Union leader Bob Brooks has emerged as a front-runner thanks to support from the governor, along with an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders
Bob Brooks campaign website
Bob Brooks
Add JewishInsider on GoogleWith backing from an unusual coalition of prominent moderate and progressive leaders, firefighter union leader Bob Brooks has emerged as a front-runner in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, a critical swing district that Democrats are aggressively contesting for next year’s midterms.
Brooks has landed the support of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a prospective 2028 presidential candidate and leading moderate, alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who are among the most vocal progressive lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Shapiro reportedly helped recruit Brooks to run, and will be holding a major fundraiser for him in Philadelphia on Thursday.
“Throughout his career, Bob has worked hard for the men and women of organized labor – standing up for higher wages, better healthcare, and safer working conditions,” Shapiro said in his endorsement.
Brooks said he’d gotten to know Shapiro through the governor’s work with firefighters and “seen his commitment to improving life for regular people up close, especially through his leadership in expanding PTSI coverage for first responders.” He said Shapiro’s “knack for bringing people together is why he’s so deeply trusted in our state.”
Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, said that Shapiro’s endorsement would be “monumental” in the race, given his popularity in the state, and particularly among Democrats.
“Usually endorsements I give a bit of a shrug for because it doesn’t get you a lot of bang for your buck,” Borick said. “In this case, I think it most likely will — it’ll attract more support, it’ll attract other funding sources and in a crowded field … it’s a very valuable get for Brooks.”
Borick said that Brooks’ background — a union firefighter with an “interesting personal narrative” — likely attracted Shapiro, who also had a relationship with Brooks from his work with the firefighters’ union.
Sanders has described Brooks as a working-class political outsider, saying he “has the guts to stand up to corporate greed & a corrupt political system. He will fight to protect Social Security and Medicare, defend workers’ rights and build a government that represents all of us — not just the billionaire class.”
Khanna said that Brooks is a “working-class [champion]” who has “dedicated his career to serving his community as a firefighter” and “will put working families over special interests and fight to lower costs.”
Democrats are looking to win back the Lehigh Valley-based House seat, which had been represented by former Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) from 2018 to 2024. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) defeated Wild by one point in 2024, and is considered one of the most vulnerable House Republicans in 2026.
In a sign of the swing district’s political significance, Vice President JD Vance campaigned alongside Mackenzie in Lehigh County on Tuesday, making the case for the Trump administration’s economic policies.
Borick said that Brooks’ background brings elements that appeal to various elements of the Democratic coalition, noting Brooks’ time as a leader in organized labor with a history on workers’ rights issues, while his “personal narrative fits if you’re trying to win over white working-class voters that might be more moderate or socially conservative.”
Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia public affairs executive, said that Shapiro’s endorsement and the upcoming fundraiser should put Brooks in the lead. “When the governor, who’s going to lead the ticket, weighs in in a primary, I think that’s game and match,” Ceisler said.
Nevertheless, Brooks could face credible competition.
Borick said that, in a very divided primary, another Democrat could find a lane if they have a strong base of support or a compelling narrative or identity that makes them stand apart. None of the other candidates, he noted, appear well-poised to launch a challenge from the left.
One leading Democratic challenger, however, may run to Brooks’ right in the primary. Ryan Crosswell, a former Republican federal prosecutor who left the Trump administration and joined the Democratic Party when the Justice Department dropped charges against outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams, is leading the pack by a wide margin in fundraising and is leaning heavily on his law enforcement background and an anti-corruption message.
Both Ceisler and Borick predicted that Shapiro’s support should help Brooks close the fundraising gap.
Wild, meanwhile, has endorsed a third candidate, engineer Carol Obando-Derstine.
Brooks hasn’t spoken out extensively on his foreign policy views.
On the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Brooks posted on X highlighting the attack and the ongoing hostage crisis.
“I’m thinking of those who were killed and those still waiting to come home. We must end this war and suffering in Gaza, bring the hostages home, and work toward peace,” Brooks said.
The foreign policy plank of Brooks’ campaign website focuses primarily on criticizing President Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine and China, but also accuses Trump of “risk[ing] war with Iran.”
After the terror attack on Sunday at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, Brooks said on X, “Awful news out of Sydney this morning. We’ve got to call out antisemitism wherever and whenever we see it. I’m thinking of the Jewish community in Sydney and around the world.”
The potential 2028 presidential candidate spoke candidly about his faith in two recent high-profile interviews
Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro looks on during the NASCAR Cup Series at The Great American Getaway 400 on June 22, 2025, at Pocono Raceway.
The 2028 presidential race is still well over a year away from beginning in earnest. But if there’s any indication about whether Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, long considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, is seriously considering running, it’s that the moderate swing-state governor recently sat down for interviews for two major magazine features — in The Atlantic and The New Yorker — both published in the last week.
Shapiro faced questions about his ambitions, his successes and failures and his take on the increasingly divisive and vitriolic nature of American politics. The two interviews also offer a fresh look at how Shapiro, one of the most prominent Jewish politicians in America, thinks about and practices Judaism from his perch in Harrisburg.
When he ran for governor in 2022, his first major campaign ad featured footage of him and his family observing Shabbat. He told The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta that Friday night dinners are “still a sacrosanct moment for our family.” But he also shared that he and his family have lately attended synagogue services “far less than at any other point in our lives.”
Shapiro regularly invokes religion in public addresses, choosing to speak about “my faith” rather than more specifically referring to his Jewish faith.
“I feel more connected to my faith today than at any other time in my life. Truly. And I probably pray more now than at any other time in my life. But my connection to an institution of prayer, or a sort of formal structure of that prayer, has dramatically decreased,” Shapiro shared. “The sort of ritualistic practices became less of a focus of the way we practice our faith — with the exception, of course, of Friday nights.”
