A bipartisan resolution introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday honors the pilot and passengers who helped avert the attempted hijacking of FlyDubai flight 1073 last week.

During last Wednesday’s flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, an Omani copilot stabbed the other pilot in the cockpit and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. Pilot Smit Machchhar, despite his injuries, held off the attacker and unlocked the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to enter and restrain the copilot and off-duty pilots onboard to safely land the aircraft.

The resolution, led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Don Bacon (R-NE), honors Machchhar, an Indian national, for his “extraordinary courage in protecting every soul aboard his aircraft” and “commends the heroic actions” of all those who helped end the attack and safely land the plane.

It condemns the attack as “an act of terrorism and as an attack on the safety of international civil aviation” and urges a “full and expeditious investigation” by the Saudi and Emirati governments, and for the U.S. and Israel to be kept apprised of that investigation.

The resolution also offers wishes for a full recovery to Machchhar and others who were injured in the attack. Machchhar is reported to be recovering from his serious wounds in a hospital in the UAE.

If Democrats take control of Congress next year — or even if they win back a majority in only the House of Representatives — expect a legislative agenda that’s a lot tougher on Israel than it has been in a long time.

With growing support among House Democrats for legislation restricting U.S. aid and arms sales to Israel, bills such as the Block the Bombs Act, the Ceasefire Compliance Act or measures similar to this summer’s vote on cutting aid to Israel could come to the House floor, and continued fights over the U.S.-Israel relationship in funding bills and other legislation seem likely.

But the top target for senior Democrats at the moment is targeting settlement activity and settler violence in the West Bank. Asked by Jewish Insider at a press conference on Wednesday what Israel-related legislation Democrats might bring forward for a vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) — who has generally been a reliable supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship — pointed to a bill imposing sanctions related to West Bank violence.

“That now has broad support across the House Democratic Caucus family [and] is certainly a legislative step that should be considered in order to push back aggressively against the out of control settler violence in the West Bank,” Jeffries told Jewish Insider. “That cannot continue.”

Responding to JI's @marcrod97, Hakeem Jeffries suggested the West Bank Violence Prevention Act — which seeks to curb settler violence by imposing sanctions on perpetrators and potentially Israeli officials — could be up for a vote next year should Democrats take back the House. pic.twitter.com/2S8upRRz37

— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) September 23, 2026

The West Bank Violence Prevention Act would reimplement the West Bank sanctions regime established by the Biden administration and repealed by the Trump administration, which sought to penalize Israeli settlers who commit acts of violence. But the legislation also clearly targets members of the Israeli government connected to or who have permitted settler violence, as well as others who have provided support for such activities, a step the Biden administration never took.

The bill has 173 total co-sponsors — more than any other Israel-related Democratic bill introduced this Congress. Its supporters include all top House Democratic leaders, as well as the leaders of several key committees and even several moderate pro-Israel lawmakers.

There’s similar movement on West Bank issues on the Senate side. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), generally a strong ally of Israel who is in line to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if Democrats take the upper chamber, introduced a bill on Wednesday with nearly 20 colleagues to sanction companies, financial institutions and Israeli officials involved in settlement construction in the controversial E1 area of the West Bank, which critics say would sever the West Bank from east Jerusalem.

And a separate Senate measure demanding a report on violence in the West Bank and the killings of U.S. citizens by Israeli settlers and security forces — which could trigger the cut-off of U.S. aid to Israel — picked up more than 20 co-sponsors, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), generally a strong supporter of the Jewish state.

Also among those expected to hold positions of power Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), who is in line to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee, recently announced a hold on a $2.8 billion sale of bombs to Israel, financed by U.S. foreign military funding.

From their anticipated committee leadership posts, Coons and Meeks would hold significant sway over the direction of Democratic policy on Israel and have particular power to guide hearings on and investigations into the U.S.-Israel relationship, the West Bank and more.

At the same time, Coons is one of the few Senate Democrats who have consistently opposed resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to halt various arms sales to Israel, and Meeks opposed the amendment led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to cut off U.S. aid to Israel.

A Democratic-led Congress would also likely bring more of those efforts to restrict or cut off both aid and arms sales to Israel. More than 100 House Democrats, nearly half of the caucus, supported efforts to cut off U.S. aid to Israel earlier this year. In the Senate, 40 Democrats have voted for at least one of Sanders’ resolutions to halt specific arms sales to Israel, and several Democratic candidates have said they would have voted the same way.

In the House, two bills pushing for stringent conditions on U.S. arms sales to Israel have been gaining steam.

The most prominent — and most punitive — of the bills is the Block the Bombs Act, on which Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) has said his caucus would push for a floor vote in the next term.

The bill would impose unprecedented restrictions on U.S. arms sales to Israel not applied to any other U.S. ally, preventing the transfer or sale of bombs, bomb-guidance kits and tank and artillery ammunition to Israel unless Congress passes a specific law authorizing each individual sale or transfer.

Congress would be required to delineate what specific purposes for which those weapons could be used, and Israel would be asked to provide written assurances that it would comply with those restrictions. Given the gridlock on Capitol Hill and the months it would take to approve any arms sales to Israel — if they could be moved past objections from anti-Israel members at all — critics say the bill would effectively place an arms embargo on Israel for those systems.

Though the Block the Bombs Act started with just 22 co-sponsors in 2025, it has grown to 82, including a handful of more moderate Democrats, a number that is likely to grow further after the midterms, with numerous expected Democratic freshmen pledging on the campaign trail to support the bill.

