Jason Brodsky, the policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran, told Jewish Insider on Friday morning that he sees Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets as an effort at coercive diplomacy — in full coordination with the Trump administration — attempting to force Iran into a more restrictive nuclear deal amid its recalcitrance in talks with the U.S.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jewish Insider: What … are your headlines from the last 12 or so hours?

Jason Brodsky: First is that this is the art of the deal. President [Donald] Trump is building leverage and is trying to sharpen the Iranian regime’s choices, that they [can] have the regime or they can have the nuclear program. They can’t have both, and that is what he’s trying to telegraph to them. He’s also trying to telegraph to them that a deadline means a deadline.

He gave them 60 days to agree to a deal. They didn’t do it, and so now there are consequences for that. That’s the other part.

The third part is what was totally outrageous in how the Iranians miscalculated and overplayed their hand, was that … the U.S. [according to recent media reports] made a compromise offer to Iran’s regime where they would have allowed a limited uranium enrichment for 3% until a regional nuclear consortium could be set up, which would then revert to zero enrichment.

The Iranians rejected that too, after the U.S. demonstrated flexibility and compromise. So the Iranians badly miscalculated, and they misread this president, and they thought that he could be manipulated, but he has proven to the world that you know when he means business.

JI: So you see this as being fully coordinated and fully in line with the U.S.? … The initial [statement] from [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio … [was] much less forceful [in support of Israel’s operation] than some of these more recent [comments] from Trump 12 hours later.

JB: I think you saw some of those initial statements because you had ongoing operations. There were ongoing operations today … With respect to Secretary Rubio, President Trump’s statements are the ones that matter. He’s the decision-maker.

The U.S. is also trying, of course, to protect Americans, and wants to avoid retaliation against Americans, but President Trump is leaning into Israel’s strikes in a way that shows that there was tight coordination here. Israel would have never mounted such a very significant, sophisticated operation and widespread operation without U.S. approval and the green light from the United States.

JI: Looking at what hasn’t happened yet: So far, Israel has not targeted some of these more deeply entrenched nuclear sites. From some things I’ve seen, they’ve not necessarily targeted the actual stockpiles of uranium. They haven’t targeted the supreme leader. Why do you think that is?

JB: I think that that could come later on. This is a multiday operation, and it’s going to depend on the Iranian reaction. There’s a report that the Iranians are withdrawing from the nuclear talks. If that’s true, that is increasing the chances that the U.S. will get directly involved, and if the U.S. gets directly involved, then they’re going to go after [the] Fordow [enrichment site buried deep underground] and the hardened targets as well.

JI: The conventional wisdom has been that Israel cannot strike those on their own. Would that still be your assessment?

To destroy [sites] like Fordow, the U.S. would have to be involved. I think Israel’s showing that it could do a grave amount of damage to the regime on its own. But I think to get to some of those hardened targets, the U.S. is going to have to be involved.

JI: What do you think we’re going to see over the next 24-48 hours?

JB: I think you’re going to see more operations to force the Iranian regime to make a choice, as I said before. That is the game plan. That’s the goal here. It’s to degrade the nuclear and military leadership of the Islamic Republic and military assets of the Islamic Republic, to neutralize their ability to retaliate, that’s key.

Israel is disrupting the command and control of the Iranian military. They are degrading assets and causing confusion and paranoia and disorientation, and that is going to slow down any kind of Iranian response. … I think it’s important for all of your readers to be alert to the risk that Iran will try to supercharge a campaign of terrorism abroad targeting Israeli interests and Jewish community interests as well. And I think the Jewish community around the world needs to be alert to that.

JI: If the goal here is to force Iran into some sort of deal, still, what do you think that that deal would or should look like at this point? To your point, the U.S. had offered concessions [in prior rounds of talks].

JB: The U.S. could potential[ly] get a better deal today than yesterday. I think it should be the total dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program. Total dismantlement. That means zero uranium enrichment, limitations on its ballistic missile program and getting rid of its weaponization program. That’s what should be on the table. And also, the president should be aiming for Iran to cut its support for terror proxies as well. So those are, those are key elements that I think the Trump administration should be pushing for.

Morgan Ortagus, a key member of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s team, is departing his office, Jewish Insider has learned. 