In conversation with The New Yorker’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells, Shapiro opened up about the arson attack on the governor’s residence in April, hours after his family had concluded their Passover Seder. At the October sentencing hearing for the assailant, Shapiro said for the first time that he may have been targeted, in part, for his Jewish faith.
“The prosecutor felt it was important to introduce into evidence the bomber’s claims that he did that because of ‘what I did to the Palestinians,’ so clearly there was some motivation because of my faith,” Shapiro told The New Yorker, which reported that the dining room — now restored after being severely burned — features a small display of charred cups and dishes from the Seder, to remember that frightening evening.
But Shapiro’s subsequent comments backed away from personally tagging an antisemitic motive on the perpetrator: “I think it is dangerous for you or anyone else to think about those who perpetrate these violent attacks as linear thinkers, meaning that they have a left-wing ideology or a right-wing ideology, or that they have a firm set of beliefs the way you might or I might. These are clearly irrational thinkers.”
Shapiro talked to The New Yorker about rising antisemitism in the U.S., and said that he disagreed with President Donald Trump’s handling of antisemitism. Trump “is using Jews as his excuse for trying to take over universities and restrict their funding,” Shapiro said. But he does not deny that Jewish students were targeted, sometimes violently, on American campuses after the Oct. 7 attacks. “These are crimes,” Shapiro said. “And to me, that’s where a line was crossed.” He flexed his gubernatorial power to pressure the University of Pennsylvania — albeit indirectly — to crack down on antisemitism.
Ultimately, as Shapiro continues in a political career that has so far only taken him higher, often with great momentum, he will face a question beyond just who is the best candidate in 2028: Can a Jewish person get elected president in the U.S.? The Atlantic asked Shapiro directly.
“There aren’t a whole lot of folks who pray like me,” Shapiro acknowledged. But, he added, “I have found that by living openly and proudly with my faith that it’s brought me closer to the people of Pennsylvania. And I think the people of Pennsylvania are pretty indicative of where large swaths of the American people are.”
The book, titled 'Where We Keep the Light,' will discuss Shapiro’s family and faith, and details the arson attack at the governor’s residence last Passover
Courtesy
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, widely viewed as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender, plans to publish a memoir early next year.
The book, called Where We Keep the Light, is being marketed by publisher HarperCollins as an important story from “a leading voice in the Democratic Party.” For politicians with national ambitions, writing a memoir is generally seen as a stepping stone toward greater name recognition and future campaigns.
In the book, Shapiro will discuss his family and his faith, and remind “us of the faith that guides so many and that there is more that unites us as Americans than divides us.” He will write about his path toward public service and his rise through the ranks of Pennsylvania politics.
A HarperCollins press release said the book goes into detail on the arson attack at the governor’s residence during Passover in April and the period in 2024 when Vice President Kamala Harris was considering naming him her running mate, a topic about which Shapiro has shared very little publicly.
The book will be published on Jan. 27, 2026.
The suspect, Cody Balmer, pled guilty Tuesday on charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated arson
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Police line cordon is seen at Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion after a suspected arson attack caused significant damage in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on April 13, 2025.
Hours after the man accused of an arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in April pled guilty to the attempted murder of Gov. Josh Shapiro, the governor appeared to publicly acknowledge for the first time that the attacker targeted him for his faith.
Cody Balmer was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison for the attack, which took place hours after Shapiro and his family hosted a Passover Seder at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg. Balmer said after his arrest that he was motivated by the war in Gaza, and that he wanted Shapiro to know that Balmer “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.” Shapiro has avoided calling the attack a hate crime.
In a CNN interview on Tuesday, Shapiro was asked by anchor Jake Tapper if he believed he was “targeted just because you’re Jewish.”
“Look, obviously, as governor of Pennsylvania I don’t have foreign policy in my job description. But clearly, the district attorney thought that this was a material fact,” Shapiro said. “Clearly this was a motivating factor.”
Balmer did not face hate crime charges in the case.
“Whatever is motivating this political violence in this country, it needs to stop. Whether it’s targeting me because of my faith, whether it’s targeting someone else because of their ideology, it is not OK,” Shapiro told Tapper. “I think we need all leaders to speak and act with moral clarity, to call it out, to condemn it, and to try and take down the temperature so we don’t end up in situations like this where public officials are targeted because of their faith or their feelings or their ideology.”
A new video released by prosecutors this week shows Balmer walking through the governor’s residence and attempting to kick down doors to the area where Shapiro and his family slept. He is seen throwing Molotov cocktails into a room filled with round tables where the seder had taken place hours before.
Speaking at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit on rising political violence, Shapiro called for ‘peaceful and respectful dialogue’
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks before Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 6, 2024.
Amid an alarming rise in political violence, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday that the way to combat extremism and division is by bringing people together and restoring their faith in the government — a civic-minded strategy that included some thinly veiled swipes at President Donald Trump and the hardline rhetoric he has adopted since conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed in Utah last week.
Shapiro and his family survived an April arson attack that damaged the governor’s residence in Harrisburg while they slept, hours after hosting a Passover Seder there. The alleged arsonist acted to protest Shapiro’s stance toward the Palestinians, according to a police search warrant.
“I believe we have a responsibility to be clear and unequivocal in calling out all forms of political violence, making clear it is all wrong,” Shapiro said in a keynote address at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, a Pittsburgh conference created in the aftermath of the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. “Unfortunately some, from the dark corners of the internet all the way to the Oval Office, want to cherry pick which instances of political violence they want to condemn.”
