Secretary of State Tony Blinken said yesterday that the recent China-brokered agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to normalize relations has not derailed efforts to advance Saudi-Israeli normalization.

“It does not in any way substitute for our determination to pursue the deepening as well as the expansion of the Abraham Accords,” Blinken, who testified yesterday before the Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees, said. “I had a long discussion with [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu about this when I was recently in Israel. We’re very focused on that. And I also don’t think it will change the interests of other countries in pursuing that.”

Much of the discussion around Saudi Arabia’s deepening ties with Israel had revolved around efforts to build joint military partnerships aimed at countering Iran, so the pact raised questions about the viability of continued normalization efforts.

Blinken downplayed the role that China had played in the Saudi-Iranian agreement, which many on Capitol Hill have warned reflects increasing Chinese influence in the Middle East. Blinken said that the talks have been ongoing and progressing for multiple years, and that China only became involved at the final stages.

“What China did… was to, at the very end of that process, take advantage of the work that these countries have done. And then basically host the conclusion of the agreement that they reached… not to bring it together themselves,” he said. “It sent a diplomatic signal — there’s no doubt about it.”

While questioning whether the agreement would last, he also reiterated comments from others in the administration that the administration views deescalation in Saudi-Iranian tensions as a positive step.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who questioned Blinken about the agreement, requested a classified briefing for more details on the situation and what inducements China may have offered to Saudi Arabia. Speaking to JI after the hearing, Hagerty called the situation “extraordinarily challenging” and “a very grave concern,” but declined to speculate on how the U.S. should adjust its policies in response.

Addressing lawmakers a day after simmering tensions between Israel and the U.S. came to a boiling point — Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog was summoned to the State Department on Tuesday for a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who rebuked the Israeli government for passing a law repealing Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the northern West Bank — Blinken sought to cast a positive light on the current status of U.S.-Israel ties.

Regarding the disengagement law, Blinken acknowledged that the repeal was “inconsistent… with longstanding commitments” and contrary to recent pledges to deescalate tensions, but emphasized that “Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that [the government has] no intention of actually… moving forward on the authorities that it has been apparently given.”

While applauding the repeal of the “discriminatory and humiliating law that barred Jews from living in areas in… our historic homeland” earlier this week, Netanyahu said the “government has no intention of establishing new communities in these areas.”

Responding to criticism from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) of recent comments by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling for the elimination of a Palestinian town in the West Bank, Blinken noted that Netanyahu had “insisted that the person in question walk those comments back, which he did, for what that’s worth.”

More broadly, Blinken maintained that Israel and the Palestinian Authority remain committed to deescalating tensions, despite comments from Netanyahu rejecting a recent agreement made at a summit in Aqaba, Jordan.

“I’ve heard directly from Israeli leadership — as well as the Palestinian Authority — about the desire for both sides to see the violence that has reached record levels in recent months, deescalate and to try to get a period of calm,” Blinken said. “It’s an interest that, at least Prime Minister Netanyahu has expressed directly to me… if we see steps inconsistent with that, I think it does contradict what we believe both Israelis and the Palestinian Authority are seeking to do and what they’ve said to us is in their own self-interest.”

Blinken declined to say how the U.S. might respond if either side violated recent commitments to deescalation.

Addressing Iranian threats, Blinken reiterated that a nuclear deal is not currently on the table. He said that European countries are, following Iran’s stonewalling of nuclear talks, its support of Russia and the street protests in Iran, now more prepared to coordinate with the U.S.’ sanctions regime.

“All of that has further concentrated minds in a significant way, including in Europe,” Blinken said. “We have taken increasingly coordinated actions, together with our partners, particularly with regard to sanctions.”

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who chairs the committee, said he remains skeptical of Europe’s willingness to join the U.S. sanctions. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the committee’s ranking member, said he shared Menendez’s concerns, but added that he has been impressed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s recent posture toward Iran.

“I think they’re doing a really good job,” he said. “I think that there’s a different attitude there than there’s been in years past, and they are very clear-eyed. And more importantly, they’re willing to actually talk about… what they’re finding and not finding.”

Blinken also insisted that the U.S. is “aggressively working” to cut off Iran’s supply of drones to Russia and “working every day to enforce the existing sanctions on Iran, even as we’re looking at imposing new ones” targeting Iran’s oil exports.