Ortagus, the deputy special envoy, has been removed from her portfolio in the special envoy’s office, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to JI. Ortagus had been overseeing the Trump administration’s Lebanon policy and had wanted to take over the Syria file, but was unsuccessful in doing so. 

Israel’s Channel 14 reported over the weekend that Ortagus was expected to leave her position.

Ortagus, who supported Trump’s 2024 bid and campaigned for him, did not respond to JI’s request for comment on the move or if she plans to continue serving in the administration in another capacity. 

The White House did not respond to JI’s request for comment on Ortagus’ future in the administration. 

President Donald Trump appointed Ortagus as Witkoff’s deputy in January, which he announced in an unusual statement expressing reticence about her appointment.

“Early on Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson,” Trump said in the statement, referencing Ortagus’ tenure as spokesperson for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support, and I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for them. Let’s see what happens.” 

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

The staffing developments inside the administration are taking place against the backdrop of an effort by Witkoff and Trump to move ahead with nuclear talks with Iran and a continued push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Ortagus was leaving the National Security Council. Ortagus was not a member of the NSC.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mike Sacks was taught as a child to fight antisemitism — literally — with left jabs and left hooks and right crosses.

His father, he said, taught him to box as an elementary schooler “because [my father] had to fight back against Jew hatred as a kid and as a young man,” having been subjected to antisemitic taunts.

Now, the former political journalist turned Democratic candidate in New York’s 17th Congressional District told Jewish Insider, rising antisemitism is a factor in his bid to unseat Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). But he also accused Republicans of cynically weaponizing the issue with no intent to actually address the problem.

Sacks told JI in an interview earlier this month that local and nationwide antisemitism was a major reason he decided to run, saying “I’m running for my community, my congregation and my country.”

“As a Jewish father raising my kids in the Jewish faith, this is my community. It’s not a political issue for me. It’s personal,” Sacks said. “When I go to Congress, this is not an issue I’ll take on to score political points, but for the rights of my community and my faith.”

“I was raised with an understanding that what is good for the Jews is what’s also good for the community and for the country, and to seek out and vindicate those universal values from which this country is founded,” Sacks continued, “that has helped make it a haven for Jews since we first started arriving in this country.”

“Under the guise of addressing antisemitism, [President Donald] Trump is attacking American values and violating our Constitution in the Jewish people’s name,” Sacks said. “These are values — free speech, due process — that we’ve learned from history, when turned on other people will be turned on us too. It’s un-American, and that’s not how we overcome antisemitism.”

He said that his patriotism and his sense of civic pride is deeply entwined with his Jewish identity, and said he wants to ensure that everyone, regardless of background, can share that sense of pride.

Sacks called antisemitism on college campuses a real problem that must be addressed, but argued that the Trump administration’s policies stripping research funding from universities and rescinding visas from anti-Israel demonstrators are not serious efforts to combat antisemitism.

“Under the guise of addressing antisemitism, [President Donald] Trump is attacking American values and violating our Constitution in the Jewish people’s name,” Sacks said. “These are values — free speech, due process — that we’ve learned from history, when turned on other people will be turned on us too. It’s un-American, and that’s not how we overcome antisemitism.”

If elected, he said he’d speak out against antisemitism, work to facilitate dialogue and support Nonprofit Security Grant Funding. And he said he’d support any legislation to combat antisemitism that he believed was sincere and would be effective, and was not aimed at scoring “political points off our people’s plight and peril.”

He didn’t speak specifically on whether he would support Lawler’s Antisemitism Awareness Act, but accused Republicans of trying to protect those making antisemitic accusations that Jews killed Jesus in amendments to the legislation.

Sacks also accused Republicans of weaponizing antisemitism in the 17th District race, referring to an incident in which a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson called out Sacks and the other 17th District candidates over the vandalism of an Albany GOP headquarters building with the word “Nazis.” The spokesperson demanded the candidates condemn the vandalism, which occurred more than 100 miles away, in another part of the state.

“What will guide my response to any threat to Israel is … where to find that solution that can lead us back to a path of peace and a path of coexistence where it all might seem bleak and dark and gone in those moments of greatest peril,” Sacks said.

Sacks called the move “cynical” and in “bad faith,” adding, “we need to confront these efforts to use our own identities against us head-on.”