Shapiro called for dialogue and a rejection of the demands for revenge that have permeated social media since Kirk’s murder last week. The speech did not name Trump, although Shapiro called for Trump to act with “moral clarity” in a post on X on Monday.
Widely rumored to be considering a 2028 presidential run, the speech offered Shapiro a chance to deliver a wide-ranging speech to a national audience.
“We need to create more opportunities for peaceful and respectful dialogue, respecting each other’s fundamental rights as Americans,” said Shapiro. “Prosecuting constitutionally protected speech will only further erode our freedoms, deepen the mistrust. That is un-American.” Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Monday that the U.S. would be “targeting” hate speech, which she said was different from free speech — a statement she attempted to walk back a day later after facing bipartisan pushback.
There is a better way, Shapiro added: “That better way is the Pennsylvania way.”
“Those who stoke division will want to have us believe words are important, but we also need action,” said Shapiro. “We need to make sure people are safe here in Pennsylvania and all across America, safe to exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, whether they’re debating on a college campus, praying at a synagogue or church or spending time at home with loved ones.”
Americans should do more to address hate online, and to teach people to better distinguish “fact from fiction” on the internet, argued Shapiro. But more than that, he said, they need to see and trust that the government actually can make their lives better.
“There’s a deeper issue at the root of this dangerous rise of political violence. Too many people don’t believe that our institutions and the people in them can solve problems anymore. They feel alone, ignored, shut out by a government that isn’t working for them,” said Shapiro. “It leads to a belief among some that the only way they can address their problems is through violence.”
The ways to prove otherwise, Shapiro said, are simple — helping people get driver’s licenses quickly, giving kids free breakfast at school and “building a government that works for Pennsylvanians and gets stuff done.”
Shapiro leaned on Jewish teachings in his speech, referring as he often does to how his faith underpins his public service.
During a speech at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Gov. @JoshShapiroPA shared the story of an 82-year-old Christian chaplain of a local fire department, who gave Shapiro and his family a letter signed by each member of their department after an April… pic.twitter.com/jqTD9U7S3U
— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) September 16, 2025
“My faith has taught me that no one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it. It means that each of us has a responsibility to get off the sidelines, get in the game and do our part,” Shapiro said.
After the attack on the governor’s mansion, Pennsylvanians “were united in speaking and acting with moral clarity, making clear that hatred and violence has no place here in Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro.
He shared the story of the 82-year-old Christian chaplain of a local fire department, who gave Shapiro and his family a letter signed by each member of their department. On the back, the chaplain had written by hand what he said was the most important blessing in his life, from the Book of Numbers.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
“I wept when I read that prayer that he wrote,” said Shapiro, who recalls then telling the chaplain that he recites that prayer — known as the Priestly Blessing in Judaism — to his children each night. He then proceeded to do so in Hebrew, and offered his own benediction about the power the prayer holds for a nation reeling from violence.
Yivarechecha Adonai v’yishmerecha. Ya’er Adonai panav eilecha v’chuneka. Yisa Adonai panav eilecha v’yasem l’cha shalom.
“Those are words of healing, words of hopefulness to me,” said Shapiro. “They are also words that again remind us of our shared humanity.”
The Pennsylvania governor called Netanyahu’s comments that there is no starvation in Gaza ‘quite abhorrent’
Brian Kaiser/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro during a panel discussion at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “awful” and said the U.S. has a “moral responsibility” to “flood the zone with aid.”
Speaking to the central Pennsylvania Fox34 news channel on Tuesday, Shapiro said, “The fact that kids are starving in Gaza is not OK. It is not OK. And I think everyone has a moral responsibility to figure out how to feed these kids. It is true that Hamas intercepts aid. It is true that the aid distribution network is not as sophisticated as it needs to be, but given that, I think our nation, the United States of America, has a moral responsibility to flood the zone with aid.”
“It is awful, what is happening in Gaza,” the Democratic governor continued.
He also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that there is no starvation in Gaza “quite abhorrent.”
“He is wrong. He is wrong,” Shapiro said.
“I believe that also, as a result of that type of language, as a result of standing with Donald Trump with plans to occupy Gaza, or, as President Trump said, drive all the Palestinians out and create — his words, not mine — a Riviera of the Middle East, or however the president said it, I think that is not only reckless language, but what it does is it further isolates Israel in the world, and that’s a dangerous place for Israel to be,” Shapiro added.
Shapiro has faced criticism from the left flank of the Democratic Party for his support of Israel in the past, particularly when he was being considered as a potential vice president to join Kamala Harris’ ticket in the 2024 presidential election.
The alleged perpetrator of the arson attack on Shapiro’s residence in Harrisburg, Pa., on the first night of Passover in April said he was motivated by the governor’s stance toward the Palestinians.
Plus, today's summit in Sardinia
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks during a press conference outside of the Governor's Mansion after an arsonist sets fire to the Governor's Residence in a targeted attack in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on April 13, 2025.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in Lewistown, Pa., and hear his thoughts on New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s defense of calls to “globalize the intifada,” and report on White House official Seb Gorka’s comments yesterday that the U.S. isn’t pursuing regime change in Iran. We report on an Israeli initiative to provide medical assistance to Druze women who were sexually assaulted during sectarian clashes in Syria last week, and cover Sen. Rand Paul’s efforts to delay former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Kemi Badenoch, Seth Klarman and Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Don Bacon.
What We’re Watching
- White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting in Sardinia, Italy, today with Israeli and Qatari officials, including Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, to discuss a potential ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will reportedly attend the Sardinia sit-down, a week after quietly meeting for dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House.
- We reached out to the White House this week about that dinner meeting, for which, notably, no readout or photos were issued. A White House spokesperson told us that “[i]t was a great and productive meeting with one of our country’s greatest allies in the region,” but did not respond to further requests for details.
