Sen. Tim Kaine said he ‘forcefully rejects’ state Del. Sam Rasoul’s characterization of Zionism as ‘evil’
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger speaks to supporters during a rally on June 16, 2025 in Henrico County, Virginia.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleAs concern mounts in the Virginia Jewish community about anti-Zionist rhetoric posted on social media by a state lawmaker who leads the Education Committee in the House of Delegates, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who is favored in this year’s governor’s race, has avoided weighing in on the matter, taking heat from her opponent in the process.
Spanberger’s campaign did not respond to several calls and emails from Jewish Insider on Wednesday inquiring about state Del. Sam Rasoul, a Roanoke Democrat who has in recent weeks called Zionism “evil” and described it as “a supremacist ideology created to destroy and conquer everything and everyone in its way.”
Rasoul is the chair of the House Education Committee in Richmond.
Winsome Earle-Sears, Virginia’s lieutenant governor and the Republican nominee for governor, described Rasoul’s rhetoric as antisemitic and called on Spanberger to address his comments.
“If she has a shred of moral clarity, she’ll condemn this antisemitism. This a great opportunity finally to stand up against the members of her own party who are pushing this hateful agenda. Virginians deserve to know where she stands,” Peyton Vogel, the press secretary for Earle-Sears, told JI.
Rasoul’s recent Instagram posts have drawn criticism from prominent Democrats in the state, including former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, who said Rasoul’s language is “fueling one of the oldest forms of hatred in the world,” as well as Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
“I forcefully reject any claim that Zionism — the desire of Jewish people to have a state of Israel — is inherently racist or evil,” Kaine told JI in a statement on Wednesday, when asked about Rasoul. “Many Zionists in Israel, America and throughout the world are deeply concerned by the suffering of innocent Palestinians.”
Tali Cohen, the Washington regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, accused Rasoul of espousing “antisemitic rhetoric.”
Plus, Cotton calls on IRS to crack down on CAIR
Margo Wagner /Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, talks to a staffer Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Richmond, Va.
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff we talk to Jewish Democrats in Virginia concerned by the anti-Zionist rhetoric espoused by Virginia state Del. Sam Rasoul, who chairs the Education Committee in the state’s House of Delegates, and report on Republican Derek Dooley’s outreach to the Jewish community as he’s entered the Georgia Senate race. We also cover comments by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and interview Democrat Jeff Grayzel, a leader in northwest New Jersey Jewish communal organizations and deputy mayor of Morris Township, N.J., who launched his congressional campaign this week. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sen. Tom Cotton, Ted Deutch and Robert Kraft.
What We’re Watching
- The Department of Justice is reportedly seeking hate crime charges and the death penalty against Elias Rodriguez, who has been charged with the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May.
- A group of House Intelligence Committee members including Chairman Rick Crawford (R-AR) and Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Ronny Jackson (R-TX) is visiting Israel, joining several other congressional delegations currently in the country.
- The New Jersey Jewish Business Alliance will host its 11th annual Legislative and Business Luncheon today, featuring gubernatorial candidates Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and former Republican state Rep. Jack Ciattarelli. The two will face off in the Garden State’s November general election, with recent polling showing Sherrill with a comfortable lead.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S LAHAV HARKOV
Israel’s Security Cabinet is set to vote this week on occupying the remaining parts of Gaza that it does not currently control, after Hamas refused last month’s ceasefire and hostage deal proposal and did not return to negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz held a three-hour meeting on Tuesday, which was reportedly very tense due to disagreement over the plan, though Zamir ultimately said he will follow through with the government’s decision.
Zamir argued that the IDF should surround the areas in Gaza in which it currently does not have a presence, including Gaza City and towns in the center of Gaza in which hostages are believed to be held. Entering those areas, Zamir warned, would endanger the lives of the 20 hostages who are thought to be alive. Hamas has threatened to kill hostages if the IDF approaches, as it had executed six hostages a year ago.
Beyond the fraught issue of the hostages, there is the matter of what “occupation” means.
While “occupation” is the correct military term for what Israel would be doing by taking control of territory, the connotation of the word in the Israeli context tends to be the West Bank, which Israel has controlled since 1967 and where over half a million Jewish citizens of Israel live.
Some Cabinet ministers have advocated for allowing Israelis to move to Gaza, where 21 Israeli settlements were forcibly evacuated in 2005; Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected such a plan.
What senior Israeli officials have long said is that, while Israel seeks to have other countries and some Palestinians administer Gaza, they will not do so until it’s clear that Hamas has been ousted. As such, Israel may have to take control for some time until other arrangements are made.