He hinted toward his family’s Jewish background in his campaign launch video, which includes a shot of Sacks working on a Hebrew workbook with one of his sons at their dinner table, a scene that a campaign spokesperson described as a weekly occurrence.

Sacks described himself as a “proud Zionist guided by my belief in our need for a Jewish democratic state,” adding that he associates himself with “the 69% of Israelis who want to bring all the hostages home and have a ceasefire.”

He said he “stand[s] against those on the far left who deny the necessity of a Jewish state” as well as those on the far right who would “sacrifice Israel’s democracy to extend control over all the Palestinian territories.” Sacks said he would oppose any efforts to block weapons shipments to Israel.

Sacks associated himself with those protesting against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and Yair Golan, the leader of a left-leaning opposition party in Israel. (This interview took place before recent comments by Golan sparked widespread backlash.)  He described Israeli figures like Yitzhak Rabin and author Amos Oz as his “heroes,” condemning the “racist extremism” of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and blasting Lawler for meeting with Ben-Gvir during his trip to the U.S. last month.

He said that a two-state solution is the best path to ensure Israel’s security and existence as a Jewish state, which he emphasized must include removing Hamas from leadership in Gaza and fighting for a pathway to Palestinian statehood. “I do not believe [the two-state solution] is dead. I do not believe that it can’t be resurrected if it is dead. I believe that is the only way forward,” he said.

“What will guide my response to any threat to Israel is … where to find that solution that can lead us back to a path of peace and a path of coexistence where it all might seem bleak and dark and gone in those moments of greatest peril,” Sacks said.

Sacks argued that new leadership is needed in the U.S. to help move back toward a two-state solution, arguing “the U.S. needs to be led by a government that does not sympathize with those in Israel who would follow in the footsteps of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin,” referring to Ben-Gvir.

Sacks traveled to Israel in December 2008, as Israel was launching Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. He said that his takeaway from those operations, after which attacks from Gaza on Israel resumed, is that “the answer is not whether to respond, but how. And the solution is political, not military.”

“What will guide my response to any threat to Israel is … where to find that solution that can lead us back to a path of peace and a path of coexistence where it all might seem bleak and dark and gone in those moments of greatest peril,” Sacks said.

Addressing the ongoing nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran, Sacks emphasized that Tehran has “never been weaker” and described the Islamic Republic as a decaying and “sclerotic” regime. He said the U.S.’ path forward should be calibrated to protect Israel from “any rash decision by a wounded Iranian regime looking to stay relevant in the region.”

He expressed skepticism that Trump would be able to achieve an effective deal that would ensure peace and security, pointing to the president’s decision to pull out of the original 2015 nuclear deal during his first term, adding that Trump now appears to be renegotiating something along the same lines.

Sacks said that the original nuclear deal was “a great deal for the time,” but said that the state of affairs now and when he would be in Congress would be very different, and his support for any potential deal would “depend on the details of the deal in context with that geopolitical moment and the security demands of our allies in the region.”

Addressing his candidacy more broadly, Sacks said that his prior career as a reporter gave him a “front row seat to the deterioration of our democracy and billionaires profiting at our expense” and the deep issues in U.S. politics. He said rising costs and the “tepid” response from Democrats to Republican policies were other contributing factors to his run.

He framed himself as fighting to restore American democracy against a “would-be king seizing power for himself from the people to enrich his billionaire best friends at our expense.”

Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, says he’s undeterred by critics of the Trump administration’s approach to combating antisemitism, arguing that those dissatisfied with its deportation strategy are “trying to justify, in my opinion, the antisemitic behavior” of those individuals. 

Terrell, who has a career spanning three decades as a civil rights attorney and a conservative media personality, sat down on Monday for his first interview with Jewish Insider since joining the Justice Department earlier this year — at a time when some mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, have expressed concern that the administration’s approach has violated the due process rights of the individuals being targeted. The Trump administration has argued that non-citizens do not have the same constitutional protections as U.S. citizens, though the Fourteenth Amendment grants due process rights to all people regardless of status. 

“That question is being asked quite often, and I think those people who are raising that issue are trying to justify, in my opinion, the antisemitic behavior,” Terrell said. “If you’re an American citizen, I have due process on a lot of different criminal issues if I’m arrested. I have due process. That term due process needs to be evaluated depending on the status of the individuals who assert it.”