- To that end, we’re keeping an eye on the ceasefire talks also happening in Doha, where earlier this morning Hamas submitted a new response to the latest proposal, after its prior response was rejected by mediators.
- Dermer is also reportedly slated to meet today in Paris with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, the Trump administration’s Syria envoy, to discuss security issues.
- On Capitol Hill, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) will introduce legislation today requiring the National Education Association to expand its federal charter to prohibit the nation’s largest teachers’ union from “engaging in electoral politics or lobbying” in response to the group’s proposal to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League. Read more here.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding its confirmation hearing today for Jeanine Pirro to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
- Also this morning, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Paul Ingrassia, the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel who has trafficked in conspiracy theories, including describing Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and ensuing war as a “psyop” and defended prominent antisemites including Kanye West, Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes. Senate Republicans told JI last month that they planned to scrutinize Ingrassia’s record ahead of his hearing. Read more here.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S gabby Deutch
Inside a coffee shop in rural Pennsylvania, hundreds of miles from the bustle of Manhattan, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro made his first public comments about Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday following the democratic socialist’s victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary a month earlier.
Mamdani “seemed to run a campaign that excited New Yorkers. He also seemed to run a campaign where he left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things,” Shapiro told Jewish Insider.
Shapiro’s comments come as Mamdani continues to face backlash for declining to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” and as national Democratic figures struggle to figure out how to respond to his come-from-behind victory and to assess what his nomination means for the future of the party.
“I’ll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,” Shapiro told JI. “If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you’re a leader. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader. You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there. You’ve got to condemn that.”
Widely viewed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, Shapiro has steered clear of weighing in on a number of divisive national issues, preferring instead to focus on Pennsylvania, where he maintains a 61% approval rating. But national conversations, including about Israel and antisemitism, have found their way to the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg — in more ways than one.
In April, the residence was set ablaze in an arson attack just hours after Shapiro and his family had hosted a Passover Seder. Police said the alleged perpetrator was motivated by anti-Israel animus, but Shapiro has repeatedly declined to characterize the incident as antisemitic in nature, saying that doing so would be “unhelpful” to prosecutors who have not brought hate crime charges.
Shapiro told JI the arson attack left a profound impact on him, both personally and religiously. It brought him closer, he said, to “my faith and my spirituality.” The attack, Shapiro said, has “given me a deeper, spiritual connection of my faith and a deeper connection to people of other faiths.”
SEB SAYS
White House’s Sebastian Gorka: U.S. not pursuing regime change in Iran
Sebastian Gorka, the White House senior director for counterterrorism and a deputy assistant to the president, said Wednesday at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies that the U.S. is not seeking regime change in Iran, but will maintain its maximum-pressure campaign on Tehran, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Covering the waterfront: Gorka also said that he supports efforts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, suggested that he’s pursuing efforts to convince Qatar and Turkey to cut ties with Hamas and said the U.S. wants to see Syrian minority groups come to the table and join with the new Syrian government. He additionally discussed efforts to implement non-Hamas police and security in Gaza, praised Israel’s efforts to undermine Iran and its proxies and spoke about potential Iranian attacks in the U.S.
Shot down: Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) attempted to call up and pass by unanimous consent a resolution urging the United Kingdom, France and Germany to trigger the snapback of United Nations sanctions on Iran under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “as soon as possible,” but was blocked by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
DONE DEAL
Columbia reaches $200 million settlement with Trump administration
Columbia University announced on Wednesday that it reached a deal with the Trump administration to restore some $400 million in federal funding that was cut by the government in March due to the university’s record dealing with antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Details: Under the terms of the settlement, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million over three years to the federal government. In addition, the university has agreed to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $21 million. A number of open civil rights investigations into the university alleging harassment of Jewish students will also be settled under the terms of the agreement, according to which the university will also abide by laws banning the consideration of race in admissions and hiring. Columbia said it will continue to have “autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions, and academic decision-making.”
University statement: “While Columbia does not admit to wrongdoing with this resolution agreement, the institution’s leaders have recognized, repeatedly, that Jewish students and faculty have experienced painful, unacceptable incidents, and that reform was and is needed,” the university said.
SMUGGLING TO SUWEIDA
Israeli Druze women working to aid victims of rape in Syria
Amid clashes between Druze residents of Syria, Bedouins, militias supporting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian government forces in recent weeks, videos and eyewitness testimony has emerged of brutal executions, torture and rape in Sweida, a Druze town in southern Syria. A group of Israelis has been working together to provide medical aid to Syrian Druze women who were allegedly sexually assaulted, Laila Khalife, an Israeli Druze woman who is part of the initiative, told Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on Wednesday. There have been reports of rape of Druze girls and women, including the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl, though the number of victims is still unknown.
Aid efforts: Israel began transferring NIS 2 million (over $600,000) in humanitarian aid to the Sweida area in recent days, including food, first aid kits and other medical equipment. Hundreds of Israelis donated blood to be sent to Syria. On Sunday, four Israeli Air Force helicopters reportedly reached the hospital in Sweida, which was attacked in last week’s clashes. In addition to the official aid packages, Druze Israeli women attempted to smuggle emergency contraception delaying or preventing ovulation, to minimize the likelihood of pregnancy among women reportedly raped in the clashes. However, those packages were intercepted.
UNRWA ISSUE
Appropriations Committee Democrats criticize anti-UNRWA provisions in House funding bill
Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee criticized Republican-led efforts to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the House’s draft 2026 budget bill for the State Department and other foreign programs, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Back-and-forth: The exchanges underscore the continued support among some prominent Democrats for restoring the U.S. relationship with the scandal-plagued UNRWA, more than a year after U.S. aid to the group was first halted following allegations that some UNRWA staff participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The budget bill includes a continued ban on aid to the agency and calls on the State Department to put together a plan to replace it. During an Appropriations Committee meeting yesterday, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) particularly questioned the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, describing it as a “‘death trap for starving Palestinians.”
