Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. and U.N. Gilad Erdan said on Wednesday that Israel sought to avoid a ground invasion in Gaza when it struck a building housing press offices during last month’s conflict with Hamas. “Hamas placed a secret unit that developed technologies that were aimed to jam the capabilities of our Iron Dome [in the building], and if we hadn’t knocked down this building… they would jam the Iron Dome capabilities, where you will have no other choice but to initiate a ground operation,” Erdan said during a virtual event hosted by Democratic Majority for Israel.

Erdan said that in a ground operation, “many more civilians would pay with their own lives.” The airstrike on the building housing the Associated Press’ Gaza office, he said, was Israel’s best option to reduce collateral damage.

A group of 12 Jewish House Democrats spoke out against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) late Wednesday night for comments made by the Minnesota lawmaker on Monday that critics say appeared to liken wartime actions by the U.S. and Israel to terrorist activities of Hamas and the Taliban.

In a tweet on Monday about the status of the International Criminal Court’s probes of the U.S. and Israel, Omar wrote, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,” and argued that the U.S. and Israeli justice systems were either unwilling or unable to address these issues.
The tweet included a video of the congresswoman questioning Secretary of State Tony Blinken earlier that day.

In the wake of the recent war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, and as Congress begins to debate the 2022 federal budget, 38 senators voiced bipartisan support for providing Israel with $500 million in funding for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow 3 missile-defense programs.

Under the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel — which was codified into law last year — the U.S. is required to provide this aid annually for cooperative missile-defense programs, on top of an additional $3.3 billion in military aid.

A growing number of prominent tech and business executives are signing on to a statement denouncing antisemitism amid a recent uptick in hate crimes against Jews around the country, Jewish Insider has learned. The letter, which has been circulating Silicon Valley this week, has racked up signatures from more than 150 industry leaders as of Wednesday afternoon, including Thrive Global CEO Arianna Huffington, ViacomCBS chair Shari Redstone and former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.

“As business leaders, we have a collective responsibility to stand up for the society we want,” the letter reads. “Today, we stand against antisemitism and violence against Jews. This is true regardless of your views on Israel; this is about protecting people from the injustice of antisemitism and hatred.”

Mark Levine, a New York City councilmember running for Manhattan borough president, is calling for a dramatic budget increase for the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes as acts of violence against Jews and Asian-Americans have risen sharply in recent months.

The office currently operates with an annual budget of approximately $700,000 for a staff of seven, along with $3 million for an initiative that helps fund six organizations, including the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, dedicated to the advancement of community-based solutions for preventing hate crimes.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken was grilled on a range of aspects of the administration’s plans for dealing with Iran during his second consecutive day of back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, this time facing the Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees.

During Tuesday’s hearings, Blinken was pressed for more details on numerous issues covered the day before in front of corresponding House committees, particularly relating to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The Senate’s Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism relaunched with 56 members, divided equally between Democrats and Republicans, co-chairs Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) announced Tuesday afternoon.

The group — the first of its kind in the Senate — was founded in 2019 by Rosen and Lankford with 38 members and follows the model of a similar House task force.

In a marathon session of back-to-back House hearings on Monday, Secretary of State Tony Blinken discussed the recent conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, laid out the administration’s case for humanitarian aid to Gaza and appeared to temper expectations for reentry into the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the prospects of subsequent agreements.

Weeks after Israel deployed its Iron Dome batteries to intercept thousands of missiles fired by terror groups in Gaza, Blinken assured lawmakers that the U.S. is “committed to [Iron Dome’s] replenishment,” adding that “we are working with the Israelis to fully understand their needs and… we look forward to working with [Congress] to make sure that happens.”