“I will submit to you that individuals who are here on, let’s say, for example, a student visa, who are not American citizens, who are here as a privilege by this country, do not have the same due process rights, do not have the same access to the court system as I do as an American citizen,” he continued, adding, “Your rights depend on your status in this country. You won’t hear that because it’s the truth, it’s not a talking point.”

Terrell said he and Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the DOJ, remain confident they are following the law. He also said he wants injunctive relief for Jewish students from U.S. citizens and foreign nationals involved in antisemitic hate crimes. 

“How many times do we see individuals violating the rights of Jewish American students use the lying argument of freedom of speech, and it was adopted by a majority of the left-wing media, but these blue cities allow these individuals to be violent. They were arrested, and then they were released, and they were never prosecuted. They were never prosecuted. And that type of mentality existed not only on the local level, but on the federal level as well. That has stopped under the Trump administration,” Terrell explained.

“One of the first questions you mentioned is, and I’ve heard it the last couple of days, if you think the Trump administration is too hard or being too aggressive? They raise that question, and I’ve heard it in three different locations, but I say no, we’re not aggressive enough. If you’re comparing that there’s been some progress in relationship to the Biden administration, that’s not much of a standard, because they did nothing,” he added.

When asked about Columbia University, where new acting President Claire Shipman oversaw the suspension and arrests of some of the students involved in last week’s takeover of the school’s main library, Terrell said the university’s actions were insufficient because they did not deter future action from the protesters. 

“Some people have said, well, you know, some of these students have been suspended by the college president. Not good enough. There’s no deterrent mechanism. You need deterrence where it doesn’t happen again. And under the Trump administration, I can tell you right now, I’m using the tools of Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act]. I’m using the tools of filing hate crimes as a deterrent mechanism,” Terrell said, later noting, “Trump is dead set on eliminating antisemitism, and besides the litigation that we are contemplating … we’ve got some tools … that we’re going to be disclosing later on, that are going to definitely have a major factor.”

Terrell added that he stood by the decision to target the individuals the Trump administration had sought to deport as part of its antisemitism policy, including the case of Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University doctoral student and Turkish national who was released from detention last week amid criticism from several leading Jewish groups as federal authorities continue pushing for her deportation. Some Jewish leaders and organizations had argued against Öztürk’s detention due to the lack of evidence against her the federal government has made public; currently, her only known anti-Israel activity is a critical op-ed she co-authored in her school newspaper.

“The Civil Rights team is more concerned with getting rid of the problem than making everybody comfortable while they do so. I believe the previous administration expressed commitment, both in speech and in certain actions, to fighting antisemitism, but then allowed antisemitism to get diluted to the point where the effort was regrettably no longer as effective. A wise man once said, when you get too well-rounded, you stop pointing anywhere. An effort to combat and eradicate antisemitism must do that,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), told JI. 

Öztürk’s release on bail, Terrell explained, “has nothing to do with the merit as to whether or not she can be removed based on the evidence and the discretion of the secretary of state.” 

“Yes, she got released on bail. So the standard for bail is: Are you a flight risk? Are you a danger? Will you return? That has nothing to do with the merit of her status here. … The decision on the merits as to whether or not she will remain in this country has not been decided,” Terrell said, criticizing the news media’s portrayal of the latest developments in Öztürk’s case as inaccurate.

Asked if any universities had responded to campus antisemitism in ways that he found satisfactory, Terrell pointed to Dartmouth College. “I was very pleased when the president of Dartmouth College came by and spoke to us, and they got a very favorable grade from the ADL as far as battling antisemitism. If I was going to mention one school that is on the right track to combat antisemitism, that has addressed the issue, and not tried to dodge it or look for press coverage because they suspended some students, Dartmouth College would be probably number one on my list,” he said. 

Looking off campus, Terrell told JI he has reached out to the mayors of Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City to try to find ways to work together on campus antisemitism “because I felt those were major cities that had failed to protect Jewish American students, not only on campus, but Jewish Americans period, in the city.” 

Terrell said that he hasn’t heard back from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass or Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, but his message to them is that he’s “not going to run away from that. I’m going to meet it head on.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to get him [Johnson] and those [Chicago City] Council members to change their ways. The federal government has a lot of tools, and we’re going to use all of them. The one thing I can tell you is that I’ve had conversations with the president about this as late as last week, and he said basically in so many words, whatever you need on this subject just call me directly, just talk to me directly. Because I have approached him on certain issues involving resolving some of these issues in schools and he wants complete, 100% compliance,” Terrell said.

