At the start of a pivotal campaign cycle, Democratic governors will face a politically high-stakes decision this year on a new education policy that President Donald Trump signed into law last year. 

One provision of Republicans’ sweeping spending package adopted in 2025 — dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” by Trump — was a measure that provides a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for people who donate to approved scholarship organizations that can support a range of education expenses, including private school tuition and tutoring. 

Individual states must opt in for taxpayers to be eligible for the credit of up to $1,700 annually. 

So far, the policy has been a no-brainer for Republican governors, who already support school choice programs, to allow parents to receive a federal tax credit to support private schools, including religious schools. Twenty-three states have formally opted in as of last month, and at least two other Republican-led states (Florida and Utah) said they plan to do so. 

Democratic governors, skeptical of school choice programs and wary of powerful teachers’ unions, face a trickier choice. They have to opt in by the end of the year for taxpayers to be eligible for the credit. The National Education Association urged lawmakers to vote against the bill last year, and has said that “voucher-inspired schemes” like the federal tax credit program “erode public education, the foundation of our democracy.” (An NEA spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday.)

Orthodox Jewish groups have long supported school choice efforts, including vouchers, while most non-Orthodox groups — including umbrella organizations such as the Jewish federations — sat out those matters in the past or opposed them. Now, Orthodox leaders are being joined by the Jewish Federations of North America as the umbrella group urges Democratic governors to support the bill. The Union for Reform Judaism, which opposed an earlier version of the tax credit that was farther-reaching, ultimately did not come out against the measure. 

“We think this should be a priority for the entire Jewish community, to support students, especially in Jewish day schools,” said Rabbi A.D. Motzen, national director of government affairs at Agudath Israel, a major Orthodox organization. “I think it’s very helpful, because in many of those blue states, the more governors see that this is a politically wise idea, and that there is widespread support among different faiths, whether it’s Catholic clergy or Jewish leaders and business leaders, then it will make it easier for them to to opt in.”

Marc Baker, CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston’s Jewish federation, said the tax credit “aligns with CJP’s vision to make day school more affordable and accessible for families in Greater Boston,” and that he plans to discuss it with Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat. 

Part of the pitch that Gil Preuss, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, is making to Democratic leaders in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, is to differentiate the tax credit from more controversial voucher programs.

“I know, particularly for Democratic governors, they place significant value in public education, and we as a Jewish community strongly support public education,” said Preuss. “We don’t believe it’s taking away money from public education, but it is a way for individual households to direct some of their federal taxes.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is so far the Democrat who has expressed the most enthusiasm about the tax-credit scholarship program. 

“It supports donors to give more money to our schools,” Polis said in November. “I mean, I would be crazy not to” opt in. A spokesperson for Polis confirmed in December that he plans to add the state to the program. 

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, has also said he intends to opt in his state once more information is released from the federal government. “School choice is good for students and parents,” Stein said last year. “I intend to opt North Carolina in so we can invest in the public school students most in need of after school programs, tutoring, and other resources.”

A handful of blue-state governors — in Wisconsin, Oregon, New Mexico and Hawaii — have stated they will opt out of the program. 

Most Democratic governors, including in states with the largest Jewish communities, are taking a wait-and-see approach, saying they need to see formal regulations from the IRS and the Treasury Department outlining what the funds can be used for and how they can be collected. Activists in the Jewish community working on this issue say they are still in conversation with Democratic governors even though the timeline for implementation is not totally clear. 

“The governors that we speak to on a regular basis about this are very clear that they want to see the regulations first, which we don’t hold against them. We think that’s fair. You don’t want to play a game until you see the rules of the game,” said Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition, a project of the Orthodox Union that advocates for federal funding for nonpublic schools. “We think that in the long run, it will be a positive outcome, but we understand that there’s no movement yet.” 

Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, said his administration “is awaiting federal guidance to address key questions about how this program would work, including which students will be eligible, how this federal initiative will interact with existing programs, and more. We look forward to reviewing that guidance.”

A spokesperson for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he has not yet taken a position. Alana Davidson, director of communications at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, told JI that Gov. Healey “is awaiting official guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and Treasury at this time.” 

Jen Goodman, a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, took a swipe at the Trump administration while saying Hochul has not yet made up her mind.

“While this proposal doesn’t take effect until 2027, it’s surprising that the federal government continues to fail to share any policy details with states,” Goodman told JI. “Gov. Hochul is supportive of anything that would help students and schools, but given this administration’s record of including poison pills in policies, the state needs to thoroughly review the proposal before making commitments.”

Spokespeople for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger did not respond to requests for comment. 

Spanberger is in a different position from other Democrats, because her predecessor — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin — already opted Virginia in last month before he left office, so she would have to formally revoke that permission. 

Preuss said his goal at the moment is not necessarily to get area governors in the Washington area to a yes anytime soon, with IRS regulations not likely to come out for a few more months. He just wants to convince them to leave the door open.

“It’s very early on,” Preuss said. “We mostly want to make sure that governors do not come out against it.”

Jewish groups condemned testimony by the executive director of the Ohio branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations at a recent state Senate Judiciary Committee hearing during which he accused Israel of harvesting skin from deceased Palestinians.

Khalid Turaani testified on Feb. 18 against Senate Bill 87, which would see Ohio adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, asserting that “Israel has the largest human skin bank in the world.” 

