected, civic, and education leaders to recognize and reflect on the consequences of their words in this fraught and polarizing environment,” the statement read…
In a major recruiting win for Senate Democrats, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) announced her run against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) today, JI’s Marc Rod reports, giving Democrats an outside chance of picking up the red-state Senate seat.
Peltola maintained a strongly pro-Israel voting record during her one term in the House, breaking on numerous occasions with a majority of her party to vote for measures supporting the Jewish state post-Oct. 7, including supporting a stand-alone Israel aid package opposed by many Democrats. Sullivan, for his part, has been a hawkish pro-Israel voice in the Senate, and has pushed for a more aggressive stance toward Iran…
Democratic Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo is launching a bid to succeed his former mentor, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), as the former House majority leader retires. Boafo, who served as campaign manager for Hoyer, is expected to be the party favorite in the primary, Politico reports. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who rose to prominence after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, is also considering joining the race…
In another race to watch, Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ) in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District gained another opponent in Tiffany Burress, a Republican political newcomer and wife of former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress. On the first day of her campaign, Burress has already secured the backing of several GOP county chairs, as the party looks to flip the seat away from Pou after Trump unexpectedly carried the district in 2024…
Former Obama administration officials and Crooked Media hosts Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Ben Rhodes are hosting a fundraiser in Hollywood, Calif., on Thursday for Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left, anti-Israel candidate running for Senate in Michigan, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
El-Sayed, a physician and former director of the Wayne County Department of Health, has made his criticisms of Israel a centerpiece of his campaign, blasting other candidates in the race as being insufficiently hostile to the Jewish state. Favreau, Lovett and Rhodes, on their “Pod Save America” and “Pod Save the World” podcasts, have also emerged as a vocal force against Israel and AIPAC in the Democratic Party, and have boosted prominent anti-Israel candidates in other hot-button primaries…
The future of the Israeli Lounge at the Trump-Kennedy Center is reportedly in peril, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Judah Ari Gross reports, “unless a major donor from the Jewish community steps up and makes a large donation,” far-right commentator Laura Loomer said over the weekend. The center’s president, Richard Grenell, is seeking to renovate the space; Loomer has suggested Qatar may look to provide the funds for the room’s overhaul…
The New York Times reports on the brewing fight between states over the order of 2028 Democratic presidential primary elections…
Dina Powell McCormick, a banking executive, former deputy national security advisor to Trump and wife of Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), was named president and vice chair of Meta, reporting to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Axios reports. Zuckerberg said in a statement that Powell McCormick will focus on “partnering with governments and sovereigns to build, deploy, invest in, and finance Meta’s AI and infrastructure”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for more details on the motives and background of the suspected arsonist who set fire to the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., over the weekend.
President Donald Trump will receive a major briefing on avenues for responding to Iran’s violent suppression of protests, including cyber, economic and military options.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will deliver her State of the State address in Albany, where she plans to announce her proposal to create a 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship and health-care facilities. (The legislation, while welcomed by major Jewish groups, would not have prevented the pro-Hamas protest that disrupted a Queens community last week, which took place approximately 300 feet away from the targeted synagogue.) New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to be in attendance.
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ON ALERT
Hezbollah’s continued presence in south Lebanon alarms Israel, despite disarmament claims
The Lebanese Armed Forces said it took operational control south of the Litani River, but has fallen well short of fully disarming the terrorist group
Plus, New Jersey IHRA bill scuttled
Kamran / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran on January 8, 2026.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Protests are escalating across Iran, with videos showing masses of demonstrators taking to the streets and security forces at times overwhelmed. Human rights groups estimate dozens of protesters have already been killed and reports indicate the country is experiencing an internet blackout. Storeowners are reportedly shuttering their businesses in an economic boycott, further deepening the economic crisis that spurred the unrest.
President Donald Trump reiterated his warning today that the Iranian regime will “have to pay hell” if “they start killing people, which they tend to do,” speculating that the deaths so far have been caused by stampedes and not law enforcement. Vice President JD Vance said at a press briefing that the Iranian regime “has a lot of problems” and that “the smartest thing for them to have done … is for them to actually have a real negotiation with the United States”…
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that he is establishing a royal commission into antisemitism in the country, after the deadly terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney last month. The commission, considered a powerful tool in Australian governance, will investigate the scope and causes of antisemitism and make recommendations for law enforcement, in a report due on the year anniversary of the Dec. 14 attack…
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spain would send “peacekeeping troops” to the Gaza Strip “when the opportunity presents itself.” Speaking to a gathering of ambassadors in Madrid today, he said, “Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip … Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine.” Many countries remain wary of contributing troops to stabilize Gaza over concerns of being required to engage with Hamas…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with Nickolay Mladenov, former U.N. envoy to the Middle East and soon-to-be representative of the U.S.-led Board of Peace in Gaza…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been silent thus far today about a protest taking place tonight organized by the radical anti-Israel group responsible for a similar protest outside the Park East Synagogue in November, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
The group posted the address of the real estate event they intend to protest, which is taking place at a synagogue in Queens’ heavily Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills. The synagogue canceled prayer services and two nearby schools, Yeshiva of Central Queens and PS 165, announced early closures. Democratic state Assemblymember Sam Berger, who represents the area, told JI that local principals, staff and parents are “very concerned.” The surrounding area has been “completely upended,” he said…
The New Jersey Legislature will not give further consideration to a bill seeking to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into state law during this legislative session, the bill’s lead sponsor announced, after several years of the Jewish community’s urging for the measure to be adopted…
Rob Sand, the state auditor and Democratic candidate for governor of Iowa, announced he raised over $9.5 million in 2025, more than double the record for off-year fundraising for a gubernatorial election in the state. Sand told Jewish Insider in 2019, when he first took office as auditor, that he conducted what was “definitely the first audit” to ensure agencies were in compliance with a state anti-BDS law. “When you say [you are] willing to be supportive of your ally [Israel], you need to put your money where your mouth is,” he said at the time…
Far-left New York state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez joined the race to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) today in the progressive 7th Congressional District covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens. The Democratic Socialists of America and Mamdani are expected to endorse Valdez, a move that could prove consequential in the district that The New York Times said will “pit left against lefter.”
Valdez, who has already brought on several of Mamdani’s advisors, was a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and pro-Israel political groups; her opponent, Antonio Reynoso, takes similar stances but is viewed as a more “traditional progressive” and is expected to secure Velázquez’s support, the Times reports…
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) officially announced his retirement today after serving 23 terms, one of the longest-serving House members in U.S. history. Speaking on the House floor, the former majority leader and pro-Israel champion warned he was “deeply concerned that this House is not living up to the founders’ goals” and that the country “is heading not toward greatness, but toward smallness, pettiness, divisiveness, loneliness and disdainfulness”…
In his first State of the State address since 2020 — and final before his term ends next year — California Gov. Gavin Newsom heralded his state as a “beacon” and a “policy blueprint for others to follow.” He denounced Trump and laid out a policy agenda including clean energy, increased wages and lowered housing costs, in a speech seen as laying the groundwork for his potential 2028 presidential run…
The Qatar Investment Authority and Emirati-based MGX, linked to a UAE sovereign wealth fund, participated in the latest fundraising round for Elon Musk’s xAI, which raised over $15 billion total. Gulf investors including QIA and the Saudi and Omani sovereign funds have taken part in previous fundraising rounds for the company that owns the Grok AI chatbot on X…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at how legislation in New Jersey to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism was scuttled — and who was behind the bill’s demise.
The third season of the hit TV show “Tehran” will premiere in the U.S. on Apple TV tomorrow, after a delay of several years. The popular international thriller, which follows a Mossad agent operating undercover in Iran, was indefinitely postponed at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The season ran in Israel in December 2024, and Apple has announced the fourth season is already in production.
On Saturday, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt will sit in conversation with Rabbi David Wolpe about the “golden age of American Jewry” at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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MENIN’S MOMENT
New York Jewish leaders hope Menin will serve as check against Mamdani
Julie Menin was elected the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council on Wednesday
Plus, Likud lawmaker calls out 'poison' on American right
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Council member Julie Menin speaks during rally of 240 Holocaust survivors for 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas during terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Qatar is the top country donating foreign funds to American universities, and Cornell University is its leading recipient, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
According to a new dashboard from the Department of Education, Qatar holds the No. 1 spot for funds provided to U.S. universities at a whopping $6.6 billion — $2.3 billion of which has gone to Cornell, making up the vast majority of the school’s $3 billion in foreign funding. Qatar has provided significantly more funds than the next leading countries, bolstering criticisms of the Gulf state’s influence over American higher education…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud this afternoon “to advance ongoing bilateral cooperation” following President Donald Trump’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November. Rubio and Al-Saud discussed issues including Gaza, Yemen, Sudan and Syria, according to a State Department readout.
The Saudi foreign minister also met with lawmakers on the Hill, including Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the chair and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee…
Trump is expected to kick off the second phase of the Gaza peace plan next week, Axios reports, including announcing the formation of the Gaza Board of Peace. Among the countries expected to participate are the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, with former U.N. envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov at the helm…
In a Truth Social post this afternoon, Trump called for the U.S. defense budget to be raised to $1.5 trillion in 2027, an increase of approximately 50% from his 2026 request…
Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz, in a speech to the Knesset on Monday, warned the American right about the dangers of rising antisemitism within its ranks, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports.
“I stand here in Jerusalem to sound an alarm,” Illouz said. “We are used to enemies from the outside … but today, I look at the West — our greatest ally — and I see a new enemy rising from within.” Illouz, who was born and raised in Montreal, took the unusual step of speaking from the lectern in English.
The right-wing lawmaker called for American conservatives to reject what he called the “poison” of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, mentioning the podcasters by name. “They claim to fight the ‘woke left.’ They are no different than the woke left,” Illouz argued. “The woke left tears down statues of Thomas Jefferson, the woke right tears down statues of Winston Churchill … It is the same hatred of the West dressed up in a different costume”…
New York City Councilmember Julie Menin was unanimously voted speaker of the council today, as expected, after she announced in November that she had garnered enough support to secure the position.
Shortly after being elected, Menin, the first Jewish council speaker in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world, said she will look to codify legislation to protect the Jewish community, including establishing safe perimeters for protests around synagogues…
A new poll by the Honan Strategy Group found Jewish and non-Jewish New York voters split in their views about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the Forward reports. Fifty-five percent of non-Jewish respondents said Jews who say they feel threatened by Mamdani’s views on Israel are overreacting, while 53% of Jewish respondents said they are justified to feel that way. Fifty-one percent of Jews said Mamdani’s election is a troubling sign that antisemitism is being normalized, while 61% of non-Jews see it as evidence of healthy debate and diversity…
The New York Times lays out an ongoing lawsuit in New York over redistricting that could see the 11th Congressional District redrawn, which could impact the boundaries of Rep. Dan Goldman’s (D-NY) neighboring district and further complicate his reelection prospects…
In New Jersey, congressional candidates are raking in donations for what’s shaping up to be one of the state’s most expensive primary cycles ever. In the special election in the state’s 11th Congressional District to replace Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) announced he’s raised more than $1 million in the two months since he launched his bid.
Three Democratic candidates vying for Malinowski’s old seat in the neighboring 7th District, now held by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), have also raised over $1 million each, including former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett. The large fundraising hauls are unusual for an off year, though Democrats see the 7th as a promising opportunity to flip a House seat, given that the swing district narrowly voted for Sherrill, a Democrat, in November…
Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a far-right Republican, announced today he will not pursue a rematch against Gov. Josh Shapiro, to whom he lost decisively in the 2022 gubernatorial race, amid speculation that he would once again seek the office…
Warner Bros. rejected a hostile takeover bid from Paramount, in the latest development in the battle to acquire the media giant. The company’s board voted to maintain its existing deal with Netflix for $72 billion, calling Paramount’s amended $77.9 billion offer with a personal guarantee from Larry Ellison “inadequate”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at the dynamics that may play out between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the newly inaugurated City Council Speaker Julie Menin as she plays a critical role in potentially providing a check against the mayor’s policy agenda.
Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center in New York City will host a screening of the documentary “The Road Between Us” about Gen. Noam Tibon’s historic rescue of his family amid the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, as well as a discussion with Tibon and director Barry Avrich. Read JI’s interview with Tibon and Avrich.
Stories You May Have Missed
REASONS AND RAMIFICATIONS
Why Israel recognized Somaliland — and what the rest of the world might do next
After Israel announced it would recognize the secessionist region, the big question remains whether the United States will follow suit
SAME AS THE OLD BOSS
New Venezuelan president signals similar anti-American foreign policy as Maduro
At a swearing-in ceremony on Monday, interim President Delcy Rodríguez appeared to embrace the ambassadors of Iran, China and Russia
Plus, New York candidates get in the midterm mood
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
An anti-U.S. and Israeli billboard depicting symbolic images of coffins of U.S. and Israeli soldiers, alongside a statement from the Speaker of Iran's Parliament, Ali Larijani, that reads, ''Watch out your soldiers,'' hangs from a state building in downtown Tehran, Iran, on January 6, 2026.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Bolstering concerns that Iran could attempt to strike Israel to rally domestic support amid nationwide protests, Iran’s Defense Council warned today that Tehran could act against its “long-standing enemies” over their “hostile behavior.”
The body, formed after the June war with Israel, said in a statement that “Iran’s security, independence and territorial integrity are an uncrossable red line, and any aggression or continuation of hostile behavior will be met with a proportionate and decisive response.”
“The long-standing enemies of this land” are “repeating and intensifying threatening language and interventionist statements in clear conflict with the accepted principles of international law, which is aimed at dismembering our beloved Iran and harming the country’s identity,” the statement continued, as President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene if Iran cracks down on the protesters…
Wrapping up a U.S.-mediated dialogue in Paris, Israel and Syria made progress towards improving relations as they agreed to accelerate the pace of negotiations going forward, considered a U.S. proposal to establish a demilitarized joint economic zone and agreed to set up a communication mechanism to facilitate coordination on military deescalation, intelligence sharing and diplomacy…
Domestically, midterm election year is in full swing: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) officially launched his reelection bid today in New York’s 10th Congressional District, highlighting the date as the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and his role as the House’s lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment.
Goldman came out of the gate against his opponent, former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, with a slew of endorsements, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA).
Goldman told The New York Times that he understood his continued support for Israel “ran the risk of engendering a primary” in his progressive district but that he made his decisions based on “what I genuinely thought was best for the state of Israel, the people of Israel, Palestinian civilians and the future state of Palestine”…
Nearby in New York’s 12th Congressional District, George Conway, a former Republican lawyer and prominent critic of Trump who launched his run today as a Democrat, raised several concerns about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s approach to Israel and antisemitism in recent interviews, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Conway, who recently relocated to Manhattan in order to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), said in an interview with The New York Times that he was “disturbed” by Mamdani’s sharp criticisms of Israel, even as he called the mayor “a great politician” and voiced admiration for his “focus on affordability.”
Conway added in an interview with NBC News that he was “concerned about some of the language” Mamdani has “used in the past about Israel,” as well as the mayor’s recent decision to revoke a pair of executive orders related to Israel and antisemitism on his first day in office. “His focus really has to be on bringing people together,” Conway said of Mamdani, “not sending the wrong message to individual groups of people”…
In the crowded Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District to take on Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Peter Chatzky, the deputy mayor of Briarcliff Manor, injected $5 million of his own money into his campaign, Politico reports. Chatzky has stood out from the crowd in the competitive swing district in the northern suburbs of New York City with his comparatively critical stance of Israel.
Cait Conley, meanwhile, a national security veteran strongly supportive of Israel who is considered one of the front-runners in the seven-person race to take on Lawler, announced yesterday that she raised more than $560,000 in the last quarter of 2025 and has over $1.2 million in cash on hand…
Former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) is considering mounting a run for Senate to challenge Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Axios reports. Peltola narrowly lost her seat in 2024 when Trump carried the state in the presidential election; if she does make a bid, she would give Democrats the opportunity to contest a red-state race, giving them an outside shot to win back the upper chamber…
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) died today at 65, Republican leadership announced. AIPAC mourned him as “an outspoken pro-Israel leader in Congress.” The congressman’s seat, a largely rural district he represented since 2013, was redrawn last year to be more favorable to Democrats, but a special election to fill his seat will be held under the old map friendlier to Republicans due to the timing of the vacancy…
Speaking at a press conference on the latest crime statistics out of New York City, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, standing next to Mamdani, said that antisemitic hate crimes in the city declined 3% from 2024 to 2025 but, at 57%, still make up the majority of all hate crimes reported…
In an interview released today on CNN commentator Scott Jennings’ podcast, Vice President JD Vance, asked about the rise of antisemitism in the conservative movement, said, “we need to reject all forms of ethnic hatred, whether it’s antisemitism, anti-Black hatred, anti-white hatred,” JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
“I think that’s one of the great things about the conservative coalition, is that we are, I think, fundamentally rooted in the Christian principles that founded the United States of America and one of those very important principles is that we judge people as individuals,” Vance continued…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a deep dive into the geopolitical ramifications of Israel’s choice to formally recognize the African nation of Somaliland — and whether the U.S. might follow suit.
The New York City Council will vote to elect its speaker tomorrow, which is widely expected to be Councilmember Julie Menin. Menin, who will be the first Jewish speaker of the council, has already begun to push back on Mayor Zohran Mamdani, expressing her concern to him over his repeal of former Mayor Eric Adams’ executive orders related to Israel and antisemitism.
In Washington, the Atlantic Council will host a discussion on the “future of humanitarian assistance,” including remarks from IsraAID CEO Yotam Polizer.
Stories You May Have Missed
TORAH AND BENCH
The judge overseeing the Maduro trial blazed a trail for Jewish lawyers
Judge Alvin Hellerstein became a law clerk because firms would not hire an Orthodox lawyer; now, he cites Torah from the bench
DRAWING LINES
Bruce Blakeman outlines his approach to antisemitism if elected NY governor
Asked about right-wing antisemitism, Blakeman said that Tucker Carlson ‘is a big blowhard who has an issue with Jewish people’
Plus, the Harvard president's mea culpa
Bryan Dozier/Deadline via Getty Images
Amy Klobuchar, John Bessler and Tim Walz at the Residence of Ireland on April 27, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Dominating the headlines, deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty to charges including narco-terrorism during their arraignment in New York City today. “I am still president of my country,” Maduro told the judge, who set their next hearing for March 17.