While he has some detractors, Terrell also has a number of Jewish leaders in his corner who argue his approach to his current role was bound to ruffle some feathers. 

Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s envoy to the U.S., told JI in a statement, “Leo Terrell has hit the ground running … showing remarkable clarity and passion. From day one, he has demonstrated unwavering commitment to this crucial fight — through strong public statements, meaningful action, and a clear moral compass.”

“The Civil Rights team is more concerned with getting rid of the problem than making everybody comfortable while they do so. I believe the previous administration expressed commitment, both in speech and in certain actions, to fighting antisemitism, but then allowed antisemitism to get diluted to the point where the effort was regrettably no longer as effective. A wise man once said, when you get too well-rounded, you stop pointing anywhere. An effort to combat and eradicate antisemitism must do that,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), told JI. 

“We cannot compromise our efforts to deal with the situation just so that everybody’s very comfortable with what we’re doing. Unconventional and illegal are not the same thing, and people facing existential threats cannot be expected to make everybody comfortable while they fight for their survival,” Shemtov continued, later adding: “Any energetic effort might test some limits here or there.” 

Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s envoy to the U.S., told JI in a statement, “Leo Terrell has hit the ground running … showing remarkable clarity and passion. From day one, he has demonstrated unwavering commitment to this crucial fight — through strong public statements, meaningful action, and a clear moral compass.”

“We deeply value our partnership with him and appreciate his willingness to listen, engage, and stand up against hatred in all its forms. His leadership is both encouraging and inspiring at a time when it’s needed most,” Leiter added.

Terrell spent more than two decades amassing a large following on the talk radio circuit and on cable news, serving as a Fox News contributor on legal issues for much of the last decade. He made headlines in 2020 when debuting “Leo 2.0,” his revamped persona, while announcing his move from the Democratic Party to the GOP. 

In his new job, he frequently starts his morning tweeting on X about the rise in antisemitism to his 2.5 million followers.

“The Jewish American community and I have had a love affair for the last 35 years. One of my first jobs as a lawyer, I worked in a Jewish law firm, and I was befriended not only by the Jewish lawyer who helped me get started, but by the community at large. So my relationship with the Jewish American community has been in place for the last 35 plus years,” Terrell said, noting his time leading the California Commission Against Hate Crimes, “where we looked at all hate crimes against Blacks, Browns, Jews, Catholics.”

While Terrell warned in media appearances about the rise of antisemitism in recent years, he was not directly involved in trying to address the issue nationally until 2024, when he began criticizing the Biden administration’s lack of response to incidents of antisemitism taking place amid anti-Israel campus protests. 

Still, Terrell says he’s no stranger to fighting for civil rights protections for all, citing his three-decade “love affair” with the Jewish people and his legal career, which included efforts to address antisemitism in California.

“The Jewish American community and I have had a love affair for the last 35 years. One of my first jobs as a lawyer, I worked in a Jewish law firm, and I was befriended not only by the Jewish lawyer who helped me get started, but by the community at large. So my relationship with the Jewish American community has been in place for the last 35 plus years,” Terrell said, noting his time leading the California Commission Against Hate Crimes, “where we looked at all hate crimes against Blacks, Browns, Jews, Catholics.” 

“I have committed to civil rights and my commitment to the Jewish American community has been so heartwarming based on my experience here in this position and on Fox, but it goes well beyond that. It goes well beyond that. For the last 25 to 30 years, ever since I have been a lawyer, I’ve had a fantastic, strong, great relationship with the Jewish American community and it is going to maintain.”

The Trump administration has dismissed multiple members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council appointed by former President Joe Biden, Jewish Insider has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation told JI that those fired from the board overseeing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and other Holocaust commemoration activities include former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, former Ambassador Susan Rice, former Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, former presidential senior advisor Tom Perez and former Ambassador Alan Solomont.

In an email sent to board members on Wednesday reviewed by JI, Sara Bloomfield, the council’s director, confirmed that 13 appointees had been “removed” by the White House.