Pressed on why the U.S. had granted waivers allowing for civilian nuclear cooperation between Iran and Russia, Blinken insisted that “these waivers have been in the nonproliferation interests of the United States” and have been narrowed to advance these interests.

He claimed the waivers allow the U.S. “to make sure that materials that Iran could use to develop its nuclear program were shipped out of Iran, and to make sure that facilities in Iran would not be developed in a way that could lead to further proliferation or the advancement of the program.”

The secretary of state was also questioned about the U.S. response to a 2021 Iranian-backed missile attack on Abu Dhabi that killed three civilians. Emirati officials have reportedly told multiple U.S. congressional delegations that they felt slighted by what they described as an inadequate U.S. response to the incident.

Blinken said he has discussed the issue extensively with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), the president of the United Arab Emirates, and is “deeply sensitive to the way this was perceived by our friends.”

“My own conversations with MBZ,” Blinken continued, “made it clear that we understood and that we would be with them and stand with them against threats to their security.” He added that the U.S. has since worked to negotiate an agreement with the UAE to address Emirati security concerns and remains open to proceeding with arms sales, including of the F-35 advanced fighter jet, which the UAE put on hold.

Blinken also noted, however, that there had been high-level discussion between U.S. and Emirati officials immediately following the 2021 incident, that the Defense Department promptly deployed forces to back up Emirati forces and that U.S. technology defended the UAE against the attack. 

Blinken appeared to shoot down one avenue that some lawmakers have floated for restricting aid to Israel, affirming that he believes Israel to be in compliance with legislation barring U.S. military aid from going to any military unit involved in violations of human rights. Some lawmakers had claimed last year that the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, likely by Israeli forces during an anti-terrorism raid in the West Bank, may have been a violation of this provision.

The secretary of state also discussed continued challenges in Lebanon, describing the nation’s economy as in a “tailspin” and its concurrent economic and political crises as compounding one another.

“Parliament needs to actually elect a president — that’s long in the making — form a government, and on that basis, be able to actually implement the reforms that are necessary to secure” International Monetary Fund aid, Blinken explained. “I really think the IMF program is critical, but to get the IMF program, you’ve got to have a government in place.”

Concluding the hearing, Menendez ticked off a litany of concerns with Turkey, restating his belief that the administration should not sell Ankara F-16 fighter jets. Blinken responded by describing Turkey as “a challenging ally.”

Israeli Knesset Member Idan Roll has been named as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for 2023. A former deputy foreign minister who served in the previous government of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Roll said he would use the appointment to the prestigious program to push forward projects, especially in the tech world, that will enhance Israel’s diplomacy and create new diplomatic opportunities for the Jewish state.

“I have all sorts of plans for the program,” Roll, 38, told Jewish Insider in an interview. “I have my orientation later this month. It takes time to get to know the system, but like many other programs it is up to the individual to make something meaningful out of this opportunity.”

“Just by having access to so many leading people in prominent fields, I don’t see how you can’t make something meaningful out of this opportunity,” he added. “Looking at the list of other participants and of alumni there is a lot of potential and I will get to reach out to people from countries that I would not usually get to meet.”

Roll is the only Israeli out of the 100 young political leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers and activists selected for the program. Announced earlier this month, the Young Global Leaders Class of 2023 will serve for a three-year term and be given access to a range of executive education courses, learning journeys and opportunities to collaborate with their peers, helping them to make an even more significant impact on society.

Established in 2004, the forum has trained a diverse community of outstanding individuals addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems. Some 1,400 members and alumni from more than 120 countries are connected to the program. Previous Israeli participants include former Knesset Member Gdeer Mreeh, who serves as the Jewish Agency for Israel shaliach, or envoy, in Washington and former Knesset Member Stav Shaffir.

“The World Economic Forum is honored to welcome the latest group of Young Global Leaders, whose exceptional achievements and commitment to improving the world come at a time when cooperation, partnerships and responsible leadership are more critical than ever,” Nicole Schwab, a board member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders, said in the announcement.