Turaani claimed as his evidence a report by Israel’s Channel 10 from March 2014, though no such report exists. The conspiracy theory of Israeli organ harvesting originated in 2009, when a Swedish tabloid published falsehoods that the IDF kills Palestinians to provide organs to Israeli hospitals, and has been repeated by Palestinian media for years. 

The claim, which reemerged in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, also plays on the blood libel trope, an antisemitic conspiracy accusing Jews of murdering Christians to use their blood, that dates back to the Middle Ages.  

“Where do you think they got all this skin from?” Turaani continued. “They have more human skin than China and India. They are literally skinning the dead bodies of my brothers and sisters in Palestine,” he said, without offering evidence. “And if I call them Nazis, your law is going to punish me.”

Greg Miller, board chair of Ohio Jewish Communities, which represents the state’s eight Jewish federations, told Jewish Insider that the “false, abhorrent and libelous statements made during this testimony are the kind that have been inciting hatred and violence against Jews for thousands of years.” 

Miller said the testimony “only reinforces the need for passage of this bill that provides absolute clarity that those statements are antisemitic. By codifying the IHRA definition, such statements aren’t criminalized but makes it obvious to be condemned by all Ohioans as the blind hatred that inspired them.”

Lee C. Shapiro, the American Jewish Committee’s Cleveland regional director, told JI that while there is “room for reasoned discussion about the IHRA definition,” Turaani “chose to ignore facts and instead propagated hatred and easily dispelled lies. It’s an insult to Ohioans and a disservice to the public square.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s Ohio River Valley office said it was “appalled” by Turaani’s testimony. “The antisemitic organ harvesting myth plays on the blood libel trope, which has spurred the torture, murder, and expulsion of Jews for centuries,” the statement continued. “It continues to fuel violence against Jewish communities today. Such hateful, utterly false rhetoric has no place in our state capitol. We call on Ohio’s leaders to join us in condemning these remarks and standing firm against antisemitism in all its forms.”

Leaders and senior officials of CAIR have on numerous occasions in recent years drawn ire from the Jewish community over comments relating to Israel and antisemitism.

Turaani himself moderated an event in October featuring a Hamas official designated as a terrorist by the Treasury Department, as well as other Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members.

And as Hamas was conducting its rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR-LA, praised the attacks, tweeting a prayer for Allah to “grant relief, freedom, and victory to the people of Gaza.” Weeks later, Nihad Awad, the executive director of CAIR, said at a conference that he was “happy to see people breaking the siege” on Oct. 7, describing the attacks as an act of self-defense.

Representatives from several Jewish groups met with Paula Stannard, the director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, last week to discuss potential action to counter antisemitism in health-care and medical education.

The meeting, organized by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, also included representatives from the American Jewish Medical Association, Hadassah (The Women’s Zionist Organization of America), the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Federations of North America and StandWithUs.

Kenneth Marcus, the founder of the Brandeis Center, told JI that the meeting was the second sit-down between the Brandeis Center and HHS leadership, given an “an extraordinary surge in health sector related antisemitism reports” to Brandeis and a “greater involvement by HHS in antisemitism and other civil rights issues than we’ve seen before, so meeting with HHS has become much more important.”

He said that, in the first meeting, which was just between Brandeis and HHS, his organization “made clear the nature and scope of the problem of antisemitism in health care,” particularly the “decolonizing therapy” movement in mental health spaces that has characterized Zionism as a mental illness to be treated.

The second meeting, last week, which lasted around an hour, brought in other Jewish communal groups to share additional information.

Eveline Shekhman, the CEO of AJMA, called the meeting “very productive.”

“We went in with the goal of coming collectively, and also to take a look at how we can use the government relations arm to work and partner with the government, so in that way, we could take a look at what’s going on in the workplace environment, as well as medical schools and all the other various stakeholders that would have a part in it, which includes the [medical] associations, the unions,” Shekhman said.

She said that the AJMA representatives sought to communicate the various forms and examples of antisemitism that providers and medical students have faced.

“This has a different level of gravitas because of the life and death nature of it. … When people are distracted in the ER and the OR by politics, and particularly by antisemitism, it really puts vulnerable people, patients at risk,” Andrea Wolf, AJMA’s director of advocacy added. “And then on top of that, if a patient comes in as an identifiable Jew, wearing a magen david or a yarmulke, or something like that, we’re not sure anymore that they can get the same level of care as someone who’s not identifiably Jewish.”

Dan Granot, senior director of government relations for ADL, said in a statement, “ADL’s data shows a troubling rise in antisemitism within health care settings. We must use all levers of government to respond to this crisis. Hospitals must remain places of healing, not hate.” 

“As a member of the federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, the Department of Health and Human Services has a key role in confronting this scourge,” Granot continued. “We welcome HHS taking this challenge seriously and appreciate the opportunity to engage in a constructive discussion on what should be done to protect patients, providers, and future providers alike.”

Rachel Dembo, the director of policy and government relations for JFNA, said, “Nobody seeking medical care should be exposed to hate. Unfortunately, we have seen many disturbing instances of antisemitism creeping into medical settings, and too many instances where institutions failed to act or, worse, were permissive of antisemitism. We appreciate HHS OCR for taking this issue seriously and look forward to continuing to work with them and Congress to ensure Jewish Americans have access to hate-free health care.”

HHS is looking both at potential civil rights violations by individual institutions as well as at the possibility of broader policymaking to combat antisemitism in the field generally, Marcus said. He said that the problems in health care are wide-ranging, and come from patients, providers and healthcare students, in educational, hospital and medical association and conference settings.