RASOUL RHETORIC
Virginia Democrat under fire for calling Zionism ‘evil’ while leading Education Committee
Since soon after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Virginia state Del. Sam Rasoul, a Democrat who chairs the Education Committee in the House of Delegates, has used his social media accounts to attack Israel and decry American support for the Jewish state. But Jewish Democrats in the state fear that a series of recent posts from Rasoul vilifying Zionists has taken his anti-Israel rhetoric to a new level, prompting concerns about his leadership of the committee that is tasked with reviewing the education-related legislation that comes before the Statehouse, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Speaker says: “Zionism has proven how evil our society can be,” Rasoul wrote in a July 26 Instagram post that described Zionism as a “supremacist ideology created to destroy and conquer everything and everyone in its way.” Former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, a Democrat from Northern Virginia, told JI on Tuesday that Rasoul’s rhetoric is “fueling one of the oldest forms of hatred in the world, repackaged in the language of activism.”
peach state politics
Derek Dooley, Georgia GOP candidates aim to pick up Jewish support against Ossoff
With the entry this week of Derek Dooley, a friend of Gov. Brian Kemp who hails from college football royalty in Georgia, the Republican field in the Georgia Senate race is taking shape, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
State of play: With Kemp’s help, Dooley could potentially peel off support from moderate Jewish Democrats still frustrated by controversial votes on arms sales to Israel by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), though Jewish leaders in the state told JI last week that they’re not yet making any commitments in the race. Dooley, for his part, is wasting little time in courting their votes, and has already met with some Jewish leaders and is preparing a pro-Israel position paper.
AID ADVOCATE
Shapiro says U.S. has ‘moral responsibility’ to provide aid to Gaza
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,” while speaking to the central Pennsylvania Fox34 news channel on Tuesday, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
What he 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.” Shapiro said, “He is wrong. He is wrong.”
GARDEN STATE RACE
N.J. Jewish leader Jeff Grayzel running for Congress as a ‘proud Jew and a proud Zionist’
Democrat Jeff Grayzel, a leader in northwest New Jersey Jewish communal organizations and deputy mayor of Morris Township, N.J., formally launched his congressional campaign this week, running as a staunchly pro-Israel candidate in the seat that will be vacated by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) if she wins the state’s gubernatorial race, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: “I am a proud Jew and a proud Zionist, and I plan to run this race for Congress as such, as a proud Jew and as a proud Zionist. I am not going to shy away from it and everybody will know,” Grayzel said in an interview with JI last week. “I think we need leaders that are going to be more bold in addressing antisemitism in our country, and we need leaders who are going to push harder for a comprehensive solution in the Middle East, so that Israel can once and for all live in peace.”
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Sen. Cotton urges IRS to investigate CAIR, consider revoking its tax-exempt status
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is urging the Trump administration to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) alleged “ties to terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood” and consider revoking the group’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced on Tuesday that he had sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Billy Long requesting he look into “recent news and longstanding evidence” demonstrating CAIR’s reported terrorist connections, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Cotton’s call: “CAIR purports to be a civil rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights of American Muslims. But substantial evidence confirms CAIR has deep ties to terrorist organizations,” Cotton wrote. The Arkansas senator pointed to CAIR being “listed as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee” in the “largest terrorism-financing case in U.S. history,” as well as the group’s executive director Nihad Awad saying he was “happy to see” the Oct. 7 terror attack in a November 2023 speech.
Maryland move: The University of Maryland, College Park and Maryland’s attorney general have asked the state to approve their joint request to settle a First Amendment lawsuit brought by the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Haley Cohen report.
DATA DRIVEN
FBI report: American Jews remain the most targeted religious group
The FBI reported on Tuesday that the American Jewish community remains the most targeted religious group, accounting for nearly 70% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in 2024, even as overall hate crimes in the country have decreased, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
By the numbers: Hate crimes targeting Jews had plateaued following a sharp increase immediately after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack. In 2024, 1,938 anti-Jewish hate crimes were reported to the FBI’s data collection program out of 3,096 reported religiously motivated hate crimes. The year 2024 saw the highest number of anti-Jewish hate crimes ever recorded by the bureau since it began collecting data in 1991 — and an increase compared to 1,832 incidents the year prior, which accounted for 67% of all religiously motivated hate crimes that year.