Alternative measures have been introduced to condition U.S. arms sales to the Jewish state, including the Ceasefire Compliance Act, led by Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), with 53 co-sponsors. That bill would cut off any arms transfers or sales to Israel if it conducts any strikes inside Gaza, which could only be restored subject to a specific agreement by Israel that it will not use any U.S.-origin weapons inside Gaza or the West Bank.

The legislation would also impose various other conditions on arms sales to Israel related to compliance with the 20-point peace plan for Gaza, the establishment of Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza and steps to prevent West Bank violence or annexation.

Casten’s bill is backed by J Street, the progressive Israel advocacy group that Democratic leaders have increasingly leaned on as a validator on Israel policy issues, such as during the debate in the caucus over the Massie amendment (which J Street opposed).

Speaking broadly, Jeffries told JI that Democrats’ policy should be “anchored in two different principles”: supporting “Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state” alongside a peaceful and prosperous Palestinian state to provide “the Palestinian people … the dignity and self-determination that they long deserved.”

Also worth watching: the next U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding on military aid is set to be finalized during the next Congress. Expect real fights on the Hill, under Democratic leadership, over whether to continue appropriating funding for military aid to Israel and even over the future of U.S.-Israel cooperative military programs in legislation like the National Defense Authorization Act.

Whether negotiators believe that further aid to Israel would actually be passed by a hostile Congress could also be a factor that shapes the MOU itself.

Democratic control of either chamber is also likely to further fuel fights over the future of the U.S. relationship with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which were a repeated battle in the divided Congress in 2024.

This term, 79 House Democrats introduced legislation to restore funding to the scandal-plagued agency, including Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who is likely to chair the House Appropriations Committee in the upcoming term if the Democrats win back the House.

Several far-left Democrats expected to be elected to the House of Representatives in November attended a protest on Thursday organized by Jewish Voice for Peace that blocked the streets outside United Nations headquarters during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the body’s General Assembly.

Dozens of protesters, including New York Democratic congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier, were arrested by the NYPD for refusing to comply with an order to disperse.

Other congressional nominees seen in photos and video from the protest were Adam Hamawy, a New Jersey Democrat who has faced scrutiny for his past testimony in support of terrorist mastermind Omar Abdel-Rahman and work for a charity later shuttered as an al-Qaida front; Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb; and Colorado Democrat Melat Kiros. 

Far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who recently said the United States conducts more terrorism in the world than al-Qaida, was also in attendance.

New York Congressional nominee Brad Lander, who ousted Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in part by attacking the congressman’s support for Israel, said he attended the JVP protest as well as a protest hosted by T’ruah and J Street and one held by Israelis for Peace.

“We can’t allow a war criminal to roam through the streets of our city, he needs to be tried at the Hague,” Chevalier said in a brief clip shared by a reporter on the ground during her arrest.

“I’m here to stand up against genocide. I’m here to protest Netanyahu being allowed into this country, not being arrested, and allowed to speak in the United Nations, which is supposed to be the international body upholding international law,” Hamawy said.

Rabb told reporters that Netanyahu “is a war criminal and should be in the Hague” and that “We have to make a decision about where our taxpayer dollar goes, and it should not be funding atrocities overseas.”

Kiros, the Colorado Democrat who drew criticism for refusing to call the firebombing of a hostage rally in Boulder antisemitic, said she was marching for “humanity.”  “I will always stand with the people that are standing against a genocide. This is about humanity, making sure our tax dollars are not complicit in these atrocities,” she said.

Others visible in photos and video from the event included New York City CouncilmembersChi Ossé, Shahana Hanif and Alexa Avilés; State Reps. Emily Gallagher and Diana Moreno; DSA leader Gustavo Gordillo; actors Elliot Page, Susan Sarandon, Cynthia Nixon, Hannah Einbinder, Mary Beth Barone and Caleb Hearon; anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour; musicians Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker; and government leaker Chelsea Manning.

Longtime Rep. John Larson (D-CT) is facing a serious challenge to his political survival from former Hartford, Conn., Mayor Luke Bronin, the latest in a wave of challengers to make the argument for generational change in the House of Representatives. Larson, 78, has held his House seat since 1999.

Despite their age gap — Bronin is 47 — the two are generally ideologically aligned and were once allies, though Larson has been trying to outflank Bronin from his left, pointing to support the former Hartford mayor has received from wealthy backers. The race has also split local Democrats: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is defending and recorded an advertisement for Larson, but Bronin won the Connecticut Democratic Party’s endorsement in a party convention, a major upset.

Bronin has argued that the current political environment requires more active and energetic representation. Larson has emphasized his record and experience in office and has had to campaign more aggressively than in decades, according to local reporters.

Larson was among the House Democrats who voted last month against an amendment to cut off all U.S. aid to Israel, and is endorsed by AIPAC. At the same time, he’s been critical of the human rights situation in Gaza and opposed the Iran war. The district is home to the largest concentration of Jews in the state, largely in the Hartford area.

“Yes, I voted in favor of making sure that Israel, our ally, is going to get the aid from the United States that it needs. But the Palestinians need humanitarian aid, and [President] Donald Trump has got to enforce the law,” Larson said of the amendment vote in a recent debate. He urged the administration to enforce the terms of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, including to ensure that Israel is providing sufficient humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. 

Bronin criticized Larson for his vote, adding that if elected, he would not support any further offensive aid to Israel, though he said he supports defensive systems that protect civilians such as the Iron Dome.

“Trusting Donald Trump to do the right thing is a mind-blowing example of putting hope over all of the evidence in front of us,” Bronin said during the debate. “We have a president who is empowering an extremist Netanyahu regime that sees war as the answer to everything — most of all Netanyahu’s political interests.”