“HHS has an extraordinarily wide jurisdiction. Since they fund such a high percentage of colleges and universities, they could certainly address many of the same sorts of situations that the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is handling,” Marcus explained. “But they also fund medical practices, health care of various sorts, and some associations, such as the American Psychological Association, where there have been concerning reports of antisemitic activity.”

He said HHS could issue informal guidance in the form of a dear colleague letter on antisemitism, but added that he’s “concerned at the appearance that HHS continues to fund some decolonizing therapy activity,” which he said he would like to see addressed in guidance and in enforcement activities.

Wolf said that AJMA is also pushing for a “more robust and accurate reporting mechanism” for incidents of antisemitism, noting that “our biggest challenge right now is not having a clear sense of the pervasiveness and the facts on the ground.”

Wolf and Shekhman said AJMA would also support an HHS dear colleague letter — reminding entities of their legal responsibilities and duty to combat antisemitism — and further work across administrative agencies and with Congress to address antisemitism and expand scientific partnerships between the U.S. and Israel.

Wolf said AJMA is also working to track donations to medical schools by bad actors.

HHS was involved in, and announced the revocation of, funds from various university-affiliated medical programs as part of the administration’s crackdown on campus antisemitism in early 2025. But that activity tapered off and faded from the public eye in the latter part of the Trump administration’s first year.

“What we’re looking for is a second wave of Health civil rights enforcement,” Marcus said. He noted that much of that early action was undertaken by personnel in acting capacities who in some cases are no longer at the agencies, and was driven largely by initiative from the White House.

“Now we’re looking for something different,” Marcus continued, calling for “more activity of a more institutionalized sort, such as investigations by HHS career officials throughout their regional apparatus” by the Office for Civil Rights and a “more normalized effort through the HHS bureaucracy taking on the issue of antisemitism.”

He said his conversations with Stannard and HHS have made him “optimistic” that such efforts would be forthcoming from the administration.

Wolf emphasized that AJMA aims to take a more collaborative approach with both the government and with medical schools themselves, and to serve as a resource to both. She said that HHS does not “condone or encourage investigations” of medical schools by HHS, “but once they are open by HHS, there’s really no better source of facts than AJMA membership, and so we will work with the government to help them.”

She said AJMA is happy that the administration is now taking a “more thoughtful and more targeted” approach to addressing antisemitism “without threatening a lot of scientific funding.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing pressure from a coalition of local Jewish groups to fill a major administration post related to countering antisemitism, one of the key pledges of his campaign.

In a letter the coalition sent to Mamdani on Friday that was shared first with Jewish Insider, the signatories conveyed their priorities with regard to the Office to Combat Antisemitism, which the mayor has vowed to retain. 

Jewish leaders have been closely monitoring the administration for signs of the direction Mamdani will take in filling the role, which could help to shed some early light on his broader approach to fighting antisemitism, particularly as his strident opposition to Israel has continued to raise concerns within the mainstream Jewish community.

As his team weighs an appointment to lead the relatively new office, created under former Mayor Eric Adams, the signatories tell Mamdani that the unfilled role has assumed increased urgency amid “escalating threats” against the Jewish community, citing a recent anti-Israel demonstration near a synagogue in Queens where protesters chanted in open support of Hamas.

But even as confronting such “deeply unsettling incidents” is “essential,” the letter states, the office is also responsible for navigating a “more enduring challenge” that involves working “effectively” with a range of city agencies such as the police department as well as local educational and cultural institutions to ensure Jewish New Yorkers “can live openly and safely” while otherwise “free from bias and hate.”

“Ultimately,” the signatories say, “this role demands a leader who is grounded in the day-to-day realities of Jewish communal life and capable of engaging meaningfully with communities across all levels of observance, background and political belief. The individual selected must be able to command trust even among those who may not share their personal views.”

The coalition of signatories describes itself as a group of “grassroots, neighborhood-based” Jewish organizations across the city, representing “a broad spectrum of political and religious perspectives.”

It includes the NYC Public School Alliance, Parents Against Antisemitism, Safe Campus, Park Slope Jewish Affinity Group, End Jew Hatred, Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan Parents Alliance, Hannah Senesh Community Day School, NYC Jewish Parent Leadership Council and Progressives for Israel.

The signatories do not offer suggestions for who should fill the role but express their approval of Moshe Davis, the office’s inaugural executive director under Adams who is not expected to remain in the position. 

Davis, the signatories write, earned their “trust and confidence” in his tenure, serving as a “capable and effective” executive director. “Appointing someone in the same mold would be welcomed by the Jewish community,” the letter says, “and would strengthen the office’s credibility and effectiveness.”

Mamdani has not yet indicated who he intends to hire to lead the office. A spokesperson for the mayor told JI last week that his team would have more to share on related appointments in the coming weeks and that such decisions “are still being worked out.”

Last month, the office released a comprehensive report including plans that Mamdani would likely oppose, such as training for all city employees on the working definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance — which labels some criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Mamdani has already rescinded an executive order that codified the definition, angering Jewish leaders who favor its application.

The signatories say they would “welcome the opportunity to advise” Mamdani “in the search for a qualified candidate” for the office, suggesting that “meaningful community input will help ensure the selection of a leader who is trusted, effective and prepared to meet this moment.”

Ramon Maislen, a Jewish community activist in Brooklyn and a member of the Park Slope Jewish Affinity Group, said his organization “represents a wide range of political views, including supporters of Mayor Mamdani.”