Worthy Reads
‘Middle Path’ to War’s End: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens considers the path forward in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. “Those who think of themselves as well-wishers of the Palestinians may want to forever put the moral onus on Israel for all of Gaza’s tragedies. But Gaza would not be where it is now had it not been for Hamas, and Gaza cannot be more than it is now so long as Hamas retains effective control. No thoughtful person can be pro-Palestinian without also being anti-Hamas. At the same time, being pro-Israel means looking at Gaza through the wider lens of Israel’s overall interests: the return of the hostages to heal Israel’s heart; the relief of Gaza to rehabilitate Israel’s reputation (above all among wavering friends); the resumption of regional diplomacy to take advantage of Israel’s temporary victories over Hezbollah and Iran; and the restoration of deterrence against Israel’s larger and still-menacing enemies. If Netanyahu makes the colossal mistake of trying to reoccupy Gaza for the long term, then no thoughtful person can be pro-Israel without also being against him.” [NYT]
The Gaza Images Now Haunting Israelis: The New Yorker’s Ruth Margalit examines a shift in Israeli public discourse about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “Two weeks ago, Israel’s most-watched news broadcast, on the mainstream Channel 12, aired a series of startling images from Gaza. There were photographs of emaciated babies, and of children being trampled as they stood in food lines, holding out empty pots; there were pictures of mothers weeping because they had no way to feed their families. At the end of the segment, Ohad Hemo, the network’s correspondent for Palestinian affairs, concluded, ‘There is hunger in Gaza, and we have to say it loud and clear.’ He was careful to note that his assessment was not influenced by foreign reporting: ‘I speak to Gazans daily. These are people who haven’t eaten in days.’ He went on, ‘The responsibility lies not only with Hamas but also with Israel.’ In much of the world, this sentiment would seem incontrovertible, even obvious. In Israel, it represented a drastic change.” [NewYorker]
Empty Gesture on Statehood: Daniel Samet, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, argues in the Wall Street Journal that Western countries deciding to recognize a Palestinian state are committing “an unnecessary and dangerous faux pas” and risk alienating the U.S. “What they have to gain from recognizing a Palestinian state is unclear. President Trump said it best when he remarked that French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement “doesn’t matter” and “doesn’t carry weight.” He’s right. Recognition by France can’t make a Palestinian state a reality. Ditto for the U.K. and Canada. What it can do is inflame tensions with Washington. … The three countries’ posturing comes when they can ill afford to push away the American right. The Republicans who control the House, Senate and White House remain overwhelmingly pro-Israel. A subset of them support the trans-Atlantic alliance and favor robust assistance for Ukraine. If France and the U.K. believe that ‘Ukraine’s security is inseparable from Euro-Atlantic security’ and Canada is committed to ‘unwavering support for a secure, a free and sovereign Ukraine,’ why are they alienating those Republicans through this empty gesture?” [WSJ]
Allies Wanted: Brian Strauss, senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, the largest Conservative synagogue in the country, writes in Time about the “palpable anxiety” in Jewish communities amid rising antisemitism. “We cannot confront this threat alone. After each attack, we hear heartfelt declarations of solidarity — statements of support, thoughts, and prayers. These gestures are meaningful, but passive concern will not protect us. What we need now is courage. If you must protest Israel’s policies, you are of course free to do so. But stay away from our synagogues, our schools, and our community centers. That’s not activism — that’s intimidation. … We also need the faith leaders, public officials, and allies who stood with us after Oct. 7 to stay with us now. We know there’s no shortage of hatred to confront in the world. But we are still here, and we are still hurting.” [Time]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump said yesterday that an Israeli decision to occupy the entire Gaza Strip is“pretty much going to be up to Israel,” when questioned by reporters at the White House…
The American Jewish Committee ran a full-page ad in The New York Times on Wednesday with images of hostage Evyatar David — a photo taken before his capture opposite a still from the recent video released by Hamas showing David over 660 days into captivity, looking severely emaciated and haggard. AJC CEO Ted Deutch said the organization chose to take out the ad due to “selective coverage from media outlets” that “continues to feed a biased narrative that too often ignores Israeli and Jewish suffering.” The ad will also run in the paper’s Sunday edition…
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) told Semaforthat Israel’s moves to airlift increased aid into Gaza are “a start, but you can’t possibly get the volume of food in there that you need via an airlift.” Asked if she would support recognition of a Palestinian state, Slotkin said, “I just don’t believe that we should be recognizing a new state in the middle of an active hot war”…
A Wall Street Journal editorial titled “Kill Jews, Get Your Own State,” slams efforts by France, Canada and the U.K. to recognize a Palestinian state following comments made by Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas politburo, who said the push is an “achievement” stemming from the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel…
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Bloomberg he understands now that New York Democrats are viewing Israel differently, since his defeat in the Democratic mayoral primary to Israel critic Zohran Mamdani. Cuomo, still running for mayor as an independent, said he would speak about Israel’s war in Gaza and antisemitism in a more nuanced way moving forward, instead of what he called a “binary” conversation…
Columbia University protest leader Mahmoud Khalil appeared on “The Ezra Klein Show” podcast yesterday, where he said that Hamas carried out the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel as “a desperate attempt to tell the world that Palestinians are here” and that “unfortunately, we couldn’t avoid such a moment.” Khalil also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “thrives on the killing of Palestinians”…