Bronin led Larson by eight points in a May poll that was  sponsored by a group backing Bronin. The challenger has also received a boost from outside spending. VoteVets has spent $1 million boosting Bronin, with other groups also intervening in support of him, allowing him to dominate the airways, according to the Cook Political Report. Other groups have come in to support Larson, but are spending less on the race.

Bronin also holds an edge in fundraising — atypical for a challenger against a veteran incumbent — bringing in $3 million during the campaign cycle to Larson’s $2.7 million as of late July.

Both Democrats described the war in Iran as illegal and said they opposed it during the debate. 

Bronin also emphasized his work in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of the treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes. He said he had traveled globally to rally support for Iran sanctions that ultimately yielded the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal “that would have kept us safer if Donald Trump had not ripped it up.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who represented South Carolina in the Senate for more than two decades and was a stalwart supporter of Israel during his time in office, died on Saturday, his office announced. He was 71.

Graham, who served in the House of Representatives for more than a decade before being elected to the Senate in 2002, had recently returned from Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Prior to Ukraine, he had been part of a bipartisan U.S. delegation in Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) @LindseyGrahamSC died Saturday following what his office described as “a brief and sudden illness.”

Israeli Prime Minister @netanyahu called him “a great American patriot and a great champion of the Israel-American alliance.”

President Donald Trump… pic.twitter.com/sKzQc2XnmT

— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) July 12, 2026

NBC News reported that emergency personnel had responded on Saturday evening to a call regarding a cardiac arrest at Graham’s home on Capitol Hill.

A longtime advocate for Israel, Graham traveled to the country in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, making at least 10 trips to the region since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. He last traveled to Israel days before the outbreak of the Iran war in February 2026, during which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Graham was openly critical of Iran and skeptical of Western engagement with the Islamic Republic. He was a vocal opponent of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and favored military engagement to address the threats posed by the Islamic Republic. He defended the Trump administration’s recent negotiations with Tehran, but said in June that he thought those talks were “going to fail.”

The South Carolina Republican had been up for reelection in November after easily clearing the GOP field in the state’s primary last month. Graham’s death is expected to trigger a special primary in the state to determine who will replace him on the ballot.

The Republican lawmaker was swiftly eulogized by top Israeli political figures.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “lost one of its greatest friends.” Graham, Netanyahu said, “understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable. He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement that he was “shocked and heartbroken” to learn of Graham’s death, calling the senator a “dear friend” and a “great American patriot, a great friend of Israel.”

“Senator Graham was a beacon of moral clarity and a true leader of the U.S.-Israel partnership,” Herzog said. “We will never forget how he stood by the people of Israel in our most difficult moments, and we will remain eternally grateful for his sense of justice, truth, and loyalty.”

In a social media post, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is running in the current election, mourned Graham as one of the country’s “greatest friends,” who “stood with Israel through our darkest hours, with courage.”

Some pro-Israel members of the United Teachers Los Angeles House of Representatives are condemning the union for bypassing its own policies to expel a Jewish teacher and Zionist activist. 

During a June 3 meeting held on Zoom, the union’s House of Representatives — the highest voting body in the union — voted to expel Amy Leserman, who retired as a Los Angeles public school teacher last year and now works at a local Jewish day school. 

Leserman chairs JewTLA, a group that seeks to help Los Angeles students, teachers and families combat classroom antisemitism through legal filings and complaints. However, she remains a polarizing figure even among some pro-Israel members of the community, who say she has personally and publicly targeted individuals she considers antisemitic and pushed union members to resign.

Still, some of those same members argue her removal violated the constitution, alleging it stemmed solely from Leserman’s personal beliefs.

“Amy has done many things in her private time against those she perceives as antisemitic and anti-Israel. She’s done many things that I don’t agree with. She’s gone after people personally, holding them accountable for their antisemitic beliefs. However, in the House of Representatives, she was simply an observer. She was allowed to be there. She never opened up her mouth, she did nothing,” Scott Mandel, a Los Angeles Unified School District teacher for 41 years who has been on UTLA’s board of directors for almost two decades, told Jewish Insider. 

“When the antisemites saw she was there, they demanded she be kicked out because of actions she took,” continued Mandel. “However, she broke no rules according to our constitution.”

Mandel, who attended the meeting, said he spoke up at the time, asserting that “if you want to start judging people because of actions in their personal life, you need to make new rules. Put that in the constitution.”

“If someone is taken out of a meeting because of what they’ve done on their own, you have to make new rules — but this is wrong. Amy is seen as very pro-Israel, so the antisemite coalition — which is big — said out with the rules and demanded her gone. For the first time in my 18 years, I saw somebody expelled for their personal beliefs.” 

UTLA, the labor union of more than 35,000 public school educators in LA, did not respond to a request for comment from JI. 

Leserman, who was a UTLA member for more than 20 years, also asserts the meeting suddenly became “an anti-Israel tirade” with participants “saying they felt threatened by my presence, they couldn’t have me there and that I was a danger to them by being in the meeting.”

She said “the president of the union let this go on for 30 to 40 minutes. [Then] they voted to expel me.” 

“There are people in the union that really resent [my involvement with JewTLA]. I don’t mind them resenting that,” said Leserman, who told JI that the rise of antisemitism in district public schools following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and ensuing war in Gaza did not factor into her decision to retire. She did not elaborate on what led to that decision.  

The incident received condemnation from other Jewish union members — who also see Leserman as a controversial figure — as well as the regional chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, which called reports of the expulsion “deeply troubling.” 

