Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will announce today his support for a bipartisan anti-BDS measure.
The Senate resolution (S.Res. 120), introduced by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) expresses opposition to “efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel.”
“I strongly support this resolution and firmly oppose the BDS movement targeting Israel. S.Res.120 is led by Senator Cardin and Senator Portman and I proudly join the bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives pushing for its passage,” Schumer told Jewish Insider.
The measure, introduced to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March, has at least 60 co-sponsors, including 24 Democrats. A companion in the House, led by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY), has over 300 co-sponsors. That resolution is expected to come to the House floor for a vote sometime in the summer.
“I have long believed that the BDS effort is a profoundly biased campaign to delegitimize the state of Israel, and I look forward to Congress passing the resolution with overwhelming bipartisan support,” Schumer said.
The resolution also “reaffirms its strong support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states.”
Former Senator Joe Lieberman told Jewish Insider on Tuesday in Jerusalem that he won’t be watching the Democratic presidential debates this week — but he’s keeping an eye on the race.
Asked about the crowded primary field, Lieberman said: “I’m following —but I don’t have much to say.”
The former senator said he has known “Joe Biden for a long time, we go way back and I have the highest regard for him.” But, he added, he knows many of the other contenders.
“Amy Klobuchar is a very good friend of mine,” he said. “I had her in a class that I taught at Yale.” So for now, the former senator said, “I’m standing back.”
The former senator said he won’t be able to watch the Democratic debates, and it’s not just because of the seven-hour time difference. “We’re staying with our children in Ramat Beit Shemesh,” Lieberman told JI, “and they don’t have a television!”
Lieberman spoke to JI on the sidelines of the Shurat Hadin Conference in Jerusalem, where he gave a speech immediately before former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper; former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is slated to address the gathering on Wednesday.
Lieberman will also be appearing at the Cyber Week conference at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday.
A group of congressmen are making a bipartisan push to limit the president’s ability to authorize the use of military force against Iran, introducing an amendment on Tuesday that would prohibit the use of federal funds for attacks against the Islamic Republic without the approval of Congress.
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) are joined by 15 Democrats and at least one more Republican, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) on the amendment, which is set to be attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2020 and go to the House floor for debate in July.
Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) is also a co-sponsor.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), told Jewish Insider on Tuesday that he supports this effort and may sign on as a co-sponsor. “I am working with Ro Khanna on an amendment and I am generally supportive of this amendment,” he said. “I’m not sure if I’ll be a co-sponsor yet or not, but I support what he’s doing.”
The amendment follows similar efforts by Democrats to counter President Donald Trump’s authority to launch a military strike on Iran.
The Democratic co-sponsors include Reps. Adam Smith (D-WA), Anthony Brown (D-MD), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Andy Levin (D-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Jim Himes (D-CT), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), John Garamendi (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Deb Haaland (D-NM).
President Trump called off military strikes on Iran last week at the last minute, after Iran downed an American drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The president instead imposed new economic sanctions yesterday on the Islamic Republic.
Yet Democrats are looking to cut off other options for the president to attack Iran without approval from Congress. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has introduced an amendment to the NDAA that would repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq, a law Democrats fear the president could also use to justify an attack the Islamic Republic. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), who broke rank with the Republican caucus and called for impeaching the president, is signed on as a co-sponsor.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), however, said the president showed restraint in his decision to call back military strikes.
“The president has the authority to protect American interests and he has shown great restraint and a calm presence,” Higgins told JI. “I’m a constitutionalist and if I felt that the president exceeded or was postured to exceed his authority as commander in chief, then I would certainly object to that. We have not reached that point.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Rep. Barbara Lee’s amendment to the NDAA addresses the 2001 AUMF. It addresses the 2002 AUMF against Iraq.
Before a packed ballroom at the Hotel Jerome in downtown Aspen on Monday evening, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and The Atlantic’s Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg entertained the crowd with their wit and barbs as they discussed Christie’s approach towards President Donald Trump.
Goldberg began the evening by telling Christie: Welcome to the people’s republic of Aspen. You’re going to have a great time. These people are so far to the left it’s almost right (laughter). We’ve known each other a while, we’ve done this before and it usually devolves into drive time sports talk radio with a lot of cursing and Springsteen references. So, let’s just with what do you see in Donald Trump that other people don’t see?