Mideast matters: A bipartisan group of experts urged members of the Senate Foreign Relations Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism subcommittee on Wednesday to support efforts to keep the U.S. engaged with Israel and other allies in the Middle East. The experts, including former Trump and Biden administration officials, warned that a U.S. retreat from the region would create a vacuum quickly filled by American adversaries, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
ONLINE ACTION
Gottheimer, Bacon reup effort to combat antisemitism on social media
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Don Bacon (R-NE) on Wednesday announced the reintroduction of the STOP HATE Act, which aims to crack down on antisemitism on social media. The legislators announced the bill’s reintroduction at a press conference alongside Anti-Defamation CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Countering terrorism: The bill, which was first introduced in November 2023 but failed to progress in the previous Congress, would require social media companies to publicize specific policies on their standards and restrictions for their platforms by designated terrorists, report to the federal government on content flagged and/or removed under these policies and publicly report on incidents incidents in which violate these policies.
STALLING TACTICS
Sen. Rand Paul delays Mike Waltz confirmation over ‘anti-Trump’ concerns
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is delaying efforts to confirm former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations over Waltz’s previous support for a continued U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. Paul told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod on Wednesday he would not vote to support moving Waltz out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a favorable recommendation, as is generally a standard part of the confirmation process.
What this means: Paul’s concerns forced the committee to delay a vote, scheduled for Wednesday, to advance Waltz’s nomination. Paul said he would vote to advance the nomination with a neutral recommendation, which would allow Waltz to move forward for consideration from the full Senate but would be an unusual black mark on Waltz’s nomination. Unless Waltz picks up Democratic support, the committee vote would be tied — preventing the nomination from moving forward — without Paul’s backing.
Worthy Reads
Next-Gen Hard-liners: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh caution that the next generation of Iranian leaders could pose significant threats to both the U.S. and Israel. “They are drawn from militant groups such as the Paydari Front and the second tier of the Revolutionary Guards. They look to guidance from the likes of the religiously obsessional Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who abjures compromise. They are found in the security organs, occupy seats in parliament and run their own education centers. They have created their own underground shadow government and ideological ecosystem. … Indeed, the rising generation of the Revolutionary Guards have defined themselves by their willingness to brutalize their countrymen repeatedly. And these guardsmen have had two other core commitments: the A-bomb program and the proxy war strategy devised by their fallen hero, Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guard dark lord whom an American missile felled in Baghdad in 2020.” [WSJ]
Where’s Marco?: The Financial Times’ Guy Chazan looks at Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s ideological evolution as he has moved to embrace broad swaths of President Donald Trump’s worldview. “As a senator, Rubio was a fervent advocate of American overseas assistance, of Washington’s long-standing alliances and the power of US diplomacy as a force for good in the world. He would stress the need to stand up to dictators and support dissidents campaigning against authoritarian regimes. Yet he has since embraced Trump’s Maga ideology, with its isolationism, impatience with foreign aid and determination to drastically shrink the federal workforce. … But allies dismiss the idea Rubio has changed, insisting that on key issues he has been remarkably consistent. Far from abandoning his values, they say, he has championed them, influencing Trump to adopt a more hawkish posture towards countries such as China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.” [FT]
If Dems Gain Power: In The Atlantic, Paul Rosenzweig considers how a future Democratic presidential administration could employ the same tactics as the Trump administration vis-a-vis sweeping policy shifts, department reorganizations and mass firings. “What lies ahead, then, is a new era of pendulum swings, replacing the stability of the postwar governing consensus. Ahead is a cycle of retributive prosecutions and whipsaw funding decisions. America may see entire Cabinet departments alternatively created and closed every four years while the presidency goes from policy to anti-policy — enforcing DEI in one administration, perhaps, and prohibiting it in the next. The country would, in effect, return to the time before the Pendleton Act, when the entire federal workforce turned over with each successive administration, rewarding cronyism at the expense of expertise.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration is opening an investigation into Harvard’s eligibility in the U.S.’ Exchange Visitor Program after a previous effort to revoke the school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program status was blocked by a federal judge…
The Pentagon’s internal watchdog reportedly received evidence that information about strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen that were shared by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a Signal group chat originated from a classified email sent by CENTCOM head Gen. Erik Kurilla; Hegseth had previously testified under oath that he had not shared classified information in the group chat…
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said he plans to run for reelection to his House seat, and will forgo a gubernatorial bid, clearing a path for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY); Stefanik, who has been mulling a challenge to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, said after Lawler’s announcement that she will decide in November whether to make a bid for the state’s top job…
And in Michigan, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) announced he will not run for the state’s open Senate seat in 2026, following a recent meeting with President Donald Trump in which Huizenga was asked to forgo a bid; Huizenga’s decision leaves former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who made his first Senate bid in 2024 and has Trump’s backing, as the early GOP front-runner…
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to announce his entry into the state’s Senate race next week; Cooper, a Democrat, had been a top party recruit for the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC); on the GOP side, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley is planning to launch his bid for the seat in the next week and a half, after Lara Trump opted not to mount a Senate bid…
Speaking at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), accused Israel of carrying out a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza being paid for by the United States, and called for the U.S. to impose “consequences” against the Israeli government for “the horrors that they’ve committed”; he also urged an independent investigation of alleged settler attacks in the West Bank on a Palestinian church and a Palestinian-American man…
Greg LoGerfo, the acting coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department, described antisemitism as a key motivator for current terrorist threats globally at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing; he also committed to reviewing the Popular Resistance Committees, a Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist group, for a potential terrorist designation…