At the same time, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, whom the Trump administration has said it will work with, was sworn in as interim president in Caracas, though she insisted that Maduro is still president and that he is being held hostage by the U.S…
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced today that he will no longer seek reelection to a third term after facing weeks of criticism due to revelations of widespread fraud primarily among the state’s Somali diaspora population.
“I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all. Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” Walz, who has increasingly played to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, said in his announcement.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a moderate with a record of winning over independent voters, is considering running for governor in his stead, after she and Walz met yesterday. On the Republican side, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Speaker of the Statehouse Lisa Demuth are already vying for the office…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani denied that his executive order altering the relationship between the NYPD and his office — which appeared to indicate that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch would no longer report to him but to a deputy mayor — will be meaningful in its impact, telling reporters today that the commissioner “will continue to report directly to me … The executive order is in terms of the question of coordination.”
The direct line between the mayor and NYPD head has been in place at least since the terror attacks of 9/11, after which the commissioner began to hold daily intelligence briefings for the mayor. The National Jewish Advocacy Center called the restructuring “unprecedented” in a letter to Mamdani and said that “The close relationship between the NYPD and the Mayor’s Office has been key to averting disasters for the Jewish community,” including during Hanukkah last month.
The move came as Mamdani revoked an executive order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions order, which also drew backlash from Jewish leaders…
Meanwhile, in one of his final acts in office, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter today reminding all K-12 superintendents and school boards in the state of their obligation to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism into their codes of conduct and discrimination policies, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
“As part of your compliance with Federal and Virginia law, you must implement the IHRA definition and its contemporary examples into your codes of conduct and discrimination policies to assess unprotected activity,” Miyares wrote, referencing a law passed by the state legislature in May 2023 requiring use of the IHRA definition by all state agencies…
Harvard President Alan Garber said that the university was wrong to let professors express strong stances on controversial issues in the classroom, causing students to feel they couldn’t share their views, including faculty espousing anti-Israel views in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. “It did happen in classrooms that professors would push this,” he said in a live taping of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s “Identity/Crisis Podcast” last month…
Leslie Grinage, Barnard’s dean and vice president of campus life and student experience, left her position today, the Columbia Spectator reports, after she came under intense criticism for her role in disciplining students who had violated school rules during anti-Israel protests on campus. Dozens of protesters staged a sit-in outside her office last year to demand the reinstatement of two students who were expelled after they disrupted a History of Modern Israel class…
Speaking in the Knesset today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and President Donald Trump “will not allow Iran to rebuild its ballistic missile industry, and we certainly won’t let it renew its nuclear program” and that the two leaders agree that Iran must have no enrichment capabilities, all of its enriched uranium must be sent out of the country and there must be close oversight of its nuclear facilities…
Netanyahu also met with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) in Jerusalem today…
The Israel Defense Forces and Moroccan Armed Forces signed a joint work plan for 2026 during the third meeting of their Joint Military Committee in Tel Aviv this week…
A man was arrested for vandalizing the personal residence of Vice President JD Vance in Cincinnati this morning. Nobody was home at the time. “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I’m grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly,” Vance said on X…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a look at Judge Alvin Hellerstein, the 92-year-old Orthodox Jewish federal judge overseeing the trial of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The Academic Engagement Network is convening a three-day “boot camp” in Miami Beach this week for university faculty combating antisemitism and anti-Zionism on campus. Speakers will include Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal, the Atlantic Council’s Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, antisemitism researcher Miri Bar-Halpern and past president of the American Association of University Presidents Cary Nelson.
Tomorrow, former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and commentator Dan Senor will speak about “Israeli strategy in war and peace” in West Palm Beach, Fla., for the Palm Beach Synagogue’s “Critical Conversation Series.”
Stories You May Have Missed
DOMINO EFFECT
Toppling Maduro may weaken Iran’s hold in Latin America
Caracas served as the hub of Tehran’s operations in the Western Hemisphere
ON THE AGENDA
Security remains Jewish community’s top lobbying priority for 2026
Major Jewish advocacy organizations told JI that they will continue to push for issues including Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding and combating antisemitism online
Plus, Ben Sasse announces terminal diagnosis
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Members of the public pay their respects at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on October 20, 2025 in Manchester, England.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Two men in Manchester, England were found guilty of planning a terror attack on the city’s Jewish community, in the same area where two people were killed in a car ramming and stabbing attack at a synagogue on Yom Kippur.
Police warned it would have been the “deadliest terrorist attack in U.K. history”; the would-be assailants were affiliated with ISIS and had obtained guns and ammunition for an extended shooting spree, which they indicated was revenge for Israel’s actions in Gaza. One told an undercover officer, “We start with the Jews and if there any Christians caught in the act, that is a bonus, but we start with the Jews”…
At the same time, British police dropped a criminal investigation into Bob Vylan, the rap duo who led “death to the IDF” chants at the Glastonbury music festival in June, citing “insufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction”…
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem today pushing for additional information about Nonprofit Security Grant Program allocations, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, as well as criticizing the $330 million funding allocation for the program proposed last week by Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“As I travel around Connecticut and hear from community leaders here and around the country, I am struck by the severely heightened anxiety and apprehension about physical threats to places of worship and community centers involving hate-based violence,” Blumenthal said.
The senator requested data on grant applications and acceptances, the reasons why FEMA has provided less funding than requested to some institutions and the resources FEMA provided to unsuccessful applicants for each year from 2023 to 2025…
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz walked back comments he made earlier today claiming Israel would reestablish settlements in the Gaza Strip; he said in a statement shortly after that “the government has no intention of establishing settlements” in the enclave and his comments were “made in a security context only.”
A U.S. official told Fox News about Katz’s initial remarks that “the more Israel provokes, the less the Arab countries will want to work with them”…
Israel covertly airdropped weapons and ammunition to a Druze militia in Syria shortly after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, The Washington Post reports, over concerns of then-nascent President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s allegiances. Israel stopped providing weapons to the Druze after Al-Sharaa met with President Donald Trump in the White House earlier this year, though it continues to provide supplies including money, body armor and medical provisions.
“We were helping when it was absolutely necessary and are committed to minorities’ security, but it is not as if we are going to have commandos take positions next to the Druze or get in the business of organizing proxies,” one Israeli official told the Post…
At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council today, Iran accused the U.S. of violating its rights as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by insisting that the country have no domestic uranium enrichment. (The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency declared Iran in violation of the NPT in June.)
U.S. deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in response, “We’d like to make it clear to the entire world: the United States remains available for formal talks with Iran, but only if Tehran is prepared for direct and meaningful dialogue. … We have been clear, however, about certain expectations for any arrangement. Foremost, there can be no enrichment inside of Iran, and that remains our principle”…
Estimated private funding of Israeli tech businesses reached $15.6 billion in 2025, according to early numbers from Startup National Central, a nonprofit that tracks and promotes the Israeli innovation ecosystem, up from $12 billion in 2024. “At the same time, deal volume declined to 717 rounds, the lowest in the last decade. This divergence tells a clear story: investors are doing fewer deals, but committing significantly more capital to each one,” the organization wrote….
Ben Sasse, the former Republican senator from Nebraska and previous president of the University of Florida, announced today that he has terminal Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. As UF president during the disruptive campus protests in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, Sasse was heralded for taking a uniquely firm stance against the protesters; he resigned from UF in July 2024 due to his wife’s failing health…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
This is the last Daily Overtime of 2025 — we’ll be back in your inbox on Monday, Jan. 5.
Until then, keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on Jewish communal organizations’ 2026 legislative agenda, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump in Florida next week (read JI’s Lahav Harkov’s preview of the meeting here), Zohran Mamdani’s first days in office after being sworn in as New York City mayor on Jan. 1, and more.
Happy New Year!
Stories You May Have Missed
MILTARY MATTERS
Pentagon plan to reorganize military could undermine U.S.-Israel security, experts warn
Shifting U.S. resources out of the Middle East could impact the U.S.’ ability to counter Iran and send allies towards Russia or China, JINSA’s Blaise Misztal said
DAMASCUS DEALINGS
Trump’s Syria strategy tested amid resurgence of ISIS in Damascus
An attack by ISIS forces on U.S. servicemembers earlier this month prompted U.S. airstrikes and an entry ban on Syrian nationals, despite Trump’s embrace of Syria President Ahmad al-Sharaa
Plus, Turning Point attendees hold the pro-Israel line
Gage Skidmore
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Over a dozen of the Heritage Foundation’s top legal and economic staff are departing the think tank to join former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom group, in the latest sign of the continued internal dysfunction racking Heritage since its president, Kevin Roberts, embraced Tucker Carlson after he platformed neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.
“Why these people are coming our way is that Heritage and some other voices and commentators have embraced big-government populism and have been willing to tolerate antisemitism,” Pence told The Wall Street Journal.
More than 30 of Heritage’s employees have reportedly resigned or been fired in the last several days, and at least three trustees have also dropped their affiliation with the group. Josh Blackman, who announced he’s stepping down as senior editor of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, told Roberts in his resignation letter that his comments on Carlson “were a huge unforced blunder, and gave aid and comfort to the rising tide of antisemitism on the right”…
A straw poll conducted of attendees at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest summit found that the anti-Israel views of some of the event’s speakers were not largely shared by the audience — only 13% of respondents said they don’t view Israel as an ally of the United States (one-third thought Israel is a “top ally” while an additional 53% said it’s one ally of many).
Brent Scher, editor-in-chief of the conservative Daily Wire, wrote on X about the poll, “For those who think Tucker and Candace [Owens] are winning … they’ve convinced nobody.” The same poll found 84% of respondents would like to see Vice President JD Vance as the 2028 Republican presidential nominee…
A new report from the Anti-Defamation League finds that more than one-fifth of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s appointees to his transition team have extreme anti-Israel backgrounds, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Among the advisors, Youssef Mubaraz, who was appointed to serve on the committee on small businesses, dismissed a Facebook video about Hamas’ widespread use of sexual violence on Oct. 7 as “propaganda,” according to the report. Mohammed Karim Chowdhury, a member of the worker justice committee, previously shared a post claiming that “Zionists are worse than Haman of ancient times, the Inquisition, and the Nazis.”
Mamdani said about the report at a press conference today that “we must distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government” and that the “ADL’s report oftentimes ignores this distinction”…
George Conway, co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project group, filed paperwork today to join the crowded Democratic primary in New York’s 12th Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). The once decidedly conservative lawyer abandoned his affiliation with the Republican Party over his disagreements with President Donald Trump and became a significant donor of former President Joe Biden, though Conway’s decision to run as a Democrat himself is a step further than he’s gone before.
The New York Times reported last month that Conway told a group of donors he would aim to act as a “wingman” to Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Dan Goldman (D-NY), also both lawyers fiercely opposed to Trump, if elected to Congress…
Meanwhile Erik Bottcher, a New York City councilman, dropped out of the NY-12 primary in order to run for a state Senate seat…
Brad Lander, the outgoing New York City comptroller trying to unseat Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), received an endorsement today from anti-Israel City Councilmember Shahana Hanif, who has faced backlash from her sizable Jewish constituency for her refusal to explicitly condemn Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks and blaming Israel’s “unjust occupation of the Palestinian people” for the violence, her inaction on incidents of antisemitism in the district and her endorsement of calls to “globalize the intifada,” among other issues…
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee echoed warnings Jerusalem is reportedly providing to the Trump administration around Iran’s preparations for another military conflict with Israel while speaking at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies conference today.
“Iran, I don’t know that they ever took [Trump] seriously until the night that the B-2 bombers went to Fordow. I hope they got the message but apparently they didn’t get the full message cause … they appear to be trying to reconstitute and find a new way to dig the hole deeper, secure it more,” Huckabee said…
The Trump administration is recalling senior diplomats from at least 29 countries, State Department officials told the Associated Press, largely from Africa and Asia with several in Europe and the Middle East, as part of its continued effort to “advance the America First agenda”…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted the prime minister of Greece and president of Cyprus in Jerusalem today to “strengthen security, promote economic development and deepen the ties between our countries,” he said in a statement…
In the latest development in the bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount amended its offer to acquire the company to include $40.4 billion of equity financing personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and father of Paramount’s CEO, David Ellison. Warner Bros. had previously advised shareholders to reject Paramount’s offer due to concerns over its ability to provide the financing…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort at the end of the month.
Stories You May Have Missed
TALARICO TALK
Texas Jewish voters alarmed by James Talarico’s Israel rhetoric
Local leaders said that, without improved outreach from Talarico to address their concerns, they’re likely to vote for Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary
MENORAHS ON THE MALL
Lighting up Washington: Rabbi Levi Shemtov brings Hanukkah to the halls of power
The EVP of American Friends of Lubavitch is a staple around town during the holiday, regardless of the party in power
Plus, Trump contradicts Bibi on Mar-a-Lago meeting
ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images
Catherine Almonte Da Costa, Director of Appointments, speaks during a press conference with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (L) and Jahmila Edwards (C), Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, on December 17, 2025 in New York.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s newly tapped director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, abruptly resigned this afternoon after her history of antisemitic online posts — including complaining about “money hungry Jews” — was unearthed, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Da Costa, who previously served as executive assistant to former Mayor Bill DeBlasio and was appointed by Mamdani yesterday, posted a series of antisemitic comments in 2011 and 2012, which were obtained by the Judge Street Journal.
Among other X posts — deleted along with her account today — Da Costa wrote in January 2011, “Money hungry Jews smh,” according to screenshots. “Woo! Promoted to the upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps,” she posted in June 2011.
After outcry from the Anti-Defamation League and others, Mamdani’s team told JI that “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and [Mamdani] accepted.” Da Costa said in her own statement that her posts were “not indicative of who I am” and had “become a distraction from the work at hand”…
In another incident of antisemitism proliferating online, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua garnered widespread backlash — including from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s foundation focused on combating antisemitism — for performing an antisemitic dance on social media on Tuesday, JI’s Haley Cohen reports, leading Nacua to issue an apology this afternoon.
During streamer Adin Ross’ livestream on Tuesday, he taught the wide receiver a touchdown celebration that ended with Nacua looking into the camera and rubbing his hands together — a stereotypical movement indicating greed that Ross’ fans refer to as his “iconic Jewish dance.” Ross then asked Nacua to perform the dance during the Rams’ game against the Seattle Seahawks tonight, to which Nacua agreed.
In his apology, Nacua stated that at the time of the livestream, he had “no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetrated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people”…
In response to the Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that his government will introduce new legislation to strengthen hate speech laws in the country and allow the government to cancel or reject visas of people deemed likely to spread hate.
The move comes after Australia ignored repeated warnings from local Jewish communities and Israel that rising antisemitism in the country posed a threat to Jewish safety; Albanese conceded the point in his announcement, claiming, “Governments aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect”…
Scott Singer, the Republican mayor of Boca Raton, Fla., announced a run for Congress today for the seat held by Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL). The district, already competitive, is facing a possible redistricting effort by state Republicans which would further endanger the pro-Israel congressman’s hold on it. Singer, who sits on the U.S. advisory board of Combat Antisemitism Movement, has been a strong supporter of Israel as well…
NOTUS asked over 120 House Republicans if they intend to run for reelection amid rumors of a mass wave of retirements in the party. Several, including Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Mark Amodei (R-NV), gave noncommittal answers…
The State Department issued new sanctions today against dozens of ships and related companies involved in Iran’s “shadow fleet” used to evade existing oil sanctions, as well as against two International Criminal Court judges involved in prosecuting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing the judges’ votes against an Israeli appeal to drop arrest warrants for the two earlier this week…
President Donald Trump contradicted an announcement made weeks ago by Netanyahu’s office that the two have set a meeting at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., for Dec. 29, telling reporters in the Oval Office today, “We haven’t set [a meeting] up formally, but [Netanyahu] would like to see me. … He’ll probably come see me in Florida.”
Asked if Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi will join them, as speculated by the signing of a major gas deal between Israel and Egypt yesterday, Trump said, “I’d love to have him. El-Sissi is a friend of mine”…
D.C. City Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist running for city mayor, committed to standing up for the Jewish community and taking proactive steps to ensure its security on a panel at a Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington breakfast this morning, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Lewis George’s presence at the event and comments are particularly notable given that she’s a self-identified democratic socialist. (Many DSA-aligned elected officials across the country, including Mamdani, have had combative or nonexistent relationships with mainstream Jewish organizations in their cities and districts.)
“I learned at a very young age how important it was to loudly condemn and loudly stand up for our Jewish neighbors,” Lewis George said. She recalled that she realized through education programs in D.C. schools “how important it was that we support each other in solidarity, in our connected struggles, our connected history”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with a longtime Jewish activist mounting a bid for Washington, D.C.’s congressional delegate seat.
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with the Qatari prime minister and Egyptian and Turkish foreign ministers in Miami tomorrow to discuss implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
Turning Point USA’s AmFest continues over the weekend, including a debate over Israel on Saturday between political commentator Steve Deace and Christian nationalist leader Pastor Doug Wilson.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
Stories You May Have Missed
FRIENDLY FIRE
At Heritage HQ, Ben Shapiro calls on think tank to draw red line against Tucker Carlson
‘If the Heritage Foundation wishes to retain its status as a leading thought institution in the conservative movement, it must act as ideological border control,’ Shapiro warned
CENTER PUSH
Moderate N.Y. Democrat Rory Lancman hoping to reinvigorate party’s centrist wing in the suburbs
The former state assemblyman told JI: ‘I confess to being disappointed that Democrats aren’t making a bright line litmus test out of whether someone supports the existence of the Jewish state’
Plus, Dan Shapiro takes the Rhodes less traveled
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Members of the public and congregants seen as Police and other emergency responders attend the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, where multiple were injured after stabbing and car attack on Yom Kippur, on October 2, 2025 in the Crumpsall suburb of Manchester, England.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
In the wake of the Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney and the deadly Yom Kippur attack in Manchester, the heads of Britain’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said they will change their policies on arrests in connection with the use of threatening slogans, including “globalize the intifada.”