A pro-Israel source familiar with the union told JI the expulsion followed months of internal tension. 

“The problem with Amy, and why she became toxic within UTLA is that when she retired she was explaining to people how to quit the union,” said the source. “She wound up getting entangled with Right to Work people, whether intentional or not. To the union as a whole, both pro-Israel and anti-Israel unionists, she became kind of toxic because of her association with Right to Work people. To what extent that played a role in what happened with the House of Representatives, it’s not clear. But it’s not black and white or that this came out of the blue.”

The source added: “She’s managed to get herself portrayed as the victim here. Everything the House of Representatives did is wrong, but the history [is important]. It’s not like she walked in as a longtime supporter of Israel and got smacked down. The anonymosity was there because of months and months of trying to get people to quit the union.” 

“I think if people quit the union it just increases the strength of the Israel and Jew haters,” the source added. 

Gregg Solkovits, a former UTLA officer and a retired teacher who has been a member of the union for 38 years, asserted that “without a doubt, it was wrong for the union to expel her.”

“What we have is intolerance from a radical minority of the union who espouses anti-Zionist rhetoric,” Solkovits, who was not on the call, told JI. “The union just elected an officer who is blatantly anti-Israel, and I say antisemitic. It’s wrong on a moral level and I think on a legal level [to expel her]. I don’t think UTLA followed its own procedures on this. It’s unfortunate that union leadership, from the president on down, chose not to say a word when it’s wrong.” 

Mandel and Leserman both pointed to a pervasive anti-Israel obsession within the union.

“This is a group that for the last two years has voted every anti-resolution possible,” said Mandel. “They’ve gotten to the point where they voted that if any politician has ever voted for arms for Israel, UTLA cannot support them. Even if you have a politician who has been the most pro-education, pro-labor person, but one time in their career voted for arms for Israel, UTLA will no longer endorse them. That’s how ridiculous they’ve gotten. They put their personal feelings ahead of what’s good for the union.”  

Leserman said, “The union does not currently have a teachers contract, the district hasn’t signed the one that they agreed on. That should have been the focus of the meeting. Instead, six out of 10 of the items on the schedule had to do with Israel and how bad Israel is. They need to deal with the problems on their doorstep — they’re about to have 6,000 teachers laid off. None of that was discussed.” 

Los Angeles Unified School District, which serves more than 560,000 students across Los Angeles County, has been accused of failing to address antisemitism — including within teachers’ unions. The district was named in a February lawsuit that highlighted several complaints from Jewish parents and children in districts across California. 

The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected, in a 422-6 vote, a bid by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to block the $500 million in cooperative missile-defense funding the U.S. provides annually to Israel.

Greene’s amendment sought to strip the funding, provided annually under the terms of the U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding, from the House’s 2026 Defense funding bill. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), had introduced a similar amendment.

Greene, Omar and Reps. Al Green (D-TX), Summer Lee (D-PA), Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) voted for the aid cutoff.

The House also defeated Greene-led amendments that would have cut military funding for Jordan by a 400-30 vote, for Ukraine by a 353-76 vote and for Taiwan by a 421-6 vote. Only Republicans voted for each of those amendments.

Legislators also rejected, by a 355-76 vote, an amendment by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) to cut funding for the Lebanese Armed Forces. All of the votes in favor came from Republicans.

Steube has long opposed funding for the LAF, arguing that it is complicit in Hezbollah’s actions against Israel and infiltrated by Hezbollah members and sympathizers.

Greene argued on the House floor that the Israel funding is “money we don’t have” and that Israel is “very capable of defending themselves.”

Referring repeatedly to the Jewish state as “nuclear-armed Israel,” Greene suggested that Israel’s undeclared nuclear capabilities should deter any threats — even though that has not been the case in the past. Israel has long maintained a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying its possession of a nuclear arsenal.

She also highlighted the U.S.’ extensive use of its own ballistic missile interceptors to defend Israel during the recent Iran-Israel war.

Greene noted Israel’s bombing this week of a church in Gaza, for which the Israeli government apologized, calling it a mistake, and said that “an entire population is being wiped out as they continue their aggressive war in Gaza.”

The funding in question supports programs including Iron Dome, Arrow and David’s Sling that are jointly developed by Israel and the United States. The systems, designed to intercept threats like missiles and drones, do not have offensive applications.

Reps. Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Betty McCollum (D-MN), the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee, both spoke on the House floor against Greene’s amendment, as did Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL).

Calvert said that Israel’s success in intercepting ongoing attacks has come partly as a result of the U.S. missile-defense funding provided in past years. He highlighted that the funding supports the U.S.’ defense industrial base, funding production of the systems in both the U.S. and Israel and joint technological development.

McCollum is a vocal longtime critic of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and the Israeli military operations in Gaza.

“To be clear, I have disagreements with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government,” McCollum said, describing the war in Gaza as a “tragedy.” “But the funding in this bill does not support offensive weapons for Israel. … This bill provides for defensive measures only.”

McCollum said that everyone in the region deserves safety and that “Israeli children deserve to go to bed at night knowing that missiles from Yemen, Iran or from the Houthis or anywhere else in the region will not rain down on them.”

Fine highlighted that there is a significant American population in Israel under threat from air attacks. He said the co-development of missile-defense programs with Israel helps support America’s own air defense, including President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome proposal for a national air-defense infrastructure.

Addressing Greene’s comments, he noted that America has nuclear weapons, but that hasn’t deterred some adversaries from trying to attack it.