“Despite our political differences, we are united in the belief that no New Yorker should be targeted for who they are, and that the alarming rise in antisemitic hate crimes must be addressed,” he said in a statement to JI on Friday. “Given Mayor Mamdani’s pledge to protect Jewish New Yorkers, his appointment to lead the mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism will be critical.”

A Washington Post report that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika as a hate symbol under a new policy set to be implemented next month is garnering condemnation from Jewish groups and Democratic officials.

According to the report, the new policy will classify the Nazi emblem as “potentially divisive.” It is also set to apply to nooses.

Acting Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday denied the reports, saying “The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false. These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy. Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished.”

Coast Guard spokesperson Jennifer Plozai, however, told the Washington Post that the Coast Guard would be “reviewing the language” of the new policy.

Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), the ranking member of the House Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding the Department of Homeland Security, said she’d met with Lunday on Thursday evening and he had committed to changing the policy and publishing an updated version on Thursday evening.

She said that Lunday had “assured us that there is a[n] across-the-board prohibition on hate symbols, including swastikas and nooses.” She said the policy would also make clear that there will be “zero tolerance” for “any display” of such symbols in the Coast Guard.

“The swastika and the noose aren’t ‘potentially divisive.’ They are explicit symbols of antisemitism and hate. Treating them as anything less than hate symbols is a dangerous mistake,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.

“Nazi swastikas are not ‘divisive.’ They are antisemitic,” the American Jewish Committee said in a statement. “They represent a regime responsible for the murder of six million Jews and insult the hundreds of thousands of Americans who gave their lives to defeat the Nazis 80 years ago.”

The AJC called on Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, under whose jurisdiction the Coast Guard falls, to “reverse these deeply troubling guidelines immediately.”

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs said, through the amended policy, “the Coast Guard is doing nothing less than normalizing violent extremism.”

Halie Soifer, the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told Jewish Insider the policy marks as “dark and unprecedented moment in our country’s history,” in conjunction with President Donald Trump’s recent comments accusing Democrats of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” 

“This signaling to right-wing extremists and antisemites — combined with the President’s explicit threat of political violence — is depraved, unconscionable, shocking, and incredibly dangerous, including for Jews,” Soifer continued.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that, “Granting hate symbols like swastikas & nooses even an ounce of respectability is absolutely an anathema.” 

“Sec. [Kristi] Noem should be ashamed & Americans outraged. This edict besmirches the Coast Guard’s honor & should be immediately reversed,” he continued. 

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) called the policy change “indefensible.”

Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Mark Veasey (D-TX), Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Grace Meng (D-NY), co-chairs of the House Antisemitism Task Force, issued a statement condemning the decision.

“By eliminating the terminology of ‘hate incident’ symbols at a time of rising antisemitism and increasing hate, the Coast Guard risks emboldening those who seek to intimidate or target Jewish Americans, Black Americans, and other minority communities,” the lawmakers said. “This change sends a chilling signal to American Jews at a moment when antisemitic incidents have already hit record highs in the United States. This policy change must be reversed immediately.” 

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), also a co-chair of the task force, said, “This would be an egregious move on the part of the Administration if true.” 

“The Department of Homeland Security is outright refuting and another outlet has confirmed it reporting that officials say they are still covered under the new language and will not be tolerated,” Bacon said. “We need some clarity on this issue and the Coast Guard should make it 100% clear. It would help if the Coast Guard had a Commander, as the position has been vacant for many months.”

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) wrote to Lunday, the Coast Guard commandant, expressing “deep concern” and “strong opposition” to the policy, and said that the policy change should be reversed immediately and requested an explanation of the policy change, who was involved and how the Coast Guard will “reaffirm its zero-tolerance posture toward racism and antisemitism.”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said that he “helped build a Holocaust museum so future generations would understand the horror of the swastika — not watch our own government rebrand it, the noose, and the Confederate flag as merely ‘potentially divisive.’ These are symbols of mass murder and racial terror. The Trump Administration must reverse this immediately. You do not sanitize evil. You confront it.”

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that the policy “is vile and horrific.”

“Swastikas and nooses aren’t ‘potentially divisive’; they are longstanding and well known representations of genocide and lynchings,” he said. “The Trump Administration is looking to take us back all the way to the era of the Nazi Party and the Jim Crow South.”

He dismissed the Coast Guard’s denials, saying that the “administration is trying to claim they don’t mean what the policy says,” and should withdraw and disavow the policy.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, posted on X, “Welcome to Donald Trump’s America—where it’s fine to be a Nazi or in the KKK.”

Doug Emhoff, the former second gentleman and a leader of the Biden administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism, said on X, the change is “Completely wrong and unacceptable. Leaders cannot remain silent on this if they are serious about combatting antisemitism and hate.”

Major New York Jewish groups criticized former Assemblyman Michael Blake, who is running in the Democratic primary against Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), for featuring a clip of an influencer who supported the shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in his campaign launch video.

Blake’s video features a short clip from a social media video posted by Guy Christensen, an anti-Israel activist, accusing Torres of “investing in genocide,” one of the first clips in the video. 

Christensen praised the alleged D.C. shooter, Elias Rodriguez, urging his followers to support Rodriguez and describing his “act of resistance” as “justified” and to respond with “greater resistance and escalation” in the face of a potential crackdown against the anti-Israel movement.