“The words and chants used, especially in protests, matter and have real world consequences. We have consistently been advised by [the Crown Prosecution Service] that many of the phrases causing fear in Jewish communities don’t meet prosecution thresholds. Now, in the escalating threat context, we will recalibrate to be more assertive,” their joint statement read.
“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalise the intifada’ and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action. Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests,” they pledged. The Israeli Embassy in the U.K. welcomed the move but called it “disappointing” that it only came “after more Jews have been killed”…
Daniel Flesch, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, emerged as a critical voice raising the alarm on right-wing antisemitism from within the institution in a speech on Monday night, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports, as the think tank continues to grapple with fallout from its president’s embrace of Tucker Carlson after his controversial interview with neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.
“The last couple of years, really for longer than that, the threat of antisemitism has largely been the domain of the left,” Flesch said at a Hanukkah party hosted by the Young Jewish Conservatives. “Now, in some ways, the call is coming from inside the house.”
Flesch continued, “Right now, the issue we’re facing is a threat to the West. We see it on the left. Now we’re seeing it to the right. And those like Tucker Carlson and others present the greatest threat, I think, on the right. They are anti-conservatives in the conservative movement, seeking to destroy our movements, and in so doing, destroy the future of the United States”…
And on the left, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro called out his fellow Democrats in The Atlantic for their own turn against Israel, including his former Obama administration colleague, Ben Rhodes, who has emerged as one of the leading anti-Israel voices in the party.
“The story of the [Oct. 7] attack and its aftermath — so often ignored in commentaries about the past two years — affirms that what the United States was dealing with was not a genocidal nation out to destroy all Palestinians but a deeply imperfect democratic partner beset by enemies, actual genocidal enemies, and terrorists sworn to its physical destruction,” Shapiro wrote.
“But there is a darker danger to the approach that Rhodes and others endorse. … If the test of fealty for the Democratic Party becomes supporting international efforts to pressure Israel to define itself out of existence, or expressing indifference to the campaign of Israel’s enemies to destroy it, we will be in a much uglier place. That is not a policy that would meet any moral test … Those calling for an end to U.S. support for Israel need to be mindful that, perhaps inadvertently, they are abetting this camp”…
Brad Lander, the outgoing New York City comptroller challenging Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), told the anti-Israel publication Zeteo News and its host Mehdi Hasan that politicians including former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump are “delighted to weaponize antisemitism, to weaponize Jewish fear, against Muslims especially but really against inclusive, multi-racial democracy” in the wake of the Sydney terror attack. He also pledged to support efforts to recognize a Palestinian state if elected to Congress…
The Senate passed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act this afternoon, sending the bill to the president’s desk. Read JI’s coverage of the bill’s components, including the full repeal of Caesar Act sanctions on Syria and funding joint programs with Israel…
The Senate also finally confirmed Jared Isaacman to head NASA, after he was initially nominated last December but then pulled by the White House during a spat between Trump and Elon Musk, who backed his nomination, and renominated in November…
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Director Kash Patel’s right-hand, is contemplating leaving the bureau, multiple outlets report. Patel’s choice of Bongino for his deputy raised eyebrows at the time, given Bongino has no prior FBI experience — though he is a former Secret Service agent — and rose to prominence as a right-wing podcaster boosting claims that the 2020 election was “stolen”…
Israel signed its largest ever gas deal today with Egypt to the tune of around $35 billion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced. The White House had reportedly pushed Israel to finalize the deal to set the groundwork for a trilateral meeting between the three countries…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani today to “launch the seventh annual U.S.-Qatar Strategic Dialogue,” working to “deepen cooperation on shared economic and strategic goals in the Middle East and across the world,” according to a readout from Rubio…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with a moderate New York Democrat hoping to reclaim the party’s pro-Israel bonafides in a state Senate race in the wake of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory, and coverage of a fiery speech by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro at the Heritage Foundation today on antisemitism on the political right.
Turning Point USA’s annual America Fest summit will kick off in Phoenix, Ariz.; Opening night will include speeches from Erika Kirk, now CEO of TPUSA after the killing of her husband; Shapiro; actor and activist Russell Brand; and podcast hosts Matt Walsh and Tucker Carlson. The organization’s attempt to navigate its messaging about the identity of the GOP, including its stance on Israel, in the wake of its founder’s death will be on full display as both pro- and anti-Israel commentators, including Shapiro and Carlson, take the stage.
In Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will hold the last in its series of “Lox and Legislators” breakfasts in D.C. with speakers including outgoing Mayor Muriel Bowser and Attorney General Brian Schwalb.
The Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat NBA game taking place at the Barclays Center in New York will pay tribute to the victims of the Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, including participation by the nephew of slain Rabbi Eli Schlanger.
Stories You May Have Missed
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Trump warns that Israel, ‘Jewish lobby’ have lost influence in D.C.
Speaking at the White House’s annual Hanukkah party, the president said Congress is ‘becoming antisemitic’
SANDERS’ STATEMENT
Bernie Sanders pivots from sympathy toward Sydney shooting victims to criticizing Netanyahu
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Jerusalem had previously warned Australia’s PM that Palestinian statehood recognition endangered Jews in the country
Plus, WH adds Syria and Palestinians to travel ban
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
U.S. Coast Guard cutter with crew on deck sailing through foggy harbor waters with Golden Gate Bridge faintly visible in background, San Francisco, California, December 6, 2025.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
The co-chairs of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism are urging Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to act more forcefully to protect Australia’s Jewish community and implement months-old recommendations from the country’s antisemitism envoy, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
In a letter sent today, the lawmakers said that there were repeated “warning signs” before the Sunday massacre in Sydney targeting a Hanukkah celebration, including firebombings of synagogues, graffiti, assaults and threats of violence, which “have now led to a tragic reality.”
They noted that Jillian Segal, the Australian special envoy to combat antisemitism, released 49 recommendations to be implemented across a range of institutions in July, and questioned what the Australian government has done to enact that plan and how it will protect the Jewish community going forward…
The Coast Guard quietly implemented its new policy downgrading the status of swastikas from prohibited hate symbols to only “potentially divisive,” after having said it would scrap the change due to widespread backlash, including from members of Congress…
The Trump administration expanded its travel ban today to include individuals from five additional countries, among them being Syria, which the White House has otherwise been welcoming into the international community, as well as individuals with Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents…
The Department of Defense is preparing for a major restructuring, The Washington Post reports, including consolidating U.S. Central Command, European Command and Africa Command under a new organization called the U.S. International Command. “Such moves would complement other efforts by the administration to shift resources from the Middle East and Europe and focus foremost on expanding military operations in the Western Hemisphere,” sources with knowledge on the matter told the Post…
The U.S. and Qatar are drawing up contracts for Doha’s acquisition of F-35 fighter jets, Israeli media reports, raising concerns about the Jewish state’s qualitative military edge among Israeli officials. In response, they are reportedly compiling their own package of requests from the U.S., including more advanced fighter jets and munitions…
A conference hosted by CENTCOM in Doha today with dozens of countries to work on the International Stabilization Force for Gaza did not make meaningful progress, a European official told The Times of Israel, including failing to adequately determine the force’s mandate and its role in disarming Hamas…
A new Siena poll of New York voters released today found 35% of Jewish respondents view New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani favorably, up from the 18% of respondents who said the same last month. Among all respondents, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul led GOP challengers in head-to-head matchups with both Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman; Hochul received around 50% of the vote to Stefanik’s 30% and Blakeman’s 25%…
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice, said today that her office would investigate a disturbing video of several Orthodox Jews being harassed and physically assaulted in the New York City subway…
The guest list for a New York Young Republicans gala last Saturday, which was attended by members of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, also included a former producer for former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) show who was fired for posting an animated video depicting Jews as cockroaches counting money; Jared Taylor, the editor of a white supremacist website called American Renaissance; and a streamer who goes by Sneako, known for posting antisemitic content, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes also claimed he received an invitation, which was rescinded at the last minute…
Administration officials lined up to release statements in defense of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles after a Vanity Fair interview released this morning quoted her maligning President Donald Trump and his top Cabinet secretaries, which she said was “disingenuously framed” (though Trump himself said he agreed with her characterization in the interview that he has an “alcoholic’s personality”).
In one of several conversations with author Chris Whipple, Wiles said about Trump’s October appearance at the Knesset, where he lauded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s war effort, “I’m not sure [Trump] fully realizes that there’s an audience here that doesn’t love it.”
Whipple also asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio if he would challenge Vice President JD Vance in the 2028 Republican presidential primary, to which Rubio said, “If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him”…
Months after the merger of Paramount Skydance brought new leadership to CBS News, including The Free Press’ Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, in part to address the channel’s perceived bias, Trump wrote on social media today, “For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover,’ than they have ever treated me before. If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!” Trump has previously spoken positively of David Ellison, Paramount’s CEO, who has engaged extensively with the White House, including about an ongoing bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery…
New York magazine profiles Weiss’ journey from The New York Times to The Free Press to CBS News, where her hiring allowed Ellison to “signal with a single stroke that the new CBS News was pro-Israel, anti-woke, and MAGA-amenable — all attributes Weiss spent years cultivating in L.A. and that could come in handy in Ellison’s dealings with the Trump administration”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a preview of the race for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, where Gov. Josh Shapiro’s endorsement in the Democratic primary may be a sign of how he hopes to build political capital as he prepares for a possible 2028 presidential campaign.
Conservative pro-Israel commentator Ben Shapiro will sit for a discussion tomorrow with embattled Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts. Their conversation comes amid heightened debate on the political right about antisemitism and anti-Israel animus, sparked by Roberts’ defense of podcaster Tucker Carlson after he platformed neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes. (Two more Heritage board members resigned today over the scandal.)
The Israeli Embassy in Washington will host its Hanukkah reception and Jewish members of Congress — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Craig Goldman (R-TX), Dan Goldman (D-NY), David Kustoff (R-TN), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Max Miller (R-OH) and Randy Fine (R-FL) — will host the annual Capitol Hill Hanukkah celebration.
In the evening, President Donald Trump will deliver an end-of-year address to the nation.
Stories You May Have Missed
SLOGAN UNDER SCRUTINY
Sydney Hanukkah massacre leads New York Democrats to grapple with ‘globalize the intifada’ rhetoric
Jerry Nadler protege Micah Lasher: ‘The spread of violence against Jews is intertwined with the social acceptability of violent rhetoric directed at Jews’
VANCE’S VIEW
JD Vance links youth antisemitism to immigration, demographics of Gen Z
‘I would say there’s a difference between not liking Israel (or disagreeing with a given Israeli policy) and anti-semitism,’ the vice president added
Plus, AfD welcomed to D.C. by GOP
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump (2R) is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) at Ben Gurion International Airport on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Just a day after the deadly terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, U.S. authorities announced they had foiled an alleged terror plot by an anti-Israel, anti-American extremist group. The group — the Turtle Island Liberation Front — appears to also be one of the organizers of an anti-Israel protest that targeted a Los Angeles synagogue this month, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Four members of the TILF were arrested over the weekend in the Mojave Desert over a plot to set off pipe bombs in a coordinated attack at midnight on New Year’s Eve targeting U.S. companies in Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif., authorities revealed today.
Earlier this month, TILF’s LA chapter posted a “call to action” on its Instagram urging followers to target the “bloody war criminals” and “genocidal monsters” from Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems and listed an address that corresponds with the Wilshire Boulevard Temple building where an event featuring a researcher from Elbit was taking place at the same date and time. Protesters entered the synagogue and disrupted the event, with one person shattering a glass vase and chanting profanities. Two people were arrested during the incident…
Jewish Senate Democrats released a joint statement on yesterday’s attack, saying, “The disturbing wave of antisemitism around the globe has struck anxiety and fear into the hearts of every Jewish community. Some have faced harassment, vandalism, and discrimination. Others, violence as brutal as what we saw yesterday in Sydney.”
“We must speak out against all discrimination, from heinous acts like today to the normalization of antisemitic rhetoric, and the attempts to blur the line between political disagreement and antisemitic hate,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote.
Missing from the signatories was Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — he issued a separate statement yesterday calling antisemitism “a disgusting and cowardly ideology — and it is growing worldwide.” Sanders called for all to “come together to confront and defeat antisemitism wherever it exists — and we must be equally committed to fighting all forms of racism, white supremacy, xenophobia, and bigotry”…
Elsewhere on the Hill, Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador for international religious freedom, former Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), has not yet received a confirmation hearing due to behind-the-scenes opposition from his former opponent, Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), who defeated Walker in a heated primary race three years ago, NBC News reports. Walker will likely need to be renominated in 2026 in order to receive a hearing…
The White House conveyed its displeasure with Israel’s Saturday strike on a senior Hamas commander in a private message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. officials told Axios, calling it a violation of the U.S.-led ceasefire.
“The White House message to Netanyahu was: ‘If you want to ruin your reputation and show that you don’t abide by agreements be our guest, but we won’t allow you to ruin President Trump’s reputation after he brokered the deal in Gaza,’” a senior U.S. official told the outlet…
A senior State Department official and two GOP members of Congress met Friday with members of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has long faced accusations of extremism and pro-Nazi sympathies, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
The State Department meeting is in line with the recently released National Security Strategy, which stated that it would be U.S. policy to boost anti-European Union and anti-immigration parties in the European Union.
Special Envoy Ric Grenell said that those criticizing the meeting “don’t understand tough diplomacy.” Responding to critiques online, Grenell wrote, “Talking is a tactic. We are tired of failed diplomacy where you don’t talk to people and think it’s a punishment. Your guy [former President] Joe Biden didn’t talk to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin for 4 years while a war raged”…
Harvard Hillel’s Orthodox rabbi, Ethan Fried, and his wife, Bella, were placed on administrative leave on Friday pending an investigation, The Harvard Crimson reports. “The decision was announced less than four hours before the start of Shabbat in a Hillel WhatsApp chat for Orthodox students, without advance notice. Hillel leadership did not disclose the reason for the leave, which took effect immediately”…
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is laying the groundwork for another run for president in 2028, Axios reports, including expanding her book tour, appearing before the Democratic National Committee and changing her rhetoric to go after the “status quo”…
The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg writes about the alarming rise of antisemitism among America’s youth: “The research collectively suggests that America is becoming more anti-Semitic because its young people are becoming more anti-Semitic. This finding flies in the face of the folk wisdom that prejudice is the province of the old and will die out with them. That maxim may be true of some bigotries, but anti-Semitism is not one of them. Instead, in the United States, the opposite is happening: Anti-Jewish prejudice is growing precisely because it is the domain of the next generation, not the previous one”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for more reporting on the fallout of yesterday’s terror attack in Sydney, including political ramifications in the U.S.
Tomorrow, the Hanukkah celebrations continue in Washington with the White House Hanukkah reception and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-FL) annual soiree, as well as in New York with a reception at The Jewish Museum hosted by UJA-Federation of New York and the Israeli mission to the U.N. and another hosted by American Friends of the Anu Museum of the Jewish People honoring Albert Bouria, CEO and chair of Pfizer, and Adonis Georgiadis, Greece’s health minister.
On the Hill, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs will co-host a briefing on Jewish-Muslim solidarity with the Muslim Public Affairs Council, featuring Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Lateefah Simon (D-CA), JCPA CEO Amy Spitalnick and MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati. The MPAC has received criticism for its anti-Israel activism, including for backing a resolution by Rep. Rashia Tlaib (D-MI) claiming Israel committed genocide in Gaza and for repeatedly accusing U.S. officials of being beholden to Israel.
Meanwhile in Doha, CENTCOM will host a conference with more than 25 countries to continue to work out logistics for the International Stabilization Force for Gaza.
Stories You May Have Missed
SPREADING LIGHT
Serving faith and nation: The rabbis bringing light to U.S. troops on Europe’s front lines
An anti-Israel tech founder and far-right online subcultures are unexpectedly embracing Rabbi Shalom Landau’s Torah videos
PRIMARY MATCHUP
Lander struggles to land hits on Goldman — beyond disagreeing on Israel
Merrill Eisenhower told JI while visiting Holocaust survivors in the U.K. that his ancestor would be ‘disturbed’ by the rise of antisemitism on both sides of the political spectrum
Plus, David Trone targets old House seat in comeback bid
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, attends an endorsement event from the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025, in New York City.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) is preparing for a primary rematch in her deep-blue Durham-area district, where Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, whom Foushee beat in 2022, announced she will challenge her once again.
The race will look different this time around — four years ago, Foushee was one of the first beneficiaries of the AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy Project super PAC, which spent more than $2.1 million to help her defeat Allam, who has an extensive history of anti-Israel activism. The pro-Israel group was Foushee’s single largest donor in that race, which became the most expensive Democratic congressional primary in North Carolina history.
Since then, though, Foushee has taken her own anti-Israel turn, including supporting efforts to block the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel, voting against numerous measures cracking down on Iran, the Houthis and the International Criminal Court as well as the Antisemitism Awareness Act, and announcing over the summer that she will not take money from AIPAC in 2026. It remains to be seen how the “AIPAC factor” will play into next year’s rematch, as both candidates now vie for the anti-Israel vote…
More candidate déjà vu: Former Rep. David Trone (D-MD) launched a primary challenge today against Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-MD) to win back his old seat in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, which he held from 2020-2024. Trone, the billionaire owner of Total Wine & More, has been a major AIPAC donor and was a staunchly pro-Israel member of Congress.
During his failed 2024 Senate bid, though, where he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), he took a more critical line against Israel over its war in Gaza. Questioned at a campaign event by the anti-Israel group IfNotNow, Trone said, “What happened on Oct. 7 was absolutely horrendous and incomprehensible. But what’s happened since then is also horrendous and incomprehensible,” calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a large part of our problem”…
In nearby Virginia, local Jewish groups including the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington issued a joint statement this afternoon calling for Sam Rasoul, the state delegate with a history of inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric who announced he’s exploring a bid for Congress, to resign his position as chair of the Education Committee in the state’s House of Delegates.