The most recently filed campaign finance disclosures indicate significant fundraising gains by left-wing Democrats, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pulling in $15.4 million so far this year; Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral candidate in New York City, raised over $850,000 in the two weeks prior and two weeks after his primary win last month…
Stanford suspended the co-op status of a campus residence after a Title VI investigation conducted by the university found that students were asked to leave an event at the Kairos housing co-op based over “the presence of ‘Zionists’ in the group”…
For a “Talks at GS” conversation posted yesterday, philanthropist and Baupost Group CEO Seth Klarman spoke with Goldman Sachs President and COO John Waldron about his approach to shifting market environments…
Apple+ released the first images for the upcoming thriller series “The Savant,” based on a 2019 Cosmopolitan profile of an undercover Anti-Defamation League investigator who monitors extremists groups in an effort to stop terror attacks before they happen…
The Wall Street Journal reviews Jack Wertheimer’s Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life…
U.K. Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch, in an interview with the Financial Times,called Argentinian President Javier Milei “the template” for conservative leaders, and said she considered herself to be a British version of the Argentinian leader…
The Knesset overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution calling for Israeli annexation of the West Bank…
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Aaron David Miller considers the role President Donald Trump could play in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to remain in power, amid the threat of potential new elections…
Brazil said it is finalizing efforts to join South Africa’s International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of commiting genocide in Gaza…
A Norwegian man who had previously worked as a security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo was charged with spying on both the U.S. and Norway on behalf of Iran and Russia; Mohamed Orahhou, who was arrested in November, is believed to have taken and shared intelligence regarding the embassy and employees of Norway’s intelligence services…
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi suggested that Tehran could withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if European powers reimpose sanctions on the country; speaking to reporters in New York, Gharibabadi said that Iran will soon allow a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which had previously been banned from the country, to travel to Tehran for conversations aimed at resuming inspections…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (left) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (right) on Wednesday paid their respects at the memorial to the victims of the Babyn Yar massacre during Sa’ar’s visit to the country, which also included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Birthdays
Actress, best known for her role as Nomi Segal on the Freeform comedy drama “Grown-ish,” Emily Taryn Arlook turns 35…
Philanthropist and former U.S. ambassador to Romania, now senior counsel at Covington and Burling, Alfred H. Moses turns 96… Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who worked for ABC News and CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Lowell Bergman turns 80… Israeli physician, author and playwright, he is the younger brother of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Iddo Netanyahu turns 73… Political consultant known for his role in both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns, Joel Benenson turns 73… Retired Los Angeles-based business and real estate attorney, Michael Jeffrey Bordy… Radio anchor and reporter on both CBS nationally and NYC’s WCBS, Michael Sugerman… Member of Congress (D-FL) until 2022, he previously served as the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist turns 69… Russian businessman and Chairman of the Board of Patrons of The Conference of European Rabbis, Boris Mints turns 67… Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, Judge Patty Shwartz turns 64… Presidential historian, professor at McGill and senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute, Gil Troy turns 64… Director of donor development for AIPAC, he is a retired NFL player who played for the Packers and the Cowboys where he won in Super Bowl XXVII, Alan (Shlomo) Veingrad turns 62… Founder of the Migdal Oz seminary for women in Gush Etzion, she is a granddaughter of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Esti Rosenberg… Film director and producer, Douglas Eric Liman turns 60… Partner in Frost Brown Todd and author of The Liberal Case for Israel, he was the first-ever Jewish statewide elected official in Kentucky (state treasurer), Jonathan Miller turns 58… Author, he writes the “My Ride” column for The Wall Street Journal on exotic cars, A.J. Baime turns 54… Mayor of Asheville, N.C., she was elected in 2013, 2017 and 2022, Esther E. Manheimer turns 54… Actress, writer, podcaster and comedian, Jamie Denbo turns 52… President of Access Computer Technology in West Bloomfield, Mich., he is a rabbi, entrepreneur and social media expert, Jason Miller turns 49… President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas… EVP and CFO of Morgan Stanley, Sharon Yeshaya turns 46… Actress, screenwriter and director, Lauren Miller Rogen turns 43… Member of the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester (N.Y.), Aviva M. Futerman Schochat… Co-founder and partner at Orfin Ventures, Adam Finkel… Media director at Access Brand Communications, Sarah Citrenbaum… CEO and founder of Learned Hand, building AI tools for judges, Shlomo Klapper…
The Pennsylvania governor told JI: ‘When supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can't leave room for that to just sit there’
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro greets the crowd before the start of a campaign rally at Temple University on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
LEWISTOWN, Pa. — Inside a coffee shop in this small town of 8,500 people, hundreds of miles from the bustle of Manhattan, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro made his first public comments about Zohran Mamdani, criticizing the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate for not taking a stronger stand against “extremists” who have made “blatantly antisemitic” comments.
“He seemed to run a campaign that excited New Yorkers. He also seemed to run a campaign where he left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things,” Shapiro told Jewish Insider in an interview on Wednesday.
Shapiro’s comments come as Mamdani, who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary last month, continues to face backlash for declining to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.” (Mamdani told business leaders last week that he would “discourage” use of the slogan.)
National Democratic figures have struggled to figure out how to respond to Mamdani’s come-from-behind victory and to assess what the election of a self-proclaimed democratic socialist as the Democratic nominee for mayor of the largest city in the country means for the future of the party.
Neither Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) nor House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) have endorsed Mamdani, while some progressive leaders — such as Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — have embraced him. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), another swing-state Democrat, said on Wednesday that Mamdani’s victory is a “message” that “cost of living and the economy is the driving issue for the average person.”