“When we oppose this amendment, when we vote it down, we are not only standing with Israel, we are standing with the best interests of the United States,” Fine said.

The House of Representatives is set to vote next week on two resolutions condemning antisemitism and the terrorist attack on a hostage march in Boulder, Colo. 

One resolution from Republicans, focused on Boulder, highlights immigration issues and denounces the slogan “Free Palestine,” while the other, which is bipartisan, links Sunday’s Colorado attack to a series of other recent violent antisemitic attacks. 

The first of the two resolutions is already attracting criticism from some Democrats. Led by Reps. Gabe Evans (R-CO), Jeff Crank (R-CO) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), it includes a line that describes “Free Palestine” — a slogan shouted by both Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the Boulder attacker, and Elias Rodriguez, who killed two Israeli Embassy employees at the Capital Jewish Museum, during or shortly after their crimes — as “an antisemitic slogan that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and the Jewish people.”

Evans’ resolution also notes that Soliman, an Egyptian national, violated U.S. immigration restrictions and states that the case “highlights the need to aggressively vet aliens who apply for visas to determine whether they endorse, espouse, promote, or support antisemitic terrorism or engage in other antisemitic or anti-American activity” and “demonstrates the dangers of not removing from the country aliens who fail to comply with the terms of their visas.”

It criticizes Colorado’s sanctuary state policies, stating that Colorado “hinders immigration enforcement” activities and prohibits law enforcement officials from providing information to federal immigration officials.

It also “affirms that free and open communication between State and local law enforcement and their federal counterparts remains the bedrock of public safety and is necessary in preventing terrorist attacks” and “expresses gratitude” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and other law enforcement.

Given Democratic opposition to many of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, those provisions could prove controversial, and some on the left are also likely to oppose labeling “Free Palestine” as antisemitic. 

In statements about the legislation, the sponsors lambast Colorado’s sanctuary state policies, the Biden administration, Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and state lawmakers for their approach to immigration issues.

The resolution goes on to condemn Soliman and his “antisemitic terrorist attack on peaceful demonstrators supporting the release of the hostages” and prays for the victims of the attack.

The second resolution, led by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), has 53 bipartisan cosponsors, and condemns “the rise in ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals in the United States,” including the Boulder attack, and expresses the House’s “commitment to combating antisemitism and politically motivated violence.”

The resolution describes the Colorado attack, as well as the D.C. shooting and the arson targeting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence on the first night of Passover, as part of a “disturbing pattern of targeted aggression” and “politically and religiously motivated violence directed at Jewish individuals and institutions.”

It states that the three attacks “share a common pattern of targeting Jewish individuals or symbols of Jewish life and civic engagement” and calls antisemitism “fundamentally incompatible with the values of the United States,” saying it must be “condemned unequivocally.”

The Van Drew resolution calls on law enforcement to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the incident and on leaders to “speak out against antisemitism and politically motivated violence in all forms.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), a co-chair of the House Jewish caucus and a prominent progressive Jewish voice in the chamber, condemned Republicans for calling up the Evans-led resolution and urged colleagues not to support it.

“I am deeply disappointed in the Republican majority’s decision to put a blatantly partisan antisemitism resolution on the floor next week — especially since there is a bipartisan resolution that appropriately speaks to the horrible tragedy in Boulder that is already scheduled to come to the floor,” Nadler said in a statement to Jewish Insider. 

“Once again, Republicans are using Jewish safety and the rise of antisemitism in America for their own partisan gain and to perpetuate their bigoted immigration propaganda,” Nadler continued. “As a community full of families who fled to America in search of a better life, American Jews will not fall for this cynical tactic, and I urge my colleagues not to take the bait.”

The two resolutions are the latest in a series of resolutions on antisemitism introduced by House members in the weeks since the Washington attack, some of which point to the increasingly fractured and politicized discourse about the issue.

Following the D.C. attack, 73 House Republicans led by Rep. Addison McDowell (R-NC) introduced a resolution condemning the attack and antisemitism, which noted that “the murderer is a far-left activist and has been affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.” It also called for “the enforcement of existing laws that punish hate crimes, protect religious freedom, and ensure justice for victims of antisemitic violence and discrimination.”

Following the Boulder attack, another Republican-only resolution led by Reps. Randy Fine (R-FL) and August Pfluger (R-TX), co-sponsored by 23 other House Republicans, also noted that Soliman overstayed his visa, said he “should never have been permitted to remain in the country as long as he was” and called for Congress to “take immediate action to secure the border and deport migrants who overstay their visas.”

Separately, six members of Colorado’s House delegation — all but Evans and Boebert — introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning the attack and expressing support for the survivors, as well as calling for additional federal resources to counter antisemitism and hate crimes and protect targeted communities.

In North Dakota, the race for the state’s sole House seat is set to play out as another battle between the Republican Party’s traditional wing and the Freedom Caucus-aligned insurgent right wing.

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak faces former state Rep. Rick Becker, a plastic surgeon, in the primary. Fedorchak is defending U.S. engagement around the world, while Becker is pushing for scaled back U.S. involvement globally and opposes most foreign aid.

Fedorchak has backing from GOP leaders including Gov. Doug Burgum, former Gov. Ed Schafer, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), Attorney General Drew Wrigley and a slew of state officials, as well as House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY).

Becker, meanwhile, is endorsed by various right-wing leaders at the federal level including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Vivek Ramaswamy and Reps. Bob Good (R-VA), Chip Roy (R-TX), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Scott Perry (R-PA), Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH), as well as former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Becker challenged Hoeven in the 2022 North Dakota Senate race, first as a Republican and subsequently as an independent.

