DC Report By Douglas Bloomfield When I started to write this column a couple weeks ago it appeared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would resist Donald Trump’s pressure to ban two Muslim members of Congress from visiting Israel, knowing it would make martyrs of them and damage Israel’s relations with the Democrats, so I began with the question “How stupid does […]

By DAVID SUISSA (JNS) – There are many angles to the still-burning controversy of Israel refusing to allow entry to U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar D-Minn.). First, there are the merits of the case. Israel passed a law in 2017 prohibiting entry to anyone who supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Tlaib and Omar have […]

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – When rabbis in Portland joined a coalition of faith and civil leaders to denounce purveyors of violence and hateful rhetoric, it was mostly far-right protesters they had in mind. A demonstration Saturday, Aug. 17, in the Oregon city’s downtown drew members from white nationalist groups, extremist anti-government militias and avowed neo-Nazis. Worrisome […]

By ALEX TRAIMAN (JNS) – The last time more Jews voted for Republican candidates than Democrats was 1920, when 43 percent of Jewish voters selected Warren G. Harding. Democratic candidate James Cox received only 19 percent of Jewish votes, though Socialist third-party candidate Eugene V. Debs received 38 percent of Jewish votes, despite receiving barely 3 percent of all popular […]

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – President Donald Trump had harsh words for Jews who support the Democratic Party. “I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” the president told reporters on Tuesday, Aug. 20, during an Oval Office meeting with President Klaus […]

By MARCY OSTER JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel’s upcoming elections in September — just five months after the last ones in April — are essentially a do-over. In the April election, the right wing won a majority. But because Israel has a parliamentary system, a bunch of small right-wing parties had to agree to join a governing coalition. They were too divided […]

DC Report By Douglas Bloomfield Former Republican Congressman Paul Findley, who died recently at 98, blamed his 1982 defeat on AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby giant. That is understandable since so many in the pro-Israel community tried to take credit, but as so often happens, his career really succumbed to self-inflicted wounds. The veteran Republican congressman lost his bid for a […]

By JACKSON RICHMAN (JNS) – U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft was confirmed on Wednesday, July 31, by the U.S. Senate as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The final tally was 56-34. Craft, 57, will replace Nikki Haley, who was highly acclaimed by many, especially those in the pro-Israel community. To Fight Anti-Israel Bias At her confirmation hearing, […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA)–Forty Jews were arrested at a New York City protest against Amazon’s work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Sunday, Aug. 11, protest was one of more than 50 similar Jewish demonstrations that were held across the country to mark Tisha B’Av, the traditional Jewish day of mourning, in opposition to U.S. immigration policy. […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – In July 1939, eight months after Kristallnacht and seven weeks before Hitler would invade Poland, Congress killed a bill that would have allowed 20,000 Jewish refugee children into the United States. Opponents of the bill, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, said America should help its own poor people before foreigners, and […]