Christie: I’ve known him for 17 years so my perspective is a bit broader than most. But, let me start off by saying this, elections are not about who you want to vote for. Elections are about who you’re left to vote for. To be clear, Donald Trump was not my first choice for president. I was (laughter).
I was at a conference a few weeks in Long Island and David Stern, the former NBA Commissioner, stood up and said he was going to save my soul. [Stern] listed all these things he doesn’t like about Trump and ‘when are you finally going to stand up?’ he says. And I said, ‘I ran against him’ (laughter). The single greatest thing that you can do in a democracy to show that you are opposing something is to run and try to beat that person.
Goldberg: When you were Governor, a Muslim American was nominated for a judgeship …
Christie: I nominated him, he wasn’t just nominated (laughter). It doesn’t just happen, I did it.
Goldberg: You, great hero of the Muslims, Chris Christie, nominated him. (Laughter)
Christie: And you know what, it was the first Muslim American judge ever appointed in the state of New Jersey. Not Jon Corzine, that liberal hero. Or Jim McGreevey. They didn’t appoint a Muslim, I did.
Goldberg:And by the way, as they say in Mecca, Mazel Tov! (Laughter) And I’m giving you the credit.
Christie: You weren’t, I took it (laughter).
Goldberg:Donald Trump, during the campaign, attacks a Gold Star family, a Muslim American family, and raises all kinds of nefarious questions about this family whose son was a hero.
The full New Jersey story is that there was a lot of pushback, national pushback from various right wing groups that said this guy was a secret Muslim Brotherhood whatever, and you said leave him alone.
So you look at Donald Trump, do you disagree with the assessment that Donald Trump is anti-Muslim? Do you disagree with the assessment that he behaved in a heinous way towards that Gold Star family?
Christie: I’ll answer the second one first, I absolutely think that what he did with the Gold Star family was wrong and I told him that and I said it publicly. I was the one who was called in by his family when they couldn’t get him to stop talking about them and they said you’ve got to convince him to knock this off.
Goldberg: Wait, tell us that story.
Christie: So, incredibly, Jared Kushner, um, calls me and says, ‘listen, we need your help. He’s off the rails on this Khan stuff and I think he’ll listen to you.’ So I walk into [Trump’s] office and he said ‘what’s up?’ I said ‘we need to talk.’ He says, ‘about what?’ And I said, ‘let me sit down’ (laughter) and I said ‘I’m confused.’ Trump replies ‘what are you confused about?’ I say, ‘I thought we were running against Hillary Clinton.’ And he said, ‘we are.’ And I said, ‘no, no, no. I don’t know. We’re running against the Khans because all you’re doing is talking about the Khans and if we’re actually running against the Khans, I’m out, cause we’re going to lose and I have no interest helping you lose. You have to think differently about this.’ He says, ‘what do you mean? This guy said awful things about me.’ I said, ‘you’re right, he’s said a lot of awful things about you but here’s what you’ve got to remember. He did something that you and I pray everyday we never will have to do. He gave his son for this country and you and I are both fathers and we’d never want to lose one of our children, ever. And you know what that gives him permission to do? I said, ‘whatever the hell he wants’ and that’s it. After that conversation, you did not hear him talk about the Khans again.
Goldberg later added: I’m saying this very sincerely, I like many of the things you did in New Jersey…
Christie: You like me, Jeff.
Goldberg:I’m not going to go that far (laughter).
Christie: He does, it’s ok.
Goldberg:No, no, no. I don’t like you that much (laughter). I like you on a personal level because we like the same things. We’re bridge and tunnel guys and that’s the way it is.
But I’ve seen you do interesting things in New Jersey. Look, you’ve had your bumps. I’m not going to discuss the George Washington Bridge but you’ve had your bumps (laughter).
At a conference in Aspen on Monday, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said President Donald Trump’s decision to order and then reverse a strike on Iran showed his growth in the office.
“I don’t agree with what the president did,” Christie told The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in a conversation at the Aspen Ideas conference. “I would have allowed the strike to go on if I was president. But I think it says something about him that he thought about it, and he changed his mind, and he was not scared to execute on that in America.”
Christie said he didn’t think Trump would have made the same decision when he first took office in 2016.
“That’s growth,” he said. “That’s growth for anybody in a leadership position.”