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, when asked about Mamdani’s handling of the “globalize the intifada” slogan, said earlier this month that he did not agree with everything Mamdani has said, but that the Democrats are a “big tent” party. Martin later clarified that he found the “intifada” phrase “reckless and dangerous.”
Widely viewed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, Shapiro has steered clear of weighing in on a number of divisive national issues, preferring instead to focus on Pennsylvania, where he maintains a 61% approval rating. But on Wednesday, he offered a sharp message to Mamdani.
“I’ll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,” Shapiro said. “If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you’re a leader. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader. You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there. You’ve got to condemn that.”
At a moment of declining support for Israel within the Democratic Party, the Jewish governor told JI that he stands by his pro-Israel bona fides.
“I think one of the things that always strengthened Israel was the fact that the relationship America had with Israel was not even bipartisan, but somewhat nonpartisan. Figuring out ways to build bridges between the parties, between people of different walks of life, to support Israel, I think is important,” he noted. “I think just in general, across the board, I want to see more support for Israel, for a Jewish state. That doesn’t mean that one can’t be critical of Israeli policy.”
There is more that politicians on both sides of the aisle need to do to maintain support for Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship, Shapiro said, though he added that “the majority of that work is going to happen in Washington.” He declined to specifically address Democrats’ views on Israel or polling that showed a massive drop in Democratic support for Israel since 2023.
“I don’t do foreign policy in Pennsylvania in my role as governor, but I do think it is important to repair that relationship,” Shapiro said. “I am concerned that support for Israel in the United States broadly is down compared to what it was a decade ago.”
It isn’t only American leaders who need to work to strengthen ties between Israel and the U.S., Shapiro said. He placed some of the blame on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I think if you care about the future safety and security of Israel, and you’re the leader of Israel as Netanyahu is at present time, you’ve got to find ways to build bridges to people in both parties, to leaders in both parties,” said Shapiro, who has long been a critic of Netanyahu’s leadership. But he asserted that opposition to Netanyahu as prime minister should not be equated with opposition to the existence of a Jewish state.
“There are policies of the Netanyahu government that I don’t support. I’ve been very vocal about that. But there’s a difference between not supporting the policies of whoever’s in charge at a particular time, and the underlying notion of a Jewish state of Israel,” said Shapiro. “I do think it is important to strengthen people’s understanding of Israel and the relationship America should have with Israel and to strengthen that bond.”
Shapiro, one of the most prominent Jewish politicians in the country, has been on the receiving end of antisemitic smears over his support for Israel. In April, the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg was set ablaze in an arson attack just hours after Shapiro and his family had hosted a Passover Seder.
Police said the alleged perpetrator was motivated by anti-Israel animus, but Shapiro has repeatedly declined to characterize the incident as antisemitic in nature, saying that doing so would be “unhelpful” to prosecutors who have not brought hate crime charges.
Shapiro told JI the arson attack left a profound impact on him, both personally and religiously. It brought him closer, he said, to “my faith and my spirituality.”
“It made me believe even more, not just in my God, but in the power of prayer,” said Shapiro. “It’s given me a deeper, spiritual connection of my faith and a deeper connection to people of other faiths.”
Herzog expressed solidarity with Shapiro after the attack, which took place hours after the governor hosted a Passover Seder
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Police line cordon is seen at Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion after a suspected arson attack caused significant damage in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on April 13, 2025.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday, a week after an arsonist motivated by anti-Israel animus set the governor’s mansion on fire.
Herzog expressed solidarity with Shapiro after the attack, which took place hours after the governor hosted a Passover Seder.
Shapiro told Herzog he greatly appreciated the call, a spokesperson for the president told Jewish Insider.
The man who set fire to the governor’s mansion last weekend said in a 911 call that he “will not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.”
While Shapiro quoted the Jewish priestly blessing following the attack, he stopped short of attributing the attack to antisemitism in an interview on Friday with ABC News and rebuffed a call by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to have Attorney General Pam Bondi investigate the attack as a hate crime.
Herzog was the first Israeli official to call Shapiro after the attack.
Ofir Akunis, the Israeli consul general in New York, sent a letter to Shapiro last week, saying that he was “deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the arson attack.”
“This appalling act of violence, carried out during one of the most meaningful nights of the Jewish calendar, could have resulted in a far greater tragedy,” Akunis added. “We commend law enforcement for their swift and effective response, and we stand in full solidarity with you and your family.”
In an interview with ABC News, the Pennsylvania governor pivoted away from questions about the antisemitic motivations of the perpetrator
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks during a press conference outside of the Governor's Mansion after an arsonist sets fire to the Governor's Residence in a targeted attack in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on April 13, 2025.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is holding firm in his choice not to label the arson attack that targeted the governor’s mansion on Passover as antisemitic or a hate crime, saying in a Friday interview on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” that he will leave that question to the prosecutors.
“I think that’s a question for the prosecutors to determine. They’re going to determine motive,” Shapiro said. “I recognize when you’re in these positions of power, there are people out there that want to do you harm, but I try not to be captive to the fear, and I try not to worry or think about why people want to do that harm.”
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Shapiro on the question, noting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on the Department of Justice to investigate the attack as a hate crime. Shapiro stood by his statement made on Thursday that Schumer’s letter was not “helpful.”
Stephanopoulos followed up with an opportunity for Shapiro to address antisemitism by connecting the attack on the governor’s mansion to the 2018 Tree of Life shooting.
Shapiro’s job, Stephanopoulos argued, “is to combat the kind of conditions we’re seeing to create the opportunity for situations like this. Pennsylvania is no stranger to this,” he said. “We saw the attack in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. How do you combat this kind of hate?”