“Because I am so keen on international affairs and dedicated to cultivating new ties for Israel, I really believe that this could be a platform that could help start something new and innovative that could develop nicely in the future,” Roll told JI.

“When I was deputy foreign minister, I always said that relationships between countries were like people and that they needed to be worked on and cultivated,” he continued. “First you cultivate ties between countries and then you can work on the people-to-people relationships, although sometimes it is the other way around, like with the Abraham Accords, which started well before there was any formal diplomacy.”

During his tenure as deputy foreign minister, Roll championed Israel’s tech sector and pushed to use the country’s booming innovation to deepen its diplomacy. Now, as a young global leader, he said he has hopes of promoting a “regional tech ecosystem, which is something that all countries in the Abraham Accords, as well as Morocco, are passionate about.”

“I can use this opportunity to create platforms for people-to-people ties in the tech world,” Roll explained. “It was something that I worked towards during my entire term, but it’s not complete yet because these things take time.”

Also during his time in the previous government, Roll, a former model, worked to showcase more liberal elements of the Jewish state. Roll, who is openly gay, is married to one of the country’s biggest pop stars and TV personalities, Harel Skaat, and together they are the parents of two young children born via surrogate in the United States.

In an interview with JI in November 2021, Roll said that his goal as deputy foreign minister was to promote Israel’s liberal values and to build relations with young leaders around the world. This goal remains, he said, even though he is now in the opposition and even as building such relations appears to be less of a priority for Israel’s current government, which is made up of mostly conservative and religious political parties.  

“People do not know what Israelis are really like and there are never enough opportunities to discuss the country on this level,” Roll said. “Every opportunity is an opportunity to change minds and change perceptions about Israel.”

“Israel is such a high-profile country and all over the world there is mainly negative coverage, it is even more imperative that we have prominent liberal voices, roaming the globe, meeting with people and showcasing that there are strong patriotic and liberal and democratic people who are fighting to preserve Israel as a democratic and Jewish state,” he concluded.

Before he opened the Dupont Circle restaurant that would create what has consistently been named the best burger in the nation’s capital, Daniel Kramer was trying — and failing — to make it in politics. 

The Los Angeles native came to Washington in 2008, eager to get a toehold in the Democratic political world. Already several years out of college, the Tufts University alum called it quits after gigs as an intern and low-paid legislative fellow. For reasons that are still not totally clear, even to Kramer himself, he decided to open a restaurant instead.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Kramer told Jewish Insider in a recent interview. Whatever he did ended up working: Last month, he opened his sixth full-service restaurant in Washington, a Navy Yard location of his popular Duke’s Grocery gastropub. 

The new restaurant, located a block away from Nationals Park, is “serving all your Duke’s classics,” Kramer said, just with more beers on tap and lots of TVs to show sports games. (Duke’s also has locations in Foggy Bottom and Woodley Park, along with a small outpost in the British embassy). Duke’s Proper Burger (two beef patties with gouda, house-made pickles, charred red onion, sweet chili sauce and aioli on a brioche bun) carries a registered trademark, and the East London-inspired restaurant’s mac and cheese has a cult following. 

Kramer is not a chef, and he did not anticipate a career in hospitality, previous stints as a pizza delivery driver and bartender notwithstanding. 

“In terms of having it be a career, that was not something I contemplated as a child, and was not something I contemplated when I moved to Washington,” he explained. Instead, Kramer points to Jewish holidays and family meals as the basis for his love of food and all things culinary.

“Like many Jews, and really people of all faiths, there are certain meals or dishes that remind you of your family, of your heritage, or your religion. And I could list off a dozen dishes that made me think of my parents and my grandparents,” he said. “Like many Jewish families, my family definitely has the best latke recipe ever, anywhere. The way that we do our brisket, roast chicken, all these things. Our matzah brei is better than anybody else’s matzah brei.” (“To be clear,” Kramer added, “I am saying these things facetiously.”)

There’s nothing Jewish on the Duke’s menu, with the possible exception of shakshuka, a North African dish that is now a staple in Israel. And one of Kramer’s other restaurants is a seasonal crab shack that will soon reopen for the spring and summer. But he thinks there’s something Jewish about the way he operates his restaurants and the atmosphere he tries to create.