The additional members who have been let go include Anthony Bernal, a senior advisor to former First Lady Jill Biden; former Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI); Jennifer Klein, a former director of the White House Gender Policy Council; Stacy Eichner, a former deputy assistant to Biden; Meredith Jachowicz, a former special assistant to Biden; Kimberly Marteau Emerson, a lawyer and human rights advocate; and Marsha Borin, a Jewish community leader in Delaware.  

“We thank them for their service and hope there will be opportunities to work with them in the future,” Bloomfield wrote in her email, adding that the remaining “members of the council include those who have been appointed by President Trump in his first administration and President Biden.”

Klain, Rice and Finer did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Perez and Zients could not be reached, nor could other members who were dismissed.

“He’s talking all about fighting antisemitism, but he chooses to make a divisive call on the official arm of the federal government that was created to remember the Holocaust,” Solomont told JI. 

The New York Times also reported that Emhoff, Klain, Perez, Rice and Bernal had been dismissed.

Solomont learned of his dismissal through a curt email from a staff member of the Presidential Personnel Office, reviewed by JI, which read, “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”

The email, on which PPO Director Sergio Gor was CC’ed, provided no explanation for the dismissal.

A White House official confirmed Emhoff, Klain, Rice, Finer, Perez, Zients and Solomont’s dismissals and said that the Trump administration is currently interviewing prospective replacements. The official did not address questions from JI about why they were dismissed, how many others were dismissed or if any future dismissals are planned.

Such dismissals from presidentially appointed boards are unusual, but have happened in the past, including under the Biden administration, which dismissed a series of former Trump officials from military service academy advisory boards. The Biden administration also forced controversial Trump appointee Darren Beattie off of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

“Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized,” Emhoff said in a statement to the Times. “To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous — and it dishonors the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.”

Biden appointed more than 50 people to the Holocaust Memorial Board, and some have not yet been dismissed.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a co-chair of the Senate antisemitism task force and a congressionally appointed member of the Holocaust Memorial Council, decried what she described as politicization of the council.

“Spreading awareness and educating the American public about the horrors of the Holocaust cannot and should not be a political issue,” Rosen said. “Donald Trump’s action to prematurely remove members of the board before the end of their terms is an attempt to politicize an institution dedicated to remembering one of the worst atrocities in our history and hurts our efforts to educate future generations.”

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a co-chair of the House antisemitism task force, downplayed the significance of Trump’s move.

“It is the prerogative of all Presidents to appoint their nominees to various boards,” Bacon said. “Former President Biden did the same with all of the military academies in 2021. There are still democrat board members appointed by Congress who are serving on the board.”

Abe Foxman, the former national director of the Anti-Defamation League and a Holocaust survivor, called on the administration to reverse course.

“It is sad and insensitive to use the United States institution dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust and its victims for purposes other than memory,” Foxman said. “I hope the administration reconsiders.”

Foxman sits on the council but emphasized that he was speaking in his personal capacity as a survivor.

This story was updated on April 30 to reflect new details.

Palestinians have a responsibility to rise up against Hamas and to call to free the hostages and end the war in Gaza, Muhammad, a law student from Gaza City, told Jewish Insider this week. 

Muhammad, whose last name was withheld for fear of retribution, took part in demonstrations against Hamas in the last week in central Gaza, where he has lived for most of the time since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. He spoke to JI in a conversation facilitated by the New York-based Center for Peace Communications, a peacebuilding organization founded by author and Middle East analyst Joseph Braude that strives to build public support for reconciliation.

Muhammad and his parents and siblings left Gaza City, in northern Gaza, in October, following IDF instructions. They have been displaced and living in a school ever since, except for four months in which they were instructed to leave and stay in Rafah, in southern Gaza.

Muhammad said that, while Hamas has portrayed the demonstrations as planned and funded from outside of Gaza, including by the Palestinian Authority, he sees them as grassroots with participants from different parts of the population. 

The common slogans on banners and chanted by protesters are against both Hamas and the PA, which many Palestinians view as corrupt, he said.

“People are fed up with Hamas’ attempt to use their bodies, their lives, as a tool to make political and even financial gains from this war,” he said. “These protests were very openly and obviously asking Hamas to step down, get out of the political and military picture in Gaza.”

The demonstrators want the war to end instead of suffering the consequences of the Oct. 7 attack, which Muhammad called “Hamas’ plan cooked up with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.” 

