A former aide to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden believes the former vice president has a “durable way” to stop Iran from getting the bomb “without resorting to military force” — while restoring trust with U.S. allies and partners. 

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump threatened to unilaterally impose “snapback” sanctions on Tehran following the U.N. Security Council’s rejection of a proposal to extend the arms embargo on Iran. 

A spokesperson for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign reiterated the presumptive Democratic nominee’s views on supporting Israel and stance against antisemitism after coming under criticism for an appearance by Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. 

“Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform,” Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement. 

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who was elected in 2018 as the state’s first Jewish governor, celebrated the increasing number of Jewish Americans involved in politics, with some rising through the ranks of the Democratic Party. 

“It is very heartening to see the increasing visibility of Jewish Americans throughout politics,” Polis said during a virtual event on Tuesday for Jewish Democrats hosted by the Democratic National Committee during the 2020 Democratic National Convention. “This year, several of the candidates for president of the United States were of Jewish heritage. And of course, with the selection of [Sen.] Kamala Harris, our soon-to-be second gentleman of the U.S., Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish.”

Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) criticized the members of the Democratic Party on Tuesday who held back from welcoming what he called an “historic” deal to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, that was announced last week, for partisan purposes. 

“Here we have a historic agreement between the UAE and Israel, and Democrats are coming out saying, ‘Oh this is a bad thing,’” Rose said during a Zoom call hosted by the Democratic Majority for Israel. “Relax! Not everything needs to be partisan, and especially Israel.”

A group of 52 members of the New York State Assembly issued a joint statement on Tuesday denouncing the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) questionnaire that asked New York City Council candidates to agree “not to travel to Israel if elected… in solidarity with Palestinians living under occupation.”

“This blatantly antisemitic litmus test is abhorrent,” the lawmakers noted. “Singling out the only Jewish state – a strong democracy in the region, where women’s rights, freedom of speech, and religious freedom are protected — is detestable.” 

Brian Hook, the outgoing State Department special representative for Iran, suggested on Tuesday that the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran opened a path to broker the normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates last week. 

“When you have the wrong Iran strategy, it is impossible to get peace agreements between Gulf nations and Israel because they don’t trust you,” Hook said during a webinar hosted by United Against Nuclear Iran. “And there’s no question that the nations in the Gulf and Israel viewed the Iran nuclear deal as a betrayal.”

Ihssane Leckey, a Democratic congressional candidate in Massachusetts’s 4th district, took a hard line on Israel in two candidate surveys for progressive organizations, but but attempted to qualify and walk back her positions on issues like BDS and visiting the Jewish state in her first campaign event dedicated to Jewish voter outreach Monday night.

In a survey for the Boston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Leckey said she supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, but clarified in a later section of the survey: “I support the ending of the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people, including supporting the BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement, but do not support sanctions.”

For years, Noa Tishby has been drawing impromptu maps of Israel and whipping out facts in defense of her homeland at dinner parties in Hollywood.

Now, the Israeli-American actress and producer is putting her arguments in writing as she gears up to publish a concise explainer on Israel for Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.