“It’s a way to stay connected to Judaism, in the sense of welcoming the stranger and treating people the way that you want to be treated,” Kramer said. 

Kramer hosts the second Passover Seder every year — “there’s a lot of paprika,” he said, as an homage to his Hungarian roots — and during the pandemic, Duke’s offered takeout for the Seders, as well as for Easter and for iftar dinners during Ramadan.

“It’s less about reaching across the aisle,” Kramer said, noting that his restaurant doesn’t get involved in Washington’s political scene. “I’m more about reaching across faith, and having food as the conduit of bringing people together.” 

In 2019, Kramer opened Gogi Yogi, Washington’s first tabletop Korean barbecue spot, in the Shaw neighborhood. He was tired of driving out to the Virginia suburbs, where there’s a large Korean community, for a cuisine he grew up eating in L.A. 

“One of the great things about the food scene in Washington is that you’re not limited to only certain people being able to cook certain foods or have certain restaurants,” said Kramer. “I’m not British,” he added, but Duke’s takes inspiration from the culinary melting pot of East London, where, Kramer said, “you have a curry shop next to a British pub next to, like, a blue-collar club next to an Eastern European bagel shop.”

Duke’s original location, on a busy section of 17th Street near Dupont Circle, opened in 2013, when Washington was in the midst of a culinary renaissance. (The 17th Street location, which is now closed for renovations, will reopen later this year for the restaurant’s 10th anniversary.) Like the East London hodgepodge of restaurants from around the world that inspired Kramer, Washington offers something similar: a deeply diverse population and a culturally curious community. 

“There’s always been a lot of different cultures and ethnicities present here expressing their cultures through food,” he said. “There are so many talented, interesting, curious people from around the world that are either in D.C. permanently or for a weekend or some time in between.” 

London doesn’t only offer culinary inspiration to Kramer. The city has also nurtured his love of soccer. Kramer recently became an investor in Hapoel Tel Aviv, and he plans to travel to Tel Aviv this summer for the football club’s 100th anniversary.

“I’m looking forward to, whether it’s through food or through sport or through Israel Bonds, which I’ve been involved in, to stay connected with the State of Israel,” said Kramer.

So is an Israeli restaurant in the works for the Washington restaurateur? 

“I’m not going to say no to any opportunity up front,” Kramer said, “but we’ve got our hands full in a good way with the current operations.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a leading candidate for Senate in California, said during a virtual forum with pro-Israel activists on Monday that he was “proud” that President Joe Biden had recently “weighed in and tried to encourage” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a potential compromise as Netanyahu’s governing coalition moves forward on legislation to overhaul Israel’s judicial system.

“I think that’s in the best traditions of our country,” Schiff explained in a candidate event hosted by the advocacy group Democrats for Israel California, referring to a phone conversation on Sunday in which Biden and Netanyahu reportedly discussed the Israeli government’s controversial judicial reform plans for the first time. “And that is, to work with our allies, not only to help them protect their own democracy, but to make sure that we’re protecting ours.”

In recent weeks, Schiff, a Jewish Democrat from the Los Angeles area, has joined a chorus of Democrats who, in addition to Biden, have weighed in over proposals by Israel’s right-wing governing coalition — and he expanded on those sentiments on Monday evening while speaking via Zoom to a group of pro-Israel Democrats in California.

“I share the concerns that have been raised about these potential reforms of the Supreme Court or the diminution of the court’s ability to strike down laws that are unconstitutional or that are protective of minorities within Israel,” Schiff said of the proposed legislation, which has sparked mass protests across Israel. 

He also said he was “deeply concerned about some of the personnel that are part of” the coalition and voiced concern “that we are moving farther and farther away from a two-state solution instead of closer to it,” which he said “would be disastrous for the region.”

The 11-term lawmaker, who has long been recognized as an outspoken supporter of Israel, clarified that the “strong relationship” between the U.S. and Israel “needs to continue and needs to be defended,” he told voters on Monday. 

“But at the same time, that doesn’t mean a blind acceptance of every policy of Israel,” Schiff argued. “And it certainly doesn’t mean that we can’t be critical of a policy direction of one of our allies. Indeed, I think if we’re going to be a good ally, it means we need to speak candidly, and we need to express hard truths.”