Shapiro pivoted away from the comparison. “By speaking and acting with moral clarity,” Shapiro responded.
Rather than mentioning antisemitism in his response, Shapiro instead spoke about political violence. He talked about the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., last summer and mentioned the arrest of Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in Altoona, Pa.
“I think it’s also important when you’re not dealing with a traumatic event, in Butler, in Altoona or here in Harrisburg, to be leading every day in a way that brings people together and doesn’t just continually divide us,” said Shapiro.
The alleged perpetrator said Shapiro needed to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people’
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Police line cordon is seen at Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion after a suspected arson attack caused significant damage in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on April 13, 2025.
The man accused of setting fire to the governor’s residence in Harrisburg, Pa., hours after Gov. Josh Shapiro hosted a Passover Seder there for family and friends did so to protest Shapiro’s stance toward the Palestinians, according to a police search warrant.
Cody Balmer, the suspect, allegedly threw homemade explosives into the mansion in the middle of the night, igniting a fire that caused severe damage to the home. On a 911 call, Balmer said that Shapiro “needs to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,’” the warrant says.
Balmer then added that Shapiro “needs to stop having my friends killed, and ‘our people have been put through too much by that monster,’” referring to Shapiro, according to the warrant. After Balmer turned himself in to police, he “admitted to harboring hatred” of Shapiro, and claimed he would’ve attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he had encountered him.
Hours before Shapiro, his wife and their children were forced to evacuate their home during the fire, they hosted a Seder in the state dining room, one of the rooms that sustained heavy damage. A photo released by the governor’s office showed a charred piano, burnt furniture and ashes covering the floor. The windows were shattered.
Balmer, 38, who lives in Harrisburg, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, terrorism and other offenses. In a press conference on Wednesday, Shapiro declined to say whether he believed he was targeted for practicing his faith, or whether Balmer should face hate crime charges, saying that is a question prosecutors will have to answer.
“I continue to find strength in my faith as we go forward here,” Shapiro said, noting that his family still had a Seder on Sunday evening for the second night of Passover, though not specifying where. “The prosecutors will ultimately determine what motivated this — the district attorney, the Department of Justice can comment on that further. But right now I think what we’re trying to do is find the good in society, not be deterred from our work, not be deterred from practicing our faith proudly and to continue to move forward as parents and continue to move forward as governor and first lady.”
Shapiro said he has heard from many Jewish families concerned about the attack and its timing on Passover.
“I want them to see that my wife and I and our kids continue to celebrate our faith proudly and openly,” said Shapiro. “I want them to see that people from all different faiths have reached out to condemn this act and to lift up our family in prayer, and that’s the Pennsylvania way.”
As investigators assess the damage at the home, Shapiro is still unsure what was lost in the fire. “I don’t know if our Seder plates or any of our other materials were damaged, melted, destroyed in the fire,” he said. “We brought Seder plates and other ritual items from our home, from our personal home there, to celebrate with family and the community that we had invited to the Seder there.”
Images shared by the governor’s office showed damage to some of the Passover material. One showed burnt pages from the Haggadah, left open to the final page, with the song “Chad Gadya” and Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem. Another showed a charred poster, left out from earlier in the night, inviting children to participate in Passover crafts.
But unlike in Pennsylvania, leading Massachusetts Democrats aren’t giving Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth votes of no confidence
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Claudine Gay, president of Harvard University and Liz Magill, president of University of Pennsylvania, testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 05, 2023, in Washington, D.C.
Following Elizabeth Magill’s resignation as the president of the University of Pennsylvania, public attention is now focusing on Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which are facing calls to unseat their own presidents. But Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth are thus far facing less in-state political pressure for their resignations.
Pressure from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro played a role in Magill’s ouster; other Pennsylvania political figures, such as Senate candidate David McCormick and Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) were also critical of the former Penn president. But such calls have been less prevalent so far from within Massachusetts.
“Strong, moral leadership should be qualification number one for the president of the world’s leading university, but as a tireless advocate for ending the ‘cancel culture’ so pervasive at Harvard over the past decade, I’m not going to rush to cancel the president,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a Harvard alum, said in a statement to Jewish Insider on Monday. “That’s a decision the university’s governing boards should consider carefully.”
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said Friday, “I would say that in the last two months, Dr. Gay has been making a lot of second and third statements when she should have gotten it right the first time. Genocide is unacceptable, period,” but said he’d leave the decision of her resignation to the school’s board.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said last week, “If you can’t lead, if you can’t stand up and say what’s right and wrong — very much in the extreme cases, and these are the extreme cases — then you’ve got a problem,” but didn’t respond to a question from JI on Monday about whether the schools’ boards should ask their presidents to resign.
Neither did Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) or Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat.
Gay came under increased scrutiny over the weekend over accusations she plagiarized portions of her doctoral thesis, which she has denied.
Several prominent Harvard alums in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), also did not respond to requests for comment.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who led the questioning at a House hearing last week that fueled outrage toward the three college leaders, renewed her calls on Monday for Gay and Kornbluth to be fired.
“As clear evidence of the vastness of the moral rot at every level of these schools, this earthquake has revealed that Harvard and MIT are totally unable to grasp this grave question of moral clarity at this historic moment as the world is watching in horror and disgust. It is pathetic and abhorrent,” Stefanik said in a statement. “The leadership at these universities is totally unfit and untenable.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who led a letter with Stefanik and other Republican Harvard alums in October raising concerns about the treatment of Jewish students on campus, said on his podcast on Monday, “I think we could easily see all three of these college presidents lose their jobs because of this testimony.”
“Both those institutions are hoping this just blows over,” Cruz continued. “They’re defending them in essence by not firing them right away after they witnessed this testimony.”