Without mentioning his potential congressional run, the groups said Rasoul is “no longer fit to serve” as he “uses his position and platform to regularly spew vitriol toward the Jewish people”…
Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow and an ally of President Donald Trump, joined the Republican primary for governor of Minnesota today, hoping to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who is running for a third term. Lindell, who rose to prominence for his promotion of the conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, ran for chair of the Republican National Committee in 2023, though Trump did not offer him his endorsement then…
In Indiana, Republican state senators dealt a political blow to Trump this afternoon when they joined together with Democrats to vote down a redrawn congressional map that would have given Republicans a leg up in the state. Trump and his allies had extensively pressured the GOP-held state Senate to pass the map with threats of primary challenges and potentially withheld federal funds…
With just weeks until his inauguration, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is expected to meet with the New York Board of Rabbis today, CNN reports, which is led by Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. Hirsch was one of the foremost Jewish voices raising alarm bells during Mamdani’s election over his hostility to Israel.
“Several rabbis who are attending are planning to propose a unified agenda, asking Mamdani to back away from his rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state” and his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, invitees told CNN. Several Jewish leaders also said they “will put pressure on other New York officials like Gov. Kathy Hochul and incoming city council speaker Julie Menin to not work with Mamdani more broadly if he follows through on promised anti-Israel moves and doesn’t provide more reassurances to Jews in the city”…
Politico chronicles Mamdani’s attempt to influence the city council speaker’s race between councilmembers Menin and Crystal Hudson, where Mamdani asked power brokers and organizations to hold off on their endorsements until he was able to assess the race himself. The mayor-elect’s sway seemed to be limited, though, as Menin, who was seen as less aligned with Mamdani, announced she had garnered enough support to win next month’s election, where she will become the first Jewish city council speaker…
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) prepared a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog requesting he pardon Netanyahu, Talking Points Memo scooped, weeks after Trump did the same. Without confirming if he had sent the letter, Fetterman stood by it: “It’s a pointless distraction,” he said about Netanyahu’s ongoing court proceedings. “I fully support it and I stand on the letter.”
In the correspondence, dated Dec. 2, Fetterman wrote, “In a world this dangerous, I question whether any democracy can afford to have its head of government spending valuable hours, day after day, in a courtroom rather than the situation room”…
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee struck a new tone on Israel’s September strike in Doha, Qatar, on Hamas operatives, telling the Turkey-based outlet Clash Report, “There’s been some talk that Israel attacked the country of Qatar — it did not. … There was one missile, it was aimed at one person. Now, unfortunately, there were some people who were near that missile strike that were injured or killed from it, but that was not an attack on the nation of Qatar. If that’s the new standard, then the United States must apologize for going after Osama bin Laden while he was in Pakistan being protected by the Pakistanis.”
Huckabee’s comparison of Qatar harboring Hamas operatives to Pakistan harboring bin Laden differs from the Trump administration’s policy thus far, where it has embraced Qatar and forced Netanyahu to apologize for the strike…
The New York Times reports on Syria’s effort to rebuild its military, which was entirely dismissed upon the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
“The military’s new command structure favors former fighters from Mr. al-Sharaa’s former rebel group [an Al-Qaida affiliate] — even over those who may have more expertise, according to many soldiers, commanders and analysts. And religious minorities have not yet been included in the military, although Syria is a religiously and ethnically diverse country that has already witnessed waves of sectarian violence,” the Times writes…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with Soviet-born activist Izabella Tabarovsky on her new book, Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide, in which she encourages Jewish college students to reclaim their Zionism and take inspiration from the Soviet refuseniks of the 1980s.
The Hudson Institute will host a daylong summit on “Antisemitism as a National Security Threat” tomorrow, with speakers including Sebastian Gorka, senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council; Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, former State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; author Walter Russell Mead; and CNN commentator Scott Jennings, among others.
The White House will host a meeting with representatives from Israel, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the U.K., the United Arab Emirates and Australia tomorrow to kick off an initiative strengthening supply chains for AI development.
Saturday night, Alex Edelman will appear at Washington’s Sixth & I synagogue to perform his new show, “What Are You Going to Do,” with shows to follow over the next week in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Philadelphia.
On Sunday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will host a Hanukkah brunch reception at his official residence.
That evening, the annual National Menorah Lighting will take place on the Ellipse, in front of the White House.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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‘They took out the “designation” part of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act,’ Cruz said
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the lead Senate sponsor of legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, criticized members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for voting to modify the House version of the bill, removing key provisions requiring the designation of Muslim Brotherhood branches and the organization as a whole as a terrorist group.
“Last week, frustratingly, the House version of my bill was advanced but terminally weakened by the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” Cruz said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday. “They took out the ‘designation’ part of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act. The Senate should do better, and we should move the full bill on our side.”
Cruz suggested that some House lawmakers “did not believe that Congress should have a role in crafting sanctions, which are to be implemented by the executive.” He said he considers that argument “specious” and that most Senate colleagues agree.
A spokesperson for the House Foreign Affairs Committee insisted they remain aligned with both Cruz and the Trump administration, when asked about his comments.
“We are in full support of the administration designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. That process is well underway. We are in lockstep with Sen. Cruz’s goal and look forward to reviewing his bill once it passes the Senate,” the spokesperson said.
Cruz’s remark came as he questioned Gregory LoGerfo, the acting coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department, who has been nominated to fill that position in a permanent capacity. LoGerfo is a career State Department official who has filled the acting role since January.
LoGerfo affirmed his commitment to tackling the Muslim Brotherhood, explaining that the U.S. has had concerns about the group “over decades,” particularly following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, and said that it poses a threat to the United States.
Though the Trump administration’s executive order does not require designating the entire Muslim Brotherhood or require officials to assess every branch of the organization for terrorist activity — as Cruz’s bill does — Cruz described his bill and the executive order as pursuing the same goal.
“The president’s executive order is part of a broader ‘bottom-up’ strategy to designate Muslim Brotherhood chapters and then evaluate designating the global Muslim Brotherhood,” Cruz asserted at the hearing, echoing comments he made in a statement to JI earlier this week.
LoGerfo affirmed that the specific branches that the executive order instructs the administration to evaluate are a “first step” toward taking broader action against the Muslim Brotherhood.
During his opening statement, LoGerfo also warned that, “in addition to the global jihadi network, antisemitism and anti-government animus have become significant motivating factors in today’s terrorist threat environment.”
And, he added, “although Iran has been greatly weakened, Tehran and its terror proxies, including the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas, continue to destabilize the Middle East and show interest in expanding their reach to regions.”
Republicans claimed Trump’s comments that he ‘will not allow’ annexation only applied to territory not currently controlled by Israel
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., speaks to reporters as he leaves the House Republican Conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and expert witnesses on Wednesday debated the meaning and significance of President Donald Trump’s edict in September that he “will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” which came amid a reported effort earlier this year by the Israeli government to assert sovereignty over all or part of the territory.
The at-times contentious hearing focused on “Understanding Judea and Samaria: historical, strategic and political dynamics in U.S.-Israel Relations,” referring to the biblical term for the West Bank preferred by members of the Israeli government and also used by Republicans on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, which hosted the hearing, asserted that Trump was only expressing his opposition to the annexation of territory not currently controlled by Israel.
“When the president is talking about annexing, again, I think it’s important to actually look at the map,” Lawler said. “Sixty percent of the West Bank is under Israeli control.”
Lawler’s comments came in response to a remark from ranking member Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) highlighting Trump’s position on the issue.
“While some have argued that you don’t need to annex the West Bank because it’s already part of Israel, clearly that’s not what President Trump had in mind,” Sherman argued.
The back-and-forth set off a spat between the two members, with Sherman shouting a demand to be given additional time to respond to Lawler, and Lawler rebuking him in hushed tones as the hearing continued.
Lawler previously organized a private briefing for committee members with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on a similar subject.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) pressed GOP witnesses over their apparent disagreements with Trump on the issue. Like Lawler, they made the case that Trump’s position had been misrepresented.
Eugene Kontorovich, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, argued that Trump’s position and the situation have not been “accurately characterized.”
“There have been proposals to extend Israeli civil law to those areas where Jewish communities are, in other words, to incorporate under Israeli law, parts of Judea and Samaria,” Kontorovich said. “President Trump’s plan is consistent with his 2020 vision for peace, where Israel would, in fact, expand Israeli civil jurisdiction specifically to those areas, and it seems his comments were simply a reaffirmation of that, that’s how I understand it.”
Schneider responded: “I think his comments were clear: ‘There will not be annexation,’ was I believe exactly what he said,” to which Kontorovich interjected, “of the West Bank.”
The Vision for Peace plan that Kontorovich referenced would also have created a Palestinian state. Plans announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the time to annex Israeli settlements immediately upon the release of that plan were rejected and blocked by Trump in 2020.
Multiple Democrats along with Democratic witness Jon Alterman, the Brzezinski chair in global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, raised comparisons between the political and governance situation in the West Bank and eastern Ukraine — noting that ethnically Russian Ukrainians had a voice and vote in the Ukrainian government prior to the Russian invasion, and that they are now disenfranchised under Russian occupation.
Alterman said that allowing annexation would also weaken the U.S.’ argument against Russia’s attempted annexation of parts of Ukraine.
Democratic lawmakers and Alterman also warned that full annexation would create a politically untenable position for Palestinians in the West Bank, where they are disenfranchised under Israeli control or expelled — a situation that could prompt further international outrage — or have voting rights and would have sufficient voting share to fundamentally change the nature of Israel. Alterman added that the status quo breeds Palestinian resentment and opposition from the global community.
“If we’re honest with ourselves, we need to recognize that not only are there competing claims here, but there are competing legitimate claims, and that’s if we just consider what’s clear from the historical record. When we bring in faith values and interests which aren’t universal, the issue becomes even more complicated,” Alterman said. He urged lawmakers to seek solutions that preserve space for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) floated the question of whether the U.S. should, instead of a full separation of Israel and a Palestinian state under a two-state solution and in light of the Palestinian Authority’s dysfunction, be “looking for a solution that is not a conventional state, one that has levels of autonomy, levels of governance, but … the borders would inherently be porous, the question of militarization would be dealt with in some ways as though it is one nation and in other ways clearly with a recognition of the facts on the ground.”
Alterman said that would inevitably involve certain compromises to Israel’s own sovereignty and decision making with “some sort of outside [entity].”
Kontorovich argued that such a proposal would make a “lot of sense,” comparing it to the situation in American Samoa, whose residents are not U.S. citizens and do not have a vote in federal elections. Issa responded that American Samoans do “stand among us and have a say.”
Mort Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, repeatedly emphasized that the PA continues to pay the families of terrorists who conduct attacks against Israel and indoctrinates Palestinian children with anti-Israel and antisemitic ideologies, and that Palestinian Arab opposition more broadly is responsible for the lack of peace in the region. Some Republicans echoed the same point.
Klein said that the PA’s actions “make peace virtually impossible until they have a dramatic reformation and transformation of their actions and their regime,” also noting the escalating security threats in the West Bank.
He focused in his opening remarks on the historical Jewish ties to the region and asserted that Palestinian Arabs have no such claims. “If Israel does not control the Jewish heartland in Judea and Samaria, peace will be impossible. Again, Judea and Samaria are Jewish Israeli land, it’s Jewish land, legally, religiously, biblically, politically and morally,” Klein said.
Sherman argued in his opening statement that modern borders should be based on the modern state of affairs, rather than historical Jewish territories — noting that Tel Aviv had not been Jewish territory for most of the Kingdom of Judea’s history, and that defining international borders based on the “maximum you ever controlled in history” would be a ridiculous exercise.
At the end of the hearing, a group of Code Pink activists confronted Yossi Dagan and Yisrael Ganz, the heads of two Israeli regional settlement councils, surrounding and screaming at them. Capitol Police demanded the activists leave the hearing room.
Ganz said in a statement, “We will do everything to apply sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.” Dagan added, “The hearing is a milestone in the cancellation of the lie of the ‘occupation.'”
Plus, Charlie Kirk producer outlines TPUSA's Israel stance
Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, as seen from Israel near the border, on Oct. 7, 2025.
Good Wednesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
As President Donald Trump pushes ahead in rolling out Phase 2 of his 20-point Gaza peace plan, the critical U.S.-led International Stabilization Force continues to be mired in confusion, even as a U.S. official told The Jerusalem Post that they expect the ISF to be deployed to Gaza “at the beginning of 2026, with one or two countries initially participating.”
Which countries that will include is unclear — U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz publicly named Indonesia and Azerbaijan as countries that may provide troops to the force last month, and Indonesia has indicated openness in public comments.
But an Azeri official told The Times of Israel that the country has not committed to doing so and has many of the same reservations as the other Muslim-majority countries still holding out — namely, wanting to ensure that the ceasefire will help to advance a Palestinian state and that their troops will not be required to engage with Hamas. The U.S. has failed to properly explain what they are asking of these countries, the Azeri official said.
Adding to the uncertainty, the U.S. official told the Post that the ISF “will not be deployed in areas controlled by Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” contrary to the goals outlined for the force in the peace plan…
Speaking at the Post’s conference taking place on Capitol Hill today, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appeared to dismiss the feasibility of the ISF altogether: “There is no air force [that is] going to disarm Hamas. You will find a unicorn quicker. Only Israel can do it,” he said.
On the prospects of Saudi-Israel normalization, the South Carolina senator argued that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “is not going to recognize Israel until he gets an outcome better for the Palestinians, or he will get killed.” However, before Israel can cede ground on the issue, Graham said, “Hamas needs to go. Hezbollah needs to be disarmed. I am not even approaching normalization until Iran’s proxies cannot generate another Oct. 7”…
Also speaking at the conference, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar poured cold water on another one of the Trump administration’s priorities in the region — an Israel-Syria security agreement. “At the moment, the gaps between us and Syria have widened. They have raised new demands. Of course, we want an agreement, but we are now further from reaching one than we were a few weeks ago,” Sa’ar said, without providing details on the new developments…
Looking to the campaign trail, New York City Councilmember Alexa Avilés dropped her prospective primary bid against Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) today, following the entry of Comptroller Brad Lander into the race.
Avilés, who had been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, said in a statement, “My neighbors know that the era of dark money in politics, of letting AIPAC and the real estate lobby call the shots, must end. … What’s clear from my years in public services is that Dan Goldman has fundamentally failed our communities. A split field runs too great a risk of allowing him another damaging term.” Avilés did not, however, offer Lander her endorsement.
Along with the exit of former state Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who bowed out yesterday also to avoid a split progressive vote, the primary is unfolding as a head-to-head matchup between Lander (who appeared to get hacked today on X) and Goldman.
In one of his first statements about the congressman since launching his challenge, Lander told the New York Daily News that he and Goldman “have some disagreements” about Israel and Gaza, but the issue is secondary to fighting back against Trump, which he feels he can do a better job of. The comments raised questions about Lander’s apparent strategy — one of Goldman’s biggest political strengths is his credibility with the Democratic base over his role leading the 2019 impeachment efforts against Trump…
The New York Times digs into Trump’s decision not to dissuade Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman from joining the GOP primary for New York governor, where Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is already running.
“Mr. Trump’s refusal to use his influence to halt Mr. Blakeman — and his subsequent neutrality since the announcement — sent shock waves through Republican circles, where many party loyalists had already committed to supporting Ms. Stefanik and wish to avoid a primary,” the Times writes…
Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” and close confidant of the slain conservative influencer, has placed Turning Point USA on the pro-Israel side of the right’s debate about the U.S.’ support for the Jewish state… with caveats.
Kolvet told the Christian Broadcasting Network that, despite the weaponization of Kirk’s legacy by anti-Israel actors, TPUSA stands firm that “Israel has a right to exist, that it has a right to defend itself, that we fully reject hatred of Jewish people, antisemitism, all that stuff.”
But, “when it comes to how much we should fund Israel,” he warned, “should the status quo, the foreign policy status quo be continued, should it be altered? Those kinds of things are worthwhile debates to have,” otherwise “you’re going to alienate the young people that Charlie worked so hard to bring into the fold.”
Kolvet also asserted that the conservative tent, while continuing to embrace Israel’s right to exist, should be big enough to accommodate those who don’t. Kirk was “committed” to having Tucker Carlson speak at TPUSA’s annual AmericaFest, taking place next week in Arizona, Kolvet said, “and that is not going to change.”
But even as Carlson appears on opening night, so will Ben Shapiro, and “maybe the coalition needs to find a way to stay together and be big enough to have both of those perspectives in it, because I think if not, then we’re going to find ourselves in a really tricky spot in 2026, 2028”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for an interview with anthropology student-turned founder of the Movement Against Antizionism, Adam Louis-Klein.
On the Hill, the House Homeland Security Committee will hear from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent and Michael Glasheen, operations director of the national security branch of the FBI, on “worldwide threats to the homeland.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the U.S. response to crimes against humanity in Sudan amid its ongoing civil war.
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Mary Altaffer/AP
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), left, is joined by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander during a news conference outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022.
Good Tuesday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is set to launch a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) as soon as tomorrow, Politico reports, with an endorsement from Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani — after Mamdani declined to give him a position in his administration.
Goldman was one of the New York Democratic holdouts who did not endorse Mamdani during his election, largely over concerns about his rhetoric on Israel, but Goldman’s district, which covers Lower Manhattan and a section of Brooklyn that includes the progressive enclave of Park Slope, voted overwhelmingly for the mayor-elect.
The primary matchup will likely serve as a test of the Democratic electorate’s support for continued mainstream pro-Israel representation in New York City, as Goldman and Lander, both of whom are Jewish, take markedly different stances on Israel. Political strategists told Jewish Insider in October that Lander will be a formidable candidate, though Goldman, who is an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, will have the financial and incumbent advantage…
Axios unpacks the “Tea Party-style revolt” by progressives in the Democratic Party after the last-minute entry of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) into the Texas Senate primary yesterday and amid concerns by party leadership that their favored midterm candidates in Maine, Michigan and Iowa are falling behind expectations.