“I do not condemn the elimination of those two Zionist officials,” Christensen said on social media at the time of the shooting. “[Rodriguez] is not a terrorist. He’s a resistance fighter. And the fact is that the fight against Israel’s war machine, against their genocide machine, against their criminality, includes their foreign diplomats in this country and internationally.”

Christensen was expelled from The Ohio State University for the video, which was taken down by TikTok.

In a statement, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York condemned Blake’s video, both for featuring Christensen and for its use of other antisemitic tropes.

“Hurling a bus load of antisemitic tropes and platforming bigots who cheer antisemitic violence in a launch video is not the pro-humanity flex one thinks it is. In the backdrop of rising hate, this only deepens division, further inflames an already inflammatory climate in New York, and makes us all less safe,” the group said in a statement.

The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey focused its criticism specifically on the Christensen clip.

“No matter what your views are on the candidates or the issues, we can all agree that Michael Blake’s platforming of anti-Zionist influencer Guy Christensen should be roundly condemned,” the group said. “Christensen is an activist who regularly touts Hamas and promotes antisemitic ideas, and he defended the shooter that left two dead at the Jewish Museum this past spring.”

UJA-Federation of New York said in a statement, “We strongly condemn any use of antisemitic vitriol and those who promote it to attack opponents.”

“Regardless of beliefs, actively platforming Guy Christensen, who regularly shares antisemitic ideas and pro-Hamas rhetoric — in addition to defending the heinous antisemitic shooting in Washington, DC, this spring — is absolutely unacceptable,” UJA continued.

Blake apologized in a statement, issued late Monday after a group of local rabbis also joined the chorus of criticism.

“I unequivocally denounce the murder and celebration of the two young Israeli embassy staffers, as stated in my May 22nd, 2025 post on X, and I apologize for any pain our campaign video caused any member of the Jewish community by including someone who condoned this horrific event,” Blake said. “Just as I would for anyone targeted for the color of their skin, faith, or identity, I stand firmly against all acts of hate and violence. I am focused on the Cost of Living and Affordability crisis impacting all of the district, where Ritchie Torres’ actions have failed, along with continuing to address Antisemitism, Anti-Muslim hate, Housing and Immigration. We deserve better than Ritchie Torres.”

Responding to historic levels of antisemitism in the U.S., the Anti-Defamation League and Gibson Dunn LLP announced on Wednesday a new joint network offering pro bono legal assistance to victims of antisemitic incidents.

The new initiative joins an already crowded space of Jewish groups offering legal services, including the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, The Lawfare Project and StandWithUs. 

While leaders of those organizations told Jewish Insider they welcome the ADL’s new venture — and some already have plans to collaborate — the network appears to overlap with existing Jewish nonprofit work, though none with the scale of lawyers and firms the ADL is engaging. 

Called the ADL Legal Action Network, the antisemitism watchdog’s latest initiative will involve more than 40 law firms across the U.S., with more than 39,000 attorneys offering support as co-counsel and referral counsel to people who have experienced discrimination, intimidation, harassment, vandalism or violence on the basis of their Jewish identity.  

Victims will be instructed to submit information about their case online to be evaluated by a professional litigation team, which will assess whether the situation warrants free representation. The system leverages “cutting-edge AI technology to efficiently triage and route cases to the network of law firms and ADL’s national incident response infrastructure,” according to the ADL. Participating law firms include Cooley LLP; Covington & Burling LLP; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP; Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP; and Arnold, Porter Kaye Scholer LLP.

James Pasch, ADL’s vice president of litigation, told JI that the group will “continue to work with and refer cases to the Brandeis Center and several other organizations doing this important legal work, including serving as co-counsel on several cases.”

Still, Pasch said that the launch of a platform to provide Jews “access to significant resources and some of the top legal minds in the country” is a unique approach, one that he said “has never existed before to fight back against antisemitism in the courts.” 

“We’re continuing to see historic levels of intake from a range of Jewish Americans, despite the ceasefire [in the Israel-Hamas war]. We’re seeing lots of activity, maybe not at the levels of a year ago, but certainly more than we’ve seen previously,” said Ken Marcus, founder of the Brandeis Center, which provides representation to Jewish students and employees nationwide. 

In February, the Brandeis Center established the Center for Legal Innovation — a team of nearly 20 lawyers and legal staff to litigate exclusively against antisemitism. “I’m pleased that there will be a new network in which to collaborate with,” Marcus told JI. 

In addition to the Brandeis Center, several other Jewish groups have been providing pro bono legal services to protect Jewish civil rights for years. 

“The Lawfare Project and the #EndJewHatred movement launched the Legal War Room nearly two years ago — long before today’s new initiatives — to create a global infrastructure for defending Jewish civil rights through coordinated, strategic litigation,” Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at The Lawfare Project, told JI. 

The Lawfare Project’s network has grown to more than 900 lawyers worldwide, according to the organization — significantly smaller than the new ADL network. “The Lawfare Project emphasizes strategic litigation and systemic reform more than scale, taking on high-profile, precedent-setting cases,” said Filitti. 

He continued, “It’s encouraging to see other organizations now adopting our model; it validates what The Lawfare Project proved first — that the rule of law is one of the most powerful tools to fight antisemitism.” 

Yael Lerman, director of the antisemitism education organization StandWithUs’ legal department, Saidoff Law, told JI that the group is “happy to see ADL is expanding into this area, in which we are witnessing an increase in reports of antisemitism to our intake hotline.”