Elaborating on that balance, Schiff said has always tried to “be a consistent supporter” of the Jewish state while using his position in Congress to promote diplomacy between Israelis and Palestinians. “That has been the predominant challenge over the years, and now there is a challenge to Israel’s democracy,” he observed. 

Even as he expressed concerns over Israel’s rightward turn, Schiff, who served as the manager of former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial and helped investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said he acknowledged that the U.S. is by no means immune from criticism. “Frankly, we are in a much diminished position,” he said. “All too often now, other countries can point to the United States and say, essentially, ‘Who are you to talk?’”

Schiff, who has cast himself as a bulwark of sorts against the erosion of democratic norms, said that “of all of the corrosive conduct of the last administration,” referring to Trump, “perhaps the most damaging to our democracy was this relentless assault on the truth.”

“I think that Jews understand as much as anyone, and perhaps better than most, what the consequences are of a country moving towards authoritarianism,” he said in the forum. “For a long time I rejected the comparisons to the 1930s. But there have been too many parallels we’ve seen over the last several years to the 1930s.”

Schiff, who is one of three Democrats now running to succeed outgoing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), was the first candidate to address Democrats for Israel California as part of a planned candidate series that will continue in the coming weeks. The group also intends to hold virtual conversations with each of Schiff’s opponents, Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), according to Andrew Lachman, the president and the moderator of Monday’s forum. 

Lachman said that Porter would tentatively be addressing the group next week, on March 28, and that Lee had yet to confirm a time to speak.

A new Knesset caucus aimed at improving ties between Israel and Diaspora Jewry will soon begin operating, allowing Jews from communities worldwide a platform to air their views in the Jewish state’s corridors of power and, say those behind it, help allay concerns over some of the current Israeli government’s political moves.  

“At the end of the day, Israel is a democracy and so the citizens of the State of Israel are the ones making the decisions, but that does not mean that we shouldn’t listen to our brothers all around the world,” Member of Knesset Dan Illouz, a first-time parliamentarian who made aliyah from Montreal in 2009, told Jewish Insider in an interview.  

Illouz, who was elected to serve in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Likud party in a spot specially reserved for new immigrants, established the caucus with coalition partner Ohad Tal from the far-right Religious Zionism party.

Illouz told JI that the forum, which has no formal legislative powers, will likely begin operating in the next few weeks and that it plans to cover a broad range of topics, including some of the controversial issues currently being debated in the Knesset. The caucus’ hybrid structure will allow members of the Diaspora to join either in person or via Zoom.

“We felt that there wasn’t a place in the Knesset where Jewish communities around the world could feel that their voices are being heard, including on issues that affect them,” he explained.

“That does not mean that we will always agree with the perspective that the Jewish communities put forward,” Illouz added, “but I do think that it’s very important for them to understand that there’s a place for their voice to be heard.”

He said that while the main idea of the caucus was to be “a platform where discussions can happen, and where Jews from all around the world will be able to join in… I also hope that we will not only discuss points of disagreement but also the many, many points of agreement that we have.”

“I think that there’s a large agreement in the Jewish world that the State of Israel is a common project that we can be very proud of,” added Illouz, who previously served as the COO of external relations at JGive and managed activities of the Zionist Organization of America in Israel.

He said he hoped the forum would also be used to discuss consensus challenges facing world Jewry such as the rise in antisemitism or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

Asked about criticisms by some Diaspora Jewish groups of the government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary, which some believe could weaken the country’s democratic nature and leave minority communities vulnerable, Illouz said that a lot of Diaspora Jewry’s fears are based “more on perception than on fact.”

“Even after a discussion, they might not agree with all the positions the government is taking, but at least they will not be afraid of steps the government is taking,” Ilouz, who was previously an advisor to Justice Minister Yariv Levin and also worked for Kohelet Policy Forum, the architect of the current judicial reforms, told JI. “I don’t think they’ll agree with all positions of the government – that’s not my expectation or my goal – but I do think that at least they won’t be so afraid of some of the steps that we’re taking.”

Illouz told JI that he supports the controversial judicial reforms being pushed through by Netanyahu’s coalition and does not believe that the proposals threaten Israeli democracy.