“Even though it’s very risky to protest Hamas’ rule in Gaza, this is a duty and responsibility on a humanitarian and moral level for educated Gazans,” Muhammad told JI through a translator provided by Center for Peace Communications on Tuesday. “Hamas went too far in oppressing the people while not negotiating [to end the war] with good intentions. All they are doing is looking for political gains for Hamas and not humanitarian gains for Gazans … We educated people have the responsibility to inspire others to say, after 18 years of Hamas rule, ‘enough.’” 

Asked why he specified that educated people should take the lead, Muhammad said that he believed that sector of society has the capacity to do so under a Hamas dictatorship in which they are inundated by propaganda.

“Anyone with the knowledge and education, who reads and learns about politics, even religion, has the responsibility to open the eyes of the public who are sometimes moved by Hamas propaganda … I believe we have a responsibility because we know how to put the words together to describe the plight of the Gazans and talk to the media and the public, to try to bring peace and a better destiny for our people,” he said.

While Hamas has inflicted violence on the protesters, Muhammad said, “the people didn’t give up” and attacked Hamas police in return. He described an incident in which Hamas police killed a man in line to buy food for his family, and the family killed the police officer. “This is a new thing that did not happen in 18 years of Hamas rule,” Muhammad noted.

Asked about the hostages, of which 59 remain in captivity in Gaza, Muhammad said that ever since Israel tied humanitarian aid to their release, “people in Gaza who have nothing to do with politics are all asking that the hostages be able to go home in peace back to Israel.” 

“If the people themselves knew where the hostages were, they would bring them back because the entire issue is backfiring on Gazans. It didn’t help us at any point,” he said.

However, Muhammad emphasized that releasing the hostages is not enough, and Hamas must be removed from power in Gaza.

“If the war would end now but Hamas would stay in Gaza, we will see another Oct. 7 because Hamas would do it again and again,” he warned. “We are asking Hamas to send back all the hostages and get out of Gaza, because those are the Israeli demands to end the war.” 

On Oct. 7, Muhammad said that allegations that all Gazans supported Oct. 7 are false, and that “a lot of us were terrified when we saw Oct. 7 happening. The majority of us are disgusted by Hamas and are not on the side of Hamas’ terrorism.”

Muhammad said that protesters against Hamas are seeking a leader who can bring peace to Gaza, and he has heard talk about supporting former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a relatively moderate Palestinian figure who is currently a lecturer at Princeton University, and Mohammed Dahlan, an advisor to the president of the UAE who has been in exile from Gaza since attempting a coup against Hamas.

Muhammad said that “Palestinians should never try to get political gains or rights through military struggle. I don’t want to see another Oct. 7. Palestinians want to live in Gaza or the West Bank without weapons. People hate Fatah [the dominant party in the PA], Hamas and the PA.”

He expressed hope that Gaza will be able to emulate “examples of great collaboration and relations between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank that contribute to building productive relations on many levels, cultural and economic, and were able to achieve positive things. There is an opportunity for peace.” 

Muhammad called on “the Israeli right wing and the Palestinian right wing to step back and give a chance to others who are more moderate to work on peace, because it is possible.”

At the same time, Muhammad said that, given the opportunity, he would like to leave Gaza. 

Of President Donald Trump’s call to evacuate all Palestinians from Gaza, Muhammad said, “I want it to not just be an idea but a real plan that is implemented … I would be one of the very first people to leave Gaza because this is my choice.” 

Muhammad said that “Egypt has a responsibility to open the borders, just like any country would do for its neighbors suffering from a catastrophe, whether war or another kind. [The border] should be open for civilians so they can leave.”

He also said Egypt should give Palestinians the rights of refugees and basic needs while they are in transit.

“We understand Egypt is saying they are closing the borders because they think the Oslo Accords will not be implemented and the Palestinian issue will be forgotten if Gaza is emptied, but this is not a justified reason for the people presently in Gaza to be literally imprisoned. People like me who had nothing to do with Oct. 7 are being subjected to shelling and hunger, because Egypt wants to keep us with Hamas in Gaza,” he said.

Muhammad called on the U.S. and Arab countries to pressure Egypt to open its border to Gazans.

“My message for President Trump is that we have big hopes that he will work on a peaceful political solution that will push Hamas not only out of Gaza but the entire Palestinian picture, and he will work on real peace between Palestinians and Israelis,” he said.