“Some Democratic senators are openly questioning their party’s leadership and working against [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer in primaries. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) have spoken to, or plan to speak to, candidates challenging the party establishment’s picks, sources familiar with the discussions told Axios”…
Pressed on his position about AIPAC, Democratic Majority for Israel and the “Israel lobby” at large, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, considered a top 2028 presidential contender, told progressive Gen Z podcaster Jack Cocchiarella that AIPAC “has never been involved with me, I’ve never received a dollar from them in my entire political career, so I’ve had an opinion on that going back decades now.”
Asked if he would take AIPAC funds at any point in his political future, Newsom said, “I don’t take tobacco money, oil money, I’ve never taken AIPAC money, there’s certain absolutes that are the lines that have been drawn for decades for me, and those will continue.” The pro-Israel group has not been involved in gubernatorial nor presidential races…
FBI Director Kash Patel signed bilateral security agreements with Qatar today, in a move that is drawing renewed scrutiny to potential conflicts of interest surrounding his past lobbying for the Gulf emirate, the details of which he has failed to disclose, JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.
During a meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha, Patel signed two memorandums of understanding with his counterpart “to advance mechanisms of security cooperation and coordinate efforts in training, the exchange of information and capacity-building,” according to Qatari state media. Neither Patel’s visit to Doha nor the agreements with Qatar have been publicly announced by the FBI.
Patel, whose brief tenure leading the FBI has been mired in ethics controversies, drew scrutiny during his confirmation over undisclosed consulting for the Qatari government — provoking accusations that he improperly avoided registering as a foreign lobbyist…
The Columbia University task force overseeing efforts to combat antisemitism on campus released its fourth and final report today, spotlighting Columbia’s lack of full-time Middle East faculty who are not “explicitly anti-Zionist,” JI’s Haley Cohen reports.
According to the report, “Columbia lacks full-time tenure line faculty expertise in Middle East history, politics, political economy and policy that is not explicitly anti-Zionist.” The absence of ideological diversity is having an impact on course offerings — in listening sessions, the task force said it heard from students that classes at the university more often than not treat Zionism as entirely illegitimate…
On another New York campus facing allegations of antisemitism, New York City Jewish leaders sent a letter to the chancellor of the City University of New York yesterday condemning a recent interfaith event on campus that devolved into an antisemitic tirade by a Muslim leader as well as the school’s lackluster response, The Times of Israel reports.
The signatories — which include New York City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz; Mark Treyger, head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; Eric Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York; and Miriam Elman, head of the Academic Engagement Network, among others — called for CUNY to amend its student code of conduct…
Responding to a video that purports to show the Syrian Army chanting in support of Gaza amid celebrations on the anniversary of the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli wrote on social media, “War is inevitable.” The Trump administration has been working to deescalate tensions between Jerusalem and Damascus…
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on the Hill today where the two “officially launched their effort to rally Speakers and Presidents of Parliaments around the world to join them in nominating President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026,” according to a joint statement.
Ohana also met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, also visiting Capitol Hill, met with Fetterman and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID)…
The bilateral meetings continued overseas as well: Mike Waltz and Danny Danon, the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors to the U.N., respectively, continued their joint visit to Israel today with stops at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, the Kerem Shalom humanitarian aid crossing into Gaza and the U.S.-led Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat. They also held a meeting with the family of Ran Gvili, the last deceased hostage still held in Gaza…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack’s off-message comments on the Middle East putting him at odds with Washington.
On the Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will host the Congressional Menorah Lighting, with remarks from Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad).
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Understanding Judea and Samaria: Historical, strategic, and political dynamics in U.S.-Israel relations,” with speakers including Eugene Kontorovich, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation; Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America; and Jon Alterman, chair in global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Elsewhere in Washington, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Also taking place downtown, the Aspen Security Forum will hold its Washington meeting featuring remarks from Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Mike Turner (R-OH), John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal; NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska; and representatives from the Heritage Foundation, American Jewish Committee and American Enterprise Institute, among others.
Across the river, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington will host the Virginia edition of its annual “Lox and Legislators” breakfast, headlined by Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA).
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‘The version approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee lacks the teeth of the original House bill as well as the current legislation in the Senate,’ an official at a pro-Israel group said
Getty Images
U.S. Capitol Building
The House Foreign Affairs Committee removed key provisions of a bill designed to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization when it approved the legislation last week, prompting concerns from some conservatives.
The bill was amended by a voice vote to strip out provisions mandating the designation of eligible Muslim Brotherhood branches and the entire Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, including backing from the committee’s chairman, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL).
The original legislation, introduced in both the House and Senate, included language requiring that the secretary of state assess each branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and report to Congress on whether those branches meet the criteria for designation as a terrorist group under either of two authorities.
It then mandated that the administration designate those branches that meet the criteria as terrorist groups and impose sanctions pursuant to those designations, and required that those sanctions remain in place for at least four years. It would also impose sanctions on the entire Muslim Brotherhood.
The amended legislation mandates only the assessment of Muslim Brotherhood chapters “that pose a threat to United States national security interests,” rather than all branches of the group — potentially allowing some branches of the group to duck scrutiny — and requires a report to Congress on whether those branches “ha[ve] been designated” as terrorist groups. Most significantly, it removes the specific mandate that the branches in question and the full Muslim Brotherhood be designated as terrorist groups and sanctioned pursuant to the findings of that report.
In effect, the changes remove key provisions that made the legislation broader than an executive order issued by the Trump administration last month, which authorized the designation of certain Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations, but did not mandate an assessment of all branches for terrorist activity or require that the entire organization be designated and sanctioned.
“The bill reported out of committee codifies the Trump administration’s bold efforts to counter the Muslim Brotherhood,” a House Foreign Affairs Committee spokesperson told Jewish Insider, when asked about the changes.
“This is one part of a broader process to work directly with the administration as they advance towards imposing a full designation. There should be no question about House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans’ commitment to hold terrorist groups accountable, and we are in lockstep with the administration in doing so.”
A spokesperson for Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), the lead Republican sponsor of the bill, said he is “thrilled the bill made its way out of committee and is grateful to Chairman Mast for providing that opportunity,” adding that discrepancies between final House and Senate legislation would need to be worked through in a conference committee. “We look forward to engaging throughout the process,” the spokesperson added.
An official at a pro-Israel organization, reflecting concerns about the amended legislation among some conservatives, said that the legislation should be stronger.
“While the legislation is still a step in the right direction, the version approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee lacks the teeth of the original House bill as well as the current legislation in the Senate put forward by Senator [Ted] Cruz,” the official told JI.
“President Trump has been crystal clear about the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood. When President Trump says that we will not tolerate those who fuel and fund radical terrorism, it should be backed up with the strongest possible legislation that will cement his legacy on this issue.”
Plus, Trump and Bibi plan Mar-a-Lago meeting
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) speaks during a rally in Houston, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.
Good Monday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Dec. 29 at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
Netanyahu is expected to depart Israel for what will be his fifth meeting with Trump in the U.S. this year on Dec. 28 and return on Jan. 3, meaning that the prime minister will begin 2026 stateside. Palm Beach is the only expected stop during the trip, according to Israeli media.
The agenda for the end-of-year meeting has not been announced, though it is likely to cover implementation of the second phase of Trump’s peace plan, Hezbollah’s rearmament in Lebanon and efforts to reach a potential security agreement in Syria…
As 2025 winds down and we head into a midterm election year, headlines abound on the campaign trail: Sam Rasoul, a Palestinian American Virginia state delegate with a history of inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric, announced today that he is considering running for Congress in 2026, pending the outcome of a redistricting effort in the state, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Rasoul, a Roanoke Democrat who chairs the Education Committee in the House of Delegates, came under fire from prominent Jewish Democrats in the state earlier this year for a series of posts on social media, including ones in which he claimed “Zionism has proven how evil our society can be” and that Zionism is a “supremacist ideology created to destroy and conquer everything and everyone in its way.”
In a fundraising email announcing his intention to formally explore a congressional run, Rasoul made his opposition to Israel a central part of his pitch. “Virginians are looking for bold, experienced, progressive leadership that meets this moment and delivers results by … ending all military aid to Israel, which has waged a genocide in Gaza using our taxpayer dollars in violation of American law,” Rasoul wrote…
In Texas, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) filed paperwork to run for the Senate this afternoon, just hours ahead of the state’s deadline. She’s set to hold a press conference this evening formally announcing her candidacy.
The progressive lawmaker, seen as a tough sell for a general election in a solidly Republican state, hopes to take the seat of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is facing his own high-stakes primary. But first, Crockett will need to prevail in the Democratic primary against state Rep. James Talarico, considered a rising star in the party, who raised over $6 million in the first few weeks after his launch in September and has taken a critical view of Israel in his campaign.
Anticipating Crockett’s entry into the race, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) announced this morning he’s switching his candidacy from the Senate to Texas’ newly drawn 33rd Congressional District, which he used to represent parts of in the House. He’ll now face a primary against Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX), who is running in the 33rd after her seat in the neighboring district was redrawn…
In Colorado, far-left candidates are lining up to take on establishment Democrats: Denver-area state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, launched a primary challenge to Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) today, and Melat Kiros, an attorney who was fired in 2023 for criticizing her own firm in anti-Israel social media posts, secured the Justice Democrats’ backing last week for a primary bid against Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)…
Hill watchers are waiting to see when Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) will host members of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party, which she said on social media last month would be happening in December…
Politico’s Ian Ward discusses the intra-MAGA movement to turn the Republican Party away from Israel with the figures leading the charge: Curt Mills, editor of The American Conservative; former Trump advisor Steve Bannon; podcasters Tucker Carlson and Dave Smith; and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Mills said “he sometimes feels like a moderate compared to some of the Gen-Z conservatives. ‘They’re hardcore,’ Mills told me. ‘Frankly, some of them are so radicalized that they are, like, openly sympathetic to Hamas, which [they see as] close to pure freedom fighters’”…
On that note, a new survey by the Yale Youth Poll found that younger voters, and especially the conservatives among them, hold overwhelmingly more critical views of Israel and of the Jewish people than older generations, JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
In a list of antisemitic statements — including “Jews in the United States are more loyal to Israel than to America,” “It’s appropriate to boycott Jewish American-owned businesses to protest the war in Gaza” and “Jews in the United States have too much power” — 70% of respondents overall disagreed with all three; however, only 57% of 18-22-year-olds and 60% of 23-29-year-olds said the same.
Among those ages 18-34 who self-identified in their responses as “extremely conservative,” a sizeable majority of 64% said they agreed with at least one of the listed statements, far more than any other subgroup of younger voters — 38% of 18-34-year-olds overall said the same, already a notable minority…
The newly merged Paramount Skydance launched a hostile takeover bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery today, after Netflix announced it had acquired the media giant last week. Paramount said in an initial press statement that its bid — which values Warner Bros. around $108 billion, compared to the Netflix deal, which valued it around $83 billion — was backed by the Ellison family (David Ellison co-founded Oracle, while his son, David, runs Paramount) and investment firm RedBird Capital. However, a securities filing shows the bid is also backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Emirati-owned L’imad Holding Company, the Qatar Investment Authority and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for updates on executive and legislative efforts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Armayo will hold a signing ceremony in Washington tomorrow for an agreement to renew diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been largely frozen since 2009.
The Jerusalem Post will kick off its conference on Capitol Hill, with a theme of “The U.S.-Israel Strategic Alliance: Security, Technology, and Strengthening Ties with American Jewry.” Headlining the two-day event are Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, several Israeli officials and U.S. lawmakers.
Nearby, B’nai B’rith International is marking the 50th anniversary of the infamous U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism on the Hill. Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address the gathering by video, along with remarks by B’nai B’rith CEO Dan Mariaschin, historian Gil Troy, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Ben Cohen and former Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-FL).
On everyone’s minds and calendars: The yearly Washington-area holiday party scramble begins this week. Tomorrow evening, the Jewish Democratic Council of America will host its fourth annual Hanukkah party and the Vandenberg Coalition will hold its holiday party.
Stories You May Have Missed
THE SILK ROAD
A Mandarin-speaking Hasidic Jew walks into Washington…
Mitchell ‘Moyshe’ Silk, the first Hasidic Jew confirmed to a post by the Senate, speaks to JI about his path from Borough Park to Washington
BLAKE’S BACKTRACK
In 2020 AIPAC position paper, Michael Blake vowed to support Israel, highlighted Black-Jewish unity
Blake also highlighted his efforts to combat the BDS movement and anti-Israel sentiment
Plus, Israel gets a Eurovision encore
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Tucker Carlson speaks at his Live Tour at the Desert Diamond Arena on October 31, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Good Thursday afternoon!
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
It’s me again — Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator, along with assists from my colleagues, of the Daily Overtime. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
With one foot already out the door of Gracie Mansion, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced at the North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism last night that he’s signing an executive order barring city agencies from participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. His message to his successor, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani? “If the incoming administration wants to reverse [the executive order], that is on their watch.”
Mamdani responded today, telling reporters, “The mayor is free to issue as many executive orders as he’d like with the less than 30 days that he has in office, and then we will be taking a look at every single one once we actually enter into City Hall”…
Several democratic socialists are eyeing a run for New York’s deeply progressive 7th Congressional District, a Brooklyn and Queens-area seat where Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez is retiring, The New York Times reports. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso entered the race today, though he said the Democratic Socialists of America, which he had approached to support his candidacy, conveyed it is looking to “run one of its own members,” setting up what’s likely to be a tense intra-faction race. Velázquez has held various anti-Israel positions during her decades in Congress, including recently co-sponsoring a Code Pink-backed resolution accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza…
The federal government announced today that anyone who was employed by Columbia University between Oct. 7, 2023-July 2025 and experienced discrimination based on “their Jewish faith, Jewish ancestry, and/or Israeli national origin, and/or because they objected to or complained about such harassment” can now apply to receive part of a $21 million fund Columbia was required to create as part of its agreement with the federal government.
“This resolution represents the largest [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] public settlement in nearly 20 years for any form of discrimination or harassment. In addition, in the EEOC’s 60-year history, this is both the largest EEOC settlement for victims of antisemitism to date, as well as the most significant EEOC settlement for workers of any faith or religion,” the commission said…
Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the “Uncommitted” movement and previous chief of staff to former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), declared his candidacy for the Michigan state Senate today. “When the establishment was funding genocide abroad while failing to deliver for working families here at home, I took action and led a historic anti-war movement that mobilized one million pro-peace Democratic voters to demand change,” he said in his campaign launch video…
Israeli media reports President Donald Trump will announce the beginning of the second phase of his 20-point Gaza peace plan in the next few weeks, according to senior American officials. The move is thought to take place before Christmas, shortly after which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit the White House for the fifth time since the beginning of the year…
The head of an anti-Hamas Palestinian militia in Gaza that received backing from Israel was killed in a “clash” today, an Israeli official told The New York Times. Israel said it provided arms to his group, the Popular Forces, as a counter to Hamas, which the militia denies…
The U.S. declined to sanction Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other PA officials for payments to terrorists under its “pay-for-slay” policy, which the White House had threatened to do last month, after Abbas fired the minister responsible for authorizing the payments, The Times of Israel reports…
Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia announced their intent to boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after organizers declined requests to hold a vote to boot Israel from the competition. Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed Israel’s continued participation, saying the country “deserves to be represented on every stage around the world”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for a profile of the first Hasidic Jew to serve in a government role that required Senate confirmation.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is taking place at the Kennedy Center in Washington tomorrow, with President Donald Trump expected to attend. Iran now plans to send representatives, its sports minister said, after initially boycotting the draw when several members of its delegation were denied visas to enter the U.S.
Meanwhile, the two-day Reagan National Defense Forum will kick off in Simi Valley, Calif. Among the guests and speakers at the national security confab: Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget; Reps. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Adam Smith (D-WA); Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase; Gen. Michael Guetlein, director of the Golden Dome at the Department of Defense; Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of 8VC; Leon Panetta, former secretary of defense; and many more representatives of the U.S. military, European nations, defense contractors and think tanks.
In Qatar, the Doha Forum will begin Saturday, a diplomatic gathering cosponsored by a panoply of elite institutions featuring discussions on Israel, Gaza, Iran, Syria, Ukraine, international tribunals and other topics of geopolitical interest. Among the high-profile speakers are Tucker Carlson, in conversation with the Qatari prime minister; Carlson’s business partner Neil Patel; and Carlson’s investor Omeed Malik, who will speak alongside Donald Trump Jr. Read more about the gathering from JI’s Matthew Shea.
Nearby, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to arrive in Israel Saturday night for his first visit since taking office, weeks after Germany announced it would lift its partial arms embargo on Israel. Merz is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and visit Yad Vashem.
We’ll be back in your inbox with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat Shalom!
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SURVEY SAYS
New Reagan Institute polling finds widespread approval for Trump’s strikes against Iran
The survey also found solid support for the U.S.-Israel alliance, even as the level of backing has slightly declined
HISTORY IMMERSION
Amid rising antisemitism, Success Academy takes charter school students to Auschwitz
Eight high school students took part in school’s inaugural six-day trip to Poland in November
The legislation is more expansive than the Trump administration’s executive order, which authorizes designating individual branches of the Muslim Brotherhood
Salah Malkawi/Getty Images
Jordanian police close the entrance of a Muslim Brotherhood headquarter after the announcement of banning the society in the country on April 23, 2025 in Amman, Jordan.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on a bipartisan basis on Wednesday to advance a bill designating the entire Muslim Brotherhood globally as a terrorist organization, weeks after the Trump administration took action to target certain branches of the group.
Every Republican on the committee, joined by Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Jim Costa (D-CA), George Latimer (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL), voted in favor of the bill, which was led by Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Moskowitz.
The legislation is more expansive than the Trump administration’s executive order, which authorizes designating individual branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. The bill would mandate the administration conduct assessments of all Muslim Brotherhood branches to determine if they meet the standard for designation as terrorist groups, and ultimately designate the entire Muslim Brotherhood network based on those findings.
“This is more than just a political organization. It promotes extreme and destabilizing views which continue to inspire acts of terrorism across the globe, most notably Hamas in its horrific Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the committee chairman, said. “For too long, the threat the Muslim Brotherhood poses to U.S. national security has been downplayed here in the United States and it’s well past time for a course correction.”
Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the committee’s ranking member, argued against attempting to sanction the entire Muslim Brotherhood, arguing that it is a diffuse ideology, without any true central leadership or coordination.
He said that, while certain Muslim Brotherhood branches, such as Hamas, meet the criteria to be designated as terrorist groups, the authorities already exist to take action against them. And he warned the legislation “would complicate the U.S. engagement with political leaders and parties who have historic and non-violent ties to Brotherhood-affiliated movements, like in Morocco. It would alienate important regional partners in the Middle East, such as Qatar and Turkey.”
Meeks also cautioned that the legislation could also be used to target Muslims generally, including American Muslims as well as Arab and Muslim groups in the U.S. He said the bill could be used to implement a “back-door Muslim ban” and “subject millions of people … to arbitrary and subjective determinations based on indirect or tangential affiliations. The language is so imprecise, this bill invites discriminatory and political targeting under the pretext of national security.”
Democrats who support the legislation, including Schneider and Moskowitz, pushed back, though they both said they do not think the legislation is perfect. Moskowitz rejected the idea that the legislation could facilitate a Muslim ban, and said the U.S. should follow the model of regional allies like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt, which have experience with the Muslim Brotherhood and have themselves banned it.
Schneider said that the pattern of Muslim Brotherhood extremism and violence, most notably by Hamas, “demands Congress take the threat seriously and confront the networks that enable violent extremism.” He emphasized that the legislation includes clear guidelines and grounding in intelligence, as well as strong congressional oversight provisions to prevent overbroad application of the law.
“Moving this legislation … ensures Congress, not an inconsistent executive or one with personal conflicts, remains the arbiter of how terrorism designations are used in America’s name,” Schneider added.
Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) emphasized that the legislation would “codify key elements” of the Trump executive order and “provide a permanent statutory framework to address the ongoing threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood and its violent offshoots.” He emphasized that Brotherhood documents have laid out a plan to infiltrate and subvert U.S. institutions and society.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) warned that the American Muslim Brotherhood affiliates are stoking instability and violence at home. “It is more important than it has ever been for us to stand up and say we’re going to follow the lead of 11 other countries … and saying we are not interested in having this organization in the United States. It is a terrorist movement.”
Diaz-Balart, in a statement, praised the committee for advancing the legislation, and said it “further amplifies other efforts, like those of President Trump, to take decisive action against this insidious threat.”
Moskowitz also celebrated the move, saying, “For decades, the Brotherhood has been tied to extremism and instability across the Middle East and around the world. Other nations have already taken steps to investigate the Brotherhood and its affiliates, and the United States must have the authority to do the same.”
Boris Zilberman, the senior director of public policy and strategy for the Christians United For Israel Action Fund, emphasized in a statement that executive orders can be repealed as easily as they can be signed, and noted that the bill targets Brotherhood branches not specifically called out in the executive order.
“While a close reading of the president’s executive order does not exclude the possibility of sanctioning Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in Qatar or Turkey, this legislation is specific in calling out Doha and Ankara along with many other nations that the Muslim Brotherhood uses to advance its malign activities,” Zilberman said.
Companion legislation in the Senate has yet to move forward.
The committee also voted unanimously in favor of legislation sanctioning the Iran-backed Houthis for violations of human rights and hostage-taking, instructing the State Department to take action to engage with European governments about antisemitism in their countries and creating new procedures to harmonize various U.S. sanctions registries — assessing whether entities sanctioned under certain authorities should also be sanctioned under others.
Another bill, which would sanction specific Iranian leaders who have issued fatwas against President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, passed on a bipartisan basis with 47 votes in favor and two Democrats, Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), abstaining.
Castro introduced an amendment, which failed on party lines, that would have broadened the legislation to apply to measures taken against any U.S. leader or senior official, or the leaders of major U.S. allies.
Democrats argued that those measures would make the legislation more lasting and applicable in the long term, while Republicans said they wanted to keep the legislation focused on discrete, specific threats against Trump and Netanyahu.
Plus, Gaza terror attack wounds five IDF soldiers
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) speaks during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' news conference in the Capitol on Thursday, June 5, 2025.
Good afternoon.
This P.M. edition is reserved for our premium subscribers — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
I’m Danielle Cohen-Kanik, U.S. editor at Jewish Insider and curator of the Daily Overtime, along with assists from my colleagues. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback by replying to this email.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) apologized in a letter to Portland’s Jewish community for a recent House floor speech in which she appeared to compare the war in Gaza to the Holocaust, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports, while maintaining her support for a resolution describing the war as a genocide.
Dexter said that she “should not have discussed” the war in Gaza and the Holocaust “during the same speech” and acknowledged that the speech “gave many the impression I was comparing them” when she did not intend to do so.
Bob Horenstein, chief community relations and public affairs officer at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, told the Jewish Review that, in a meeting with Dexter, the congresswoman “reinforced Israel’s right to exist and to self-defense. However, she believed the Netanyahu government went too far and thus would not withdraw her co-sponsorship of the misguided congressional resolution”…
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted this morning to advance Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun’s nomination to be the Trump administration’s antisemitism envoy, clearing the way for a full Senate vote on his confirmation, JI’s Emily Jacobs reports.
All 12 Republicans on the committee voted in favor, while eight of the 10 Democrats on the panel were opposed. The two Democrats who voted to support Kaploun were the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a close ally of the Jewish community…
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to advance a bill designating the entire Muslim Brotherhood globally as a terror organization this afternoon; all committee Republicans as well as Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Jim Costa (D-CA), George Latimer (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) voted in favor…
Congressional Democrats aren’t giving up on their opposition to embattled Trump appointee Paul Ingrassia: six Democratic members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to the White House today calling for Ingrassia’s “immediate removal” as acting general counsel at the General Services Administration, Politico scooped.
Ingrassia was appointed to the GSA last month after he withdrew his own nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel when antisemitic and racist text messages of his were unearthed. The senators, led by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), referenced these messages among their concerns in the letter, including Ingrassia’s claim that he has a “Nazi streak”…
Speaking via video at The New York Times’ annual DealBook summit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would visit New York City despite Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s threat to have him arrested on war crimes charges if he does so, JI’s Lahav Harkov reports. As to whether he would meet with Mamdani, Netanyahu said: “If he changes his mind and says we [Israel] have a right to exist, that’ll be a good opening for a conversation”…
New conditions by the Trump administration have caused a stall in negotiations with Harvard over a deal to restore its federal funding, The New York Times reports, an agreement that seemed close to fruition over the summer. Federal officials are now pushing for some of a $500 million penalty from Harvard to be paid as a fine directly to the government, rather than solely for workforce development programs, as the university had agreed to…
Israel and Lebanon sent diplomatic delegations to meet with the U.S.-led ceasefire monitoring committee for the first time today — as opposed to military representatives — amid increased military action by Israel in southern Lebanon as Hezbollah reportedly begins rearming. Netanyahu sent a member of his National Security Council, Lebanon sent former Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Simon Karam and Morgan Ortagus, U.S. deputy special envoy to the Middle East, represented Washington…
Five IDF soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in an attack today by terrorists near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Netanyahu said Israel would “respond accordingly” and the IDF carried out an airstrike against a Hamas operative in the area…
At the same time, Israel announced today it would begin allowing Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing; Egypt denied the move, claiming the ceasefire agreement requires that the border be opened to both incoming and outgoing movement, enabling Gazans displaced to Egypt to return to the enclave…
The New York Times profiles the operatives at the center of a leaked Kansas Young Republicans group chat filled with racist and antisemitic language. “Looking back, Mr. [William] Hendrix sees how his texts could be offensive. But he said he did not intend them that way. This was his generation’s breaking of taboos, he said. He would never use this language with someone he did not know or did not like, he said, but saying it to a close friend feels transgressive and fun”…
A report by the Pentagon watchdog found that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked endangering American troops by sharing sensitive information in a non-secured message thread on Signal earlier this year, CNN reports, though it also notes he has the authority to declassify information as he sees fit. The unclassified version of the report is set to be released to the public tomorrow…
Guinness World Records confirmed reports today that it is not accepting new world records from Israel: “We are aware of just how sensitive this is at the moment. We truly do believe in record breaking for everyone, everywhere but unfortunately in the current climate we are not generally processing record applications from the Palestinian Territories or Israel, or where either is given as the attempt location, with the exception of those done in cooperation with a UN humanitarian aid relief agency,” the organization said.
“The policy has been in place since November 2023. However, we are monitoring the situation carefully and the policy is subject to a monthly review. We hope to be in a position to receive new enquiries soon.” However, at least one new record has been recorded in Israel this year…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye out in Jewish Insider for reporting on a trip by a New York City charter school system to Auschwitz and a dispatch from this morning’s Lox & Legislators breakfast with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, where Maryland Gov. Wes Moore pledged new hate crimes funding.
The UJA-Federation of New York, in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and other Jewish groups, is hosting a solidarity gathering near Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, after the synagogue faced disruptive protests last month over an event promoting immigration to Israel.
The Milken Institute will kick off its two-day Middle East and North Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, covering topics including the “great AI adoption race,” venture capital, philanthropy, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, global food security and more.
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QATAR’S PAPER PLAY
Wall Street Journal expands ties with Qatar, launches glitzy conference in Doha
The newspaper’s partnerships with Qatar come after its editorial page previously slammed the Gulf monarchy as a Hamas sponsor
CITIZENSHIP QUALMS
ADL says Moreno’s dual-citizenship bill risks reviving ‘dual loyalty’ narrative
‘Accusations of dual loyalty have historically been used against Jews to exclude them from public life and even justify violence, making this trope especially harmful and dangerous,’ ADL’s Dan Granot says
Doha's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have drawn scrutiny in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, meets with Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Lance Gooden (R-TX) in Doha, Nov. 27, 20205
Qatar, whose ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have drawn scrutiny in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, is doubling down on a charm offensive focused on a handful of GOP lawmakers and conservative social media influencers, all while hosting two of the most established brands in American news.
A group of House Republicans visited Qatar during the House’s Thanksgiving recess last week, including Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Lance Gooden (R-TX). The trip occurred just before the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on legislation that classifies the entire Muslim Brotherhood organization globally as a terrorist group.
A group of conservative social media influencers also visited Qatar over Thanksgiving, posting glowing dispatches lauding the country and its role in hosting a U.S. military base.
Rob Smith, one of the invited guests, posted credulously about Qatar on his Instagram feed after the trip, “I wasn’t aware of a great deal of things about Qatar, only misperceptions and half-truths I’d read about online. When the opportunity was presented to me, with full authority and autonomy to ask the tough questions of the officials I’d be meeting with, I decided to risk any potential criticism and to travel and experience it for myself.”
Meanwhile, numerous prominent celebrities — including comedian Kevin Hart, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and tennis star Novak Djokovic — gathered in Doha over the weekend for the 2025 Formula One Qatar Grand Prix.
And this week, the country is hosting the Doha Forum, a conference co-sponsored by CNN. Those attending the conference include several Trump administration officials and ambassadors, politicians and philanthropists, alongside Israel-bashing officials such as former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, sanctioned U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and former Iran envoy Rob Malley.
Others on the guest list include: Donald Trump Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz, the Heritage Foundation’s Victoria Coates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour and other officials, leaders and analysts from around the world.
Also this week, The Wall Street Journal is hosting a technology conference in Doha, featuring business leaders and celebrities, hosted by various Journal reporters. As JI’s Matthew Kassel reports, the summit is raising ethical questions surrounding the paper’s deepening business ties with Qatar — even as the Journal’s conservative editorial page has slammed the Gulf monarchy as a financial and diplomatic sponsor of Hamas.
Each of these events comes at a time when Qatar’s complicated public reputation in the United States is becoming a flashpoint, particularly inside the conservative movement.
The Trump administration announced in late November plans to designate branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and the House Foreign Affairs Committee is taking up legislation on Wednesday that aims to proscribe the entire group.
Though the White House’s executive order on the issue sidestepped any mention of Qatar, the country has been a major Muslim Brotherhood patron, and analysts have characterized the Qatari branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as one of the organization’s key terrorist arms.
The simmering battle in the conservative movement was on display in a heated social media exchange between Trump ally and far-right influencer Laura Loomer, a vocal critic of Qatar, and Zinke’s chief of staff, Heather Swift.
Loomer, in a series of posts blasting the Republicans who visited Qatar, took particular aim at Zinke, mocking his attire and claiming he was visiting to “beg [the Qataris] for money.” She also said that “Qatar is trying to control every member of Congress. This is very alarming.”
Swift shot back, “[Zinke] has given more of his life and blood to eradicating Islamic jihadis than this woman ever will. … Strongest possible record against Iran and for Israel. Perhaps being a member of the House Foreign [Affairs] committee may require speaking with foreign leaders from time to time so they know where the USA stands.”
Loomer also pressed Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson about the U.S.-Qatar relationship and Qatar’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday. Wilson responded by saying that the “U.S. military has a long-standing partnership with Qatar, and we look forward to continuing that partnership.”
The legislation, set for a vote on Wednesday, intends to designate the entire Muslim Brotherhood globally as a terrorist organization, as opposed to other efforts which focus on its branches
Kevin Carter/Getty Images
U.S. Capitol Building on January 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Just over a week after the Trump administration announced moves to designate branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to discuss and vote on legislation that aims to classify the entire organization globally as a terrorist group on Wednesday.
The bipartisan House legislation, led by Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), would instruct the Department of State to assess whether each branch of the Muslim Brotherhood operating globally meets the requirements for designation as a terrorist group. It would then use those determinations to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group in its entirety.
The legislation may go further than the current executive action on the issue, which does not specifically mandate assessments of each Muslim Brotherhood branch and does not directly aim to proscribe the entire Muslim Brotherhood.
Some analysts have raised concerns that the executive branch action does not directly target the Muslim Brotherhood branches in Qatar and Turkey, as it names only the branches in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.
But others have argued that designating the entire Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group is legally and logistically problematic, given that the group does not have any central organization or leadership and that some Muslim Brotherhood branches are not directly tied to terrorism.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the committee chairman, told Jewish Insider prior to the administration’s announcement that the committee was looking to take up legislation on the issue.
Companion legislation in the Senate led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has not yet been scheduled for a markup.
In addition to the Muslim Brotherhood bill, the Foreign Affairs Committee will vote on legislation — led by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Bill Keating (D-MA) and Moskowitz — to impose sanctions on the Houthis and their members under the Global Magnitsky Act and the Robert Levinson Hostage Taking and Accountability Act in response to the group’s obstruction of humanitarian aid, human rights violations and involvement in taking U.S. nationals hostage.
The sanctions would phase out after five years, and the legislation would also require reports to Congress on Houthi indoctrination efforts, obstruction of humanitarian aid and human rights violations.
The Committee is also set to discuss the Protecting Europe from Antisemitic Crime and Extremism (PEACE) Act, led by Reps. Randy Fine (R-FL) and Max Miller (R-OH), which instructs the State Department to diplomatically engage with European governments to address antisemitism in their countries and to consult with Congress on the issue.
It will additionally consider a bill by Fine and Moskowitz that aims to harmonize various U.S. sanctions lists, instructing the administration to assess whether individuals included on some designation lists should be sanctioned under other authorities as well, and to report to Congress on those determinations.
He will succeed Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick following her indictment this week
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Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, during a news conference.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who is among the most vocal Democratic supporters of Israel in the House, will serve as the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East and North Africa subcommittee beginning Friday, replacing Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) following her indictment earlier this week.
As per House Democratic rules, Cherfilus-McCormick surrendered her subcommittee leadership role after being indicted by the Justice Department this week, on allegations that she used misallocated federal disaster funds for personal expenses and to support her campaign.
Sherman was the most senior Democrat on the subcommittee. He had previously declined to pursue leadership of the subcommittee given that he is also the top Democrat on a House Financial Services subcommittee, and would have needed to surrender that post.
But Democratic rules now allow him to temporarily hold both leadership posts concurrently; Cherfilus-McCormick will resume the Foreign Affairs role if she is acquitted or charges are dropped.
“My views on the Middle East are well known to the readers of Jewish Insider,” Sherman told JI. “I am pleased to serve as the chief Democrat on the House-Knesset Parliamentary Friendship Group and as a Co-Chair of the House Israel Allies Caucus. I particularly want to focus on making sure that any Saudi nuclear program does not lead to a Saudi nuclear weapon. Likewise, I’m concerned about the possibility of transferring F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia.”
Democratic leadership on the subcommittee has been through repeated changes in recent years. Sherman is the fifth Democrat to lead it since 2022: former Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) stepped down when he retired from Congress to lead the American Jewish Committee, former Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) also stepped down when he left Congress in 2023 and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) declined to run for re-election in 2024.
Mast, who had already expressed concerns about lifting the sanctions, met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa earlier this week, alongside other lawmakers
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Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on September 9, 2024 in Washington, DC.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) told Jewish Insider that, after his meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa earlier this week, he’s going to “think about” his skeptical stance on the repeal of sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Civilian Protection Act.
Mast has previously expressed concerns about lifting the sanctions, a move which the Trump administration supports.
The Senate approved the repeal of the Caesar Act as part of its draft of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, but the House has not yet approved similar legislation. Mast would need to approve the Senate proposal for it to be included in the final defense bill. He told The Hill last week that “discussions on Caesar Repeal are ongoing but my concerns should be obvious to anyone following the situation in Syria.”
The House Financial Services Committee voted on a bipartisan basis in July for legislation conditioning the lifting of the sanctions on Syria meeting a series of human rights, anti-corruption and counterterrorism standards.
Asked if the meeting had changed his views on the issue, Mast said that he had read at length about al-Sharaa and his background — al-Sharaa is a former terrorist commander affiliated with ISIS and Al-Qaida — prior to the meeting. Mast is a military veteran who lost his legs to a terrorist bombing in Afghanistan.
“We had a lot of conversation, good conversation,” Mast said. “I asked him very pointedly [to] explain why we’re no longer his enemy. He gave a pretty good answer. Said he was hoping for a noble future for his people, one free of radicalism, fundamentalism … and ISIS. So it was a good answer.”