He significantly led Fedorchak in fundraising as of the end of March, with $828,000 raised throughout the campaign to her $449,000 raised. The primary election will be held on June 11.

One of the sharpest divides between the two Republicans is over foreign policy. Fedorchak is leaning into traditional conservative views on foreign policy in her campaign — expressing staunch support for continued U.S. assistance to Israel and Ukraine — while Becker favors dramatically cutting foreign aid.

“I think Israel needs to have the resources necessary to properly secure its safety and stability and help reinforce the stability in the broader region as a whole and the Middle East,” Fedorchak told Jewish Insider, adding that she’s “committed to ensuring the continuation of foreign aid to Israel.”

Speaking more broadly about the recent foreign aid bill, Fedorchak said, “We have to support our allies around the world and help them defend their democracies and stave off the aggressors that are anti-democracy and anti-American.”

She declined to weigh in specifically on the humanitarian Palestinian aid in the bill, but said that there need to be mechanisms to “ensure that it’s going to the right places to help the women and children” impacted by the war and will not ultimately be used against Israel.

She called Iran “the trouble source in the Middle East,” emphasizing the need to work with U.S. allies to crack down on Iran, its nuclear program and its regional influence, using “the strongest diplomatic and economic sanctions.”

Fedorchak said U.S. energy independence and production is a critical method to ensure that U.S. allies globally aren’t dependent on countries like Iran and Russia for their energy supplies.

She said stronger U.S. energy production could also stave off price fluctuation driven by Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing gulf states. She described herself as “very excited to join forces with President Trump and support his America First energy policy.”

When he spoke to JI, Becker said that he is “very much in favor of pulling foreign aid,” particularly from U.S. adversaries, but that “Israel should be the last place that we pull foreign aid” and he is “completely in favor” of continuing that aid in the near term. 

Ultimately, he continued, he wants to see Israel in “a position where Israel no longer even desires or needs aid from the United States.” He said Israel’s continued reliance on the U.S. may not be in Israel’s “best interest” because it “makes them susceptible to these changes that we have whenever we get a new administration.”

Becker’s support for continued near-term aid for Israel appears different from a view he has expressed in at least one other interview.

In a Feb. 17 interview with The Dakotan, Becker said that foreign aid “is a bunch of bullcrap for the most part.” 

“I respect Israel and I respect Israel’s right to defend itself completely but sending billions and billions of dollars to Israel — they are less in debt than we are. I understand they may even have a surplus, I don’t know,”  he said. “But the point is we’re in the hurt bay. There’s no place for us to be lending money, even to our friends, Israel.”

He said the U.S. should stop sending money ”to both Israel and Israel’s enemies” and “just maybe let the taxpayers keep it.”

Pressed on the apparent contradiction between those past comments and his position expressed to JI, Becker said he didn’t recall having made them and suggested they were taken out of context, insisting that he’s been consistent in his views.

“It’s crazy to me that we will go further into debt and then send money overseas… that is the starting point of the principle from where I’m coming,” Becker said. “But we have the conundrum that we have an ally which we have put into a precarious position because of funding her neighbors.”

When he spoke to JI, he said he supported the $14.3 billion in U.S. military aid for Israel passed by Congress, but said he would have preferred to see it voted on by itself and is not sure how he would have voted on the full Israel portion of the aid package.

Many of Becker’s congressional allies voted against the Israel aid bill.

He called humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, also included in the bill, potentially problematic, adding that he’s “very skeptical that the humanitarian aid money is going to where it’s supposed to go and isn’t just funding Hamas.” But he said he might be supportive of purely humanitarian support like food and medical supplies.

He also said cuts to the U.S.’ own defense budget must be in consideration, arguing that there’s “very likely inefficiency and waste,” and overall advocated for scaled-back U.S. military involvement globally.

Becker said he wants to avoid direct armed conflict with Iran, and that sanctions, whenever possible and effective, should be used. He said he’s more open to direct military action against the Houthis.

He said unequivocally that he opposes additional U.S. aid for Ukraine and that he’s “very reluctant” to support aid to Taiwan without receiving intelligence briefings on the nature of the threat and the planned “endgame.” He said he wants to see action to “calm the waters” and avoid a military conflict between China and Taiwan.

In the Dakotan interview, Becker further claimed the U.S. had “manipulated the Ukraine government since 2014,” when a pro-Western protest movement overthrew the Russian-backed government, and said that the U.S. may have “set up a situation that puts Russia in a position where they maybe feel like they have to do this.”

Addressing antisemitism at home, Fedorchak told JI that the current wave of antisemitism “just can’t be tolerated in our country.” 

She said that colleges need to “get tougher” on protests that are “getting out of hand,” and said that federal aid for colleges that support anti-Israel and anti-American agendas should be reexamined.

Becker said he sees fighting antisemitism as “much more of a state issue and maybe even much more of a local issue.” He said he’s concerned that powers granted to the federal government to fight antisemitism “can be used elsewhere… perhaps one day against us.” 

But he said that if he were running for a state office, like governor, he’d be pushing to “get some bulldozers and clear the encampment.” He said that leveraging education funding would be the limit of federal government action.

Told about the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides funding to religious institutions and nonprofits, Becker said it sounded like it is “outside of the scope” of proper federal authority and spending, and that the federal government should instead reduce taxes to allow people to choose to spend their money on increasing their institutions’ security themselves.

The two GOP rivals also view their priorities in Washington very differently. In the interview with JI, Fedorchak highlighted her background in business and public service, and said she believes she has “a lot of good experience” and “the passion for conservative solutions” to solve issues like energy policy and border security. Her in-state work has focused heavily on energy policy.