“But putting my personal opinion aside, even if people don’t agree with me, I do think that if there is a discussion about it, they’ll be able to see that my intention as a member of the coalition is not to hurt democracy and they will be able to understand that the steps we’re taking aren’t as dramatic as people tend to think,” he said.

On reports that some U.S. Jewish groups had called to shun Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich during his recent visit to the U.S. and the less than warm welcome, Illouz said he felt that “boycotting members of the Israeli government is something that is unacceptable.”

“I also think, once again, that it’s based on a lot of misunderstanding,” he continued. “Bezalel has said things that he regrets, and he said himself that he regretted saying them because they were misunderstood and he shouldn’t have said them, but the fact is that he took those things back.”

“We are one people from different countries with a common destiny,” Illouz concluded. “The State of Israel is the home of all Jewish people, and it is important that Diaspora Jews stay connected to Israel at all times. I have set the goal of strengthening this crucial bond, and I hope to see us move forward together as a united Jewish nation of Jews from all over the world.”

Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) said on Sunday that she cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel could see a significant drop-off in support from Congress as more young Democratic lawmakers are elected.

“What I said to him was, ‘I’m worried that in a decade, let’s say — it’s not going to be this year, next year — in a decade, maybe a little longer, Israel may find itself not enjoying the broad-spread support that it currently does from the U.S. Congress,’” Wild said. “I think that it is a very real threat to Israel.” The Pennsylvania congresswoman visited Israel in February on a J Street-sponsored delegation.

Wild, speaking in a Zoom event organized by Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania, attributed a potential shift to changing demographics among Democratic lawmakers. “We have repeatedly seen younger and younger members of Congress,” the Pennsylvania legislator said. “Their views tend to be much less solidified about being pro-Israel. And so I think the long term is not good.”

At the same time, Wild, who is Jewish, said that she’s “not sure how much faith” she would put in a recent Gallup poll showing that a majority of Democrats now sympathize, for the first time, more with Palestinians than Israelis.

She argued that responses to the poll were likely mostly not “well-informed”: “the vast majority of Americans know far less about Israel than they probably should considering the amount of our tax dollars that go there and the importance of Israel generally to democracy and security around the world.”

The Pennsylvania lawmaker also recounted another exchange with Netanyahu during his meeting with the delegation, which she said lasted around 90 minutes. 

“I actually said to him — somewhat in jest — that Israel needed a new PR firm,” she said. “Because he had extolled the many virtues [of Israel] and criticisms of what the Palestinians were doing… I said, ‘if that’s true then you really need a new PR firm.’ He didn’t find that very amusing.”

Wild, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, further warned that, following the visit, she didn’t “see a path to continuing democracy or hope for a two-state solution if the current government continues to control things.” 

In one of his first floor speeches as a House member early last month, Rep. Wiley Nickel, a freshman Democrat from North Carolina, took a moment to acknowledge the victims of a deadly shooting that had recently occurred outside a Jerusalem synagogue on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The incident in late January, in which seven Israelis were killed by a Palestinian gunman, “was no random act of violence,” Nickel said from the lectern. “This was a heinous and cowardly attack rooted in hate, bigotry and antisemitism.”

“In the face of such evil, it is imperative that we come together not as Democrats or Republicans but as Americans committed to fighting against antisemitism and defending the sacred relationship between the United States and Israel,” he added. “‘Never again’ is more than a mere hashtag for social media. It is a solemn oath.”

For Nickel, 47, such declarations are personal, he explained in an interview with Jewish Insider not long after his speech. “The Jewish community, their story is my story,” he said. “My mother is Jewish. My great-grandfather fled Poland prior to the Holocaust and would not be here today if he had stayed in Poland. When we talk about antisemitism, we need to continue to speak up.”

Despite a verifiable claim to Jewish heritage, Nickel made clear — in contrast with a certain Republican lawmaker from New York — that he is not a practicing Jew and, like his father, identifies as Episcopalian, even as he grew up in a mixed-faith household celebrating Passover and observing the High Holidays with his mother’s family.

Nickel’s maternal great-grandfather, Harry Sott, fled Jewish persecution in Poland in 1907 and ultimately settled in Detroit, according to an immigration document provided by the congressman’s office. (The record describes Sott as “Hebrew.”) He met his wife, who had escaped the same Polish town, in the U.S., a spokesperson for Nickel told JI.  