“The need for legal groups to address antisemitism in the community is growing and our work certainly reflects this, as does ADL’s new initiative,” she said, adding that “we anticipate partnering with them regularly in this new endeavor.” 

Lerman declined to elaborate on how Saidoff Law’s work differs from the new Legal Action Network. 

The legal network’s launch comes two years after ADL and Gibson Dunn teamed up with the Brandeis Center and Hillel International to respond to a rise of antisemitism on college campuses, following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, by creating the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line, a free legal protection helpline for college students who have experienced antisemitism.

Pro-Israel groups and Canadian politicians expressed outrage on Wednesday after organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival canceled an invitation to show the documentary “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” about the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, at its upcoming festival, citing the use of Hamas footage of the attacks that had not been approved for use by the terror group. 

The documentary tells the story of retired Israeli general Noam Tibon, who raced from Tel Aviv to rescue his son and two young granddaughters trapped in a safe room in Kibbutz Nahal Oz when Hamas terrorists invaded on Oct. 7.

“The Toronto International Film Festival’s reasoning for canceling the October 7 documentary screening is completely absurd and transparently dishonest,” the American Jewish Committee said in a statement. “Pulling a movie because footage wasn’t cleared for copyright by a terror group is so ridiculous that it would almost be laughable — if it weren’t so deeply, shamelessly disturbing.”

In an open letter, Creative Community for Peace, a nonprofit that mobilizes prominent members of the entertainment community to oppose boycotts of Israel, wrote that “instead of advancing peace, TIFF has chosen to amplify hate.”

“This is a surrender to an antisemitic campaign determined to silence Jewish and Israeli voices, at a time when antisemitism in Canada is surging to historic levels. Your decision has only deepened and legitimized that hostility. You claim the cancellation was for security reasons — yet anti-Israel productions face no such barrier.” 

The CCFP letter continued, “You claim that the project couldn’t be screened because the filmmakers didn’t have the rights to footage Hamas — a Canadian designated terrorist group, broadcast to the world on October 7, 2023 when they massacred, raped, brutalized, and kidnaped thousands of innocent people from toddlers to Holocaust survivors — but that strains credibility.”

“By pulling this film, TIFF has silenced a story of extraordinary courage and survival,” Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada, said in a statement. “This shameful decision comes at a perilous time, as extremists are emboldened by recent plans by Canada and other nations to recognize Palestinian statehood.” 

Toronto City Councillors James Pasternak and Brad Bradford called on the TIFF to reverse its decision. 

“If TIFF does not reverse its decision, [the] Council should demand an investigation into this film banning decision,” Pasternak and Bradford said in a joint statement. “This film tells the story of a heroic rescue in the face of unimaginable violence, yet instead of defending truth and artistic freedom, TIFF appears to have yielded to political pressure and the fear of protests. Intimidation must not dictate which stories can be told. Silencing survivors and granting a listed terrorist organization any semblance of legal legitimacy is not neutrality — it is a moral failure.”

A TIFF spokesperson told Deadline that the invitation was withdrawn “because general requirements for inclusion in the festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met, including legal clearance of all footage.”

“The purpose of the requested conditions was to protect TIFF from legal implications and to allow TIFF to manage and mitigate anticipated and known risks around the screening of a film about highly sensitive subject matter, including potential threat of significant disruption.”

The 2024 TIFF festival also did not spotlight an Israeli film. Rather, it featured three anti-Israel documentaries, with four more slated for 2025. The festival is scheduled to run Sep. 4-14.

A bipartisan group of more than 70 House lawmakers pressed the Trump administration last week about the supplemental round of Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding awarded to more than 500 Jewish groups in June, saying that the administration is withholding information from Congress about which institutions are receiving funding.

Some nonprofits that applied for grants have not, themselves, been told whether their applications have been accepted either, two sources familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider, complicating their efforts to submit complete and accurate applications for 2025 funding. 

The lawmakers said they have “sincere concern” that they have not been provided with the list of institutions receiving funding under the $94 million funding round, as has been standard practice. They added that the absence of that information could impact institutions’ ability to apply for funding from the 2025 NSGP allocation.

“As members of Congress working diligently to ensure there are resources available to faith-based institutions to secure themselves against attack, it is extremely concerning that FEMA’s reason for not providing Congress with this information is because of a perceived ‘security concern,’” the lawmakers said in a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency Acting Administrator David Richardson sent Aug. 7. “FEMA has not informed Congress of the nature of this threat. This is not the normal course of business”

A Senate aide told Jewish Insider that at least some lawmakers in the upper chamber have similarly been left in the dark about the grant awards.

The lawmakers noted the NSGP has faced other delays this year, including a monthslong freeze on reimbursements for already awarded NSGP funds from previous years’ grants. NSGP applications for 2025 opened last month, months later than usual, with a condensed timeline for organizations to apply for the funding.

“As you are aware, the process to apply for the NSGP is long and arduous,” the letter continued, raising further concerns about the abbreviated timeline for organizations to apply for grants for 2025.

“With the announcement of the awards of the National Security Supplemental delayed until June and awardees unaware if they are recipients of this supplemental funding, non-profit organizations, especially faith-based organizations, face tremendous levels of anxiety and uncertainty,” the lawmakers said. “This is compounded by FEMA’s failure to notify congressional offices of the recipients in our respective districts.”

Nonprofits, the lawmakers said, “are in limbo as they have no way to plan to effectuate the security upgrades they need or know what to apply for before the application deadline, leaving their security posture exposed and vulnerable.”