She said she’d be a “very serious-minded problem-solving member of Congress who’s ready to get to work on day one.”

Becker told JI he’s running for Congress because “the entire country is in a very precarious position,” warning that federal spending is “effectively sending America over a cliff.” 

He said he wants to work with lawmakers like those who’ve endorsed him to help rein in spending, describing himself as having been “very principled and very consistent” in his time in state government. In North Dakota, he founded an ultra-conservative legislative caucus, the Bastiat Caucus, named for 19th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat, famous for his free trade theories.

“I am happy to label myself America First,” Becker said. “For me it means refocusing on American sovereignty and moving away from some of these international treaties” and organizations, warning that the executive branch is implementing a “very globalist agenda.”

For several years, then-Congressmen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Peter Deutsch (D-FL) had lockers side-by-side at the House of Representatives gym in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building. 

“I actually know him reasonably well,” Deutsch told Jewish Insider about the 2020 hopeful in a recent interview in his Ra’anana home. “I served with him for many years — his locker in the gym was actually next to mine and we both worked out a lot. And we’re both sort of New York Jews, so I was always very friendly with him.” 

In fact, when Sanders ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, Deutsch said he and his entire family voted for the Vermont senator. That decision, he said, was in part because “no one thought he had any chance,” and also because he viewed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as deeply “inauthentic” and “incredibly transactional.” 

The last time Deutsch saw Sanders — approximately two years ago — the two men embraced, although Deutsch was quick to add “he’s not a huggy kind of guy.” Deutsch recalls telling Sanders, “‘listen, my whole family voted for you in the primary,’ and Sanders, in all seriousness, said to me: ‘Well, next time you better have a bigger family.’”

Fast forward just a few years, and Deutsch doesn’t take the chance of Sanders winning the presidential nomination as lightly. “Sanders would just be absolutely horrific for the world,” he said. “As a person, he’s a lovely person,” Deutsch said, though he’s “just as ornery as he always seems.” 

But the senator, he warned, “is not a socialist. He’s a Trotskyite… I think his agenda is actually to have a confederation of the United States, China and Russia, so there won’t be any wars.” If Sanders were elected president, Deutsch predicted, he would stop not just aid to Israel, but even “spare parts,” and demand Israel open its borders with Gaza and the West Bank.

Deutsch, who left Congress 15 years ago after losing his bid to win the Democratic nomination for Senate in Florida, says he is only nominally active in politics these days. But several months ago, he reached out to the Michael Bloomberg campaign to offer his support, telling JI, “I could not live with myself if I didn’t do something to try to prevent Bernie Sanders from being the nominee.”

Today, Deutsch, 62, lives a very different existence from the 12 years he spent serving in the House of Representatives. The former congressman spends about half his time living in Israel with his wife and children, while frequently travelling back and forth to Florida. 

Clad in a black suede yarmulke, jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, Deutsch is casual and relaxed in his modern, air-filled apartment on the 13th floor of a Ra’anana skyrise. His wife, Lori, and their son, Jonathan, pop in and out of the kitchen, chiming in with memories of his time in politics and their more recent adventures in Israel. His demeanor on a recent Sunday morning seems worlds away from the reputation he gained in office as aggressive, ambitious and brash. After all, he’s close to 6,000 miles away from his former life in Washington.  

For the past 14 years, Deutsch has essentially split his time between south Florida and Ra’anana, while his immediate family is largely based in Israel. Neither he or his wife have become Israeli citizens, but his children both made aliya, and his first grandchild is a proud sabra.

“I don’t have a set schedule,” he says of his constant travels. “I try not to be away [from Israel] more than two Shabboses.”

Rep. Peter Deutsch announces his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in Fort Lauderdale in 2004.

A native of the Bronx, Deutsch was elected at age 36 to Congress, representing Florida’s 20th congressional district, in 1992, after a 10-year stint in the Florida House of Representatives. While in office, he distinguished himself during the investigation of the Enron scandal, through efforts to improve human rights in Cuba and a strong push for a recount in Florida following the 2000 presidential election. In 2004, Deutsch ran for the open U.S. Senate seat in Florida. After a bitter campaign, he lost the Democratic primary race to Betty Castor, who went on to lose the general election to Republican Mel Martinez.

Deutsch was replaced in Congress by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who began her political career as an aide to Deutsch when he was a state legislator. At Deutsch’s urging, she ran for his vacated seat in the Florida House of Representatives in 1992 and won, then later followed in his footsteps again into Congress.

“We’re in touch occasionally,” Deutsch said of Wasserman Schultz. “She’s actually served in Congress longer than me at this point. She is having a very distinguished career.”

But Deutsch is largely uninvolved in politics today. He spends the bulk of his professional work, while in both Florida and Israel, working on the network of Hebrew charter schools, Ben Gamla, that he founded in 2007. The school system — which now includes five elementary schools and one high school — is public, strictly non-religious and government-funded, but teaches Hebrew, Jewish history and culture to approximately 2,000 students of all backgrounds and religions in south Florida.

“What we’re doing is incredible, and the impact on kids is amazing,” Deutsch said of the schools, where he serves as a pro bono attorney. During the recent holiday of Purim, Deutsch noted, there was “some sort of celebration — not in a religious way, but in a cultural-historical way” in the Ben Gamla schools. “And it’s possible those will be the only public schools in America where there’s any acknowledgment of that.” 

After 13 years in operation, Deutsch said the schools are still “very much in the startup phase,” but they’re discussing and planning how to scale up, and whether there is a market nationwide for additional Hebrew charter high schools.  