Harry, who worked on the assembly line for the Ford Motor Company, became a successful textile manufacturer and then retired to California, where he bought land. His son, Herbert, would also prosper, though his effort to become a practicing attorney was not without its challenges, Nickel said of the hardships his grandfather endured before opening a real estate law firm that is now one of the largest in Michigan.

“People wouldn’t hire him because he was a Jew,” Nickel told JI. “I certainly have a deep appreciation for the challenges the Jewish community faces.”

As a new member of Congress, Nickel, a former state senator and Obama administration staffer, says he is keeping those challenges in mind amid an uptick in antisemitic incidents, including in North Carolina. “This is an incredibly important issue to me,” he vowed.

The congressman said he has joined the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, which is now led by a fellow North Carolina Democrat, Rep. Kathy Manning. He has also signed onto legislation promoting Holocaust education as well as a resolution “recognizing Israel as America’s legitimate and democratic ally and condemning antisemitism.”

Moreover, Nickel said he is planning to take his first trip to Israel this August with a House delegation of freshman Democrats sponsored by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation, whose annual trips to the Jewish state are a rite of passage for many new congressional lawmakers. 

“We need to continue to strengthen our military, economic and cultural ties with Israel to make sure that we have peace in the Middle East,” he told JI. 

Nickel supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiated directly between both parties, he said. “The U.S. has a role to play to facilitate those discussions,” he argued, “but both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate aspirations.”

In conversation with JI last month, he shied away from expressing direct criticism of Israel’s new right-wing governing coalition, which is promoting a controversial judicial overhaul that raised concerns among Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate as well as the Biden administration.

“Whoever’s in charge, and whatever coalition is governing, we just need to make it clear that we stand with Israel,” Nickel said. “That’s a fundamental position I have. We stand with our friends, and Israel is a country where we have a sacred relationship.”

The congressman said it was “absolutely crucial” to the region “that we have a strong and stable democracy in Israel.”

Even before he was elected to Congress this past November, Nickel, who became a state senator in 2019, had participated in debates over Israel that have caused ongoing tension between varying members of North Carolina’s Democratic Party. 

Last June, for instance, the state party adopted a series of controversial resolutions accusing Israel of “apartheid” and calling for “targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes,” on unnamed Israelis who committed alleged human rights violations against Palestinians, among other strictures.

“There’s certainly a far-left group in Democratic politics that has the wrong approach on Israel, and we’ve had some resolutions that are ones I do not support and have spoken out against,” Nickel said. “I’m hopeful that by educating members of that group on the issues we’ll be able to avoid that kind of divisive rhetoric. But I think the vast majority of folks don’t support those efforts.”

Late last month, Nickel was among the featured guests who delivered remarks at the founding convention of the North Carolina Democratic Jewish Caucus, a new group formed to address internal divisions over Israel as well as rising rates of antisemitism that have raised alarms among Jewish community members in the Tar Heel State.

The caucus, which intends to become formally affiliated with the state party, was also created to boost organizing efforts ahead of an election cycle in which a number of vulnerable House Democrats in North Carolina, including Nickel, are preparing to defend their seats. 

The state’s Supreme Court, which recently won a GOP majority, is now hearing arguments that could result in the implementation of a new congressional map, which would likely give Republican candidates an edge in 2024.

Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., said he expects the court “will rule that the power of redistricting is an exclusive constitutional power to” the GOP-controlled state legislature, “and therefore all of the maps will likely be redrawn to benefit Republicans.”

“Nobody has any idea what the actual districts would look like, but my best guess,” he told JI, is that Nickel — along with Manning, Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-NC) and perhaps Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) — “would be targeted for cracking their districts, and thus shifting those four districts considerably to GOP-favored.”

Last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee included Nickel, Jackson and Davis — whose districts are rated as “toss-ups” by a leading election forecaster — on a list of 37 House Democrats who “represent prime pick-up opportunities for Republicans,” according to a statement.

A few days earlier, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had added Nickel to a list of “frontline” incumbents whose seats are “key” to the party’s “path to reclaiming the majority,” the group said in its announcement. 