They called on the administration to “immediately share” the list of funding recipients from the June funding round “as has been the normal course of business for FEMA, so that these non-profits at risk of attack can submit an accurate application before the deadline.”

They said that it is “imperative” for nonprofits, including Jewish organizations, to “have the information they need to submit the best and most accurate application before the deadline.”

The lawmakers provided an Aug. 8 deadline for FEMA to provide the requested information, but it’s not clear if that deadline was met.

The letter was led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Mike Lawler (R-NY).

“While the release of the FY2025 funding notice is a welcome development, the condensed application timeline presents real challenges. Timely and transparent communication is key to helping communities navigate the process effectively and maintain a proactive security posture,” Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, said in a statement.

“We thank Congressman Gottheimer for leading this bipartisan effort urging FEMA to share the list of awardees with Congress. Transparency and timely information are essential for nonprofits to plan the security upgrades they need to keep their communities safe,” Lauren Wolman, the senior director of government relations and strategy for the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted senior administration officials, leaders from Jewish and pro-Israel Christian groups and hostage families for a reception last night at Blair House during his third visit to the United States this year.

Netanyahu was introduced by Paula White-Cain, the senior advisor to the White House Faith Office. “Israel, you are never, never alone,” she told the audience, pledging that evangelicals “will always stand with Israel.”

The Israeli prime minister spoke about efforts to free the hostages, both living and deceased, held in Gaza, saying, “We’re committed to getting every last one out … we don’t leave this sacred mission for a second.” He said he’d arrived a few minutes late because he had been speaking with the Israeli delegation engaging in hostage talks in Doha, Qatar, adding that he and President Donald Trump had spoken extensively about those efforts. 

“We are going to succeed, we’ll bring them all home,” Netanyahu said, repeatedly acknowledging hostage family members in the room. “Each family has their own history of suffering, of hope, of prayer. … We do not forget, we will not relent, we’ll get them all home. All of them.”

Netanyahu also said that Iran would have had nuclear weapons within a year if Israel and the U.S. had not struck its facilities. He suggested that the U.S.’ show of force should also put to rest any questions about continued American supremacy in the 21st century, which “bodes well for the future.”

He honored Gen. Erik Kurilla, the outgoing head of U.S. Central Command — a rare public appearance in D.C. for the military leader. Netanyahu said Kurilla is a “commander without peer” whose successor would have “gigantic shoes” to fill, adding that Kurilla’s support has been “truly remarkable.” Netanyahu presented Kurilla with a sculpture made from a piece of an intercepted Iranian missile, featuring a map of Israel, a tree and a dove of peace, which Netanyahu said symbolized “peace through strength.”

Others in the crowded room — forced indoors by a torrential downpour and tornado watch in D.C. — included Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), Justice Department Senior Counsel Leo Terrell and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter. Brett McGurk, from the Biden administration’s National Security Council, was also in the crowd.

Jewish leaders in attendance included William Daroff, Elliot Brandt, Jonathan Greenblatt, Nathan Diament, Rabbi Moshe Hauer, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), Halie Soifer and Brian Romick. Christian leaders who attended included pastors Robert Jeffress, Mike Evans and Mario Bramnick. 

The reception was the marquee event between the Israeli leader and officials from American Jewish groups during this visit. During recent visits to the U.S., Netanyahu skipped traditional sit-downs with Jewish leaders. Netanyahu has prioritized engagement with pro-Israel evangelical Christians and political conservatives, sometimes at the expense of more liberal-leaning American Jews.

The House Appropriations Committee voted on Tuesday to boost its proposal for 2026 Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding by $30 million, up to $335 million, an increase that Jewish groups say is a positive, but insufficient step, amid rising threats to the community.

The change was approved by a voice vote as part of a bipartisan package of amendments.

The committee’s original proposal had set funding for the program at $305 million, the same funding level in place in 2023, which had fulfilled less than half of the grant applications received at the time, before the spike in domestic antisemitism and antisemitic violence in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and ensuing war in Gaza.

Supporters of the program on Capitol Hill have, on a bipartisan basis, called for $500 million to be provided for the program in 2026, while many Jewish community groups have said the program should receive $1 billion.

The debate also comes amid rising fears of Iranian-backed or Iran-inspired attacks on Jewish institutions in the U.S. prompted by Israeli and American strikes on Iran.

Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told Jewish Insider that JFNA is “grateful” for the funding boost, which is “a meaningful step forward, but it’s still not enough.”

“Security isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. For many Jewish organizations, the cost of keeping their doors open and our community safe from growing antisemitic threats is the single largest cost,” Fingerhut said. 

He noted that JFNA and other Jewish groups are bringing a delegation of more than 400 Jewish leaders to Congress on Wednesday to advocate for greater NSGP funding and other priorities.

Lauren Wolman, director of federal policy and strategy at the Anti-Defamation League, said, “In the wake of surging antisemitic violence and the heightened threat environment following the Iran-Israel conflict, Jewish communities across the country are living in fear.”

“ADL was proud to work with bipartisan members to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in the Homeland Security Appropriations Markup,” Wolman said. “In times of crises, expressions of solidarity are important, but they must be backed by meaningful action. As the appropriations process moves forward, ADL will continue working with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to increase funding to ensure at-risk communities can worship, learn, and gather without fear.”