Students participate in activities at the Ben Gamla Hebrew charter school in Hollywood, Florida.

With his focus almost entirely on the Ben Gamla schools, Deutsch said that, “in the last 14 years, I really only got involved in one issue politically” — his lobbying efforts in 2015 against the Iran nuclear deal, as a member of Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran. 

And, just a couple of weeks ago, Deutsch did something he said he hadn’t done in 14 years. “I did a fundraiser for a political person,” freshman Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) in Florida: “I think he’s the real deal, I think he’s a good guy.” 

Deutsch said he reached out to Rose’s office last year, after he was troubled when Congress watered down a bill intended to condemn antisemitism, ultimately condemning “hateful expressions of intolerance.”

During that period, just a few months into Rose’s first term, Deutsch found the young congressman’s comments to be “probably the most insightful statements of any member of that time.” During a trip to Washington soon after, he reached out to Rose’s office and asked to sit down with the congressman — and ended up “having dinner for a couple hours.” Both men, Deutsch said, were at one point the youngest Jewish members of Congress, and both captains of their high school wrestling teams at rival New York City prep schools.

As for the other Deut(s)ch in Congress from Florida, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), they’re not related, but Deutsch jokes that “he owes all his success to me.” However, their similar names and home states have led to a fair share of confusion. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Deutsch said, still purportedly calls Ted Deutch, “Peter.” And approximately a year and a half ago, Peter Deutsch’s phone rang — it was former Vice President Joe Biden, thinking he had reached Ted Deutch. When Peter realized the error, he passed along Ted’s cellphone number to Biden. 

During his dozen years in Congress, Deutsch was an outspoken supporter of the close relationship between Jerusalem and Washington. And while he’s critical of and concerned by President Donald Trump’s “erratic nature,” he notes that the president “has done some amazing things for Israel.” It was therefore disappointing, he said, to see the reaction from fellow Democrats following the administration’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Deutsch said he was invited to the embassy opening by Ambassador David Friedman, and wanted to attend, but had to be out of the country at the time. “Had I gone, I would have been the only [former or current] Democratic elected official there,” he noted. 

Deutsch says the recent Trump peace plan is more realistic than most people want to admit. “At the end of the day, if there were a settlement, it would sort of look like this,” he said. “There might be a few changes… but, here’s reality. If you don’t want reality, that’s fine. But this is reality.” 

Israel has demonstrated for many years, he says, that it can operate without a final-status agreement in place. “Israel can live with the ambiguity of not having final-status,” Deutsch said. “Israel has thrived in the last 14 years.” But, he warned, it’s still politically risky — “if someone like Bernie Sanders gets elected president” — and the BDS movement gains influence within the United States. 

“It’s not outside the realm of possibility that the United States, at some point in time, could join the boycott of Israel. It could happen in a nanosecond, who else would stop it? And then where would Israel be — economically and socially?”

Constantly on the go between Israel and the United States, Deutsch considers himself uniquely positioned to fight for the future of Jewish continuity. 

“Most Jews in America, at this point in time, choose to be on the outside” of the Jewish community, he noted. “And that’s why the community is in the state that it’s in. But I don’t feel like I’m on the outside. I feel like I’m in the movie… and everyone has that choice,” he said. “I’m pretty blessed.”

President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani seemed to predict his fate and a possible impeachment by the House of Representatives during an event with his indicted associates ― Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — on the eve of the 2018 midterm elections.

In previously unreported remarks at an event hosted by Dr. Joe Frager, vice president of the National Council of Young Israel in Queens, N.Y., on November 1, 2018, Giuliani foresaw the Democrats starting “a hundred investigations” against the president and predicted that “Washington lawyers will make a fortune.”

“The part of their winning is that the House will go crazy. They will start a hundred investigations” — to which Parnas could be heard agreeing, “Oh, you’re right.” Giuliani continued: “They’ll go overboard. They’ll turn the American people off,” he said, stressing the importance of the Republicans holding onto the Senate majority.

“If we have the Senate, they can’t do permanent damage. They can only make trouble, but they can’t pass a law, they can’t impeach anybody,” Giuliani explained. “They have nothing. They can subpoena people like crazy. Then you go to court and fight them… The Washington lawyers will make a fortune. Yeah. I mean, this would be great. I should open an office in Washington (laughter).” 

According to Giuliani, Trump “doesn’t mind the battle. They don’t know what they’re taking on. He’ll destroy them. He’ll absolutely destroy them, and they’ll destroy themselves because the president’s just one person and he’s got one White House that works for him. But they have like probably about a hundred lunatics in the House of Representatives and they’re all going to want the microphone and they’re all going to want to be crazier than the other, and there’s only a certain tolerance the American people have for this.” 

The former mayor of New York City called Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) — who in a 2017 press conference had suggested possible impeachment — “crazy” and “stupid.” 

Also in attendance was Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Moshe Azman, who has been associated with Parnas and Fruman. At the beginning of the event, Parnas introduced Azman as “one of your biggest supporters.” 

During Giuliani’s remarks, Parnas chimed in and implored the crowd: “We need to win the midterms. That’s the bottom line. The president can’t do everything on his own, unfortunately.”

Parnas and Fruman were indicted Thursday on campaign finance charges related to their efforts to remove Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, from her post. They were arrested Wednesday evening at Dulles International Airport as they tried to leave on one-way plane tickets to Vienna. Social media activity over the last two years indicate the duo had socialized with the president and his son, Donald Trump, Jr., and had visited both the White House and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.