“We’re a toss-up race,” Nickel acknowledged to JI. “We won with 51% of the vote. It’s unlikely that they would give me a pass. That’s what we signed up for. We knew it was going to be a tough election. The voters liked our message, it resonated with them, and that’s why I’m here, so we’ll continue to make our case with voters all over the district as much as we can.”

Nickel, whose district includes the state capital of Raleigh, won a competitive race over Bo Hines, a former college football player whose far-right campaign drew comparisons to former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC). Hines, 27, filed to run again shortly after the midterms but has yet to announce if he will seek a rematch.

“If there was a Squad on the Republican side, he would have been part of it,” Nickel said of his former rival, referring to a group of far-left lawmakers who entered Congress in 2018. “The voters are tired of extremists, whether they’re on the far left or the far right. They want people who are going to work across the aisle to get things done.”

During his first bid for federal office, Nickel earned endorsements from the political arms of Democratic Majority for Israel and the Jewish Democratic Council of America — neither of which has announced its plans for 2024. Last week, AIPAC’s bipartisan political action committee rolled out its first round of more than 90 House and Senate endorsements for the 2024 election. The freshman incumbent was not among the initial batch of candidates.

Nickel, who serves on the House Committee on Financial Services, expressed a desire to work with Republicans to enact legislation as a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus as well as the centrist New Democrat Coalition. “I start my day, every day, at 6:30 in the House gym working out with Democrats and Republicans in a CrossFit group,” he told JI.

“The focus for us is what can pass both chambers of Congress and get signed by the president,” Nickel explained, citing “access to capital,” “the high price of housing” and “immigration reform” as among the top domestic issues he hopes to address in his first term. “Those are the things that we’re starting to get working on.”

Meanwhile, Nickel pledged that he will continue to advocate for a robust relationship between the U.S. and Israel, as he suggested on the House floor in early February. “That’s just a part of the world that’s personally important to me,” he said.

Amid a national rise in antisemitism, more than three dozen Orthodox Jewish leaders and community members shared their experiences with antisemitism in a virtual meeting with White House officials on Friday. 

Senior officials from the National Security Council and the Domestic Policy Council participated in the call, which was convened by Shelley Greenspan, the White House’s liaison to the Jewish community. Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Aaron Keyak was also on the call. 

Orthodox Jews are “on the frontlines [of antisemitism] because they’re identifiable as Jews, so they feel it, in some ways, more than others,” said Ezra Friedlander, a public relations executive who is Hasidic and was at Friday’s meeting. “I’m grateful that the White House felt it was important to reach out specifically towards the Orthodox Jewish community to hear from them, because oftentimes, our perspectives are overlooked.” 

Recently released data from the FBI shows that hate crimes against Jews increased nearly 20% from 2020 to 2021. Orthodox Jews were the victims of many recent attacks, including two men who were shot as they left their synagogue in Los Angeles last month. 

In 2019, an intruder stabbed several people — killing one — at a Hanukkah party at a private home in Monsey, N.Y., a fast-growing and heavily Jewish hamlet north of New York City. Two weeks before, three people had been killed in a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, N.J. 

Participants on Friday’s call spoke about the distinct ways that antisemitism can affect the most strictly observant Jews and those who are the most visibly Jewish. For instance, in New Jersey, where a number of large Jewish communities have grown rapidly in towns near Lakewood, local legislators and activists planned to push forward zoning ordinances to discriminate against Jews and “go on social media to intimidate the growth of the community,” said Friedlander.

The meeting was one of several listening sessions that the White House has hosted as part of an effort to create a national policy to combat antisemitism. The policymaking effort is the first initiative of an interagency group tasked with combating antisemitism, Islamophobia and “related forms of bias and discrimination.” 

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and other senior White House officials hosted a roundtable with a wide swath of Jewish leaders in December. Last month, antisemitism envoys from Latin America and Europe visited the White House to share what they’ve learned from working to fight antisemitism. 

“I think that they really were doing a good job of trying to listen to our lived experience,” said Rabbi Yaakov Menken, managing director of the conservative Coalition for Jewish Values. 

The White House has not announced a timeline for the completion of the antisemitism policy. The task force was announced in December.