Leo Terrell, head of the Department of Justice’s antisemitism task force, said he was notified by the Israeli Embassy on Tuesday of an antisemitic attack in St. Louis where a Jewish family had their vehicles set on fire and home vandalized after their son returned from serving in the IDF. Terrell said the FBI is involved and he had alerted Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office…
Hillel International and Secure Community Network in a joint statement urged all universities to follow Harvard’s lead in covering security costs for their campus’ Hillel …
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and a group of House Republicans toured the city of Hebron, in the West Bank, yesterday together with Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat…
U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner met on Monday with Saudi Ambassador to France Fahd bin Mayouf Al-Ruwaili. Kushner said the two discussed “the ways that our two countries can each contribute to peace and stability in the Middle East,” just one week after Saudi Arabia and France co-chaired a U.N. conference on the two-state solution which the U.S. and Israel boycotted…
British officials told The Times that the U.K. is continuing to conduct reconnaissance flights over Gaza with Royal Air Force planes to help Israel try to locate the hostages, despite frosty diplomatic relations…
Arash Azizi reviews Scott Anderson’s new book, King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion, and Catastrophic Miscalculation, in The Atlantic…
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, quietly removed a requirement for grant applicants to certify they will not engage in a commercial boycott of Israel in order to be eligible for funding …
The NFL struck a major deal with Disney for a 10% stake in ESPN, the companies announced on Tuesday. Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and chair of the NFL’s media committee, said in an interview that the equity piece of the deal is “really a commitment beyond whatever the contract is” and could allow the league to raise the salary cap for players…
Organizers of the Montreal Pride parade re-invited Ga’ava, a Jewish LGBT organization, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) to march in Sunday’s parade, after initially excluding Ga’ava due to controversy over the organization’s social media posts. The backtrack came a day after Montreal Pride’s board chair stepped down amid the controversy…
A man named Christopher Robertson made his first appearance in court in Atlanta on Monday since he was arrested for making threatening and derogatory remarks at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, a nearby synagogue and Chabad as well as on social media…
Pic of the Day
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (front row center with red tie) met with some two dozen American Jewish leaders in New York City on Tuesday, briefing them on developments in Israel and hearing their concerns, ahead of a speech in the United Nations about the plight of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, participants told eJewishPhilanthropy.
Birthdays
Former boxing commentator and co-host of ESPN’s “This Just In,” he is soon to host a major boxing match on Netflix, Yiddish-speaking Max Kellerman turns 52…
Los Angeles-based partner at the Jaffe Family Law Group, Daniel J. Jaffe turns 88… E-sports executive and casino owner, he is a three-time bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker, Lyle Berman turns 84… Professor emerita and former dean at Bar-Ilan University, Malka Elisheva Schaps turns 77… Film director, television director, producer and screenwriter, Brian Michael Levant turns 73… Austrian businessman Martin Schlaff turns 72… Former state treasurer of Virginia and then Virginia secretary of finance, she is now a gourmet popcorn manufacturer, Jody Moses Wagner turns 70… Professor of public diplomacy at The Fletcher School of Tufts University, she was formerly undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, Tara D. Sonenshine turns 66… Professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University Medical Center, Alan J. Lipman, Ph.D. turns 65… Israeli diplomat, he served as Israel’s consul general in NYC between 2000 and 2004, Alon Pinkas turns 64… NASA astronaut who spent 198 days on the International Space Station, he brought 18 bagels from his family’s bagel store in Montreal into space, Gregory Chamitoff turns 63… Chair of White & Case’s white collar practice group, Joel M. Cohen… Executive director of public affairs and policy communications at the American Council on Education, Jonathan Riskind… CEO of Elluminate (formerly known as the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York), Melanie Roth Gorelick… Vice chair of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California and a trustee of JFNA, Susie Sorkin… Television and radio sports anchor on ESPN and ABC, he was one-half of the “Mike & Mike” team but now hosts his own ESPN morning program, Mike Greenberg turns 58… Chief economist at The Burning Glass Institute, Gad Levanon Ph.D…. Law professor and associate dean at Michigan State University College of Law, David Blankfein-Tabachnick turns 54… Co-founder and former CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick turns 49… Founder and CEO at Climb Together which helps prepare people from low-income backgrounds for entry level jobs, Nitzan Pelman… Actress, director, producer and screenwriter, Soleil Moon Frye turns 49… Screenwriter and television producer, he is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama “The O.C.,” Joshua Ian Schwartz turns 49… PR consultant and managing director at Actum, Jeffrey Lerner… Chief creative and culture officer at an eponymous firm, Rachel Gogel… Member of the New York State Assembly, Simcha Eichenstein turns 42… Winner of two gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he is now CEO of Gather Campgrounds north of Austin, Texas, Garrett Weber-Gale turns 40… Director of strategy and policy at K2 Space Corporation, he is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Corey A. Jacobson… Communications and leadership consultant, company trainer and international speaker, Jessica I. Goldberg… Reporter at San Antonio Express-News, Elizabeth Teitz… School safety activist and former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Hunter Pollack turns 28…