Opponents of the full repeal effort argue that sanctions should remain on the books to ensure Syrian compliance with U.S. priorities and human rights, particularly in light of the massacres of religious minority groups.
Mast did not issue any support for sanctions relief for Syria; the congressman is seen as a key holdout for the move
Jasmine Naamou and Tarek Naemo with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) (courtesy)
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) met on Sunday with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is in Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump. Mast said he confronted al-Sharaa over his terrorist past.
“We had a long and serious conversation about how to build a future for the people of Syria free of war, ISIS, and extremism,” Mast said in a statement.
Mast is an Army veteran who lost both legs while serving as an explosive ordinance disposal technician in Afghanistan in 2010. Al-Sharaa is a former commander in ISIS and Al-Qaida and later in a Syrian splinter group.
“He and I are two former soldiers and two former enemies. I asked him directly ‘Why we are no longer enemies?’” Mast continued. “His response was that he wishes to ‘liberate from the past and have a noble pursuit for his people and his country and to be a great ally to the United States of America.’”
Mast, a Trump ally, concluded, “Today, he will meet with President Trump and officially join the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.”
Notably, Mast’s statement is absent any direct praise for al-Sharaa or his efforts, or any commitment to supporting sanctions relief for the Syrian regime, which Trump has encouraged Congress to enact.
Some Syrian diaspora activists have targeted Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in recent days, describing him as the largest obstacle to the repeal of human rights sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act.
Meanwhile, Mast is facing criticism from some conservatives for sitting down with al-Sharaa.
Far-right influencer Laura Loomer, who has a long history of anti-Muslim activism and is an ally of Trump as well, said she was “really stunned” by the two meeting.
“Imagine getting your legs blown off by Muslim terrorists and then posing for a photo with an Islamic terrorist,” Loomer said on X. “How many of @RepBrianMast’s fellow brothers and sisters in uniform were killed by Islamic terrorists like Julani?”
Loomer has also criticized the Trump administration for welcoming al-Sharaa to the White House.
The committee also debated the U.S. relationship with Turkey and the future of UNRWA
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U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) questions Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on September 17, 2025 in Washington, DC.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee, during a marathon markup of legislation to reform and reorganize the State Department, resoundingly rejected amendments seeking to condition U.S. aid to Israel on a bipartisan basis.
The committee also engaged in vigorous debate over the U.S. relationship with Turkey and the future of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The markup began Monday morning and did not end until early Tuesday evening.
By two votes of 45-5, the committee rejected a pair of amendments by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) that would have added new conditions to $1 billion of the $3.3 billion in direct military funding the U.S. provides to Israel each year.
Jayapal and Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) and Madeline Dean (D-PA) voted in favor of the amendments.
The first of the two amendments would have conditioned aid to Israel on ending settlement expansion and illegal settlements; stopping plans to annex portions of the West Bank; holding accountable individuals involved in settler violence; holding Israeli security forces accountable for “grave human rights violations”; cooperating with U.S.-led investigations into the killings of U.S. citizens in the West Bank and providing compensation to victims; not targeting “educational, religious, agricultural and cultural sites”; allowing humanitarian aid workers and journalists to enter and travel throughout Gaza; and implementing reforms to protect “freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly” in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The second amendment was more narrow, maintaining only the conditions relating to violence against U.S. citizens.
Jayapal’s amendments were modeled in part on human rights conditions Congress previously applied to U.S. aid to Egypt — though those conditions could be, and consistently were, waived by the State Department for most of the funds. The Jayapal amendments contained no waiver provision.
The committee voted in favor of an amendment, led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), that would require the administration to notify Congress of any decision to delay or withhold an arms transfer to Israel, and provide a path for Congress to override such a delay.
Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and George Latimer (D-NY) voted with most Republicans in favor of the amendment, and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) voted with most Democrats against it.
An amendment by Castro that would have prohibited any U.S. foreign military funding to be used to purchase weapons outside the United States after 2029 failed by a 25-24 vote. Lawler voted with Democrats in favor of the amendment.
The provision was designed to prevent Israel from using U.S. funding to purchase weapons from its own defense industry under the next memorandum of understanding with the United States. Such domestic procurement funding is being phased out over the course of the current MOU.
The committee also debated a series of measures relating to the strained U.S.-Turkey relationship and Turkish hostility toward Israel, approving two and rejecting a third.
By a 35-13 bipartisan vote, the committee approved an amendment by Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) mandating that the administration consider the impact of any U.S. arms sales to Turkey on Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge, a condition that by law is applied to other Middle East nations.
Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Young Kim (R-CA), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Castro, Jacobs and Jayapal and Dels. Auma Amata Radewagen (R-AS) and James Moylan (R-GU) voted against the amendment.
Another amendment by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) that would have allowed the State Department to reassign Turkey from its European bureau to its Middle East bureau was rejected by a voice vote.
Schneider argued that, given that it is no longer realistic that Turkey will be joining the European Union and that the U.S.’ concerns relating to Turkey increasingly relate to its activity in the Middle East, reassigning it would reflect the country’s current global posture.
Opponents argued that, as a key member of NATO, Turkey must be kept in the Europe bureau to ensure proper NATO coordination. They also warned that reclassifying Turkey would only drive Turkey further from the U.S. and toward its adversaries, and said that Turkey has been an important and reliable ally for decades.
An amendment requiring a report to Congress on Turkey’s purchase and operation of a Russian S-400 missile defense system and on Turkish relationships with Russian intelligence was adopted as part of a bipartisan package of amendments.
Touched off by a Lawler amendment revoking diplomatic privileges and immunity from United Nations Relief and Works Agency personnel, the committee engaged in a vigorous debate about the agency and its future. The amendment passed by a 27-21 vote. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) was the only Democrat who supported it.
Lawler argued that the amendment would help “force the U.N. to gut this agency and eliminate it altogether.”
Democrats, ranging from staunch supporters of Israel to some of its most outspoken critics, cautioned against immediately attempting to shut down the agency.
Even as he acknowledged the longstanding issues with UNRWA and said that the agency needs to be replaced, Schneider argued that the agency should not be disbanded until a viable alternative is ready, warning that terrorist groups could fill the gaps UNRWA’s elimination would leave.
“I share the concern and I want to see UNRWA replaced with something else, but I don’t want it replaced with a vacuum that leaves a population without education, a population without housing and food that is more likely to be radicalized and a continued threat than to create a possibility of a partner for peace,” Schneider said.
He said that “until it can be replaced, you sometimes have to work with very flawed institutions,” a seeming shift in Schneider’s past stances on the issue.
Other Democrats went significantly further, downplaying or dismissing allegations and evidence of widespread links between the agency and Hamas.
“UNRWA is attacked because of what it represents for the Palestinian people, the hope for statehood, the hope to return to lands and homes stolen from ancestors, the hope for a life marked by dignity and equality, but most of all the hope to just be able to survive from day to day,” Jayapal said.
Dean cited a U.N. report that nine UNRWA employees “may have been” involved in the Oct. 7 attacks, and suggested that was the sum total of links between the agency and Hamas.
By a 28-21 vote, with Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and Moskowitz voting in the affirmative with Republicans, the committee voted in favor of legislation that would block U.S. funding to United Nations agencies and bodies that restrict Israel’s participation or expel the Jewish state.
By a voice vote, the committee approved an amendment to prohibit U.S. funding to any U.N. agency that provides any upgraded status to the Palestine Liberation Organization or Palestinian Authority, a response to the U.N. General Assembly’s move last year to grant the Palestinians expanded privileges.
An amendment to prohibit U.S. funding to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice — in part in response to their moves against Israel — was approved by a 31-18 vote, with Reps. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Lieu, Latimer, Schneider and Cherfilus-McCormick voting in favor.
The committee voted along party lines to prohibit the U.S. from participating in the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The committee approved by voice vote an amendment to prevent Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, from receiving a U.S. visa — a move already implemented under executive order by the Trump administration.
Also by a voice vote, the committee added additional vetting requirements for U.N. agencies receiving U.S. funds — matching the vetting requirements in place for other recipients of U.S. aid.
And by a bipartisan 28-19 vote, it rejected a proposal for the State Department to assess the possibility of relocating the United Nations headquarters out of New York.
Amid scrutiny and public outcry — primarily from progressives — Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) withdrew a provision in the original unamended legislation that would have allowed the secretary of state to revoke passports for any individual they deem to have provided material support for terrorism.
A Jacobs-led amendment that would have required the secretary of state to provide notification and a justification to Congress each time they use discretionary foreign policy authorities to revoke visas — the authority invoked in the attempted deportations of Mahmoud Khalil and other anti-Israel activists — failed by a party-line vote. As did one by Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) that would have prohibited the revocation of visas based upon individuals’ speech.
The committee voted 32-19, with Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Moskowitz and Jackson voting in favor, to require the State Department to brief Congress on the suspension of former Iran envoy Robert Malley’s security clearance — a set of events that remains shrouded in questions and prompted an as-yet-unresolved FBI investigation.
Malley has been accused of improperly disclosing classified information.
As part of a bipartisan amendment package, the committee approved legislation that would reauthorize the mission and position of the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism and add to statute a responsibility for the special envoy to work to implement the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism adopted under the Biden administration.
The package would also codify the State Department’s use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.
The legislation would prohibit the antisemitism envoy from serving in a dual role with other responsibilities in the executive branch, as well as reauthorize the special envoy for Holocaust issues.
A separate bipartisan amendment would direct the State Department to engage with European allies on countering antisemitism in Europe.
The committee passed, along party lines, as part of a package of amendments, a provision repealing a decades-old law that restricted the construction of new diplomatic facilities in Israel and the West Bank.
Other provisions approved as part of bipartisan packages of amendments included reauthorizing the U.S. security coordinator for the Palestinian territories, placing the security coordinator under the authority of the U.S. ambassador to Israel, declaring that Congress considers the Gaza Health Ministry to be an unreliable source of information and allowing the Gulf Cooperation Council to establish a diplomatic mission in Washington.
The committee also approved amendments aimed at preventing Iran from establishing a foothold in the Port of Sudan, protecting U.S. allies from the Houthis and preventing the Houthis from disseminating weapons and dual-use technologies from Yemen into the Horn of Africa.
Additional amendments would create a database of information on Iran’s global trade ties and membership in international organizations, and a centralized repository of all required reports to Congress about Iran.
Lawler was the only Republican who voted with Democrats for a failed amendment to reauthorize the Middle East Regional Cooperation program, which facilitates scientific cooperation between Israel and Arab states. Many of those grants were slashed with the shutdown of the United States Agency for International Development.
Numerous amendments led by Democrats failed along party lines, including ones that would have blocked military sales to any country — potentially including the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — providing weapons to either side of the civil war in Sudan; and requested reports on U.S. funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, on the U.S. citizen population in Gaza, on U.S. citizens killed in the West Bank, on the controversial U.S. chip deal with the United Arab Emirates and on whether any U.S.-origin weapons have been used in Sudan.
The committee also blocked, on party lines, an effort to mandate that most U.S. nuclear energy cooperation agreements with foreign countries prohibit domestic enrichment and reprocessing of nuclear material — which could have complicated a long-gestating nuclear energy deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
It remains unclear whether this legislative package stands any chance of passing Congress. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee put forward its own, much more limited, State Department reauthorization effort as part of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, but that legislation has stalled on the Senate floor and the committee has shown little interest in taking up such a sweeping overhaul effort.
It’s also not yet guaranteed when the full House will take up these bills.
Democrats on the committee have cried foul about the process that produced the legislative package behind closed doors, from which they said they were largely excluded, despite GOP claims that the legislation is bipartisan.
They also accused Republicans of failing to hold regular oversight hearings with administration officials or markups of individual pieces of legislation as they focused on this larger package.
McCaul was seen as a bipartisan dealmaker and strong supporter of Israel during his time as committee chair
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Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees, announced Sunday that he will retire from Congress at the end of next year, after 11 terms in office.
McCaul, 63, has been a critical voice for traditional conservative internationalism at a time of rising isolationist sentiment among some factions of the GOP; he’s seen as a key leader who helped drive the passage of supplemental aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in the House last year.
The Texas congressman has been a staunch supporter of Israel and an Iran hawk in the House and has also been a lead Republican voice in support of expanded funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps protect Jewish and other vulnerable nonprofits.
“My father’s service in World War II inspired me to pursue a life of public service, with a focus on defending our great nation against global threats, and I have been proud to carry out that mission in Congress for more than two decades,” McCaul said in a statement. “I am ready for a new challenge in 2027 and look forward to continuing to serve my country in the national security and foreign policy realm.”
As the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, McCaul was seen as a bipartisan dealmaker who maintained good relationships with Democratic colleagues.
Prior to his time in Congress, McCaul was a career prosecutor — the chief of counterterrorism and national security for the U.S. attorney in the Western District of Texas, the deputy attorney general of Texas and a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section.
The end of the current session of congress will see other prominent Republican foreign policy hawks depart Congress as well, including Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), and a new generation of GOP leaders take leadership of key foreign policy committees.
McCaul’s deep-red district — redrawn to be even darker red in the next election cycle — is expected to remain in Republican hands.
One provision would allow the department to revoke the passport of anyone the secretary of state deems to be supporting a terrorist organization
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Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday released a series of bills aimed at reorganizing and reforming the State Department, ahead of a committee meeting next week where the lawmakers are expected to debate a host of amendments related to foreign policy and national security issues across the globe.
The nine bills released this week are part of a State Department reauthorization effort spearheaded by the committee’s new chairman, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), and modeled after the congressional Armed Services Committees’ annual markups of the National Defense Authorization Act, the must-pass annual military and national security policy bill.
While Congress has passed an NDAA annually for decades, it has not conducted such a comprehensive authorization process for the State Department in more than two decades, though it has included State Department authorization bills as amendments in the last several NDAAs.
The Trump administration has undertaken its own efforts to reorganize and cut the size of the State Department.
Among the new provisions in the legislation highlighted by the committee’s leadership is one allowing the State Department to revoke the passport of anyone charged or convicted with providing material support to a terrorist organization, or who is determined by the secretary of state to have done so. Revocations would be subject to an appeal.
The administration could seek to use the provision, if enacted, to limit or prevent foreign travel by those it has deemed to be supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups. The legislation states that the provision cannot be used to “abridge the exercise” of First Amendment rights.
The package would also create an Eastern Mediterranean Security Cooperation Group for members of Congress and administration officials to coordinate with Israel, Greece and Cyprus, which would meet twice a year to discuss joint security issues.
It would extend authorities for the U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel, from which the U.S. can offer weapons to Israel in emergency situations. It would also ban U.S. contributions to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry targeting Israel.
The State Department would also be required annually to report to Congress on other countries’ United Nations voting practices, and particularly on their votes on Israel-related resolutions opposed by the United States.
In outlining the duties of the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., the legislation specifically instructs the ambassador to “identify, report, and hold accountable Member States that engage in malign influence operations and United Nations employees who act inconsistently with the princip[les] of impartiality enshrined in the United Nations Charter” and to oppose the election of states “that engage in malign influence operations” as the leader of U.N. bodies.
The package incorporates legislation aimed at countering detention of Americans by foreign adversaries, establishing a new designation for state sponsors of unlawful and wrongful detention. The administration recently established a similar policy through executive order.
As part of the State Department reorganization, the package would create a new position for an assistant secretary for sanctions policy and a Sanctions Policy Bureau to oversee U.S. sanctions activities and develop strategy and policy around the use of sanctions, as well as coordinate on sanctions with foreign partners.
The legislation would also create a new under secretary for foreign assistance to centralize control of all foreign aid programs — following the shuttering of USAID and its consolidation into the State Department — a director and office of foreign assistance oversight, and a Bureau of Strategic Communications aimed at countering foreign adversary propaganda.
It additionally would largely lift the U.S. arms embargo on Cyprus, provided that any weapons transferred are used by the Cypriot government, that Cyprus continues to reform its financial system and does not allow Russian military vessels to use its ports to refuel — continuing indefinitely a waiver first implemented in 2022.
Mast, in a statement about the package, said he “made a promise to restore command and control [in the State Department] — and this legislation delivers.”
“It ensures every dollar and every diplomat puts America First and is accountable to the president’s foreign policy. It also prevents ideologues masquerading as diplomats from using their posts to push left-wing agendas instead of America’s interests,” Mast continued. “This bill is not just a reform for today, or for President Trump; it is a lasting framework that will strengthen the State Department and benefit every commander-in-chief who follows.”
The freshman New York congressman also said that Israel must do more to pursue an end to the war, make its case to the world and provide aid in Gaza
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Westchester County Executive George Latimer speaks to supporters after winning his race against Democratic incumbent Representative Jamaal Bowman in the 16th Congressional District of New York's Democratic primary.
Having recently returned from a trip to Israel, Rep. George Latimer (D-NY) is emphasizing that Israel’s critics in the United States and around the world are overlooking Hamas’ key role in perpetuating the conflict and contributing to the humanitarian issues in Gaza, strengthening the terrorist group’s position and insulating it from external pressures.
At the same time, the New York Democrat also said that Israel must do more to pursue an end to the war, make its case to the world and provide aid in Gaza.
Latimer, speaking to Jewish Insider last week, said that the trip, organized by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation for Democratic freshmen and leading Democratic lawmakers, had reinforced his view that the situation on the ground is more complicated than the more simplistic narratives demonizing Israel that have been spread by some critics and media.
“When you see on the ground, you understand it is not a simple black-and-white situation,” Latimer, a first-term congressman from Westchester County, N.Y., who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “People come up to me and say, ‘Israel is practicing genocide. What they’re doing is evil and we need to stop it.’ And then you get on the ground and you realize how much more complicated it is than that.”
He said that American critics of Israel fail to acknowledge Hamas’ “role in all of this and its contributory actions.” He said he sees a “lack of appreciation here in the United States that Hamas is committed — has shown no signs to want to sit, talk peace, have a cessation of hostilities. … That makes it very, very hard to plot a strategy, if the other side is completely intransigent.”