The former governor said he believed pulling back on the strike “sends a bad signal to the Iranians.” But “I don’t think that’s something [Trump] would have done on January 17. I think he would have just let it happen, and rationalized it afterward.”
Christie also said that he does not believe Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and special advisor, belongs in the White House. The former governor said he doesn’t think Trump should have given any of his family members official jobs, but that Kushner is not qualified for his position.
“He’s a 35-year-old real estate guy,” Christie said. Kushner, he added, “is certainly a bright person. I’ve had enough interaction with him to know he’s not dumb, he’s smart – he’s a smart guy. But that’s not all you need to be effective at that level in the White House. You need experience, you need some savvy, you need to have been beaten around a little bit and understand how to get up off the ground.”
Looking at the 2020 election, Christie said he believes Joe Biden represents the best chance for the Democrats to win in the general election.
“I think Biden is the most dangerous opponent of the group for the president as we sit today,” he told Goldberg. Christie said South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is “not ready for primetime,” but he praised his fellow New Jerseyan, Senator Cory Booker.
“Booker can do things on stage,” Christie said. “And I’ve seen him do it. He can really persuade people. So Booker would be one of those guys who I would say: Don’t count him out.”
Ben Jacobs is joining Jewish Insider as a senior political reporter covering the 2020 presidential election. Ben previously covered the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 midterms for the Guardian.
Prior to that, Ben reported for the Daily Beast and has been published in outlets including The Atlantic, the New Republic and the Boston Globe. Ben is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and has remained a loyal Orioles fan his entire life.
“We’re thrilled that Ben Jacobs will be reporting from the campaign trail for JI throughout the 2020 presidential election,” said Max Neuberger, the founder and publisher of Jewish Insider. “Ben knows the ins and outs of the campaign trail well and with his deep experience and strong insights, JI will now be in a position to deliver even stronger coverage of the race to our readers.”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin points to a question as he speaks to reporters about the new Iran sanctions in the Briefing Room of the White House, Monday, June 24, 2019, in Washington.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters at the White House on Monday that the economic portion of the Trump peace plan has the potential of creating “great opportunities” for the “people in Palestine.”
Mnuchin is leading the U.S. delegation to the “economic workshop” in Manama, Bahrain on Tuesday.
“I look forward to our discussion in Bahrain,” Mnuchin said. “We’ll be rolling out the economic plan, which will be great opportunities for the people of Palestine. We have a terrific group there of finance ministers, business leaders all around the world. I think we have about 350 people going. So I look forward to it.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to travel to Israel for a 24-hour solidarity and trade mission trip on Wednesday.
“Israel is a very important trade partner for us. We are going to go to Israel and do a trade mission, basically talking to businesses that are there, specifically on our economic-development agenda, drone technology — which we are investing in very heavily, especially in central New York,” Cuomo said in an interview on New York WAMC’s The Roundtable program Monday morning. “We are also going to talk to software companies in Israel… to see if they would be interested in helping the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) developing a software product for the navigation system in the trains.”
The trip will also serve as a solidarity mission with the Jewish community in New York amid a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents across the state, Cuomo said.
“I am very close, and New Yorkers are very close to Israel,” he said. “There has been a rash of antisemitism all across this country, the synagogue shootings, etc. We’ve had it all across this state, and it’s repugnant to what New Yorkers believe and feel. And I hope there’s a message of solidarity and partnership in my trip to Israel and I hope that the Jewish community here is confident in this state’s position vis-à-vis Israel.”
The Democratic governor first announced the visit — his third such trip as governor — at the annual Celebrate Israel parade on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue earlier this month. Last July, the governor postponed a planned mission to Israel amid ongoing violence on the border with Gaza.
Cuomo said that, as a member of the Democratic Party, he’s not concerned about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warm relationship with President Trump. “He’s a close ally of the president and I think he’s working with this president for his own interests, and they may have a coincidence of interest,” Cuomo explained.
Cuomo went on to decry those whose criticism of Israel veers into antisemitism.
“Look, you can have political differences and we can sit here and say we politically differ with Israel’s policies on whatever issue, but how does that transfer into hate and antisemitism?” the governor asked. “I understand we have an overheated political environment in this country, but we also have a constitutional and legacy of accepting and living together and accepting diversity. And the Jewish community is an essential part of the state. So you want to have a political difference with Israel, be my guest. But you have no right to turn that into antisemitism.”