“This funding boost over the Subcommittee’s initial proposal is a very welcome and good start,” Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, said in a statement. “We appreciate the Appropriations Committee’s bipartisan effort to increase funding for the NSGP at such a critical time. With threats against the Jewish community surging, every additional dollar makes a difference in protecting lives.”

But, Diament continued, “the need far exceeds current funding levels, and we will continue to work with allies in Congress toward the $500 million funding target. That level of funding is what our community needs, and it is supported by a strong bipartisan coalition.”

The National Book Foundation is facing criticism from several Jewish groups for its decision to move forward in presenting a lifetime achievement award to Paul Coates, the founder of Black Classic Press, at its annual reception later this week — even after he was recently found to have republished antisemitic and homophobic texts.

Coates, the father of the journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, is set to receive the prestigious literary award at the 75th National Book Awards ceremony in New York City on Wednesday, where he will be honored for his longtime dedication to “celebrating the life of Black writers and bolstering their literary legacies” through his publishing company, founded in 1978.

But Coates, 78, has come under scrutiny in recent months for including in his catalog an antisemitic screed called The Jewish Onslaught, published in 1993 by Tony Martin, a former professor of Africana studies at Wellesley College, who sought to uphold a widely discredited conspiracy theory alleging Jewish domination of the Atlantic slave trade.

The book, which Black Classic Press had praised in a laudatory blurb, was recently removed without explanation from the company’s website following a Jewish Insider report, published in late September, that first highlighted its inclusion in the publisher’s online catalog.

In addition to Martin’s book, which was widely criticized as antisemitic at the time of its release, Coates has reissued several other works by authors who have espoused antisemitism and homophobia, the online journal Arc found in a review of the Black Classic Press catalog published last month.

The National Book Foundation, which in recent weeks has privately weighed its decision to honor Coates, has said that it will move ahead with the ceremony this week as planned, despite pushback from leading Jewish groups raising questions over the award.

In a statement shared with JI on Friday, the foundation said it “condemns antisemitism, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism and hatred in all its forms,” adding it “also supports freedom of expression and the right of any publisher to make its own determination on what it chooses to publish.”

“Anyone examining the work of any publisher, over the course of almost five decades, will find individual works or opinions with which they disagree or find offensive,” the organization said. “The National Book Foundation is honoring W. Paul Coates, not for the publication of any particular titles or authors, but for his tireless efforts of scholarship, to ensure that Black voices and stories, that might otherwise have been lost, are instead preserved as an irreplaceable part of American literary history.”

But Jewish advocacy groups, including some that Martin singled out in his book nearly three decades ago, voiced frustration with the decision, especially amid heightened concerns over increasing incidents of antisemitism in the literary and publishing worlds in recent months.

The Anti-Defamation League, which denounced Martin’s tract at the time of its publication, took issue with the award in a statement to JI. “The revelation that Black Classic Press published and promoted a deeply antisemitic title, and the National Book Foundation has chosen to overlook this fact, is emblematic of a wider problem in the industry, where publishing companies continue to carry antisemitic books such as The Jewish Onslaught and literary organizations shun Jewish writers,” an ADL spokesperson said on Monday.

“Although this particular title from the Black Classic Press website was removed, it’s disturbing that the site continues to carry other books that contain antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ themes,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, the World Jewish Congress, which Martin attacked in his book along with the ADL, called on the National Book Foundation to rescind its award to Coates. “At a time of surging global antisemitism, the World Jewish Congress finds it particularly disturbing that the National Book Foundation would fête publisher Paul Coates with a lifetime achievement award this week,” the group said in a statement to JI. “Coates, who recently republished The Jewish Onslaught, a pernicious essay that invokes antisemitic conspiracy theories and attacks Jewish organizations, deserves no such honor.”

“If the National Book Foundation truly condemns antisemitism, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism and hatred in all its forms, as its executive director has insisted,” the WJC argued on Monday, “it would immediately halt the upcoming event.”

Naomi Firestone-Teeter, the CEO of the Jewish Book Council, which launched an initiative last February to help report antisemitic incidents in the book industry, said the award “speaks to the double standard of how antisemitism, Jews and Israelis have been treated in the literary and publishing world.”

“Even naming the existence of antisemitism in this field has been met with anger and denial by the secular literary community — a frightening reaction that I can’t imagine we’d see with any other group that wanted to acknowledge discrimination or bias that they’ve experienced,” Firestone-Teeter told JI. “To see authors and books uplifted that lean on antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories and at the same time seeing Jewish and Israeli authors and books discriminated against shows how deeply entrenched — and normalized — these views have become.”

The National Book Foundation did not respond to a request for comment from JI regarding the criticism from Jewish groups. 

Black Classic Press, which has avoided publicly addressing the controversy surrounding its catalog, did not respond to a request for comment from JI on Monday.

While Coates has won plaudits for his longtime commitment to discovering contemporary writers as well as reissuing works by obscure and celebrated authors, his decision to republish Martin’s viciously antisemitic book has threatened to overshadow such achievements as he prepares to accept the award on Wednesday.

Mary Lefkowitz, a professor emerita of classical studies at Wellesley College who frequently sparred with Martin — who died in 2013 — told JI it was “a shame” Coates had brought renewed attention to The Jewish Onslaught, which had also targeted her with antisemitic attacks.
“I believe in freedom of speech but I wish that Mr. Coates had not chosen to promote Tony Martin’s The Jewish Onslaught, a book which uses virulent antisemitism in order to defend a theory that has repeatedly been shown to be demonstrably untrue,” Lefkowitz said.