Latimer said the situation is comparable to overlooking the fact that the U.S. entered World War II because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, or that the U.S. invaded Afghanistan because of the 9/11 attacks. He said that the “mindset” that motivated such attacks doesn’t disappear overnight, and can take protracted conflict to address.
At the same time, he said that “there’s a gap between what [the Israeli government] needs to be doing and what it is doing, and it’s a serious gap.” He said he doesn’t see proposals to relocate the population of Gaza out of the enclave, discussed during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as “workable” or “humane.”
He addressed friction within Israeli society over Israel’s war plans in Gaza, and said that Netanyahu’s decision-making may be shaped by his far-right coalition members, adding that “if there’s no movement from Hamas, what can you ask Israel to do unilaterally?”
“So Netanyahu’s strategies present as intransigent in the face of intransigence on the other side,” Latimer continued. “You need some joint breakthrough where both sides step back from the path that they’re on, and both sides have to be willing to do that, if you can expect the other side to also then do that.”
He noted the difficulty of forcing a dug-in enemy like Hamas to surrender, comparing it to the challenge of forcing a Japanese surrender during WWII.
Latimer unseated Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a vocal Israel critic, in the 2024 Democratic primary, boosted by significant support from his district’s Jewish community as well as national pro-Israel groups.
Latimer told JI he thinks Israel has not done enough to try to win over or influence global opinion in its favor. Latimer said he believes that the Israeli government views such efforts as a lost cause and not worth attempting.
“There’s a case to be made [for Israel]. But in lieu of that, the rhetoric is all what Israel is doing and not doing, and how evil they are, when, in fact, all of this came from an attack that was horrific on Oct. 7,” Latimer said.
He said that there have been “atrocities” on the Israeli side, pointing broadly to settler violence in the West Bank, but said that “the question is, overall, are you weighing all of these things together, or as the world opinion, and much of the United States opinion, particularly among younger people, has been framed completely around ‘Israel bad,’” ignoring the “evil that’s been done on behalf of the other side of this. That is a contributing reason why we’re in the situation we’re in.”
“The fact that people are starving is horrific. But as long as the world blames Israel for it solely, Hamas is winning. Why would they change any strategies?” Latimer said. “The leaders of Hamas are not sitting in the tunnels. … They’re sitting in the safety of the protection of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan or over in Qatar. Therefore, they’re not under the pressure.”
Latimer said that the food supply in Gaza was a key issue he examined on the trip, calling starvation in Gaza a “legitimate” problem.
He said that the current four Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites are “nowhere near enough,” given the “massive number of people that need to be fed and housed.”
But he added that Hamas being “unwilling to cooperate” in the safe delivery of aid is an impediment to efforts to improve the humanitarian situation and that the United Nations “in the eyes of the Israelis, has lost credibility.”
He said that the best path forward would likely be for a coalition of Arab countries to take the lead of a humanitarian aid distribution entity: “We need to have a third party that has credibility.”
“Israel is not doing enough to solve the problem, and Hamas is doing things to prohibit the problem from being solved,” Latimer said, calling on Israel to work to increase the number of food distribution centers and strengthen supply lines and on Hamas to stop attempting to intercept food and sow chaos at distribution sites.
“The fact that people are starving is horrific. But as long as the world blames Israel for it solely, Hamas is winning. Why would they change any strategies?” he said. “The leaders of Hamas are not sitting in the tunnels. … They’re sitting in the safety of the protection of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan or over in Qatar. Therefore, they’re not under the pressure.”
“What I saw in September 2005 gave me hope. What I see when I go back 20 years later is, you shake your head and you go, ‘Why did it turn out this way?’” Latimer said. “Did it turn out this way because Israel wanted it to turn out this way? Israel didn’t want Oct. 7. Israel didn’t want all of its young men in the reserves and active duty, constantly on a wartime footing.”
He declined to weigh in definitively — citing the limited information at his disposal and his limited power as a lone congressman — on whether the U.S. needs to increase pressure on its allies in Turkey or Qatar to expel or detain those Hamas leaders, but said that “clearly there has been insufficient pressure on Hamas” because its leaders have shown no urgency to return the hostages, negotiate in good faith or participate in un-corrupted food distribution.
Latimer said he first traveled to Israel two decades ago, just after the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, and that there was hope at the time that the Israeli withdrawal would “allow the opportunity for Gaza to experience peace and some kind of growth.”
“What I saw in September 2005 gave me hope. What I see when I go back 20 years later is, you shake your head and you go, ‘Why did it turn out this way?’” Latimer said. “Did it turn out this way because Israel wanted it to turn out this way? Israel didn’t want Oct. 7. Israel didn’t want all of its young men in the reserves and active duty, constantly on a wartime footing.”
He said that if Gaza’s leaders had pursued growth and development over the past 20 years, “we could be in a very different place today,” but instead Hamas seized power and used Gaza as a platform to attack Israel.
Asked about recent decisions by European countries to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, which came around the time of Latimer’s trip, the congressman said that he supports a two-state solution, but one that “comes out of a negotiated process,” noting the many outstanding issues to be worked through.
“You cannot expect Israel to survive with a hostile entity interspersed with its borders, and yet be its own country. And there has to be a sense that this country can function and provide its services to its people and maintain civil control. None of those things are automatically in place yet, so I don’t know what we’re recognizing in substance,” Latimer said.
“I think what we’re recognizing in symbolism is European countries that basically are saying, ‘We need to have a two state solution,’ and probably their population is reacting to what’s happening in the moment and putting pressure on their governments to do this,” he continued.
“The Palestinian Authority certainly has a steep mountain to climb, but right now, they’re the best hope that you have of a presence — and certainly it’s not Hamas, it’s certainly not coming out of any of the groups that Iran is backing or has backed,” Latimer said.
Based on the delegation’s meeting with Palestinian Authority leaders, Latimer said that he believes there is an “intent” and “willingness” in the PA to pursue needed reform and bolster credibility with the Palestinian population.
“How much success they’re going to have with the civilian population to accomplish those things — it’s going to be a tall task,” he said.
At the same time, he noted that some Arab governments such as those in Jordan and Egypt maintain cooperative relationships with Israel even as many of their citizens remain hostile.
“The Palestinian Authority certainly has a steep mountain to climb, but right now, they’re the best hope that you have of a presence — and certainly it’s not Hamas, it’s certainly not coming out of any of the groups that Iran is backing or has backed,” he continued.
In the long term, Latimer added, the Abraham Accords represent a path forward for the region, and said that moderate Sunni Arab states want to see a viable and demilitarized Palestinian Authority government that can credibly govern the Palestinian people.
Attendees indicated that the briefing did not provide specific answers on any U.S. policy toward a potential Israeli move to annex all or part of the territory
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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee delivers remarks as President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 7, 2025, in Washington, DC.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee privately briefed lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning on the security and political situation in the West Bank and the war in Gaza.
The briefing was organized by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who chairs the subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, in response to efforts by France and other U.S. allies to recognize a Palestinian state. Despite a focus on the West Bank, attendees indicated that the briefing did not provide specific answers on any U.S. policy toward a potential Israeli move to annex all or part of the territory.
Lawler told Jewish Insider the briefing had included a “thorough discussion with the ambassador about Judea and Samaria and the challenges and the opportunities,” using the biblical term for the West Bank preferred by the Israeli government and utilized by the Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Given the insistence on the part of the French and other Europeans to recognize a Palestinian state, I thought it was important for my colleagues to have a greater understanding of what we’re actually talking about with respect to Judea and Samaria, or the West Bank, and how it is actually governed post-Oslo,” Lawler continued, referring to the peace accords brokered in the 1990s.
He noted that a majority of the West Bank is categorized as Area C, controlled by Israel, and said many people do not understand that.
Asked whether the group had discussed a potential declaration of Israeli sovereignty in that area, Lawler responded, “No, we had a broad discussion on the entirety of the situation there.”
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said he does not “think there’s any support in the United States for unilateral action by Israel to annex any territory.” Some congressional Republicans have indicated support for such a policy.
“[Huckabee] is against the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, and I urged [him] to be equally vocal against unilateral actions by settlers or even the Israeli government designed to prevent a Palestinian state. If you’re against this unilateral, you’re against that unilateral,” Sherman told JI.
He added that Huckabee’s “dedication to the hostages is palpable. You can feel it. You can see it.”
Asked whether the group had discussed potential Israeli annexation of the West Bank, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) declined to address specific details of the closed-door briefing but said, “there was broad discussion on a lot of different issues, but we didn’t go in-depth into anything specifically.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Wednesday that members of the Israeli government are formulating plans for annexation of the West Bank, potentially including all but six large Palestinian cities in the West Bank, with the goal of claiming “maximum territory and minimum population.” Israel is set to hold high-level discussions on the subject this week.
An envoy for the United Arab Emirates told The Times of Israel this week that “annexation would be a red line” for the UAE and would “foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution.”
The UAE joined the Abraham Accords in 2020 in part to halt then-pending plans for annexation of the West Bank.
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Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) leaves the House Republicans' caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Tuesday to advance legislation that aims to expedite arms sales to U.S. partners that are members of the Abraham Accords, as well as bills to review the U.S.-South Africa relationship and to combat the proliferation of Western-made parts in Iranian drones.
The arms sales bill comes as part of a broader push by House Republicans to speed up military transfers to U.S. allies. It would cut the congressional review period for sales to Abraham Accords partners that work with the U.S. on countering Iran and its proxies from 30 days to 15, in line with the review period for key U.S. defense partners including NATO members.
The bill, led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), advanced by a 31-19 vote, with Republican Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA), Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) voting against the bill and Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Jim Costa (D-CA), George Latimer (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) supporting it.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the committee chairman, argued that arms sales to the countries in question, which comprise a significant portion of U.S. military sales globally, suffer from “egregious delays,” prompting U.S. partners to consider buying from other countries, despite the U.S.’ interests in supporting its partners and ensuring their systems are compatible with those of the United States.
“There is a clear recognition that it’s simply not enough for our equipment to be the best,” Mast said. “Those procuring U.S.-origin weapons must also have the confidence that our equipment will be delivered on time in a transparent manner. Streamlining the foreign military sales process is critical if the U.S. is to remain the partner of choice, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.”
Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the committee, and other Democrats argued that the legislation would create “quid pro quo arrangements or enticements” for countries to join the Abraham Accords and would overlook human rights issues and other malign behavior by some Middle East partners, as well as diminish the role of Congress in the arms sales process.
“I don’t believe it is appropriate to equate long-standing allies like the U.K., like France or Canada, all countries with which the United States has detailed comprehensive defensive agreements, to countries who have thus far had inconsistent and checkered records regarding the use of U.S. weapons and conflicts and protections of sensitive defensive technologies,” Meeks said. “We do provide an expedited timeline to our closest allies because of the presumption of approval. I can’t say that we have a presumption of approval, in this case.”
He also described the legislation as an extension of the Trump administration’s business deals with Middle East nations.
By voice votes, the committee approved two amendments by Schneider, one of which would set a 20-year sunset for the bill. The other makes reference to the U.S.’ goal of expanding the Abraham Accords.
The South Africa legislation would require a review of the bilateral relationship between Washington and Pretoria, given South Africa’s deepening ties with authoritarian U.S. adversaries and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. It would require the administration to assess whether to impose sanctions on South African officials for corruption or human rights abuses.
The bill advanced by a 34-16 vote, with Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Bill Keating (D-MA) and Johnny Olszewski (D-MD) joining Lieu, Moskowitz, Costa, Latimer and all Republicans in supporting it. It advanced through the committee by a similar vote in the previous Congress.
Mast argued that, given South Africa’s increasing alignment with authoritarian regimes and its posture since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, the U.S. needs to “reset the expectations” it has in its relationship with South Africa, but “not sever ties.”
“This bill is not anti-South Africa, it is pro-accountability. For too long, we’ve watched a key partner drift closer to authoritarian regimes,” Mast said, adding that South Africa’s “actions raise serious questions about the ANC’s alignment with the democratic values and U.S. interests.”
Other Republicans, including the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), said that “South Africa has abandoned America and our allies and increasingly aligned itself with our adversaries,” and is working to undermine U.S. interests and partners, particularly Israel.
Meeks argued that the bill would set the U.S. and South Africa, which are longtime partners, on the wrong path, and that the U.S. should prioritize “diplomacy and dialogue” to address concerns, rather than punitive action.
“I do not believe Congress should further enable or double down on President [Donald] Trump’s misguided approach when we disagree with our partners, including on the continent of Africa. We should handle that responsibly by using diplomacy and presenting convincing arguments,” Meeks said. “Unfortunately, this bill fails to do that, so I strongly oppose this legislation and urge all of us to look for future opportunities to steer United States-South Africa relations in a more productive direction.”
Other Democrats said that the bill would undermine U.S. interests on the African continent and globally.
The committee rejected, along party lines, a series of amendments introduced by Democrats focused on issues including refugee resettlement, refuting claims of white genocide and persecution of white farmers in South Africa, the history of aparthied in South Africa and the results of U.S. AIDS prevention funding to South Africa.
Republicans largely dismissed those amendments as unnecessary or attacks on Trump and his administration’s policies.
An amendment specifying that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “illegal” — language included in last year’s version of the bill — was approved by a 48-2 vote, with only Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) and Davidson voting no.
The Iranian drone bill, which requires the administration to develop a strategy to prevent Iran from obtaining sensitive American and other Western-made technologies for use in Iran’s attack drones, passed the committee unanimously.
The Foreign Affairs chair reportedly said ‘they would have to figure out which side they were on: American or China/Iran’
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Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, confronted the ambassadors of Rwanda, Jordan and Qatar, among other countries, over their relationships with U.S. adversaries in China and Iran, at a dinner last night, per a source familiar with the congressman’s remarks.
According to Politico, the Rwandan and Jordanian ambassadors to the United States hosted a dinner honoring Mast, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, also attended by the ambassadors of Qatar, Kuwait, France, Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland and Costa Rica.
Mast told the leaders “they would have to figure out which side they were on: American or China/Iran,” a source familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider. “Described as like chess. Sometimes you don’t get to choose who is a pawn and a queen, but you get to decide what side you are on.”
Mast is a longtime, and outspoken, pro-Israel lawmaker who volunteered with a group supporting the Israeli Defense Forces following his own military service.
Reps. George Latimer (D-NY), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), Julie Johnson (D-TX) and Sarah McBride (D-DE) are also joining the committee
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Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) questions a witness in the House Judiciary Committee on April 28, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the former chair of the House Progressive Caucus who has been a leading supporter of efforts to block weapons sales to Israel, is set to join the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, House Democratic leadership announced on Tuesday.
Jayapal will join Reps. George Latimer (D-NY), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), Julie Johnson (D-TX) and Sarah McBride (D-DE) as the new Democratic members of the key House committee.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Jayapal has repeatedly voted against legislation to support Israel, counter Iran and combat antisemitism, including supplemental U.S. aid for Israel’s war effort, and has called on the U.S. to withhold aid, accusing Israel of violating arms sales law and serious human rights violations.
Weeks after the Hamas attack, Jayapal voted present on a widely bipartisan resolution expressing support for Israel and condemning Hamas, even though she initially sponsored it. She was among the earliest lawmakers to call for a cease-fire, sponsoring a resolution to that effect on Oct. 18, 2023.
She also faced accusations that she had equivocated about or downplayed Hamas’ use of sexual assault as a weapon of war in public comments.
Prior to Oct. 7, Jayapal described Israel as a “racist state,” comments she walked back under criticism from Democratic leadership, and suggested that the Progressive Caucus might ban members from taking funding from the pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel. She also voted against a resolution supporting the Abraham Accords and the U.S.-Israel relationship and pushed for the State Department to consider controversial alternative definitions of antisemitism.
She suggested as early as 2020 that the U.S. should consider conditioning aid to Israel if it pursued annexation of the West Bank.
She has also led efforts to restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and opposed U.S. strikes against the Houthis as unconstitutional.
Outside of Middle East policy, in 2022, Jayapal led Progressive Caucus members on a letter calling for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine for a peace deal that was quickly disavowed by some of its key signatories.
Jayapal did not immediately provide comment.
Latimer, also joining the committee, was elected on a staunchly pro-Israel platform — ousting anti-Israel Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) — with the support of the large Jewish community in Westchester, NY. He voted last week in favor of sanctions on the International Criminal Court.
Olszewski also ran on a pro-Israel platform and has ties to the Maryland Jewish community. He voted against the ICC sanctions but signed a letter to the ICC condemning its efforts to arrest Israeli leaders, as did Johnson and McBride.
In her campaign, McBride also expressed strong support for Israel, a stance that earned her the particular ire of some in the progressive community.
Johnson holds the seat of Rep. Collin Allred (D-TX), a former HFAC member.
Elsewhere, Democrats announced that Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Eric Sorensen (D-IL), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD), George Whitesides (D-CA), Derek Tran (D-CA), Eugene Vindman (D-VA) and Wesley Bell (D-MO) will join the Armed Services Committee.
Crow has repeatedly led letters accusing Israel of violating U.S. arms sales law.
Among the freshmen members, Cisneros and Bell voted for the ICC sanctions, while Cisneros, Elfreth, Tran and Vindman voted against. Whitesides was not present for the vote.
Vindman, a former military war crimes prosecutor and investigator, ran as a supporter of Israel but has also called for caution in Israeli military operations. He was one of the leaders of the letter condemning the ICC arrest warrants. Cisneros, Sorensen, Goodlander and Elfreth all signed it as well.
Goodlander, the wife of Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan, is a former congressional national security adviser and intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves, who conducted research fellowships in the Middle East. She expressed support for Israel and continued U.S. aid on the campaign trail.
Elfreth received support from the AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy Project super-PAC and said she opposes conditions on U.S. aid, though she appeared to indicate support for such efforts at a candidate forum last year. A spokesperson said after that event that she supports the existing, universally applicable regulations on U.S. aid, not new conditions.
Bell ran on a staunchly pro-Israel platform, with support from St. Louis’ Jewish community, to oust anti-Israel former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO).
Reps. Greg Casar (D-TX), Summer Lee (D-PA) and John Mannion (D-NY) are set to join the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the committee that investigated campus antisemitism.
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